On a guardian HQ ship, Harei was in his room sitting at a table reading reports on recent demon movements. As he was doing so, a draconic guardian General quickly opened the door. His face was frantic and he was panting slightly.

“Commander Harei, the academy is under demon attack!”

Harei turned when the door opened and his eyes widened in shock. “…What? Quickly, explain the situation.”

“We got a report from Jared Winesk saying that the academy was being attacked by demons. From what he described, the demons are struggling against the guardians, but the guardians are steadily losing ground.”

“How did they break past our defenses? This doesn’t makes any sense! Send nearby reinforcements to the academy and wherever they got through, block their route out!”

“But Commander, based on our soldiers positions, it’ll take half an hour for them to reach the planet.”

“What?! Why are they out so far?! Tell them to get their ASAP! Tell the HQ captain to head there as well!”

“Jared Winesk also asked for orders.”

“Tell him to evacuate. Let him know Arkanon should be under Areath’s protection, so he should be able to get out fine.”

“Yes, Commander. I’ll relay your orders now.”

----------------------------------------

Back at the academy, Arkanon, Berok, and Veld were cautiously making their way to the large building.

“Hey Arkanon, do you think Areath will be okay?” Veld asked.

“He seemed like he was able to handle that demon just fine. We should focus on ourselves right now though. Berok, any signs of demons blocking a path?”

Berok came up to Arkanon’s side, seemingly out of nowhere. “If we continue down this path, there’s one further ahead. There’s a few of them if we head to the left. To the right, there’s about three students fighting against a couple demons. So what’s the plan?”

Arkanon thought for a moment. “The left path is ruled out, that should be clear. We don’t want to risk an unnecessary confrontation with the demon ahead, incase he’s stronger than us, so that’s crossed out as well.”

“So we take the right path?”

“Yes, we can assist those students while we’re at it. Berok, stick to the roofs if possible. Let us know if there’s a demon approaching.”

“Got it.” Berok seemed to vanish from sight as he faded into the dark.

Arkanon looked at Veld and said, “Veld, stick close to me.”

“Okay.” Veld nodded his head.

Arkanon started moving, weaving his way in between cabins, moving to his right. With Berok scouting from the roofs, Arkanon and Veld continued along their way, always on the alert in case of a demon attack.

As they were walking, Berok made a slight tap on the roof to get Arkanon’s attention.

Arkanon looked up and vaguely saw Berok point towards Arkanon’s right. Arkanon nodded and motioned for Veld to follow him. When they got closer, Arkanon could hear clashing sounds coming from ahead. Looking around a corner, Arkanon saw Mira, Cel’Mian, and Jetark fighting against two demons, one a draconic and another a Trethian. From what Arkanon could tell at first glance was that although the three had an advantage in numbers , the two demons were steadily winning.

Arkanon signaled Berok and waved him to come down.

Berok dropped down, waiting for Arkanon to speak.

“I’m going to get straight to the point. Berok, you and Veld attack the one on the left. I’ll attack the one on the right.”

“Anything else?” Veld asked.

“Yeah. Try not to die.”

“Same to you.”

“Ready?” Arkanon drew his sword. “Go!”

Arkanon charged out with Berok and Veld in tow.

One of the demons, the draconic, noticed them coming out. “Gah! More of these brats?”

Jetark, wielding a giant battle axe, swung in a wide horizontal arc, forcing the demon to focus on him.

“Glad to see you’re okay, Arkanon and Veld!” Mira yelled out. She was fighting the Trethian demon by herself while Cel’Mian and Jetark were focusing on the draconic.

“Duck!” Arkanon gathered energy in his left hand and shot out a bolt of energy.

Mira ducked and the energy bolt hit the demon in the chest, knocking him off balance. Mira charged up and slammed her staff into the demon’s left knee, snapping it and forcing him to the ground. Arkanon then came up and stabbed the demon through the skull, killing him instantly.

Arkanon looked over to see how the others were doing. What he saw was the demon knocked to the ground with Jetark standing over him. Jetark then brought his axe down on the demon’s head, splitting it in half.

Jetark turned towards Arkanon, blood smeared on his body and face. “Good to see you, Arkanon and Veld. The three of us were looking for you two, but instead you came to us and helped on top of it. May I ask who the third person is?”

“Later, for now we need to get out of here.” Arkanon responded.

