Chapter 26: End of the Line – Violent Struggle for Survival
Purifying the Deep Coppice Arc
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.
Featured Music: "Urgency Drives Us" - Fire Emblem 10: Radiant Dawn OST. Chapter Briefing.
"Soy Sauce For Geese" - The King of Fighters XIV OST. Scene 1 (Second Half) & 2 (First Half).
"Killing Moon" - Street Fighter III'rd Strike OST (Online Edition). Scene 2 (Second Half) & 3 (First & Second Halves).
"Boss Clear" - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time OST. Scene 4.
In having met with the resurrected Hylianis Militaris Ordinis, the re-awakened Link and Navi is introduced to Raynard Van Garrick; a brash young man rough around the edges with some potential in combat as well as the rebellion's leader himself.
Sheik of the extinct Sheikah race.
Although he makes a deal with the rebellion in co-operating so far as his childhood home, the Kokiri Forest, Sheik and the resistance's hidden leader, the missing princess Zelda both hope for a commitment to their cause from their newly christened 'Hero of Time'.
Feeling manipulated by the princess and near all that he has encountered, Link at last finds meaning in one of the presences within him he had once feared; the demonic Kage Narumono. In spite of his deep and intense hatred, the devilish entity had never once lied to the youth; it is with this unfortunate knowledge that Link is, very slowly, pushed toward trusting him over the rebellion's forces.
When infiltrating the monster-infested Kokiri Forest, Link's fears come to be true as he encounters the full wrath of the warlord Dragmire's rule; with terrifyingly sized creatures infecting his homeland, Link steels his courage for what is to be his greatest challenge yet...
Scene 1
Having ridden down the moving rostrum one-by-one, the group of three men and the knowledgeable Navi soon found themselves deep down a lavishly designed room indeed; a boiling-shaded carpet graced the floor around the vertical dais as they descended down to meet it. A similarly deep shade of blue covered the rug that lay on ahead of them; a vertical alignment as opposed to the crimson one beneath them.
As the group wordlessly stalked through the darkened corridor before them they found their eyes wandering absent-mindedly to the numerous portraits littered across the walls down the long distance. Directly above the noticeably large door before them appeared to be a similar sort of symbol that Link had recognised much earlier on the platform just outside of the Forest Temple.
It must be the Forest Temple's signature, he thought.
As they stepped on through the large door before them, the group of heroes took note of the cramped area they had entered; upon noticing the stone stairwell to the right, they all traversed up single file.
I don't like this, Link thought silently to himself as he ascended on behind Sheik.
"It feels like..."
His ruminations gone unanswered and unfinished, the young Hero of Time made the final approach to his left after climbing the second and last flight of stairs.
"Stay close...," Sheik advised as he swept his hot-eyed vision across the arena before him. "I don't like how this looks."
Though silent, the watching Raynard and Link found themselves in wordless agreement; a set of golden spikes with a velvet red rope around them decorated the arena before them, going along wonderfully with the well-detailed portraits laying scattered across the walls. Oddly, there appeared to be an even number of paintings dotted around the museum-like arena. As Link sauntered through after his commander he took note of the portraits' minutiae.
Seemingly depicting what appeared to be a lonely solitary road that led directly into a darkened abyss-like castle in the distance. Laying around the depressing background of the field seemed to be winter bare trees, as if to add to the misery of the depiction before him.
Something about these paintings didn't seem right, Link thought silently to himself.
As the firm-frowning Raynard marched on inside after the blue-eyed hero in green, he folded his arms up at one of the still-life portraits. "I feel like we've gone through a wrong door or something...," the mercenary admitted to his annoyed thoughts, amber eyes narrowing on up at the trees depicted in the portrait before him. "Might be a good idea to turn back."
Agreeing for once with his dark-haired comrade, Link left his lingering look on one of the many paintings around the room before about-turning to leave. Soon finding himself bumping into something or perhaps, someone, Link raised a curious blonde eyebrow before coming face-to-face with a horrifying sight indeed. Widening his oceanic eyes back at it he found himself standing beneath the looming shadow of an abyss-shaded horse. By now, having gained the attention of the worried resistance soldiers, the darkened steed neighed proudly as it pulled itself and its rider temporarily upward before standing once more.
