Leo slowly reached behind his back and grasped the hilt of his enormous black sword with green accents.
In one fluid motion, he drew the blade and raised it in front of him.
The tip of the sword came to rest, aimed directly at Valdor.
Leo smiled slightly.
"So you're Valdor…" Leo said in a calm but cold voice.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Arthur told me he killed you… but that idiot apparently didn't take your Demon Arc."
He looked straight at Valdor's green Demon Arc.
"Thanks to his incompetence, I have to finish what he started."
Leo slowly lowered his blade, assuming a fighting stance.
"This time, I won't make the same mistake he did!"
Silence fell all around.
Freya looked anxiously at Valdor, sensing that a battle had just begun that could decide the fate of the entire Tribe village.
Without a moment's hesitation, Valdor charged at Leo.
He swung his sword with all his might.
Leo took a slight step to the side, effortlessly dodging the blade.
Valdor immediately spun around and launched a second strike.
Leo blocked it with his massive sword.
Giving him no moment to catch his breath, Valdor launched a third attack from the opposite side.
Leo parried the blow again, without retreating even a single step.
"Is that all?" he asked with a mocking smile. "Is that all you've got, Dragon Lord?" he added.
Valdor clenched his teeth and jumped back a few steps.
He gripped the hilt of his sword tighter, never taking his eyes off his opponent.
Leo lowered the blade to his shoulder and smiled even wider.
"I expected more from someone who wears a green Demon Arc. Don't let me down… or you'll end up just like the rest of them."
Valdor's green Demon Arc glowed with a soft light.
In an instant, his body vanished from the spot.
All that remained was a green streak of energy.
Before anyone could blink, Valdor appeared right in front of Leo with his sword ready to strike.
Leo's eyes widened for a split second.
Leo blocked the first attack, stopping Valdor's blade right in front of him.
However, he didn't have time to anticipate the next move.
At that very moment, Valdor swung his sword around and delivered a powerful downward slash.
Leo tried to react, but it was too late.
He jumped back at the last moment, avoiding a fatal blow, but the blade still grazed his face.
A thin streak of blood appeared on Leo's cheek.
Valdor didn't give Leo a moment's respite.
He immediately launched another attack. In a split second, he stepped back, then shifted to the right, disappearing from his opponent's field of vision.
A moment later, he appeared right next to him.
Leo reacted instantly. He blocked Valdor's strike and deflected his sword, pushing him aside.
The two warriors passed each other and stood back-to-back.
For a brief moment, silence reigned.
Suddenly, at the exact same moment, they turned around and their blades clashed, crossing in a powerful strike.
Valdor felt immense pressure.
His hand began to tremble, and with it, the entire sword.
Freya opened her eyes.
She could see everything.
Valdor was fighting Leo, but even he was having trouble with his opponent.
"I can't let this go on…" she thought.
With great effort, she braced herself on her hand and began to get up.
"I have to use the Sealing…" she said quietly, feeling the remnants of her energy begin to stir.
The pain was excruciating, but Freya had no intention of lying idly on the ground.
Leo smiled.
Their swords were still locked together, and a struggle of strength raged between them.
Suddenly, Leo raised his other hand.
Before Valdor could react, he struck him squarely in the face.
Valdor was sent flying backward with tremendous force.
But before he could regain his balance, Leo vanished.
The next moment, he appeared behind him.
A powerful blow struck Valdor in the back, sending him hurtling forward.
Valdor spun in midair, performing a somersault, and then plunged his sword into the ground to stop his momentum.
For a moment, he knelt there, breathing heavily, clutching the spot where Leo had struck him.
His face was contorted with pain, but his gaze remained full of determination.
"This is the end for you…" Leo said confidently.
Suddenly, his expression changed.
"Agh…"
A chain covered in a white, luminous glow pierced through his chest.
Leo glanced over his shoulder.
Freya was standing behind him. Despite her wounds, she remained on her feet, and a glowing magic circle shone beneath her feet.
"The magic of sealing..." Leo whispered, his smile fading. "Damn it..."
The next moment, the ground around him began to shake.
More chains shot out from every direction, piercing through his body and wrapping around him from all sides.
White energy began to gather around his heart, sealing it within a seal.
Leo stared at the chains in disbelief.
"That's… impossible, you little…" Leo whispered.
Valdor looked at Freya.
Fear flashed in his eyes. He knew what she was about to do, and he couldn't bring himself to accept it.
But Freya just smiled at him.
"Thank you…" she whispered. "Don't let me down."
"No!" Valdor shouted.
It was already too late.
Three more chains, bathed in white light, shot out from Freya's chest.
Two of them pierced Leo's shoulder, immobilizing his arm.
The third shot toward his head and wrapped itself around him, cutting off his last escape route.
The chains glowed with powerful energy.
For the first time, Leo lost his calm expression.
"Impossible…" he whispered, and a moment later he screamed in pain.
Suddenly, a blinding glow flooded the entire battlefield.
Valdor shielded his eyes.
When the light faded, silence fell.
Where Freya and Leo had stood, only stone statues remained.
Both of them had been turned to stone.
Freya and Leo's bodies stood motionless, completely encased in stone.
But something was wrong.
Leo's Arc Demon had not been turned to stone.
Valdor stood motionless.
He slowly looked around him.
He saw the dead guards, the destroyed gate, and the traces of a battle that had claimed too many lives.
His gaze returned to Freya.
The stone statue of the girl stood motionless before him, lifeless.
"Freya…" he whispered.
A moment later, his strength left him.
He sank to his knees, his hands clenched against the ground.
Once again, he had lost someone he had failed to protect.
"Why…?" Valdor whispered.
He looked at his hands.
Hands that were meant to protect others, yet once again had failed to save anyone.
His fingers clenched into fists.