“I’m afraid you aren’t going anywhere.” A chilling voice froze everyone and an overbearing pressure pressed down on them.

Arkanon looked towards the voice and saw a red-scaled being, with large wings and tail. It’s overall appearance was similar to the Ancient’s, but this one made Arkanon shiver from fear.

“Shit, this isn’t good.” Dark Arkanon suddenly said.

‘That one there, could it possibly be..?’

“Yeah, that one’s a Corrupted. And he seems to be a strong one as well.”

Arkanon also saw a second figure walking with the Corrupted. It was the same demon Arkanon saw earlier that Areath fought.

“Oh, what a surprise to see you two again! Unfortunately for you, your pitiful ‘protector’ wasn’t able to win. I dare you to run now.”

“Did Areath… die?” Veld questioned quietly.

‘What are we going to do? What can we do?’ Arkanon asked his other self.

“Running is pointless. He’d just hunt us down.”

‘Shit, so do we have no choice but to make a stand?’

“No, tell your friends to run, that’ll keep them out of my way.”

‘What are you planning on doing?’

“I have a trick, just tell your friends to run and hand control over to me.”

‘Can you beat him?’

“Heh, there’s no chance of beating him, but if I can hold him off long enough until your guardians arrive, we’ll have lived through it.”

‘That sounds like a risky plan.’

“Would you rather be slaughtered?”

‘No.’

“Good, then do as I say.”

Arkanon frowned. “The five of you. Get out of here.”

“What?” Veld asked.

“What are you saying, Arkanon?” Mira also asked.

“I said for all of you to get out of here. Evacuate. Otherwise I can’t promise your safety.” Arkanon said.

“And your safety isn’t of any concern?” Jetark asked, annoyed.

“Go. Now.” Arkanon said through clenched teeth.

Arkanon stood there for a second, his body all tensed up. Then his body jerked forward and relaxed. His white hair started to turn black and a twisted smile could be seen on his face. He looked up towards the Corrupted, both of his eyes turned into a blood red color.

The Corrupted stared at Dark Arkanon, confused. “This is the first time I’ve seen something of this sort.”

Dark Arkanon stared back at the Corrupted, his mouth a twisted smile. “It’s quite a pleasure to meet you. It’s rare for a guardian to ever meet one of the Corrupted.”

“You seem rather well-mannered for someone that’s about to die.”

“Unfortunately for you, I don’t plan on dying.” Dark Arkanon said with a grin. He then closed his eyes and frowned as his body started to shake, but not out of fear. His body started to change, his forearms and lower legs skin was hardening into something leather-like with red scales emerging from it. His fingers twisted up as sharp claws started to form themselves. Red scales now covered his forearms and lower legs and continued on the backs of his arms and up the sides of his legs. Scales then covered his back as a bony tail forced itself out at the base of his spine. The scales continued up the back of his neck and barely touched the sides of his cheeks. When he opened his eyes, his pupils were slit vertically, like a dragons. His pants were ripped apart from below the knee as his clawed feet were bare on the ground. The back of his shirt was tattered, nearly ripped apart from the scales.

“Well now, it’s been a while since I’ve seen any kind of true-form. Aren’t you filled with surprises?” The Corrupted said calmly.

Arkanon’s friends stood behind him, speechless about his sudden change.

“Arkanon?” Veld asked, unsure of what was happening.

Dark Arkanon, now in control of the body, said, “Scram, I don’t need you here.”

“Hey, Arkanon-“ Mira started to say something, but Jetark put a hand on her shoulder.

“Let’s go. It’s clear we aren’t going to be of any use here.” Jetark said.

Veld, unwilling to go, said, “No, I’m not leaving Arkanon to fight that monster alone.”

A black flame wall erupted in front of them, startling them.

“I said leave.” Dark Arkanon scowled.

“I agree with the stone giant, we should back out.” Berok said.

Veld gritted his teeth. “Damnit… Arkanon, I promise I’ll ask them to send help.”

Dark Arkanon snorted and muttered, “That’s the only reason you’re of some worth right now.”

The group of five started to run towards the building.

“Kal, stop them.” The Corrupted ordered.

“Gladly.” Kal grinned and charged forward, trying to move past Dark Arkanon.

Dark Arkanon whipped his right arm out, hitting Kal in the side and sent him flying through a cabin, severely wounding him.

