CHAPTER 30: SHADOW'S TRIUMPH, LIGHT'S INTERRUPTION
King Arthur laughed, a furious edge to his mirth. "Look at this upstart! Threatening us! Come on then, let's fight to the death! Sand Blade!" He clenched his fists together, pulling sand from the square to form a condensed, shimmering sword of hardened grains, and charged at Morde.
Morde grinned back. "If you can do it, so can I." Dark energy pooled in his hand, solidifying into a blade of pure, devouring shadow—a Shadow Blade. They met in the center of the square, their blades clashing in a furious dance of black and beige. Sparks of dark energy and shards of sand flew with each impact. But the shadow energy was corrosive; it ate away at the sand's cohesion. Finally, with a brittle crunch, Arthur's Sand Blade crumbled into useless dust.
"You're strong, whatever your name is," Arthur panted, "but it won't save you."
Morde sneered. "My name is Morde. You'd do well to remember it."
Upon hearing the name, Fizz launched his attack. "Sand Wave!" All the sand on the ground rose in a massive, cresting tidal wave and surged toward Morde.
Morde reacted, swinging his Shadow Blade horizontally to bisect the wave. It split cleanly... but then the two halves simply flowed back together, reforming seamlessly. Morde's eyes widened. How? I cut it! He couldn't dodge. "Shadow Guard!" he yelled, raising a wall of dark energy.
Fizz smirked, seeing Morde trapped. He and Arthur moved in perfect, brutal sync. Fizz used "Sand Summoning" again, this time compressing the grains into a colossal, dense sphere and hurling it. Arthur bellowed, "Desert Vice!", using tendrils of sand to pin Morde's legs to the ground.
Morde, immobilized, watched the sphere and the reforming wave bear down on him. They've got me pinned. Wave and a sphere... what do I do?
Come on, Morde, the dark power within him taunted. You can't even counter these simple attacks?
Enraged, Morde roared. With a burst of shadow force, he shattered Arthur's Desert Vice. He met the Sand Wave head-on with his Shadow Guard. The wave crashed against the dark wall in a tremendous spray of sand and shadow, but the guard held. However, it had no strength left for the sphere. The colossal ball of sand smashed through the weakened Shadow Guard and plowed into Morde's position with earth-shaking force.
A massive dust cloud erupted.
As it settled, Fizz and Arthur stared, confused. "W-where is he? I'm sure I hit him," said Arthur.
Morde reappeared, standing atop a tall tower at the edge of the square. Without hesitation, he used "Shadow Step".
Arthur and Fizz sensed it. "Defense!" yelled Arthur, while Fizz prepared to counter-attack.
Morde descended with a "Shadow Fist". Arthur retaliated. "Blinding Sandstorm!" A localized, ten-meter vortex of churning, blinding sand erupted around Morde. Caught mid-air, Morde was helpless, unable to see or orient himself.
Seizing the opening, Fizz struck. "Sand Jet!" A high-pressure stream of compressed sand shot from his palm like a lance. It pierced through the sandstorm and found its mark, tearing through Morde's abdomen.
Morde cried out, crashing to the ground in a heap, motionless.
Arthur laughed triumphantly. "Hah! Was that all? I overestimated you! How did you defeat Riyo? And you dared to threaten my kingdom? HAHAHAHA!"
Fizz, however, felt uneasy. "Arthur, don't let your guard down. He defeated Riyo. He wouldn't fall this easily. I'll make sure." He used "Sand Swamp", turning the area where Morde lay into a quicksand-like pit that began to suck him under. Even Fizz now felt certain. "Yes. It's over this time. No one escapes that."
Arthur spoke mockingly. "See, Fizz? I told you it was nothing to worry about. He couldn't even challenge us, let alone win."
"Are you sure, Arthur?" Fizz replied. "In a one-on-one fight, it would have been very different."
Suddenly, Arthur gasped, his eyes bulging. A look of pure shock and agony contorted his face. Three shadow-clad fingers had erupted from his own chest, slick with his blood.
