Sasrir's hands moved with the calm precision of a seasoned predator. In his left, a Steel Memento Memory materialized—a halberd that gleamed faintly with a metallic sheen that seemed almost liquid under the torchlight. In his right, he drew a shadow scimitar, its curved edge wreathed in darkness that seemed to pulse and writhe of its own accord.
It was an odd pairing, a curious blend of the measured and the unpredictable, but I had learned long ago that this was entirely Sasrir. He experimented constantly in battle, testing combinations that others would never even consider. The halberd provided reach and brute force, the scimitar agility and cunning—two halves of a deadly equation that, when wielded together, made Sasrir unpredictable and terrifying.
Shadows swirled around him, flooding the space like an inky tide. The darkness licked at Tessai's armor, trying to pull attention and focus, but Sasrir remained solid, fully materialized. He wasn't here to vanish and strike from the void; he intended to fight. Blade against blade. Shadow against ice.
I could feel the weight of the moment settle over the arena. Even the spectators seemed to lean forward involuntarily, sensing that this fight would be something beyond spectacle—it would be a demonstration of precision, strategy, and raw power.
Tessai's icy boots scraped against the stone floor as he advanced, the temperature around him dropping still further, frosting forming along the edges of the circle. Frost traced the seams of the stone, and the torches' flames flickered, tiny tendrils of heat wavering as if reluctant to disturb the cold.
Sasrir's stance was perfect, coiled yet relaxed, his shadows pulsing subtly with anticipation. He didn't speak, didn't taunt, didn't move until the first strike came. His silence was a promise: he would end this duel swiftly and efficiently, but only on his terms.
I watched, pulse quickening, realizing that the fight unfolding wasn't just about justice or spectacle. It was a test of every lesson I'd learned alongside Sasrir. Every battle, every narrow escape—they had all led to this precise moment.
And as the icy aura of Tessai collided with the shadowy presence of Sasrir, the first sparks of metal on metal hissed through the air, signaling the beginning of a duel that would be over in an instant—or end disastrously if either underestimated the other.
The air between them shimmered with tension. Tessai, a giant of impossible girth, moved first. Each step shook the stone underfoot, sending faint vibrations that I felt in my chest. His massive frame was clad in frost-crusted armor, the Aspect of ice coating him like a living glacier. Every swing of his longsword left icy trails in the air, freezing the ground where the blade cut through it. The cold radiated outward, slowing anyone who dared step too close.
Sasrir didn't flinch. He adjusted his grip, halberd in one hand, shadow scimitar in the other, the edges catching the torchlight. His smaller frame belied the lethal precision coiled within. Most importantlyy though, his smaller frame hid three black suns that burned dark light-Sasrir had advanced to Demon only three weeks ago, finally catching up to me. Though, I was nearly approaching Devil by this point.
Tessai swung. The sheer force of the blow forced Sasrir to twist, halberd barely intercepting the massive longsword. Sparks erupted as metal scraped metal, and a wave of frost surged outward, coating the halberd in ice. Sasrir used the momentum, slashing with the scimitar, a strike meant to cut through joints and gaps. Tessai's armor absorbed it, but the movement forced the giant to stagger back slightly—an unusual crack in his otherwise perfect composure.
The next swings came in a blur. Each of Tessai's strikes was slow, deliberate, crushing—but each left a trace of frost that slowed the space around him. Sasrir danced through the cold, spinning his weapons in arcs, the halberd striking from unexpected angles while the scimitar darted like a shadowed snake. With three Soul Cores fueling him, Sasrir could afford riskier maneuvers, exploiting openings that a mere Beast like Tessai could not afford, as well as making up for their physical disparity.
Tessai tried to close the distance, using sheer size to overwhelm, but every step was countered by Sasrir's agility. Sasrir ducked, spun, and rolled, striking at the Frost Aspect when the giant overextended. Shadow tendrils lashed out with each feint, slashing at Tessai's legs, coating them in darkness that resisted the freezing aura. The Degeneration of a Shadow Ascetic, subtle but lethal, began to slowly accelerate Tessai's exhaustion—forcing him to compensate for every slow-motion swing.
The coldness itself was inneffective, blocked by Tessai's own Aspect, but the mental effects of the shadows was still as potent as ever-though it required contact with actual skin, and Tessai's ice armour made that difficult.
A massive swing from Tessai caught the halberd squarely, sending Sasrir sliding across the stone floor. Frost cracked under him. But instead of panicking, Sasrir used the momentum, driving the shadow scimitar up and into Tessai's midsection. The strike didn't pierce the armor fully, but it forced a grunt from the morose giant. Three Soul Cores allowed Sasrir to withstand punishment that would have crushed ordinary Sleepers, and he wasn't shy about using them.
The crowd watched, wide-eyed. Even I felt the bite of fear and awe; the duel moved faster than anything I'd expected. The Frost Giant's swings slowed with exhaustion, the thick ice coating his armor cracking under repeated, precise strikes. Sasrir's halberd danced like liquid steel, slashing through gaps and delivering blunt force where it would hurt most, while the scimitar darted between defenses, cutting arcs of darkness that Tessai could not touch.