The instant the ancient voice finished its decree, Vaeliar spun forward without hesitation, the air itself twisting into a bladed cyclone as he darted toward Jacob with a spinning kick that left a burning wind ring in its wake.
Jacob’s eyes flickered with a hint of astonishment because Vaeliar was even more powerful than Nyza, especially his flame, the Tempest of Burning Skies.
Nonetheless, this time, Jacob didn’t waste any time and used the Life Bane Wheel-Life Devour on Vaeliar. The reason behind his action was simple; he wanted to watch Vortigash’s fight and see what kind of abilities he had and how he was able to finish his previous fight so quickly.
Vaeliar instantly felt the terror of the Life Bane Wheel as the cyclones twisted under the oppression of Jacob’s ability, and the life-and-death struggle began.
On the other hand, just like Vaeliar, Tharnak also sprang into action as he raised his maul and charged with stomps that split the flaming arena, his bellow echoing like thunder from a dying sun...
BOOOM!!
The impact of his first charge shattered the molten ground beneath him, sending shockwaves through the flaming sigils. With his war maul raised high, he brought it down like a dying star toward Vortigash.
CRASH!!!
Vortigash’s figure vanished in a streak of red-gold flame, reappearing on the opposite side of the platform. The sheer shockwave of Tharnak’s maul striking the ground left a molten crater in its wake, radiating solar aftershocks.
Vortigash clicked his tongue, a trace of heat curling off his horns.
"Worthy of your lineage...you’ve been refined in war. Tch... I hate opponents like you."
Tharnak merely scoffed, clearly irritated by Vortigash’s nonchalant remark.
He turned slowly, the runes on his golden-black skin pulsing brighter, each breath he exhaled releasing rings of solar pressure that warped the very space around him.
"I speak only with radiance," He finally growled, his voice like a furnace given speech.
FWOOOOOSH!
His body ignited fully—his horns ablaze, his shoulders erupting with solar flame wings, and his maul now a second sun in motion.
Vortigash didn’t dodge this time. He raised a single hand. A sigil glowed in his palm—a spinning Aries Zodiac carved from golden-red lines of flame.
As Tharnak’s maul came down again, the moment of impact sent out a ripple through reality.
CLAAAAANG!
The collision didn’t crack the arena—it tore a wound in the air itself, and light bled from the rift like molten glass. The sheer pressure forced Vortigash back five paces. His boots left scorched hoof-prints in the ground.
"Hoh... not bad," Vortigash admitted, brushing soot from his forearm guard. "That flame... It carries the signature of a star on the verge of collapse. A Quasi-Divine Flame, isn’t it?"
Tharnak raised his maul again, not even pausing to confirm. He charged once more like a raging bull.
This time, the arena shook so violently that even Jacob, who was watching closely from the opposite end, felt the pressure. Solar winds spun outward, crashing against the flame barrier between matches.
Jacob’s eyes compressed in astonishment, "This guy... is that really a Demigod Rank acolyte?"
On the other hand, Jacob’s opponent, Vaeliar, continued to struggle, and his voice was filled with humiliation and unwillingness. It was clear that Jacob hadn’t put him in his eyes and was even distracted. For a Flame Acolyte, this was extremely humiliating, and the flame on him started to burn even more violently.
But alas, the Life Bane Wheel was too powerful, even a Quasi-Divine Flame couldn’t burn through it, and Vaeliar continued to be devoured by it.
Back in the storm, Vortigash was forced onto the defensive.
Each strike from Tharnak’s maul carried a different pressure—gravity, combustion, temporal acceleration. The air bent, heat folded, and light obeyed no rules inside Tharnak’s domain of flame.
"Why don’t you fight back, filthy ram-ling?" Tharnak finally demanded mid-swing. "You think I can’t draw out the truth from that arrogant hide of yours?"
The next blow forced Vortigash to block with both arms crossed, flames spiraling off him in waves. A crack finally appeared.
Not on Vortigash’s body—but in his facade. His smile vanished.
"I didn’t want to reveal this," He muttered, his voice low, carrying a tingle of bitterness.
Vortigash was paying attention to Jacob, and he was secretly shocked when he noticed how easily Jacob’s ’law ability’ was keeping Vaeliar in check. Previously, he believed the Life Bane Wheel was Jacob’s trump card, and he had to pay a certain price to use it, making it difficult to use continuously.
But now, Jacob had again changed Vortigash’s perspective against him, and the latter knew Jacob wasn’t someone efficiently dealt with, nor could these Flame Acolytes be brushed off as trivial opponents.
At this moment, a sudden twist of heat coiled around Vortigash’s frame. A second aura unfolded—invisible at first, like a mirage rippling in rhythm with his breathing.
But it wasn’t fire. It was gravity, an element on the same rank as Space and Time!
Above his head, a horned sigil of a burning zodiac flickered briefly—it appeared to be old, abstract, formed from flame, starlight, and law.
Jacob’s eyes flickered violently because at this moment, his Eyes of Judge failed to see through those flames, which was shocking.
’That isn’t the Flame Law at all.... what did he just summon?’
Tharnak’s golden eyes narrowed with shock as he seemed incredulous while blurting out, "That... is not mortal flame!"
Vortigash didn’t answer. His entire body began to glow—not with heat, but with mysterious law. The flames surrounding him now spiraled like constellations, orbiting his horns, arms, and even hooves with precision.
And then he struck.
WHOOM!
It wasn’t an attack of brute force—it was a collision of laws. His fist—wreathed in starlit flame—met Tharnak’s descending maul head-on.
BANG!
The force exploded outward in a sphere of pure white, and everything within ten meters of the impact disappeared.
When the light faded, Tharnak stood unmoved. But blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
At this moment, he suddenly stepped back, and then an eerie grin played on his face, "Hahahahaha...so that’s how it is...I wasn’t defeated in vain. You carry a True Divine Flame! J-just how did you manage to bring it in Middle Plains...who exactly are you Ram-ling!?"
However, Vortigash didn’t reply, but his expression didn’t seem favorable. His arm smoked. The aura had receded. He had used only a flash of Divine Flame—but that flash had been enough to defeat Tharnak.
"You talk too much for an old ghost of a defeated pantheon..." Vortigash finally said, eyes narrowing with a threatening glimmer in his eyes. "Now vanish, for you do not belong here!"
"Hahahaha..."
Tharnak laughed even more violently, but his laughter was filled with bitterness and hatred as his mountain-like figure slowly turned into ashes...fading away in flames of history!