Ch.136: Rivalry within Conflict! The True Game Begins Now!

Gwyn peeked her head out from around the corner in search of more bad guys. She, Flint, and Ambrosine were ambushed a little way back, but they were easily disposed of thanks to Gwyn's plants. She signaled Flint and Ambrosine that the coast was clear and sprinted down the hall. The two followed behind at a distance.

Ambrosine, clinging to Flint's mane still, tried not to tremble at the knees. "I've never been this freaked out in my entire life."

"Don't worry, Gwyn will keep us safe," Flint assured. "And I'll try my hardest to protect you, too."

Ambrosine nearly stumbled, feeling a pleasurable stab through the heart that made her ache and squirm. So selfless! Agh! Why, why, WHY has fate cursed me with this?!

Gwyn pulled a seed out and grew it in her hand, creating a dandelion with blue glowing spores. She blew on it and spread the spores across the corridor. They clung to the walls and, with a bit more plant magic, grew into even more glowing dandelions. "I can hear lots of fighting around us."

Flint gritted his teeth. "I hope someone found Voss. He may still have the keys."

Ambrosine grimaced. "Do you really believe any of us can take on that murder titan?"

Gwyn looked back and smiled. "We don't need to beat him. We just need to steal the keys back."

Ambrosine grinned exasperatedly. "You sure do look on the positive side of things…"

Gwyn giggled briefly, then continued looking forward. "Don't worry, once we find the others, we'll have this whole thing sorted out."

"You keep saying that, yet I hardly believe you," Ambrosine grumbled.

Flint glanced at her. "You don't look on the bright side much, do you?"

Ambrosine sighed. "My whole life aligned with pessimism at an early age. My own mortality is often the topic of discussion for me."

"Flint told me about that," Gwyn brought up. "Back in the cave and when you both last spoke. He said you have a heart condition?"

Ambrosine bit her lip. "Y-Yes. An uncurable ailment I'm forever burdened with."

Gwyn frowned. "I don't believe there's any ailment that can't be cured."

"Well, I'm a doctor, and I think I know my body better than some potion maker."

Gwyn pouted. "Sorry I asked…"

Ambrosine realized her tone and mentally slapped herself. You idiot, look at what you did.

Flint glared. "I'm siding with Gwyn on this one. I'm sure there's a way we can help you."

Ambrosine closed her eyes. "My condition shouldn't be your priority. Flint, you and your brother are part of something far greater. You're aware of the prophecy surrounding you two, right? Only a Ravenfield can put an end to the Shadow King. You two are the last of your family linage, so if anything happened to you both…"

Flint frowned, looking away from her. "I'm…aware."

"I don't want you worrying about my condition. We should focus on preventing another war from stirring." Ambrosine sighed. After that, I just want to hide away forever and never have to deal with this drama again.

Gwyn kept glancing over her shoulder at Ambrosine, keeping a close eye on her. She trusted Ambrosine fully, so no reason to suspect backstabbing. However, something kept itching at the back of her brain that she couldn't quite place about the Steenee.

Why does it look like she doesn't like me? Gwyn wondered. Was it something I said? Gwyn then remembered something Tony said earlier before they were all separated.

"Found you a rival, Green."

Rival? What did he mean by that?

As Gwyn pondered the Dewott's usual vagueness, she felt a chill crawl over her legs. She shivered and hugged herself. "H-Hey, guys? D-D-Did it get colder all of a sudden?"

Flint and Ambrosine stopped just as the coldness brushed over their legs. Ambrosine recoiled and bundled herself tightly under her jacket while Flint remained mostly unfazed, though he felt an odd tingling crawling up his back. "What is this? Is there wind coming through these tunnels?"

Gwyn looked down, then squinted at the ground. The provided lights couldn't illuminate the tunnel completely, but she knew she could see something flowing over the ground. Or maybe, it wasn't something completely tangible.

"Darkness?" she mumbled.

The dark aura leaped up and washed over her. Instantly, Gwyn felt a spinetingling sensation that locked down her motor functions. She fell onto her rear, eyes shrunk and breath shortened. Her body trembled as memories of this fog came rushing through her head.

N-No. Not darkness, but…

"Witchcraft!" Gwyn screamed.

"What?!" Flint and Ambrosine gasped.

Pillars of black fog burst from the flowing aura, scaring the trio. They quickly huddled in the center of the rising pillars, clinging tightly to each other. Demonic creatures sprung from the fog. Purple, leathery skin with curved, spiraling horns. Deep red eyes. Snaggleteeth. They were dressed in very little armor, carrying all sorts of weaponry.

Ambrosine squeezed Flint and Gwyn harder, yelled, "What the heck are those things?!"

"D-D-D-Demons!" Gwyn cried, pressing harder into Flint.

The poor Flareon could barely breathe with how tightly the girls pressed up to him. He glared weakly at the demons, even though he was secretly cowering, too. "Th-This is…"

"The Sealed Army of a Thousand Demons."

The trio's eyes turned down the tunnel as two figures stepped out of the dark. The demons dropped to one knee and bowed their heads to their mistress: Callista. Joining her side was a much too eager Zaros, quietly massaging his wrist.

Gwyn's fur stood on end. "Callista!"

Flint suppressed his cries, uttering a weak, "Z-Zaros!"

Zaros smirked. "Hello, Ravenfield. Did you enjoy your tango with death after our last meeting?" He turned his gaze to his leg brace. "Oh? Seems the dance was too much for you."

Flint nearly fell on his back with how much he tried to move away, but the scowling demons kneeling behind him prevented further retreat. Gwyn stood protectively in front of Flint, even though her legs trembled within the black fog.

"You!" she growled. "You'll pay for what you did to my Flinty!"

Zaros chuckled. "Ooh, you want to fight me, goddess? By all means—"

"Silence," Callista ordered. "You are forbidden from touching her." Callista stepped forward, glaring at the green Mew. "She's mine."

Zaros sighed, then bowed. "Very well." He grinned deviously at Flint and Ambrosine. "I'm more interested in those two, anyway."

Callista walked forward while Gwyn remained petrified in place. The Ariados hissed quietly, clicking her mandibles. "This takes me back. The first time we reunited after your mother died?" Gwyn tensed up, gritting her teeth. "I so wanted to take you while you were so young, yet I couldn't risk drawing attention to myself. Though powerful I am, I pick my fights carefully."

Callista stopped her leg down, startling Gwyn. "Now look at you. Maturing into a powerful magic user. How bothersome." Callista clicked her mandibles which dripped with venom. "Well, that's all about to change. I will complete the ritual and obtain the contract I so desire. Do not resist me, foolish child."

