The elite introduced himself, “I am Zokor, wielder of Light Acror.”
The dark golem was silent at first, finally speaking in a voice that indicated countless eons of existence, “I am the Shard, proxy of the Eternal One.”
That sent a chill up the spines of all the gathered elites, the memory of that thing which had visited them was still vivid in their minds.
Zokor then asked, “You, were you summoned by the mage?”
The Shard replied, “The mage is one of the Eternal’s Chosen which I have been commanded to serve. He has commanded for your deaths so do not expect mercy.”
Zokor upon hearing that laughed, “Mercy!? The one who will be needing mercy is you!”
So saying he charged, his sword which was wreathed in golden acror. It was stopped by the Sword of Darkness, the two auras clashing fiercely, ripples of raw acror being unleashed. But while Zokor appeared to be straining with all of his strength, the Shard just simply stood there, as if not registering the impressive amount of strength behind Zokor’s attack.
Once Zokor’s momentum ran out, the Shard then counterattacked, pushing back Zokor with a simple flick of its wrist. Doing so nearly launching Zokor’s blade out of his hands, although the golden acror had latched the sword to his hand and arm, forming a gauntlet of golden light. The Shard then slashed, a crescent moon of black slicing its way towards Zokor. Zokor blocked, matching the strike so he canceled out the attack but the Shard took advantage of this, closing in and slashing. Once more, Zokor blocked but the Shard didn’t stop, his momentum was unstoppable. Zokor who was at first excited began to despair. All he could do was block even though the Shard was just casually swinging its blade while walking at a medium pace.
The elites tried to intervene but they were stopped by Zokor’s pride, “Stop! I shall finish this fight alone!”
The Shard had not stopped attacking while Zokor said this, its strikes unforgiving as Zokor’s stamina weakened with each successful block. He tried to dodge but it was still not possible. The Shard’s attacks, although seeming casual, were still too fast for him to afford to dodge as doing so would result in his immediate death. The only way for him to survive was to continue blocking. Suddenly the Shard stopped attacking and then held its sword at its side.
It then bowed its head, “Forgive me, it seems that I have overestimated your strength. I shall immediately recalibrate so this fight is more fair.”
Zokor was stunned, his shock slowly turning into anger as he returned on the offensive, shouting, “Don’t mock me!”
But the Shard blocked all of his attacks, although it seemed as if it had a harder time doing so. Of course, this was its recalibration at work, it had already limited itself so it would get more meaningful data. It was preferred that Zokor showed all of his strength and technique before it killed him. But soon, Zokor’s momentum faded and it was the Shard’s turn to attack. But of course, Zokor could more easily defend the attacks and after a time, the Shard’s momentum faded and it was Zokor’s turn once again.
Eventually, in this trade of blows, Zokor managed to get in a strike, hitting the Shard’s transparent flesh and causing a wound. But unlike before, it did not heal and Zokor was filled with a rush of hope, perhaps he did have a chance of victory. With boosted morale, he ferociously hacked away the Shard’s defense. But this was all in vain, the Shard was once again limiting itself so that it would be “wounded”. But Zokor’s momentum once again faded as he ran out of stamina. The Shard attacked but this time, it acted as if the wound was hampering it. It was able to do so from the data it had collected on the battles of the Hollowed Pass and the Serisian Invasion, it knew how to perfectly imitate an injured person.
The elites that were tense at first relaxed, they felt that Zokor’s victory was assured. But the Shard continued to endure Zokor’s attacks, finally forcing Zokor to use his trump card.
He congratulated the Shard on doing so, “Congratulations, you are the first to have ever forced me to go this far in a fight to the death. Consider yourself fortunate.”
He then raised his sword high and spoke, “Oh Acror of Light, bless this unworthy one with a fraction of your power.”
Then energy began to gather in his blade, which in turn flowed into his body, armor of white light appearing around him. He then slashed down on the Shard, a massive crescent blade of white energy slashing down upon the Shard. The Shard stood still, making no attempt to block it. In order to learn, its body would have to experience the attack full on so that it could replicate it. Then the attack hit it and an explosion hid it from view, the earth around him erupting into chaos. When the dust finally settled, the Shard’s body still stood, well, the two pieces of it.
