Path of the Unmentioned: The Missing Piece-Chapter 165: The Endgame [6]

Halric’s breath came in sharp, controlled bursts as he circled Rodrick.

Frost clung to his greatsword like a second skin, crackling in the air.

The battlefield around them had grown quiet. Soldiers too afraid to draw near, too stunned to interrupt the clash of commanders.

Rodrick stood just meters away, surrounded by heat.

Flames licked the edge of his long blade. Dancing like wild serpents. His eyes glowed faintly with that same fire.

Hot, manic, and unblinking.

"You fight well," Rodrick said, his voice casual. Too casual. "For a dead man walking."

Halric didn’t answer. No witty remarks. No threats.

He lunged.

His sword came down in a diagonal arc, ice trailing behind it like a pale comet. Rodrick stepped forward to meet it, his own blade raised.

CLANG!

The impact sent a shockwave outward. Fire and ice collided, steam hissing violently as pressure exploded between them.

Dirt blasted away at their feet. A nearby soldier was knocked flat just from the force.

Rodrick grinned and pivoted, slamming his boot into Halric’s ribs.

CRACK.

Halric flew back several meters, skidding across the earth, armor dented where the kick had landed.

But he was already rising before he even fully stopped, blood at the corner of his mouth.

He stomped the ground. And a field of ice spikes erupted around Rodrick’s feet.

Rodrick cursed, trying to leap clear. But one spike sliced across his thigh.

He landed roughly, blood seeping into the charred ground. Still, he didn’t falter. He laughed, licking the blood from his lip.

"That all you got?"

Halric’s reply came in silence. He charged again.

Rodrick swept his blade, releasing a horizontal wave of fire that incinerated everything in front of him.

Halric ducked and rolled beneath it. Popping up beside Rodrick and slashing upward.

Rodrick turned just in time to block. The blades screeching against each other.

But Halric didn’t let up. He twisted and slammed his elbow into Rodrick’s side. Then brought his knee up hard.

Rodrick stumbled back with a grunt, but recovered fast. Too fast.

"Playtime’s over," he hissed.

Flames erupted from his body in all directions, scorching the air.

The ground beneath him blackened instantly, grass turning to ash.

The heatwave blasted Halric backward, forcing him to shield his eyes.

When he looked up again. Rodrick was gone.

No—

Behind him.

Halric spun just in time to catch Rodrick’s downward slash with his blade. The two weapons met with a crash that shook the air.

CLANG!

Halric staggered, but stayed standing. He gritted his teeth, frost spreading from his boots across the ground.

Rodrick swung again, faster this time. Then again. And again.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Halric blocked each one, barely holding.

Then Rodrick dropped low, slamming his fist into Halric’s stomach.

All the air left Halric’s lungs in a gasp. Before he could recover. Rodrick lifted him by the collar and threw him like a sack of armor.

Halric crashed into a broken boulder with a sickening crack. He hit the ground hard, coughing, vision blurry.

Rodrick was already walking toward him, fire pulsing in every step.

"You’re slowing down, old man," he said, voice full of cruel amusement.

Halric’s hand twitched. He clenched it into a fist and slammed it into the ground.

BOOM!

A wall of jagged ice surged up, slicing into Rodrick’s chest and shoulder. He cursed, staggering back as the cold bit into him.

The fire around him surged in anger, melting the ice instantly. Steam billowed up in thick clouds.

Rodrick ripped one of the shards from his side and tossed it away.

"Nice trick," he growled.

Halric stood again, slower this time. His face was bruised, armor cracked, blood trailing from his mouth. But his grip on the sword was still firm.

Rodrick lunged forward, sword flaming bright. They met once more in the center of the field.

Steel clashed.

Again.

And again.

Each swing sent out a burst of fire or a flash of frost. Trees nearby began to blacken and freeze in turns. The earth cracked beneath their boots.

Halric feinted to the left and twisted his sword in a rising arc.

Rodrick moved to block. But too late. The blade sliced across his ribs, drawing a line of blood.

Rodrick’s expression darkened.

"You’re starting to piss me off."

He drove his knee into Halric’s leg. Bone cracked under the pressure.

Halric snarled but didn’t fall. He returned the favor with a savage elbow to Rodrick’s jaw.

CRACK.

Rodrick’s head jerked back, blood flying from his mouth.

Then, like lightning. He shot forward.

His sword raised high.

Halric brought his own blade up just in time to meet it.

CLANG—CLANG—CLANG!

Steel clashed in a blinding blur of motion as Halric and Rodrick collided again at the heart of the battlefield.

Every strike echoed like thunder across the field. A brutal rhythm of war that silenced even the surrounding chaos.

Soldiers on both sides froze, caught in the gravity of their commanders’ duel.

Halric moved with discipline.

His blade, coated in frost, sang through the air with sharp, calculated arcs.

Each step was grounded, his footwork firm, conserving every breath, every movement.

Rodrick, in contrast, was pure fury.

A burning tempest.

