Jakel found himself surrounded by a nightmare; the very essence of terror materialized into reality. The sky above was a blood-red canvas, swirling with malicious energy that seemed to seep into his soul. The pitch-black ground under him groaned in agony, as if it were a living being trapped in eternal torment. From all directions, he could hear the haunting echoes of agony, sorrow, pain, and suffering emanating from the same obsidian walls that enclosed him. The surrounding area took the shape of a colosseum, its towering walls looming ominously, with tormented souls as the silent spectators, their faces contorted into expressions of perpetual torment.
"This is it," he heard Arnan say, his voice cutting through the oppressive atmosphere like a blade. Jakel turned to face him, his heart pounding. "Time to die, monkey," Arnan declared, his outstretched palm crackling with malevolent energy.
Jakel gritted his teeth and took a wide stance, his feet planted firmly on the ground as he tightened his grip on his rifle. The pounding of his heart reverberated loudly in the tense air, catching Arnan's attention. "Don't fuckin' tell me... that better not be what I think it is, monkey," Arnan spat venomously, his eyes narrowing as he focused on Jakel.
From within Jakel's very soul, a yellow light began to expand, enveloping his body and forming a small five-foot circle around him. "Didn't I say I was a pain in the ass to deal with? Even this isn't enough to get rid of me easily," Jakel retorted with a tense grin, defiance gleaming in his eyes.
A Hellscape functioned similarly to a Heavenly Paradise, though unlike the latter, which only required a halo to materialize, a Hellscape demanded both horns and a name to achieve the same effect. Arnan's Hellscape, dubbed Soul of Sorrowful Agony, targeted the very souls of its victims, weighing them down, draining them, ruining them, breaking them, and corrupting them before swallowing them whole. However, it couldn't affect Jakel, who possessed a defense against its effects known as the Soul Veil. This technique extended a part of his soul outward, coating his body and forming a protective circle around him, shielding him and those within the circle from the effects of Hellscape's, Heavenly Paradise's, Soul Chamber's (The mortal equivalent of Hellscape's and Heavenly Paradise's), and similar realms. It was a technique passed down through generations of his family.
"Tch, don't think that will save you!" Arnan's voice thundered through the Hellscape as he unleashed a chain of lightning-esque attacks using souls, their hue turning a blood-red within the malevolent realm. As the chain of lightning-esque souls surged towards Jakel, he remained rooted in place, his gaze defiant as the souls struck the protective circle surrounding him. The barrier, appearing like a shapeless, translucent shield, repelled the souls upon impact, causing them to bounce off or disintegrate.
"Die, die, die!" Arnan's shouts filled the air as he hurled a barrage of attacks, each infused with souls of varying forms. Bolts of charged souls struck the barrier, while thin whips of souls vibrated like chainsaws, slashing relentlessly. Arnan wasn't merely wasting souls; he could see Jakel straining to maintain the Soul Veil. Sweat dripped down Jakel's face as he fought to hold his ground, slowly being pushed back by the relentless onslaught.
"Break already!" Arnan's scream echoed, his assaults intensifying with each passing moment. Like flames, souls scorched the barrier; like rams, souls battered it relentlessly. Finally, with a crack like shattering glass, the barrier began to fracture, Jakel's body trembling as he fought to hold it together.
Arnan grinned manically as he dialed up the attacks, fully intent on seizing the opportunity to eliminate the pesky monkey. But to his surprise, Jakel, no longer rooted in place and with the barrier destroyed, sprinted toward him fearlessly. Arnan thought that without the protective barrier, Jakel would be defenseless. However, he was wrong. Despite the barrier's collapse, Jakel remained unaffected by the Hellscape, his body still enveloped by a part of his soul, rendering him impervious to its corrupting influence.
"Shit!" Arnan exclaimed as he hastily created a barrier using souls, only for Jakel to punch through it like paper. The Soul Veil also negated magics to a certain degree, though Jakel wouldn't have been able to do this before. He could only do it now because *I can't conjure enough souls to properly defend!* Arnan realized in a panic as he sloppily tried to raise his arms to defend. But Jakel easily struck him with the butt of his rifle in the stomach, causing Arnan to double over in pain.
Before Arnan could even register the blow to his stomach, Jakel's right hook landed squarely on his jaw, snapping his head to the side with a sickening crack. With adrenaline coursing through his veins, Jakel relentlessly pressed the attack, seizing Arnan's hair and yanking him forward before delivering a vicious strike to his knee with the butt of his rifle. Arnan's leg threatened to give way under the onslaught, but before he could fully buckle, Jakel followed up with a knee to his midsection, driving the air from his lungs in a pained gasp.
Releasing his grip on Arnan's hair, Jakel's fist collided with Arnan's nose with bone-crushing force, eliciting a spray of blood as it broke upon impact. Bloodied and reeling, Arnan staggered backward, but Jakel showed no mercy. With frenzied desperation, he swung his rifle and fists in a relentless barrage, each blow landing with brutal precision as he aimed to incapacitate Arnan before he could regain his bearings.
In a desperate attempt to create some distance, Arnan summoned what little energy he had left, pushing Jakel away with a burst of soul-infused energy. Momentarily caught off guard by the unexpected force, Jakel stumbled backward, giving Arnan a brief stoppage from the onslaught.
"Damn you!" Arnan yelled as the Hellscape began to give way, the malevolent realm unraveling before their eyes. Once again, the world seemed to warp around them, flipping around on itself, until Jakel and Arnan found themselves back on the side of the estate where they originally were. Both of them were much more drained than before — Arnan from the beatdown Jakel gave him and lack of souls, Jakel from the oppressive nature of the Hellscape and using Soul Veil for such a prolonged period. Their breaths came in ragged gasps as they locked gazes. They knew that the fight was coming to an end soon and that the outcome would be final. With grim determination, they both readied themselves for one last attack.