The battlefield was silent for a heartbeat. Dust and frost hung in the air like smoke after a bombing. Then, with a roar, Derrick charged, his body sheathing itself in jagged stone. His steps cracked the ground beneath him.

  Derrick: “How has a runt like you pushed me this far?!”

  Hiruzen wiped blood from his lips, staggering but refusing to drop. His chest heaved, but his eyes burned with fire.

  Hiruzen: “Sorry, but I’m stubborn. My dad always said I don’t know when to quit. Both of us are exhausted, so let’s finish this.”

  Derrick grinned savagely, stone skin grinding like armor.

  Derrick: “From here on out—no more words. Only fists.”

  The two warriors collided. Derrick’s stone fist slammed toward Hiruzen’s gut, but Hiruzen caught it with his ice-clawed hand. The impact made his bones rattle, but he held on, frost racing up Derrick’s arm. He leapt back, gathering power into his palm and hurled a massive orb of ice.

  Derrick countered instantly, hurling a boulder the size of a house. The attacks smashed midair, exploding into shards and dust.

  They dove back in—trading blows, fist against fist, stone versus ice.

  Hiruzen’s knuckles cracked against Derrick’s jaw. Derrick’s elbow smashed down on Hiruzen’s skull, rattling his vision white. An uppercut split the air, answered by a hammer blow that drove Hiruzen into the dirt.

  The ground quaked as Derrick stomped, stone spikes ripping upward. Hiruzen reacted, summoning his own forest of ice spikes that clashed violently against the stone. The battlefield became a jagged wasteland of ice and rock.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Derrick hurled another boulder. Hiruzen conjured an ice blade and cleaved it in half. Before he could breathe, Derrick appeared behind him, lifted him high, and slammed him headfirst into the ground with bone-shattering force.

  Hiruzen gasped, trying to rise—but stone hands erupted around his body, pinning him. Derrick straddled him, raining down punches like a jackhammer. Each strike was thunder. Each strike split the skin, filling his mouth with blood.

  And then—

  A voice, smooth and cold, slid into his ear like silk.

  Iskarth: “Pathetic. You’ll die like this. Do you want to live, boy? Then let me help.”

  Hiruzen clenched his teeth, blood dripping down his chin.

  Hiruzen: “The last time I used your power… my arms were ruined. Useless.”

  A low, sinister chuckle echoed in his head.

  Iskarth: “That was because it was a bargain. A deal struck in desperation. This time, I offer it freely. Remember—the more of my power you wield, the more it becomes yours.”

  Another punch slammed into Hiruzen’s face. His vision blurred red. He felt his body breaking.

  Hiruzen (thinking): If I don’t accept… I’ll die here. Emma will be alone. Jonathan will wake up to nothing. I can’t… I won’t let that happen.

  Hiruzen: “Fine… then give me everything!”

  A surge of freezing power erupted from within him. Blue-white light exploded outward, blasting Derrick off of him. Ice shattered the stone bindings.

  Hiruzen rose. His hair bled into white, his eyes glowing like frozen fire. His arms transformed—razor claws of living ice, jagged and deadly.

  In an instant, he blurred forward. Derrick barely saw him before a fist crashed into his face, sending him skidding across the battlefield.

  Hiruzen: “…This power… no wonder Adam needed rescuing the last time I touched it.”

  He slammed his clawed hand into the ground.

  Hiruzen: “Demon Frost: Glacier Explosion!”

  The earth screamed. A colossal ice claw erupted beneath Derrick, seizing his entire body. In a deafening crack, the claw detonated, unleashing a tidal wave of ice across the battlefield. Everything—stone, fire, air itself—froze solid. A frozen wasteland stretched for miles.

  Derrick lay within it, half his body turned blue and black with frostbite, steam rising off his battered frame. He coughed, laughter bubbling weakly from his lips.

  Derrick: “Heh… you got me, kid. Stronger than I ever thought possible.”

  Hiruzen, chest heaving, lowered his claws but kept his guard.

  Hiruzen: “Stay down. It’s over.”

  Derrick chuckled again, blood running down his chin. His voice was ragged, but his eyes burned with something dangerous—respect.

  Derrick: “No. For you… it’s just beginning.”

  He forced himself upright, trembling, and fixed Hiruzen with a wild grin.

  Derrick: “A warrior like you shouldn’t waste his life with the weak. Join me. Become my right hand… and together, the Spartans will rule this war.”

  The battlefield went silent again, ice groaning under the weight of Hiruzen’s breath.

  Hiruzen: “…”

  End Chapter