"How am I supposed to become a ruler…?" he said quietly, pain in his voice. "How am I supposed to lead others when I can't even protect a single person…?"
His gaze slowly fell upon the stone figure of Freya.
"How am I supposed to protect them all… when I'm too weak?"
Suddenly, Valdor was struck by an icy spike.
The force of the blow knocked him aside and sent him crashing to the ground.
Three skeletons stood before the gate.
One of them was a mage clad in a long robe, and the other two wielded sickles.
The mage skeleton raised his hand, and a magic circle appeared before him, from which another ice spike began to form.
Valdor stood up, clutching his arm.
He quickly moved toward his sword.
Just as he was about to pick it up, another ice attack shot toward him.
This time Valdor managed to dodge it, but the force of the impact caused him to fall to one knee.
A million thoughts raced through his mind.
He didn't know if he still had the strength to fight.
Suddenly, he heard Freya's voice: "Don't let me down…"
He could see her in his mind's eye.
Her smile.
Her gaze.
Valdor slowly began to get to his feet.
His arms hung limply at his sides.
His eyes were closed.
A single tear rolled down his cheek.
The mage launched another attack.
Sharp ice spikes sprang up right in front of Valdor, hurtling straight toward him.
Valdor slowly opened his eyes.
With a single, calm swing of his sword, he sliced the ice in half.
Tears continued to stream down his face.
The mage reached out and made a forward gesture.
Two skeletons immediately charged at Valdor from both sides.
Valdor merely furrowed his brow.
A green mist began to spread around him.
Suddenly, it looked as if time had slowed down.
Valdor took a single step forward and, in that very moment, shot forward from his spot, zigzagging between his opponents.
The blade flashed just twice.
The skeletons' heads fell off their bodies, which immediately crumbled to dust.
A moment later, Valdor was already standing behind the mage.
The mage smiled slightly.
"This is exactly what I've been waiting for."
A huge magical teleportation circle appeared beneath the feet of both warriors.
A bright light engulfed their figures.
A moment later, they both vanished, transported to a vast, quiet clearing.
Valdor looked around.
His heart beat faster.
He recognized the place.
It was the same clearing where he had been training with Freya not long ago.
He slowly turned toward the mage.
"Why did you bring us here of all places?" he asked coldly.
The mage smiled from beneath his hood.
"Because here... no one will disturb us."
He held his staff out in front of him and began to quietly recite a spell.
"Mortis Rex... Ossium Dominus!"
Dark energy surrounded his body.
His bones began to grow and fuse together, and his frame expanded rapidly.
A moment later, a massive skeleton armed with a powerful two-handed sword stood before Valdor.
The giant drove the blade into the ground, and a blue light flashed from its eye sockets.
The massive skeleton raised its two-handed sword and, with a roar, brought it down on Valdor.
Valdor managed to block the blow with his own sword.
The force of the strike, however, was so immense that he was knocked into the air and flew several meters, landing hard on the ground.
Without a moment's hesitation, he sprang to his feet and charged back at his opponent.
The skeleton swung down with another powerful blow from above.
At the last moment, Valdor spun to the side, dodging the blade, which slammed into the ground with a crash.
"Dragon Slash…" he whispered.
A green wave of energy sliced through the skeleton's body, leaving a thin, glowing line across it.
For a moment, nothing happened.
The skeleton slowly turned its head toward Valdor.
"Is that all?" a raspy voice boomed.
The next moment, it yanked the sword out of the ground and swung it toward Valdor with tremendous force.
Valdor leaped backward, regaining his balance.
His Demon Arc flashed with an intense green light.
He leaned forward.
The next moment, he vanished.
All that remained of him was a green streak of energy.
In an instant, he appeared beside the skeleton, bounced off the ground, and sliced open its cheek with a single stroke.
He didn't stop.
He bounced off the air and vanished again.
All that appeared around the skeleton were green lines of energy, evidence of successive lightning-fast slashes.
Suddenly, Valdor stopped right in front of his opponent.
At that very moment, eight green portals opened around the skeleton's head, circling it like a ring.
The skeleton stared at them in disbelief.
"What kind… of magic is this…?"
After a moment, a thick green mist once again enveloped the entire clearing.
Valdor charged forward and vanished.
The green mist grew denser, and the eight portals around the skeleton's head flashed with intense light.
The next moment, Valdor emerged from the first portal, delivering a lightning-fast slash, then immediately vanished and reappeared from the second.
Time and again, he darted through the portals, striking from every possible angle.
All that remained in the air were green streaks of energy and flashes of his blade.
The attacks came so quickly that the skeleton couldn't tell which portal Valdor would emerge from next.
"Impossible…" he whispered, trying to block the blows with his sword.
But more slashes rained down from every direction, and the green portals constantly shifted the direction of his attacks.
The entire clearing resounded with the metallic echo of the blows, while Valdor's silhouette appeared and vanished like a flash of green lightning.
Finally, Valdor appeared above him and shouted:
"Dragon Slash!"
His sword came crashing down from above, slicing through the skeleton.
A powerful green flash erupted all around.
A moment later, green beams of energy shot out of the magical portals, cutting the skeleton's body into several pieces.
The skeleton began to crumble into dust.
Valdor landed on the ground and moved forward.
But suddenly, Valdor felt an excruciating pain in his head.
He heard many voices that began to echo in his mind.
"You're too weak…"
"You've lost someone again…"
"You failed to protect her…"
"And how do you expect to become a ruler?"
"Your power will never be enough…"
Valdor clutched his head, trying to endure the pain.
Suddenly, a huge magical circle opened up before him.
A familiar energy emanated from within the circle.
It led to Aurelios.
Valdor looked at the portal.
Despite the pain, he moved forward.
After a moment, he stepped into the magical circle.
The portal closed behind him.