Chương 309: Dual on ice and flame

Eskar steadied himself atop the fractured ice, one hand gripping his crude bone blade so tightly his knuckles had turned pale beneath the cold. Defiance still burned fiercely within his remaining eye as he stared toward Frost's elegant figure across the frozen wasteland. Only moments earlier, he had unleashed everything he possessed in a single overwhelming strike. Yet, the Divine Beast had deflected it effortlessly, almost lazily, with nothing more than a slight turn of the wrist.

There had been no strain in Frost's expression, no visible exertion, only calm indifference as Eskar had been hurled across the ice like debris caught in a storm. The disparity between them was enormous. Yet Eskar refused to retreat. Frost observed him calmly from across the frozen plain, pale hair swaying softly in the icy wind while his silver blade reflected the white glow of the heavens above. There was no hostility in the Divine Beast's expression. If anything, he looked mildly entertained.

"It seems," Frost said softly, "that this duel shall become rather dull unless I attach a condition." Eskar narrowed his eye cautiously.

"And what exactly are you proposing?" A gentle smile spread across Frost's face, revealing teeth so pristine they appeared sculpted rather than natural, a striking contrast to the blood that had stained those same fangs earlier when he tore apart the giant beast within the snowstorm.

"How about this, young Eskar," Frost replied pleasantly.

"If you manage to damage me even once, I shall consider you the victor." Eskar blinked in surprise.

"That's it?" Frost nodded calmly.

"That is all." The heir frowned deeply.

"Why not simply say I need to land a hit?" The Divine Beast chuckled quietly.

"Please," he answered with faint amusement.

"I have not dueled anyone since my master's sealing. If I demanded perfection from you, where would the enjoyment be? Besides…" His blue eyes straightened slightly.

"Not every strike carries meaning." Eskar remained silent for several moments before cautiously asking,"And you're certain I can even hurt you?" Frost tilted his head slightly.

"But of course. What would I be if I proposed an impossible challenge? That would make me no better than those treacherous savages." Eskar's brow furrowed.

"Savages?" For the first time since the duel began, Frost's expression darkened. The warmth vanished from his gaze, replaced by something cold enough to make the frozen wasteland itself seem gentle by comparison.

"Old enemies," he answered quietly.

"Enemies who no longer exist." His grip tightened almost imperceptibly around the silver sword.

"All that remains of them now is the echo my master left behind when he perished alongside them." Suspicion deepened within Eskar, but instinct screamed at him not to press further. Whatever Frost referred to clearly carried a weight far beyond his understanding. Slowly, Eskar lowered himself into stance once more while the small Bloodscale shifted beneath his robe.

"Fire the moment you see an opening," he whispered quietly. The tiny dragon responded with a faint puff of crimson flame. Frost watched the exchange with visible amusement. Then Eskar blinked. And Frost vanished. Eskar's eye widened violently.

"You're open." The voice came from directly beside him. Instinct reacted faster than thought. Frost's silver blade thrust toward Eskar's skull with terrifying precision, aiming directly for his eye. Eskar barely managed to duck low while twisting his body sideways, his bone blade slashing upward toward Frost's torso in desperate retaliation. CLANG. The weapon struck Frost's bare skin and rebounded harmlessly. The sound resembled steel colliding against steel rather than flesh.

"Your blade will prove useless against me, youngling," Frost remarked calmly. Eskar hissed through clenched teeth but refused to relent. Abandoning caution entirely, he released the weapon and lunged forward barehanded.

"Then let's see if this works!" Crimson energy erupted beneath his skin, blazing around his fists like molten fire as he unleashed a furious barrage of strikes toward Frost's chest and head. Punches, elbows, knees, and kicks crashed forward in wild succession, brutal and relentless enough to overwhelm almost any opponent alive. Frost avoided every attack effortlessly. There was no urgency in his movements, no sign of pressure. Each motion flowed with graceful precision, more like a dance than a battle.