It had been sliced almost in half, the slash just missing its core. Zokor then fell to a knee, breathing hard, all of his acror used up in order to control Light’s Acror. The elites were smiling, they began to congratulate Zokor when Zokor’s face suddenly tensed, he was looking at the Shard. They turned to look as well and saw that it was already whole once more.
It bowed to Zokor, saying, “Thank you, your data was most interesting.”
It then appeared before him before any of the elites could stop him, its blade held to Zokor’s neck.
It said, “Do not worry, your data shall be remembered for all of eternity.”
So saying, it slashed, Zokor’s head toppling from his shoulders and hitting the ground. His body soon followed and the Shard turned to the other elites, asking, “Who is next?”
—ILLENIA—
I watched in disbelief and horror as Zokor’s head fell to the ground, he was dead. But, he couldn’t be… He was the strongest of us all! He couldn’t die! The others saw the look in my eyes and tried to stop me but I tossed them aside, roaring my grief as my claws unsheathed and I charged, stone armor appearing over my vitals and reinforcing my paws as gauntlets. I then threw a punch and the Thing just took it without doing anything. I hit it a few more times before it stepped back into a black rectangle, appearing fifteen feet away.
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Its sword then melted back into its arm and it took a stance as if it knew martial arts. This enraged me, it was mocking me just like Zokor! I charged once more and we exchanged blows, although I soon began to wonder just what this Thing was. Its martial arts was almost impeccable, just like its swordsmanship, it managed to block my blows although with slight trouble and was able to counterattack with such strength that it forced me to either dodge or deflect. But it seemed my attacks weren’t doing too much against it, my stone acror excelled in physical damage but not elemental. This… Thing seemed like it could only be defeated by elemental magic, like Zokor’s light acror.
I then saw Zokor’s sword and retreating, I grabbed it. The light acror burned but I pleaded mentally, “Please, just this once, let me use your power so I can get revenge for Zokor!”
The sword seemed to acquiesce and suddenly, it didn’t burn anymore, instead filling my body with power. The Thing was still but as I looked through my acror-sight, I saw that its acror began to darken in color. From the fight with Zokor, I knew that this meant it was getting stronger. I was then filled with a cold fear, just how strong was this thing? It had taken Zokor’s most powerful technique and seemed to have recovered fully from it.
Of course, I knew that in order to destroy it, I would probably have to destroy that core but the problem was that it just defended itself too well, I couldn’t get in an attack which could harm its core. But with Zokor’s sword, hopefully, this could change. I may be able to pierce through its defense.
The Thing then spoke, “How interesting, you too shall be remembered for eternity.”
I shouted, “Shut up! I don’t care about that!”
It then cocked its head curiously, “Your emotions blind your judgment, it is understandable, you have lost someone that is precious to you. But this is necessary, I cannot have you interfering with Chosen One’s work.”
I didn’t reply, only attacking more fiercely, the sword cutting shallow gashes on the Thing’s arms which it used to defend. It didn’t use its sword however, it seemed that it needed time in order to manifest such weapons. I was then determined not to give it the time, I had the advantage and all I had to do was use it. But eventually, I couldn’t keep up my attack as it ate up too much of my stamina and I was forced to stop. The Thing then started its own attack, raining down blows upon my defense. I channeled acror through the earth to create multiple stone walls but the Thing just smashed through them as if it wasn’t there, although it did preoccupy it, buying me some time.
I was able to catch a breather, recovering what little stamina I could before I was forced to go on the defensive again. I managed to deflect his blows with some more ease, allowing me to recover. At first, I was glad but then I began to suspect, I knew that this Thing was far stronger than this, it shouldn’t be this weak, even if I had wounded it. I managed to deflect a strike and I threw a punch, hitting it square in the chest, knocking it back slightly.
I then demanded, “You are stronger than this, why do you pretend to be weak?”