Horror filled the watching Link when he caught the rider's long flaming crimson hair and cat-like yellow eyes.
Ganondorf sat atop the blackened horse.
Gripping tightly what appeared to be a long three-bladed trident in his right hand, it seemed to be decorated with a very similar bisque-shaded jewel as the one within the Gerudian king's forehead.
"You..." Link gasped on out, his brow furrowing along with the hardened glare his aquatic orbed eyes took.
"Is it him...?!" Raynard hissed over to his commander, a visibly distressed tone to his baritone.
"No...," Sheik answered with an emphatic shake of his head. "This... appears to be Aegir."
"He's right Link!" Navi called out. "That's not Ganondorf! It's an apparition!"
Almost as if listening intently to the party's discussion, the ghost-like form of Ganondorf grinned on down at the narrow-eyed Hero of Time. With an echoing low chuckle that Link easily recognised, the phantasm ran his free burly left arm across his green-skinned face and, like magic, an intimidating helm decorated the man's head. Skull-like in nature, it appeared to resemble the Stalfos warriors Link had been engaged with before; two long vertical horns protruded into the sky at the sides of his head.
NEIGH
In a second haunting reverberation, the horse on which the apparition rode on leapt up; with an unnatural kind of Quintessence, the pair found themselves slowly floating on skyward. Almost unable to believe it, the group of heroes stared on in an unhealthy mixture of terror and panic before the phantom grunted with effort. As if in response his darkened steed roared with a similar kind of endeavour before the pair, against all notions of impossibility, bounded forward into one of the six paintings dotted around the arena.
Evil Spirit from Beyond - Phantom Ganon
"How...?!" Raynard called out incredulously, amber eyes widened in a mixture of horror and perplexity. "He went into the fucking painting!"
"Calm down!" Sheik snapped in advisement over his shoulder before swivelling his blonde head back to the front. Narrowing his fiery eye forward at the mercenary's point however, he conceded. "I can see that...," the Sheikah murmured, briefly eyeing the glaring Link far-off to his left. "This room will likely have been pre-meditated for our arrival."
Reaching back into his inventory, Link narrowed his eyes as anxiety and an unease sense of suspense bit at his nerves. As the sound of clopping echoed behind him the youth about-turned to find the darkened horse and its flame-tressed rider rushing at them from within the canvas they resided in.
"He's coming back!"
Link narrowed his sea-blue eyes to his side in the direction of the worried-voiced Raynard behind him.
"Shit!" The mercenary gasped out urgently, darting his thistly-haired head in his allies' area before re-facing the moving landscape before him. "I'm seeing another one over here!"
Sure enough, just as he described, a second copy of the phantom Ganondorf rode in another of the paintings against all notions of feasibility.
"Keep your bearings, both of you!" Sheik ordered, reaching for his knife as he briefly eyed both forms of their approaching enemy. "One will be a fake!"
Link's brow furrowed when he caught the sight, and sound, of a portal opening in the painting ahead of him; just as he expected. Pulling out the bow he had procured from his clash with the Stalfos swordsmen, the forest-bound swordsman nocked an arrow from the quiver he wore on his back.
"That's him! The real him!"
Fortunately, in spite of Navi's assistance, the narrow-eyed Link knew it regardless; with confidence backing his actions the hero in green stretched the string of the bow with the arrow he pulled. Eventually, as the phantasm before him began to gain form in the realm the four adventurers stood in, Link was able to confirm its authenticity. Ready and in time the blonde grunted as he let loose an arrow.
SQUELCH
In a sickening sound indeed, the original turned and retreated back into the painting behind him; satisfied with the result for now, Link temporarily lowered the bow in his grip as he watched in a hardened glare.
"No!"
