Klaus, alongside the rest of the demigods, watched as Shade got cleaved by Lance's sword.
It was clear that the blade had gone through his body, and yet for some reason, Shade still appeared to be intact and unscathed as he fell to his knees after the slash.
"What the..." Link muttered in confusion as to how Shade was not split in half.
There was a lot of confusion as to what was happening, but what was clear to everyone was that Shade, somehow, was fine despite having a massive sword cut through his torso.
"How?" Lance asked in confusion.
Lance stared down as he watched Shade pat around his torso, almost as if he was unaware that he was fine.
"Damn," Shade eventually stated. "That was close."
Lance's confusion as to what was occurring made him more curious about what had just happened as he dropped his hands and stared at Shade as he got up from the ground. That was when Lance noticed a body of darkness completely covering Shade's entire torso.
The body of darkness then cumulated before instantly dropping from his body and returning into the pit that was somehow still present beside Shade.
"Good thing it's got a mind of its own," Shade then mentioned before turning his attention back to Lance.
Lance's eyes widened slightly upon hearing Shade's statement.
"By that, do you mean that strange pit of darkness?" Lance asked while pointing at the pit.
"What good will it do me if I explain my power to you," Shade then replied before continuing after a brief moment. "But I guess it can't be helped."
He then decided to explain what the pit really was and what his ability did, which felt strange to the others that he was exposing his power, but it was as if Shade did not bother too much that he would give any advantage he previously had. Shade then pointed at the darkness pool before continuing.
"This is what I call the Abyssal Pit," Shade started. "It's made of pure darkness that I was able to harness and master. And while perfecting the technique, I noticed that it was like a second mind to me, where it would react to attacks that could harm me faster than I could myself."
Hearing this statement made Lance surprised. This meant that the pit was essentially its own entity born off of Shade's mind.
"That still doesn't explain how you were able to survive the attack," Lance eventually stated.
"True," Shade replied. "Well, that part was actually a close call, considering that the pit had to turn my body and internal organs into natural darkness and back."
This statement sounded ridiculous. What Shade was implying was that the Abyssal Pit was able to turn his body into normal darkness when it wrapped the pure darkness around him, causing the blade to pass through without dealing damage to his organs, and reverting them after the attack. The idea was unbelievable, but there was no confirmation of otherwise since everyone witnessed the same thing occur.
After this explanation, Shade then rushed at Lance once again, who seemed to still be in awe of the explanation he had just heard. Shade continued to attack, and Lance managed to evade the attacks while still swinging his own. But what he noticed was that, unlike Shade, he was actually getting slightly exhausted after the time had passed.
The attacks from Shade continued until suddenly, he heard Lance mutter a word.
"Fine."
And as Shade turned his attention to Lance's expression, he noticed that Lance's smile was completely gone. Lance kept a straight face for the first time in their battle before releasing his grip on the greatsword he had equipped, returning it to the Divine Arsenal.
Shade knew that Lance's expression meant that he was taking the battle more seriously at that moment as Lance continued to mutter a few more words while stretching his right hand.
"No more games."
As this happened, gradually, a certain golden weapon proceeded to spawn gradually over Lance's right hand before he held on to it after materializing.
"Camelot," Quinn mentioned at the spectator's area, confirming the weapon to be the same as what Lance had used when fighting Drake.
"To think that Shade was able to push Lance to such lengths," Rose muttered as she continued to watch the battle unfold.
"Honestly," Mia then started. "In my opinion, Shade has already won in my book."
Some of the demigods seemed to agree with Mia's statement as they all stared in shock at what was happening. After the complete materialization of Camelot, Lance, once again, continued to say a few words to his opponent.
"To think I would have to be driven to such an extreme," Lance said before taking a very deadly stance with his weapon and continuing.
"Tell me, Walker... are you prepared?"
And immediately after this, Lance darted with immense speed at his opponent. Shade managed to react to the initial attack and turned it into a clash before both fighters engaged in combat once more. But this time was different, completely different.
From the way the battle continued from this point, it was nothing but clear to the demigods that the two fighters were nowhere near each other. The difference between Lance and himself a few moments prior was so great that nobody could have predicted it. Lance was completely overpowering Shade.
Shade attempted to evade and remain on the defensive until he would find an opening, but that idea never came to fruition as he never got one. If there was anything that would be deemed impossible to Shade, it was countering Lance whatsoever.
Lance's speed was so through the roof, that even the Abyssal Pit was barely able to assist Shade with his blindspots, and a few times, Shade would get hit by Lance. The tides of the battle had changed almost instantly in Lance's favor and it felt like there was nothing Shade could do.
"He's too strong," Shade whispered to himself after taking a lot of battle damage and barely managing to keep his defenses up.
Shade knew that with the way the battle was going, he was bound to lose the match. But he wasn't out yet. He still had one more trick up his sleeve that was more than enough to give him a sliver of hope of winning.
The battle continued the way it had for a few more moments until Shade managed to get a little bit of distance between his opponent and him. With that, he then used the Abyssal Pit to create a brief wall of darkness before proceeding with his plan.