Indigo and Rico fumbled through the shaking tunnel, feeling the quakes of combat just a few tunnels down. The second they took off, dragging Tony with them, Holly and Voss had engaged in battle. Their clash caused the ceiling to crumble and break apart, forcing them to quicken their pace.

Rico panted and yelled, "Just how powerful is that chick?!"

"Less talking, more running!" Indigo ordered. "How are you holding up, Tony?"

"Oh, you know," he groaned. "About as well as anyone with a huge burn scar across their body—YOW!" He felt her claws dig into his shoulder. "I'm fine, really!"

Indigo huffed. "I do this because you're an idiot!"

Tony smirked. "A brilliant idiot—YOW! Claws! Hurting!"

Rico shook his head, then peered ahead. He gasped and dug his heels down. "Get back!" He shoved Indigo and Tony away before taking a direct hit from something in the dark.

Indigo gasped. "Rico!"

Tony growled. "Shadows."

Rico stumbled back and glared at the black apparitions. He barely noticed them when they were running, only catching vague movement in the darkness. He saw the red eyes staring back at him hungrily, but he couldn't make out their shapes.

Crap. Rico crouched down. Oh well, hope for the best. He leaped and swung his leg, managing to deal one in the head. He felt its head break apart into fog. He spun himself around with another kick heading toward the other shadows, but they vanished instantly.

Rico landed and looked around. "Where did they—" One slashed his back and knocked him down. "Agh!" He spun on his hands and swung both his legs, but missed the shadow by a mile. Another sucker punched him during his handstand, then grabbed his ankles. It tossed him into the air, leading another shadow to cast dark fire down on him. "GAAH!"

"Rico!" Indigo cried.

Rico rolled and patted out the flames before getting back on his feet. "I'm fine, I'm fi—" A shadow socked him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. He doubled over, clutching his stomach and leaving himself open for the shadows to slash him up with their claws. He couldn't muster a scream, only contort his face in pain.

Indigo reconfigured her metal claw into its crossbow mode and fired a light arrow into the darkness. The brief flashed revealed the shadows, but they faded back farther into the darkness. Indigo loaded more light arrows and continuously fired. Flashes of light decorated the halls, showing the briefest glimpses of the apparitions before the light faded.

"I can't reveal them for very long!" Indigo yelled. "I thought bright light harmed them!"

"I knew it." Indigo gasped as Tony pushed himself up onto one knee. He panted quietly through gritted teeth. "I realized something the last few times we fought these things. They're getting stronger. In the presence of their king, they've become more empowered than ever. Imagine a darkness that could even swallow light. That's what we're dealing with. That light is nothing but a nuisance now. Their weakness has nearly become obsolete."

"Are you saying we can't hurt these things anymore?!" Indigo cried.

Tony grunted. "Well, hitting them is still a valid option. Hey, Kicks!"

Rico pushed himself to his feet, growling, "What?"

"You're not going to get anywhere with your eyes. Let me guide you."

"You?"

"They have magic auras. Their bodies are practically composed of it. You fight, I'll guide your kicks."

As much as Rico didn't want to associate with the Dewott, he had very little choice. With an annoyed huff, he closed his eyes and raised his leg. "You better not screw with me."

Tony smirked. "Aww, but that would make the comedy bit I planned worthless."

"What did you say—"

"Duck!"

Rico obeyed and ducked, feeling a sharp breeze graze off the tip of his crest. He backflipped and rammed his foot into the shadow's face, dispersing it into the air. He felt more ganging up on him.

"Jump, then axe kick!"

Rico backflipped into the air, narrowly avoiding sharp claws, then drove his leg down on the shadow.

"Two on your left, one of your right!"

Rico spun on his hands and knocked the shadows away. He grappled one around his leg and slammed them into the floor. He backflipped off his hands and dropkicked the other shadows into the wall, springing off their dissolving bodies.

Tony's eyes darted quickly around the tunnel as more and more started to pop up. "Duck and cover!" Rico dropped and covered his head just as Tony fired his Lightning Shot: Lotus Bullet into the crowd of shadows. His aim was off, however, due to his injury. He missed about half the shadows and only dealt major damage to a few. He staggered onto his knees, gripping at his torso.

"Tony, don't exert yourself!" Indigo scolded.

"This is…hardly a scratch," he lied, trying to stand on his feet. "I can still…fight."

"Like hell you can!" Rico yelled. "Quit acting tough and leave everything to me!"

Tony glared, but he was in no place to argue. With the shadows drawing closer around them, all he could do was relent. "Ugh, fine. I can't keep calling out directions like this." He formed a ball of lightning in his hand. "You've got five seconds of light. Make it fast."

Rico smirked. "I'll only need three."

Tony tossed the ball into the air and released a powerful flash of light, flooding the entire tunnel in a blinding blue. The shadows recoiled from the flash and covered their eyes while Rico went in fast and hard.

He rammed his knees into one's face, sprung off, and swiped his leg across the heads of two shadows. Upon landing, he sprung backwards and flipped off his hands, delivering a fearsome helicopter kick into multiple shadows. His blows ripped their ethereal bodies to shreds, blowing them apart like a sudden burst of wind. Try as they might to reform, Rico knocked them to pieces just as instantly.

Some tried to get the drop on him from above, but Indigo was quick to fire explosive arrows and destroy them. One tried to grab her from behind, but Tony grabbed its wrist and delivered a fatal electric burst that utterly obliterated its form.

Indigo pulled Tony up and wrapped his arm around her neck. "Well, at least you're not completely worthless."

"I'm hurt," Tony playfully whined.

Rico catapulted through the air and stomped his feet down on one last shadow, scattering its particles through the air. He sighed and bent over on his knees. "Regular grunts, I can handle, but this is exhausting."

Indigo sighed. "At least they're not terribly hard to destroy."

"Yeah, but one hit could spell the end for us," Tony reminded. He glared at Rico, who was teetering weakly on his legs. "How are those injuries?"

Rico took a moment to catch his breath, then replied, "Better than…you, clearly."

"I'll hold you to that."

Indigo loaded an arrow, then pointed down the tunnel. "This might be the right way after all. We can still make it to the top."

Rico narrowed his eyes, panting. "Actually, come to think of it, what are we going to do when we reach the top? Aren't the heralds guarding the exit or something?"

"Oh, silly boy, how dull do you think we are?"

Rico shrugged. "I don't know, it was a simple ques—" His, Indigo's, and Tony's eyes widened before their heads whipped around behind them.