Raynard's voice, surprising both the listening Link and Sheik, made them pivot their heads in his direction only to widen their eyes in similar-expressed terror. Against all possibility, finding yet another copy of the original phantom and his horse having leapt out of a portrait, the group could only stare before their Sheikah commander at last spoke.
"Scatter!"
On his order the men dispersed themselves as rapidly as they could, given the unfortunate timing. Just barely managing to avoid the inevitable strike of electricity that rent the centre of the battle arena, Link rolled forward to land directly in one of the arena's corners. Narrowing his eyes forward he rose his eyebrows when he found his similar-haired commander sticking to the wall rather athletically.
Impressive, he thought.
Even more surprising was the form of the scowling-faced Raynard; leaning his body back in his own corner he held his halberd back with his superior right hand. Outstretching his left at an open palm he appeared to form a visible transparent barrier of Aegir that evidently shielded him from the bird-like assault.
"It's coming back!"
Called to action again by their captain, Link and Raynard snapped their eyes around the battle arena in frantic search for their opponent. Finding an alarming number of copies of their phantom enemy, they widened their eyes in growing concern and panic.
"Every one of 'em could be fake!" Raynard yelled out, his voice breaking out of sheer fear; darting his amber eyes from each moving painting before the three men. "There's no way of knowing!"
"Calm down!"
Shutting their agitated argument out of his ears, Link narrowed his eyes at one form in particular; approaching from the canvas directly behind the standing Raynard, it looked just as similar to each one.
Something, he couldn't place, was off about it.
"Yeah; that's it."
Navi's confirmation, almost as if reading his very thoughts, made the young Hero of Time raise up his bow. Nocking a second arrow back the blonde narrowed his sea-blue eyes to thin slits, readying his nerves and the rest of his body. Just as he had seemingly expected the doorway of Quintessence opened up from the frames of the art-piece and from it charged through the phantom and his dusk-shaded steed. Letting loose the arrow he nocked back, Link watched as it struck the phantasm successfully; growling in what appeared to be pain, the rider abandoned his horse and it turned back to run off into the painting of which it crept from.
In spite of this revelation however, the other copies of the apparition merely continued to press on with their attack.
With this worried knowledge, the frightened Raynard could only watch from within his dim blue Aegir shield. Seemingly even as safe as his comrade, Sheik stared back with a widened eye of his own at the fast-approaching clone and its horse. Though the Sheikah reached for his knife and to move he was seemingly too slow to react; with a grunt of effort, the phantom's copy savagely smashed his trident diagonally against the youth's face.
SLAM
Its purpose apparently having been fulfilled, the attacking pair's forms found themselves dispersing into the air in which they resided in. Similarly, the other phantom's clones all disintegrated and Link soon found himself two men down.
"Sheik!" He called over panicked; tearing his narrow-eyed scowl away from the unconscious Sheikah he turned it now on the similarly fallen and comatose Raynard. "Ray!"
"Link I think they might be..." Navi trailed off, a wince in the tone of her voice. The listening blonde growled in a twitch of his annoyed scowl.
"I know...," he shot back in his low-toned rumble. "I need...," the youth in Kokiri colours began lowly as he swivelled his hard-eyed glare up to meet the unnaturally hovering Phantom Ganon. "More power..."
–
2
Readying another arrow from his bow, Link shut a single sky-shaded eye as he took aim; still seemingly wavering on through the air, the dark-eyed Phantom Ganon glared back at him. Resting his burly left arm across his hips he let his three-bladed trident hang by his side, the sound of his unnatural hovering ability giving off a high-pitched chime.
However he was doing that, he was doing it with Aegir.
Letting loose the third arrow he nocked behind his well-designed weapon, Link watched with concern as the narrow-eyed apparition merely batted the projectile away; with a grunt the firm-armoured man spun his trident in a rapid spherical motion, easily swatting the arrow.
"Tch!" Link managed out with a disappointed tinge to the twitch in his witnessing scowl.
"If you could just get it close...," Navi began in a narrow of her eyes behind her bulbous blue form. "The Master Sword would easily cleave through him!"
Surprised at her words Link found himself absently fingering the sky-blue hilt of the fabled blade resting on his back.