Shade then stretched both of his hands apart from each other before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. He knew that the ability was going to do so much for him, but it was also still a risk, so he had to clear his mind and prepare for his decision.
And before Lance could break through the wall of darkness between them, Shade proceeded to fall to his back, while still having his hands apart. While falling back, the Abyssal Pit could be seen behind him and as he reached the ground, his body began to sink into the pit until it was nowhere in sight.
Lance stared forward in confusion about what to do next since his opponent was no longer visible. The bubbling that proceeded after Shade's dive felt alarming to him, but he still kept his guard up after remembering what had happened with Drake's manifestation during the Cosmic League.
A few more seconds went by as silence filled the entire Arena of Valor until something finally happened after the bubbling above the pit stopped.
"Woahhh..." Rose expressed with her eyes widened in utter shock. "What the heck is that?"
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
The demigods turned their attention to the pit of darkness as they, alongside Lance, witnessed a strange hand, completely pitch black and seemingly molten with sharp dark claws, proceeding to rise out of the concentration of darkness gradually.
The strange monstrous hand continued to rise until a body and head were eventually seen attached to it. The creature then used its hands to pull itself out of the Abyssal Pit before moving to the side and standing in silence. The creature, similar to its hands, was completely pitch black and was about six and a half feet tall. Its figure was very bulky and had slouched forward. Its hollow face showed its eyes closed and mouth shut almost like it was a deactivated robot. But its presence, as well as looks, were nothing short of terrifying.
"Yet another unfamiliar creature I'm left to deal with," Lance exclaimed relating the situation to his battle with Drake. "Fantastic."
The silence continued to echo through the arena. The creature remained in its position as the demigods stared in fear. But that was not the end of it.
Once again, similar to a few moments prior, another hand proceeded to exit from the pit of darkness again, before revealing another creature exactly like the one present. The second creature proceeded out of the pit and stood right beside the first before yet another hand proceeded to rise out of the Abyssal Pit.
"What the hell is going on?" Rose asked at the spectator's area.
Nobody understood what was happening, but most of all Lance had no idea what to do about the situation. The creatures seemed to have their guards down, but this was not a familiar situation for Lance that he would risk his victory by attacking early so he knew he had to be patient about the situation. But he wondered just how many of them had to spawn before he would have to switch up to the offensive.
The three creatures stood beside each other as they slouched with an absent expression, almost as if they were awaiting orders. The pit did not seem to spawn any more of them, which made Lance wonder if this was all that it could make. Suddenly, the creatures seemed to have reacted to something before they all opened their eyes simultaneously, revealing the differences between each other.
The first creature that spawned had completely red eyes with no pupils, the second had blue eyes, and the third with pure green eyes. The creatures stared at Lance with lifeless expressions before they suddenly began to growl. The noise that they made was completely frightening and almost eerie, as the creatures revealed their razor-sharp teeth.
The growling continued in a horrifying scene before the creatures finally focused their attention on Lance, almost as if they had seen prey. Immediately they noticed him, the three creatures instantly began to rush at Lance swiftly. Lance took his stance as he awaited his opponents before engaging in battle with them.
The three beings proceeded to battle Lance with an unfavorable advantage, but it did not appear as if Lance was in trouble, not even a little. Lance's moves while battling the creatures of darkness were superb and he was clearly holding his own despite the numbers disadvantage. But this didn't last for long.
Lance continued to counter the creatures using Camelot and was also dealing major damage to them despite their goliath stature and maniacal attacks, but over time, this advantage seemed to lessen with each swing and clash from his opponents. Eventually, Lance was in a situation where he was alternating between offense and defense.
"These beings," Lance muttered to himself. "They're learning."
With each attack that was taken, the creatures proceeded to learn a counter for the next. Not only that but over time, the beings of darkness began to work around each other, building what appeared to be some sort of synergy between themselves. Their ferocity, combined with their aggressive nature, was too intense for anybody to handle on their own, and despite that, Lance was still giving it his all. But how far could he go with a mortal body?
As the battle progressed, Lance's vision began to turn blurry and his panting became more audible than ever. It was clear that he was tired. But for the creatures, their attacks did not get any slower throughout the battle. Due to this, they began to overwhelm Lance.
Lance began to find himself on the defensive alone as he continued to block the sharp claws that were swung at him. The attacks were too powerful and Lance eventually began taking serious damage from the creatures, losing his right eye from a scratch and getting multiple wounds around his body.
The creature with pure red eyes then launched Lance a significant distance after landing a massive hit, causing him to slam into the wall behind him with force. After this, alongside its kind, it turned its head upwards with its hands apart before releasing an echoing roar that spread around the entire arena.
"Damn," Quinn expressed at the spectator's area. "I think he's through."
The other demigods stared at her in shock at what she had said. This felt like Lance had no other option, especially since he already had Camelot equipped. But as Klaus turned to Arthur to see how he felt about the situation, he noticed that Arthur remained with his stoic expression and his arms folded as he continued to stare at the battlefield.
This made Klaus feel like it wasn't over so he turned his attention back, awaiting the continuation of the battle. And that was when Lance finally got up from the rubble.
