BOOOOM!!!

  The sky tore apart as green lightning writhed across the heavens like serpents, their snarling echoes rattling the frozen forest below. The storm illuminated the white wasteland, each flash carving jagged shadows over the uneven ground where battle raged.

  Dan twisted sideways, dodging the massive swing of the Eradicator’s armored fist. His coat flared violently with the sudden movement. Without pause, he lunged forward, his hand clamping down onto the Eradicator’s chest plate.

  At once, before the contact was smothered, his collapse aura met the ash of negation that coated the Eradicator’s body. The two forces collided like oil and fire, fizzing, snarling, passively cancelling each other out, neither yielding.

  Dan did not pull back. His fingers clenched tighter, knuckles whitening as the invisible clash trembled through his arm. With a sharp exhale, his other fist coiled back, muscles tightening against the cold as if every fiber of his being was pulled into the strike.

  Boooom!!!

  The ground quaked under the impact. The Eradicator’s armored frame was driven into the snow, exploding it outward in a deafening crash. White mist shot into the air, swirling together with the drifting green smoke spilling from the Eradicator’s mask. But as the mist settled, Dan’s sharp gaze caught the truth, his collapse aura, had been negated once more by the Eradicator's armor.

  The fight had stretched endlessly, strike after strike, collision after collision. Each moment blurred into another.

  Dan’s chest rose and fell steadily as his hands trembled. He stared at them while breathing calmly yet calculating, mind sifting through the reality of the battle.

  We’re canceling each other out. Every attack, every clash, every strike, is useless. And worst of all, he’s feeding off this… getting stronger as the fight drags on. If this keeps up, I’ll be the one buried beneath the snow.

  Dan's eyes narrowed as his thoughts deepened, he knew very well that when two groundless beings are in a battle, the stronger and more knowledgeable being always overpowers the other,

  And he knew that..

  I know more than him, I’ve walked deeper into the abyss than this entity… but as long as this fight stretches on, I’ll be the one broken

  Just in that moment of his thoughts, Dan instantly felt a suffocating presence from the snow beneath him.

  The pressure negated the air as the Eradicator surged upward from the crater, the armored figure a blur of black metal and toxic green smoke. Its fist, massive and weighted with impossible force, came screaming toward Dan.

  But Dan… did not move.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  He stood still, his expression unshaken, eyes calm, as just in that moment before the attack even reached, it became futile

  Wooshh...!

  With a swing of his hand, in a smooth wave-like motion.

  The atmosphere cracked. The Eradicator slammed back into the earth by nothing more than the sheer presence of Dan’s collapse aura. The ground quaked under the pressure, snow bursting outward in another deafening crash.

  Dan exhaled through his nose, turning his head slightly. His gaze flicked backward.

  Hovering above the snowy ridge was a girl, her frame outlined against the storm-lit sky. Ten years of age, her red hair was tied into two rounded buns, glistening faintly with frost. Emerald eyes glared sharply through the icy mist. Her ash-colored coat fluttered around her as she floated effortlessly.

  “Dimwit,” Liz’s voice carried across the cold air, sharp and scolding. “You charge out alone, restraining your power without even using it at full, pretending to act bossy… and not once do you ask for help. You knew you couldn’t handle this by yourself.”

  Dan’s lips curled, his usual unruly tone slipping out without hesitation. “I didn’t need one.”

  Thwack!!

  Dan winced as Liz’s hand chopped down against his head. His coat collar sagged as he hunched slightly, glaring sideways at her. “What was that for?!” he muttered, rubbing the sore spot.

  “You know what you did.” Liz puffed her cheeks in irritation, crossing her arms as her boots tapped against the invisible foothold of her aura. “Hmph!”

  The world froze for a moment.

  SCREEECH!!!

  The sound split the storm, a metallic shriek that rattled the very marrow of their bones. The air thickened instantly, heavy and suffocating, pressing against everything around.

  From the crater below, the Eradicator’s presence surged violently. Its armored frame rose, wreathed in a storm of green smoke that clawed hungrily at the sky. The dull, darkened armor glimmered faintly in the lightning’s light.. splintered, faint cracks scattered across its chest plate.

  Dan’s brows furrowed slightly. His collapse aura had managed to scar it.

  But just as the crack was seen, as if it was an illusion, the cracks vanished. Not repaired, not mended. Simply… erased. The concept of damage itself negated, leaving behind unbroken armor as though the wound had never been.

  The storm above raged louder than ever, green lightning dancing violently as if mocking the previous battle.

  This was far from over.

  Dan lowered his fist slightly, breath leaving in a calm mist, though his eyes stayed locked on the figure below.

  Liz muttered under her breath, her voice low, almost drowned out by the storm.

  “…This is going to be a headache.”

  The fight was only just beginning.

  ****

  BOOOOM!!

  The sky itself split open with the sound of rupturing glass, green lightning tearing jagged scars through the heavy clouds above. The frozen air trembled, the echoes rolling across the endless white world. The storm-lit heavens painted the snowfield with an unsettling emerald glow, making the shadows stretch and quiver unnaturally.

  Not far from the clash, Emma, Jett, and Ron stood upon a rise of hard ice. Their breaths misted faintly, stolen by the wind. From here, the fight between Dan, Liz, and the Eradicator was clear, every crash of power shaking the permafrost beneath their feet.

  Jett’s eyes narrowed as she took in the figure clad in that strange, dull blackened armor.. green smoke rolling steadily from the vents in its mask. Her voice broke the silence,

  “This one is different. Different from any Eradicator I’ve seen or faced.”

  Emma’s gaze was locked on the battlefield, silver-white hair whipping against her face as the icy winds tugged at her coat. Her unique white eyes, clear as frozen glass, followed every movement. She spoke quietly, yet with weight.

  “I’ve never seen an Eradicator before… but even I can tell that this isn't an easy adversary.”

  She paused, pressing her lips together, before slightly turning to Jett, conviction hardening her tone.

  “If we want this to end… we’ll have to join them.”