It then stood, its faceless head seeming to stare at me, “Because if I were to use more strength than I am right now, you would die. I can’t let such a specimen perish so quickly.”
I grew angry but I soon conquered it, this was what it wanted.
I growled, despite myself, “Is that all you think of us, what you thought of Zokor!? How dare you, I will kill you!”
The Thing once more cocked its head, a black horizontal crescent appearing where a mouth would be, it was smiling.
Its head then straightened and it asked, “What will you do? Will you give in to your hatred, or will you stay calm?”
Those words made me snap once more and this time, I wasn’t able to stop it, roaring as I stabbed the sword in its core.
But the sword came to a jarring stop, it was as if I had stabbed an adamantium wall. I looked on in shock as the sword promptly shattered, the core still whole. I then understood with growing despair that Zokor didn’t miss, he simply didn’t do enough damage.
I fell to my knees, in shock, barely hearing the words that the Thing spoke, “How unfortunate, it seems that your full potential shall not be unlocked just yet. But you must die. But allow me to thank you first, your data was most fascinating.”
I then looked up at the Thing’s blank face, hypnotized by the darkness which seemed to draw me inward. It then outstretched its hand and placed its thumb on my forehead, a cold sensation flowing from that point throughout the rest of my body. It soon passed and it drew back its hand. I then saw it create its sword, the same dark blade which had killed Zokor. I then closed my eyes, embracing the darkness that would soon be my eternity. Zokor, I’m coming…
———
The Shard finished reliving the last memories of Illenia, having already relived all the others as it had fought all of them simultaneously, separating them each into different dimensions and fighting them with nine versions of itself. In each one, they all grabbed for Zokor’s sword but only Illenia was able to use it. She had caught its interest, it may be useful to revive her later in the future. But it would think on these things when it had the luxury, now it had to deal with the Saurian.
The Loquimi had watched the battle afar with their telepathy and seeing the defeat of the elites, they decided that they no longer had anything to lose, sending forth the Saurian. Meanwhile, the Ursus and Avem were in pandemonium, they had lost their leaders and order was quickly lost. It was the perfect moment for the shadows to arrive, slaughtering the enemy which couldn’t even fight back, shadows of various creatures—such as bears, mountain lions, wolves and more—decimating the Ursus with ease while the shadow dragons casually massacred the Avem in the sky.
The Saurian meanwhile was left alone, as it was fighting to recover control of its body once more. The Loquimi, their minds distracted by the loss of the elites were unable to exert the power they usually could and it took all ten to hold down the Saurian. While they were doing this, the Shard was busy analyzing the sky turtles, the great beasts feeling a cold sensation pass throughout their entire body. This caused them to shudder, disrupting the concentration of the Loquimi which allowed the Saurian to break free.
The Giganotosaurus roared as its mind broke free from the control of the Loquimi, the backlash killing all but one of the Loquimi, although she was close to death. The Shard immediately put her into stasis, halting Time on her body so that she would not die. Meanwhile, the Giganotosaurus continued to roar, its fiery acror turning the sky turtle into a meteor as it fell to earth, exploding in midair as the fire reached its gas stomach. The resulting detonation emitted a shockwave, knocking down trees as well as killing any living thing within a mile radius.
The Shard was unconcerned, it could repair the damage so all it did was watch as the Saurian emerged from the blasted and burnt corpse of the sky turtle, rampaging as it let its rage flow unchecked. It was busy collecting data, although it would have to conduct a body analysis later once it was dead or at least sedated. But for now, it examined the fire acror that it wielded, adding it to Ieros’s repertoire of magic spells. He could make regular fire but a Saurian’s inferno is much more powerful than ordinary flame. Its rampage continued for five full days, much of the East Coast rendered into blackened stone and ash, a testament to the strength of the Saurians. The Shard then made its move once the Saurian had calmed down, appearing before the mighty Saurian who was wreathed in ruby-red flames.
Standing before the magnificent Giganotosaurus, the Shard asked, “What is your name?”