Just as she had said to him, it appeared to be the answer to all of his problems.
Jolting the youth with sudden movement however, the narrow-eyed Phantom Ganon spun the trident he carried once before grunting as he aimed it forward, as if to fire off a projectile of his own. Sure enough, a burning ball of Quintessence came careering for the young Hero of Time, pulsating with power.
"Don't touch it!"
Wide-eyed and shocked, Link gasped as he suddenly jerked his body to the side in an effort to evade the rapidly-approaching magical sphere. Though he was successful, the youth found himself growling in a mixture of anger and pain as he shut his left eye; as the ball of Aegir whizzed by him it managed to clip him across the left cheek. Visibly drawing blood, Link harshly inhaled air through his grit teeth in a short display of his agony and fury; in viewing his handiwork, the floating Phantom Ganon echoed on out a bouncing low chuckle, as if satisfied by the results. Snapping his oceanic eyes back up to face his hated enemy, Link shot the echo of the man above him the blackest of scowls; a look he had saved only for the original once before.
Pure hatred slowly seeped through his nerves, screaming at him to attack.
That's exactly what he wants, the youth thought to himself in an effort to think clearly.
Don't do it.
"He's mocking you."
Widening his eyes as he listened to the reverberating demonic-toned voice within his mind, Link realised who exactly that speed belonged to.
"Are you really going to let him get away with that...?"
The confrontational and acrimonious tone was unmistakeable; the voice of Kage Narumono spoke back to him, now seemingly conscious in spite of his efforts against.
As Phantom Ganon rose up his trident, seemingly for a second assault, Link glared back as he unsheathed the beautiful sheen of the legendary Master Sword.
"I know you can hear me."
Opting to ignore the satanic echo within the recesses of his consciousness, Link stared on in waiting for his opponent to act; sure enough, as he formed a second sphere of Quintessence, the hovering apparition above them fired it down with a low-toned grunt. This time, armed with the divine Master Sword, Link narrowed his eyes forward before renting the air with an emphatic shout as he savagely cut the air around the magical sphere as it approached. Surprising not only himself and the watching Navi but the gasping Phantom Ganon, the sphere of Aegir was soon batted back the way it came.
Finding himself unable to react in time the wide-eyed ghost-like form could barely move before the sphere collided viciously with him.
CRACK-DROOM
"Now Link! Now!"
Needing no further encouragement from his cobalt-coloured partner, the surprised-faced Hero of Time bounded forward in an urgent leap as the grunting Phantom Ganon slowly sunk back down to the ground. Seemingly stunned temporarily from his own attack the pained apparition found itself on one knee, its free left fist resting on the ground next to it. Wasting no more time Link leapt in a somersaulting battle crying diagonal slash attack; as if ringing with him, the Master Sword shone brightly with its metallic echoing ring as he landed.
SLICE-HACK-SQUELCH
"Grnngh...!"
In an echoing grunt, the phantasmagoric Gerudian king called out in visible agony before snapping his head back up to face his assaulting enemy; widening his hardened demonic-like eyes back at him, Link soon found himself artificially launched back the way he came, presumably by some kind of invisible Aegir force. His Hylian Shield rose up to defend against it, Link grunted back as he was sent skidding steps back, eyes scrunched up in his firm glare.
Recovering from his earlier assault, Phantom Ganon growled as he shot both arms to his side in a grandiose display to disperse the harmful magical energy he suffered earlier. Seemingly realising the shift in the battle, the shadowed echo soon turned his newly re-hovering attention to the fallen forms of Link's two comrades. Sensing his intentions, Link's sky-blue eyes widened in a mixture of horror and realisation.
He was going to turn on Sheik and Raynard he thought.
Acting on his inward fears the grunting narrow-eyed phantom rose up his trident, charged with the same forbidden Quintessence, before yelling in effort as he tossed the sphere. Noticing the trajectory it was sent in Link broke into an abrupt run in an effort to cross the distance. Unfortunately for the hopeful youth however, he found even in his top speed that he could not make the run in time.
