335 Clash Of The Morningstars [1]
His words of defiance were akin to a declaration of war, both for and against Yelena.
She clenched her teeth and glanced back at Lucas, who was now clad in resplendent golden and red armor, shimmering brilliantly under the evening sun's radiance.
"So be it," she muttered and rushed toward Lucas. "If you won't tell me willingly, I'll just have to resort to force."
Lucas remained unfazed by the approaching threat as he summoned his gleaming crimson spear.
"Nice strategy," he remarked as he rushed toward the approaching silver-
haired elf. "But I don't think you'll be able to force me."
As soon as the silver-haired siblings entered striking range, they swung their weapons at each other.
Clang—!!
Lucas expertly blocked Yelena's longsword which was enveloped in an azure glow, causing her to grit her teeth and say, "Your arrogance has grown too much! Remember that you are in the presence of a Queen!"
Lucas twirled his spear around the blade of Yelena's sword and attempted a straight thrust.
However, Yelena swiftly hopped back a few steps to safety in the nick of time.
Lucas smirked and replied, "A Queen who needs to remind people of her regal presence is not a true Queen!"
Before Yelena could retort, Adel, with his body still engulfed in radiant golden flames, jumped at Lucas from his left side, looking as if he were ablaze.
Lucas' left ribs were exposed and vulnerable. Adel thought about exploiting the opening in the silver-haired boy's defense. But unfortunately, he had underestimated his twin brother a bit too much.
Yes, it was a trap! The opening in Lucas' defense was intentional.
Lucas had cleverly lured Adel right where he wanted him to be. The moment Adel entered his striking range, Lucas swiftly brought down the butt of his spear, striking Adel's skull with the rear end of his weapon.
"Arghh!" The Golden Wolf let out a pained cry, stumbling back a few steps as he was rendered utterly disoriented.
Without granting him a moment of respite, Lucas closed in on Adel, executing a sweeping kick with his left foot, striking the golden-haired boy on the side of his chin.
The force of Lucas' kick sent Adel flying several meters to the side, and he tumbled along the ground before finally coming to a halt.
"What the–?" However, as soon as his kick connected, Lucas' left foot ignited in flames.
Adel's body was still enveloped in golden flames, which was likely an application of his Elemental Aura. Touching him right now would set anyone on fire.
Close combat with Adel was difficult.
Unfortunately for Adel, Lucas had the nigh-invincible protection of his Phoenix's Embrace. Only a handful of things in the world could hurt him by breaching his defense.
Without waiting for a heartbeat, Lucas jerked his left leg to extinguish the flames, which failed to leave even a single burn mark.
But in the midst of this distraction, he nearly forgot about Yelena—a mistake for which he instantly paid.
The moment Lucas looked up, he saw a massive ice spike hurtling toward him at breakneck speed.
By this point, he had no time to evade or destroy the ice spike. All he could do was cross his arms over his chest.
The colossal crystal spike of clear ice struck him with the force of a speeding truck, throwing him back into the air.
He remained airborne for several moments before gravity exerted its pull on him, bringing him back to the ground.
Like a flat stone skipping across water, Lucas' body skidded along the ground a few times.
Then, recovering his breath, Lucas performed a graceful backflip and regained his footing. He plunged his spear into the ground to kill the momentum pushing him back.
By now, the wind would've been knocked out of Lucas' lungs if not for his armor's protective embrace.
The massive ice spike plummeted and fell a short distance away from him, to his side. He stole a quick glance at it before shifting his gaze to focus back on Yelena.
The silver-haired half-elf had already begun chanting another incantation under her breath. Five more enormous ice spikes materialized above her head, hovering in the air menacingly.
With a mere mental command, Yelena sent the colossal ice spikes hurtling toward the silver-haired boy at the speed of a bullet, intending to squash him.
"Is she trying to actually kill me?" Lucas widened his eyes, and in the next instant, he conjured five colossal javelins forged entirely from crimson flames.
The fire javelins shot forward like devastating missiles locked onto their target, colliding fiercely with the cold ice spikes.
Upon impact when the fire and ice clashed, a detonation of mist and white smoke billowed forth, and tremors rippled through the ground.
"Did I get him?" Yelena squinted her eyes, trying to notice any movement within the thick white mist.
Lucas had been dangerously close to the explosion, so the impact must have been extremely forceful on him.
Just as she thought of that, Yelena saw something move in the mist, stirring the white smoke.
However, in the very next moment, her eyes widened as a crimson spear thrust through the white smoke and shot in her direction.
Yelena lifted her huge kite shield in hopes of tanking the hit, but as the spear crashed against her shield, the force of the impact sent her reeling back a few steps.
The spear fell to the ground with a clatter, and Yelena lowered her shield. She looked at Adel, who had come to stand beside her and said, "Do not look into his eyes. I am not sure but I think that's how he trapped us in that illusion."
Adel nodded. He had also noticed the bright violet glint in Lucas' eyes earlier. It was kind of scary to think he could just render them immobile with a single look.
Even though their exchange was short and quick, it was more than enough time for Lucas to unleash his most destructive spell – Hellfire Doom.
The ground trembled, and the mist obstructing their view dispersed, allowing Yelena and Adel to see their silver-haired brother.
Lucas was down on one knee, one of his fists striking the ground. Yelena quickly widened her eyes.
She had seen Lucas use this spell before in the King's Tournament. Unfortunately for her, this realization came way too late.
Fissures formed, and cracks appeared on the ground all around them. The frozen ice broke as pillars of immolating flames burst out of the cracks like geysers of fire from the depths of hell.
One after another, these blazing pillars surged forward, closing in on the two Morningstar siblings.
Yelena acted quickly and pushed Adel away by running into him with her kite shield. By the time Adel was thrown back into the air, fire pillars erupted around Yelena, as if imprisoning her within a cage of flames.
Yelena quickly deployed a barrier spell. A colossal ice orb materialized around her, cocooning her figure.
At that very moment, from directly beneath her, an incinerating blast of fire detonated
KABOOOM—!!
Thick plumes of black smoke rose from the epicenter of the massive explosion, and dust filled the air.
Adel, who had just crash landed onto the ground, fixed his gaze on the heart of the rising pillar of black smoke, where his sister should have been.
A strange, alien sensation invaded Adel's heart and took root there. Cold sweat began to trickle down his forehead as a chill crept up his spine.
Adel turned his head and shifted his gaze to Lucas, only to see him standing up. As their eyes locked, the Golden Wolf calmed himself down and prepared to clash with his brother.
No, this was good. Adel was surprised by his brother's newfound strength, but it was indeed an ideal situation.
Ever since Adel had ascended to the position of the Morningstar family heir, he had been plagued by self-doubt at every step of his life.
Adel knew that Lucas was right. He knew he had obtained his position through sheer luck.
He understood that everything he had now was originally meant for his twin brother. He was just a replacement.
Throughout his life, he had often thought about whether he was a better heir than his brother.
Adel knew that he wasn't smarter than Lucas. but he had always wondered which of them would be the stronger contender in a serious clash – a battle to death.
Lucas had been hailed as an angelic prodigy in his childhood. He excelled in combat as well as in intellect.
However, by the time they grew up and sparred seriously, Lucas had ceased his training. Defeating him was too easy because he never tried.
All he did was cry, whine, and throw tantrums like a brat.
But now... Now they were finally facing off against each other earnestly.
And now, Adel would settle this once and for all. He was going to defeat Lucas and claim his rightful place as the strongest Morningstar of their generation.
