Conquering His Cold Heart

"Hu hu hu hu hu"

"Hu hu hu hu hu" Both Frost and Indra glared at one another as they panted and trembled from exhaustion. The two had been battling with all they had for the past hour with neither backing down. No matter how much blood was spilled or how much armour was chipped away they remained standing, refusing to fall in defeat.

At this point it was a veritable miracle that either of them were still standing let alone having the strength to swing their weapons with enough force to destroy the stone arena.

"Dammit…. why won't…. you fall?" Indra asked with half opened eyes, his stance faltering and breathing become more laboured with every word spoken. He was so tired he couldn't even think straight but even so he refused to fall down.

"….. Fall? Me?….. I'm full of ….. energy why would…. I fall?" Frost responded in a no less exhausted manner, even smirking was difficult.

It was clear from their battle that the two of them were evenly matched therefore victory would be decided by whoever had the strongest will and or desire for victory.

The audience members would watched the entire duel with their butts hovering over the end of their seats still had no idea who'd come out the victor, Frost and Indra were just too evenly matched. However at this point the duel's excitement had run its course. No longer was it a contest of skill but stubbornness, far less interesting to watch.

Dark felt a strong urge to end the duel at this point. His sons had proved their mettle and came out equal. Prolonging this display of stubbornness served to only further their injuries unnecessarily. The duel was exciting and thrilling to watch in the beginning but now their clashes no longer provided improvement to their mastery, mere shadows of what they used to represent. It was time to call it.

"Haaaaaa" Dark let out a deep sigh as he struggled with his decision. He wondered if his stubborn sons would accept such a result, would they hold it against him or perhaps escalate their friendly rivalry down a dark path? Regardless he raised his hand into the air and was prepared to call an end to the long duel…. however.

Indra who was seemingly about to crash perked up as though he was injected with stimulants. His eyes blinked rapidly, and a look of confusion and surprise adorned his tired face before he turned to gaze at Izuna. The beautiful celestial fox woman was on her feet and donned a determined expression as she nodded her head.

A growing pink blush formed across her cheeks as power filled Indra's body. The once exhausted lightning speedster immediately stopped his laboured breathing and stood ramrod straight as lightning tendrils flickered around his blood covered body.

A predatory smile then adorned his lips as his aura burst forth with unbridled force, cracking the stone beneath his feet and pushing back the stunned Frost.

'What the hell!' Frost internally screamed as he witnessed Indra summoning strength from who knows where. 'Was he just pretending to be exhausted?' Fear and jealously gripped his heart, how could Indra still have strength left?

Dark who was about to call the duel a draw stopped his actions as he analysed both Indra and Izuna. He immediately thought of foul play, but the strength Indra summoned was his own. Something changed, allowing Indra to tapped into some hidden well of energy.

'What happened?' Even though he was the majestic Dark God he had no idea what transpired. But regardless, now that Indra had the strength to properly fight there was no longer any need to call the duel a draw.

Even with the sudden surge of power Frost refused to surrender. He stubbornly dug his glaive into the stone arena and braced his body against the raging waves of aura that threatened to tear him apart. His many open wounds were agitated, causing streams of fresh blood to roll across his body but still he refused to fall.

'If Indra can find some hidden well of energy then why can't I?' He desperately searched inside himself and communed with his dungeon core heart, hoping to unleash something that would allow him to compete with Indra….but he found nothing. No hidden spring or source of untapped energy, he was completely devoid of strength. Despair filled his eyes as he gazed at his brother who readied his katana.

"Sorry little brother but it seems I can't afford to lose this duel. Not when there's such a precious reward waiting for me once it's over." An expression full of fervent desire covered Indra's face as readied his katana for a final blow. He no longer cared about the duel or the chance to test himself against his younger brother, all that mattered to him now were the words of his guardian.

Indra's declaration caused Dark and Maya to look at Izuna in question, wondering what on Nova could she have promised to cause such a reaction in Indra. The fox in question couldn't stop her blush from intensifying. Maya's inquisitive gaze was especially hard to endure.

"What the hell did you promise?" Maya asked with both coldness and curiosity in her eyes.

