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Tymon extended another vast shadow forward from his feet to beyond Avarice. The corpses and skeletons turned to him in anticipation.

"Go forward," Tymon commanded. "Use my shadow as your terrain."

The raised dead locked onto Avarice, who looked offended.

"You would insult me by sending mere puppets to face me?" Avarice was pissed as Tymon stood and watched as the undead moved faster due to being enhanced by his shadow.

Regardless, Avarice easily dispatched each one that encountered him, willing gold to pierce them, crushing some with his fists, but they instantly rose again to continue their attacks. Though the attacks had no effect, they served as a good distraction.

Tymon stepped forward and sunk into the shadow. He lurked within it until he was directly beneath Avarice before resurfacing, grabbing him by the ankle, and pulling him into the darkness.

Tymon didn't waste any time. He applied Last Breath at its maximum output to his shadow, hoping to end things immediately. Unfortunately, he sensed Avarice protect himself by encasing himself with the gold he'd been controlling when he was pulled in. Knowing Avarice couldn't see, he tried to use 'Blackout: Honed Execution' to do as much damage as possible.

The dark protrusions that Tymon felt develop around Avarice closed in full force from all sides. Tymon could feel them slowly start to penetrate through the golden shell protecting Avarice. Then, one broke through and hit its target.

Alright, I'll focus on that one, he thought to himself. He dissipated the protrusions that hadn't fully pierced through and bulked up the one that had as he prepared his final attack. Just then, Tymon heard a horrible sound released from Avarice, ringing his ears again.

Tymon clutched them as he felt warm blood trickle from them.

He felt powerful vibrations ripple throughout the shadow that even began to affect the ground outside as well. Tymon's shadow quickly disappeared, leaving them both encased underground, but with one eye opened, he could see Avarice's hands vibrating ferociously as they tore the terrain apart.

They both shot upward, through solid stone and dirt, until they resurfaced into the cloud-covered desert. Tymon may have been bleeding from his ears, but Avarice was bleeding from his left thigh. That must've been where he was struck.

"So, vibration can dispel my darkness?" Tymon spoke aloud, "No, that's never happened against Naomi. More like I couldn't maintain my power with that loud noise...just like earlier."

"Oh, good. Your Shield doesn't extend to natural effects either," Avarice called out as he covered the wound on his thigh with gold. "I suppose if I blast you directly with sound waves, you'd be unaffected, but if I generate disorienting noises in the area, you're affected too since you can't turn off your hearing."

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Tymon grunted. He grew aggravated that he couldn't end it as quickly as he wanted with 'Black Out: Honed Execution,' but he wasn't surprised his Last Breath attack hadn't worked. He remembered it not working two centuries ago as well.

Avarice walked toward him on the unleveled ground.

"This brings back memories. Did you know that pure gold doesn't tarnish? And since my gold's as pure as it gets, I suppose that makes me your natural enemy. Frustrating how things are turning out exactly as they did before, isn't it?"

"Is that why you're so confident?" Tymon replied.

Avarice shrugged coyly.

"Thing is," Tymon began as he picked up a piece of gold in the upheaval. He held it at chest level before using his spirit-enhanced hand to crush it. "This time, I have the power to break through it. Then, you age just like everything else."

"You think so?" Avarice said as Tymon sensed a massive gathering of energy swelling inside him.

Tymon rushed over and blasted Avarice with a torrent of darkness that shattered Avarice's shield, allowing him to connect slash across Avarice's chest, drawing blood again.

"As if I'd let you do that," Tymon said in a low tone just before sending Avarice flailing backward.

Tymon could've sworn he heard Avarice hiss just then. How close had he gotten to transforming? He refocused on pursuing him, but Avarice had begun a method of trying to keep his distance.

"That's enough running," Tymon said as he gathered a massive amount of energy. Activating 'Dark Sentience,' he spread a live shadow far and wide before willing multiple minacious hands of darkness skyward.

Avarice darted through the sky at breakneck speed, but Tymon had so many hands pursuing him that Avarice couldn't get away. One of the hands finally grabbed Avarice by the leg, followed by another wrapping its fingers around his arms and midsection before flinging him hard back down to the earth.

When Avarice fell into the range of the pool of shadows covering the ground, a spike of hardened shadow shot up, nearly impaling him. But Avarice was quick—quick enough to dodge and slow his descension as more hardened shadow spikes shot out of the black vapor pool.

"I won't let you escape," Tymon called out as he flew after Avarice. He knew Avarice had to keep moving to avoid instant death barely. He also noticed Avarice was trying to move toward the edge of the shadow pool, but Tymon had a way of ensuring that wouldn't happen.

He concentrated further as more hands rose from the borders of the shadow pool and tracked center-bound, aiming at Avarice.

Nowhere for you to go now, he mused as the hands closed in on Avarice, but Avarice released a powerful burst of air vibrations strong enough to disperse such a dense focus of Tymon's darkness completely. Still, it opened a clear path several hundred feet wide to the ground Avarice landed on.

Avarice created a barrier of sound around the opened area that encompassed Tymon and himself, who landed on the ground too. Tymon noticed the shadow pool staying at bay, unable to close past the barrier.

This is just like Naomi's...

"Now that we have some space," Avarice said as he lowered to place a palm flat on the ground. "Bear witness to my 'Golden Paradise' and all its glory."

Faster than Tymon anticipated, a flash of golden power rushed over every inch of the ground within the barrier, turning everything it touched into solid crystalline gold, including Tymon, leaving him trapped in a layer of gold.

However, the effect only lasted briefly before Tymon's strength and power began to crack the outer shell and erupt.

"Haaa," Avarice sighed in exasperation, "My Auric Touch typically transfigures things on a cellular level, but I suppose that's not going to cut it with you. I suspect even without your Shield, I'd have difficulty petrifying someone whose power is comparable to my own."