“You aren’t going anywhere.”  Dark Arkanon said disdainfully.

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The Corrupted looked at Dark Arkanon, seemingly interested, and said, “Your power isn’t bad. For one hit to have that much force behind it, it’s rather impressive for a guardian, but the difference between us is still too large.

“Don’t underestimate me, I can still kill you.”

“Hah, yes you can. But will you be able to?”

“Give me the chance, and I’m sure I’ll be able to.”

The Corrupted laughed. “I like you. You stand before someone much stronger, yet you don’t back down and banter with them instead. I’ll tell you what, I’ll beat you to near death then take you back with us. You’ll be a great test subject.”

“Go ahead and try.”

“There is no trying, it will happen. Enough talk. My name is Faldren, leader of the demons. Who might you be, little guardian?”

“My name is Arkanon. I’ll be the end of you, so don’t forget it.”

“Come Arkanon, come realize the fate that you picked.”

Dark Arkanon charged forward and drew his sword while Faldren simply stood there. Dark Arkanon swung his sword towards Faldren, which Faldren batted aside with his right hand. Dark Arkanon grinned and brought his left fist up and bashed Faldren under his upper arm. Faldren winced slightly in pain, but was more annoyed from Dark Arkanon’s incessant struggle. Faldren swiped his left hand towards Dark Arkanon, hitting him and sending him soaring towards a cabin wall.

Dark Arkanon flipped around mid-air and rebounded off the cabin wall, the force destroying the entire cabin. He charged towards Faldren once more, this time sending a large black flame swathe towards him, temporarily blinding him. Dark Arkanon then created a black flame clone beside him. Faldren couldn’t see anything outside the black flames. He unsheathed his sword and readied himself for anything. He felt a presence to his left and struck out with his left hand, completely destroying the black flame clone. Faldren then turned around and brought his sword down towards Dark Arkanon, who was trying to flank him.

Being caught by surprise, Dark Arkanon only had enough time to back step a little, but the tip of Faldren’s blade cut down the right side of Dark Arkanon’s face, destroying his eye and leaving a clean cut from right above his eye down his cheek.

Dark Arkanon retreated further, his left hand covering the right side of his face. Black flames flickered around his hand as he tried to heal his wound, but he found that he couldn’t heal it. No matter what he did, the wound was still there.

“Wha, What the hell? Why won’t it heal?” Dark Arkanon started to worry.

“You’re already appearing to be a good test subject. Let me tell you this though, so you don’t continue struggling needlessly. You can’t heal your wound, no matter what you try. You have permanently lost your right eye and that wound will forever scar your face.” Faldren explained.

“How the hell is that even possible?!” Dark Arkanon questioned through clenched teeth.

“Well, let’s just say this blade is special.” Faldren smirked as he ran a finger along the edge of his blade. “I’ll make you a deal, Arkanon. If you stay here, I’ll seal your energy and take you back as long as you don’t resist. So what choice will you make now?”

“We’re not going with him.” Arkanon said from inside.

‘What can we do to stop him? I can’t heal our body, so we’re extremely vulnerable here.’

“Going with him will mean certain death. Try getting away from him, wait for reinforcements.”

‘Ha! Getting away from him?’

“We’re likely to die from any decision we make anyways. Why not try to escape?”

Dark Arkanon sighed. ‘Anything is worth a shot now.’

“It seems you come to a decision, Arkanon. So what will be your choice?”

Dark Arkanon took a deep breath and closed his left eye. He gathered as much energy as he could from his body. He raised his left arm in front of him and opened his eye. He crossed his arm over to the right side of his body, and swept it across in front of him in a large arc, shooting out a massive amount of black flames.

“So this is your choice.” Faldren muttered as the black flames engulfed him.

The black flames completely devoured everything in front of Dark Arkanon, destroying all the cabins. He turned around and started to sprint away. After one step though, a hand grabbed his leg.

Faldren started speaking from behind Dark Arkanon. “I’m disappointed in you, young one. I offered you a chance where you wouldn’t suffer, yet you still declined it and boldly attacked me. While I’ll admit you that you are courageous for standing up to me when there’s such a difference between us, what’s the point if it ends in death? Fear not though, you’re still of some use. However, you need to be punished.”

