(A/N): Yo, yo, YO! The Phenom's back from a good ol' 5 month hiatus, and boy am I great to be back with an impact. Just to let you know, I'ma take this holiday to finish up this entire story, and I will be changing names of some characters from 55 onwards. So, now, sit back in yer chair, chill, sip some fragrant caffein, and watch 54 unfold. WOOOW!

-54-

The blazing crevice hurled Doppelganger up into the air, and down a group of orcs he fell through. Startled, the orcs picked themselves up groggily, only to be impaled by a broadsword. The phantom swordsman was further wrecked apart by a hard slug across his face, his head almost flying off his shoulders. Defying the pain, Doppelganger grunted as he stood up once again.

The Lord of Death dominated the fight. Blinded by greed, the silver knight had blithely wiped out innocent victims of his conquest, using his Strength Trait to the full extent. His raw power had destroyed countless lives, and now the next in line was Doppelganger. With the creation of his new lance, Death felt invincible. Nothing had stopped him in his invasion over Prontera, and nothing will. His new found abilities granted him nothing but the madness to transgress the "pact".

"Show me your Trait, swordsman. After I get a hold over it, you shall witness the true ruler of Rune-Midgard!"

Death slammed his lance into the ground, sending waves of tremors over to Doppelganger. A mouthful of demonic blood flew out of the swordsman's mouth. His strength was waning from the Lord of Death's stream of potent advances. Doppelganger pondered about his likely defeat. Where was the Doppelganger who used to fight fluidly without faults? Where was the Doppelganger whom no one could outpace?

'The exploitation of my Trait was not carried out in full,' Doppelganger clenched his teeth together as he thought.

Images began to flash across his mind as he bundled up every iota of his strength. Vivid flashes of the Orc Hero's assassination and several other of his adventures before the invocation of the four darted about in his brains, his willpower building up slowly for some reason.

'You've driven me to a corner. No more a second… no more…'

Doppelganger without so much as to make a noise as he heaved a couple of orc corpses, hurling it at the silver knight. He felt a nothingness inside him except for the sole objective of bringing the transgressor to justice. He felt numbed all over. The phantom swordsman watched the tall Death with distaste. The moment the silver knight banished him down the crater in the Orc Dungeon, a multitude of voices haunted him every single moment for his audacity to be in cahoots with the three other transgressors to hunt down the Traits. Some were harsh, while some were feminine. In his delirium, he barely made out the voices of formidable superiors like Dark Lord, Baphomet and others like Moonlight Flower, Turtle General and Eddga.

And sure enough, the persistent voices snapped him from his madness for an addition to his powers. Everyday, he was tortured mentally despite the abortion. The mental torment only subsided gradually when he calmed himself enough to get out of the damned hole. A breach in the death pact was something that he did not want to undergo. He knew very well how dire the consequences could be. Although he was "brainwashed", Doppelganger supposed that he would not be granted any lighter sentence. Remembering the other three of his ex-accomplices, he presumed that only death answered their insanity.

By the time Doppelganger crawled out, he expected heavy securities that would enclose him in the Orc Dungeon permanently. On the contrary, it stood empty, including the camp and fields. Only a few orc smiths hammered away at their works, but they were quickly slain. In the distant, he heard the intermitten blare of horns. Orcish horns. He did not have to give any more thought, and followed the sound of the horns into Prontera. Only then he launched an impromptu attack on Death, at the same time the orc forces decreased dramatically after his appearance.

Wielding a lance now did not mean that the devastating shockwave would not be created. Doppelganger watched Death carefully, anticipating the knight's attempt to expend his powers on it. The possibility of it was low, considering that his very own orcs would be expunged as well. Even if the puny humans and the orcs were to perish all at once, and assuming that Doppelganger failed to survive, he was well aware of the other superiors eyeing him tightly. Yes, the importance of the pact was becoming more insignificant each passing day without him even realizing it.

