The Achievement Junkie

The two warring gods continued their climb through the sky. Each of their attacks was growing grander by the second.

"How about we show them something they'll never forget?!" Moranti shouted, suddenly vanishing from before Halmut. The God of Space reappeared a couple of hundred meters above the Sun God and a mass of spatial energy unlike any prior danced enthusiastically over the scythe's blade. "Remember this?!"

Along with the hateful shout, Moranti hurled a hundred-meter wide wave of the thickest spatial energy, doused completely in roaring purple flames. It had condensed enough that any regular mortal could nearly pick it up, at least for a fraction of a second before the energy would tear them apart on a molecular level.

Halmut stared at the attack, still unafraid. In response, Halmut had gathered all five of the energies he could control. The Sun God took a deep breath and roared with all his might. Holy, nature, lightning, wind, and fire energies were turbulent within the Sun God's breath attack.

A ridiculous explosion filled everyone's ears and eyes, leaving those that were spectating momentarily blind and deaf.

But that didn't stop either Moranti or Halmut. They repeated the attack while closing the gap between each other.

After a second roaring explosion and the momentary blindness passed, everyone's eyes were back on the two warring gods. Both of those two were now standing face-to-face with only a dozen meters between them. Also, both showed wound's on their bodies, leaving the world below speechless.

There were a few charred scales left on Moranti's shoulder, but it didn't seem to be serious. Halmut, however, was left with a gash carved into his chest, albeit not too deep.

"Ha! I won that one!"

Halmut showed Moranti a sly smile. "Oh really?" The Sun God's hand passed over the opening in his chest, letting a plethora of holy energy fill the gash and reseal the wound as if it had never existed.

"That's one way to cheat… But that doesn't mean you'll win!" shouted Moranti, not caring about Halmut's self-healing abilities. He didn't bother mentioning the physical resistance skill he had received from Jack, nor the health regeneration skill. After that grandiose exchange of blows, Moranti would use those secret abilities in a battle of attrition.

"Just give up, Moranti!" Halmut replied, not hiding his confident smile from the spectators. "This will end the same way it did before, only this time Skaryn isn't here to save you!"

"That was millennia ago and neither of us was this strong before. Aren't you curious who would really win between us? Don't you want to know how I'll avenge my people with your death?" Moranti spat, mockingly shaking his head.

"I'll admit, your strength is worthy of rivaling mine. But you'll never be able to keep up with me while I just heal time and time again. It will only be a matter of time until your death is the only outcome," reasoned Halmut, reigniting the confidence of the holy gods below.

"I'm just surprised you haven't used your pawns against me yet."

"They are no pawns of mine!" stated Halmut, not daring to let such a statement fly.

Moranti shrugged and sighed, "True… not all of them are pawns. I'd say Lyrun is at least a knight, or perhaps a bishop."

"Are you going to face me with more words in fear or will you continue to fight a battle befitting of a god?" questioned Halmut.

"Whatever you say!"

Moranti dove back at Halmut, letting spatial energy and purple flames coat his entire being. His speed was pushed to the limit while Moranti's scythe arched toward Halmut's neck.

Halmut also used each of his available energies. The Sun God's speed was beyond belief while the brute force and viciousness of his flaming claws were increased with wind energy. He defended fearlessly. Also, static electricity was used in an attempt to slow Moranti, nature energy aided Halmut's defenses against magic, and holy energy healed any small wounds that resulted from their many collisions.

Their battle became nigh incomprehensible for the mortals below. And though the spectating gods were able to understand the high-speed fight, they too were in complete awe of the grudge match.

That terrific pace never ceased as the two draconic gods dueled for the world to remember. The last battle of a similar magnitude was the one that ended the Godly War. However, unlike that world-shaping duel of the Sun God and the Shadow God, the public was able to witness this battle personally.

Of course, neither Moranti nor Halmut were using their attacks with the greatest range. Neither of them wanted to kill the people below. Halmut wanted an audience to witness his glorious strength upon his return and Moranti had no desire to kill innocents. Hence, they took to the sky and used powerful yet focused attacks.

"Are you still not going to cheat? That's very unlike you!" Moranti laughed.

Halmut laughed as well, "Why bother? My victory is further guaranteed with each passing minute."

"I guess that's one way of putting it… Does that mean you want to end this here and now?" asked Moranti. "You probably want to finish this in a spectacular attack so they worship you even more."

"And what's wrong with that?" retorted Halmut.

Moranti scoffed, "Nothing, I'm just surprised you're playing along with me. I thought you'd get more serious by now."

"Oh? Is that what you want?"

"If you want to kill me, that's your only choice, apart from cheating of course. But you don't want your precious audience to get killed, right? Without them, how could you spread the word about this battle and your victory?"

Halmut stared curiously at Moranti. "Why are you so eager to die?"

"Who said I was eager to die? You may have had your chance earlier, but your ignorance has left you clueless to the truth of the situation," stated Moranti in a matter-of-fact manner. "If you don't believe me, take a look for yourself. And don't worry, I won't even attack you while you turn away from our little duel. It's the least I can do since our spectacular battle kept the others from noticing as well."

Baffled but curious, Halmut turned away for not even a second. But Halmut immediately did a double-take and roared, "Where's Naparn?!"