Rising from the ground, the sea of undead soldiers parted, pillars of condensed earth rising and moulding into the shape a singular structure, an immense mass of solid earth turned to stone, upon its high peak, a hollow circle stood, earthen mana gathered upon its center, casting an ungodly amount of spikes, like a rain of arrow shot by an army of infinite numbers, the countless spells shot out in the form of a spiral, striking against the barrier, exploding into shrapnel of mud, trying to seep in between the cracks.
Upon this circle spanning dozens of meters in width, two figures were standing in await, one in robes, one in heavy armour, rocky staff in hand, longsword resting upon the shoulder, a shine of brownish and metal grey flames nestling within empty sockets.
Like a platform of pure iron bending under a weight much too great, Slotriig's hums were most uncomfortable on the ear, tapping his staff upon the stone below his feet, Unacunerra's old bones cracked even as he stood still, staring intently at the incoming brightness, igniting the king's divine night with furious flames filled with vigour.
Within just a few seconds of erecting his grand spell, the royal guard saw a mass of fire heading his way, crashing into the great pillar, setting the mana ablaze with prejudice, The Earthen Catastrophe's greatest opponent to this day, The Volcano Witch, Rosemary.
The Hero-Slayer let himself fall right back down to the ground, whilst his fellow royal guard remained floating in place, minuscule particles of earth supporting his weight in the air, he walked at this altitude as though the air itself was his domain to walk upon.
"Mongrel living" he raised his arms.
"It is a pleasure, to meet again"
Rosemary floated up to his level, the two glorious mages facing one another from a distance much too close taking in consideration their occupations as spell casters, the woman did not bother to give him a response, both analysed the other for an instant, like two squirrels evaluating the quality of an acorn.
If one squirrel was dead and the other was on fire, of course.
But in actuality, both were just waiting for the respective soldiers of their sides to get the hell away from the area, both waved one hand upward, and with just this, all hell broke loose.
There was always a certain point where the already lousy logic applied to levels of power completely fell on its face, and indeed, without any build-up, without a clear spark to indicate such massive spells, without using any method to lessen the burden upon themselves, simply willing their spells to manifest, and doing so without even blinking.
A mountain and volcano collided, the former was jagged and rough, nothing but pure rock brought into existence to crush and destroy, whilst the latter was filled to the brim with lava and magma, oozing and exploding outward, as the outer crust was broken.
Colliding and shattering, coming to a grinding halt as their control was made null in contact against one another, this entire time, neither moved from their spot, just staring the other down like they were a most weirdly shaped piece of dung on the side of the road.
Earthen spells, fiery constructs clashed, breaking against one another, neither quite coming out on top in a contest of pure brawn, both casters were just as fast in their spell weaving, and it went without saying that in this duel, each and every of their spells were of the transcend rank, something unthinkable for the great majority that dwelled in the lake of normalcy and averageness.
Moving forward, they exchanged blows up close, spells continuously raining upon them from all sides, barriers appeared, augmentation was focused on certain spot, fists and palms colliding without any damage lingering, thrusts of hands went through the bodies of each, turning into flames or mud, their martial prowesses were not nearly as impressive or rapid as that of the warriors focused on fighting in close-quarters, but they made up for it by infusing their strikes with spells, both of their signature elements, as well as of simple mana to try and take the other by surprise.
A strategy that never worked out, as though omnipotent in the matters of mana, nothing slipped from their attentions, no matter how well concealed, all spells and bursts of magic were deciphered well before they reached, dismantled or defended against in the most perfect way possible.
Their exchange of blows came to an end, as both received a palm strike to the side of their heads, striking one another at the same time, sending both spinning through the air for a few moments, bruise and burn mark gone as they stabilised.
During that time, they had travelled away from the barrier, and into a mountain range that had definitely not been there before the reach of death fell upon Viridis, the area was deserted, Rosemary could not sense any sort of undead anywhere all around, which was a good thing, she did not want anyone to step in.
But it was suspicious, she could not be too certain of her capacities, certain undeads could have the capabilities to hide from view, there were also the Fin-Limiers that could be lurking around.
Well, all were welcome to try stepping in.
"Zone" both spoke in a calm manner, Rosemary had already understood that the royal guard was the same zone user she had encountered a while back, both of them already held some familiarity with the other's ultimate mastery, both could be said to be at their peaks, only a great event could push them higher, that, or forming a new zone with another element or with another energy, but that was something neither considered.
Their proficiency laid in their one element, with which they held an affinity that left all else in the dust.
This time around, they both went all in, extending the range they controlled to the maximum possible, in an attempt to get a slight edge on the other, giving free reign upon even a small area, where the other could not fight back.
Both extended their reach to its maximum, and somehow, down to the exact millimeters, they were equal, without lingering on this, they pulled their zone back in, condensing it for greater power in a small area.
No longer floating up in the air, their feet firmly planted upon the ground, both had prepared for this confrontation.
Taking everyone and everything into account, Rosemary was the only one left to take care of Unacunerra and Unacunerra was the only one that made sense to face Rosemary.