Then, in the middle of Eskar's assault, Frost stepped forward. The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The movement was so smooth, Eskar barely processed it. The silver blade flickered upward. Instinct screamed. Eskar jerked his head aside at the final possible moment. Too late. The sword pierced directly through his left eye. Agony detonated through his skull.

A torrent of crimson blood poured down his face as Eskar screamed violently and staggered backward across the ice, clutching the ruined socket while blood streamed through trembling fingers. The strike had not penetrated deeply enough to kill him, but the eye itself had been destroyed. Frost whistled softly.

"Impressive instincts," the Divine Beast remarked calmly.

"Had you reacted even slightly slower, your skull would have split apart." His smile remained serene.

"Do not attempt to heal that wound. This blade destroys the very signature of existence itself." His blue eyes narrowed faintly.

"That eye is gone forever." Eskar trembled violently, one hand pressed against the blood flooding down his face, while rage and pain collided within his chest like wildfire. It hurt more than anything he had ever experienced. The freezing air only worsened the burning agony tearing through his nerves, yet despite everything, he forced himself upright once more.

"You bastard…" he growled through gritted teeth.

"You'll pay for that." Frost chuckled softly.

"If you are capable of punishing me, young Eskar, then I would gladly welcome it." The Divine Beast even bowed slightly afterward. That single action ignited something feral inside Eskar. With a furious roar, he exploded forward once more. Crimson energy erupted from his body in violent waves while blood streamed endlessly down his ruined face. He leaped high into the air before bringing his leg crashing downward toward Frost like an executioner's axe. Frost sidestepped gracefully. BOOM.

Eskar's heated kick smashed into the frozen ground with catastrophic force. The entire region cracked apart as massive fractures spread across the endless ice like spiderwebs, while distant glaciers trembled violently beneath the impact.

"You must not allow rage to consume you," Frost advised calmly while weaving through Eskar's relentless assault.

"Pain dulls the senses. Remaining calm is the wisest path available to you now." Then, suddenly, Eskar grinned. It was not a confident smile, nor the grin of someone with victory in sight. It looked wild and desperate, the expression of a man already standing at the edge of ruin. Before Frost could react, Eskar surged forward and seized the Divine Beast by the collar.

"Thanks for the advice." With a roar, he hurled Frost across the frozen battlefield. The Divine Beast sighed softly as his body sailed backward through the air, appearing almost unimpressed by the attack itself. Then his eyes sharpened. A brilliant crimson glow erupted from within Eskar's robe.

"Cunning," Frost admitted. The Bloodscale emerged fully at last, its tiny body radiating overwhelming heat while crimson light condensed violently within its jaws. Frost remained suspended upside down in midair for a fraction of a second. That was all the opening Eskar needed. The dragon fired. A concentrated beam of devastating crimson heat tore across the frozen world like divine judgment itself. The air screamed beneath the temperature. The heavens distorted.

Ice melted around Eskar's feet while shockwaves rippled outward across the wasteland from the sheer force of the attack. Frost's expression shifted slightly.

"Very well." The silver blade moved once. Only once. The beam split apart instantly. The redirected attack carved sideways across the frozen wasteland instead, obliterating entire mountains of ice and tearing a glowing trench through the region that stretched beyond the horizon. Glaciers exploded apart while the frozen earth itself ruptured beneath the overwhelming force. Eskar staggered as the battlefield trembled violently around him.

Frost landed softly several meters away, his robes fluttering gently despite the chaos surrounding them.

"Now look at the mess you've made, heir." Eskar launched himself forward.

"I don't care!" His remaining eye burned with near madness while crimson energy erupted around him once again.

"All I need is one wound! One!" His fists tightened violently.

"I'll destroy this entire region if I have to!" Frost sighed softly, and for the first time, there was something almost sorrowful within his voice.

"I see…" His blue eyes lingered on Eskar.

"You truly are his creation. You never know when to surrender, just like him. Just like the flame that burned before you." Eskar closed the distance rapidly, his fist raised high while the Bloodscale prepared another blast behind him. Then Frost's expression changed completely. All warmth vanished. All amusement disappeared. Only cold remained.

