Echoes of the Abyssal Blade: Path to Free Will-Chapter 60: Zerypha vs Draven

Zerypha flung her hand forward, and the orbs started falling down like meteors.

In response to her attack, Draven moved closer to her, and raised his sword, he presented a single slash, and it was wide, effortless, and casual.

A wall of fire burst into the sky, and an avian of molten flame flew upward to meet the falling orbs, the resulting collision shattered the air, waves of light and fire clashing in a maelstrom, each orb that struck the flaming bird, burst apart in cascades of liquid starlight and shards of ice, raining down as harmless mist.

Noticing her attack getting canceled, Zerypha swiftly flew beside him, already moving, a streak of silver and white across the storm-laden sky, she came down upon him like a comet, her spear of light and ice materializing in her hand.

CLASH.

Draven’s sword met her spear, the ground quaked, and a blast of pressure flattened the ruined battlefield for miles, craters started forming, trees in distant forests snapped like brittle twigs.

"Still carrying that scrap metal around, Draven?" Zerypha snarled, her voice ringing like a bell over a frozen lake.

"Better than prancing around with a glowstick," Draven shot back, his blade wreathed in flame as he pushed her back.

The two split, their figures blurring, then reappearing as afterimages, Draven swung his sword, and arcs of fire shot out like flaming birds, twisting through the sky toward Zerypha.

She countered with a sweep of her wings, shards of ice and lances of light intercepting the flames, where they met, sky and earth alike ruptured, the sheer pressure of their strikes causing shockwaves to ripple out in concentric rings.

Zerypha raised a hand, calling forth a circle of radiant sigils above her, each one spinning, refracting light into a blinding halo, from within them, countless spears of solidified radiance shot down in a relentless barrage.

Draven smirked in response to her barrage of attacks, he raised his hand, fire was spiraling around his arm, reaching for his sword, pulling it behind, he thrusted it at Zerypha.

"Phoenix Burst."

The world turned red, a large flaming phoenix formed at the tip of his sword.

Fire erupted around him in a dome of seething magma and embers, devouring the descending spears, the heat was so intense the air warped, and the ground liquified in wide swaths around him.

Zerypha’s eyes narrowed.

"Hmph, you are not the only one with special moves," she gritted her teeth in displeasure, and summoned a staff with a draconic skull made of crystal perched on top of the staff.

Draven’s face turned solemn after noticing Zerypha pulling out her trump card.

After noticing Draven’s solemn expression, Zerypha felt a bit delighted, and then she raised her staff, as the world turned dim, her surroundings started freezing, trapping Draven, who didn’t resist much.

A chill bled into the world, creeping like a living thing, the clouds overhead thickened and twisted, darkening into a suffocating shroud, the earth quaked beneath them, frost crawling outward in fractal veins across molten cracks, steam hissing violently where heat met cold. Zerypha’s staff radiated an eerie brilliance, the crystalline skull atop it opened its maw, exhaling a breath of spectral mist.

Draven’s eyes narrowed as the temperature plummeted, frost forming on the tip of his blade despite the inferno raging around him, the fire flickered, the crimson dome buckled as thin cracks spiderwebbed through its surface. The flaming phoenix above him screeched in protest, its wings weighed down by sheets of ice forming in midair.

"How do you feel now, Draven?" Zerypha’s voice was silken now, edged with predatory amusement. "This is the power of that cursed dragon, which he had trouble killing, getting its skull was the best decision anyone could have made, as a matter of fact, the materials of that accursed dragon that others took have also been turned into formidable weapons, except for you, who foolishly just took its blood, and its heart, our bloodlines are at the apex already, god knows why you took it, but I am sure you couldn’t have turned it into a weapon."

She thrust the staff skyward, the crystalline skull emitted a pulse of light that sent the clouds reeling, tearing a gash in the heavens, from it descended an enormous winged creature formed entirely of argent mist and crystalline fragments, a draconic wraith whose glowing eyes were twin pits of eternity.

The Draconic winged wraith coiled through the sky with a silent snarl, wherever it passed, frost and radiant light poured down like a freezing storm, spears of ice and shards of light rained upon Draven’s position.

Draven braced himself as the world turned to glass and frost around him, he gritted his teeth, his earlier bravado dimmed beneath the oppressive weight of the summoned entity’s presence, even using his secret technique would not help him in this situation.

"Tch... I’ll admit it, Zerypha, you guys are quite fast in creating your weapons."

The serpentine wraith dove.

Its gaping maw stretched wide, aiming to consume him whole, Draven’s figure blurred, moving faster than the eye could track, a single burst of flame left in his place, but the draconic wraith followed, its tail was lashing through the air.

Zerypha’s laughter rang out, crystalline and sharp. "You can run well for a human, this must be that Battle Art, which only you can practice in your family, was it called Void Steps."

Draven skidded to a halt on a distant peak, one knee sinking into the frost-slick stone, his breathing was steady, but his face was grim, sweat mingling with the freezing mist clinging to his skin.

"Damn it, Zerypha is going all out, huh looks like I will have to put some effort" he muttered, gripping his sword tighter.

The staff in Zerypha’s grasp blazed brighter, and the wraith surged toward him once more, its crystalline body glinting in the storm’s scattered light.