Sheik and Raynard were going to die.
"Good... let them."
Opting again to ignore the echoing Kage Narumono's voice from within him Link gave vent to one final grunt of effort as he tossed the divine Master Sword forward desperately.
CLANG-WHUCK-WHUCK-WHUCK-WHUCK
Although he was successful, he found himself without a weapon; taking immediate note of this the form of Phantom Ganon let out a reverberating low chuckle as he glared on down at the youth in seeming preparation. Unwilling to move for fear of being attacked, Link merely stared on back wordlessly at the similarly watching phantasm before him; finally moving to action, Phantom Ganon rose up his trident once more. Spinning it as always he seemingly grinned beneath the demonic helmet he wore so well before readying it, presumably to fire directly down at the green-garbed youth.
Surprising him again however the ghost-like warrior laughed derisively as his aim was, once again, directed down to the unconscious forms of his allies. Wide-eyed and horrified Link broke into a second run; armed with only his Hylian Shield this time however Link opted to use both of his brawny arms in an attempt to block incoming orb of Aegir energy.
DROOM-FLASH
In a gasping grunt, Link found his safeguard crumbling before his very arms; savagely, it was tossed away from his grip forcefully, clanging noisily and sickeningly across the battle arena. In spite of its protection, a sliver of the magical energy managed to pierce through, injuring him. Grunting as he fell down to a kneeling position, Link used his now free left arm to run his gloved wrist across his mouth to clean the trickle of blood that dribbled down from the side of his lips. Horrifying him a final time however, Phantom Ganon spun the trio-bladed trident in his possession presumably for one more projectile.
"Link you have to move!"
Thanks for the advice Navi, he thought in an angry sarcastic frown.
Terror gripped at his senses as he watched the laughing ghost above him prepare the last attack, directed not just for his comrades, but the blonde youth himself.
A versatile assault indeed.
Unable to move Link could only stare in wide-eyed dread as the ball of Quintessence shot on directly for him, sparkling with magical energy.
The last thing he saw was the flash of the rapidly-moving globe before it made its final approach.
"MURYOKU!"
FLASH-KZZZZZZZ
With an elongated savage grin upon his demonic expression the newly re-awakened Kage Narumono slammed the ground beneath his heel with a bold expression of strength; in doing so he managed to bat away the ball of negative Aegir that Phantom Ganon had shot down previously. Though the body he shared with the concerned Link had been damaged heavily by battle, even sporting small wounds across his face, Kage appeared as confident and as bold as he always had. Though carrying no weapons or even any tools of any kind in his grip, Kage shot the floating phantasm a bloody fanged grin as he slowly spun his arms 'round to end his former technique.
The watching Phantom Ganon's golden eyes lit up unnaturally, as if something else was living behind them. As they now washed over the new introduction of the fiery-aura form of Kage, he opened his mouth behind the skull-like helmet he wore.
"Interesting...," he began, his voice having a similarly demonic tint to it as it echoed on across the walls of their battle arena. "Very interesting..."
His curiosity piqued, the listening demon raised a similarly inquisitive eyebrow upwards as he listened and watched.
"You're... different... aren't you...?" The frowning form of Phantom Ganon spoke, his voice reverberating as he narrowed his eyes down at the tilting headed Kage. "Whatever you are...," he re-began, glaring down. "You are a separate entity..."
"Hah...," Kage laughed under his breath as he ran his arm across his bloody face, fiery-red eyes similarly narrowing. "I could say the same..."
"Whatever do you mean...?"
"I mean...," Kage shot back in an emphatic crease of his low scowl. "That you send this stand-in to fight me," he accused, this time in a hateful glower. Perhaps surprised, Phantom Ganon's eyes widened beneath his helmet. "Awarena..." He muttered, a cruel tone to his voice.
"Language of the Sainted Three; a forgotten tongue...," Phantom Ganon murmured, firmly watching on. "Yes... I was right," he finished, a grin behind his words. "That boy must possess the Shinzui-et-Sanmiitai."