"Arthuuur!" Fizz screamed.
Morde yanked his fingers back, standing behind the collapsing king. "You underestimated me too much," Morde said coldly, watching Arthur crumple. "Did you think such pitiful attacks could stop me? Now it's your turn, mage."
Tears streamed down Fizz's face. "Arthur, hold on! I'll help you!" He turned his furious, grief-stricken eyes to Morde. "You... Morde, is it? What do you want from us? Why attack?"
Morde's grin was merciless. "I don't have to tell you. And I don't like questions." He charged. "Shadow Shock!" An explosive blast of concentrated dark energy erupted from his fist.
Fizz knew this was a killing blow. He summoned his ultimate defense. "Sand Reflection!" The sand around him rose, forming a shimmering, mirror-like barrier. The Shadow Shock hit it and was reflected directly back at Morde.
Morde was caught off guard, the rebounded force sending him flying backward to slam into the ground. What was that? I didn't even see it!
Fizz breathed a shaky sigh of relief. "Hey, boy. How about we end this fight now?"
Morde got up, dusting himself off. "Yeah, that works for me too."
Fizz steeled himself. I haven't used this in a long time. Let's see. "Ultimate Technique: Grain of Time!" He concentrated all his power into a single grain of sand in his palm, compressing it until it became a tiny, pitch-black sphere humming with a miniature gravitational pull. He launched it at Morde.
Morde laughed, a psychopathic sound. "Ultimate Technique: Dark Art!" Four immense, jagged arrows of solidified shadow manifested above his back. To test the sphere, he sent two arrows at it. The "Grain of Time" absorbed them, crushing and turning them to sand within its event horizon, and continued its inexorable path, consuming rubble and debris.
Finally, at the center of the square, the two ultimate techniques collided. The sphere was monstrously powerful, withstanding the first two Shadow Arrows. The explosion was cataclysmic, leveling nearby houses and emitting a blinding flash of light that forced even Flower in her alley to shield her eyes and ready her portal.
When the light faded, the sphere, though cracked and flickering, still advanced.
Morde grinned. "Good. Now, the third arrow. Go."
The third Shadow Arrow struck. Another, slightly lesser explosion rocked the square. The sphere was on the verge of disintegration but held. As a new dust cloud bloomed from the impact, Morde saw his chance. He split the fourth and final arrow in two. He sent one half toward the dying sphere and the other, hidden within the dust cloud, directly at Fizz.
Fizz, believing he had won, never saw it coming.
The two remaining projectiles—the half-arrow and the sphere—collided in a final, silent eruption of pure black energy that swallowed all light and sound, turning the center of the square into a void. When it cleared, the sphere was gone, having released everything it had consumed as lifeless sand.
And Fizz stood frozen, a look of profound shock on his face. The other half of the final Shadow Arrow was buried in his chest. "Ah... clever... using the dust..." he gasped, blood trickling from his mouth, nose, and eyes. His heart began to decay within him. "Wouldn't have mattered... my power is spent..." He collapsed.
Morde staggered over to the fallen mage. "You... really pushed me," he admitted, his own wounds screaming.
King Arthur, bleeding profusely, crawled toward his friend. "Fizz... hey, Fizz... you're not dead, right? You're faking, right? Wake up, my friend, please!" He wept, clutching his own chest wound.
Morde looked down at the grieving king with utter contempt. "What kind of king are you? You couldn't even protect your friend. And you think you can protect this kingdom? HAHAHAHA! Isn't that what you said to me?" He raised his fist, dark energy coiling around it. "Now, it's your turn. DIE!"
He lunged for the final blow.
But a sudden, violent shockwave of pure white spiritual energy erupted between them, blasting Morde backward. He skidded across the ground, coming to a stop. As he looked up, his eyes, wide with a shock deeper than any pain, locked onto the new figure who had landed in the devastation.
"Y-YOU... KAAAII?!"
Standing between the fallen king and the shadow-bearer, his own white aura crackling with fury and resolve, was Kai.