∼ Day 218 ∼

There was no preamble from the system nor words between us before the chaos broke loose.

We all three exploded into motion, Jasper melting into his shadows and turning into nothing but a blur. Morgana literally flashing from her place to my left and then appearing a couple of dozen meters down the room. And I, using Blitz and dashing across the rock tiled surface with my wings carrying me as fast as they could.

If we had simply continued like this, both Jasper and I would've undoubtedly been the ones coming out victorious as the conniving rogue much faster than I, whereas I easily beat out Morgana in speed. However, that of course wasn't how it was going to go.

Morgana attacked, despite none of us knowing whether or not the first part of the stage of no aggression, still applied. But her attack to even out the playing field and risking her life on a 'maybe' like that - was more than justified when you considered the implications of letting me and Jasper get the relics.

I for one, definitely couldn't allow myself to be the one left standing without one of the two relics. Not only because simply I did not wish to lose and give up on something I had gone through hell and back for, but also because of something much direr that most likely would happen to me if I didn't.

Two died in the first part of the stage, two more at the second stage. And now that there were only two relics left, there wasn't a shred of doubt in my mind of what would happen if I were to lose.

Only victory or death awaited me now - there were no longer any opportunities for opting out.

And I wasn't counting on being the one left standing with nothing.

Light distorted and the hum of what sounded like deep vibration rang throughout the room. I barely had time to evade the sudden blade of light that tore the air only a scant inches from my face as it ravaged everything in its path.

The attack was unlike anything I had seen before, and I felt my heart sink as the attack continued onwards, increasing in size like a white arc of energy at every pace it traveled. It cut through the tiles and the high ceiling like they were butter until it finally dissipated once reaching more than halfway to the relics.

The sheer astonishing power that lay within the attack had almost been enough to make both Jasper and I forget what we were doing and stop to gawk in awe. But as we saw the terrifying woman who laid chase for us, all such notions were lost.

She was... changing.

From her elegant and stoic appearance, her entire body, skin and clothes alike, was transforming into what looked like a greyish metal sheen.

She had stopped and was now hovering a few feet off the ground like some metal angel, the long sleek sword in her hand slanted downwards in a lazy grip. It was like everything was beneath even her notice as her cold eyes surveyed the world before her.

It didn't need anyone to tell me that the attack she had just thrown at me would've cut me in half as if I was little more than paper, but I soon realized her attack hadn't in fact been meant for me. Like she had done numerous times before, Morgana vanished into thin air. I was worried that she'd appear by my side or behind me, but as I searched for her presence, I found her much farther away than expected.

She had appeared exactly where her energy attack had ended and was now gunning for the relics, both Jasper and I entirely ignored.

She traveled much farther than she had been able to before with that mysterious ability of hers, of what I could only describe as a teleport. So this was an entirely unexpected development for both Jasper and me.

Cursing audibly, we both made chase but quickly realized that Morgana had already sealed her getting her hands on one of those relics. It now just remained as which of us two would be the ones coming out victorious. The damned rogue was still faster than me, so I had no choice in the matter.

I had to take him out.

I would've cast all my magic at the elusive fighter, but it was still on the fritz. Most of the time spent walking down the tunnel in the first part of this 'ambition' stage was while I tried to figure out what the hell was wrong with it. But the best conclusion I could come to was the fact that glyphs no longer worked to shape and mold the magic into what spells I wanted it.

That was inherently quite a big problem since literally all my spells were based on the combination of glyphs to work. So no casting out Rends here and there, no legions of blood puppets summoned with inscribed orbs of my own blood - no formations of any kind. The only access to magic I had was the raw and unfiltered control over my mana, like manipulating blood and shadow through skills or crude application.

I knew that all my magical progress and understanding wasn't lost, I just needed to figure out the new medium through which this higher power of magic could be corralled and controlled.

Jasper was increasing the ground between us, and I had to act now. Luckily, I had a skill in my repertoire that might just be perfect for this situation.

My eyes gained vibrancy, even more so than normal, and with a wave of an unseen force, the flickering shadows that were Jasper unceremoniously dissipated and spat out the rogue like a ragdoll across the tiled floor.

"Holy shit..." I muttered inwardly.

I had used Petrifying Gaze, but this was the first time doing so since evolving. And now, the effects had increased many times over - very apparent from the stunned Jasper who clambered to his feet sluggishly. I had hit him full force, and admittedly, it had drained my mental force quite a bit. But still, it had the intended effect.

Jasper attempted to continue his mad dash, but his shadows weren't responding all that well to his chaotic state of mind after being hit by my own mental power and will. And I was already on him.

Despite the effect of my skill though, he was still in a presence of mind to masterfully parry my gauntleted strike with those twin daggers of his, even delivering a shallow cut along my left forearm as he did so.

My increased resistance proved its worth, however, as something that would've most likely fileted my arm turned it into a cut that barely even broke the skin. The corrupting shadows that also lined his daggers almost instantly fizzled away as my vitality and blood purged it from my system within the blink of an eye.

I was about to activate Petrifying Gaze once again to stun the man once again in hopes of delivering a swift and final blow, but Jasper caught on to it and was much quicker than I.

In an astonishing display of shadow control, Jasper turned entirely ethereal while simultaneously delivering a hail of attacks all around my body. There was no feasible way for me to block them, so I infused my body with my magic the best I could and just brunted the attack.

With a tapestry of cuts and streaks of blood now coating my bare body as the rags of my shirt, for the umpteenth time, fell apart, Jasper's ruthless flurry of attacks abated for a brief moment. Jasper had retreated.

But he definitely wasn't done.

I could feel the power gathering in the air, from the blood I had spilled, from the shadows of the room. He was going with his trump card.

And so, before my eyes, he turned into a tsunami of shadows, his twin daggers transforming into two massive black as night pythons that grew and grew, hissing as they rode on the wave of darkness. I was not fast enough to evade or dodge the attack, but I was confident in my body.

The darkness descended on me, and I could his daggers tear into my flesh, piercing my sides and sinking deep. As they did, torrents of shadows billowed with ferocity as they rampaged into my body, that which couldn't get in cascading to all sides.

[You have taken 532 damage!] [You have taken 145 damage!] [You have taken 172 damage!] [You have taken...]

He was pouring the tainted shadows into my body, poisoning my insides. The pain was agonizing, but I had endured worse. Jasper realized this, and panic finally revealed itself on his roguishly handsome face. I grabbed onto the rogue wrists still clenched around the daggers embedded in my flesh and grunted around my words.

"It's over," I managed barely.

A shape blacker than anything Jasper's shadows could ever dream to become, loomed over the rogue moments before his body was engulfed almost whole. A loud snap like the teeth of a massive maw chomping together rang out along with a pained scream as Jasper's entire midsection was pierced by arm-sized fangs.

But even he couldn't materialize shadows from this particular nightmare of a beast.

It was Sombra, my shadow familiar.