The air over the [Shattered Peaks] was unnaturally still.
Towering mountains stretched endlessly across the horizon, jagged and broken, like the bones of ancient gods left to rot under the sky.
It was here that four powerful figures stood, silent and unmoving for a long moment as the wind howled through the fractured stones around them.
On one side were the entities of Death, Nocteron, the God of Death, and his Chosen, Lich, both cloaked in an overwhelming aura of decay and finality.
On the other stood the forces of Primordial origin, Elyssara, the Primordial Goddess, and her Chosen One, Seren, their presence emanating life, light, and resistance.
The [Main Round] of the Chosen Games had begun, and the stakes were unforgiving.
Only one pair would leave this place alive.
The battlefield itself was brutal, a massive range of ruined mountains and splintered ridges stretching for miles in every direction.
Broken terrain. No flat ground.
Nocteron stood tall, his expression unreadable beneath jet-black hair.
His pale skin shimmered faintly in the moonlight, and his crimson eyes darkened and deepened with his mood.
He wore a fine, obsidian-black suit, clean and untouched by dust or time, but it was his hands that drew the eye.
Elongated and ink-black, covered in pulsing veins that throbbed like living creatures, they beat rhythmically, as though carrying a pulse of their own.
Next to him, Lich pointed his silver and bone-crafted scepter forward.
His long white hair drifted in the breeze, eyes cold and the same shifting shade of Nocteron’s.
He wore a long, tattered robe that barely concealed the eerie green glow emanating from beneath his sleeves.
Facing them, Seren tightened her fists.
Her long blonde hair whipped wildly, golden eyes burning with divine light.
A black-and-gold bodysuit hugged her lean figure, covered partially by a crimson cloak that fluttered behind her.
Faint scars stretched across her arms and thighs, hints of a brutal past, and a sleek black pirate eyepatch covered her left eye, an injury long since sealed but never forgotten.
Beside her, Elyssara stood poised, calm but dangerous.
She was beautiful in an ethereal way, tanned skin, beige eyes that shimmered like stardust, and light beige hair that matched them perfectly.
She wore a refined, travel-ready dress, and a small hat that seemed oddly fitting, giving her a noble, almost royal presence.
In her hand, she held the [Primordial Blade], a divine weapon forged by the essence of creation itself.
“What do we do?” Seren muttered, her voice low, her body tensing, “I’ve got a really bad feeling about them.”
“You should,” Lich chuckled darkly, “You’re about to die.”
“Shut up,” Elyssara snapped, her eyes beginning to glow a soft violet.
She raised one hand in front of her face and formed a small ring with her fingers, peering through it as energy flowed from her body in quiet waves.
Primordial Gaze!
[Effect: Allows you to see all of the opponent’s skills and share it with your Chosen One.]
Immediately, glowing panels appeared before her eyes, revealing every skill that Lich possessed.
[Lich’s Skills: Undead Summoning, Death, Grim Reaper, Necrotic Orbs.]
“Wait, that’s all?” Seren blinked in disbelief as she saw the shared panel.
Elyssara frowned, narrowing her eyes.
Something didn’t feel right.
She redirected the gaze toward Nocteron.
[Nocteron’s Skills: Death, Life Drain, Necrotic Touch.]
“…Even fewer than Lich,” Elyssara muttered.
“Something’s off. Don’t let your guard down, not for a second.”
Despite the short skill lists, the oppressive aura coming off the two was anything but ordinary.
Their presence alone made the ground feel colder, heavier.
Elyssara raised her blade, her stance lowering.
Seren followed, raising both her hands as her body was enveloped in golden light, activating her [Primordial Barrier], a defensive technique so powerful that most attacks would simply bounce off.
Across from them, Lich smiled wide, and then,
Tap!
He tapped his scepter against the ground.
A pulse of black and sickly green energy spread out, seeping into the rocks beneath them.
“Don’t let him finish!” Elyssara yelled, already moving, “He’s summoning!”
