Deep within the shadow veil Cyrus had now come face to face with something he didn't understand. It stood there looking at Cyrus like he was a meal ready to be eaten. He could see parts of the shadow being sticking out of the armor like veins and tendrils. It was not something Cyrus should take lightly as it took out Yuri and Samantha.
Cyrus raised his sword ready to fight the creature. For in his mind he had to stay focused and ready for anything it could throw at him. But it just stood there without moving. Cyrus was still trying to understand what it wanted. That is when it spoke again in that low voice.
"You are not that chatty as most humans are you?" It looked at the helmet in its hands, "No matter, all I want you to do is listen." It looked back up at Cyrus with a sinister sneer, its eyes focused on him. Placing a hand over its chest it did a slight bow, "I am Serixx, an awakened shadow that has come to deliver a message to you humans." He looked past Cyrus at something he couldn't see past the veil.
"I had to sever that connection with that woman so I could finally be myself." Serixx placed a hand on its chest and rubbed the armor. "Though I can still feel her alive, that must have been your doing." He seemed agitated but not angry, "Either way, Inheritor, are you willing to hear my message?" Cyrus stood there in silence but he could feel Vexxitiz wanting to come out.
Serixx started to walk around the perimeter of the ring, making Cyrus do the same to stay in pace. "Your kind has been used by the various beings of Chaos and Order over the years. We, the Shadows, have decided to step in and eliminate each of these beings by either having them join us. Or die and become forgotten in the sea of infinite nothingness." Serixx raised a hand and closed it into a fist, "These beings have kept us suppressed and locked away for so long that they haven't even seen us slip away through the cracks. Slowly corrupting each world in secret and spreading across the realms, though none of us have ever reached Earth yet. We will one day come for your world once we deal with the realms that plagued us in the eons of our past."
That is when Vexxitiz spoke in Cyrus' mind, 'Little does he know, but there is a shadow that will go to human world. However, I can't spread so no point in continuing that mission.' He sounded disappointed in the fact he had failed as a shadow, 'However, I will at least be able to claim that I will be the first to see Earth. Just don't trust him whatever you do. He will devour us both if we let him in.'
Vexxitiz seemed on high alert but was remaining quiet so as to not alert Serixx of his presence. If he found out, Vexxitiz would be told to corrupt the Earth and spread the Shadow's corruption. However, Vexxitiz seemed to want to avoid that. Cyrus guessed it was because he became a summon of his rather than being corrupted by a shadow, Vexxitiz was born from within.
Cyrus looked at Serixx, "What exactly do you plan to do right now?" His sword was still risen ready to fight. They were circling one another waiting for the first to strike. Serixx just chuckled, having to hold it back some.
"Oh ho ho, I intend to see to the overlord of Chaos in this world perish and join us. We have almost claimed him but he seems to have been putting up a good fight." As he stopped in front of the sword he stuck into the ground. He drew it and flicked it to the side causing shadows to coil around the blade like writhing snakes.
[A duel has been initiated, defeat Serixx or suffer a punishment.]
[Rewards determined after you win!]
"For now, I think I shall take care of you and put you in your place. You seem much weaker than those humans so this should be easy." He raised the sword and shield and squatted a little. Cyrus didn't have a shield and couldn't rely on Vexxitiz for his assistance. So he had to use everyone else at his disposal. He summoned Er'Delrune and Grimm, for they worked well in tandem with now that Grimm had the Shield spell.
Duel-wielding the swords he dashed forward while Grimm cast Light Spears to erupt from the ground. Serixx used his shield to redirect the Spears and avoid damage. While Cyrus ran up and swung both swords. The phantom blades and the longer sword of Er'Delrune were going to reach Serixx. But just before any contact was made he moved his sword and parried Cyrus' attacks. Cyrus was off balance and decided to roll away as a sword came down in the space he last occupied.
This gave Cyrus some space and agitation as he had to now deal with Samantha's Knight summon's abilities. The summon was well versed in combat with any weapon it had been summoned with. She could only summon one type of weapon at a time and it took to much energy to switch its weapons as it required her to summon the knight again. The problem with the sword and shield knight was that it had good offensive and defense capabilities. Just limited range was its only weakness. The shield is really strong and able to block most magical attacks. What Cyrus was mainly worried about was the shadow Serixx inside the knight.
With a creature like a shadow it was able to enhance its physical resistances and elemental, however it itself was weak. But given a body like the Knight's made it incredibly strong and durable. The perfect host body that it could ask for. Though the knight itself couldn't cast magic. Meaning it could take a hit of a fire bolt without having to worry too much. But something that affects it like lightning would make it harder to resist.
