Haden's words thundered within the dark swamp, and his aura solidified around the armoured man, trapping him in a cage of red.

Laerain turned her head towards him and called out with warm tears rolling down her beautiful face, "Haden!"

Haden appeared beside her. He knelt and began to wipe her tears with a soft smile tugging on his face.

She forced out a hearty smile and asked while pointing her trembling finger at the armoured man, "What is going on?"

He looked at the armoured man and explained, "The purple fog that permeates the deep southern forest sucks life away from everything and traps it within itself, including the souls."

He paused and continued, "The bloodline of the God of Throne can free those souls, but nearly a thousand years ago, the strongest descendant of the God of Throne had left the mountains as the fog was too dense for him to do anything."

He turned his head towards her and added, "Afterwards, he founded a kingdom and left a command for his descendants to take away the item that births the fog because he knew it would thin over time."

Lara's eyes widened in surprise, and she asked, "I am supposed to free them?"

Haden looked into her eyes and answered with a shake of her head, "That's what your ancestor wanted, but you haven't awakened your bloodline, so even if you want to. You can't do anything."

Lara's expression darkened, and her lips parted to question even further, but suddenly the sound of cracks echoed throughout the dark swamp.

Haden's aura moved to cover her body, and he said, "You should wake up."

"What?" She muttered in confusion, and he pushed her into the swamp.

Her eyes widened, and she sank into the dark swamp.

The dark water of the swamp began to choke her, and she closed her eyes in fright.

'N-no!' She screamed inwardly, but the sensation of choking ended soon after.

'Huh? What's going on?' A few moments later, she opened her eyes to Haden, who had his eyes shut.

She lifted her hand to touch his face, but Andreus stopped her hand by grabbing it.

"Huh?" She muttered in confusion, and he said, "He is not awake yet."

***

Haden looked at the armoured man, who had a ghostly aura swirling around him like the souls trapped within the purple fog.

Haden looked around and commented, "Such a distasteful myth."

He clenched his left hand, and an aura spread out from his hand, taking the form of a spear.

His eyes sharpened, and he mumbled, "Varzath!"

Aura flooded out, and fissures appeared all over the swamp behind him. Tall mountains appeared out of them, and an ominous red eye appeared in the dark sky.

The armoured man looked at the eye and shouted with fury so deep that it cracked the space around him, "DESCENDANT OF WAR!"

Haden didn't react and asked, "How many times are you going to act the same way?"

The armoured man shifted his gaze towards Haden, and a dark katana appeared in his hand.

Swoosh!

Both of them disappeared from their spots and appeared before one another.

Sweep! Thk! Tkk!

The armoured man swung the katan, Haden blocked and parried his attacks while thrusting his spear towards his head.

The dark water rippled as their weapons met.

Swish! Swoosh!

The armoured man blocked Haden's attack and continued to swing and slash his katana, each strike wailing like tormented souls.

Zrrrr!

Haden's aura rushed at the tip of the spear as he deflected an incoming thrust with the shaft and slashed at the armoured man.

AZURE ASCENDING SPEAR — SERPENT'S BITE!

The aura around him twisted and took the form of a serpent's maw. The armoured man solidified his aura before him and stepped back from the spot to dodge the attack.

Clech!

The serpent closed its maw, the aura shield cracked, but still struck nothing.

"Tch," Haden clicked his tongue and shot an irritated look towards the armoured man.

"Why continue when you already know that you can't defeat me?" Haden spat in annoyance.

The armoured man didn't answer and dashed towards Haden, his katana brimming with a dreadful aura.

Whoosh!

A wide grin split Haden's face as he stepped forward and flew towards him.

Fwoosh!

The dredging blade of dark katana met the ominous tip of the red spear —

GRRRAAANK–SHHHRRAAAM!

— The sky parted into two, and the swamp's water evaporated into nothing.

Zzzzzt! Crackle—crackle!

Sparks flew out as both aura weapons grounded against each other.

Tidal waves of auras met, and the ground quaked as they tried to push their weapons even further.

After a few seconds of confrontation, both of them jumped back and began to walk in circles with their eyes locked on the person before.

"Still as violent as ever," Haden commented with a smile.

The armoured man stayed silent and swung his katana with a wave of aura following behind it.

Shleek!

Aura began to cover the tip of Haden's spear, and he thrusted it towards the katana.

AZURE ASCENDING SPEAR — IMOOGI'S LUNGE!

The aura around the spear twisted into the image of an imoogi and lunged forward.

CRK-TKK—! WOOOSH!

The katana cracked as the imoogi's fangs pierced its blade, and the armoured man was sent flying towards the mountains.

THUD!

He crashed into a mountain, and his aura began to flicker.

Haden appeared before him, and his aura struck the armoured man like the world itself was thrown at him.

Trrrr!

The mountains shook, and cracks began to appear all over his armour.

Haden lifted his spear and threw it towards the heart of the armoured man.

Crack!

The armour gave way, and the armoured man fell into dust as the spear pierced through his core.

Crk! Crk! Crk!

Cracks began to appear everywhere in the sky and on the ground.

At the same moment, the mountains and the ominous red eye disappeared from the sky.

"Ten zero..." Haden mumbled and closed his eyes.

The world around him cracked even further and fell into ruin.

He took a deep breath and opened his eyes at the cliff.

He stood up and glanced at Andreus and Laerain, who were staring at him with varied eyes.

Andreus's eyes held fear, while Laerain's eyes held both love and gratitude.

Andreus stepped forward and said sombrely, "We have to talk."

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