He floated in a sea of darkness, just like before. But unlike before, he could see and hear and feel.

He roared, his maw gaping open as claws burst from his fingers, as his feet became grew talons and shoulders expanded, growing, the muscles rippling. A form terrible and powerful.

He felt the needles tickling his hide, barely an inconvenience, as he spun around to face Alzeron. The headmaster was laughing, and Nox beheld the blood coalescing around the Thurinian, a shiny red cocoon, whose hardened tendrils lashed at him, drawing minuscule gashes that swiftly healed.

Before him, the cocoon exploded in showers of crimson, and Alzeron emerged… A different Alzeron. The same mocking and arrogant face, twisted in a grotesque visage of a leering monster.

Not a demon, Erebos spoke in Nox’s mind. Close to a Remnant, but nothing like it, either.

That he could understand the former Celestial despite his state surprised Nox. He should have been a mindless creature of hate and slaughter by now.

Our minds are more deeply connected this time, Erebos explained. I can help you control the power within me. You only need to think what to do.

His first thought, of course, was to kill Alzeron.

With a bellow, Nox charged, bringing his entire strength to bear on the larger monster. Alzeron had the advantage of reach and height, but he was thinner, built for speed and ambush, not direct assault.

Nox swung and raked his claws against Alzeron’s belly, drawing several gashes. A scream of pain came. A vulnerable hide. The headmaster hurled a punch, writhed in lighting, and Nox howled as his body went numb from the agony.

He can still use magic!

And then Estella’s voice echoed inside his head: He’s not a monster; that’s his Animarta. His own blood!

Is that even possible?

It is, Erebos interjected. A rarer form of Animarta, but not unheard of. And if a Wielder with that power is injured…

Nox didn’t need Erebos to finish his thoughts. A nigh invincible weapon, that was Alzeron’s power. How did Headmaster Garion defeat him? he asked Estella.

I don’t know. Not even Father would tell me.

His legs buckling under his weight, Nox growled. The pain had subsided, and Alzeron was beginning to move, heading for Estella. Snarling, Nox surged, grabbing Alzeron’s tail. He squeezed. The headmaster hissed and spun around, his claws arching in the air.

Using all the strength he could muster, Nox wrapped both hands around the tail and swung. Alzeron was surprisingly light for his size, no doubt the result of trading mass for speed. He shrieked, a sound not unlike metal being torn into shreds, and flailed wildly, his claws dragging against Nox’s thicker hide.

It was ticklish, and Nox ignored the man’s futile attempt at resistance, flinging him like a rag doll toward the trees. Alzeron sailed, his shrieks louder, until the deafening boom of his crash drowned his voice.

Think! How did Headmaster Garion break through the Animarta? It couldn’t be something as simple as canceling its magic. It was a living armor, not—

He froze. Alzeron was struggling to free himself from the trees he had crashed onto, but his size was proving to be a great disadvantage for him and his blood armor.

Armor.

Even the best armor can have the smallest gap. Nothing is impervious. But what could damage an armor made from your own blood?

Alzeron finally broke free of his restraints, rising on his spindly legs. His hide was dark red, a hardened carapace of blood. But that couldn’t be his actual form. It was just a shell, unlike Nox’s monstrous body. And somewhere within was the headmaster’s true body.

He had to break it.

Uttering a low growl, Nox surged forward, jaws snapping. Alzeron hissed and raised a lithe arm, palms splayed wide. A lance of lightning burst toward Nox, but he blocked it a swipe of his claws before leaping into the air.

They crashed into each other, slashing and swinging wildly. Alzeron’s tail wrapped around Nox’s right arm, but the restraints were too weak to hold. He sank his teeth into the armor. It cracked, and Alzeron yowled.

As the tail released his arm, Nox curled his fingers into a fist and rammed it into the headmaster’s belly. A crack appeared. He rammed it again, and Alzeron’s scream grew louder. His carapace shifted, flowing. Lithe limbs expanded to form muscled armored arms. Horns grew on his head, and his torso broadened, his belly shining with newly grown armor.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

A single punch connected with Nox’s chest, and he went flying back. Impact jarred his body a moment later, sending a whole new wave of pain surging inside him. The wall. He had struck the wall.

His blurry vision flickered. Through it he saw Alzeron approaching, growing larger, taller. But so did Nox’s surroundings. Or was he shrinking?

No, his monstrous form was vanishing in wisps of darkness. Erebos, what’s happening!

Your body can’t maintain this form. I had to return you to being a human.

I can’t fight him as a human!

You’re a Wielder, Nox Stigan. You can fight anyone with your Animarta.

A familiar weight settled into his hand. Erebos, now the ebony blade that Nox had always used. His fingers curled around the hilt. Erebos was right. So far the sword had never failed him.

He searched for Estella with his mind. Where are you?

By the trees, a hundred feet to your left. Her thoughts were clear to him, and he smiled at the plan that he saw in her mind. A bold and dangerous plan.

Slowly, he rose to his feet, using Erebos to support his wobbling legs. It was difficult just raising his Animarta, as if it was made of lead. He filled his lungs with air nonetheless, and watched as Alzeron charged, sensing his exhaustion.