Merely laughing lowly back in response as if to confirm the absent man's thoughts Kage watched him carefully, a devious smirk dancing about his fanged mouth.
"Essence of the Triforce...!" The ghost-like form of Ganondorf finished out in a furrow-eyed glare, raising up his free left arm at the palm, as if to hold something within it and display it to his opponent. "I will take your divine Aegir...," he informed similarly hatefully before creasing his face into an ugly grimace. "And destroy you."
–
3
In a daring charge forward, Phantom Ganon swung his huge trident to bear down imminently over the demonic-expressed youth; in response, the grinning Kage Narumono grappled with the bladed weapon using his free arms. As if being sheerly melted by his touch, the trident began to glow with the same hot-red aura that encapsulated the smirking-faced Kage. Taking swift note of it, the watching phantasm widened his yellow eyes beneath the helmet he wore as he attempted to wrest control of his weapon.
Acting, and thinking similarly rapidly, Phantom Ganon grunted as he merely let go of his trident before back-dashing away to safety. Skidding across the well-designed battle arena, the hardened ghost glared back at the low chuckling Kage; as he watched, the demonic warrior very slowly softened the tempered steel within his raised left palm. Narrowing his fiery-crimson eyes back at the horrified face of his enemy, Kage very gradually lost his amused grin to give way into an intimidating hateful scowl.
"To rely on weaponry...," the beast-like warrior growled on over before slitting his eyes viciously at his enemy. "Moroi..."
"Indeed you speak the ancient language of the Sainted Three and of the civilisation before our own...," Phantom Ganon mused aloud as he began to pace around the room, eyes glaring on after the demonic warrior. "Your origins must be linked to those of the Holy Triforce...," the man concluded before raising his right arm. Although the silent Kage watched him carefully and suspiciously, Phantom Ganon opted merely to reach for his skull helmet; in doing so he managed to pull it off with a noisy snap of his fingers. As if by magic, his green-skinned face was now visible once more and, in spite of it being a mere projection of the man, one could easily be fooled into thinking it was really him.
A clone of Ganondorf Dragmire now stood directly across from the glowering Kage.
"I have an offer for you...," he began, tilting his head lightly to his right side as he gained a slow grin. "If you are willing to listen..."
Curious but not without his vicious black look ever upon his face, Kage glared back as he re-straightened his stature, as if to listen on.
"In spite of your little...," the clone started once more, soon narrowing his amber orbs back at the supernaturally strong demon before him. "Rebellion...," he hissed out in a knowing hateful spit as he gazed over briefly at the fallen and unconscious forms of Raynard and Sheik before re-facing the mirrored youth. "My grip on this country is absolute."
Kage opted to remain silent in his hard-eyed glower as he listened intently, keeping his clawed fists clenched and gripped at his two sides.
"If I were to add your power to my own...," the ghost spoke for his original, a knowing grin spreading across his face. "Our influence could spread just as easily into the neighbouring lands! And perhaps even... the world...!"
"Huh...," Kage merely grunted back in a brief nod upwards of his head, a kind of disgusted scowl upon his ugly expression. Raising a flaming eyebrow, Phantom Ganon pressed his opponent for a further response. "There is only one thing that matters to me..."
Similarly inquisitive, Phantom Ganon tilted his head, this time in a hardened frown. "And that is...?"
Widening his satanic eyes, Kage rose up his burning right fist before crashing it into the ground on which he stood on so boldly.
DROOM
"MESSATSU!"
Pressing forward in an audacious dive-kick Kage Narumono roared with effort as he dove down from the sky, his leg poised directly down in an arrow-like motion. The rest of his body straightened up into an eagle-like formation, as if to propel him further downward; preparing himself for his opponent's inevitable approach, Phantom Ganon readied his now free hands to catch and parry the descending demon.
FWIP
Surprising him, his amber eyes widened as he watched the scowling-faced Kage leave a single after-image behind, his sailing form slowly zipping away from reality.
"What in the-?"
Double-taking to his undefended rear, Phantom Ganon's eyes widened once more in worry when he found the re-appeared Kage plunging down from the sky.
