The deity quickly flapped his wings wide open, releasing pillars of intense glowing lights that quickly devoured the rising shadow slashes coming his way.
But for some odd reason, the auras that had covered the shadow slashes continued even after the element that they surrounded was dissipated.
The shadow slashes had turned to aura slashes. They didn't lack any of the sharpness or speed either.
Even to the deity, that had been a first. It felt like someone's weird fantasy of an unblockable attack.
Before Lawkey could even do anything else, the Undying Elder detached and abandoned his rainbow wings in mid air, leaving them stuck in place and glowing in a myriad of colors.
As his body fell toward the aura slashes that remained, the Undying Elder quickly manifested a new set of colored wings and used them to fly between the emerald slashes like it was an acrobatic exercise.
"Come down here, you stupid bird! I'll pluck those feathers one by one!" Lawkey shouted upwards as his body fell back towards the ground. His previous jump could only bring him so far. Such were the limitations of the human race.
The moment he landed and looked up again, everything was completely gone.
There were no lights, no wings, no enemy.
"It's been a while since I moved that much, I enjoyed it."
"?!"
A sudden cold chill ran through Lawkey's entire body, freezing all his nerves.
"But let's stop here, shall we?" The elder held Lawkey's head from the back this time, paralyzing him in place once again.
"Hungh!!"
Lawkey grinded his teeth and immediately swung his sword, sending all the shadows he could muster with it, and aiming it all at the figure standing behind him.
However, the Undying Elder was faster.
In a blink of an eye, he had already dug his hand into Lawkey's neck from the back.
"AGHHHHHHH-!!!"
Lawkey couldn't help but scream at the top of his lungs from the agonizing pain rising within him.
Pain that was even worse than what he had experienced earlier.
As his mind drifted in and out of consciousness, he felt his enemy tear out the other presence from deep within his soul.
Thud!
Lawkey's body gave in and dropped to its knees, his breath heavy as he felt his recent meal make its way up and out again.
"Bleghhhh!"
The surging aura within him was gone, it had completely vanished. The emerald emblem in front of his forehead had shattered along with it, dissipating into nothingness. The entire energy in his body was completely sucked out.
"What do we have here, hmmm? Another strange being… How very interesting!" Ignoring the puking going on to the side, the Undying Elder admired the new catch he fished out from inside the boy's soul.
"I wonder…Can you speak?"
He asked it while holding it by its small wings just between his thumb and index finger, as if it were trash.
"…"
"SPEAK!"
The deity commanded, using his mysterious authority once more.
"Let me go!" The tri-colored butterfly finally shouted back without delay, flapping around underneath the deity's grip.
"Oh! How very curious! So, you still identify as a subject, even in that form."
"I said, let me go! And you better not touch a hair on his head either! He's…" The butterfly paused, even its relentless flapping slowing down.
"He's the one who will make this world pay! The one to deliver true darkness!"
"This little boy, huh? You hear that, Lawkey? What do you think?"
The Undying Elder kicked the chest box with Lawkey's name on it, egging him on to answer.
"Hah… hah…" The boy was busy trying to catch his breath after everything. He glanced over to the chest box he had discarded earlier. "..."
The striking pain in his neck was still fresh.
He knew he didn't have the time to rest right now.
Lawkey slowly got up, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve.
"Can't you hear?" Wasting no time, he jumped forward, clenching his sword tightly in his hand one more time.
"..."
"She said to let her go, you damn parrot!" He quickly swung down at his enemy with all his might.
Although he had lost the emerald aura, the surge of strength he got from the butterfly, he still had his Sign, his power over Shadows.
It's not like this power was unique to him, he had already met someone else with the same Sign. Someone who helped him master it as best she could.
He pushed her image to the back of his mind for now as he summoned all the shadows he could muster and wrapped them around his body. Then, with his sword gripped tightly, he jumped toward the one threatening the only person left that seemed to care about him.
Shadow waves consumed the air between the two as they aimed for the one threatening their liege.
This time, at least, he will do everything to save her…
This time, at least, he will not fail…
Not unless…
"Come on, you should know how this ends by now." Without even looking at him, the Undying Elder conjured a human-sized playing card out of nowhere and blocked the incoming sword. The shadows simply crumbled into nothingness upon impact.
It didn't look like anything special, in fact, it was blank, but it was tougher than steel.
Lawkey's pupils constricted in shock at the sight…
He could finally confirm it…
This was the one, the owner of that blasted playing card that started everything and led to the recent chaos.
"Ahhh!!! I'm going to kill you!!!"
Having confirmed his suspicions about the card and the deity in front of him, Lawkey gripped his sword again and launched himself forward.
He wasn't about to let the one in front of him off easily.
No, he'll make sure to kill him.
His mind went blank, eyes bloodshot with pure rage.
