In The Heat Of Battle

An enormous plume of dust and smoke billowed into the air from the Clark Castle. Everyone nearby, from guards to farmers, snapped their heads towards the sound of a thundering explosion with horror.

Half of the fortress had been utterly decimated before anyone had the chance to react. Whilst the villagers hastily hid in their homes, amidst the rubble-strewn ruins, the guards madly rushed into action.

"ENEMY ATTACK!"

"Find Lady Clark! Protect her at all costs!"

The guards did not delude themselves into thinking they would be of any use protecting their Lord. A Rank 7 was practically a God in their eyes.

The Lady of the Castle, however, was but a weak Rank 1. With such a powerful Husband, she had neither the need nor the appetite to grow stronger.

The guards needn't have sprung into action, however, as three figures suddenly emerged in front of them at the main gate.

Lady Maria was safely wrapped up in the broad arms of her husband, sending him a worrying gaze. They seemed to simply appear from nowhere with no warning.

Shortly after, the pair was accompanied by Scholar Leonard, though his face was pale and sickly. He rose from the ground from a puddle before solidifying alongside them.

As for all the servants in the castle, their forecasts didn't look good.

"What is the situation, Winston? Who is attacking us?" the old man inquired.

Winston's face grew solemn and grave,

"A Conflicted, definitely Rank 7."

Leonard eyes widened with shock at those words for several reasons.

Conflicted were exceedingly rare abominations. They were the ungodly amalgamation between Death and Life Magic. When Life Mages are infected with Death energy, either directly or through Necromancy, they experience a fundamental opposition within their bodies.

The two energies were extremely incompatible and volatile when exposed to one another. Ninety-nine-out-of-a-hundred Life Mages exploded from the highly destructive mixture if they couldn't expunge the foreign energy in time.

The other one-in-a-hundred only occurred in incredibly rare circumstances. They could be said to be the creations of Fate.

The two energies had to be matched evenly. This meant both the Life Mage and the DeathKin using the Death energy had to be equal in power. The change of power also had to be continually sustained to prevent the Death energy from running out in the host.

The Life Mage should be unable to resist whilst the Deathkin must be well practiced in the procedure to ensure success.

For a Rank 7 one to appear meant that, somehow, a Rank 7 Life Mage was completely incapacitated by a Rank 7 Deathkkin, some of the rarest existences on the planet. The odds of such an event were infinitesimally small.

If, by some cruel twist of Fate, all these conditions were fulfilled, a Conflicted would be born into the world.

A monster.

It wielded both Life and Death magic with impudence. Its entire body was a giant ticking time bomb, so unstable that it threatened to explode like a supernova every second. Only by releasing some of that energy could it somewhat extend its life and alleviate its pain.

A pain, so excruciating, that it warped the host's mind, urging them do anything to make it stop.

Leonard grimaced at the thought.

In the distance, the strange light came closer until a vague human silhouette emerged. Leonard was the first to shout in surprise,

"Cain! Is that you? What happened to you?"

Cain's eyes were bloodshot, his face twisted and harrowing. Wounds would constantly rupture from his body only to instantly heal. Tears ran like streams from his eyes. Coming face to face with the trio only caused his tears to pour faster.

"Winston...Leonard...Maria...I'm sorry...I...I...can't...he...he...made me...I...can't...stop...I'm so...so...sorry" he bawled agonisingly. From his hands, a crushing power began to take hold and form into a giant ball of destruction.

Leonard stepped back in fright at that sight. He thought to reason with Cain for a moment, but he knew better. The moment he became a Conflicted, Cain was as good as dead. With gritted teeth, he turned to Winston,

"Can you handle him?" he asked cautiously.

Winston placed Maria down wordlessly and took several steps forward. Slowly, a glistening red light began to swirl around his body.

A menacing black armour began to take shape that covered his entire figure except for two large vertical slits along his back. The onyx plate-mail resembled scales, its helmet fashioned into an ominous dragon head with gleaming red eyes. Along its surface, strange red vein-like structures ran from the centre of his chest to the tips of his fingers.

Winston silently whispered,

"Accompany me one more time, old friend."

In his hands, an enormous blade began to take shape, and with it, a loud roar began to resound in everyone's minds. It had a domineering pressure that paralysed everyone present in fear. Even Cain was startled, interrupting his casting.

The blade was easily two meters long, fashioned from what looked like a serrated claw. Space seemed to tremble when in contact with its sharpened edge. Disturbingly, the flat of the blade appeared stained with an eerie crimson blood.

The red veins of Winston's armour started to take life, growing along the flat of the blade and seeping within.

With a heavy clunk, the tip of the weapon fell to the floor, slowly scraping across the ground. It let out a bone-chilling screech as Winston began to walk towards his approaching foe. With each step taken, he appeared to emit a suffocating pressure. Chunks of rubble began to tremble and crack.

Leonard felt as though he could barely breathe. Maria and the guards had long since passed out on the floor. Before Leonard could attempt to speak, Winston turned to face the man.

Those malicious red eyes shook his soul.

"Protect them" he commanded.

Leonard could only nod hastily in shock.

With that, Winston turned and planted his feet, bending his knees. Leaning forward, both hands on his blade, he closed his eyes.

In his mind, there was a dark skyline, illuminated only by the stars in the night. Suddenly, an amber glow erupted from the sky, the sun emerging from the horizon with blazing fury. Its warmth radiated across the world unimpeded.

Winston's eyes shot open.

From the centre of his chest, a raging fire seemed to explode, flooding his red veins with power. They bulged and glistened like magma, desperate to erupt.

