Hatred was not a word worthy of describing what Khaled felt. The betrayal of all the masters, along with the endorsement of Migdal, the most powerful organization on the planet Gan, explained why someone as powerful as his wife could die in such a trivial manner.
"Thank you, Master Adamah. I can finally carry out my vengeance without remorse," Khaled declared to everyone with apparent tranquility.
With slow steps, he began to walk towards Master Elyahu, who, in turn, was preparing by concentrating large amounts of elemental fire fons around him. On one side, a column of fire more than twenty meters tall appeared; on the other, a man walked with increasingly rapid strides toward the blazing inferno.
When his speed reached the speed of a dash, Khaled simply exploded in speed from one stride to the next, reaching the speed of sound. When he appeared before the column of fire, he was covered by a silver aura, similar to a thin mist, but dense enough to hide his features.
He punched the enemy in front of him, causing spatial distortions due to the amount of elemental spatial particles accumulated in his fists. Elyahu was not intimidated and took the opponent's blow head-on. In seconds, the two titans exchanged more than a hundred blows, deforming both the column of fire and the spatial mist.
The roar of the blows made the soldiers' eardrums below ache, but no one averted their eyes from the heavens, where the fight was unfolding at a speed that most could barely keep up with. What stood out in the fight was the clash of elemental powers for domination of the battlefield.
A yellow barrier trembled on the periphery of the duel, ensuring the soldiers' survival.
"I need to concentrate; if there's an opening, I have to take Khaled down here! With this shield, I look busy enough. When he lets his guard down and completely ignores my presence, that will be my opportunity!" Master Adamah schemed, his eyes fixed on the battle.
A battle that took the breath away from all the spectators. The power demonstrated by the masters caused a profound impact on everyone's soul. Lord Arvyn trembled on the ground, surrounded by a yellow puddle that stained his linen pants. To imagine that he wanted to manipulate such beings now seemed more than a suicidal wish; it was the height of folly.
The blows devastated the entire surrounding landscape; a part of the mountain range that separated the supercontinent's center from the southern continental part was obliterated.
The dust clouds reached hundreds of meters in height, only to be thrown to the ground by the force of the blows that the two monsters exchanged.
Only the trembling yellow barrier separated the surviving soldiers from the apocalyptic struggle they were witnessing.
"Give up and die, Khaled! You have no chance of defeating me. Your skill will never overcome my experience," Master Elyahu declared with fervor.
"You're right, old man, your experience is remarkable. But I have more than skill; I have creativity. Even if I pay a heavy price, I will have your head today!" Khaled replied with a fixed and glassy gaze, staring at his opponent as a predator stares at its prey.
In a series of blows, the two opponents were momentarily separated by the pressure from the clash of their attacks. With a movement of his left hand, Master Elyahu conjured a sea of swirling flames. Half of the sky above the battlefield was filled with flames, which in the blink of an eye swallowed everything.
Faced with the overwhelming flames, an expression of surprise and despair took over Khaled's face who, caught by surprise, was completely covered by the sea of flames.
"Hahaha, didn't I tell you, boy?! How could your skill overcome one hundred and ninety years of experience?" Master Elyahu laughed uncontrollably, while below, the soldiers and Master Adamah, who were protecting them, were left speechless by the turn of events.
Laughing hysterically, while confident in his apparent unquestionable victory, the master of fire failed to notice that behind him the space had been gently undulating ever since his enemy was buried in the sea of flames.
"Watch out! Don't drop your guard!" the warning from the master of earth came too late.
Everything happened very quickly. Startled by the scream that came from below, Elyahu felt a chill down his spine. Turning around, he saw, horrified, the space being sliced and a silver blade pierce his chest.
"How... is... this... even... poss...ible? You... shoul...d... be... dead..." with blood trickling from his lips and his eyes already beginning to lose the light of life, he asked the man who had calmly parted the veil of space and, holding an elemental conjuration in the form of a blade, struck him.
"I warned you, skill isn't my only gift. I also possess creativity."
"That... behind you... is a lesser dimension!" in astonishment, Elyahu finally understood what kind of genius had defeated him.
"Yes. This is the lesser dimension I opened. With it, I can teleport or move stealthily. Your arrogance didn't allow you to notice my portal positioning itself behind you."
"I understand... my defeat... was justified..."
"I didn't come here to steal victories. I came to reap lives." With this declaration, Khaled injected more energy into his blade, which made a silver glow illuminate the battlefield. After the flash, everyone noticed that Elyahu's body was no longer there; he had been turned to dust.
"Master Adamah, consider yourself lucky. I've spent a lot of energy and won't kill you today. You will warn all the Masters and Migdal that I'm coming for them!"
"Arrogant! You think I'll let you escape?! This place will be your grave!" a spike of earth emerged from the ground at high speed, seeking to impale Khaled right there. But when it seemed that Master Adamah would succeed, his attack disappeared before impaling the target. A portal appeared before Khaled, swallowing the attack.
"Don't boast, boy!" more spikes sprouted simultaneously from all sides at double speed. When it seemed that Master Adamah would succeed, a portal in the form of a silver veil covered Khaled, making him vanish.
The shock of the attacks woke everyone from the stupor of the new turn of events. The master of earth roared in anger, which left him unprepared for Khaled's appearance right next to him. He tried to attack, but it was too late; Khaled was faster and, with a movement of his spatial blade, tore off the master of earth's arm. His elbow was bleeding incessantly, and his scream was bone-chilling.
"Kneel, old man, or I'll tear your head off with the next blow!" Khaled roared with an imposing voice.
Kneeling, Master Adamah trembled with shame, fear, and hatred. The boy he had underestimated tore off his limb and put him on his knees before everyone.
"You will gather the council and warn Migdal that Khaled will have their heads." Leaving those words behind, the master of space sliced the void with his blade, creating a rift in space. With slow but firm steps, he entered his lesser dimension and vanished. The war of the titans had just begun.