Pillars of rock sprung out and slammed into their backs, knocking them across the tunnel. Three more fired out and precisely pinned them up against the walls. Rico and Tony were pinned to one side and Indigo to the other. Rico tried to kick the rock, but two more spires jabbed into his legs, locking them down.

Tony bit back an anger filled cry as the spire pressed against his wound, as well as his hands to keep him from weaving spells. He turned his anger instead towards their surprise guest. "Always one for the theatrics, you mad clown?"

Aeternus stepped forward under the cover of a light sphere above his head. He took a grandiose bow. "Kehehehehe. Did you expect me to take the dull approach of a surprise ambush without making a dramatic announcement? I didn't get this far just to play it safe. Those days have long since lost their appeal."

Rico snarled and shook in his restraints. "Let us go!"

Aeternus tutted and waggled his finger. "No, no. None of that. I can't have any of you escaping." He grinned evilly at Tony. "Especially you, my little friend."

Tony glared. "You give off some uncomfortable vibes, you know that?"

"As I've been told." Aeternus clenched his fingers crookedly. "It pains me to kill you. I could've turned you into my next apprentice, perhaps even surpassing Zaros."

Tony smirked. "What? Getting bored with him already?"

Aeternus smirked back. "Someone has to take over for me eventually."

"What are you on about?"

"Let's just say when His Majesty enacts his grand plan, I want to be there to see the new world and explore it for myself. Zaros will lead to his own ambitions in my place while you can join me. Spared from the hardships of the shadows in exchange for your eternal servitude."

Tony sighed and shook his head. "See Aeternus, that's your problem. While I'm devilishly handsome and just overall cooler than you, you seem to lack this ability to comprehend rejection. Do I need to write it out or are you just that mentally challenged?"

Aeternus threw his head back and laughed. "That rotten mouth of yours! I love it! You really are the spitting image of me!"

Tony glared. "For the last time, you and I are as different as lightning and thunder. I'm flashy and cool, you're loud and obnoxious to listen to."

Aeternus shook his head. "Kehehe. Come now, I know your struggles better than any of these degenerates."

"Say that one more time, I dare you!" Indigo yelled.

Aeternus pointed at her. "Ooh, I always did admire your spunk…when you weren't cowering from us."

Tony scoffed coldly. "So determined for your perfect protégé, and that's why you tried to kill my mother and sister?"

"Well, of course! After all…" Aeternus' expression turned dark. "Family holds you back, so I had to cut my old man out of the picture to get to where I am."

Tony's eyes widened. "You did what?"

Aeternus threw his head back in laughter. "Kehehehehe! How else can an origin story be complete? To become the mastermind of corruption, you need to start with the most heinous crime imaginable! Kehehehe!"

"You sick bastard," Tony growled. "You killed your own father?"

"What the hell?!" Indigo yelled.

Aeternus sighed and waved it off. "He was holding me back. Don't pretend your family never held you back."

"Don't rope them into your twisted ideals!" Tony yelled furiously.

Aeternus smirked. "And that's why. The one thing in the world that ruins that momentum of yours." He glared sternly. "That sickening loyalty to the blood. A distracting force even I couldn't overcome until I severed the connection." Aeternus raised his arms and laughed. "And once you sever your ties, you will forever feel at peace with your—"

BANG!

Aeternus flew onto his back with a smoking wound in his forehead. Tony and Indigo turned their attention to Rico, who held a smoking flintlock. He pulled back on the hammer, stating, "I have a gun, genius."

Aeternus sat up and rubbed his forehead. The bullet pierced through his aura, but a coating of darkness stopped the bullet from going into his skull. He flicked the dented bullet off and rose, grinning irritably. "Oh, my apologies, I got too excited. However, this is a private conversation."

With a clench of his fist, more spires erected and pressed into Indigo and Rico's throats, legs, arms, and heads. They screamed as the spires gradually put pressure against them, threatening to snap them in two.

"Indigo, Rico!" Tony cried before growling at Aeternus. "Let them go, you mad clown!"

Aeternus tutted. "No, no, they must be punished. How else am I going to get you to—"

"Oh, will you just shut up?!" Tony struggled against his bindings, trying to pull his hands free.

Aeternus crossed his arms and laughed. "By all means, try, but I know a majority of your spells. You can't use most of them to break free like that."

"Want a bet?" Tony snapped his fingers. "Release: Fulmen Scattershot! Fulgur Channeling!"

Aeternus turned his head, then dodged a bolt of lightning flying down the tunnel, striking Tony's palm. The lightning channeled through his body, then released itself in a blast wave, shattering the rock off his body.

Aeternus smirked with utter confusion. "Excuse me?!"

"When I lit up the tunnel for Rico, I left behind a few of those electric orbs for emergencies like this!" Tony landed on his knees, cradling his chest, then fired Lightning Shot into Indigo and Rico's restraints, dropping them safely to the floor. "As if I didn't expect you to eventually show your ugly face."

Aeternus grinned excitedly. "Oh, now this is the fun I was hoping for!"

Indigo sat up, shaking the pain away, and cried, "Tony, no! You're still injured!"

"There's no way you two can keep up with him," Tony reminded. "Just relax." He lit his body up with Quick Step, then held out his scalchops. "I won't let this bastard upstage me."

Aeternus laughed. "That's what I want to hear coming from my future protégé! Come, Tony! Show me why you are worthy of joining me at the top!"

"I'll make sure that progress of yours tumbles like a boulder!" Tony zipped towards Aeternus as the mad clown fired lasers from his fingertips, exchanging glares fueled with uncontrollable ambition.

Holly stayed on the defensive, staving off Voss' endless stream of attacks. The armored Electivire swung with cold precision, each strike with deliberate and brutal force. Holly's fan held up against the attacks, but cuts edged their way into the fan's surface, leaving ugly marks in their place.

She felt the tunnel rumble each time Voss struck. Her body trembled under each heavy blow, quaking down to her knees. Each blow struck with the intent to force her to her knees, yet she remained stalwart against his relentless assault, even as her body demanded respite from the torture.

Voss held off on the attacks for a moment, staring at the weary state of the Lurantis before him. "Pathetic. You've been slacking in your training. I had hope to bring out your full potential by fueling your despair, but it's clear to me you are as weak as I remember."

Holly panted heavily and fell onto one knee. "Is that…what you think?"

Voss pointed his sword at her. "I saw raw potential in Griffin's eyes. I sought to drive that passion to the surface so that I may finally find rest in the world. To have kept you and Mack alive, too, was an unforeseen consequence, yet I demanded nothing but perfection in your performance. Is this the extent of your vengeance?"

