As hours went by, Infinus pushed the Light warriors back to the arena. Where many surrounded, except for the stubborn ones. Such as Talis.
Cerus knew when he was beat, however he knew better than to leave his ally's side. No matter their history.
A bright flash of lightning caused Jakery to emerge out of thin air. He glared at the duo, realizing Ether was dead beside Talis. Which made him believe his execution was rushed.
"You... ETHER!" Jakery's blood-curdling scream echoed throughout the street. "Your heads... I WILL CHEW OFF YOUR HEADS!"
Like an unhinged Feral, Jakery tackled Cerus. Breaking him away from Talis, who stood guard over Ether's corpse.
During the few seconds when Talis had his eyes on them, a downed warrior's spark ignited. It was like a new type of hell was made. Designed to burn brightest when enraged.
Right when he opened his eyes, Ether entered an enraged state of mind upon seeing Talis. Who was completely clueless of his arrival.
With a sharp swing and a quick explosion, Talis flew across the street. Dazing him throughout the entire exchange. Giving Ether a chance to follow up with a powerful knee to the skull.
However, Talis knew something was coming. He ducked, forcing Ether to drive that knee into the wall behind him.
"You truly are the 'Undying Revenge,'" Talis grabbed his leg. "But at least we can put you down for brief amounts of time."
The ground beneath them parted into a crater, one that housed a fallen Ether. Rage still hot in his chest as he recovered within a second.
Talis brought down a war-hammer manufactured from the purest of glaciers. Which impacted Ether right on his crown. The intense heat he packed helped ease up the blow.
Allowing him to take it and continue strong. Talis laughed hysterically as Ether flew out of the crater, picking him up while on his way, then erupting over the defeated Light forces.
"UGH," Ether grunted. "Why? WHY? Why do you hate me so much?"
Before Talis could respond, Ether encased him in seething chains. The molten metal burned through the armor, lighting up his skin beneath it.
Talis screamed in agony as the bright orange liquid drew its mark on him. Tainting his skin in a scorched black.
Ether threw him off himself, sending the agonized warrior hurling through the air. Before being yanked back into a knee directed to his chin.
Pieces of metal littered the sky as the helmet that protected him shattered from impact. His bottom teeth ejected up into his upper jaw as his lower jaw shattered completely.
Not satisfied with his attack yet, Ether held onto him tight. Then spun backwards four times before throwing the badly beaten warrior back to the ground.
Once the debris cleared, Talis struggled to get up. White mist hissed out of his arms, silently warning everyone of what he was about to do.
Catching Ether off guard when he unleashed his attack. A surge of cold air sucked the warmth out of everything surrounding Talis. Granting him protection from the heated elements Ether had.
Which surprised Ether when he couldn't attack like he used to. Tellendor hummed.
"Ether, every Third Rule host has a weakness. And you just found yours. Get ready for traditional combat."
Talis erupted out of the crater, blood spewing out of his broken mouth. His shoulder crashed hard against Ether's chest, blowing all the air out of his lungs. Talis rocketed his forearm up into Ether's forehead, dealing a perfect strike.
It was like time slowed down for the two. Talis precisely struck a weak point in Ether's head, causing some of the forehead to shatter. Sending bits of his skull into his brain.
Before Ether could fall back down, Talis dug his other hand into his stomach. Ripping out a large sum of his flesh by the end.
"You will die like your father," Talis commented. "Forgotten, your family legacy gets triumphed over by Gelvesh for good."
Ether struggled to maintain focus. "Wh - what? Triumph? Why - why do you care so much?"
Talis scoffed. "You truly are clueless, huh? Four generations ago, Naroum Gelvesh and Zyrion Coros made a bet. That bet was the Gelvesh family was stronger. Fast forward to today, you and I are the last of this bet."
Tallendor hummed. "He is a madman. Broken and clueless, the poor soul. According to Alise's archives, Naroum and Zyrion were tight buddies. There is no way."
As Ether shifted his attention back to Talis, he brought down an axe onto his shoulder. Digging deep into Ether's core. He was numb from the temperature of the axe, but aware of the danger.
In reaction to the attack, Ether unsheathed Tellendor. He drove the side of the weapon straight into Talis' gut. It dug deep, allowing him to tear it back out. Blood spewed out onto the ground below.
Before Talis could respond with his own counter, Ether struck his knee with Tellendor. The armor reflected most of the damage, but the blunt trauma weakened it. Forcing him to stumble back.
Ether saw his retreat as an invitation to end the battle, growing too confident in himself. Allowing Talis to bring down his frozen axe once again, this time into Ether's side.
"This is not good," Tellendor commented. "You need heat, now. Prepare yourself."
Bright were the sun rays as they focused directly onto the wounded Zesher. Blinding Talis in the process, keeping his eyes off the newly transformed warrior.
Intense heat mended the wounds back together, keeping the fighter going for at least a little longer. It washed over Ether like a warm hug, one he used to get from Lya.
Once his solar shower was over, he felt the new surge of power. This time, he wanted to end whatever kind of rivalry Talis was so invested in.
"So what?" Ether screamed.
A war-hammer to match Talis' erupted out of his hands, striking him right on the knee. Bringing Talis to only one leg left to use.
"I offered you my alliance so many times. And you deny it. Only to go and try to force Pearl to train your reproduction system. You are disgusting, Talis," Ether howled in anger.
"YOU don't get it, see?" Talis grunted. "Your entire lineage has gotten so comfortable behind the Nine's favoritism."
Ether held Talis over his head, before unleashing a devastating eruption. Blowing a hole straight through his stomach and shoulder.
"The hell do you mean?" Ether struggled to speak through all the smoke.
"Yo - you know. My family - my mother, she was ha - hard on me just because I wasn't on par with you. It meant a lot to her and - and then it meant a lot to me. All I had to do was... kill you," Talis admitted.
A bitter taste filled Ether's mouth. It was victory, he assumed. Although it wasn't sweet. He imagined a stranger, Zyrion, joking around with his buddy. And how it resulted in this fight.
Talis fell to the ground, allowing the searing wounds to rage inside his body. "She... abandoned me... just - just because you... were better... than. Me."
Ether clutched his fists. Staring down at the defeated rival, who once swore to be his end. It became clear to him on that moment, Talis wanted to do what would have earned his mother's affection.
But went off to do it in the worst way possible. Leaving him dead in the entrance to the same arena they went all out against each other for the first time.
He fell to his knees over the dying body of his rival. Not out of shame or sorrow, but because he wanted to yell at Talis one last time. To tell him there could have been another outcome.
Jakery fell to his brother's side. "How are you alive?"
Ether blankly stared down at Talis. "Her embrace."
"What?" Jakery asked.
Ether showed him Tellendor. "Lya is with me, Jakery."
He looked over the weapon. Silently admiring its transformation. Despite still not completely understanding what happened, he still felt something coming back to him.
"Lately, I've been confused," Jakery abruptly said. "And I think I did what's right."
"What did you do?" Ether asked through the giant gasps for air.
Jakery gestured to the horizon. "That Cerus guy. I let him go. Because he bowed, I proved to be dominant. It's what you would have done, right?"
Ether stood up, brushing off the encounter. "Yeah. But this war is not over. Not until Kas and Alise are gone for good."
While they discussed, Demon stood inside the war room. His black frame being rivaled by another. She stood beside him, mouth shut tight beneath a mask.
"You are beautiful," he commented. "Such a precious creation, birthed by my hands. Now show me, Iron Maiden, show me who you are capable of becoming."