I Ascend Alone-Chapter 146: Umbraezer vs. Vorathos

"Come now," Umbraezar said, voice smooth but thunderous. "Show me why my Liege respects you."

Mirae's voice rang out. "Reforge it—now!"

Leon's aura pulsed in response.

Twin Eclipse—again.

The golden-silver fusion burst around them. A surge of light, tighter this time, sharper.

Mirae moved first. Spear thrust, arc tracing the air like a comet.

Umbraezar spun, blocking, countering—his claws meeting metal.

Leon followed behind her, no pause between their motions. His saber slashed in low, aiming for the legs. Umbraezar jumped, flipped mid-air, and landed behind them, claws dragging streaks of flame along the tiles.

They turned. Too late.

He was already between them again, and fists are already flying.

Leon barely blocked one strike—but the second landed, hard, in his gut. He staggered back.

Mirae ducked and retaliated with a sweeping arc of light, forcing Umbraezar to retreat a step.

And for a moment—just a second—they held him.

Saber and spear crashed in from both sides.

Umbraezar caught them both.

One hand, one claw.

He grunted, jaw clenched. The impact cracked the ground beneath him.

"Impressive," he muttered.

Then he roared.

The sound shook the walls. A pulse of pure monarchal pressure followed—a dense, crushing force that cracked light and will alike. Leon and Mirae were thrown back, their feet digging trenches in the floor.

Umbraezar didn't follow up.

He let them recover. Standing tall, wings fluttering slightly behind him, arms loose at his sides.

"I like them," he said, glancing at me. "They bleed well, but keep coming."

Leon wiped blood from his mouth. "Same to you, lizard."

Mirae was already standing again, breathing hard, but smiling. "No wonder you serve him."

I chuckled. "Had enough?"

Leon exhaled. "I'd spar him again."

Mirae added, "Not today."

Umbraezar bowed toward them. "A worthy match."

I nodded. "You both did great. He didn't hold back much."

Leon groaned. "No kidding."

Mirae wiped sweat from her brow. "Now tell me Vorathos isn't worse."

I smirked. "He is."

But before either of them could groan again, the air behind me shifted.

Even Umbraezar turned his head sharply, his molten gaze narrowing.

A silhouette formed at the far end of the room—tall, broad, and cloaked in an aura darker than shadow.

Vorathos.

He stepped forward from thin air, his heavy boots echoing on the fractured tiles. His form was different from Umbraezar's—less elegant, more brutal. His humanoid-draconic frame radiated the chill of the abyss, and his armor—if it could be called that—seemed fused into him, like obsidian bones plated over voidstuff.

Two jagged horns curled forward from his brow, and his eyes glowed a dull crimson, smoldering rather than blazing.

He dropped to one knee before me without a word, head bowed.

"Vorathos," I said, surprised. "I didn't summon you."

"I know, my Liege," he rumbled, voice deep and dry like an earthquake. "But I sensed movement."

He looked up, slowly, his gaze meeting mine.

"I wish to make a request."

Umbraezar turned fully to face him now, wings rising slightly. The tension between them rippled through the room like a brewing storm.

I raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

Vorathos stood, towering even taller than Umbraezar, shoulders broad enough to eclipse the light. "Let me spar him."

Umbraezar blinked once. "You wish to test me?"

"To understand your strength," Vorathos said plainly. "To know if you are worthy of standing beside me as a Vanguard."

A low rumble built in Umbraezar's chest—not anger, not insult. Amusement. "You question the Monarch's choice?"

"I question nothing," Vorathos replied. "But I will know what stands at my flank when war comes."

I laughed under my breath. "That's fair."

Leon took a step back. "Wait, what?"

Mirae's eyes widened slightly. "Are we... watching a battle between two calamities now?"

I smiled. "Looks like it."

Vorathos turned to me once more. "Will you allow it?"

I folded my arms, nodding. "By all means. But no fatal wounds. Not unless I say so."

Umbraezar cracked his neck, claws flexing. "Then let us see what the Abyss has forged."

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Vorathos stepped forward, lowering into a ready stance, his voidblade forming in one hand—black and jagged, like it had been carved from the spine of a god.

Umbraezar's wings spread, slow and deliberate.

I stepped back to the edge of the arena and gestured to Leon and Mirae, who were already retreating from the blast zone. "Now this... is going to be fun to watch."

The instant the word left my mouth, the shadows erupted.

Vorathos vanished.

Not blinked. Not flickered.

He erased himself.

And reappeared directly behind Umbraezar, voidblade humming as it swung in a ruthless arc for the base of his neck.

CLANG.

Umbraezar spun, claws igniting with Voidflame, catching the blade in mid-swing with a thunderous impact that sent shockwaves rippling through the floor.

Tiles exploded beneath their feet.

Umbraezar didn't hesitate. He shoved forward with brute strength, driving Vorathos back half a step, and in the same breath launched a counter-blow—a clawed backhand crackling with molten energy.

Vorathos ducked.

He dropped low, swept Umbraezar's leg with his tail, and rose with an upward slash aimed for his midsection.

Umbraezar's wings flared wide. He surged upward just enough to avoid the slash, his form twisting in the air, tail snapping downward like a guillotine.

Vorathos met it with his voidblade—angled—not to block, but to redirect.

The tail strike missed his shoulder by a whisper.

Then Vorathos moved again.

A teleport flash—short-range, precise.