The three Transcendents appeared above the Grand Ocean, in the middle between the two countries.
About a minute after they arrived, three other people arrived.
At the front was the Duchess of Twilight, the most powerful being in the entire world.
Behind her were two confident young people in the Third Realm.
The three Transcendents from the Winterfire Empire knew Sebastian. They had all met him before.
When they saw Sebastian, their eyes narrowed.
They could feel his power, and it was way higher than they had believed.
Yet, at the same time, they could also tell that he wasn't a Transcendent.
When the Imperial Advisor saw Sebastian, his heart shook.
His instincts were telling him that he would lose against Sebastian, which shocked him to the core.
Sebastian just smiled casually.
Then, they turned to the other person, who had a shit-eating grin on his face.
He seemed quite a bit weaker than Sebastian, but he was still dangerous.
"We are ready for the duels," Emperor Winterfire spoke with authority.
The Duchess of Twilight moved back, leaving Kyle and Sebastian at the front.
"My fight will be the boring one," Kyle said, flying forward. "Let me go first."
"So it will be," the Imperial Advisor said as he also floated forward.
"Nobody is allowed to interfere," the Duchess of Twilight spoke. "Everyone not involved will retreat to an adequate distance. Anyone who gets involved will be executed by me."
Emperor Winterfire and the Holy King retreated to a distance of several kilometers.
Sebastian hit Kyle's shoulder. "Don't disappoint me!"
Kyle just smirked, and Sebastian retreated as well.
Finally, only Kyle and the Imperial Advisor were left.
"Your name's Harald, right?" Kyle asked. "Man, you really fucked the Winterfire Empire, you know that?"
The Imperial Advisor narrowed his eyes. "I will not let a nobody besmirch my reputation," he said as a long staff appeared in his hands.
Kyle snorted. "Funny that you would choose the word nobody."
Sebastian also chuckled.
"Seriously, though," Kyle added. "You have no idea how much you messed up. If you had simply allowed Sebastian to become a Transcendent, I wouldn't have met him, and we wouldn't have become allies."
"If you had taken his place in defending the World Peak, I would have just killed you. Depending on what happens after, either I would have found asylum, or the Second Advisor would have killed me."
Emperor Winterfire narrowed his eyes at the side. In hindsight, not allowing Sebastian to become a Transcendent had had dire consequences.
However…
"That wouldn't have changed anything," the Imperial Advisor spoke with confidence. "Sebastian was a danger. The most likely outcome would have been that he would directly attack our Emperor just to test his power."
Kyle glanced over at Sebastian, who just shrugged.
"Fair point," Kyle said as he pulled his hammer out. "In the end, you were fucked anyway."
"You talk like this is already over," the Imperial Advisor said as the water of the Grand Ocean rose to the sky.
This area was filled with Water Ether, and the Imperial Advisor had a Water Affinity.
The next moment, humongous streams of water gathered around the Imperial Advisor.
Some of the water streams broke apart and turned into steam, while other streams turned into ice.
A ring of ice appeared behind the Imperial Advisor.
The ring of ice was surrounded by a flowing stream of water, which was surrounded by a ring of steam.
Ice crystallized on the ends of the Imperial Advisor's staff, creating two terrifying blades.
"Come and face your death, Mortal," he proclaimed.
Kyle casually cracked his neck in return.
"Alright," he said.
Then, Kyle closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Except for the sound of the circular stream of water behind the Imperial Advisor, everything was silent.
A short pause.
Then, Kyle opened his eyes.
BOOOOOOM!
A 50-meter-wide flame appeared around Kyle, outshining the sun.
The terrifying sound of the roaring flames turned the Grand Ocean below Kyle chaotic.
Kyle pulled his hammer back as the space around him seemed to warp.
BANG!
The ocean below Kyle exploded as he suddenly shot forward.
The eyes of the Transcendents of the Winterfire Empire opened wide in shock, and their heads recoiled.
A violent streak of fire shot through the sky.
The Imperial Advisor gritted his teeth.
The next moment, the ring of steam behind him exploded, and the area between Kyle and him became distorted from all the steam.
The steam swallowed the flames around Kyle, hiding him from view.
Next, the ring of water turned into countless tiny streams, which shot forward in highly pressurized beams.
CRRRRR!
As Kyle came out of the cloud of steam, he was hit by the beams of water, but the water just bounced off his black suit of armor.
BANG!
The ring of ice broke, and the fragments of ice shot at Kyle.
Just like the Second Advisor's ice daggers, the fragments immediately vanished as soon as they hit Kyle's armor.
Kyle's armor turned an icy blue and became brittle.
CRACK!
Suddenly, Kyle's armor broke into fragments, and his body shot out of it, his speed even faster than before.
The sudden increase in speed took the Imperial Advisor by surprise.
When he finally reacted, Kyle had already appeared in front of him.
The hammer rose.
It was shining brighter than the sun.
The Fire Ether coming off the hammer banished all other Ether in the surroundings and boiled the Grand Ocean beneath it.
The Imperial Advisor looked into Kyle's eyes as his staff moved into the space between the hammer and himself.
Kyle just looked at the Imperial Advisor with intensity.
The hammer fell.
It hit the staff.
CRACK!
The staff started melting before the hammer even hit it, and finally, broke into pieces as the hammer passed through it like air.
Terror appeared in the Imperial Advisor's eyes.
The hammer slammed into the Imperial Advisor's head.
CRKSHT!
Everyone watched in shock.
What?!
The hammer was below the Imperial Advisor's body, and there was only an arc of smoke and ash above it.
The only thing left were two arms and two legs, which quickly caught fire.
The space where the Imperial Advisor's head and torso had once been was now filled with ash and smoke.
BANG!
The shockwave of the strike spread the ashes and smoke over the surrounding kilometers.
The arms and legs burned into nothing mere moments later, joining the ash and smoke.
Kyle cracked his neck again.
"Done."
Then, he looked at the remaining two Transcendents.
"Told you my fight would be the boring one."
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