Holly propped herself up with her fan, glaring down his sword. "I'm not as physically strong as Griffin, but don't go saying I'm weak. I'm just about finished warming up."

Voss huffed, then raised his sword. "Then excite me with the thrill of battle!" He swung into her head and, for a moment, seemingly cleaved it in half. However, he knew to be a trick as the sword passed through without resistance. "An illusion."

Holly's illusion stood up and propped the fan on its shoulder. "Griffin destroys everything in his path. Mack scars his opponents and drives them into submission. But me? I make all who stand before me feel worthless." The illusion faded into the air.

Voss raised his sword, now standing defensive, and surveyed his surroundings. "You have no tricks that can unease me, Holly. You alone could never surpass my armor."

"That armor protects you in the physical world, but it can't protect your mind." Voss noticed the walls beginning to melt like a fresh painting splashed with water. "My resolve will carry me to victory and surpass your impenetrable defense."

Voss gripped his sword tightly. That's what I wanted. Dear Holly, surpass this armor. Surpass this shell so that I may experience death again. "Fallen Hell Blaze!" Voss spun and released a 360 sword slash through the tunnel, splitting across the walls.

"HA!" Voss faltered over as Holly came down from above, slamming her leg down on his head. With the boost from her limiter, her kick delivered enough force to knock him over.

Voss swung at her before he fell, but sliced an illusion in half instead. He stumbled back and held his sword defensively once more. "The famous limiter of the Grim Ash Clan. I've heard rumors of what happens when one exceeds the first level and breaks its limits. Neither you nor your friends have achieved that power yet. What suppresses your wills from unlocking that hidden potential?"

He detected movement from behind and slashed around himself, but instead got knocked back by a powerful blast of wind. He covered his mask to keep the air from rushing inside his armor. After getting hit with one of Tony's Lightning Shots, he wanted to stay extra cautious against any non-solid attacks. He feared she would try and suffocate him.

"Your skill with that fan has improved!" Voss yelled over the wind. "I remember when you were still trying to learn how to hold it! It was far too big for you as a Fomantis!"

"Adluci Armis!"

Illusionary knives spawned in the wind and flew towards Voss. He fought back against the wind as he cut down the knives. His armor could stop many things, but illusions weren't one. They would no doubt pass through his armor and inflict great mental pain over his body that not even his darkness could stop.

Voss spun his sword and stabbed the ground. "Fallen Memorable Tribute!" A wave of darkness spread across the floor with shadow daggers shooting out.

Holly, invisible under her illusion, folded Last Breath and jumped back from dark wave. She looked up at the daggers as they imbedded themselves in the wall. They sank through and tainted the ceiling in their dark ooze, spreading quickly after her. A chamber of shadows daggers stood before her, flying all out from the floor, ceiling, and walls. Not a single opening to get through.

Holly scoffed. "In that case…" She stopped herself, then sprinted into the approaching hall of flying daggers.

Voss glared. "Hmm?"

Holly leaped through and tensed her body. "Dolorem Rewrite!"

Voss covered his face as blue petals suddenly scattered through the tunnel, washing away his sight. He stepped back and raised his sword. He cut through the petals, but nothing stood beyond them. It was him and the petal-filled void.

"Dolorem Rewrite, the illusionary counter," Voss stated to himself. "She casted an illusion that rewrites the physical world within the space of these petals. How terrifying. Sorrow Anima's true abilities can perform such miracles, and this is nothing more than a standard spell."

Voss sheathed his sword and crossed his arms over his face mask just as the petals disappeared. As he predicted, the daggers that were previously fired all faced in his direction. They bombarded his armor relentlessly, beating him with his own power. It did nothing to dent the armor, but he felt each consecutive blow rattle his body.

"I'm not done yet!" Voss staggered back as Holly catapulted herself forward with Last Breath and dropkicked his chest. Between the daggers pounding into him and her kick, it was enough to knock him back.

Voss threw his hands back and caught himself. He huffed. "Not bad."

Holly sprung over him for a spinning axe kick. "If I can't hurt you, I'll bury you in the dirt!"

Suddenly, one of Voss' tails whipped out under him and wrapped around her neck, halting her attack. She gasped and reached for Last Breath, but his other tail knocked the fan out of her claws. She swung her claws at them, but Voss' armor reacted and coated the tails in a flexible armor, harmlessly knocking her claws off.

"I'm afraid you've overestimated yourself," Voss stated as he picked himself back up. "Try as you might, you cannot breach this armor with your meager abilities. I seek only the strongest who can surpass the damage sustained by this armor so that I may have an honorable death." Voss slammed Holly up against the wall. "You, seething with anger towards your clan's murder, can't even muster the strength to beat me. Give into that despair and show me your true power."

Holly gripped his armored tails and tried to pry them off her neck. "You…don't scare me."

Voss glared. "You speak only in lies." He tightened his hold for a moment, squeezing her neck and choking her, then allowed her to breathe once more. "I know you hate me, but you also fear me. You fear I'll slaughter what little family you have left. You can't stand the sight of me, can you?"

Holly panted for breath, but glared as heatedly as before. "Why? Why did you do it? I thought you were happy in our village! You were a second mentor to us! We looked up to you, and this is the thanks we get for admiring you?! Our village accepted you, yet you killed them without mercy!"

Voss glared. "I don't seek compassion or comradery. I wish only for an honorable death." He paused and closed his eyes for a moment. "No, not just an honorable death. A death from a worthy opponent. One who can surpass me and the Immuto Armor I wear. The last to break this armor was Wendrake. For a long time, I've never seen a crack made into it, yet he pierced it. That is the thrill I seek. The thrill of danger. I want someone to shatter this armor and rip me to shreds so that my legacy can end like a true warrior."

Holly gripped his tails tighter. "And you believe Griffin may be the one to do it?"

"He has the raw power I crave. He is worthy."

Holly hissed. "Perhaps Tony wasn't rambling nonsense after all. Why would you wear something that only prolongs your desired wish? After all, as a Herald of Darkness, wouldn't you be crazy strong like the rest of your allies?" Holly narrowed her eyes. "Ever since he shot into your mask, you've been extra cautious about protecting your face. That's the first time someone hit you without breaking the armor, isn't it?"

Though she couldn't see it, Voss had his teeth clenched. I need to find the Dewott and snap his neck. He's too dangerous to be kept alive. He tightened his tails around Holly's neck again. But first, I need to end this fight now.

