Clang!
The sun rose slowly, but those who had fallen unconscious to the Outer God's wail did not stir.
The battle in the outskirts raged on.
As the sun ascended, Karna's strength, speed, and attributes gained a subtle boost—not dramatic, but undeniable.
Karna wielded his spear relentlessly, flames blazing at its tip, carving fiery arcs through the air.
Arjuna, now on the defensive, shed his earlier Berserker frenzy. His gaze locked onto Karna's arms, analyzing their movements and muscle twitches to predict his attacks.
His body reacted instantly to each cue, moving before fully processing the information.
Suddenly, a bolt from the blue...
A thunderbolt crashed down between them.
Arjuna had summoned it to force Karna back, creating distance for ranged attacks.
Karna, unflinching, took the lightning head-on. It enveloped them like a pillar, but his golden radiance filtered it, neutralizing the strike.
Arjuna, transforming into lightning, retreated swiftly.
He knew Karna wouldn't dodge, familiar with the armor Karna wore.
He'd faced that armor before—a marvel not of deflection but filtration, reducing over ninety percent of an attack's force.
Even his thunder was trivialized post-filtration.
Thus, Arjuna used the lightning to become lightning, pulling away.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Thunderbolt arrows shot from the lightning as Arjuna retreated.
Clang!
Karna shattered one arrow with a casual swing, advancing and dodging others with precise movements, closing in on Arjuna.
Even as the "fastest class," Lancer, Karna couldn't close the gap when Arjuna kited him.
"I need to slow him down!"
Karna's mind raced, exhilarated.
He'd manifested to battle history's greatest heroes, and now his old rival, who once defeated him, stood before him. Another clash was perfect.
Karna flipped his palm, a flame forming. With a gentle puff, it dispersed.
Fist-sized fireballs hurtled toward Arjuna's predicted path.
Arjuna wasn't running linearly—straight flight would outpace even Karna's fireballs.
The fireballs exploded, cratering the earth with smoking pits.
Arjuna, like a nimble hummingbird, darted through the blasts.
His arrows pierced the air, cutting through smoke toward Karna.
Hiss!
Karna halted with his right foot, swinging his spear in a 180-degree arc. Blazing flames formed a fan, shattering dozens of thunderbolts.
"Kavacha and Kundala!"
Karna unleashed one of his Noble Phantasms.
Crimson beams shot from his eyes, their extreme heat vaporizing the ground.
The beams tracked Arjuna's patterned path.
Sensing the scorching rays, Arjuna skidded to a halt. The beams grazed past, their heat radiating upward.
An invisible fire wall rose before Arjuna, the blistering gusts drying the air.
"Karna..."
Arjuna clutched his head, pain and fragmented memories flooding his mind.
Karna paused, waiting...
In their past duels, they'd agreed to halt combat if one was incapacitated.
"Aaaahhh!!!"
Arjuna's roar grew more frenzied, thick lightning coiling around him, embodying his fury.
His voice carried sorrow... and guilt.
"When an opponent is incapacitated for special reasons, combat shall cease!"
This was their covenant from their final battle.
That battle spanned days, with Arjuna faltering multiple times, and Karna, honoring their pact, always stopped.
Until the final moment...
Karna's chariot was stuck in rocks, a moment to pause...
But then...
"Brother, kill him!"
His younger brother's voice rang out.
"Brother, now! Kill him!"
His brother's face was feral, his tone resolute.
"I can't! It's unjust!"
On that ancient battlefield, Karna had spared the five brothers multiple times due to their pact. This time... Arjuna couldn't.
He meant to say so...
But, inexplicably, his father's bow was drawn, its terrifying thunder roaring like his father's wrath.
"Vijaya!"
...
"I'm just a despicable coward..."
Clinging to this thought, Arjuna descended into madness. He sought Karna again, craving a fair fight.
Karna's adherence to their pact just now struck him deeply!
"Why? Why are you so noble? Even now, you bear no grudge?"
Was it jealousy? Or merely guilt?
"This is my father's wrath!"
"This is the moment to judge all!"
"Fall now!"
"Vijaya!!!"
Once more!
Arjuna drew his bowstring taut.
"Feel the mercy of the king of gods!"
"Indra, witness this!"
"Annihilation in one strike!"
"Burn utterly—Brahmastra Kundala!"
Karna's golden armor detached, his spear raised high, a second sun rising!
The spear, meant for "thunder," blazed like a solar wheel.
This divine weapon, capable of felling gods, was Indra's gift when he took Karna's armor, awed by Karna's nobility.
A raging thunder dragon clashed with a blazing sun!
This time...
The sun wasn't shot down!
"That's how it should be! ...Next time... I'll win!!!"
***
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