A Failed Hero's Voyage Chapter 7: Chapter 7: A Final Clash

Read chapter 7 of A Failed Hero's Voyage by churro on NovelPedia.

The earth did not merely crack, it shattered. Their collision sent violent distortions rippling outward, space itself bending and straining under the pressure. Shockwaves tore through the air, spilling into fractures in reality, cascading through unseen seams between dimensions. Atherius smiled. His blade pressed against the invisible barrier before him, the warped space Mordor had conjured as a shield. At first, it held firm. Then it began to yield, slowly but relentlessly, the edge of the blade forcing its way through. Mordor noticed. And he smiled. With a subtle motion, almost effortless, he dismissed the barrier entirely. The blade surged forward at impossible speed, closing the distance in an instant. But in that same breath, space shifted as Mordor stretched the distance between them just enough. Atherius’s momentum broke, his body forced back several meters as the sudden displacement disrupted his charge. He twisted mid-motion, boots grinding against the ground as he absorbed the change and stabilized. Then he moved again, faster, more aggressive, bloodlust burning in his eyes. “Show me more!” Atherius called, his voice cutting cleanly through the chaos. “Show me your full strength, Mordor!” Mordor smiled, not in mockery, but in recognition. Atherius closed the distance in an instant, his blade descending in a sharp, lethal arc. Mordor dipped beneath it, the strike passing overhead with barely a breath to spare, close enough to warp the air around his horns. He rose in the same motion, his fist already drawn back with no hesitation, no flourish. “As you wish.” The punch landed, direct and absolute, striking Atherius his armor dead center. The impact echoed across the battlefield and then simply stopped. Mordor’s eyes narrowed. That strike was enough to shatter mountains, to rupture the ground beneath them, to break reality itself if left unchecked, and yet Atherius did not move. He stood unharmed, untouched. At most, it felt like pressure, a distant echo of something that should have mattered. Mordor’s thoughts tightened. No, there had to be a path, a weakness, an angle, something that would force this man to feel it, to acknowledge that he was not beyond reach. Not untouchable. But not here. Not now. Atherius lowered his gaze, cold and precise, and his blade followed. The downward strike split reality itself, opening a thin wound through existence and leaving behind a trail of void, absence where matter once was. Darkness lingered in its wake, waiting for the world to correct itself. Mordor gritted his teeth, and caught the blade. His hand closed around it, and time seemed to halt. Then crimson spilled. Not blood, something deeper, something fundamental. It poured from his palm as though his very essence had been cut open, as though the blade did not merely wound flesh but severed something far more intrinsic. Because it did. This was no ordinary weapon. It did not enhance force or amplify destruction, it existed for one purpose, erasure. To be struck by it was not to be injured, but to be removed entirely, body, soul, and presence, completely and irreversibly. No return. No remnants. That was its nature. And yet Mordor smiled. Even now. Even bleeding. Even cut by something designed to unmake existence itself. He tightened his grip on the blade and moved. His fist drove upward in a brutal uppercut, connecting with absolute force. Atherius his head snapped back as his focus fractured for just an instant under the sheer impact. That moment was enough. Mordor surged forward, grabbing a handful of Atherius his white hair and yanking his head down to force their eyes into alignment. For a fraction of a second, they stood close enough to see the truth reflected in each other’s gaze. Then Mordor struck again. Clean. Violent. Atherius was launched backward, his body cutting through the air before he regained control and slid to a halt. His eyes lifted immediately, locked and focussed, back on Mordor. Mordor did not move. For a