Draven raised his sword, fire sparking along the edge, but before he could counter, Zerypha’s figure flickered into view before him, a streak of silver and white, her spears statrted lunging for his heart.

CLANG.

The impact threw a shockwave across the ridge, splitting the peak in half, stone and ice cascaded down the mountainside, Draven could barely deflect the blow, stumbling back as her spear danced, lashing out in a barrage of strikes, each one heavier than the last.

He countered with instinctual precision, his sword blurring to meet her assault. The sky above was a maelstrom of fire and frost, sigils spiraling into existence around them.

"I told you before, Draven, you shouldn’t have provoked me and let me kill that wretched shaman of your."

Zerypha’s next strike was a downward slash of her spear, infused with the wraith’s power, the sheer weight of it drove Draven to his knees, the stone beneath him shattering.

Draven snarled, flame bursting from his shoulders as he pushed against her strength.

"Damn it—"

But it was too late.

The wraith coiled down around them both, its massive form creating a cage of ghostly bone and icy mist, Zerypha stepped back, raising her staff, he wraith responded, tendrils of frost-laced light lashing out and encircling Draven’s limbs, locking him in place.

He struggled, fire rippling around him, but the frost resisted, dampening the flames before they could fully ignite.

"I warned you," Zerypha whispered, stepping forward, the staff’s crystalline skull gleaming malevolently.

She raised it high, and an array of Celestial runes appeared beneath Draven’s feet, locking into a lattice of radiant light, the air tightened, reality itself constricting around him.

"This is my latest creation, Radiating-Frozen Array, your soul will be sealed within this ice, and your body cast as a statue."

Draven’s lips curled in defiance even as the frost clawed higher up his body, binding his legs, his arms, the cold sinking deep into his bones.

"...Heh."

Zerypha arched a brow. "You laugh in your final moments?"

"I laugh because you talk too much."

A surge of crimson flame burst from his chest, shattering the frost chains, the runes beneath his feet cracked.

Zerypha’s eyes widened. "Impossible—!"

Draven’s blade ignited in full, a tempest of molten fire surging around him, peeling away the wraith’s cage, the summoned creature recoiled, its form losing coherence as the heat became unbearable for it to handle.

"Let me show you my Starfall family’s methods."

He clutched his sword tight, breathing evenly, and swung his sword in a horizontal arc, a wave of fire tore through the air, cleaving through the wraith’s body, reducing it to mist and drifting embers, Zerypha shielded herself with a wall of light, but the sheer heat melted the ice beneath her.

Steam hissed violently from the ground, the battlefield rapidly transforming from frostbitten tundra to scorched wasteland. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Draven advanced, fire crackling around him, his earlier weariness replaced by a dangerous calm.

Zerypha growled, "Ughh, so this is the source of your confidence, you have gone quite far in utilizing your bloodline powers, I must say, out of all of us, your talent is undeniable, except for that fox, of course," summoning another barrage of sigils, sending lances of light hurling toward him, but Draven wove through them with ruthless efficiency, his sword intercepting the blasts, scattering them harmlessly.

Reaching her, he feinted left and struck right, Zerypha barely parried, the force of his attack sending her skidding back across the cracked earth.

"This... isn’t over," she hissed, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

"Oh, I know," he said with a grin.

Draven’s sword blazed, and he surged forward again with stacks upon stacks of attack, overlapping his blade.

Their weapons met in a flurry of strikes, neither willing to yield, the clash of fire and light sent shockwaves across the skies, distant mountaintops crumbled, and the heavens themselves seemed to weep, streaks of crimson and silver lightning tearing through the storm clouds.

Zerypha’s movements were graceful, precise, and a master of celestial sorcery, her staff and spear wove through the air, each strike laced with power vast enough to level cities.

But Draven, relentless and indomitable, pressed her, his sword a storm of flame and fury. Minutes passed in the blur of combat.

At last, Zerypha found an opening, she spun her staff, and the crystalline skull fired a concentrated beam of celestial light point-blank.

It struck Draven square in the chest.

The Hero grunted, his body thrown back, smashing through stone pillars and skidding across the ravaged plain. Smoke rose from his armor, blood dripping from fresh wounds.

Zerypha panted, her staff trembling slightly in her grip. "Well, how do you like that, it must have hurt, haha."

Draven spat blood and laughed. "You’re forgetting one thing, bird."

He slowly rose, fire gathering around him anew.

"You feathery bastards can never be a match for me."

He pointed his sword skyward, fire condensed, the air itself igniting as he summoned forth his final technique.

"Cycle of Ash and Bloom," this attack of Draven created a maze of circular spinning flames, without any end, moving towards Zerypha itself.

Zerypha’s face trembled, she raised her staff, and created a spherical crystalline shield around her, which protected her, but not without cost.

She fell down, devoid of any energy, bits and pieces of golden blood could be seen staining her veil.

"DRAVEN, When did you create such a fearsome art, this is not a battle art, nor a secret art of your family," screamed Zerypha.

Draven, whose condition was worse than her, "heh, who was just boasting about her weapon now, so how do you like the taste my newly created move," remarked Draven with a smirk.