Ch-33 Resolve

"I do," William shot back.

Zephyr was beyond pissed right now at both being beaten and defied like this, and he was planning on thoroughly beating William to a pulp.

However, before he could make a move, Williams aura completely changed.

The entire world of golden was overwhelmed by a bloodcrimson aura threatening to destroy everything.

On Williams head was a tiara-like crown made up of the four elements of fire, water, wind, and earth in equal distribution.

His eyes glew a majestic cyan colour, and he was donning a luxurious cyan robe that can only be described as one befitting royalty.

In his hand was his trusty Blade of Runera in all its 30-inch dual-edged glory; however, unlike the normal Blade of Runera, the one in his hands was pure matte black, with the usual silver runes now being red.

The black blade shone with a dangerous gleam as it was engulfed in an overwhelming cyan flame, promising to bring destruction to anyone or anything it came in contact with. 

On his back were four wing-like objects that didn't quite look like how you would expect wings to look; they all glew in an ethereal bright orange, blue, green, and brown light, respectively.

He had finally activated his [Mana Ascension] and [Quadra Spirit Ascension], which he wasn't able to use in his previous fight with Zephyr. The only way to describe his current form would be as a divine angel who descended from heaven seeking retribution.

The aura William was emitting was overpowering the whole domain, making it crimson.

For the first time in all 10 years of his life, Zephyr felt fear. He didn't really expect William to be so strong, with him overpowering all the surrounding mana. It was a bit hard for Zephyr to stop time anymore.

"Impressive; it seems I'll need to actually try for once," Zephyr said with a wide smile on his face, perfectly hiding his uneasiness.

"[Mana Ascension]"

As soon as Zephyr activated it, his whole body started emitting an overwhelming golden aura, overpowering all the crimson aura around him.

Now the whole domain was painted in a crimson and golden aura as two 10-year-olds stared at each other, neither of them saying anything. 

Until finally, William made his move as he flew towards Zephyr at breakneck speed with the blade of runnera in his hand, planning to end the fight as fast as possible.

Both [mana ascension] and [spirit ascension], while powerful, take a lot of mana to use, which William sadly doesn't have much of.

So unless he can quickly end the fight, Zephyr will win again, which William can't allow. Right here and right now, he wanted to prove his resolve.

He needed to prove that he wasn't some lazy weakling who had been wasting his talent for the past 10 years.

Seeing William charge at him, Zephyr also summoned a sword made up of pure light as he charged at William, preparing to intercept his attack head-on.

If he wanted, he could've just teleported away and maintained his distance while barraging William with spells, and he would've probably won.

But not anymore. Zephyr had no plans of running away after William insulted him; he planned on crushing him at his strongest to prove his superiority.

This fight at first didn't have any stake; none of the fighters could be really damaged, and even if they died, they would simply revive, but not anymore. Now it was a matter of pride.

As Zephyr's bright golden sword clashed with William's black sword covered in cyan flames, it released a loud shockwave, destroying all their surroundings.

The impact sent both of them flying back.

As Zephyr was about to fall, he saw giant shadow spikes coming out of his own shadow, aiming for him.

"(Flash) ," he muttered, his body instantly emitting a blinding white light before disappearing as quick as it came after destroying the sharp black spikes.

"Not bad," he muttered as he observed William standing a bit away from him.

Zephyr was honestly impressed with William's ability to keep up with him, but he was getting annoyed now, and even if he can't use Time Stop, he still has an attack that his opponent can't defend against. With that thought in mind, he used his Divine Smite.

The next second, a gigantic ray of light descended from the heavens, intending to purge William out of existence.

William just smiled, seeing the light heading his way. Originally, he wanted to dodge it, but now, seeing the light again, he felt as if he could block it.

"(Bow of Elements)" He muttered as a bow made up of all four elements manifested itself in his hand. It was barely 62 inches in length and had a strong string of pure mana.

However, he wasn't done yet. As William pointed the bow towards the beam of light, he pulled back the string, and on it two arrows made up of pure cyan flare manifested. As he released his hand, both arrows flew towards the incoming ray of light at a speed invisible to the naked eye.

However, one of the arrows changed its direction mid-air as it started flying towards Zephyr, who had let his guard down due to assuming he had already won.

Zephyr expected William to try and use [shadow step] to dodge his smite, but what William didn't know was that smite could destroy incorporeal things, so regardless of what he did, William was going to die.

Or at least that was how it was supposed to be until William randomly summoned a bow and fired at the light, and before Zephyr could even react, the arrows made contact. 

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!

As the arrows and the light made contact, they created an ear-bursting explosion, which destroyed the whole domain and even killed Zephyr. 

In a now-destroyed golden kingdom, only dust and rubble remained; the whole sky had turned crimson, and in the middle of this explosion stood a boy looking lifelessly into the sky before he started laughing.

"Hahahahaha!!!!" William let out a maniacal chuckle as he looked at the destruction around him.

The third fight between two 10-year-old divine humans had now come to an end, and it lasted 5 minutes and 24 seconds, ending in the first ever victory of William against Zephyr.

"So this is what winning feels like?" He asked seemingly no one. "I like it.".

The feeling of finally winning against an overwhelming foe was exhilarating; he had given it's all, and it paid off.

Now, finally, William could stand straight and call himself strong without a shred of doubt; after all, he had just defeated a god.

Or did he?

"Not bad for a weakling." William heard a familiar, bone-chilling voice, and as if waiting for the voice, the whole reality started cracking.