Chapter 58: The Final Game 8

"talking"

'thinking'

"Ghost Rider Voice"

"Mordru Voice"

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Edgar's Mind

"ENOUGH!" 

Edgar tried to stop him, but in vain. No matter how hard he tried or fought to prevent the death of innocent people, he felt useless and weak before his Rider version that could only be described as an unstoppable force of nature. 

Right now, that thing was burning everyone on the battlefield. Allies or enemies, he couldn't tell them apart. To it, they were ALL sinners. 

Some he burned with his bare hands, leaving only a pile of ashes blown by the wind. To others, he gave eternal punishment with the stare of penitence, leaving lifeless bodies with charred eyes. And those who wanted to flee, were caught by his chain and burned to the bone. 

That thing was what would happen if Edgar succumbed to his power and let his vengeance instincts turn him into the punisher of all. A version that would leave only charred bodies in its wake. That thing was his worst fear. His worst nightmare. 

Edgar felt helpless in the face of this whole situation. The worst part was that he didn't know if it was a dream or reality. His powerful senses told him it was all real, but his mind implored that it was all a dream... a nightmare he wanted to wake up from.

However, just when he thought all was lost. His prayers were answered and a golden light materialized in the sky. The light illuminated the gray sky and brought a comforting warmth to Edgar that made him relax. This power told him that this was the end of this nightmare. And this was true, when a voice was heard next to him. 

"Wow, that was a shitty nightmare" said a voice very familiar to Edgar. It was his voice speaking, but Edgar, who had already spent a long time listening to it, knew. It was Zarathos. 

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"Is it all over?" 

"Yes" Zarathos snapped his fingers, and everything began to crumble. The entire battlefield turned to dust, and changed to the mental palace that Edgar knew well due to the months of training he had spent, and where he came to follow his training on a regular basis. 

"Take this, it will calm you down" Zarathos snapped and a jasmine tea materialized before Edgar.

He could feel Edgar's emotions fluctuating quite badly. What he had suffered recently had left an imprint on his being. And it was no exaggeration, as all that dreaming was for that very reason. The worst thing was that Zarathos knew it. That dream had not been because of Mordru. It was all created by Edgar's own mind. 

Edgar took a couple of sips and sat down at the table. He was still agitated, but slowly began to feel better. 

"What was that, Zarathos?, it felt... so real" 

"Mordru used a powerful spell on you and boosted the curse left by Trigon. It made your mind create this illusion of your worst fears. All your senses, smell, hearing, touch, started to distort to create that nightmare where you lost control. That's why it felt so real. The worst part is that you closed your barriers yourself, preventing me from acting to help you. That's why I couldn't get to you sooner. Simply put, you were punishing yourself"

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"...I see. Sigh. The good thing is that now I know it was all a dream. And how did you manage to reverse that situation?" 

"Sigh. That's what I wanted to talk to you about. It was thanks to your friend Kent that I was able to open your barriers and help you. But that wasn't all. He used all his power on you to strengthen your soul. Edgar... at this moment, thanks to your friend, you and I are 100% matched. At this moment, you can use all my power. The divine phase"

Edgar's mind went numb from this conversation. If what Zarathos was telling him was true, then that phase, where he could even defeat Trigon, he had managed to reach. 

The joy on his face began to grow, however, before he could express anything, Zarathos, seeing his excited face, burst his bubble of happiness.

"Before you say anything, I have to warn you. This is temporary. And it's only because of your friend's power. And, like any power boost, everything carries a risk. Your soul grew big enough to be able to wield my full power. But your body, mind and spirit ARE STILL HUMAN"

At that, Zarathos summoned an aluminum can. 

"This is what will happen to you if you exert my full power" 

The can began to crush from an invisible pressure, beginning to deform it.

