Chapter Thirty-Five: Unique Power
Dusken entered the palace, but then a voice sounded, telling him what needed to be done in the second phase.
"Reach the end of this hall and you shall pass." These were the words of the voice.
Dusken stared around him, a long carpet was spread on the ground leading to a far, insightable end of the long corridor.
He inhaled sharply, taking a step forward. Suddenly, a chaotic sound was heard behind him.
He turned to stare backwards and saw that an armoured soldier had appeared behind his back.
It was just a pile of metal; no real human was within. Still, it drew its blade and took a step forward at Dusken.
'So, this is what I have to survive against, by reaching the end of the hall.' He thought, moving forward with swift momentum.
Under his command, a shadow separated from his, slowly transforming into Ebon. Ebon charged at the armoured soldier, as a clash between them occurred.
The soldier swung his greatsword aiming for Ebon's throat. The death guard didn't do defend and pounced on the soldier, trying to pull it apart.
The sword's angle was disrupted and the soldier staggered backwards. However, Ebon wasn't done… It was only the beginning.
Moments later, several dozen blows had already been exchanged between Ebon and the soldier, but no matter how many times the armoured entity was pulled apart by Ebon, a magical force always made it reform.
'It's only a waste of time. This isn't worth it.' Dusken thought internally while running.
He called back Ebon as it knew that it was fruitless. The armoured soldier couldn't die, instead, the death guard was the one sustaining injuries for nothing.
Dusken's move was very logical; after all, he had only been probing the extent of what the soldier could do, and the distance between them had considerably increased, all thanks to Ebon's fight with the soldier.
The torches in the hall were flickering like dying hopes of history.
The air that ran through the corridor was stale and ancient as the total silence stung the ear far more than any notice could achieve.
Dusken ran with all his might, but no matter how far the distance between him and the armoured knight was, every minute, he would find the knight walking behind him, only tens of metres away.
'Scary.' He thought to himself while advancing.
Soon, though, his stamina was beginning to take a huge hit, and his speed visibly decreased. Even so, the knight kept on walking with a leisurely yet systematic pattern.
It looked like an amateur controlling a character in a game. A foreboding feeling suddenly crept up his heart as he wondered to himself.
The passage ahead was still endless; hope was bleak, and the future was filled with uncertainties.
'Curse it, move faster Dusken.' He roared inwardly as the knight drew near.
Ten metres, nine metres, eight metres, seven metres…
With no other option, he once again sent Ebon out to slow down the armoured knight and gain precious time.
Ebon crawled through the marble floor of the corridor in its shadow form, heading for the armoured being.
Then it lunged at knight, but what met Ebon's charge was a wide arc slash of the knight's greatsword. The air whistled in the blade's wake as it headed for Ebon's throat.
For a brief moment, Dusken paused his steps, horror reflecting in his eyes.
However, just as the blade was about to cut down Ebon, it transformed into its shadow form.
With a loud boom, the armoured soldier fell to the ground due to the absence of a target to cut.
His great sword flew from its hand, landing on the ground with a faint, metallic collision sound.
Ebon swiftly moved through the shadows and materialised before the sword. Without any hesitation, it took the huge sword and ran toward Dusken.
Slight relief hit Dusken as he let out a light sigh. Without lingering more, he turned around and ran forward.
Ebon followed not far behind him, the armoured soldier got up as smoke rose from its metallic body, rising into the air.
It suddenly took massive steps forward, starting to run as huge thuds sounded in its wake.
'Oh, no. It's mad.' Dusken thought. Although the knight had given him problems previously, it hadn't run, only walked.
However, this was no longer the case. Tremors ran through the ground as the knight pursued Dusken and Ebon.
'Curse it, I don't think I can make it in time.' The armoured being was only a dozen metres away, yet with each step it took, it covered Dusken's five steps.
Dusken felt a sense of bitter rage at how pathetic he was. The hall's temperature was mild but tilted in the favour of heat.
Sweat rolled down his forehead as exhaustion began pressing down on him.
'I can't give up, I won't give up.' His breaths came out in short, ragged rhythms, softly echoing in the corridor.
The huge stride of the armoured being resounded in the area as he moved down the hall.
'Curse it, curse it, curse it all.' Dusken shook his head inwardly as he now understood why whoever had cleared the second phase took so long.
Five metres, four metres, three metres…
Dusken tried everything he could. He pushed himself to his limits, even surpassing them, however, this was real life.
Even if a person has perseverance in their heart, so what? Even a person didn't want to give up and clung to life, so what? Even if they have wills, aims and goals, so what?
These were the limits, mortal limitations. Something that no human has ever transcended. A concept thought upon by many.
Ebon ran side by side with Dusken as though to declare that they would die together. It was a death guard after all. It had already died once and was now a shadow with some skills and abilities.
Even so, Dusken was grim on the inside.
'Is this… how I will die?' He asked himself as the knight caught up, pouncing at him with pressuring weight.
However, in the moment of life and death, something slowly rose from within him. Following these instincts, he called upon that power.
As he unsheathed his sword, strapped to his back. The dark flame rose from the depths of his being, burning the blade in its dark, obsidian fury.
The blade of the sword instantly caught fire as it slashed the knight apart, sending metallic parts scattering in the area.