Astral grabbed the spears from the ground and defended himself before it was too late. Blocking the attacks of several demons who towered over him. Their aggression led to them not using their abilities which Astral took full advantage of as he decapitated them with ease. He fired each spear off as it shredded through the insides of each dragon. They fell to the side as Astral became face to face with the void. It looked so similar to him as it didn't attack him. "What are you?" Astral rested his hand on Muramasa as he signaled for all the demons to charge.
James saw the void figure. "That's gonna make him snap out of whatever daze he is in, but its risky." Sora and Lilac flew by down the wall as James watched, they wanted to get to Astral before the fight was over. James took a step back from the wall as he thought for a fleeting moment. "Thats. What it is. I see your game." James slowly pulled the spear off of his back and laughed. "ALL FORCES WHO WANT TO FOLLOW ME INTO THE FACE OF CHAOS. WE HOP THE WALL AND FACE THEM HEAD ON." James jumped up and over the top crest of the wall as he landed in front of it. Several of the Hybrids followed him as the clones slid down the wall and charged forward with him. The masses of demons kept them at a slow pace.
James had one goal, slowing Sora down. Sora wanted to get to Astral and Astral wanted to win. Astral gripped Muramasa and drew his blade as the shadow was silent. Nodding as its own blade formed of void. Astral charged forward as he opened with a broad slash at the darkness. It slipped through the attack and positioned itself to slash open his back as Astral was prepared. Holding his scythe in position to block it. "You are a clever little shadow." Astral pushed him back as he closed the gap and kept on an intense attacking pattern.
Astral's bladework cycled in several slashes. Muramasa and he were on the same page. The darkness in front of them held a very strong form of his swordsmanship. It mimicked him. This time with an ability to counter the blows from Muramasa. Each slash made with his blade was blocked with darkness. All Astral concerned himself with was delaying the creature. Each attack it made was on openings Astral left open. Each of these attacks were blanketed to be countered. He saw what the creature was. A darkened mimic.
"You are so refined, which leads me to smile at you. I feel the familiarity." Astral whispered out as a large stone looking monster swung down its arm at Astral from the left. A large bang was heard across the battlefield as there was a hole in the center of the stone covered monster. Astral held out his magnum as he looked at it. "The longer you live, the more real I feel, like this isn't a fever dream."
James recognized the gunshot as the light illuminated the sky. 'I can't make it to him in time.' James blocked an attack from above with two ten foot lizards swinging down their swords at him. They slashed at him with their tails as James muscled through their downward slash. Flipping their swords to the side as he leaped upward and watched from far above on the scene ahead of him. Landing on the back of a tall demon in their ranks as he stayed still. They all looked up at him as he felt what he needed to do. He jumped upwards and held firm in the air before swinging in a circle on his way down. Activating his ability.
Sora couldn't make any headway as the demons formed a wall in front of him. The arrows raining down onto them were just sliding off their armored skin as Sora laughed. "You all think you are to live from this?" Sora held up his blades as he jumped up. Decapitating three demons in a single slice as he bounced back. They reformed and kept him back. A black wisp of smoke raised as a horn bellowed from the mountain tops. They wanted to win. And were willing to do everything to do so.
Astral's movements were blurred as his sword's slashes covered his torso. A cyan wall appeared as the darkness matched. The two were matched as Astral's smile grew. He remembered more and more of his past. What led up to the explosion, and everything in between. His blade remained in sync with his movements. There was no wasted movement. Each and every direction of the blade was perfect. The combination was impossible to surpass. "I need to thank you. Mimic. You all must have multiple lives or is it a conglomerate all hosted as one. We asked before but I failed to ask what happens to you after death."
It nodded, Astral began to howl with laughter. He stalled for a moment of both of them to savor the moment. The realization hit Mimic that Astral lacked his memory and now regained it. "Tell Overlord when you see him to thank him for what you have done for me. I hate to say it, but my memory isn't perfect. It still has a few holes. You can't solve it here but you fixed the holes. Now I feel back to where I should have been." The mirror nodded as they smiled in the moment.
Astral nodded as the two clashed with a new level of intensity. Their speed was unrivaled as Astral started to regain a lost momentum that made him miss half a step. Muramasa was able to overcome these newly found shortcomings. Astral could only focus so much as his mind filled with a dark haze. His mind's gate were open as it became clouded.
Astral saw past this as he knew his mind had to be cleared in order to win. James had cleared all the way to where Sora was stuck at. His stacks stayed at twenty five. "How soulless is the situation?" James fired his claws to life as he cracked his neck in a circle as the clones stood behind him waiting for his command.
"I haven't gotten past the back line and Astral is only getting more intense on the other side of the battlefield." Sora blocked a giant spear as James grabbed onto it on the return. 'Figures he would go into that state and be more aggressive.' Sora matched the change of tone as the two charged forward, severing vital arteries on the demons. Sora sent a red flare in the air as Tina watched it fly from a far away distance.
"Light the battlefield ablaze with their hate!" Tina slammed her hands into the ground. Small sparks glided across the ground as it raced its way to the battlefield. It passed under the wall as the sparks slowly grew into a wave of flames. Sora and James looked behind them at the wall of fire as James used all of his stacks at once and launched himself back to the wall in one smooth motion. The clones all vanished as Sora jumped into the air and was grabbed by Lilac who was morphed into a griffin.
Fire encased each remaining demon as it consumed their corpses as well. Surrounding Astral and Mimic in fire as the two of them froze. They both felt a sense of fear deep down in them. From Overlord, it was his past as the darkness froze in place. Astral seized as he felt the pressure of the heat from when he was in Zeta.