The battlefield lay ravaged—a scar gouged deep into the earth by the unrelenting duel between Kaiser, the Noble Metallic Griffin, and the Silver Caiman King. The once-verdant valley was now a hellscape of charred soil, splintered boulders, and smoking craters, the scent of scorched blood hanging thick in the air. Trees lay in twisted heaps, their trunks shattered like brittle bones. A fine mist clung to the ground, a mingling of vaporized earth and bloodied humidity.
Kaiser hovered above the ruined landscape, his obsidian feathers slick with ichor, torn in long jagged lines. Steam hissed off his steel-infused talons, still sizzling with residual mana. Across from him, the Silver Caiman King stood on shaky legs, its once-gleaming scales dulled to a bruised gray. Cracks webbed across its armored hide, oozing a sluggish, thick black ichor.
Yet neither creature yielded.
***
Kaiser's breath was steady but shallow. The constant tug of pain from his wing and flank reminded him of his mortality—but also of how much stronger he'd become.
"My body is improving, the mana circuits in my body are relaying mana more effectively, my reflexes are faster. I've also gotten the hang of how to use my skills more effectively."
With a breath, Steel Body surged through him again. This time, the weight was not burdensome—it felt natural. His muscles compacted with dense mana-forged resilience, metal-like sinews hardening beneath feather and flesh.
"I can hold this… without breaking. It no longer drains me as much as before. I've adapted."
He flowed effortlessly into Metal Infusion, his talons shimmering a polished silver-blue, veins of titanium and tungsten twisting up his limbs. Metal Shaping followed—long, thin blades spun into existence, orbiting him like a lethal constellation. Unlike before, they moved with predatory intelligence, each one honed not just for slashing but for misdirection, defense, and pressure.
Across the field, the Silver Caiman King let out a guttural bellow. Its single good eye glared at the sky as it slammed its claw into the ground. With a roar, Earthspikes erupted from below, spearing toward Kaiser in unpredictable patterns.
But he was faster now.
Kaiser's wings snapped open. He used Telekinesis not just to propel himself up—but to warp the trajectory of his blades, spinning them into a spiral shield that caught and deflected the incoming spikes. Dirt and stone exploded around him as the spikes shattered. He turned in the air, his talons gleaming, and directed his orbiting blades toward the Caiman's joints—knees, underarms, the soft tissue between plated scales.
They struck true.
The beast howled, staggering back. It retaliated with a furious tail sweep, crushing a crumbled cliffside into flying shards. A tree uprooted in the blast.
Kaiser ducked beneath the flying debris, telekinetically hurling two of his blades into the Caiman's exposed side. One struck the base of its tail, the other embedded deep into its shoulder. Blood burst from the wounds like fountains, painting the ground in black.
"That one got through… It's weakening. I'm faster, more precise. My mana use is cleaner, sharper."
But victory wasn't certain yet.
The Caiman lunged, gaping jaws wide, and fired Mudball after Mudball, globs of pressurized sludge designed to blind, suffocate, and crush. Kaiser flared his wings, using Metal Shaping to forge a curved disc of steel, like a mirror-shield, and spun it before him with Telekinesis, deflecting the attacks.
Each mudball struck with a deafening slap, one cracking the shield before Kaiser dismissed it, replacing it mid-air with another—a perfect rotation of defense.
"It's predictable now. I can see the rhythm of its desperation."
Kaiser folded his wings and dove, talons extended.
***
The Silver Caiman King roared in defiance. With a desperate command, it summoned Earthwall, a towering monolith of jagged stone, but Kaiser had seen it too many times. He reshaped his spinning blades into corkscrew drills, each designed for puncture and penetration, and sent them in like silver serpents.
The drills tore through the Earthwall with brutal efficiency, exploding out the other side in a spray of pulverized rock.
Kaiser followed behind them like a comet, his form wreathed in mana. He slammed into the Caiman's chest, talons scraping across armor, while one of his drills gouged into the Caiman's thigh. Blood erupted in a steaming arc.
The Caiman swung a claw, and this time unleashed Water Spear, two crystalline javelins of pressurized water honed sharp as swords. One grazed Kaiser's side—slicing open a long line across his ribs—but he twisted mid-air and avoided the second.
"Damn it… He's still got that strength. But it's all counter now. No aggression. He's looking to buy time."
And time was the one thing the beast didn't have. Its regeneration had slowed, the flesh around its wounds sluggish to close. Even its breathing was labored, guttural. Kaiser could feel it—hesitation.
"Now. Before he thinks of fleeing."
Kaiser activated all of his skills simultaneously. Steel Body, Metal Infusion, Telekinesis, Metal Shaping—his form became a weapon of living steel. He dove with terrifying precision, dodging a last-minute barrage of Earthspikes and Mudballs, and landed on the Caiman's back.
His talons sunk in, puncturing scale and sinew. He roared, voice a metallic screech across the sky, and took flight—Telekinesis amplifying his lift, wind tearing through the valley as he ascended with the Caiman in tow.
The Silver Caiman King thrashed violently, snapping its jaws, firing Water Spears into the air in blind panic. One narrowly missed Kaiser's wing. Its tail lashed, but it couldn't find leverage. Kaiser responded by summoning razor-sharp chains via Metal Shaping, binding the beast's limbs tighter, each chain wrapping with a hiss of searing mana.
The higher he went, the thinner the air became. Clouds raced past. Below, the world blurred—splintered forests, crimson rivers, and the jagged scar of their battlefield.
At 20 kilometers above ground, Kaiser paused, suspended in the stratosphere.
"This ends now."
With a final tightening of his grip, he released the Caiman.
The massive beast plummeted. It flailed mid-air, twisting, trying to summon a last-minute Earthwall beneath itself—but the spell fizzled in the thin air. The mana couldn't respond.
Its roar echoed up toward Kaiser… then faded as the Caiman became a silver speck against the vast canvas of earth.
He turned toward the horizon, sun gleaming off his blood-soaked feathers.