Rock ran towards Bishop with his forearm shielding his head. Bishop opened his mouth, and his loud voice made the wind wail and scratch the surface of the ice. The soundwave smacked against Rock, but the force of his sound was not enough to hinder him.
Rock's speed accelerated rapidly, and his top speed reached unprecedented heights. He moved like a bullet train, a blur to the naked eye. But it was much terrifying from Bishop's perspective. Rock seemingly grew in size the closer he got. Bishop absorbed the mana within the gemstone, and it converged within his throat. "GET BLASTED!" He shouted.
The soundwave shattered the air and ice. Large crevices appeared as the barrier traveled on its surface, but Rock still kept running. A large blue barrier appeared before Rock, and with it, he body-slammed Bishop into a building a few yards away. Bishop grabbed Rock's head and retaliated with a headbutt. Blood spilled out of their foreheads like a geyser, but it was Bishop that felt most of the pain. "You can't just headbutt so casually, Bishop!" Rock yelled, "You never know hard your opponent's head could be." He grabbed Bishop's collar and threw him on the ice.
The ice broke from the weight of Bishop's fall, and the black murky water beneath the ice flowed out and contaminated Bishop's flawless pink skin. "NO!" Bishop the last remaining mana within the Nucleus and used it to create wings that protected him from the waste.
But the wings were too wet to fly him away. He fell into the cold, murky depths, and Rock followed him below. The ice surrounding them continued to fall into the large hole, filling it ice, now dirty from the muddy water. "It's time to end this!" Rock said.
"I COULDN'T AGREE MORE!" Bishop used his wings to form a cone in front of his mic. "TRY AND SURVIVE THIS! BASS BLAST!"
A sonic blast was fired through his wings, amplified by its cone shape. It was thinner and more precise and traveled faster than his previous attacks. Mud flew out the hole, blown away from the attack. Rock released the mana within him and began to walk against the wave.
His mana formed an exoskeleton, protected from the vibrations and heat created by Bishop's attack. And he simply kept walking. He started out slow, but gradually he steps got faster and faster. Occasionally, the wave would knock him back a few inches, but he pressed forward. Rock was dauntless against Bishop's voice.
And his unwavering determination was beginning to undermine Bishop's confidence. His attack got weaker as Rock closed the distance for every step he took. And finally, Rock reached Bishop, and then it got quiet. Only the sound from the engine running in the heart of the city, the rumbling water the travel through the underground riverways, and the cannons from a distance occupied the air. Rock grabbed Bishop's wings and ripped it off his arms and shoulders, tearing the sweater's sleeves off him in the process. Then he took off Bishop's mouth, which revealed his frown and chattering teeth.
"My turn," Rock said.
Bishop closed his eyes, "GO HEAD, SHOW ME WHAT YOU CAN DO!" He yelled back.
Rock was surprised to hear his voice still have the energy from before. "I'll show you!" Rock's armor turned into liquid and surged on to his knuckles, "Diamond Fist!"
His fist glowed a beautiful shade of blue and violet, with its light cascading around them. "BEAUTIFUL," Bishop whispered right before Rock punched him on the jaw. Bishop's body fell to the floor, but the energy from the punch did not stop traveling.
A wave of mana blew past Bishop's head and penetrated through the ice, blowing the frozen moat apart. The ice was crushed into dust, forming glittering clouds around them. The cold fog gently caressed their skin while the hot spring day refect against the white ice. It was very bright inside the hole and the light revealed the dirty underbelly of the river. Bones, scrap metals, and goblin waster littered the floor and around Bishop.
Rock sat on one of the fallen ice. His muscles were aching and exhausted. "HEY!" Bishop yelled.
"What the?" Rock fell off his seat, "You're still awake? And you can still talk?"
"YES! I DON'T USE MY MOUTH TO SPEAK. VOICE IS IN THE BACK OF THE THROAT." Bishop had his hand on his lower jaw, trying to alight it with the rest of his skull. "HOW DID YOU DO THAT? MAKING YOUR FIST AS BEAUTIFUL AS THOSE GIANT ROCKS FROM THE DARK ELVES."
"Why should I tell?"
"I LOST, MIGHT AS WELL KNOW HOW I LOST."
"I trained my fist for a year. My whole body was put in hell for one year, so it could never break." Rock grabbed the large ice he was sitting on and broke it with one hand, "I lost so many times before. So I made a promise that I will never lose again." Rock looked back during those months. He would punch Tungstrees until his knuckle bled. Pagasa would hit his head with an iron hammer that was used for smithing until his forehead was stronger than a knight's helmet.
The callouses on his knuckles were now his diamond rings, the proof of his labor to become the powerhouse among the brothers. When it came to brute strength, he was peerless. His entire body was molded into shape, becoming the symbol of the unmovable goblin kingdom that will rise from the muddy riverbank like a lotus flower. Pagasa trained him to become the shield for the kingdom. Unbreakable and unstoppable. "I cannot lose anymore. Because I have so many to lose if I did."
"BUT ISN'T THAT UNFAIR. YOU PLACED ALL YOUR BETS ON YOUR LEADER. BUT NOW YOU SAW IT DIDN'T YOU. THE PERSON THAT RETURNED WAS MY KING."
"So?" Rock said, "That doesn't mean anything. I know Sun still out there and he will come back. Because if there's one thing I learned, it is never too late to rise when you fall, because if you don't, you lost. I would know, I lost so many times."
Suddenly the earth began to shake, and the ice began to break. "IT LOOKS LIKE THE WATER IS COMING."
"What did you just say?"
"THE ICE LOST ITS INTEGRITY DURING OUR BATTLE. AND IT LOOKS LIKE SOMEBODY TURNED ON THE BAPTISTA."
Rock grabbed Bishop and jumped out of the hole, and ran to the riverbank. Water exploded out from the ice, carrying with them four goblins. The water continued to fill the moat and break through the ice. Rock caught the unconscious goblins. They were Spat, Cossack, Knight, and one he has never met before. The water continued to travel down the moat and into the canal, but the gate was still close. Rook was still there guarding the gate.