Deathmatch

Aldric walked towards the step that elevated the arena. With a step, a pool of darkness spread from beneath his feet.

"Bael. Come out."

He spoke in a cold voice.

With his command, a black figure emerged from the ground. His apostle came out wreathed in his darkness. Thus, empowering himself with the [Medium of Darkness] attribute.

Wrapped and strengthened by his own darkness, they looked like two gaps in existence. 

As Aldric got within range, he could hear the typical ravings of corruption that rang around fallen-ranked creatures.

The commander had finally noticed them just as they were within a 5 metre radius. The erasing of presence with darkness was not to be underestimated. 

"Bael, take the offensive. I will support you."

With a nod of acknowledgment from the wraith, it sprung into action with a heavy overhead.

"AARGHHHHH"

The broken voice box of the fallen creature shouted as it responded to the attacker. In a show of agility, it pivoted on its foot into a twist. Rotating around the attack and smashing the pommel of its sword into the chest of the knight. Pushing it backwards. 

In the split second exchange, Aldric took advantage of the commanders focus on Bael and launched his own attack. Aldric aimed for the thinnest part of its corroded armour. The link between its shoulder and right arm. A strengthened awakened blade that was bordering ascended rank coated in darkness was able to cut into the armour. However, it was stopped by a strong obsidian-like skin. He could only perform a shallow cut that leaked a ruby-like dust into the air.

He knew that he could have cut deeper; however, the tradeoff would be getting hit by a counterattack. 

What could only be described as a shell of what they used to be, turned back its head and looked at his attacker. The battle froze for a moment as the commander took a good look at Aldric. Adorned in his [Mantle of the Underworld], the creature looked in shock for a moment and shouted in anger. 

"AARGHHHHH!

Rotating its body towards him in a twist while dragging the greatsword along, a large overhead swing was awaiting Aldric. Luckily, there was a clash of swords as Bael interrupted the attack and redirected it to the side. He took this opportunity to step back. 

Aldric did not want this battle to last any longer than it should. The more he fought, the greater the risk he had of a grave injury as well as exhaustion. This was not a spar or a competition. Just murder. And murder should not take long.

Similar short exchanges continued as he tried to find a weakness in the beast. It was until his [Insight] screamed at him in alarm that the flow of battle was interrupted. 

"Back off Bael!"

An observation as he was stepping backwards showed the miasma coalescing around the warrior, waiting to be unleashed. 

In a wave of black and purple, the miasma spread out around the arena. It seemed that they did not get far enough. Bael's right arm was submerged in the wave, eroding its armour into pieces. The wave of necrosis spelt death for those that it embraced.

'Damn! It's too fast.'

He would have been grievously injured if that wave had hit him head-on. He had noticed the signs of damage on the creatures already damaged armour.

The crazed warrior jumped into the air, manoeuvring into a front flip while bringing the weight of the world along its blade. 

DODGE

TWIST

Aldric was bearing the brunt of the blows just as his apostle stabilised itself and came to support him.

'This can't keep going. If this goes on as is, then we might die.'

Breathing heavily, Aldric calmed his nerves and thought of a plan. 

'Its movements are too fast. I need to slow it down.'

A shimmer of light began to form around his hand.

Aldric got into the space of the creature and stabbed a blue pike into its already injured right shoulder. It was the [Niflheim's Rage] that he had received when he killed Tessai. It was a dormant rank memory that released a deadly cold. There was no start or end to it, so Aldric did not need to manipulate his soul essence to activate its ability. 

The maddened warrior ignored the negligible cold from its shoulder and continued to attack. Aldric clashed swords again as he parried another attack. He could feel that the darkness that coated his blade was almost completely corroded by the creature's ability. While the creature could coat its blade and release its ability, it could not defend itself with a layer of necrosis to erode any attacks. This would cause damage to its own body.

'I'm glad for that. I wouldn't be able to even touch it if it covered itself in an aura of its ability.'

The attacks of the creature began to stall and slow. Aldric did not choose the place where he attacked with the pike aimlessly. With the creature's left arm already rendered useless before the fight, it had no choice but to keep the pike lodged in its shoulder. Unless it wanted to drop its sword mid-battle. 

However, the creature was not the only one struggling with injuries.

Bael was down for the count.

With the nature of its composition, the erosion spread through its armour much more easily than it would have if it had a body made of flesh. And any more use of his greatsword would result in his death. After all, his true weakness was in his blade.

Aldric was a gruesome sight. Patches of his blade had been corroded, crudely stitched together by his viscous darkness. He was lucky his memory had not been destroyed yet. His right arm was being eaten alive by the curse. Layer by layer, piece by piece. He was on a time limit. 

'Damn it to hell!'

The strain of a prolonged life or death battle was getting to Aldric. Small doubts began to echo in his ear. As if it were fusing with whispers of madness from his flaw, he began to hear intelligible voices. 

"Give up."

"What is the point of all this?"

"I bet Nephis and Sunny could overcome these odds."

"Pathetic. You are not the main character in this story."

"Just ask Nephis to help you. You like her to solve all your problems, right?"

Aldric began to think to himself.

'She's right there. I just need to ask, and we can defeat this creature together.'

The pain of his fingers beginning to rot and the muscles on his arms beginning to shed came together into a weird mirage of sensations. 

'That's right. I can just stop.'

Aldric could see the creature jump into a front flip, bringing down its blade like a guillotine. Death was near.

Hearing that thought come from himself made Aldric pause.

Registering exactly what he just said, a crazed look formed on his face. 

'DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!'

Aldric met the charge of the beast. Condensing all his remaining darkness around his blade, he shut his mind off and focused completely on his [Insight] attribute. Feeling the signal of danger from his stomach, he held firm. When the first sight of its blade entered his line of sight. 

He twisted. 

Aldric twisted on the spot and raised his blade with his right arm. With the majority of his left arm still in line with the attack. His blade met the descending creature. In an exchange of blood and life. 

[Your memory has been destroyed.]

[You have slain a Fallen Tyrant: Underworld's Torment.]

[Your soul grows darker.]

[You have received a Memory.]

THUD

The corpse of the fallen creature collapsed beside him. But he could feel a strange emptiness on the left side of his body.

All that Aldric knew was blood-red pain.

**********

Double upload people. Rejoice. 

What did you think of the fight? 

Anyone read the latest chapter of shadow slave? G3 is cooking.

Hope you enjoyed it. Till next time.