The light was obscured like a purple curtain by the shade of dust that hung over the forest.
Any average person would be choked by the ash and dust that hovered in the air. Not to mention that when that mixture touched the eyes, they would bleed. The cloaked man and Mytri stood opposite of each other, one silently observing and the other barely controlling his wrath as lava lit up the area with a tint of crimson everywhere.
The man in the cloak murmured, "The time has come," and he held out his arm, his skeletal fingers revealed by the shifting black cloak "Now, my beautiful Triads come forth."
Twenty-four green portals appeared behind him as he spoke, all of them whirling in the same direction. "This ought to be enough."
Mytri gripped his sword, and all twenty-four portals shattered into nothing in the same instant. Mytri cut at them with a speed far beyond human sight.
the cloaked figure turned back where the portals were.
"You're capable of that? That makes things more difficult," he replied in a hollow, grim voice. He took a step back and sank into a shadow behind him, leaving only a heavy silence behind. "You make me change. How intriguing."
A green glow emanated from the shadows surrounding the crater.
"Coward." Mytri muttered as he took a step forward and cut the crater into tiny cubes. In a matter of seconds the entire crater changed into an unrecognizable maze of cubes as they slowly accelerated downwards.
The cloaked man emerged from the shade of a cube, while the entire crater collapsed on itself.
"You've surprised me now. To prolong your death. Not that it matters," the cloaked man said, sounding uninterested. "Your fate is already written."
The man in the cloak suddenly turned back and ran into a forest. Mytri looked at him and a frown grew on his face. The corners of his mouth twitched rapidly as he looked into the forest.
Mytri gripped the hilt of his sword once again, with a slow exhale, he slashed horizontally through everything in sight.
Through the trunk of the tree, through the tall grass, and through stones. The slash reached its target. And the cloaked man jumped over it.
Just as he landed on the ground, every tree in Mytri's eyesight collapsed to the ground, revealing him.
"This was something. Are you sure? Won't she get mad? considering who this land belongs to," the hooded man spoke, in a hollow tone.
Mytri slammed his foot to the ground and soared over the freshly cut grass, towards the man.
Mytri kicked the cloaked man in his face and sent him to the ground. Then he slashed him countless times. But no attack reached him; surprisingly, the space in between him and his opponent actively grew by the amount of slashes.
The ground between them stretched like heated glass, bending and thinning, the air warping with it. What had been ten steps became a hundred.
The cloaked figure rose from the ground, brushing the dirt off his cloak, and looked slowly at Mytri. "Is that what your son was worth?"
A cord snapped in Mytri's patience; everything within him boiled, veins bulging across his face, corded and furious.
Something inside Mytri tore loose. His jaw locked until pain bloomed behind his eyes. The hand gripping the hilt began to tremble, not from fear, but from the sheer will to kill him.
He lunged at the figure and slashed and slashed at him. Even with each swing, the distance grew exponentially, but he resisted. Mytri gritted his teeth, and with small steps, he slowly came closer to him.
"This is … fascinating," the cloaked man said as he slowly moved backwards. "Never seen someone with sheer will defy my creation's power. You sure are a threat."
With each step Mytri slowly got closer to him. As the dust cloud thinned with each of his slashes, the light spilled onto the battleground.
A reflection of a thin, boney arm flashed lightly, enough for Mytri to notice. Without hesitation, he slashed at that exact spot he saw the figure.
And as his blade cut through something, suddenly arms, thin skeletal arms with sharp pointy fingers, hit the ground as a gurgling screech echoed through the emptied forest.
As the monster screeched, the space in between them ceased to expand, which allowed Mytri to finally reach the cloaked man.
"You sure left me without support; I didn't think I had to intervene myself. Let's see what you're capable of."
A man in the cloak jumped back and tightly gripped his hand for a second. Looking straight at Mytri, he opened his hand, revealing seven pitch-black orbs, slowly oozing and dripping to the ground.
At once, the orbs darted up and hovered just behind his head.
He pointed right at Mytri, and the orbs turned into piercing arrows and flew towards Mytri fast.
Mytri sliced them in half, one after another, but they kept coming. To his surprise, the oozing arrows slowly decayed his sword, the metal turning more and more black.
Seeing it left him no choice but to avoid the attacks. Jumping just in time to lead the arrows into the ground and surrounding fallen trees. He jumped from trunk to trunk, avoiding them.
But they kept on coming without any sign of stopping; rather, they accelerated.
"You see, the power of mine doesn't only keep the dead alive but also brings death upon anyone I desire."
"Death is beautiful, such a sight to behold. Truly only a god could do such a thing." The cloaked man said as he watched the death expand, taking the life of the fallen trees, grass, and anything that came near the place the oozing arrow hit, "Beautiful."
Mytri slashed his sword and sliced all seven orbs, which shattered them to pieces. Mytri gripped his left hand tightly; his gauntlet's fingertips shattered under pressure as his hands bled. "Who gave you the right to kill my son?"
The hooded figure looked up at Mytri, saying in a monotone voice, "I already told you, he would've been a threat to our goal."
"No. Who gave you the right to kill my son?" Mytri asked, his voice low and dark.
