(first released on scribblehub by author Nanayamichan.

9th July 2021, 00:07 cet)

Chapter 26 - Fighting the.. Who? 

I fell backwards and was back in my body. 

It didn't hurt much or anything. 

Kiwi disappeared for some reason, she was sort of pushed back into her realm through a portal that opened. She said "careful" telepathically to me before that really quick. 

"what happened?!" Yuna exclaimed looking surprised and shocked as I'd just fallen out of nowhere, pretty suddenly to her. 

"wait, move" I said and pushed myself towards her and threw myself over her with a magic skill, aerial control, that let me propel myself with air in directions. 

Covering her with my back. 

Simultaneously I cast a barrier at my back with air energy, which is like a wind barrier sort of.

---Skill explanations---

Aerial control,

A magical skill that allows its user to move and turn mid air freely at will by using air, wind, to move the body quickly. 

If maxed, the user can move in anyway she or he likes, in any imaginable way in the air. Even fly. 

A wind barrier, 

Air stream pushing things away with a huge force. 

Imagine a designated space, like a square for example, where you create a draft or more like a storm wind that's going in a desired direction. (usually away from the user) 

So it just flings any physical objects back, with wind. 

Like if you'd throw something at a tornado, it would just be grabbed by it and spin away. 

Same thing but it's a wall pushing things away. 

It can be powerful enough to create a windstream with a thousand times more force than the most brutal storm if the user is powerful enough. 

Mass Dispel

A spell with many uses, can be cast to cancel out other spells and their effects in an area. 

Useful for when your not exactly sure what or where the enemy spell is, like a trap for example, so you simply cast it on the room. 

Won't work if the user isn't at least close to the other spellcasters level, or level/rank of spell in use. 

It's not as strong as a specific dispel though and takes more out of the user to use, so it's preferred if you don't have time to locate the thing you have to dispel but know in what location it is or for when you need to remove magic effect on several people simultaneously as examples. 

---End explanation---

The door was smashed to pieces, which were flung in our direction, right into my barrier, sending them in the other direction. 

The robed guy appeared in the doorway after it smashed, the door pieces shattered as they violently hit him and the wall around him. His robe looked like it was oozing of some kind of black energy, and he aimed his hands at us while mumbling something. 

I expanded the barrier to a dome covering us as the debris from the door had been deflected. And added a layer of darkness energy to the barrier to protect from spells as I saw him mumbling. 

As he'd finished what ever the fuck he chanted,

a dark slowly spinning circle with runes inscribed around it appeared in the air by his palm. 

It kinda looked like it glowed and was smokey at the same time. 

Three arrowhead looking magical projectiles, big as arms flew at us out of the circle, one at a time. 

The first smashed the barrier, I didn't know what to do so I phased us through the floor as the other two smashed into the floor, breaking it. 

This guy is the real deal if he smashed my barrier, it wasn't my strongest one but still. 

We were in a bathhouse I think, there was a huge pool, not deep, and a few pillars around it. Probably decorative. It looked pretty fancy. 

We plummeted into the pool, I teleported us up to the edge of the pool just in time as we saw the rocks from the shattered floor hit where we had been. 

"what's happening" Yuna said, in a shocked manner. 

She was shaking, and had been hugging me this whole time from the moment I threw myself at her to cover her from the door exploding out. 

"wait." I mumbled while trying to pinpoint him with infrared, looking for heat. He was by the hole. 

The one in the robe hovered down through the now broken ceiling/floor into the room looking around for us as he descended. 

I teleported us again behind a pillar when I saw his feet come through the hole. Yuna looked like she was about to throw up.

"Nana?" she said, looking worried. 

"scchh, I don't know. But this guy is trouble. Hide here, I'll focus on having you invisible" I whispered to her, then cast invisibility on her. 

By the time I'd cast it he were floating in the air just above the pool in the middle of the room. 

I focused. Enter the shadow.. 

I got out from behind the pillar. Looked at him. 

He gazed back. 

I couldn't see him from here, his hood concealed his face. 

"far sight" I mumbled, so I saw closer, but I couldn't see his face even though I looked right up into his face with my far sight spell. 