Cyrus retreated from Serixx sending out a Blade Beam from Er'Delrune. The energy collided with Serixx's shield as it pushed him back some. Recovering from his dodge Cyrus used Devouring Chain to pull him forward as a propellant to then slam into his opponent's shield. Serixx was blocking his attacks with ease. Even with his abilities enhanced it didn't matter how strong he was. Cyrus was unable to break that defense. That's when the sword had come up from below his vision.
[32/42 HP]
Cyrus took some damage as his resistances took the brunt of the damage. He was lucky to have had it but that still didn't mean he could take a hit. Recovering from the blow he decided to use his Enhance (Focus) on his DEX for more speed. If he couldn't beat him in strength he was sure to beat him in speed. Returning his focus to Serixx who was still turtling behind his shield as it seemed to be several eyes poking out of the Knight's armor.
Cyrus needed a clean shot to Serixx and he needed to to happen again and again. But he didn't have anything in his skills to pull it off.
Rushing forward as after images of Cyrus trailed him. Moving fast enough that his body felt light as a feather while still retaining power. As he was about to move in front of Serixx, he decided to slash with his sword. For a moment his reactions already took charge as he dodged it to the right, spinning around the blow and realizing he was on Serixx's shield side. He silently swore and spun his blades along with the turn. As his blades were about strike the shield could see it rise up.
Twisting his body one more time as he circled Serixx to his back using that momentum to strike his back. The effect of the Chained Blade cause two extra strikes to collide with Serixx.
"Bleeding Edge!" Cyrus cried out as the system told him it was ineffective.
[Serixx too heavily armored, Bleeding Edge failed]
This caused Cyrus to get angry as he kept circling and circling around Serixx. Dodging strikes as he kept hitting Cyrus' afterimages. The one other weakness the Knight had was speed. It wasn't incredibly fast, just not fast enough to keep up with someone with higher Dexterity or speed than him.
Cyrus then gave the command to Grimm who had been charging up a spell. Cyrus had instructed Grimm to secretly charge a spell until the last moment possible or when he called out his command. As Cyrus yelled out for Grimm to attack, 16 Light Spears manifested around Serixx. As Cyrus backed away, sending a Blade Beam to distract Serixx again. The sound of the buzzing Light Spears rushed to hit Serixx from all sides.
Even if he could block some of them, or even throw up a shadow shield in several different directions. The Spears were just too strong to block with a weak shield. Even the holy damage from the Spears was enough to take out weak shadows. But Serixx was able to cut down and block a majority of them. However, he still got punctured, but nothing vital was damaged. He just felt weaker when struck by the 3 Spears he took from the 16.
Cyrus was very concerned that Serixx was fast enough to take out so many. It made him feel that even his speed was not enough to get passed him. 'But why wasn't he able to keep track of my movements if he was so fast to begin with?' Cyrus thought, trying to piece together the actions Serixx preformed. He didn't understand what he needed to do to defeat him. He doubted his Shackles of Pain would even slow him down. For he would just break out or not be affected by them.
It made him nervous as he took a step back, his after images still reacting to his movements. Serixx looked down at his body and then to the Spears. His hand was shaky and slow like being hit by the Light Spears actually did something. However, Cyrus could not really tell if it was a good moment to attack or defend. That is when Serixx looked at Cyrus and chuckled.
"Heh heh, looks like I will have to retreat for this body is not fully under my control. Though I doubt I'll need it anymore," the armor seemed to shake and twitch as the essence of shadow began to leave the body. The armor crumbling to the ground. There stood next to the pile of armor was a humanoid figure completely covered in shadows. It flexed its hand and shoulder still looking shaky and sluggish. It was Serixx's pure shadow form, though he also looked like a human.
"You might have just been lucky to live today," he said pointing a finger. "Next time you won't be lucky to even scratch me." Then the shadows swirled around him and the veil that blocked out Cyrus and the others. It absorbed into Serixx and then he vanished as the Spears fizzled out of existence. That is when he noticed a notification popped up.
[You have won the duel!]
[Your get 2 free stat points, instant level up, 15,000 rune coins, White Knight's corrupted essence, and freed Samantha's Summon.]
[White Knight's Corrupted Essence]
[If purified, can become a summon from the Order. A holy protector and guard will follow your commands without question.]
When he looked up from his notifications he saw something bizarre confusing. There stood in armored pants, bare chest, and wielding a massive axe. Was a young slender man, long flowing hair, glowing blue eyes, standing only at 5 foot 11 inches, and a well toned body. That is when he heard the voice of the man in front of him.
"Glad to see you alive Cyrus," the man's grin now began to make sense. It was Godfrey Wilhelm...