Old Man Pond tried his best to wreck Yggdrasil's defense but to no avail. With Gillian's added spells, this fight was weighing on his side.
"How long is this going take?" asked Baldwin, looking at the one-sided battle.
The entire scene was quite pitiful as Yggdrasil continued to stand strong. Though Gillian could use some of his spells, it seemed that Old Man Pond could not use any of his Poison moves.
"Don't know. Still waiting for Yggdrasil to snap and end him at once," replied Z, yawning.
"But why Azazel?" asked Mavislin, confused at the sight.
"Not sure, perhaps it's one of the spells that counts as Poison," explained Raiyen.
"The Aura, it's not giving me the vibe of a Basilisk. It's giving me something else," said Mavislin, still deep in thought.
"Something else? What do you mean?"
"Well, an Aura determines the being. If it's a Valkyrie's Aura, it would be one of pure light. Even a fallen Valkyrie would still have that light. Your Aura is pretty unique, with three types altogether but I can tell that your Aura fits you.."
Mavislin shook her head. Her hands were pressed up to the windows, with Raiyen resting his chin on the crook of her neck. Her eyes felt heavy as if she was trying to comprehend what Poisoned Pond was trying to do.
"That's correct, but Poisoned Pond is emitting a Poison Aura, right?" asked Raiyen, looking at the man again.
"It doesn't make sense for an Aki to open the Gates in such a manner. unless..."
The Valkyrie's eyes widened as she came to a very disturbing thought.
"The Umbras... They have the power to copy what others have... right?" asked Mavislin, slowly.
"So? What about it?"
"How did you find this version of Old Man Pond?"
"He jumped me from the Time Frame that I was in. He said it was the only time that he can finally meet his brother again."
"There is no way an Aki can travel through Tike. That's why Gillian sent you on that mission. If he could, he would just ask you for Time Ripper."
"Wait, this means that the Old Man Pond isn't an Aki?"
"At least, this one ain't. The Umbras isn't Baldwin's cousins, neither are they a race of beings from another planet. They are Benjamin's creations. An upgraded version of the Husks."
"Pardon?!"
"Benjamin told me that, himself. Even Baldwin did agree since his race can only use the Necrotic Element. Even Gillian was shocked. All this time, our assumptions could not be further from the truth."
"Wait, wait! So, what you're telling me..."
"The Old Man Pond that Gillian is fighting isn't him. It's Benjamin, himself."
Old Man Pond smiled as he heard the Valkyrie mutter those words. The two children turned their heads towards Old Man Pond's standing figure.
"Looks like I've been ratted out. Time for another quick knock," mumbled Old Man Pond as he reverted back to the first form.
"Finally, he's stopped," sighed the three adults.
Yggdrasil left Gillian and the Aki reverted to his human form.
"I guess that's enough for now. Too much of Door Opening can affect the Old Chapel," said Gillian walking back to the house.
Both Yggdrasil and Gillian failed to react to the next move. They both had thought the battle was over.
"Door Of The Undead King..."
Suddenly, the place was blanketed with a dark purple fog. A vortex of black Elemental Aura exploded around Old Man Pond. Baldwin was alarmed as he recognized that fog.
"What the hell?!" shouted the Angry Man as he dashed into the fog.
"Hold on! The fire is... What?" asked Z, trying to chase after him.
Not only the fog emitted a potent feeling of dread and death, but it also ended up dispersing the fire that Yggdrasil made. The Aura felt dangerously similar to another enemy, worse than Old Man Pond by ten-fold.
"The Corrupted One has returned?!" yelled Ysabeau as she tried to fly down.
"Don't! Your wings will wilt!" shouted Gillian.
Ysabeau stopped midair. The fog finally cleared, allowing all to see who was Gillian's opponent for the past day. A figure of Benjamin stood strong, surrounded by black streams of Elemental Energy. But it wasn't what the rest was used to.
He had a skeletal mask on the left side of his face. In his arms held a giant scythe, with his limbs fluctuating between skeletal and flesh. He was adorned with a tattered, purple cloak. He had no eyes, just two black abysses.
"That's not Benjamin either..." said Mavislin.
By this time, Raiyen had already glitched downstairs to join the adults. The being that stood on the scene gave a glance towards Mavislin. A few black orbs appeared around the being, with all of the orbs having a small tail of Aura.