Death swung the lance across, ripping off another portion of the swordsman's bloody tabard, revealing his grey diaphanous chest. But the wounds were still conspicuous. Clearing another orc in his way, Doppelganger brought his sword up to parry the next blow, but once again the Strength Trait help accomplished what Death was incapable of formerly. The force sent Doppelganger crashing into a street sign nonetheless, snapping it into half upon contact.

Death came again. Kicking away the broken pole, the silver knight pointed the lance down to the heart and lashed out at it. Doppelganger rolled out of the way, the tip of the powerful lance creating a nasty crack on the ground. The swordsman tried cleaving the lance –and the blade of his broadsword quivered with a ringing sound of metal. Before he knew, he was made defenceless as the blade shattered like glass all over, mingling with other pile of debris. He looked in disbelieve at his hand that was still gripping the hilt tight, then arched his head up to meet Death's mocking gaze.

A force sent him sprawling flat with back faced up. An orc had snuck up behind him to deliver a kick on the spine. The same orc grabbed a large fistful of his blonde hair, then spat on his face. The yellowish goo ran down his face slowly. Death waved the orc away to the subsiding battle, with the defenders an edge over the invaders.

"You had two chances to live, yet you still chose to live your life on the edge. You chose to defeat the Great One, which many could even think about defying me, let alone opposing me," Death gave his last words, lance raised high over Doppelganger's head.

Doppelganger's eyes still held a look of defiance. Then, suddenly, he burst into a fit of laughter. Death's orbs narrowed when it stopped.

"What is so funny?"

"You fool," Doppelganger fought the pain to speak. "It is meaningless… you will fall sooner or later. You cannot be pardoned, nor can you hide. Face it, Lord of Death."

The dark skies rumbled at random intervals, and the drizzle grew into a downpour that slashed down on the defenders and everyone else. The rainwater cleaned the blood off Doppelganger's face, but the black blotches of his blood stayed stubbornly. Before he confronted Death, he knew he was pretty much over. It was suicidal, but the pact and the voices would return to torment him if he had ran off. The option was rather obvious; death could very well be the redemption he hoped for, yet he might not depending on the situation. Whether or not, at least this was far better off than being eternally damned.

"Why not? You are just the person I need to achieve myself as the superior of superiors. With the two prominent Traits, I am unstoppable, lowly swordsman. Do you truly think your little preaching before your death would turn me around, huh? Consider it –"

The broken half of the pole slammed against his thigh and further shattered into bits. Death buckled slightly from the unexpected attack, and Doppelganger took the opportunity to throw his weight to the knee. His shoulders slammed slightly above the knee cap, causing Death to fall on a knee. A quick boot to the face had the silver knight lying on his back, the lower part of the helm dangling loosely. His sight was affected as the slit on it was jerked into an inappropriate position.

However, before he could carry out any rectifications, the other half of the broken pole went into the slit. Death screamed as it pierced his cheeks near the temples, blood gushing out rapidly from it. In instinct, he drove a leg into Doppelganger's side and a resounding crash sounded after a moment. A loud groan escaped Doppelganger's mouth, while he bent his arm backwards to rub his back.

The rain grew heavier. Large drops of rain hammered onto the host, the shouts still sounding clear in the tempest. Streaks of lightning flashed across the dark skies before a rumble came shortly after. But there seemed to be more thunderous booms than rumbles, as if the higher powers witnessing the battle expressed their scorn.

"This is the moment…"

Death stood up. He shot the lance upwards to the sky, and a deafening blast of thunder sounded. Streaks of electricity circled around the tip, slowly down the shaft. Doppelganger was forced to watch in awe in spite of the strain in his neck. Even if it meant death, he had to stop Death's madness. In the knight's madness, nothing but calamity would befall Prontera. The remaining orc forces included. Feeling that this was a déjà vu, Doppelganger picked a few chunks of rock, sent it hurtling to the lance. The rocks hit the lance and disintegrated into dust, but he could see the steady circulation of the electricity faltering.