"My power will exert such a powerful pressure on every part of your body that your bones, organs and skin, will begin to tear and destroy like this can. If that is not enough for you, your mind will work at its maximum capacity trying to match all the information your senses will feel at that moment. Your senses will multiply to the point where every single thing in the world, you will be able to feel it, hear it and know it. A complete planetary consciousness. And if that's not enough, when it's all over, and you leave your transformation, your human spirit will end up so weak that it will try to ascend to a higher plane" 

The can ended up crushed and completely destroyed. It was so deformed that it now only looked like a simple piece of trash. 

"Simply put... you will die" 

Edgar was left pensive by all this. If someone had told him before that he might finally die, he would have happily accepted it. But now, everything had changed. Now he had Diana. He had Raven. There were people who appreciated him. He was no longer the same loner he had been before. For the first time in a long time, Edgar had an insatiable desire to live. 

However, he understood why Kent had done this. Mordru was very powerful. If he believed that Mordru could only be defeated using this power, then he was most likely right. However, there came to him a question that he had not questioned before. 

"Hey, Zarathos, what about Kent, you said he used all his power, but is he okay?" 

Zarathos just looked emotionlessly at Edgar. The silence and seriousness on Zarathos' face brought Edgar a compelling feeling.

"I'm sorry. He sacrificed himself to give you this opportunity" 

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"I see..." a tear of sadness ran down Edgar's cheek. He and Kent had hit it off quite well. And, even though they had their differences, more because of the secrets Kent kept, Edgar considered him a good friend. It pained him greatly to hear this. 

However, it brought absolute resolve to his heart. Kent sacrificed himself so that he could beat Mordru. He pinned his last hopes on him. How could he let him down now. There was a risk that he would die, but, if he didn't, Mordru would win and all would still be lost. He dispelled his doubts. 

"Allow me to use your power, Zarathos. I am ready to face the consequences" Edgar said resolutely. 

"Can't I change your mind?" 

"No"

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"Sigh. What a stubborn avatar I have. Fine, I'll let you... but only for 1 minute. More I will not allow you. This is for your survival. Oh, and another thing, when it's all over, your power will run out. Your wounds CANNOT BE HEAL, at least not without external treatment. When that happens, you must have magical and physical treatment, or else there will be IRREPARABLE consequences, understood?" 

"I understand" 

Zarathos raised his hand and held it out to Edgar. Edgar didn't hesitate and shook his hand. When that happened, everything went white....

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Chernobyl, in the fight

Kent Nelson had disintegrated into golden dust, and, along with him, the helmet of fate was gone as well. However, his last spell, a spell capable of enhancing Edgar's Rider power, had done its job. 

Edgar, who was totally inert, raised his head, and ignited his fire

"SHUUUUUUU!" 

Completely white flames, only with black tints at the end, materialized on his skeletal head. But Mordru felt it. The power Edgar was wielding at this moment was different. The power he was wielding was a primal, raw power. It was a power of a higher level. 

However, instead of scaring him, he was only amused by this. 

"So, this was my little brother's master card. It just gave you more power. But, that's all. There's nothing special about you. I'm not impressed" 

Edgar, however, did not respond. Because, at this moment, he was sensing what Zarathos had told him. 

His senses were taking in the ENTIRE planet. Every breath, he was hearing it. Every smell, he smelled it. His touch, too, had improved tremendously. He could 'see' everyone. 

He also felt SO powerful. He felt invincible. But he also felt like there was a noose binding him and slowly squeezing him. This was the pressure Zarathos said. Every second that passed, he felt the noose squeezing him tighter and tighter. Something he frankly didn't like one bit.

Mordru felt offended at being ignored. Wanting to teach him a lesson, he summoned a powerful magic seal, which launched a powerful raw lightning bolt towards Edgar. The lightning struck Edgar completely. The energy and power it carried would scorch anyone. 

However, when the attack ended, Mordru realized his mistake. Edgar was intact. Only smoke was coming from his body, but otherwise, everything was perfect. 

What followed next, however, chilled Mordru to the bone. Edgar, in one moment was there, and the next, he had simply disappeared. 

!!!!!!!!!!