Seren didn’t hesitate, she shot forward like a meteor, a golden blur, her [Primordial Barrier] wrapping her in near-invincible defense.
But as she moved,
Fwoosh!
Nocteron appeared directly in front of her.
Not teleporting, just moving that fast.
His red eyes gleamed as they locked onto hers.
‘He’s too fast!’ Seren and Elyssara both realized at once.
Even with just three skills, Nocteron’s stats were monstrously high, speed, strength, agility, endurance, every attribute pushed past mortal limits.
“Foolish,” Nocteron said with a ghost of a smile.
CLANG!
Elyssara reached him first, her [Primordial Blade] swinging with lethal force.
At the same time, her body shimmered, activating a Forbidden Skill from her divine lineage, [Primordial Figure].
Behind her, a colossal, ghostly shape emerged.
A glowing divine figure, hands pressed together in judgment, its pupil-less eyes blazing with heavenly light, towered above her.
The pressure it emitted cracked the stone beneath their feet.
Fwash! Swash!
Nocteron parried the blade with ease and dodged Seren’s strikes like they were nothing.
She aimed several blows, any of which could have thrown him across a mountain, but none landed.
“You think this will be enough?” Nocteron smirked.
Then, he raised his hand and activated Necrotic Touch.
[Effect: Allows you to kill your opponent’s skill, literally.]
He touched the shimmering golden light of Seren’s [Primordial Barrier].
CRACK!
Instantly, the barrier shattered.
Not broke, shattered, like glass, leaving Seren wide-eyed.
[Your skill “Primordial Barrier” has been killed. You may not use it again until the end of the battle.]
“What the—!?”
Seren jumped back, confused and shaken.
“Watch out!” she yelled to Elyssara.
“They can kill our skills!”
But Elyssara was already in mid-battle, locked into another strike with Nocteron.
Her focus was on deepening the bond with her [Primordial Figure], preparing for an even stronger forbidden technique.
Seren reacted fast.
“Primordial Chains!” she shouted, slamming her hands into the ground.
From the cracked earth, glowing beige chains burst forth like living serpents, not toward Nocteron, but toward Lich, who was still focused on summoning.
‘If we take him out first, it’s two against one. That’s our chance,’ she thought, desperate.
But,
Fwoosh,
Nocteron vanished from Elyssara’s reach and reappeared, no, moved, in front of Lich with inhuman speed.
He reached for the chains.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
As soon as his hand closed around one, glowing cuts erupted all over his body.
The divine energy of the chains tore through his skin.
Still, he didn’t flinch.
“…Necrotic Touch,” he whispered.
[Your skill “Primordial Chains” has been killed.]
The chains disintegrated into glowing particles, vanishing into the air.
“We still hurt him!” Seren called to Elyssara, who was now powering up her forbidden skill.
“Let’s finish this—!”
But then, everything changed.
All the wounds. All the blood. All the damage across Nocteron’s body healed. Instantly.
“What?” Seren stepped back.
Elyssara paused as well, eyes wide.
Nocteron slowly raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
A new panel appeared in front of the two women.
[Life Drain: Allows you to drain the life of other beings and store it for yourself. As long as you have life supply, you cannot be killed.]
“I have millions of lives stored,” Nocteron said softly, “That’s why I don’t fear anything. Not because I believe I’m the strongest, but because I know I cannot die.”
A cold silence fell over the battlefield.
Elyssara and Seren, for the first time since the battle began, felt true despair creeping in.
They couldn’t outlast him. They couldn’t break him. They couldn’t even harm him.
“Let’s end this,” Lich spoke at last, slamming his scepter down.
The earth trembled. Something massive began to rise from the depths.
“We need to move fast,” Nocteron agreed, taking a slow step forward.
His voice was calm, his presence unstoppable.
Despite the hopeless odds, Elyssara and Seren stood firm, blades raised, refusing to bow or fall.