Chapter 30: The True Deity!
"Enough! Stop this madness! Now!"

The fighters actually stopped in surprise when a figure appeared in the entrance to the grotto. A lone shadow floated calmly out of the darkness into the light of the battlefield.

"Darkrai!"

The shadow, unarmed and with the most normal face, eyed the armor that was now speaking to him with distrust, glancing at the weapon and the other Pokemon to show who was under the mask.

"Epsilon! So this is what you have done since we last met! And this is what you have done, 'author'!"
"Save your sarcastic tone! I am the new author and the ruler of this world! Have you come to join this bunch too? Do you want to feel true pain too?"
"I am neither joining them nor do I not know the feeling of true pain! I am fighting alone! And today, you willbe the enemy"
"You are definitely not fighting alone! This guy is our…"
"QUIET! Aurora, I said I'm fighting alone! You've completed your task and bought enough time for me to get there! I'm ending this!"
"You… really want to face me alone? You poor old fool! You're just a Pokemon! And I'm a god! You don't know who you're facing here!"
"No. It is you who does not know, Epoliktzus!"

As always, out of nowhere, two long swords appeared in Darkrai's hands, which were exactly like those of Epoliktzus.

"So come on, demon! Fight for your life! If you dare!"

Epsilon had already experienced first-hand how much power Darkrai actually seemed to have in this place. Or at least that he had a lot, the full extent of which remained a mystery. But even the strongest warrior was just a warrior at the end of the day! And yet the dark fighter refused any kind of help. And at least for now, it would be best for everyone to follow his orders. But Epsilon had already decided that if the moment came where it was necessary, she would intervene again, whether or not Darkrai objected! But first she would just watch what was happening.

Epoliktzus looked at the enemy and his two blades in complete amazement. Amusement spread across his face again.

"I see. If you don't overestimate yourself here! But then I should be happy to finally see for myself what the "strongest of all warriors" can do!"

Darkrai's answer followed with the first move of a fight. It was the same beginning that he had used against Epsilon, in which he floated up into the air and held a sword to the sky so that it and he were permeated with red light. And the continuation was also identical, when Darkrai fell from the sky and rammed his blade into the ground, after which a shock wave filled the entire room. Darkrai's face was filled with red energy, ready for any fight! Epoliktzus didn't seem to be bothered by this, however. Only the time it took until a battle finally began increased, which is why two laser beams now shot out at the same moment as a sword strike happend, all performed by Epoliktzus. However... each of these attacks seemed to simply faze through the target.

The confusion prevailed for a moment, which was a moment that Darkrai used to shoot a fountain of red light from the ground through his enemy, who seemed anything but unharmed by the attack. But in anger he was immediately ready to fight on. More sword blows followed, but again each one seemed to simply faze through the enemy. However, Epoliktzus would not prove to be defenseless. Because when the hail of attacks ended, it was Darkrai's time to attack again, but this time the demon was ready, dodged, swung his sword... and actually seemed to wound Darkrai. So that's how it was! The shadow warrior was only vulnerable as long as he himself was attacking. Knowledge that Epoliktzus held now, just like Epsilon.

However, Darkrai was also aware of this and immediately distanced himself and created red energy balls that circled around him. At first Epsilon expected that these would immediately fire off and form the next attack, but Darkrai thought further. Instead, lightning shot from the sky, which not only surprised the spectators but also the target and thus hit. Darkrai wanted to follow up with a sword strike again, but Epoliktzus was ready, dodged and... could not counter, as the energy balls around Darkrai blocked his counterattack. Likewise, the shadow himself was able to respond to the failed counter with a wide sword strike with both of his blades. After a brief moment of nothing happening, the two remaining angel eyes closed and with none remaining, the wings disintegrated and nothing remained but feathers on the ground.

"What the hell are you?!"
 "I could ask you the same thing! A beast that calls itself Epoliktzus? Do you really think you deserve to hold this title? Did you ever deserve it at all?"
"Of course I do! I did everything to burn down the world's mistakes, wiped out thousands of Pokemon, but then the author betrayed me!"
"The first wish, the purpose of life of an Epoliktzus should be to fix the world's mistakes! And instead you let yourself be overcome by hatred, you yourself became the biggest mistake of all! You took the place of an author, ignoring and breaking the laws of the world in every way! Every story has an Epoliktzus! And you invaded this story, created a second Epoliktzus and stole power while there is an author who still wants to write this world! Ultimately, it is our job to follow his will!"
"Ours? My job is to fix the mistakes of this world! Just because you follow that bastard blindly does not mean I have to obey someone who lies to me and cheats me!"

"You speak as if it is not ultimately the author who determines what a mistake is. He created and wrote the world. The world obeys him!" "What do you know? The world stands for itself! It feels pain and torment caused by all the sins! But a Pokemon could never understand this!"
"But one of our own should know better, better than you do!"