'Where is he?' 

"Tap, tap, tap" 

Skeletal fingers touched Mordru's back which alerted him to Edgar's presence. The worst part was that he hadn't felt when it had moved towards him. His magical senses were so powerful that they should have warned him. And yet they did not. 

This could only be explained by two reasons. Either Edgar has minimal presence. Or... he is more powerful than he is. And if it was the second, then that brought this sorcerer no good. Mordru had to assess the situation. Dusting himself off, he walked away from Edgar.

However, thanks to walking away, he finally saw that Edgar was flying in the sky. But he was not using his motorcycle; instead, on his back had grown a pair of black wings like an angel. 

Mordru was assessing the situation. Thinking of the best spells to use against this opponent. But, that was his mistake, as that time allowed Edgar to assimilate his full power. 

If Mordru had known what was going to happen next, then he would have immediately run away and hid in the most secluded place in the world. Well, maybe for the current Edgar, with his senses amplified by this power, there was no place on Earth he could hide. 

What was going to happen next would confirm that Edgar was indeed like an angel... but an angel of death. And Mordru, was his victim. 

"I'm sorry. But I don't have time to play with you" 

"Play?, How arrogant you became for having a little extra power- AGHHHH!"

Mordru was angered by Edgar's first words, and wanted to cast a powerful spell, but Edgar, in less than an instant, had teleported behind him and yanked off his bat wings. This made him scream in pain. Then Edgar grabbed him and delivered a powerful hook to his stomach so powerful that it had practically thrown Mordru's guts all over the place. 

"SPLASH!" 

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

Visors and blood splattered on the ground. Mordru used a healing spell and partially healed his wounds, but then, he realized that he wasn't actually healing as he should. 

Edgar had not only hit with his enhanced strength, but he had used his fire and burned a part of Mordru's stomach. That part was completely shredded. 

Mordru, seeing this, no longer hesitated. Edgar, at this moment, was much more powerful than he was. He thought he could do something, but at this rate, he would die. His instincts told him so now. 

Turning to dust, he began to flee away, being blown away by the wind. His body, at this moment, was not physical, so Edgar couldn't do anything to him....

Or so he thought, when he felt a suction start to drag him back. 

Edgar was holding his chain and spinning it in circles that had summoned a tornado of white fire. Said tornado was attracting Mordru, who, even though he was dust, could not avoid being pulled. The worst part was that Mordru couldn't summon a portal or anything while he was in dust form. He had to return to his normal body if he wanted to do so. He hadn't summoned a portal before because he felt Edgar would catch him before he left. 

However, Mordru still had an ace up his sleeve. Time.

Returning to his demonic body, he quickly summoned all his power and stopped time again. Again, everything stopped and the black hourglass materialized. The sand ran faster than the other moment because Mordru had less magical power, but it was enough to run away. Or so he thought...

As he was about to get the hell out of there, he felt that the chain had wrapped around his body and was holding him back. There he saw something that paralyzed him completely. Time had not stopped Edgar. He was moving as if nothing had happened. 

'That's impossible. Time is universal for everyone'

However, that's when the realization hit him. Edgar was a human with the power of a multiversal being. A being who could ignore those laws that governed the world. There, Mordru finally realized his destiny. There was only one end for him. Death. 

Edgar pulled Mordru to him. He grabbed him tightly by the head, cracking his horns as he took him and positioned him just right to look into his empty sockets. 

"LOOK AT ME!" 

Like a movie, Mordru watched his whole life. But contrary to everyone's expectations, he was NOT living any moment where he had done something wrong, or where he had sinned.

At this moment, Mordru was reviewing joyful moments where he was happy with his brother, Nabu. With his teacher, Merlin. When he first learned magic. All those moments where he felt truly happy and fulfilled.

He even started to live the one that would have happened. He was seeing moments where his brother Nabu never locked him up and joined him. Where he ruled everything and everyone praised him. Where his master, Merlin, told him he was proud and recognized him as the greatest. Pure moments that made him feel completely happy. Everything he wished for, he was living it in those dreams. A feeling of fullness began to fill him completely. 