He didn’t fight with form. He fought with rage.

His greatsword, glowing red-hot with fire mana, cleaved through the air with terrifying speed, sparks erupting with every clash.

"You always were a boring fighter," Rodrick snarled between strikes. "All defense, no heart."

Halric grunted, parrying a flaming horizontal slash. The heat singed his armor.

He retaliated with a flurry of fast jabs, aiming for the gaps in Rodrick’s defenses.

Rodrick deflected the first. Tanked the second. And caught the third on his armored shoulder.

He didn’t even flinch.

He grinned.

Then came the counter.

Rodrick stomped the ground, igniting a blast of fire that rippled outward.

Halric leapt back just in time, but Rodrick was already following. Faster than a man his size had any right to be.

Their blades met mid-air, and a shockwave blasted out from the impact, knocking back loose dirt and staggering nearby soldiers.

Rodrick ducked under Halric’s blade and delivered a brutal punch to his ribs.

Crack.

Halric’s breath hitched, but he didn’t fall.

He spun, swinging upward in a tight arc. The blade nicked Rodrick’s jaw. Frost biting into skin.

Rodrick snarled in pain, wiping at the bleeding cut.

Halric’s sword came forward again. A piercing thrust aimed for Rodrick’s heart.

But Rodrick stepped aside, catching the blade with his gauntlet. Ice hissed against molten metal, steam curling into the air.

He twisted, smashing the hilt of his sword into Halric’s temple.

Halric stumbled, vision spinning.

Rodrick didn’t wait. He closed the gap and drove his knee into Halric’s stomach. Lifting him off the ground.

The Black Commander hit the dirt hard, coughing blood.

Rodrick advanced, slow and steady. Like death incarnate.

Halric wiped the blood from his mouth, rising slowly.

Rodrick brought his sword down like a hammer. Halric raised his blade to block. But the sheer force drove him to his knees.

Rodrick didn’t stop. Blow after blow rained down. Like a beast lost in frenzy.

Each strike chipped Halric’s sword, cracked his armor, and left fresh bruises beneath.

Halric’s arms trembled. His grip on his weapon slipping. He could barely lift it anymore.

Rodrick drove his boot into Halric’s chest, sending him sprawling across the dirt.

"Enough."

Rodrick charged. His blade lit up with crimson flames, hot enough to warp the air. freeweɓnovel-cøm

Halric clenched his teeth and, with a cry, raised both hands.

A wall of ice erupted in front of him.

Rodrick didn’t slow. He smashed through it.

But the delay was enough.

Halric sidestepped at the last second, spun, and slashed. His blade raked across Rodrick’s ribs, drawing a long line of blood.

Rodrick hissed in pain and retaliated with a backhand. The force of it throwing Halric off balance.

Halric’s footing slipped, and Rodrick used the moment to press in close.

They traded brutal blows. Elbow to jaw. Knee to thigh. Fist to gut.

Each man grunted, staggered, bled.

Rodrick grabbed Halric by the face and slammed him into a ground.

Halric’s sword arm hung limp. Blood dripped from his mouth.

Rodrick sword ignited again.

Halric, with what little strength he had, formed a dagger of pure ice and thrust upward. Aiming for Rodrick’s chin.

The blade hit. Cutting through skin and drawing blood.

Rodrick reeled back, roaring in pain.

Halric scrambled to his feet, panting.

Rodrick grabbed his sword with both hands, and with a fiery roar, swung downward.

Halric raised his sword to block.

CRASH!

The impact sent tremors through the ground. Halric’s sword shattered into pieces. The force hurled him back, skidding across the dirt, armor sparking.

He coughed violently, blood spraying from his lips.

Rodrick strode forward, his legs shaking, flames flickering weakly around him.

He grabbed Halric by the throat and lifted him off the ground.

"First," Rodrick hissed, "I’m going to break those little shits."

"Then I’ll come back and finish this."

Halric’s fingers twitched toward the broken hilt of his blade. But he was too slow.

Rodrick threw him.

Halric slammed into a boulder with a sickening crunch. His ribs cracked, maybe broke.

He slid down, motionless, pain wracking every breath.

Rodrick stood over him, face shadowed by the firelight.

He raised his sword again.

Then, he paused.

Instead of delivering the final blow. Rodrick slashed both of the man’s legs. Severing them from his body.

He turned to the crowd. Red and Black soldiers alike stood frozen.

"None of you touch him," Rodrick barked, voice like thunder. "He’s mine. Anyone who tries? I’ll send you all to hell myself."

He turned. Dragging his sword through the dirt.

Flames burned in his wake.

Kyle.

He could see the boy in the distance.

Watching. Calm. Too calm.

Rodrick’s rage bubbled.

He would burn through every last one of them. Crush every bit of hope they clung to. Just so they’d understand.

He was not the villain.

He was the only one who understood the truth.

Pain. Loss. Sacrifice.

And if he had to drown the world in fire to make them feel what he felt—

Then so be it.

———

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