SMACK
"Grnngh...!"
The pained form of the ghost warrior found himself caught within the brute's combination; as Kage landed he spun in a hard-eyed skid before issuing forward a crouching low palm followed by a raise of his right leg in a devastating roundhouse kick. In a pained grunt, Phantom Ganon was sent reeling and spinning backward into the air; pursuing on after him, Kage growled as he spiralled his own body in an impossible revolving twist, a strange kind of flip. Casting his satanically burning eye down to glare over at his falling enemy, Kage sent his extended palm out to strike viciously at the recovering phantasmagoric form.
CRASH
Having been struck by the savage attack, Phantom Ganon found himself twisting into the wall behind him, wreckage and debris following his wake. Renewed from his earlier endeavour, the watching Kage merely frowned on coldly and silently, a hardened glower to his shadowed expression.
DROOM-DRRRR
As expected, the rubble before him blew apart in an atrocious explosion of effort; the side of Kage's watching mouth upturned into a knowing and confident closed-mouthed smirk. The dust now having been cleared from his earlier injury, the newly grit-toothed scowling Phantom Ganon rose up both of his brawny arms in conjunction with his left roundhouse. Brimming with a fiery aura of Aegir, he yelled with effort as he brought it blasting back down to earth.
BOOM-RUMBLE...
Although the ground shook with tremendous force, the watching Kage narrowed merely only one of his eyes in suspicion as he stared forward.
Where is his attack, he thought silently to himself.
Almost as if to answer his very inward thoughts, movement to his undefended side made him double-take in its direction before re-widening his blazing-red eyes in surprise. Moving on instinct, the demonic-formed youth back-dashed through the air to safety away from the fast-approaching noticeable rumble in the earth. In spite of this defensive manoeuvre however, the watching spectre of the living Gerudian king merely chuckled maliciously before leaping in a forward roundhouse assault.
"Ah-!"
With a wide-eyed gasp of horror, Kage realised his mistake in his action...
… but all too late.
"Hngh!"
SMASH
In an agonisingly savage combination assault, Phantom Ganon managed to catch his opponent between himself and the very under-earth projectile he had sent. Following up his roundhouse kick, the ghost smashed his left palm directly into the roaring Kage's face, sending him reeling and skidding back. Joining both armoured hands this time however, Phantom Ganon completed his counter-attack with a double-palmed strike to the demon's torso and solar plexus, savagely sending him careering across the sky.
Pulling his superior right arm back however, the shadowed echo of Ganondorf grinned vindictively as he rapidly charged a mass of Quintessence within his palm. Forming in a sharply-shaped mass of wind-elemental Aegir, Phantom Ganon gave off one last laugh of wickedness before tossing it after the shut-eyed scowling Kage, his bass-like voice echoing on after it.
"Final... TEMPEST!"
WHOOSH-SKRRRR
Screaming in agonised pain, Kage's sailing form was rent asunder and brutally cut apart by the sphere of wind-style Quintessence. In slow pursuit of his falling enemy, Phantom Ganon let the pernicious crease to his face take over; now looming over the lying Kage, the demonic youth widened his satanically red eyes before reaching up with his own arms to grasp at the surprised-faced phantom above him. Although Phantom Ganon had similarly reached down, presumably to grapple with the demonic warrior, in Kage's grip he grunted as he found himself vaulting up into the sky.
With a rough pair of somersaulting back kicks across the face, the ghost echo of the Gerudian king was sent flipping over in a similar manner; hunting on after his opponent, Kage growled as he flipped backwards before pushing up off the ground in an acrobatic vault after the flying armoured warrior. In catching up with him he executed a series of air-spinning slashing kicks, savagely tearing apart the grunting phantasm.
"Tatsumaki ZANKU!"
In four echoing strikes, Kage managed to spin acrobatically through the air in his fierce barrage of spinning kicks before finishing his combination up with a dunking slashing punt. The clone of Hyrule's current monarch let out a pained grunt as he was sent spiralling and rocketing back down to earth, crashing noisily into the debris beneath him. Landing on after him, Kage's sinister-eyed gaze followed on after him as he paced on towards the fallen Gerudian king.