Some other magic had been used to make it impossible to see his face. 

Almost ready.. He lifted his arm and mumbled again, the circle appeared again. 

I dragged out darkness energy and formed a shield with it, when I did, the darkness energy started crawling onto me from my feet, slowly climbing up. It Also started crawling onto me from my hands and neck. Spreading fast. I guess it's instinctively knows it's time to build the black armor again. 

A huge ball of shadow energy flew out of the circle, I held up my shield and blocked it. 

On impact with the shield it splashed as if it would've been a water balloon. 

The energy then started to eat whatever it landed on, disintegrating it, like acid. 

Damn. Shadow is it's own element, separate from darkness. If you could use one, the other comes natural though. Or, if you can use one you should be able to learn the other. 

"what do you want?" I yelled.

The darkness energy had reached my ankels, wrists and covered my neck and throat. C'mon, faster. 

I slowly walked sideways around the pool, facing him and keeping my eyes on him. With most focus on his hand and spell-circle at all times. Since he obviously aims with his hand, I won't stop watching it. 

"the thorned king tests you" he answered calm with a deep distorted voice. 

Another ball of shadow energy flew from the circle. 

I blocked again and this one just slowly smashed into the shield and liquified. 

It dripped down off the shield. Then it ate whatever it dripped down on as if it were an aggressive acid, so I kept moving around the room slowly.

The darkness energy had crawled up to my knees and elbows. it were by my chin around my face surrounding it and it had reached my chest, upper back and armpits by now. 

I guess we we're both looking for an opening. 

I can't appraise him, which mean he can block that. I can't do more than simple appraisals though, showing a rough estimate. Telling me level and their resources. But being able to block any appraisal takes skill.

He lowered his arm. 

I took a breath of relief sort of, maybe a break or maybe he wants to talk. 

"can we maybe…" I said but stopped. 

His circle grew and a shadowy fire ball appeared. 

A fireball, but, pitch-black. 

Oh, fuck. Yuna. 

"Fetch object" I said. Shadowy tendrils grew out of me and latched onto Yuna in about a second max. 

Then Yuna was before me and the tendrils were gone. As soon as they'd grabbed her she just appeared before me. I guess I got an upgrade there.. I had just instinctively used shadow magic, which is another… well, thought to be more evil school of magic. But it was effective so, I didn't give it much thought in the moment. We had more pressing matters before us. 

I grabbed her. 

"Black dome!" i yelled, and a dome formed around us, I pumped out a ton of energy into it. 

It was really thick and burning in dark flames. 

I did all that as I saw the black fireball appear, the very second the dome completed it went off and flew right at us. 

The whole room was covered in black flames. 

Some call them the flames of hell, black ones. 

It's a rare spell.

I sensed something was off, which was why I grabbed Yuna as quick as I could. 

The flames ate what they touched.

Then disappeared after a couple of seconds. 

Spell, hellflame. 

It's a fire, darkness, shadow and death combined magical spell that creates a fire that annihilate everything, easiest way to explain it. 

It can of course be countered in ways, but if left uncountered by any magic, anyone can die by this sort of fire. 

"are you okay Yuna?" I asked as I held her. 

We were lying down by a pillar. 

"huh, I.." she paused and took a breath. "I think so" she said and smiled. 

I saw she was scared, but tried to smile anyway for me. 

"Okay." I said and smiled back and put my hand on her cheek, then quickly pulled it away when I saw the darkness energy crawling all over my hand. Jumping around almost. 

Yuna stared at it with a worried look.

I looked at her and smiled. 

"I got it under control" I said to her, trying to put on a real confident face. 

"And don't worry, I'll win" I then said and got up and moved away to try to see where he'd moved to. Now with a really angry face and murderous intention in my eyes. 

"I know you will" Yuna said. She's never been this overwhelmed before. I hope she's going to be okay.. Yuna thought to herself. 

I spotted him. 

I made a barrier that was covering and following Yuna. 

It were as strong as I could possibly make a barrier.

I hope that will be enough.. 

Damn, the darkness energy is all over me now..