And when he felt the fullest. It was all over...

'NO. DON'T LEAVE. COME BACK, PLEASE!'

Every happy memory was being erased. Drifting away from Mordru and making him feel a thrill of utter despair. He tried to avoid it, but no matter how hard he tried to stop it, those memories were slipping away. He had lived and felt all that he had always searched for, and now... it was all gone.

An emptiness in his heart was felt because of this. When he felt this... everything turned white. Mordru had finally succumbed to the power of the divine stare.

The divine stare, unlike the stare of penance or the stare of punishment, exerted the worst punishment to the one who looked at it. It did not show the sins of the person for repent. It did not subject to pain like no other. This was not what happened. 

The divine stare, had only one purpose. To show the happiest memories and enhance the person's desires so that they would feel fulfilled. To fill them with happiness and hope. But when that happened, everything vanished. Leaving a feeling of emptiness and loss in the person. 

At the end of the day, the worst punishment you can give someone is to give them everything they would have wanted. To make him feel a happiness like no other. And then take it away and leave him with NOTHING, leaving an eternal emptiness and sadness in the person. 

When Mordru felt this emptiness. The gaze acted on his soul. Mordru's soul began to slowly fade away, erasing itself from existence. He was not going to a higher plane or a lower plane. NO. It was being erased completely. When it was over, Mordru would be dead, PERMANENTLY. No reincarnations. With no one who could bring him back. It was the END.

When his soul was erased, he left a mere empty body. Edgar exerted his fire and began to disintegrate the whole body with it. All the spirits, which danced in Mordru's demonic body, began to carbonize. Not even ashes were left. 

These white flames were special. They could harm any being, of any power. Worst of all, they did not transmit heat or pain. By the time you realized it, you would already be disintegrated by these flames. In short, these flames were the perfect flames at their peak. 

When Mordru's entire body disintegrated, that's when Edgar made it official. 

Mordru was dead. 

When this happened, all time returned to normal. The people on the battlefield who had stopped because they couldn't stand the pressure, returned to breathing and feeling fine. Also, Superman, Shazam and Wonder Woman awoke from Mordru's spell. Their black pupils, returned to normal and they woke up with a start. 

!!!!!!!!!!

"That was..."

"The worst of nightmares"

However, the worst of all was Billy (Shazam), because although he had awakened, his dream was worse than the one Superman and Wonder Woman had. Since, in his mind, Polaris reproached him why he had killed him, and the magician Shazam, who had given him his powers, locked him in the same container that had locked Black Adam, considering him unfit, and considering him someone corrupted in his power. The very thing that Black Adam had warned him about, in his dreams, had come true. 

At this point, he had sat down clutching his knees, as he muttered.

"I'M SORRY. I'M SORRY. I'M SORRY. I'M SORRY" 

Superman, reached out in concern and tried to comfort him. After all, he was a mere teenager. His mental development had not yet fully matured. And this, frankly, brought him a trauma that would last perhaps a lifetime. Billy needed urgent therapy. That was a fact. 

Edgar approached Diana, and stopped his transformation. 

"Diana, are you all right?" 

Diana didn't answer him. Rather, she held him tightly and snuggled into his arms.

"Thank Hera, you're okay. I had this nightmare where I lost you"

"I am here. I will always be" 

A romantic moment was present between the two lovers. Although, said moment, ended when Superman started coughing. 

"Cough, cough. Emmm... I don't want to interrupt, but what happened to Mordru?"

Edgar just shook his head. 

"It's all over. But at a great price. Kent...he is..." Edgar couldn't say it, a lump in his throat kept him from saying that his friend was dead. Superman couldn't believe his ears, while Diana began to cry directly into Edgar's chest. Even Shazam had stopped babbling and stopped to say a prayer to the dead hero. 