Perhaps desperate, the bloody-faced and visibly heavily injured Phantom Ganon shot up from the ground and threw a wild haymaker at the slow-approaching form of his enemy. Scowling back at him, Kage merely narrowed his eyes as he shot up his right fist to swat away the primitive strike in a deft parry before swinging his left back-hand in a grunting swipe.
SLAP
Gasping, the ghost-like form of Ganondorf found himself spinning back to the ground, bloody and visibly fatigued from the battle. Wide-eyed and horrified he began to crawl backward as if in retreat, watching the hateful-faced Kage; in response, the green-garbed demon shot up his right arm. Rapidly the ground began to rumble and, as Phantom Ganon found he had no more space to flee to, he caught the sight of smaller stones of the former debris lifting up supernaturally from the sheer force of which Kage commanded.
"I'll send you back to hell!" The infernal tone of the wide-eyed Kage's voice called out, echoing with finality as a similarly indigo-shaded aura began to encapsulate his straight-standing form. Pulling back his Aegir-charged arm, Kage Narumono widened his hellfire-like eyes before bringing it crashing down, as if a great-axe. "MESSEYO!"
DROOM-BANG-CRASH
In an incredible series of explosions and eruptions of his demolition-like Quintessence, Kage managed to fire the rest of his magical energy down onto the weakened form of his enemy. Although Phantom Ganon called out with a terrified-sounding scream, his deep voice was ultimately cut short by the merciless barrage of hellfire.
–
4
As the similarly purple-coloured aura of harmful energy finally petered out from the recovering form of the gasping Kage, he stood back up to a firmly-frowning stature to view the results of his handiwork. Almost as he had expected, as the smoke at last cleared before him, he found the fallen form of his enemy burning in a mess of purple and blue fire. His body wildly twitched as his form very slowly was pulled up into the air.
Hovering, Phantom Ganon appeared to lose all sense of consciousness and even sentience, his form drooping utterly and completely. Carefully, he was drawn toward the centre of the room; Kage Narumono watched with a firm-eyed glare around his demonic expression, seemingly satisfied at the results of the engagement.
"Impressive..."
The voice that resonated across the walls, interrupting and cutting, managed to make the hell-eyed Kage dart his head around in search.
A familiar voice indeed.
"The Shinzui-et-Sanmiitai indeed...," the voice, bass and deep in tone echoed on out. "You're quite a bit stronger than you were seven years ago... boy."
The voice, so similar to the deceased phantom's, could only be of the original; of Ganondorf himself.
Though he was very clearly referenced by the far-off Gerudian king's words, Kage's scowl grew worse as he listened, opting to growl back animalistically in response.
"But it is just that...," Ganondorf's rumbling voice reverberated. "You are but a mere boy. You may think your Shinzui is strong... but I assure you...," he started once more; Kage's satanic eyes narrowed in silence as he listened intently. "Mine's is stronger."
A side of his hardened frown upturned into an excited, fanged smirk.
"What a gigantic waste of time that ghost was...," Hyrule's king lamented angrily; as if triggered by his very echoing words, a darkened purple-like portal of Aegir opened up within the centre. As Phantom Ganon began to hover over it he at last appeared to regain consciousness and turned to scream in a mixture of horror and suffering. "I will banish you, for your failure...," he restarted before at last finishing his sentence. "To the gap between dimensions! To the void!"
Gripping the sides of its head the burning echo of Ganondorf was, very slowly, swallowed up by the dark doorway beneath it. In watching, a second bright cerulean portal opened up; one that Kage easily recognised. As its calming blue light washed over him his eyes widened.
This was a trap, he thought.
Almost as if reading his very paranoid thoughts, the similarly angelic-like coloured ball of blue that was Navi flew into his face.
Kage uttered a hateful ancient Hylian insult before his fiery-red eyes rolled up to the back of his head and he dropped to the floor unconscious.