"N…N..NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!!!" By this point Izuna's face was completely red from embarrassment. She lashed out like a cat getting her tail stepped on and refused to utter another word, instead covering her face with her hands as she sat down on her seat, her heart in genuine turmoil.

Maya only grew more and more curious, she stared at Izuna's squirming form and refusal to even look her way. It only took her a second or two to understand that it must have been something lewd.

'This sneaky bitch.' She never thought that to win this duel Izuna would resort to using herself as a prize. Plus given the extreme reaction shown by both her and Indra it was clear that she offered something very, very special. She absolutely needed to know what it was but right it was necessary to level the playing field.

Just as Indra started moving, preparing to end this duel in a single strike, Frost's ears twitched as Maya's voice appeared within his head. Similar to what happened to Indra, Frost looked distracted and confused for a moment before glancing over at his guardian as if unable to believe what he was hearing.

"This is the end little brother." Indra moved with speed almost comparable to when they first started using their auras, a speed far greater than Frost should be capable of handling in his exhausted state. Indra's katana swung down with immense speed, cutting apart the air as it aimed lob off Frost's dominant arm.

As long as he didn't kill him he was confident their father or at least their guardians would be able to repair all manner of damage, so he really didn't let up. Unfortunately with his mind so focused on the promised reward he failed to spot the sudden change within his brother.

DOOOOOONNNNNNN!!!!

A magnificent explosion of soundwaves reverberated throughout the space as Indra's katana met not with Frost's flesh but with the blade edge of his glaive, swung with no less force than his own weapon. A look of confusion flittered through Indra's eyes before a sense of danger wrapped itself around his heart.

"Shit!" He backed away just in time to avoid a nasty knee to the gut and now he had the opportunity to witness the full changes in Frost's demeanour.

"Ehhh!" Frost's eyes held a freezing energy that made Indra's nerves tighten as his gaze wondered over him. His chakra armour quickly repaired itself with wisps of cold fire wrapping around his glaive and body in a protective manner.

"No Indra, I'll be the one deciding when we end." He spoke with an eery chill.

The two brothers stared at one another for a couple seconds as their powers continued to grow.

"Seems you've been offered something as well."

"Indeed."

"Hmph! No matter." Indra readied his katana. "Nothing will stop me from getting my reward! Prepare to lose little brother!" The lightning swarming around Indra's katana changed colour, switching from yellow to almost azure. His next attack would be unlike any other. He was adamant in being the victor this day.

"I refuse! You will be the one to fall today Indra. The reward shall be mine to enjoy." Frost readied his glaive, his cold fire chakra and aura combining to amplifying the weapon's lethality to extreme levels.

Clearly the two of them were not talking about the 40,000DP reward but rather what was offered by their two blushing guardians.

"Horn dogs, my sons are complete horn dogs." Dark would have to be completely clueless to still not understand what happened. His two sons were clearly promised something very, very special by their guardians upon their victory, so much so that they managed to summon strength out of nowhere just for the sake of obtaining that special reward.

The Dark God was twitching at the lips as he felt both proud and ashamed of his sons.

'Ah screw it!' He decided to simply ignore the reasoning for their sudden revival and focus on the duel's end. Despite being suddenly imbued with power it was likely only a temporary state brought on by their strong desire. 'One blow, perhaps two that's all they'll get before collapsing.'

Frost and Indra knew their situation and decided to risk their victory on one single exchange. Whoever survives would get to relish in their promised reward.

The two brothers stared into one another's eyes before moving at the exact same time.

Whooosh! Schwing!

Their forms vanished before reappearing a millisecond later where the other started. Silence filled the arena as both stood still.

Spurt!

A moment later a geyser of blood erupted from Frost's left shoulder and Indra's right shoulder respectively. Their chakra armour and aura gradually fell apart revealing gnarly, deep cuts spanning most of their torso.

""Lucky hit!"" The two of them both muttered through throats filled with blood before collapsing onto the arena at the same time. Neither moved as blood continued to drain from their bodies at a terrifying rate.

The situation was so sudden that Izuna, Maya and Dark were caught unaware before immediately moving into action a few seconds later in distress.

"Frost!!!"

"Indra!!!!"