The Gift silently displayed in his mind,

[Unique Skill: Blessing Of Fire - Smouldering Heart - Activated]

Winston leapt from the ground, blowing a huge cloud of dust into the air. He barrelled towards Cain, appearing before him in the blink of an eye.

Scorching flames engulfed his blade as he heaved it upwards in a large arc.

[Blessing Of Fire - Dawnblade - Activated]

Cain's eyes shot wide in surprise as he hastily conjured a barrier of black and white energy along his arms, crossing them over his chest.

When the blade made impact, the entire world seemed to halt for a second. Time slowed to a crawl as Winston and Cain made eye contact. Winston's overwhelming, predatory gaze rattled Cain. He felt as though he was facing a real dragon.

Soon after, a mighty thunderclap erupted from the air. Cain's arms were cleaved from his body and swallowed by an immense sea of fire, decimating the surrounding fields. What remained of his body was rocketed into the air.

Cain boomed in agonising screams as his smouldering flesh tried desperately to regenerate to little success.

Winston looked into the sky as Cain's body flailed wildly.

In his mind, a potent memory emerged. A young Winston stood at the base of a towering mountain. The sky was engulfed by an all-consuming darkness. When his faltering torch threatened to petter out, a figure emerged from the shadowy depths, lunging into the sky.

Its majesty left Winston astounded every time he remembered it.

If anyone could see Winston's back at this moment, they would see that his life painting was slowly fading, morphing, changing.

The new image resembled a human-shaped flame standing atop a monumental, wingless dragon. Its eyes were hollow and lifeless. Meanwhile, from the flame, two colossal wings spread and glistened with fire. They glistened so brightly that the darkness retreated into the shadowy depths.

[Blessing Of Fire - Requiem Of The Dragon - Activated]

From the two slits in Winston's back, flames erupted, coalescing and condensing until they formed two sublime flaming wings. With a mighty flap that caused the air to sizzle, Winston launched himself into the air.

Cain wasn't eager to see him come closer, however. The night's sky appeared to gain countless stars as lights began to flicker from the darkness. Behind him, a rain of black and white javelins shot out, threatening to impale his foe.

Winston didn't deem it necessary to dodge, however. Instead, he crashed through each projectile with indomitable will. His blade struck down the most dangerous of them whilst he allowed others to glance off his armour ineffectually.

Cain became anxious at that sight. With a scrunched face, the javelins lessened in number but concentrated their power, growing thicker and deadlier.

When the new wave of projectiles approached, the veins along his armour burst open, spewing flames into the air.

[Blessing Of Fire - Halo Of Conflagration - Activated]

An aura of flames encased Winston's body against any threat. Each javelin that approached slowly melted and fell as it neared him, letting him climb higher unhindered.

With his death growing ever closer, a devious glint flashed in Cain's eyes. Fashioning his own wings from dark energy, he desperately climbed further towards the sky.

As the duo reached new heights, the air gradually began to thin. Winston's flames began to waver and flicker, yet he pressed onwards.

Cain smiled in grief,

"I'm...sorry...Winston...I...don't have...a...choice" he cried, hovering in place.

The dark javelins condensed into one ungodly lance.

Winston's wings promptly vanished, starved of oxygen. His inertia carried him higher until he froze level with Cain for a split-second. The two made eye-contact once more.

Cain's eyes were filled with guilt and agony, but Winston's were only filled with pity. Not a hint of fear could be seen.

"I'm sorry too, Cain. You can rest easy now" he smiled warmly, only confusing Cain more.

As the lance lunged towards him, Winston closed his eyes and clenched his hands around his blade tightly.

An image he had only seen once appeared in his mind, one he saw the day he received his blessing. A monumental, burning star, unyielding to the encroaching darkness of space.

He clearly remembered the words Nissa had whispered to him that day,

"Fire never yields, never compromises, it only burns endlessly. Let no-one hold you back, let no-one impede your way. Burn a path through the darkness, Winston Clark."

[Blessing Of Fire - Ultimate Skill, Stellar Eruption - Activated]

Winston's eyes glowed radiantly. With a ferocious overhead slash, the dark night's sky was illuminated like it was daytime. Everyone in the entire Empire witnessed the sun rise in the middle of the night for but a moment. The power unleashed in that moment far exceeded the bounds of Rank 7.

Leonard stared from the ground in awe at the sight.

When the sky settled, Winston was left standing on the ground not far from the castle, hovering over a rapidly decaying corpse.

All that remained of Cain's body was his head and half his torso. Spread across his face was a wide, satisfied grin. After a moment more, his body entirely turned to dust.

He stood over the pile of dust for several moments, watching it be blown away into the distance. Eventually, he silently headed back to the castle, finding Maria at Leonard's feet.

Her entire body was encased by the vibrant golden silhouette of a tortoise shell. Leonard's face was even paler, and he looked like he might faint at any moment.

Nearby, several stray javelins had impacted the ground, many of them surrounded by shards of ice.

Meeting the old man's wavering eyes, he muttered,

"Thank you, Leonard. You protected her."

The old man harrumphed tiredly,

"I barely did anything. The defensive artefact you gave her did all of the work."

Winston smiled bitterly at those words. Leaning down, he scooped Maria into his arms warmly. Before heading back into the castle, he paused. Turning to face the horizon, he looked out upon the destruction he had caused.

The land for several miles was scorched and barren. The fields were nowhere to be seen, and along with them, their inhabitants. So much life had been lost in an instant. Countless lives.

He gazed out into the wasteland silently.