Image: Reflections of Steel in Nokron

This semi-realistic illustration presents the duel between the Tarnished and the Mimic Tear from a pulled-back, isometric viewpoint that reveals the haunting scale of Nokron, the Eternal City. The scene unfolds along a shallow, water-filled channel carved between fractured stone platforms and collapsed arches, their edges chipped and worn by centuries of decay. The masonry is rendered with a gritty texture, each block bearing cracks, stains, and softened corners that suggest both age and abandonment.

In the lower left of the composition stands the Tarnished, cloaked in the Black Knife armor whose dark leather layers and matte metal plates absorb the pale light drifting through the cavern. The hooded figure leans forward into the attack, knees bent, cloak and belts streaming backward with the force of the movement. From the Tarnished’s outstretched hand, a dagger glows with a deep, ember-red intensity, its reflection trembling across the rippling water below.

Opposite, across the narrow channel, the Mimic Tear mirrors the Tarnished’s stance in eerie precision. Its armor is the same in form yet entirely different in substance, appearing forged from polished silver infused with a cold inner luminescence. The cloak flares outward in pale, translucent sheets that feel less like cloth and more like condensed light. The Mimic’s blade burns with a sharp, white-blue glow, and at the instant of impact, where red and blue meet, a spray of sparks bursts outward, briefly lighting the surrounding ruins.

The environment frames the duel with somber grandeur. Broken arches rise on either side, some still intact, others reduced to jagged ribs of stone that silhouette against the cavern’s luminous ceiling. Above, countless strands of falling starlight descend like shimmering rain, illuminating drifting dust and tiny fragments of debris suspended in the air. The water between the combatants churns with their movements, scattering reflections of the glowing blades across the dark surface.

The restrained, semi-realistic style replaces exaggerated anime lines with textured realism: armor shows scratches and dents, stone looks heavy and brittle, and the light behaves like a natural, diffused glow rather than pure fantasy. From this elevated vantage, the duel feels less like a stylized tableau and more like a frozen moment in a brutal, intimate struggle—one warrior confronting their own mirrored self in a ruined city that seems to float forever between darkness and starlit eternity.

The image is related to: Elden Ring: Mimic Tear (Nokron, Eternal City) Boss Fight