"One of our own? Who is do you think this "we" is? You and I, we have nothing in common!"
"I'm sorry, it was my fault. I actually thought that a mistake would understand! I treated you like an Epoliktzus, but at the end of the day, there are not actually two Epoliktzus in this world. There is only me! Lonely in my responsibility, as always!"

"You... want to be an Epoliktzus? You think you are one of the true ones?"
 "I am Epoliktzus! Since the day I was born! Only that I learned to understand what mistakes really are and what they aren't! I learned to become a guardian and protector of the world! And today it is you that I protect it from!"
"And why? As an Epoliktzus, you should understand my pain! Imprisoned, sealed away for centuries with the promise that one day, if I finally gain freedom, I would finally be able to fix all the mistakes that have plagued me for so long! And all this so that this very freedom is still taken away from me?"

"What do you expect from me? Pity? I was once just a lonely Epoliktzus, sealed inside a normal Darkrai! But do you know what the difference was? After the first few weeks, in which this shell was a prison for Epoliktzus and a curse for Darkrai, we learned to understand each other's suffering, to see each other as like-minded instead of being enemies! And so, even with compromises on both sides, we were eventually able to become one and the same instead of two souls in one body! Long gone are the days when I heard two voices within my mind, Darkrai and Epoliktzus! Darkrai taught Epoliktzus the beauty of the risk of imperfection, the art of impurity. In return, Epoliktzus taught Darkrai the suffering of the world and its core, the importance of cleansing. So that together we could ultimately become a guardian who protects this world from everything that is truly a mistake, that truly creates torment at its core! Together we became something you never learned to be! A cleanser of mistakes! An Epoliktzus as it should be! An Epoliktzus with a conscience! No, simply an Epoliktzus! You, on the other hand, are nothing but hatred that wants to surpress all good for a distorted sense of justice!"

Enraged, the monster swung back to its feet, both swords drawn to attack.

"And even if that were the case! Why do I have to listen to lectures from a moralizer? I don't care how you talk! If you call yourself an Epoliktzus, then you're right, then I don't want to be one myself! Call me whatever you want! It doesn't matter! This world is mine and it will experience what true purity means! And no one can stop me from doing that!"

Darkrai had never shown fear, but usually he remained rather stoic. Here, however, he seemed to be almost amused.

"Well then. Let's just end this here!"

More energy balls appeared from the void and circled around Darkrai, who now seemed truly superior in the face of a god made of blood.

"And yet I thought you knew the code. In battle, in war, even there, enemies respect each other. But you show no respect. And by doing so, you sealed your fate! Because you have proven that you do not deserve any mercy!"

Bright light flashed once more, again and again. Rings of light, in every color a mind could imagine, seemed to circle around Darkrai and gradually become part of him. In the brightest light, only an outline of the shadow itself could be seen, but this was surrounded by the colors of the rainbow. And after a few seconds, something seemed to grow on the guardian's back. And when the light faded, what it was became clear.

Light still glowed around Darkrai, shining from the the gray, single angel wing that now hung on his back. The sword he held in his right hand, on the same side with the new wing, had also changed color to the same gray. Unlike the angel form of the other Epoliktzus, this wing was not adorned with an eye shape but was exactly how one would imagine an angel wing to be.

"It is time I send you where you belong! It is time for me to fix yet another mistake! So, once again... fight me! Fight me, if you dare!"

The fight broke out again, with the energy balls around Darkrai still in place. But to what extent was it still a fight? At this point, Epoliktzus could only fight with blood and sword, one of his weapons, or rather eight of them. Four wings and four eyes, had been destroyed. Darkrai, on the other hand, did not use his wing like another sword, unlike Epoliktzus had done with his, but it was still a means of dueling. Because what this wing was more than anything else was a shield. Blood attacks rolled off as if they were mere drops of water, blade blows met resistance stronger than diamond. On the other hand, however, long swords met long swords, but Darkrai's blows almost seemed enough to shatter the blades in his enemy's hands. Now that there seemed to be no need defensively, the energy projectiles also shot out to actually become attacks that Epoliktzus had to watch out for.

The new author, the traitor of his own kind, did not seem ready to give up. He fought with everything he had left, with anger and blood, but it just didn't seem to be enough anymore. After he had already fought a great battle against the Pokemon that Epsilon had gathered, together with the Plot Empress in her truest form, an encounter with another Epoliktzus was inevitable. His angel form was already damaged, his counterpart was more than just a demon, but one of his own kind, but fighting with morality, will and determination. All emotions that a being that was nothing more than mere hatred could not feel.

And so it was only a matter of time before a stab from the most powerful blade not only hit metal, but pierced the nonexistent heart of the blood god.

"It's over!"

"It... is not! This world! This world... may be yours! But someday... there are so many timelines, so many parallel worlds... I see all of them... feel them all. It is inevitable. One day... somewhere... someday... I will finally win! We will meet again... me and the rest of you. One day... I will be able to change everything that was and is! It is never over! Not until I win!"

With those last words... the monster melted away into a puddle of blood.