SHATTERED REALM: FORGOTTEN ECHOES-Chapter 163: Going All Out
"You leave me no choice!"
Behind him, a colossal phantom began to form.
It was half frost dragon, half magma serpent—the Drakemire partial manifestation.
Spectators panicked.
"He can’t use THAT!"
"Stop the match!"
Aramith’s voice cut through everything.
"I am not in any form of danger."
The place became silent, save for the crackling phantom.
"If you use that here," Aramith said quietly, "you won’t be pleased with what I do next."
The certainty in his voice made the Keeper’s pulse spike. He felt danger coming directly from Aramith.
He closed his eyes and stood suspiciously still.
Mozrael noticed his breathing pattern change, almost as if he was breathing for two people.
And Sylvia narrowed her eyes for a second, unable to notice what she felt was off about Aramith.
But Eryndor didn’t notice the danger. He roared and lunged, but instead of the manifestation alone, he attacked with everything he had.
A geyser of ice erupted beneath Aramith.
This time, he couldn’t dodge.
The blast launched him upward, slamming him into the arena wall.
The arena wall cracked from the impact.
Cheers rose from the Dragon Academy’s side—their first cheer.
Aramith stepped out of the dust, wiping blood from his lip.
He looked calm and steady, but his eyes had lost a bit of their spark.
Eryndor’s fury sharpened, but he was now certain he could win.
"Still standing? Then—"
Fire ignited his hair.
A molten-gold ring of flame exploded around him, merging into swirling frost.
Dual attribute—fully unleashed.
Heat blasted across the arena, melting the ice instantly. Steam thundered upward.
"This is my real power," he hissed."And I’m done holding back."
He dashed faster than before, fist spiraling with fire and ice.
Aramith stood his ground and blocked.
BOOM—!!!
The shockwave almost blew out the spectators’ eardrums.
Aramith was hurled across the arena, skidding and carving a trench through stone.
He stood again.
Blood dripped from his nose, and his right arm trembled.
But his eyes were still calm.
Mozrael clenched her fists."This is wrong. He should have stopped that."
Eryndor blurred beside Aramith.
A flame-coated kick smashed into Aramith’s ribs.
CRACK.
The audience flinched in unison.
Eryndor didn’t stop.
He raised his ice-coated knuckles.
And delivered a punch that froze Aramith’s shoulder, then shattered the ice violently, tearing skin.
Another blow, fire this time.
And another, ice.
Aramith countered, using pure technique—a shoulder strike, a knee, but without any reinforcement, his strength was nothing compared to Eryndor’s dual-attribute frenzy.
And Eryndor knew it.
"You dare look down on me?!"
He grabbed Aramith by the throat and lifted him with one hand.
Aramith struck his wrist once, twice, but fire layered over reinforced ice couldn’t be broken through as such.
"You thought physical strength alone would save you?"
THUD.
He slammed Aramith into the ground.
"Cocky bastard."
He hit him, then slammed him again.
THUD.
The arena shook.
Aramith’s eyes were covered in blood, and his breath ragged, but still no ability.
Rynelle stepped back, realizing how pissed off Eryndor was. "He... he’s going to kill him."
Eryndor wasn’t finished.
Fire spiraled up his arm as ice wrapped his knuckles.
This was a killing strike.
"I’ll erase that arrogance," he glanced at Sylvia, but she didn’t even react, which infuriated him more.
He swung his arm faster this time.
BOOOOOOM—!!!
The shockwave blasted debris and steam skyward.
When the smoke cleared, Aramith lay half-buried in cracked stone.
His arm was bent wrong, his shoulder dislocated, and blood streaked his face.
He didn’t move.
Eryndor exhaled hard."That’s what happens when you walk into a Dragon’s den without wings."
The Keeper stepped forward, but stopped in disbelief.
Aramith’s hand twitched.
Gasps erupted.
"No way, he’s conscious?!"
"He should be dead!"
Slowly, Aramith pushed a knee beneath him, and his body trembled, but he lifted his head.
And smiled.
"Is that all?" he sounded too casual, even in his battered state.
Eryndor’s expression twisted into murder.
"I’ll finish it."
Fire spiraled in both hands, condensing into a lethal strike.
This time, he intended to make sure Aramith never rose again.
He charged the attack, ice and fire, twisting in uneven temperatures.
The ground split with the stress, but Aramith didn’t move an inch.
So many people shouted at him to stop, but he heard nothing.
And even as they screamed at him to stop, the people closest to him were silent.
Lynnor and Sylvia didn’t care one bit.
Mozrael only searched the arena for something other than Aramith, and when she spotted what she was looking for, a small smile appeared on her face.
The keeper was torn between interrupting and leaving them as they were. He wasn’t to stop the duel till one of them conceded.
What he couldn’t understand above all was how Aramith just stood there broken, but standing.
He looked at the beaten boy and noticed how his body seemed to shimmer a little. It was almost as if it were an illusion. He blinked, and the effect was gone.
He looked at Eryndor, and he was sure of one thing. Eryndor wanted to end this all in one blow.
He felt it necessary to stop the fight, but before he could even decide to move, Eryndor seemed to have noticed his plan.
"Don’t interrupt!" Eryndor shouted at the keeper, then released his strongest attack yet.
Time seemed to slow as the attack formed into a spear that twisted toward Aramith, drowning out every other sound and ripping apart the ground underneath.
SCREECH...BOOM!!
An explosion of hot steam clouded the arena, and Eryndor stood there panting. He saw Aramith’s figure disintegrate, and felt his anger quell.
He finally evened his breath, then—
"So that’s your strongest attack?" Casually and calmly, Aramith’s voice drifted from the side.
All eyes turned to the source of his voice to see Aramith getting up from a piece of rock.
"What?"
"How is that possible?"
Eryndor was fuming. Impossible!
"Keeper! The condition included not using any artifacts, b—"
"Accept your weakness," Aramith cut him off.
"Weakness? Who’s running away with artifacts?"
