With me pushed away, the Shade took the opportunity and attempted to escape through the air, using the strange dark cloud to help him fly. I quickly managed to regain my balance in mid-air, before I turned to pursue him, determined to finish the job. He frowned in annoyance as I approached, before he swung his sword at me. I blocked it with ease this time, then countered with a swift swipe of my claw, which caught him off guard.

The Shade tried to dodge, but my claw was too fast, too large, and it landed a solid hit on his side. He cried out in pain as he was thrown back, his body hitting the side of the mountain with a sickening thud causing the rocks to explode. I landed on the ground below, my eyes fixed on his figure, as he was now lying on the ground, writhing in agony.

"You're finished," I growled, my eyes narrowed. "It's time to end this."

The Shade glared at me, hatred burning in his eyes.

"You cannot defeat me little dragon. I am eternal, and I will return. No matter what you do to this vessel, I will survive and I will come back."

I snarled at him, my patience wearing thin. "You're not eternal, and you won't be returning anywhere. You're nothing but a parasite, a cancer that needs to be eradicated."

With that, I took a step forward, ready to deliver the final blow, but before I could, the Shade's eyes glowed with a dark aura, and his body began to convulse violently as if he was possessed by an unseen force. The black cloud around him grew denser, and his features twisted in a grotesque manner. He let out a guttural scream as he rose to his feet, his body now reaching almost the same height as me. The once-human vessel had been transformed into a monster,

"What the fu-" Before I could understand what had just happened, the bastard let out a roar as he charged at me, his speed and strength now beyond what I had faced before. His skin had become leathery and black, and his eyes were now glowing with an eerie red light. His once slender frame had become muscular, and his fingers had grown into razor-sharp claws.

I leaped out of the way, dodging his initial attack, before launching a volley of ice speaes, water balls, and earth spikes at him. All of my attacks exploded on impact, but to my dismay, they seemed to have little effect on the Shade's dark aura. He laughed maniacally as he batted my spells away with ease, his skin absorbing the mana and elememrs without any difficulty. He was changing the elements, no — he was killing them!

My eyes widened in shock and horror at the realization before a rage, unlike any I had ever felt before washed over me. How dare he! The mana! The elements! MY Elements! How dare he!

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"How dare you!" I roared before darting forward, my claws extended, as I slashed at him with lightning speed. But the Shade was just as quick, and he dodged my attacks with a grace that belied his newfound bulk.

But I did not care, I continued to attack him in an almost blind rage. The sky above us seemed to respond to my anger as clouds began to gather overhead. The elements gathered in the sky without me needing to command them, it was as if they all had a mind of their own. And soon, lightning flashed through the sky.

The Shade watched the entire ordeal, his smirk faltering for a second, before a lightning bolt as thick as my claw descended on him, and sent him crashing to the ground. He did not manage to steal the lightning elements for some reason. But I was not in the position to think too much.

We exchanged blows, each hit landing with a bone-jarring impact. And as the battle wore on, I could feel my strength beginning to wane. The Shade's dark aura was not only protecting him, but it was also slowly draining me of my own energy.

But whenever I felt my strength weaken, a surge of elements would rush to my help, more lightning would attack the bastard and hold him off. It was as if I was fighting alongside the world itself to expel this intruder.

Pilmeda's top began to collapse from the shockwave of our battle. Although we took back to the sky, the lightning, the elements, along with the shade's dark aura wreaked havoc on our surroundings. My mind briefly thought back to my apprentices. 'I hope they retreated safely,' I inwardly mumbled before focusing on the fight. I had no time to worry about them.

****

As the battle between my master and the Shade erupted in front of me, I felt my heart pounding with excitement and fear. I knew I should have been closer to my master, but the sheer force of their combat was so intense that I was forced to retreat back to regroup with the others, who were stationed a safe distance away.

As I retreated, I couldn't help but feel a sense of awe and astonishment at the sheer power on display. I had heard stories about master's strength and skill in battle, the result of Piya's destruction was still fresh in everyone's mind, but seeing it in person was something else entirely. The Shade was a formidable opponent as well, and I couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear for master's safety.

As I regrouped with the others, I could feel their collective awe and respect for master growing with each passing moment. They watched in silence as the battle raged on, the sound of clashing weapons and exploding rocks filling the air.

"Jon, did you see that?!" Wane exclaimed as a particularly powerful attack sent shockwaves through the ground beneath us.

I nodded still in shock at what I was seeing, it was as if the world was ending before my eyes.

"That's incredible," Lana replied, her eyes beaming with a strange glow, as a wide creepy grin was visible on her face. "It's so beautiful, master's form is so beautiful. Ah, truly!"

I tried my best to ignore her and turned to watch in silence, my eyes fixed on the battle ahead. I knew that master was more than capable of holding his own, but the destruction he was causing was still unsettling. As the fight raged on, I couldn't help but feel a growing sense of dread, wondering how it would all end.

"I can't believe the power they're putting out," I muttered to myself, feeling a sense of reverence for my mentor growing with each passing moment.

My fellow apprentices nodded in agreement, watching in silence as the battle raged on.