Holly gasped and flailed her legs. The tails coiled tightly over her throat, cutting off her airway. Her face slowly turned blue. She clawed helplessly at the tails, but the armor kept them from budging.

Voss leaned forward. "Any last words, Holly? Or, any words at all?" Holly tried to choke up a response, but couldn't muster the words. "I'm sorry, you'll have to speak up."

Holly's eyes shined a bright blue, glaring right into him. She willed her legs to fly up and slammed an empowered kick into the side of his helmet. Voss' eyes widened as the vibrations echoing inside magnified to the nth degree. A loud, endless gong sound bounced within the armor, growing worse and worse by the second.

"AGH!" Voss released Holly and tried to cover his ears, but the helmet stood in his way. My ears!

Holly coughed at the ground, rubbing her sore throat, then glared up at him. "Sen…Sensitiva Cultro: Audiunt."

Voss stumbled around, screaming as the sound deafened him to her response. With nowhere to escape, the sound had no choice but to keep bouncing around and around in his armor, playing an infinite loop in his mind. If I don't remove the helmet, the sound's going to get worse! Reluctantly, he willed the helmet to vanish and covered his ears, blocking any further sound to infect the horrendous drumming in his mind.

Holly leaped over to Last Breath and opened it a third of the way. "Level 1 Wind Style: Typhoon Slash!" She swung the fan and fired a powerful wind slash the encompassed half the tunnel.

Voss, too distracted by the noise in his head, was thrown back by the wind slash. It bounced off his armor, but cut him up the middle of his face. Blood gushed out the wound, a lot more than Holly expected.

Voss knelt down and covered his face as his darkness deployed to heal him. "Shit…this pain," he growled.

Holly trembled a bit, briefly fearing she angered him more. However, through his hands, she saw the huge grin he wore. Annoyed, but also satisfied. It was a rare sight, or rather an unusual one. Such an expression was nonexistent in her memories.

He's enjoying this? Holly shook her head and turned away. Forget it. I need to run and find the others before—

She froze on the spot. Instinctively, she used her aura to search for anyone nearby, forgetting the maze was blocking out her senses. Instead, she detected something else on Voss' person, hidden underneath the armor. She looked over her shoulder, staring at the knelt warrior, and gasped at the familiar auras tucked to his waist.

The Keys of Origin.

Oh no.

"Get out my way!" Griffin roared, bulldozing through hoards of puppets and sending their flaming carcasses through the air. He slammed Endless Regret down and released a tidal wave of his magic into the undead hoard, incinerating them instantly.

Leigh and Zerif cut their way through the puppets trailing after them. Heads and limbs went flying all around them while others tried to fire on them with built in weapons. Zerif threw cutlasses into their weapons, jamming and exploding them, then finished them off with clean decapitations.

"They won't stop coming!" Leigh yelled, driving her battle claws into one's chest and ripping it open. "How many of these damn things did that stupid ice shrew make?!"

Griffin grabbed one's head and bashed it into the wall. "How many graveyards did he raid to make this many?" he asked himself. He scowled. "Regardless if he had a hand in it or not, I won't stand for this disrespect, especially after raiding my clan's graves."

Jones, using the borrowed One For All, jammed energy swords into puppets and pinned them to the walls. "There's no way we can keep up with all them. They just don't stop coming." He saw body parts flying towards him and ducked.

Mack stood by as his Timor Persona ripped into the puppets like a wild animal. He sneered. "And who decided that? I can keep this up all day." One puppet got around the monster and lunged at Mack, but he casually sidestepped and grabbed its head. "Know you place, meat bag!" Mack headbutted and split the puppet's skull in half.

Griffin settled Endless Regret on his back and turned to the other puppets approaching them. He glared at the ceiling as more shockwaves trembled through the maze. "Something's going on up there. There's a battle just above us."

Mack used Eclipse and sliced up several puppets in one swing. "So?"

"It's Voss."

"You can tell?" Jones asked after impaling a puppet.

"I know his strength better than anyone. That's him." His glared deepened. "Who is he fighting, though?"

Mack narrowed his eyes for a moment, then asked, "Hey, didn't he steal the keys from us before everything got turned around?"

Griffin bared his teeth. "Yeah. He has them."

Leigh gasped. "Hold on, you're not suggesting we go after him, right?!"

"Do what you want," Griffin said. He aimed his sword at the ceiling, lighting it in his magic. "Now I have more reason to carry out my revenge."

Mack grinned and cracked his branch knuckles. "Count me in!"

"You two are actually crazy," Zerif growled. He sighed and shook his head. "But you're right. Getting those keys back is top priority."

Leigh bared her teeth angrily, but relented after giving it some thought. "Whatever. If you manage to get them back, give them to us and we'll get as far away from here as possible."

"Sounds like a plan." Griffin took aim at the ceiling. "Now, let's see how far down we are."

Morgan, Ella, Julius, and Jeffery raced through the rumbling tunnels, staggering about as the battles around them grew with increasing intensity. Morgan scowled at the ceiling. "If I knew where everyone was, I could be separating them from the heralds."

"Would you be able to fight them down here?" Ella asked worriedly.

"They have the same limitations as I do, though I do benefit more from an open space." Morgan bared his teeth. "But the longer I'm in close proximity with the Shadow King, the harder it is to keep myself…in check." He covered his face, growling as a pulse of pain emanated from his branding. "I can't stay around you all for much longer."

"You aren't going to turn evil on us, are you?!" Jeffery squawked.

Morgan grunted. "N-No. I just…need to—" He suddenly collapsed onto his knees and hugged his arms. He looked to be shivering. "Agh, this pain…! I can feel his will…crawling inside my skull!"

Ella stopped and ran back to him. "Morgan, keep it together!" She grabbed his shoulders and gently shook him. "Look at me, I'm right here. I won't let you fall back into the abyss. I'll keep you from falling."

Morgan clenched down tightly, grinning through the pain. "Thank you…Ella." He bowed his head and gripped his arm. "Just…give me a minute to catch my breath."

"I don't think we have time to stand around," Julius pointed out as rock chipped off the ceiling.

Ella pressed her paws against her temples and tried to detect her friends through telepathy. "Aeternus' magic shouldn't be able to block me out."

"Well?" Jeffery asked impatiently.

"I think we're getting closer to some of your guys. They're below us. They seem to be fighting off a large group, probably Pokémon. Everything else is too chaotic for me to figure out."

Morgan sighed, then stood back up. "Okay, I'm better now."

Ella looked back at him. "Are you positive?"

