Chapter 26: Clash of the Titans

Dakkar gave a sardonic smile as he raised a hand covered in opaque black mist. "Do you think these creatures can stop me?" he asked disdainfully.

In one fluid motion, Dakar released a wave of dark energy that spread throughout the area, enveloping the creatures in a blanket of shadows. The monsters screamed as they were consumed by darkness, their bodies disintegrating into ethereal dust.

"You underestimate my servants," Baldur replied, raising his warhammer. "And me."

The creatures that had been destroyed began to reform, their bodies taking shape again from the frozen dust. This time, his eyes shone with a brighter light and his movement was faster and more determined.

Dakkar narrowed his eyes and summoned a barrier of shadows around him, repelling the creatures as they attacked with renewed ferocity. The bone swords and spears collided with the barrier, creating a metallic roar that echoed through the fortress.

With a roar of frustration, he expanded his barrier, throwing the creatures against the icy walls. Without wasting a second, he charged towards Baldur, his shadow sword glowing with a dark and sinister light.

Baldur braced for impact, raising his hammer in a devastating arc. The two weapons collided with tremendous force, sending sparks flying in all directions. Dakkar felt the impact resonate through his arm, but he didn't flinch. Instead, he redoubled his efforts, launching a series of quick and precise blows.

Baldur blocked each attack with impressive skill, his hammer moving with surprising speed for his size. With a sharp movement, he launched a horizontal strike that Dakkar barely managed to dodge. The hammer hit the ground, creating a shock wave that shook the entire fortress.

Dakar took advantage of the distraction to launch a blast of shadows towards Baldur. Shadows swirled around the enemy, enveloping them in a dark spiral. Baldur roared and released a blast of icy energy, dispelling the shadows and knocking Dakkar back.

"You're tougher than you look," Dakar admitted, standing up and wiping a stain of blood from his mouth.

"And you are weaker than I expected," Baldur replied with a sinister smile. "Enough talk."

With that statement, he charged forward, his hammer raised for another devastating attack. Dakkar readied himself, summoning a series of shadow blades that flew towards Baldur in a flurry of attacks.

Baldur blocked the blades with his hammer, but one of them managed to find its target, cutting a line through his arm. Ignoring the pain, he counterattacked with brute force, throwing Dakar into a wall with a powerful blow.

Dakkar fell to the ground, gasping with effort. He stood up slowly, his eyes filled with determination. "This is not over," he murmured, raising his sword again. The battle continued, every blow, every spell, every movement filled with a ferocious intensity that could only come from two immensely powerful beings fighting for their survival.

The fortress hall was a chaos of dark, icy energy, every corner filled with the echo of his attacks and the collision of his powers. Baldur's creatures continued to attack, but Dakkar repelled them again and again with waves of shadows.

Baldur raised the hammer from him again, channeling his energy into it. With a roar, he hit the ground, creating a wave of ice that spread towards Dakkar. He jumped, dodging the wave, and launched a sphere of dark energy towards Baldur. The sphere impacted, exploding in a cloud of shadows that enveloped Baldur.

Baldur's figure emerged from the shadows, his eyes burning with fury. "You can't beat me," she shouted, advancing on him. "I am the lord of this domain. Here, I am invincible."

Dakar smiled, a smile full of defiance. "Then, I will make this domain your grave."

Dakar and Baldur stared at each other, each recognizing the other as a worthy rival. The atmosphere around them became even more tense, charged with an energy that made the walls of the fortress vibrate.

"Time to stop playing," Dakar said, his voice echoing with a gravity that shook the air. He raised both arms and a black armor began to materialize on his body, fitting to his figure as if it were part of his skin. The shadows around him condensed, forming sharp claws on his hands.

"You are right," Baldur replied, and the fire in his eyes intensified. With a war cry, he raised the hammer from him and slammed him to the ground. "Icy Terror!" A wave of icy energy spread from the hammer, freezing everything in its path and creating ice spikes that spread out like a deathly blanket.

Dakar jumped into the air, dodging the wave, and launched a series of dark spheres towards Baldur. The spheres slammed into the ice, exploding into clouds of darkness that began to devour the ice and everything they touched. Baldur stepped back, conjuring a shield of ice around him.

"Is that all you have?" Baldur taunted, but Dakkar was already moving. With a roar, he summoned one of his attacks. "Night Maw!" From his shadow emerged huge dark jaws that lunged toward their enemy, attempting to close on him.

Baldur struck with his hammer, breaking the jaws into pieces of darkness that vanished into the air. But before he could recover, Dakkar was already upon him, his claws burning with a dark flame. "Abyssal Incineration!" With a devastating blow, he released a blast of dark fire that engulfed Baldur and nearby creatures.