"But not every flame deserves to continue burning." The silver sword rose. No, It simply existed there. As though time itself had failed to witness the motion. Eskar blinked in confusion.

'What happened?' Then agony exploded through his body. His right shoulder burst apart in a spray of crimson blood as his severed arm spun through the air before crashing against the frozen ground nearby. Eskar collapsed, screaming onto the ice, his entire body convulsing violently while blood poured endlessly from the ruined stump of his shoulder. The pain was indescribable. It felt as though his nerves had been submerged in molten metal.

"UGH—!" He clutched desperately at the wound, breathing ragged and broken while blood stained the white ice beneath him scarlet. Frost approached slowly, silver blade resting calmly at his side. The Divine Beast's expression remained unreadable. Then suddenly the Bloodscale burst from Eskar's robe with a furious shriek, firing another blazing beam directly toward Frost. Frost merely raised one hand. The attack struck his palm, And stopped completely.

The concentrated heat that could melt mountains failed to move him even slightly. Frost continued walking forward through the beam without resistance before calmly reaching out and grabbing the tiny dragon by the throat.

"Silence." Ice spread across the Bloodscale's body. The small creature shrieked desperately as frost imprisoned it completely.

"No!" Eskar forced himself upright despite the agony tearing through his body.

"Your duel is with me! Leave him out of this!" He charged wildly toward Frost, throwing desperate punches with his remaining arm. Frost avoided each strike effortlessly before finally reaching forward and grabbing Eskar by the throat. The young heir was lifted helplessly into the air. Frost stared directly into his remaining eye.

"Look at yourself," the Divine Beast said quietly.

"Pathetic." Eskar trembled violently.

"You challenged me, yet now you stand before me missing an eye and an arm while I remain untouched." His voice grew colder.

"You even allowed your tiny companion to suffer in your place." The Divine Beast narrowed his eyes slightly.

"You are weak." Those words struck Eskar harder than any blade.

"And that, young Eskar…" Frost continued softly, "…is your greatest crime." Something inside Eskar shattered. Tears flooded his remaining eye as rage and despair erupted together.

"Weak?" he screamed.

"You think I want to be weak?!" The frozen ground beneath them trembled violently.

"You think I chose this life?!" Crimson energy exploded uncontrollably around his body.

"You think I wanted my own father torturing me for years because I wasn't strong enough?!" Below them, the ice cracked apart completely, revealing endless flames burning beneath the frozen region itself. The Bloodscale cried desperately while struggling against the ice imprisoning it.

"You have no idea what I've survived!" Eskar roared.

"And you dare call me weak?!" His remaining hand ignited with blazing crimson energy.

"I'll show you what weakness looks like!" The energy detonated outward as Eskar slammed his burning fist directly into Frost's chest. Silence followed. Then smoke rose slowly into the freezing air. Frost's clothing had burned. A small charred mark stained the Divine Beast's pale skin. Eskar had done it. He had wounded a Divine Beast. Yet the victory barely registered within his mind. Pain, rage, and despair drowned everything else until nothing remained except exhaustion and fury. Frost, however, smiled faintly.

"Consider it a promise, then." Eskar's eye grew. A blade pierced his heart. Blood erupted violently from his mouth as the silver sword emerged from his chest. The Bloodscale screamed in horror while Frost slowly pulled the blade free from Eskar's body. Then the Divine Beast released him. Eskar's broken form fell backward into the endless sea of flames beneath the shattered ice while the Bloodscale finally shattered its frozen prison and desperately dove after him. His vision blurred. His heartbeat weakened.

The tiny dragon curled against his chest while tears and blood mixed across his face.

"You should have…" Eskar whispered weakly. His heart beat once more.

"…left…" Then it stopped. And Eskar, heir of the Cowardly Flame, fell silently into the inferno beneath the frozen world, his lifeless body swallowed by endless fire. Eskar, had died.