"Yes, I'm sure—" But as he took a step forward, his foot sank into the shadows. "Huh?"

"What the—" Ella, Jeffery, and Julius cried.

A black portal opened up in the floor and surrounded Morgan. He sank down to his waist. He caught himself on his string and kept himself suspended over the chilling mist of darkness. He glared, easily recognizing the aura. "Nightmare."

A shadow stretched out from the portal, taking shape as the familiar boss shadow. "Wendrake Vanderhart. How long has it been since we last spoke?"

"Too long," Morgan grunted. He raised his free hand, forming string around it. "You know you can't take me."

Nightmare grinned. "True, but you aren't looking in the best shape." Morgan winced, feeling sweat drip down his forehead. "You're losing control, aren't you? You can't handle being this close in proximity to the Shadow King. You're barely holding yourself together. You can feel those darker emotions begging to come out."

"Sh…Shut up…" Morgan growled. His eyes flashed red for a second.

"Let him go, Nightmare!" Nightmare staggered a bit from a psychic blast to the back. He turned and glared at Ella, wielding her staff. "If you want to bother someone, I'm all yours! We got a little score to settle."

Nightmare brushed off his shoulders, then smirked. "Oh, foolish Espeon, why do you think I'm here?"

Ella's eyes widened. "Huh?"

Nightmare looked back at Morgan, who continued to struggle against his dark emotions. "She's the one keeping you from breaking, right?" Morgan's eyes shrunk in response. "Can't keep yourself together without an emotional anchor to weigh you down. You need some time to…reflect!" Nightmare morphed his arm and slashed apart Morgan's string.

Morgan sank through the portal and tried to reel himself back up, but a sharp pain broke his concentration. He grabbed the edge in one last effort to stay on top, but the suction force of the portal pulled on him in his unstable state.

"Morgan!" Ella cried.

Morgan looked down the portal, fighting both the suction and the ringing in his head. He bared his teeth, feeling his eyes flickering with red, then lifted his head over the edge enough to meet eyes with Ella. "Ella, listen to me!"

Ella stepped back, noticing the murderous aura wrapping around him. "W…What?"

Morgan clenched his eyes, wreathing in pain, then yelled, "Don't…lose your way! A shadow isn't meant to comfort you from the bad times! It's meant…to understand yourself!" He lost his grip and fell through the portal, which immediately closed on him.

"NO!" Ella cried. She lunged forward, but Nightmare swatted her back with his ghost tail.

"I won't deal with any distractions while I'm here," Nightmare stated. He showed his claws to her and the two pirates. "I have an obligation as the Being of Nightmares to carry out His Majesty's will."

Ella stared in disbelief at where Morgan vanished from. She closed her eyes and breathed hard through her nose. Morgan…I'm sorry for not trusting you. Please, don't lose yourself down there, and I promise I won't lose my way.

Nightmare floated forward. "Now, where shall we begin?"

Julius aimed his cannon. "Don't come any closer, ye wee phantom!"

"Take him first!" Jeffery squawked.

However, Ella stood up between them, glaring daggers at the shadow. "No." She spun Daybreak around herself, splitting it into its seven batons. They orbited around her, pointing at Nightmare. "Leave him to me."

Nightmare smirked. "Oh? Not running away?"

"Like I said, we have a score to settle."

Nightmare chuckled a bit. "Fair enough. Since it's personal, why don't I give you a taste of what I can really do?"

"Give it your best shot."

Nightmare laughed before reshaping his generic, phantom-like form. His twig-like arms gained bulk and grew spikes. His face rounded out, taking the shape of an actual head. His tail split off into two legs, gaining bulk and stomping down hard. His back shockingly inflated into a large bubble before refining itself into a dome shape with more spikes popping out from him.

As the trio watched the transformation, a realization dawned on Jeffery. "Wait, that form he's taking…looks familiar."

Ella bared her teeth. "Shadows are supposed to be the grudges of fallen Pokémon."

Julius gripped his pincer cannon tightly. "Damn, this looks bad."

The finer details shaped themselves into Nightmare's transformation, such as fluff on the face and chest and the dome shape coming out as a defined shell. The phantom that once stood before them, black as night with a radiant purple aura, had taken the appearance of mighty Chesnaught.

Nightmare grinned excitedly. "I haven't taken this form since the war. Don't disappoint me, Espeon."

The fighting that traveled through the walls of the elaborate maze fell on deaf ears for Wes and Arid some time ago, both petrified and lost in a daze amongst the presence that graced them. Was it fear that kept them in place? Perhaps, but it'd be wrong to say they weren't anxious either. At some point in the past, it might have been just fear, but now it seemed like an inevitable disaster they both knew would come to pass.

Stuck in the confines of the sealed chamber, surrounded in the murals decorating the history that ignited this conflict, the duo faced down the possessed Scrafty standing before them, whose presence generated far greater power than they could muster. They almost felt small under his gaze, not helped by the blaze of aura surrounding him.

The Shadow King clenched his fists and growled through his teeth. The hatred in his eyes was too real. "The sight of you Ravenfields makes me sick." He generated black flames from his hand. "I will wipe your family out of existence, you and your brother. I won't let some fate chain me down."

Wes gulped nervously, but held strong. "Look, we don't need to fight or anything. Things are crazy enough as it is. As far as I know, you have the keys. Why waste your time with us?"

"Do you even understand the extent of why I despise your family?" the Shadow King asked, raising his flaming hand. "I spared you back in Ironworks only because I couldn't be bothered to rip open space just to drag you from your little pocket dimension. You and your brother are agents of chaos. The entire Ravenfield lineage are chaos incarnate. They are walking disasters that bring discord and mayhem."

"Sounds about right," Arid mumbled.

"Hey!" Wes exclaimed. "Don't agree with him!"

"He's not wrong."

Wes groaned, then resumed glaring at the king. "I don't understand anything about this chaos business, but I'm not the one prancing around Mysto and leveling cities. Don't come to me acting like I'm some irredeemable bastard when you are the one who's remembered in infamy."

The Shadow King scoffed. "My actions are meaningless in face of your morals. I act upon what is rightfully so, the natural order of things. It's all because of your family that magic exploded into Mysto's culture. Such power should've never been granted to the mortals, especially the Idol of Origin. To think that such power is a mere stepping stone from their reach…terrifies me. I won't stand to let anyone stand among the gods."

Before Wes could argue back, a black streak whizzed towards the Shadow King and sliced his cheek. Wes gasped and turned to Arid, who had his gloved finger extended towards said king. Arid narrowed his eyes and stated, "I don't care who you were or what drove you to hate Ravenfield's family. Threaten me and my crew, though? That's grounds for war."