Seeing the raging beast coming at him again, the Undying Elder couldn't help but roll his eyes.
He quickly narrowed them again, and raised his foot off the ground.
THUD!
"?!"
The ground itself shook and trembled as shockwaves from the deity's sudden stomp sent ripples through the terrain around him.
Lawkey was quickly brought back to his senses as shivers took control of his body again, holding him in place.
"Enough of this, boy!" The Elder's voice sounded annoyed.
"You can't use your Shadow Manipulation Sign in my presence anymore, you can't rely on the aura of this little obsidian butterfly to help you, and as you are now, you have nothing else that could come close to reaching me. Give it up already!"
"I will… kill…" Lawkey began to speak, his own mouth muscles failing him.
"STOP TALKING!"
Using his authority again, the Elder commanded, and Lawkey went silent.
"If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't have realized I was here." The Undying Elder took a step forward, still holding onto the butterfly as if he was holding a disgusting insect, "I sensed an unusual presence and the deaths of multiple Hykings, so I came to see what's going on, but even in my wildest dreams, I wouldn't have imagined finding two oddities at the same time. Perhaps this, too, is part of the Millennium Curse."
He briefly brought the butterfly closer to him as if giving it one last look, then stretched his arm wide.
"STAY!"
He finally let go of the tri-colored creature, only allowing it to fly in place.
For the butterfly's part, it knew the moment it flew towards Lawkey, that would be the last decision it would make. Not that it could do it even if it wanted to.
"Now, the one you really want to kill, is that Leviathan that caused all that chaos back there, yes?" The Undying Elder asked as he brought his two hands together, leaving only enough space between them for a small object to fit.
The human-sized playing card that had blocked Lawkey's attack and stayed midair, suddenly flew over toward its creator.
"I saw it on my way here, a creature that big is quite hard to miss."
The card began to compress continuously in the space between his two hands, getting smaller and smaller until it reached a normal sized playing card.
"So, I'm willing to give you a chance. I'll let you live, and you can do whatever you want. I'm sure whatever you end up choosing, will be very interesting to watch."
As everyone was stuck in place, forced to listen to whatever he had to say, the Undying Elder nonchalantly played with his card, flipping it around and balancing it on the tip of his index finger.
"This butterfly already seems like she has big plans for you."
"..."
Lawkey and the butterfly waited, silently watching him. They had no means to interject, but they were both boiling with fury on the inside.
Then, the jester-like deity threw the card in the air, and watched it slowly flip up and down as it made its way back down to him.
"I'm quite interested to see it. Whether you will fall victim to your curse, your destiny, or your fate." He paused to catch the card, then continued. "Or perhaps, like us, all of the above…"
Then he suddenly threw his card at Lawkey's unmoving feet.
"Every Hyking receives one of those, you see. You may burn it, bury it, or throw it away, but it is bound to you and will always find its way back to its holder."
Lawkey slowly guided his eyes down to the card. He watched as the blank page started to form some kind of pattern, along with a silhouette and a name.
"It's not usually done like this, but I don't have to worry about the rules when it comes to you." The Undying Elder suddenly clapped his hands, bringing them together as a faint glow began to emit from them.
"As someone who should not exist, a hidden oddity even amongst the Hykings, I hereby bestow the title "Phantom King" to you. When the time comes, you will understand the significance of such a title."
As soon as he heard those words, Lawkey noticed the same title appear on the card.
And then the angel-like deity flapped his newly formed rainbow wings, forcing his feet to slowly leave the ground.
"An unmarked Hyking, one hidden among the shadows of this continent. This was a good discovery." Flying higher and higher at a moderate speed, the Undying Elder mumbled to himself.
"Let me leave you with two pieces of advice, so listen closely." He paused, making sure to get Lawkey's full focus, "One, do not rush to an early death, boy. That would be such a disappointment. Instead, train and grow strong; strong enough to resist your chains."
"..."
"And second, avoid anyone who is in any way similar to myself."
His voice deepened, adding emphasis on his next words.
"Do not seek me out, do not engage, simply run. Because if you don't…"
Suddenly, an explosion of lights covered the skies, blinding everyone in sight.
"That will be the end of you!"
"?!"
Mere moments later, the blinding lights vanished, and darkness returned to the continent.
"Hah…hah…!"
Lawkey felt the restrictions on his body shatter, forcing him to his knees. He breathed heavily as sweat continued to run down his face.
"..."
He quickly looked up, and found no trace of the one who overpowered him just moments ago, as if he vanished into thin air.
"Ah!"
He ignored the card and ran straight to the butterfly that was laying unmoving on the ground.
"Hey! Are you okay?! Talk to me!" He asked in a panic, his voice hoarse from all the yelling.
"..."
Lawkey's eyes began to widen as he studied the tri-colored creature. Although its wings twitched slightly, it did not respond to him.
It can't be!