A certain seer coughed up blood of a most unhealthily dark shade as a battle of most impossible proportions tools place with the memoryscape held together by his powers, it was hard to even think straight at this point, but the simple fact that the memory of the false past did not break down was proof that the fight was still going and that neither side had yet to claim victory.
Within the memory, the ruined holy land of Millipolo, the city of Gardefoi, or at least the memory of it seemed long gone, not even a single trace of the dilapidated churches was left behind, and in fact, the memory had to be made to grow in size as the battle was taken much further from where it had begun, making the original confrontation between the two pure entities look like a mere squabble between children.
The level of destruction was such, that it had crossed over into creation, their dreadful clashes levelled the earth, creating mountains, volcanoes, lakes of lava, and even changing the weather, any of their simple punches was powerful enough to ignite the air, right now, the environment was a most heretical mix of vibrant life and gloomy death, both opposite biomes having their own battle for dominance.
Thanatok Ynigós and Loimos were once standing a distance away from one another, a momentary pause after what had been an entire hour of constant fighting from their perspective, it was only after so long that the strikes they inflicted upon one another began to finally amount to something.
The undead's signature, bar-helm was cracked, revealing one socket of the skull hidden within alongside an ample amount of rot, lively fines and flowers were growing upon him/
The living was in a similar situation, part of his face retained damage as rotten plants bloomed upon his body.
Both showed signs that the other's force was beginning to take effect, but it did not appear that either were actually going to lose in efficiency or power because of it.
"I honestly can't tell whether you're really fun to fight, or incredibly infuriating, it has been more than a hour, and you're still pulling random shit out of your ass, this can't possibly be normal to have so many damn tricks"
"You wield the greatest form of death force in existence, is there really a need to create a freaking water array to cast a spell for you and try to drown me?" Thanatok did not get any answer and only the thousand yard stare that was Loimos default state of being, well, at least with his helm damage, one could actually see the skull and not be forced to imagine an actual lack of expression on a face.
The two combatants, each representing the very essence of two opposite concepts, did not budge, as though waiting for the other to make the first move.
Ynigós had to admit that Loimos's battle style, Harbinger's Harvest, was without a doubt, the most refined and comprehensive combat style that has, is, and will ever exist, but even a style that encompasses both the simplest of punches and the manifestation of the four horsemen of the apocalypse could not dominate against that of the pure living, which was simultaneously lacking in refinement, but also the greatest representation of life, a survival instinct that was so great that it could even allow one to deal with the utterly unpredictable attacks of Loimos.
There were very combat styles that could stand up to either, Thanatok Ynigós could only think of two, the immaculate freedom of spirit and movement of the Defiler Of The Holy, and the blinding valiance of the golden hero, each held by supremely unique individuals, one of which actually shared in the unknown purple demonstrated by Loimos.
The pure living sighed, he certainly wondered what could possibly be the reason why the pure undead, perfect representation of what death represents, and the vilest of all heretics would have anything in common, especially when neither showed any likeness from the other.
Thanatok had momentarily believed that Loimos was simply the skeletal remains of the defiler, but that could not be the case, the latter had left no corpse behind, and besides, they didn't even share the same physique or height, although, they did both have unnaturally pointy teeth, it again wasn't a perfect match.
"Welp, let's get this over with, our little seer friend won't hold on long enough for us to settle things in this way… If you do come out on top like last time, let me give you a word of advice, be real careful with the third hero, if he is still around that is"
Silence encroached in between the two for exactly three seconds, until both suddenly uttered a single word :
"Zoitree" "Lithitree"
The tree of life and tree of death burst forth from the ground behind each of their respective masters, one vibrant, one pale, both majestic.
Both appearing even grander and more domineering than during their last confrontation, and this time, Thanatok Ynigós and Loimos both possessed true mastery over it, the waves of devouring life and festering death clashed in an invisible war, the advance of the two stopped by the other cleanly, forming a perfect wall, a perfectly straight line.
"Say Loimos… I couldn't help but notice that you took a detour before arriving into this memory… Did you see her? Death?"
The undead did not respond.
"I too was made privy to some of that stuff, you see… As long as life exists under the will of the one true creator, I shall not cease to exist, no matter how much festering death you pour into me, similarly, even if I crushed you with devouring life, you would not be totally erased as long as death exists under the will of the one true creator"
"And I doubt that either will ever stop existing, the Bright and Pale Ladies are direct daughters of the creator, this makes us the one and only true representatives of their influence, and thus, we are directly linked to the big boss upstairs, isn't that neat?"
The undead did not respond.
"I see… If you aren't seeing any reason to answer, then you already realised it yourself, huh? Then you should know that we were both greatly mistaken"
In this instant, something seemed to snap, the entire battlefield was erased, turning into a flatland, the soil neither living nor dead, both the great trees vanished as the two forces failed to overpower one another, but still destroyed their opponent anyways, leaving Loimos and Thanatok Ynigós standing into what seemed like an infinite plane without any curves.
"You are the one who is mistaken, Thanatok Ynigós"
"The matter that is the eradication of life is one that only concerns us, the living and undead of this particular world, our respective matrons do not have any stakes, they are merely supporting their scions, like a mother cares for her children"
"I am not mistaken in my will to purge all life that is within my reach, I can not be, for I am the pure undead, for my very existence is sanctioned by the Pale Lady"
"Your continued existence is all proof that you remain sanctioned by the Bright Lady no matter what, there is no mistake in your wish to eradicate all death, there is only misfortune"
"For the one you need to defeat to do so is me"
"Heh… Ahahah! To think I would see the day that Loimos would make a grand speech! I am unfortunate you say? I am not yet defeated, there is still one clash for us to have-"
"There is not, Quideos Audit can no longer maintain the memory, in other words, your existence is no longer maintained, farewell"
Loimos found himself back in the room, and within his suit of living flesh, the instant he arose, he slashed right in front of him, striking nothing as the prophet had already made his escape in spite of the backlash he must have suffered.
Truly, Audit was the most persistent living the skeleton had ever encountered.
He turned back to the false wall, Maliah was having fun, and Irlanx Xacobus was not losing, so he simply descended into the underground.