The Shadow King glared and wiped the blood dripping from his cheek. "Very well."

"Arid, are you nuts?!" Wes exclaimed.

Arid scoffed. "Either fight or escape. I don't care which, it's your life." Arid slammed his hand down and deconstructed the ground until he got a sizable pile of sand. "It's you and me, Ravenfield. Don't slow me down."

Wes looked between him and the Shadow King, chattering his teeth for a moment, but ultimate gave into the inevitable showdown. With no place to escape and their enemy's stubborn persistence, what choice did he have?

"Fine." Wes pulled his Star Amulet out and activated its magic. "Follow my lead."

"I don't take orders from you."

The Shadow King sneered. "Let's end this. Spear of Darkness: Dusk Rain!" He summoned multiple shadow spears and flung them at the duo.

Arid raised a sand wall and blocked all the spears while Wes rushed out around the wall. "Mystic Burst!" He rocketed forward with explosive aura and rammed into the possessed Scrafty.

The Shadow King stopped him by the head and casually flung him over his shoulder. Wes smacked off the wall, then gasped as the king flew and rammed his knee into his gut, pushing Wes into said wall. The Shadow King reached for Wes' neck, but a sand tendril grabbed his neck and threw him off.

Arid slammed his fist down. "Desert Assault!"

Sand exploded from the floors, hardening into spears, and struck down on the Shadow King. Using Alex's martial art skills, the king rapidly jabbed into the spears and obliterated them. The sand debris reshaped itself into knives and continued on their course. The Shadow King exuded a powerful pressure and blew the knives away.

Arid swiped his hand across the floor and sent forth a tsunami of sand. The Shadow King leaped over the wave and threw a black fireball down on Arid. The Darmanitan captain engulfed himself in a sand dome as the fireball set the entire floor ablaze. He felt the heat seeping through the dome.

The Shadow King levitated over the flaming dome and summoned a Spear of Darkness. "Weak," he uttered, preparing to strike.

"Magi Effingo!" The Shadow King was suddenly dogpiled by Wes' crystal clones. They grappled their legs around his body and even bit him to do some damage. Wes, clinging to the walls with a Speed Pad, raced around the chamber. "Infernius!" He fired white fireballs at the trapped Scrafty, engulfing him in the flames.

With a burst of magic, the Shadow King threw off the clones and flames, obliterating them into nothingness. He watched Wes speed around the chamber, then summoned the light-eating black sun. "Dying Sun!" He threw the sun at the walls, intercepting Wes' path.

Wes quickly used Warp Pad and sprung away just as the sun exploded. Wes covered his face as flaming stone fragments bombarded him. He caught himself on the ceiling and tried to race off, but the Shadow King extended a shadow arm from his back and blocked Wes off.

"Soul Piercer!" The Shadow King fired the straight black beam from his fingertip.

Wes narrowly avoided the beam, feeling it graze past his chin. He jumped off the ceiling with Warp Pad and ricocheted around the chamber. With the floor on fire, he didn't have much place to run. Bouncing around so much made it harder to strategize, too.

The Shadow King sneered. "Hold still." He fired rapid Soul Piercers at the jumpy Umbreon, filling holes in the chamber.

A pillar of sand rose out of the flame-covered sand dome. Arid jumped out of the dome and wrapped his gauntlet in black sand. "Burial of Anubis!"

The Shadow King felt the black sand wrap and harden around his body, holding him in place. Arid clenched his fist and started crushing the king with the sand. The creaking of joints and cracking of bones rang within the sandy coffin.

"Ravenfield!" Arid yelled, feeling the fatigue going up his arm. "Fire!"

Wes sprang off the walls and wrapped himself in Mystic Burst. "Lumios Storm!" Light arrows fired from his spinning body and bombarded the trapped Scrafty. Spots of light exploded with every impact, boosted by the Mystic Burst. "Infernius!" He added the purple fireball to the mix, erupting the Shadow King's trapped form in massive flames.

Arid roared and swung his arm down, smashing the Shadow King into the flaming floor. He crushed up more sand from the ground and buried the Shadow King underneath it. He piled more and more over the black sand and hardened it as far as he could.

"TerraSlash!" Wes sprang over the lump of sand and traced a circle in the air. Shards of rock burst from inside the lump, carrying with them the flames of Infernius.

"Die!" Arid clutched his fist and crushed the contents of the mound. The chamber vibrated from the intense pressure of the sand. However, a smoke permeated from the mound, followed by streams of shadow. Arid's eyes widened. "Crap, he's still—"

The mound of sand exploded with a violent burst of pressure, knocking Arid and Wes across the chamber and into the walls. The Shadow King rose from the ground with only a few scratches, which were soon patched up by his darkness. He brushed the sand from his shoulders and glared at the two.

"Are you done warming up?" he asked.

Arid stood up, growled, then fired off more black sand, turning it into black flames. "Die!"

The Shadow King backhanded the flames, then retaliated with a much bigger fireball. Arid casted a sand shield, but the flames broke through and slammed him back against the wall. The flames erupted around his body, sending torrents of pain through him. Arid's screams were drowned out in the flames.

The Shadow King lit up his fingertip with Soul Piercer, but turned his aim on Wes when the Umbreon lunged at him. Wes used Warp Pad to hop over the beam, then swung his hindleg down on the king's head. The Shadow King barely reacted and drove his elbow into Wes' ribs.

"Agh!" Wes cried. He tumbled onto his back and clutched his sides.

"Soul Piercer." The Shadow King fired and shot through Wes' shoulder blade.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Wes screamed. He rolled and flailed on his back, gripping his smoking shoulder.

"This next one goes through your heart." The Shadow King charged up another blast.

"S-Stop…" Wes growled, biting back on the pain as he tried to stand.

"With you and your brother out of the picture, I can carry on my grand goal in peace."

"Stop…"

"Now you die!"

"I said STOP!" Wes roared as ice suddenly erupted from under his paws.

The Shadow King was caught off guard as a wave of cold hit the entire chamber in an instant, flash freezing everything in place. Even his Soul Piercer, on a direct course for Wes' chest, had frozen in place from the Shadow King's finger. He could feel the energy simply dying out in the cold.

Even Arid wasn't spared from the ice. Though it cooled his burns, he couldn't move any of his joints. Even his fiery eyebrows lost their vigor. He couldn't feel the heat coming off them anymore. What…is this?

