The Commander looked down at Greg, who was in one piece but unconscious. He would leave no pieces of this lizardman.
He opened his mouth and a fire was roaring inside, breathing out he released a ball of hellfire directly at Greg.
This ball was 10ft in diameter and headed straight towards Greg. The energy released was enough to wake Greg who saw most of his vision blacked out by the hellfire heading towards him.
'There's no time.'
'There's barely energy in my core after blocking that attack and releasing those soldiers.'
'I can't feel my connection to Quill and Claw.' Greg's thoughts were rampant and this thought made a tear flow from his eye. He hadn't known them from a long time but his time spent and connection to them made his heart ache and his mind rage.
"I will not die to the likes of you!" Greg yelled out with fury.
He burned through the last of his mana and created a thick wall of black stone. The ball of hellfire hit the wall and exploded.
The fire rushed in all direction blowing up the rest of the already destroyed dome wall, as well as destroying the black stone wall Greg had created throwing him back into the self made mountain.
The area around the dome was barren so only the flaming crater left in the ground. The wall however managed to protect Greg just enough to keep him alive.
The Commander, Lord Belgrim landed on the other side of the crater. He looked at the lizard man who was on the edge of consciousness.
Surprise and anger could be see on his face as he didn't expect that attack to not finish it off. He drove his hand into the ground and pulled out a crude sword the size of himself. Then he ran a flaming hand across both edges of the sword sharpening it as his hand moved along the blade.
"Honestly, I'm impressed by your survival so far, but your tenacity ends here. DIE NOW!" Lord Belgrim said as hellfire rushed out from his hand into the sword causing glowing red cracks to form in the center of the blade. He thrust it forward with blazing speed.
------
Inside of Greg's mind a fierce voice was yelling. "I WILL NOT DIE DO TO YOUR INCOMPETENCE. YOU MUST STOP HOLDING BACK THE DARKNESS AND INSTEAD EMBRACE IT!" Gareth said with an enraged and annoyed roar.
"I made a promise not to become like you! So I will not use your methods!" Greg said with unwavering determination. "Even if that means I die here."
"ARGH, THEN DON'T LET THE DARKNESS CONSUME YOU! If you can use the darkness without it taking your will, then you have already taken the first step to becoming more powerful than me. BUT EVEN IF YOU DO YOU WILL ONLY END UP A VILLAIN, I WAS A MONSTER BECAUSE OF MYSELF! DARKNESS HAS NO MOTIVE EXCEPT TO SPREAD AND DEVOUR!"
------
The sword was a foot away from Greg and already starting to burn his body.
Suddenly two hands grabbed the tip of the blade and stopped it from going any further. These hands belonged to grab who still has his eyes closed. The scales and flesh on his hand were burning more and more every second he held the sword however he did not cry out or drop them.
Lord Belgrim was once again surprised by this lowly creature that has the determination to resist it's death till the very end.
'Maybe things would have been different if a warrior like this didn't grow so arrogant before he was strong enough to defend it.' He pushed more hellfire energy and strength into his thrust intending to end this creature's misery.
As the gigantic sword slowly drew closer to his chest, Greg finally opened his eyes. However they were as black as the deepest part of the ocean and no emotion could be seen on his face.
The shadows created by the mountain began to stir and rush into Greg giving him enough energy to open a tiny hole into the dark world below him.
The world of abyssal darkness was a prime source of energy for him and he greedily absorbed the tremendous dark energy it let out.
In earlier times he would control the darkness from the dark world to stop it from seeping out, and never think about absorbing it's seemingly infinite energy. Now he had no care and instead only focused on greedily absorbing as much of the energy as he could.
Lord Belgrim sensed the ominous energy flowing out and released even more strength and power in response. Hoping to kill the lizard before it had a chance to retaliate.
Even with his over whelming strength and weight he could only make the sword's flame grew hotter and move slightly faster. It was now an inch away from Greg's chest and the scales on his hands are ash, leaving fingers with blackened bone and red hot muscle fibers.
This was excruciatingly painful for Greg as his whole body felt on fir and a molting red mark in the center of his chest was growing wider and deeper. However the dark world portal was almost big enough for Greg to squeeze through.
This was the deciding moment for Greg would he make it through or would he die trying to live.
Lord Belgrim was furious that it has taken this long to kill this lizardman but he also held respect for the warrior not giving up his life so easily.
He gave one final and mighty push and touched Greg's chest causing the hellfire energy to rush into the already open wound, however at the same time the portal was finally big enough and the his final push ended up pushing him into the dark world.
With what little strength he had left he pushed back against the blade and went soaring deep into the depths of the dark world. Knowing he was out of immediate danger, Greg's eyes grew heavy as he watched the sword leave.
And as the portal closed so did his eyes.
Little did Greg know that his actions would have dire repercussions.