Thin strands of moonlight still struggled to penetrate through the heavy curtain of conjured mist but Shinsou had carefully followed each and every movement and counter movement within the grey. As a blustering wind of arcane energy continued to erupt from underneath him, the Telgradian closed his eyes, a wry smile etched on his visage. He knew that Storm could have easily killed Durandel at a moment of his choosing, but instead the electromancer had chosen to show his Telgradian friend a courtesy and respect the lithe magician offered few others.

It would be his kill, and it would not go unappreciated.

Shinsou’s golden eyes flashed open as the wind abated, sending a clear shockwave through the clearing. His breathing was laboured and heavy, and his body was bathed in a cold feverish sweat. There was always a cost of channelling as much power as he could from the Hakai, and it never got easier; his head pounded as if a percussive instrument of the gods themselves had been beaten within its taut confines. But despite this, he was ready to unleash it all.

From the perspective of the ground, the true magnitude of Durandel’s folly was now beginning to dawn upon the elf. He could not last. His blackened flesh showed a number of deep cuts and grazes, and against Storm he had not been quick enough to guard. In the face of Shinsou’s closely guarded Hakai release, his own power was much too weak, even with Arius’s gifted enhancements. Even if he survived all of this, the elf’s enemies would be too numerous. He sensed, rather than saw, the noose gradually tightening around him. There was no more room for manoeuvre.

But…he would get up. Through sheer determination and pure willpower alone, step by bloody step, inch by bloody inch, he dragged his beaten body up from the soil, and his bow to his side. Inhaling deeply, there was a brief respite as Shinsou stood off for a moment, knowing his prey was cornered and ripe for the taking. It was not much of a break, to be sure.

“Arius is not going to Tylmerande, you know. He’s searching for something to the west of it. But I don’t care anymore, about him, or you. None of you will ever kill what I stood for, even if you kill ME!” He muttered the words almost in resignation, before desperately unleashing a torrent of shadowflame arrows from his bow towards where Shinsou was poised. As the smoke cleared, the elf’s expression turned forlorn; his attack had disintegrated into dust. The bolts had been cut to ribbons in a single devastating strike by the Telgradian, who lowered the legendary Enpera to his side as the purple remnants that comprised them dissolved on its cold edge.

"Shut up! I've had enough of your babbling." Shinsou, breathing heavily, snapped, “Pretending like you stood for something noble. It was always only about you. That’s the thing I most despise, and I'm fucking done with it."

Beside him, Storm watched on. Durandel muttered something unintelligible but decidedly angry in his native tongue, his expression that of a pouty child.

Enough was enough.

Welcome to oblivion, you miserable piece of shit.

Four walls of light suddenly washed upwards around Durandel through the darkness, dazzling and disorienting, before converging as one to envelop the Raiaeran traitor fully in a pulsating orb of pure energy. The spell wrought havoc on the magically-cast fog, casting a bright flash into the high trees and recessed parts of the clearing. Everything now blazed in molten pyres, alight with remnant white as a faint aroma akin to smouldering rubber persisted.

Backdraft wafted through the limp strands of Shinsou’s hair as he clenched his palm into a fist.

“Enpera Shiroihitsugi.”

At the touch of his words, the white sarcophagus woven about the engulfed Raiaeran spawned giant, lance shaped appendages that protruded from its outer shell, and with an almighty crackkkkkkk, each spear suddenly inverted, plunging into the core of the tomb so deep and violently that it sent splintered shards of gravitational energy fizzing through the shadows. The force of the impact alone snapped some of the trees behind the spell in half.

Somehow, the Telgradian and Storm suffered only with being dumped onto the cooler ground by the resultant pulse. They got to their feet in time to witness the remnants of Shiroihitsugi smashing apart; splashes of purifying white flame taking life among the dead grasses and leaves upturned by the monstrosity’s power, their light mingling with the cloud of spectral dust that comprised Durandel’s remains.

“…What's that bastard looking for...?” Shinsou panted, trying to get his words out as his legs failed him. Arcane energy, sour like raw citrus, still flowed through his body. Thick air from the dissipating magical assault pushed back against him, clinging to his skin, and the world slowed to a dark blur as the Telgradian passed out in front of the electromancer.