The usual way then, Nox mused. He raised a free hand and shouted, “Burst!”

A lance of ice shot forward from his palm and sped toward Alzeron’s head. It shattered against the horns, barely inflicting damage. Alzeron shook his head in annoyance. With a growl, he strode toward Nox, his gait confident, unaware of the trap waiting for him.

Nox charged, and the headmaster met him head-on. Erebos traced an arc in the air, deflecting the claws. Nox danced past the snapping jaws. The belly was armored, but there was a softer spot near the navel. Something easy to cut from within; an escape route should things went awry.

He lunged after it, but rolled out of the way when Alzeron twisted, his arms low, teeth bared in a snarl. Nox smiled. He’s below the belly, by his navel, he told Estella.

Head to the clearing.

Ducking under another swipe, Nox dashed to the left, past a dead horse and a pile of charred corpses. There was no sign of Estella or any of their friends, but he didn’t need to see them to know where they hid.

Metal and bones cracked and crunched under Alzeron’s feet. Nox glanced back as he ran. The headmaster was so close now that his putrid breath invaded his nostrils.

Stop!

Nox dug his heels into the ground, lowering his head as Alzeron sped past, carried by momentum. He went on for a dozen yards until he hissed and whirled around.

Just as a boulder slammed into his head.

With a fierce war cry, Aldros leapt from out of the ground, Earth hammer held high. He swung at Alzeron’s head, and the crack and the headmaster’s scream of rage and pain echoed in the clearing. A blast of wind send him stumbling back, staggered, but not defeated.

He opened his maw, and a sphere of lightning crackled, growing larger and hotter. Aldros lunged again, but a swipe from the tail sent him flying.

“Burst!” Nox shouted, aiming for the exposed throat. Too late; lightning blasted in a writhing cascade, striking the ground, the trees—everything and everywhere.

Cursing, Nox dove out of the way, sprinting around the headmaster. The back. It was the safest place right now.

Snapping his jaws shut, Alzeron barreled toward him, heedless of the storm around them. Lightning struck his hide, but it only seemed to tickle him, his charge unabated. Nox abandoned his attempt at once and weaved past the storm of lightning and teeth.

A little help, he told Estella. Where was she anyway?

The response was a roar of flames and Alzeron’s shrieks. When Nox looked back, the headmaster was already collapsing, his legs scorched beyond recognition. A glowing red circle lay beneath him; a trap.

The resounding crash shook the ground. Nox waited until the dust had settled, then approached warily. From the forest Estella emerged, flanked by Polima and Esmeir. Ireela trailed after them. Glancing to the right, he saw Aldros rising from where he had landed.

“Where are the others?” Nox asked

“Reina and Matias are pursuing some soldiers who escaped,” she answered. Then she wrapped a free arm around him and kissed his cheek. “You did well,” she murmured.

He nodded, kissing her back before transferring his gaze to Alzeron. The headmaster was growling, his legs blackened from recognition. There was no way they could support his weight at their state.

“You told me the initial plan was to kill him,” Nox said softly.

“I did.” Estella twirled Astra’s tip in a circle. “You said you wanted to prevent a war though.”

“Not anymore.”

He approached Alzeron, trailing Erebos’s tip across the scorched earth. The headmaster began to writhe, pushing himself up with his spindly arms. But his weight was too much, and he collapsed back on the ground.

Standing near Alzeron’s stomach, Nox regarded him silently. War could still be avoided if they revealed what he said earlier; surely, Thurin wouldn’t risk another conflict with the defeat of one of their most powerful Wielder.

But since when had that stopped them?

He raised Erebos and strode toward the stomach. Alzeron opened his maw and spoke.

“If you kill me, all of you die, especially her.”

“If you kill her, your kingdom burns along with its people.”

It was no threat. Faven would no longer remain idle from Thurin’s sins. Not after what happened here. They would obliterate their sworn rival this time.

And it would begin with Alzeron.

Nox pointed Erebos at the headmaster’s stomach. It may be armored, but all he needed to do was infused his Animarta with magic and it would slice through as easily as a burning knife through a waterskin.

Resistance, of course, was expected. And as Alzeron snarled and swiped with his claws, Nox raised Erebos to block them. Except it was no longer a sword. The darkness swirled around his hands, elongating, twisting into a massive shape: a hand much larger than his, whose claws gleamed wickedly in the dying sunlight.

Estella gasped behind him, as did Ireela and the others.

Nox inspected Erebos’s second form even as he crushed Alzeron’s hand with it. How did I get this? he asked the former Celestial.

You’ve grown stronger, was all he said. Nox nodded, ignoring Alzeron’s screams.

“You can’t do this! You have no authority to kill me!” the headmaster shrieked.

Nox paused, glancing over his shoulder at Estella. A nod. A permission. Do what you must.

What he must. For all of his crimes, Alzeron was right. Nox sighed. “You’re right. I have no authority.”

His claws swung, shredding the armored belly. Blood spilled out, and with it, like a newborn, Alzeron tumbled out of the hole.

Nox smirked. “That’s why I’m not the one who will kill you.”