Born in apocalypse

Dhruv wasn’t the only one who had noticed this problem of his. A smile appeared on the Queen’s face as she sensed the problem within him.

Trying to take advantage of this, she unleashed a barrage of ice spikes that forced Dhruv to take to the air. His phoenix wings carried him high above the ground as he rained down fire from above, hoping to overwhelm the Queen.

"#%$ &^% &%$" Murmuring something, the Queen raised her hand as a dome of ice appeared, shielding her from the inferno.

Noticing this, Dhruv descended with a powerful dive, shattering the ice dome in an instant. The Queen leaped back with graceful and precise movement, but Dhruv wasn’t stopping.

He followed her relentlessly, his monstrous form a blur of motion, and they clashed again and again. Ice and fire collided, the elements trying to show dominance over each other as their casters competed for the same.

The two monsters had begun fighting with everything they had.

Gasp! Gasp!

Despite his best efforts to fight efficiently, Dhruv wasn’t able to control his mana. Just a minute of battle and his mana were nearly exhausted The strain of maintaining his monstrous form was taking its toll on his mind as well.

Dhruv understood very well that he couldn’t keep this up much longer.

The Queen smiled, sensing his weakening state, and continued to launch devastating attacks one after another.

Massive spears of ice hurtled toward him as Dhruv was forced to use mana to protect himself. Using the metal shield he stopped the rain of terror.

’Shit...’ Dhruv quickly realized his mana was already on the brink of exhaustion. Just fifteen percent of his mana remained in the core.

Flying in the air, he pulled out four bottles of mana. Chugging all of them in one go, he hurled a barrage of fire toward the Queen.

The Queen countered the fire with ice and dodged those she couldn’t block.

After chugging another batch of mana bottles, Dhruv leaped toward the Queen. She tried to escape from his grasp, but her feet got stuck in something sticky.

Opening her mouth, she froze the mud beneath her leg and got out quickly. That little time she used to break herself free was enough for Dhruv to act.

Infusing his hand with metal and fire, he punched, aiming at her core. Multiple ice shields appeared trying to block his fists, but they still weren’t enough.

Boommmm!

The punch resonated in the surroundings as the Queen was sent flying through walls one after another. Dirt and snow covered the area, hiding everything behind its veil.

Activating mana sense, Dhruv flew toward her and punched the Queen once again.

Crunch... Boooom!

The Queen burst into hundreds of fragments... but a frown appeared on Dhruv’s face. He realized the Queen he punched into oblivion proved to be just an ice sculpture.

’Shit...’ Realizing the trick, Dhruv tried to fly to safety, but he was a second too late.

Whoosh!!

An icicle containing horrifying power reached Dhruv in an instant, aiming for his core. Summoning a metal shield, he tried to block it, but he failed, only managing to change its trajectory a bit.

Boooooom!

Along with a part of his stomach, the icicle tore through one of his wings and destroyed a part of the town without any effort. Unable to maintain his flight, the king dropped to the ground.

Blood spattered on the ground as Dhruv’s wound began to heal... the healing continued as the flames of his wings began to dim. Within a second, flesh wriggled within his body as it tried to attach itself.

Before they could restore themselves fully... his wings lost their luster. Devoid of any light, the wings retreated back into his skin.

Chugging all the bottles he could find in the inventory in one go, Dhruv looked at the dark silhouette of the queen. As her figure cleared, revealed in his eyes, Dhruv found blue blood dripping from her face.

His punch had fractured the queen’s ribs.

Wiping the blood off her face, the queen began manipulating her mana. There was an obvious change in her speed as she cast a torrent of shards toward Dhruv.

Lifting himself from the ground, Dhruv raised his spear to deflect the attack... his fatigue became obvious as the force of the impact sent him crashing to the ground.

Dhruv struggled to his feet as his vision grew blurrier with each passing second...

Maintaining his vision, he saw the Queen advancing toward him. Her expression was one of grim determination, and he knew she intended to finish him off.

’Shit!! All the potions are gone...’

Summoning the last of his strength, Dhruv charged at her, his spear blazing with fire.

The Queen met his attack head-on as their weapons clashed with a resounding boom. For a moment, they were locked in a deadly stalemate, their faces inches apart.

Dhruv could see the cold fire in her eyes, and he knew she could see the coldness in his.

With a final, desperate push, using most of his energy Dhruv unleashed a torrent of fire, forcing the Queen to retreat. He followed up with a series of rapid slashes, each one aimed to bring the monster one step closer to death.

His desperation made his attack lose its potency as the Queen countered with her own.

Finding a gap in his attack, she blasted him with ice, knocking Dhruv back and leaving him gasping for breath.

Gasp! Gasp!

Gasping, Dhruv stood up. Summoning his strength, he tried to move his feet but found himself unable to do it. A chill ran down his spine, he looked down.

Dhruv’s face turned horrified as he found himself bound by the ice. His feet were stuck to the ground with an incredibly hard layer of ice. No matter what he did, he couldn’t free them.

Understanding physical strength wouldn’t be enough, he summoned multiple cores from his inventory. Crushing all of them with his might, he absorbed the mana within.

Most of the mana was lost, but some reached his core filling half of it.

Woosshhh!

Before Dhruv could use this new mana though, a sharp slash of ice reached him.

"Huh?!"

Before he could figure out what had just happened, the vision in front of his eyes began to tilt. Without any support, he dropped to the ground.