Death glared at the interference. The phantom swordsman did not panic, for he knew that a move by the silver knight would disrupt the procession of the spell. A few more rocks struck the lance, the electricity suddenly sizzling madly. A blue light flared from the tip as Death roared. Thunder blasted with all its might in the sky, as did those from the ethereal lance. Thick streaks of white lightning danced around at random, charring bodies after bodies. Thunderous explosions erupted at random, and more rocks began raining down together with the slashing rain.

The boom of thunder in the sky was too much to take it. Some with eardrums shattered, the defenders dropped their weapons to shut their ears from further damage. The orcs, too, let their swords and axes fall to the ground, the clatter of metal drowned out by the explosions and the fierce storm. Gale blew the rain into different directions, ruffling the cloaks worn. Chaos was ensued; buildings collapsed in a heap, while the ground itself cracked and the tremors began splitting it apart.

From the gaps more currencies exploded, sending many to their deaths. It looked as though the thunder came down from the heavens itself when more streaks of white lightning branched off in all directions, leaving few survivors in its wake. A few more rounds followed, and the death moans were silenced. Now, only the heavy pattering of rain and wrath of the thunderstorm claimed domination.

Although there was no one left alive, the incredibly humongous streaks of whites, measuring about three orc warriors standing abreast in width, materialized every now and then, running off into different areas of the city. Buildings that were not collapsed were charred, though few still did other than the church. Oddly enough, the church was the only structure unaffected by the phenomenon.

Death breathed loudly. His body was wrecked with spasms, his massive frame jolting violently. When he tried touching the lance, an invisible force had him retracting his hands back involuntarily. And every time he withdrew his hands, he would start wheezing for breath. He looked around the blurred city. No sign of his foe was found. But that was not his purpose now. He tried to comprehend this unusual thunderstorm, but answers eluded him. His armour was shorn off at several places, the rest of the plate left smoking from the white lightning frenzy.

The world of Rune-Midgard was bathed in brightness when a flash of lightning came across the sky. Black bodies, black disembodied limbs and black stones from buildings layered the city. Every participant in the battle was left dead, humans and orcs alike.

"The Trait… Doppel…"

Death sought the swordsman again after he remembered the Agility Trait. Since it was already useless retrieving it, Death abandoned the lance to continue the search. But it was short-lived though, when a cone of fire blasted against his back. Death roared as he spun around, and his orbs flared. Baring his teeth to show his disdain, Death strode closer to the skeletal abomination before him.

Streams of fire rose from the cracks when he moved, searing his body beyond measure. Death finally fell at the newcomer's feet, the silver knight out cold from the powerful sorcery. A skeletal figure with a fluttering black cape hovered over the knight. The high collars covered his bony neck, a logo embroidered at the back of the cape shimmering as if to warn him of something. Those empty sockets were directed at the still form at his feet.

Death stirred, raising his head to meet empty sockets. His lips curled into a snarl, the knight very much wanted to crush this undead mage here…

"Dark Lord… Dark Lord… you cursed biteme…"

"Yes, it shall be done this way. You shall call my name in agony even in death, even if your soul was banished into the dark layers of the abyss. Because I will have the privilege of doing so. Remember my name, knight. Remember me, Dark Lord, the one who stopped your madness."

Death's mouth was opened wide in a silent scream as the earlier streaks of whites surged through his massive frame. The armour shrivelled and shrunk, and a cone of faint light was disgorged from his mouth. His muscles rippled, but not in the impressive manner it always did. The arms began reducing in terms of size, pieces of armour falling off his body. Black blood spurted from open wounds found almost everywhere, even burns by Dark Lord's magic. The veins on the biceps disappeared, as did the bulges from the Trait when he first seized hold of it. The faint cone faded as soon as Death's eyes were shut. The Strength Trait had been purged.

"To think you had become the first of the death pact…" Dark Lord muttered without the slightest hint of compassion. The mage watched till the last of Death's life force drain away from him, before waving his hands to summon a portal. The fiery trails of Dark Lord stopped abruptly as he vanished into the portal.