It was covering me like a bodysuit, only my face was left alone. 

My hair was even hovering, glowing and pulsating, covered in the dark energy. 

My hair was waving as if I'd been in a storm, but it's just an effect of being loaded with magic.

I'd been charging from the moment I got here so, its to be expected I guess. And fuck it, let's use all the darkness. I thought to myself. 

Anyway,

He was dead center still. 

Looking at me. Not even trying to hide.

"come out, stop hiding." he said in a now dark, almost growling and deep voice that echoed in the room. 

I stepped out, standing center at the end of the room. 

I took a stance, held my hand to the side and gathered up energy from all pools between my palms into a ball. 

"Why would I give up?" I yelled as I swung both my arm forward, directing them at him. 

"Not give up, hiding, stop hiding." he said calm in his almost Demonic voice. 

The ball rippled forward, lightning combed the walls in all directions as it traveled, fire and magma spew out uncontrollably, as it shone and glowed, creating a blinding light that would blind anyone that laid eyes on it. 

And some new effect, I'm not sure what it does but it's circulated by pitch-black bird-looking things that looked like they were set ablaze with pitch-black hellfire. 

Must be an added effect from the dark and shadow pool…

And I guess death magic must've crawled onto me. Not that surprising if shadow would join the game, but death? 

Only I and Yuna were immune to its effects. 

One of my skills, prevents friendly fire unless I have intent to do so. Otherwise I would've put them in danger over and over. I'm not sure why I have said skill though. As far as I can recall it's always been in effect. But I can't say for sure. Anyway.. 

This should surely hit him.

It tore its way through the room. 

The ceiling didn't look like it could take much more now. 

"Pretty." he said and raised his hand, mumbling something I couldn't hear.

A big black, circular wall appeared as he started mumbling and just… 

Enveloped itself around my spell and devoured it. 

It became a black ball that then dissolved itself. It looked like it just imploded. What could even do that? 

What is this. This can't be a normal person. 

He chuckled in very stale manner without any emotion. 

"ahah… hah… ahah… hah…" 

I clenched my fists. 

They started to burn at the same time as a long spike grew out my elbow and my fists morphed into giant claws. 

Oh, the dark energy is ready to pull off the armor, or, pull on. 

Suddenly he turned his head. 

He nodded, as if he was listening to someone. 

I stood ready in a stance, I sent out dark energy to create barriers on my forearms, which now were pretty long.

As my hands had morphed, the dark energy had built up huge arms with spikes on them along with the claws and elbow spike. 

So my hands.. 

Or well, shadow/darkness energy claws to be specific about it. Reached the ground if I stood normally with my arms pointing down. 

He turned his head and looked at me again.

"The Thorned King finds you worthy" he said in an insanely deep dark voice that echoed throughout the room. 

A piece of the ceiling fell in as he did. 

I heard Yuna scream as she was scared by the sound of the pieces shattering towards the ground. 

"what… what do you mean? Who's that king?" I said a tad confused.

"The Thorned King wants you to stop hiding, he will make you stop hiding.." he pointed at me. "before the night is over" he said. 

"what.. Wha-" and as I was about to make a sentence there and ask what the hell he meant by that, he summoned up a wakizashi and sliced his stomach open. 

The claws, extra big arms that had created, deconstructed themselves and returned into energy attached to my body instead as I saw what he did. 

And I probably made a pretty disgusted gesture. 

I heard Yuna scream out loud, I looked over. 

She fainted. 

I looked at him again. No blood.

After a moment, something dark kinda slithered out, but insanely fast, then it disappeared into the shadow. As the dark thing had disappeared his body dissolved into nothing. 

I took a moment and looked around. A destroyed bathing room. 

What the fuck was he. 

And wait, didn't we come here to find Emilia? 

I scratched my head and sighed. 

My body is sort of sore. No time to think about that, other studd take priority. 

I walked over to Yuna who was waking up from fainting. 

She recovered fairly quick I guess. 

I squatted down beside her and stroked her hair. 

"He's gone." I said as happy as I could muster to her. 

That dark small thing that slithered out worried me though, what was it?