"I see… No one. I gave myself the right; that's what I am."
"I see… I don't care anymore… you… this capital… I don't care," Mytri muttered under his breath.
A sudden dark gloom overtook Mytri, a bright bluish glow overtook him; moments after that, the bluish glow deepened, darker and darker, until it became pure pitch black.
A shred of dread slammed into the hooded figure as he stepped back. He looked right at his leg. "No… can't be. Me?"
He immediately gripped both his hands tightly, and hundreds of oozing orbs flew behind his head, all of them spread unevenly from each other.
They all shot at the same moment like a cloud that tore apart, spilling its water right below onto the earth.
Thousands of oozing arrows shot right at Mytri.
The pitch-black glow surged along his sword, and he stepped forward. With each step he kept on slicing the oozing arrows. None reached him.
"You're a monster. Like nature." The man in the cloak said.
Mytri looked ahead at the hooded figure; his hollow, empty eyes saw him. His mouth grew agape as wrinkles around his mouth grew more prominent.
He bit down on his teeth, shouting, "How dare you take my son's life! My precious son's life! You call yourself god. You're no more than a dog, filthy cur."
Tears trickled down his cheek as his shout grew louder. "You better pray to yourself that you'll leave here with a limb intact. You took my son's life, my precious son's life!" Mytri said, "Now I will take something precious from you."
"I will take your life."
With all his force he lunged downwards, shattering the oozing orbs and arrows. The dust cloud that was hovering in the air disappeared instantly. The dark clouds that hung high disappeared instantly as rain began to pour like a hurricane.
Mytri sheathed his sword and dashed right up to the hooded figure, saying, "My fists will cause you more pain."
Mytri slammed him straight to the ground with his fist. He knelt right onto his ribcage; bones cracking echoed dimly.
The hooded figure looked up, saying with a hollow, deep voice, "Wait, aren't you a righteous swordsman that saves lives? How could you take one?"
"Who decided that?" Mytri said.
With a tight grip, he punched once, two times, five times, fifty times. Punches hurtled into the hooded figure relentlessly as he tried to escape, but Mytri's grip was too hard.
From underneath the hood pieces of bone flew out consistently with each punch. The hooded man's bones began to shatter, slicing through the cloak he was wearing. Bone after bone slowly broke apart from his body.
Hit after hit, he was unable to do anything, knowing that he did not have much time. If things kept on going like this, he gripped both his hands tightly, and oozing orbs flew straight above Mytri.
They began shooting at him, but with no care he took them on and kept punching the hooded man.
"You're… mad," as the man in the hood spoke, his skull necklace shone with white rays as he disappeared from underneath and appeared meters away. Taking this opportunity, he dashed and ran in the opposite direction of Mytri.
"You don't get to run." Mytri jumped after him, running atop his strength. He slammed into the hooded figure, crushing him into the ground.
"You give me no choice, Mytri." The hooded figure placed his hands onto the ground in between the fallen trees, and as he touched the ground, a pitch-black color began to spread everywhere across the terrain.
Whatever it touched died.
But Mytri stood right atop it; it did not have any effect on him in the slightest.
"You're pathetic." Mytri said as he slammed his foot into the man's back.
The hooded figure laughed as he sank into the ground, disappearing. "I'm pleased with your action."
"You're truly a joke; to think, such a pathetic, scared, and fearful man killed my son… I failed you… I should've been stricter…"
Mytri unsheathed his sword, and with a tight grip on his hilt, he sliced right into the ground. He kept on slicing far and wide, sending waves of pitch-black coating from his sword through the ground, dozens of meters deep and hundreds of meters wide. He sliced right through the ground.
The way he sliced the crater into tiny cubes, he did to the ground underneath him. But now he cared not for the consequences. He sliced and sliced till the tiny cubes turned into dust.
Mytri looked around as he slowly descended downwards while looking for the hooded figure.
He noticed him right away, and as he landed, he jumped right towards him.
"Truly, you gave me enough time to prepare. That's something I have to give you. Your rage is truly blinding you."
The hooded man stood over the now created crater as a bluish portal emanated a bluish glow behind him.
"Thank you. If not for the time you've given me, I would've died here. But rest assured. My words will come true. "The hooded figure turned towards the portal and slowly walked into it, saying, 'Afterwards, say hello to your son from me."
Mytri shouted at the top of his lungs, "YOU MONSTER!" He channeled every bit of his strength. mana into this single attack.
The ground and air shook as he gripped his sword tightly. A crack appeared alongside its hilt.
With a single arched slice everything went silent. Suddenly a deafening scratch screamed through the air. Everything shook: air, ground, fallen trees, even the dust in the air.
The hooded man stepped right into the portal as it was sliced in half, everything. The ground evaporated from the attack; the attack traveled through the devastated battlefield, through a fresh forest, and into ancient trees that were acting as castle walls. His attack evaporated the ancient trees into nothingness.
The attack traveled far and wide as it slowly ceased on the walls on a mountain, dozens of kilometers away.
Mytri fell to the ground; with a fist, he slammed the ground as it cracked. "I'm… a failure!"