As Lance gradually got up from his fallen state, with the monsters turning their attention back to him, he revealed that he had created a suit of armor to cushion the slam. Eventually, the suit began to dematerialize and all the demigods were met with Lance once again. But his expression had changed.
This was the first ever time that any of the demigods had seen Lance with a straight and serious face. His expression displayed a very intimidating scene that even the creatures took a second of shock before they finally decided to rush at him once again. Lance's focused expression continued before he gripped his lance with a devastating stance and awaited his opponents.
The demigods stared in anticipation as the darkness creatures rushed at Lance, with Lance keeping an extremely focused expression. And before the creatures could reach Lance, suddenly, they proceeded to stop a few meters and froze in place.
Lance stared in confusion after the creatures froze for a few seconds.
"What's happening?" Ace asked at the spectator's area.
Everyone continued to wait, attempting to understand what the creatures were doing. Their lifeless look as they stood like statues had everyone present wondering what would happen next. But contradicting what everyone would have anticipated, the creatures suddenly turned away from Lance and proceeded to walk slowly in the opposite direction, heading to where the Abyssal pit was.
The lifeless motion of the creatures made Lance confused, causing him to retreat his stance and watch as they all walked into the pit one by one. After a few seconds of bubbling from the pit, a hand suddenly appeared from its abyss, but this time, it appeared to be a human hand. The demigods continued to stare curiously as Shade eventually climbed out of the Abyssal pit.
Shade managed to pull himself out of the Abyssal Pit as he rolled to the ground and lay beside it. His coughing, alongside heavy breathing, made it clear to everyone that he was in a very critical condition for some reason. Shade held his neck as he gasped for air before laying flat on the floor with his eyes closed. And while in his condition, he managed to mutter a few words.
"I... I forfeit."
"Huh?" Mia exclaimed. "What just happened?"
"Are you certain?" XVII asked immediately after hearing Shade's request.
"I guess," Shade responded as he continued to breathe heavily.
Lance's eyes widened upon realizing what was happening before he moved to Shade in surprise.
"Why do you yield?" Lance asked Shade in confusion.
Shade still had his eyes closed before letting out a brief laugh and answering.
"Do I look like I can keep going?" he asked Lance. "Besides, I was just a few seconds close to losing my connection with reality, which isn't really a good thing for me."
"Losing your connection?" Lance asked as he stretched his hand out to help Shade from his lying state. "Do you mind elaborating?"
"Yeah," Shade responded after taking Lance's hand and getting up on his feet. "The longer I stayed in the Abyssal Pit, the more I lose my connection with the Abyssal Heralds."
"I'm guessing that's what those creatures were?" Lance asked.
"Basically," Shade replied before continuing. "To exist in this reality, they need to take the presence of another sole entity, which is why I had to dwell in the Abyssal Pit while they were active. In there, all I can do is give them an instruction to carry out, but if the connection were to be severed, they would basically take my position in the living world, making the ability a massive risk."
"Wow," Lance exclaimed. "That is quite the risk."
"Tell me about it," Shade replied with a smile as he began to stretch.
Lance's expression seemed a bit gloomy for someone who had been announced as the victor, but it was clear that this was not how he had wanted to win. However, despite not having the conclusion he wanted, Lance was truly satisfied with his battle with Shade and was impressed by how far his opponent had gone in just a month. Which made him question how this was even possible.
"How did you get so powerful in such a short time?" Lance muttered.
Shade turned to him, knowing that the least he could do after such a lackluster conclusion was to tell his opponent the truth.
"If you do not wish to reveal your means, that is alright," Lance continued after returning Camelot to the Divine Arsenal.
"No, it's fine," Shade replied before proceeding to explain what had happened briefly.
"Immediately the Cosmic League concluded and we were told to prepare for the next event, I decided to ask VI about the best way I could get stronger. That was when he scanned the possibilities and managed to grant me coordinates to a strange location that could assist me. But when I got there, I noticed that it was unlike any other place I had been. Strange creatures roamed that land. It was like I was in hell."
"It was not Earth?" Lance asked him.
"Far from it," Shade replied. "I tried to survive, but I managed to be rescued by a strange person. I didn't know what kind of person would be in such a land, but when I regained consciousness and noticed the person, alongside the strong force that echoed around the room, I realized that this was no mortal."
"A God," Quinn commented in shock at the spectator's area before the other demigods turned in her direction.
XVII also suddenly had a surprised expression on his face as he walked closer to the battlefield, listening to Shade. The demigods were completely confused and stared at each other for a brief moment before returning their attention to Shade's story.
"How's that possible?" Lance asked.
"I wondered as well," Shade replied. "But then I remembered that there was one God that was mentioned during the meeting with the Gods to be absent from his services."
"Impossible," Quinn commented.
But as the shock continued among the spectating demigods, upon hearing what was going on, X opened his eyes from his meditating state for the first time since his battle and walked closer to the battlefield slowly. This action caused the demigods to realize who Shade was talking about before Mia's eyes widened in realization as well.
"You don't mean..." Lance asked.
"Yeah," Shade replied before confirming the statement.
"It was Flage, the God of Hunting."