A sad silence hung over the place where the four of them stood. Superman, after feeling sad for a while, turned to look at the battlefield that was threatening to resume its fighting, and decided to go to help. 

"The fight is not over yet-" 

However, He said no more, as a communication was heard loudly throughout the place. 

"Rail, Three, Clover, Light, Power, Five, Punishment"

"Rail, Three, Clover, Light, Power, Five, Punishment"

"Rail, Three, Clover, Light, Power, Five, Punishment"

"Rail, Three, Clover, Light, Power, Five, Punishment"

"Listen up, this is Cyborg speaking to you from central command. Lay down your weapons, raise your hands and surrender. The war is over"

Superman saw it clearly. All the soldiers began to kneel and surrender. The fighting was over. 

"Finally, it's all over" 

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"BUAGH, Shit, my body, BUAGH!" 

They couldn't celebrate when Edgar started vomiting blood. Not only did he start puking it up, but his eyes, nose and ears were starting to bleed, like a bottle that had been punctured and from the pressure was spilling out. His skin also began to blanch sickeningly, as his body temperature began to drop. 

"EDGAR!" cried Diana, fearfully. He didn't look well, hell, he wasn't well at all. 

However, the one with the answers was Superman, who used his X-ray vision, and saw every bone in Edgar's body begin to crack as if an invisible pressure was exerting a strain on his body. His organs, muscles and skin began to tear at an incredible rate. And his heart was pumping blood so fast that, at this rate, he would suffer an arrhythmia. In short, Edgar was dying. 

This was the consequence Zarathos had told him. It must be said, Edgar was only fighting with Mordru for 20 seconds. 20 SECONDS!. And yet, his body was a total mess.

"Needs treatment, urgently" 

"The tower of destiny. Kent will know what to do-" Diana wanted to comment, but then she remembered that her friend was gone. The tower of destiny was no longer an option. Not at this moment. 

"So, Lian Yu. The solar chambers help improve the body 5 times faster, even in humans. It's the only hope"

"Fine, I'll take him-" 

"No. I'll do it. It pains me to admit it, but you're too slow, Diana. He needs treatment immediately. With my speed I'll be able to get there in less than 2 minutes" 

As much as it pained Diana to hear it, Clark was right. 

"You're right. Clark, I'm begging you. Save him. I don't know what would become of me if anything happens to him" 

"I will"

Clark scooped him up in his arms, and took off with a "BOOOM" flying full speed into the sky. Mach 100, Mach 200, Mach 500. He was pushing every limit, to get to his destination as soon as possible. Edgar's life depended on it. 

Diana wanted to follow them, but at that, another transmission was heard. 

"Attention everyone on the battlefield. I have been informed that a self-destruct sequence will destroy the nuclear plant in less than 2 minutes. Please move out of a 200 km radius. It is imperative that you do so" 

Diana wanted to follow them, but there she saw with her enhanced senses the battlefield. There were wounded Amazons, wounded Atlanteans and wounded enemy soldiers. Even though, she wanted to follow Clark because she was worried about her beloved, her duty as a heroine told her that they needed her help. She would have to trust Clark that everything would be all right for Edgar. 

However, she knew she wasn't the only one who could help. Turning to look at the frightened Billy, she did something no one expected. 

"SLAP!"

!!!!!!!

"Wonder Woman, you...you hit me…" 

"I'm sorry about that, I really am. And believe me, I know what you're going through, too. I went through something horrible, too. But, look at all those people" she said as she pointed to the inner area where they were previously fighting. "We need to help get the wounded out, or they won't make it. Billy, it's time for you to stop your doubts, and become the hero they need"

"A hero…? YES, they need a hero. I can help them!"

Shazam stood up resolutely. With a "BOOOOM" he flew off at full speed to help the wounded out of there. Diana, did the same and they began to evacuate everyone.

Time was pressing and an explosion was expected that would surpass the previous one at Chernobyl...

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AN:

My P@treon 

TioIroh99 (11 chapters ahead)

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