Wes stood still at the epicenter of the ice, surrounded in a field of jagged, ice pillars. Blades of ice jutted from his fur, as if each individual tip formed a mini icicle. He held a long breath, feeling a mass of heat swelling in his chest. Steam leaked through his clenched teeth.

What…how did I…? Wes, seemingly the only one who could move properly, looked at the frozen chamber in awe. Where did this come from?

The Shadow King, meanwhile, was horrified. This spell! I read about it from the book! Vashti Ravenfield's signature spell! His glare turned furious. They're tapping into their bloodline's Ancestral Magic! Shit!

The Shadow King deployed a large veil of darkness that ate away at the ice covering him. Once his arm was freed, he summoned a Dying Sun and chucked it through the field of ice.

Wes gasped, releasing a greater deal of steam from his mouth, and dodged the flaming sun. Is this that Ancestral Magic Morgan was talking about? He shook his head. Whatever, I have an opening now!

"Mystic Beam!" Combined with Mystic Burst, he fired a fully-charged blast straight at the trapped Shadow King.

The Shadow King broke his legs free and sidestepped the beam by a hair. "You used Vashti Ravenfield's spell in a haste. You have yet to master its full capabilities!"

"True, but I don't need it to defeat you!"

The Shadow King suddenly felt a mass of magic coming from his left. His eyes widened as the Mystic Beam bulldozed back into him and smashed him against the chamber walls, digging into the shards of ice covering it. He curved the beam?

"Mystic Beam!" Wes fired another one, much stronger than the last.

The Shadow King kicked off the wall and seemingly dodged the beam. He glared as a Warp Pad appeared on the wall and ricocheted the beam back toward him. What a creative way to direct the beam. The Shadow King darted around the chamber as the bouncing beam chased him down. But how long can you keep it up before you exhaust yourself?

Wes sweated as he continuously fired the beam, all while simultaneously tracking the Shadow King's movements. It was taxing and taking a toll on the last of his magic. I used way too much…magic when I used that ice spell.

The Mystic Beam's pressure tore through the chamber with the beam itself having nearly the entire chamber covered. The Shadow King could see the strain Wes was putting on to keep the beam going. His Mystic Burst flickered helplessly to stay alive while his Mystic Beam sparked at the point of fire, fizzling with prolonged use.

The Shadow King scoffed. "Inferior mongrel. Let me show you the difference in our power." The Shadow King ceased his flight and turned toward the approaching beam. "Show me your true power, Ravenfield!"

The Shadow King slammed his hands into the beam, feeling the backlash of power shooting through him. The beam drove him into the floor and dug a deep hole as it kept the pressure going. The room trembled from the impact as the pressure expanded throughout. It beat down on the continuously long beam, disrupting the magic flow.

Wes nearly coughed up blood and lost his concentration as the pressure slammed down on his back. The floor cracked underneath him and sunk his paws down. He stayed determined and put everything he could into the Mystic Beam, digging deep into the cold restraints of his untapped magic.

Come on, bring it all to the surface! Every last drop! Wes screamed in his mind.

The beam kept pushing down on the Shadow King, who continue resisting its power. The sleeves of his clothes burned off down to his shoulders. The tremendous heat the beam gave off could be felt from his hands all the ways down to his back.

He really is giving it everything he's got, the Shadow King surmised. Had it not been for the modifications made to Ghostwind's body, my arms would've collapsed by now. Tch, even so, you're pushing your limits, Ravenfield. The Mystic Beam is steadily losing power as time passes. You're running on empty fumes now.

The Shadow King grinned wickedly. "But I am far from my true limit, boy! Witness true power at its finest! Collapsing Void Star!"

A dark mass of energy built up in front of his face, crackling with sinister purple sparks. The Shadow King's eyes blazed with a dark purple magic. His darkness seeped from his body and fueled the swirling mass, sucking the light out between him and the Mystic Beam.

"Take this!" he roared, firing a wide beam back into the Mystic Beam.

Wes' eyes widened as he felt something pushing back on his spell. No, not pushing back, but steamrolling right through it! Wes barely had time to turn as a massive cone of dark energy exploded from the ground and utterly annihilated his attack. The Mystic Beam and the many Warp Pads faded in a flash while Wes flew back from the intense pressure, crushing him against the walls.

The beam drove into the ceiling and carved its way up the maze.

Cheshire laughed while ruthlessly stabbing a downed Anguis grunt, spraying blood on the floor. "I haven't had this much fun in ages!"

Malcolm dropkicked another grunt, then glared at the murderous Banette. "Get your fill then, you weirdo—" Malcolm stumbled into the wall as another tremor filled the tunnel.

Drake slashed a grunt down and said, "This one feels more intense than the other tremors."

Pain Train looked at the ground. His eyes widened in horror a huge, glowing bubble swelled up from the ground. He sensed the raw power coming off it. "Oh crap! Everyone, run!"

Before anyone could say anything, Pain Train grabbed them in magic chains and threw them far down the tunnel. He barely got away as a huge blast of dark magic exploded out of the floor and engulfed the other half of the tunnel. The pirates flew back from the pressure, barely catching sight of the unfortunate Anguis grunts caught inside disintegrating helplessly.

"What in the name of Arceus is that?!" Tyrone screamed.

"The Shadow King!" Ray yelled.

Absolute chaos erupted from the Shadow King for almost a minute until the beam quieted. Smoke came off his hands, which trembled from the recoil. The Shadow King panted quietly, staring up at the huge hole and the dozens of floors now in view above him. Light debris rained on his face.

He wiped his lip and sat up. "Tch. Had I more time to charge, I could've obliterated that stupid tree, too."

He levitated out of the hole and surveyed the damage in the chamber. The blast wave wrecked the floor, leaving no solid ground to stand on. The historic murals were either cracked or destroyed in the process. A cloud of dust floated about in the chamber like a dense fog.

The Shadow King glanced down and spotted Arid, unconscious under a pile of rock and dripping wet from the melted ice. The Shadow King then looked over his shoulder, spotting Wes' limp body.

The Umbreon pushed himself up against a wall, panting raggedly with wide eyes. He stared back the Shadow King, trembling from the display of power. He couldn't even keep his Star Amulet running with how shaken he was.

The Shadow King floated down and approached Wes. Wes tried to move, but slipped on some rubble and collapsed on his side. He steadily loss conscious, feeling the world fade away from him. He looked up from the Shadow King's feet, briefly meeting his vengeful glare.

"Now Ravenfield, it is time to end our history together."

That was the last thing Wes heard before the world went black.