The undead screamed as they were consumed by the black flames, reduced to ashes in seconds. Baldur, engulfed in fire, screamed in pain and fury. With supreme effort, he channeled all of his energy and released a blast of ice that extinguished the flames and freed him from the attack.

Dakkar smiled, pleased to see Baldur wounded. "Now the real battle begins," he murmured, as his figure distorted. His eyes glowed with red light and his armor tightened even more, making him look like a living shadow.

Baldur, breathing heavily, raised the hammer from him once more. "Ice Fangs!" he shouted, and spears of ice emerged from him and flew towards Dakar with impressive speed.

Dakkar dodged most of them, but one of the spears caught him, piercing his armor and burying himself in his shoulder.

Dakkar roared in pain, but did not let this stop him. With a swift motion, he broke the spear and tossed it aside. "Shadow Stingers!" With a gesture, he launched a hail of dark projectiles towards Baldur. He raised an ice shield, but the projectiles passed through him, wounding him in several places.

Baldur recoiled, bleeding and furious. He shouted, channeling more energy into his hammer. "this is not over."

Dakar raised his arms and the weather around the fortress began to change. Black clouds gathered above them, blocking out the light and plunging everything into eerie darkness. "Shadow Storm!" he roared, and bolts of darkness fell from the sky, impacting the ground and creating craters.

Baldur conjured a barrier of ice, but the rays were too powerful. The barrier broke and Baldur was thrown backwards, crashing into one of the fortress walls. Dakkar advanced, his claws glowing with a dark light. "This is your end, Baldur."

With one last effort, Baldur raised the hammer from him and shouted, "Wrath of the Eternal Winter!" A storm of snow and ice erupted from him, covering everything around him in a blanket of white and freezing the ground beneath his feet.

Dakar was engulfed in the storm, his movements slowed by the cold. But he didn't stop. With a cry of fury, he unleashed his power again. "Gloomy Cataclysm!" A blast of dark energy erupted from him, dissipating the storm and destroying everything around him. The ground shook and the fortress itself began to collapse.

Baldur was thrown to the ground, wounded and exhausted. Dakar approached slowly, his figure shrouded in shadows. "This is the power of darkness," he murmured.

Baldur slowly stood up, his eyes filled with determination and fury. He raised his hammer once more and stabbed it into the ground, causing the ice around him to crack. "Glacial Hell!" he shouted. The ground beneath his feet opened, revealing an abyss from which thousands of frozen creatures emerged, forming a legion that advanced towards Dakkar.

These creatures are as powerful as legendary level monsters. With your current level, facing a simultaneous attack from all of them would be suicide.

 "Did you really think I would let myself be defeated by someone like you?" Baldur said, his voice echoing across the battlefield. "You're just an old man trying to get back a title that no longer belongs to you. Surrender, Dakkar, and perhaps I will allow you to serve under my command!"

Dakar remained silent, head bowed. Baldur approached, certain of his victory. "Wow, now you understand that there is still a difference between you and me," he scoffed. "You're already tired, give up."

Suddenly, Baldur felt a chill run down his spine. Something in the air had changed. Before the creatures could reach Dakkar, he raised his head and spoke a word in a deafening voice that made Baldur horrified:

 "DESTRUCTION!"

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

The ground shook and a blast of dark energy was unleashed from Dakkar's hands, dissipating the frozen creatures into dust. Darkness covered the battlefield, extinguishing even the moonlight, the pressure was so strong that everything that remained of the fortress was shattered. Baldur backed away, terrified by the immense energy emanating from Dakkar.

"What…what is this?" stammered Baldur, kneeling as he struggled to repel the darkness around him with his own power, but it was useless.

Dakkar advanced slowly, his figure shrouded in dense shadows. "Since I entered this place, your death was only a matter of time," he said in an empty voice, You are just a stepping stone to the top. "Now, I will kill you."

He extended his hand towards Baldur and grabbed his head. Dark energy enveloped him, tearing away his skin as Baldur screamed in pain. The scream echoed throughout the place, but soon stopped. When the energy dissipated, Dakar held Baldur's skull in his hand.

Such a powerful creature, reduced to just this, Dakkar thought. He cracked the skull with a squeeze and revealed a dark blue glowing sphere inside. "I thought it wouldn't take me so long to beat you, bastard," he muttered. "In the end, I had to use almost 100% of my strength."

Dakkar, exhausted but victorious, consumed Baldur's core, feeling a surge of energy course through his body. He let out a sigh of relief as the ground shook under his feet, a huge dark pillar could be seen miles away, the pressure increased 100 times more and everything began to shake again. When this finished Dakkar had a smile on his face, his power level had increased, he would soon begin his journey to the other continents and search for that energy that he could sense previously.