Dark Arkanon was lifted into the air by his leg, causing him to drop his sword. Faldren then threw him with great force. Dark Arkanon couldn’t control his body at all and hit the ground hard, his body only rolling after contact. He ended up on his back and his body ached all over. He sluggishly attempted to get up, but a clawed foot was planted on his chest, preventing him from moving at all. Faldren then moved his foot to Dark Arkanon’s right arm and stomped down on it. Bones cracked and crunched, causing him to scream out in pain.

Faldren took his foot off Dark Arkanon’s arm and knelt down. He poked a claw in the middle of Dark Arkanon’s chest and a little bit of black lightning shot off from his claw. Dark Arkanon’s chest seized up as he felt all his strength leave his body. His body turned back to normal as his consciousness faded.

Faldren stood up and turned around to see a limping Kal coming towards him. “A well timed arrival, Kal. Watch over this child, make sure he doesn’t do anything. Don’t kill him either, we’re taking him as a prisoner.”

Kal had a furious look on his face when he heard Faldren’s orders. “This ‘child’ nearly killed me! Twice! And we’re keeping him alive and taking him prisoner?!”

Faldren had a cold glint in his eyes as he looked at Kal. “My orders are to be followed. Should you disobey, you know the fate that awaits you. Am I understood?”

Kal shivered under Faldren’s gaze and meekly answered. “Yes sir, understood.”

“Good.”

“But this child is dangerous. He doesn’t look that old, yet he holds a great deal of power. The energy blast nearly killed me.”

“If it hit me, it would have done a large amount of damage as well, because he used all the energy he had remaining in his body at once.”

“His hair also faded back into white.”

“So it did. This child, Arkanon, certainly is an anomaly. He used corrupted energy, even though his appearance changed back into that of a guardian, although when he fought it was a demons appearance.”

“Could he have a mutation?”

“It’s possible, but for it to be the exact opposites of a demons, that’s a rare mutation indeed.”

“So what do we do now, sir?”

“I’m going to hunt down the rest of the guardians, you go ahead and take him back to the ship and lock him up.”

At this point, Arkanon’s conscious started to come to. The first things he felt was an immense pain in his right arm, which was completely limp. His right eye was also hurting badly and he knew that it was gone. Another thing he felt was this his own power was now immense, much greater than what it had been before. He shakily opened his left eye and saw Faldren and Kal standing above him.

Faldren noticed this and said, “Oh? You awakened a lot earlier than expected, Arkanon.”

Arkanon only stared back.

“Nothing to say? Very well. Kal, go ahead and take him back now. I’m going to go hunt the rest of them.”

As Faldren turned and started walking towards the large building, three medium sized ships rose in the distance and were about ready to leave.

“Hm. Seems I don’t need to hunt them down, I’ll just blow them out of the sky.” Faldren raised his left arm towards the ships and corrupt energy started to gather around his hand.

Arkanon could see this and desperately tried to think of what to do. ‘My right arm is beyond immediate repair. My legs and left arm are fine though. Maybe…’

Kal reached down and grabbed Arkanon left arm, preparing to drag him away.

‘Now!’ Arkanon infused his left arm and ripped it out of Kal’s grasp. He then spun around, getting onto his knees and formed energy, like a blade, around his left hand. He sliced through Kal’s knees, cutting straight through and forcing Kal to fall flat on his back with no lower legs.

Kal cried out at the sudden dismemberment, causing Faldren to turn towards Arkanon.

By then, Arkanon had gotten up and rushed towards Faldren. Using all his strength, he stabbed towards Faldren with his hand. Faldren tried to grab Arkanon’s left hand with his own, but the energy cut through his clawed hand, not stopping Arkanon’s as it pierced through his chest, just below his heart.

Arkanon gave a short self-mocking snort at missing a big opportunity. A blade then cut his left arm off at the elbow. He felt a heavy kick land on his stomach, making him fly back.

Arkanon landed and coughed heavily, blood coming out of his mouth. The pain from his injuries made him pass out.

Faldren snarled in pain as he pulled Arkanon’s forearm out of his body and threw it on the ground.

“Kal, pull yourself together and take him!” Faldren yelled. Black lightning started to crackle inside the hole in his torso, quickly healing completely. “We don’t have time to sit around either. If they took the chance to flee in ships, then chances are reinforcements are here. Although we didn’t completely achieve what we came for, we’ve done enough. Let’s go.”