From all corners of the space, shadows emerged, flowing and pooling underneath his feet.
Nago, his shadowy spirit, laughed with a bright glow in his eyes as he soon after dissolved within the ocean of darkness…
This thick dusk crawled up onto Adam's feet and immediately spread towards his severed arm, completely replacing it with one made completely out of shadows. And from there, the energy continued to flow up, reaching his neck until it completely covered his grinning face in the thick, uniform, darkened scales.
The shadows all around him hardened and formed into shapes, like a skin-like armour of scales, two massive wings springing out as he opened his claws and let out a piercing roar that shook the entire bubble around and destroyed some of the still falling hail that was then immediately stopped by the dome of darkness raised throughout the space.
"NOW FACE MEEEE!! KANEEE!!"
The laughter and excitement could be seen on his transformed face even more so than that of his original. His jagged pearly white teeth were always open and the sheer passion in his now beating red eyes was unlike anything the crowd had ever seen from him before or even imagined— Especially considering this was nothing like the silent, laid back and sombre Adam Walker they knew for their whole lives.
In the face of this ever-growing darkness looming over him and the wind blowing upon his face from his opponent's roar, Moby calmly stood his ground with that now all too familiar expression of confidence, seemingly unphased. And by simply closing his eyes and spreading his arms wide, he began his retaliation.
"Gladly…"
The flowing darkness began to sidestep where Moby stood as energy began pouring and flowing all around him, one ominous, pitch black, and dark in nature, far different from that of his opponent.
Such energy made the already trembling ground exponentially more unstable. His aura followed his body up, forming into scale-plated armour and gauntlets that possessed sharp, demonic claws.
Honed black scales slowly crawled up his face and stopped sitting firmly under his eyes in a serrated state. The shoulder pads were not at all symmetrical, the right one being far more spiked than the other that looked very lacking in comparison.
Scaly wings that were bat or maybe even draconic in nature spread wide behind his back, and similarly, patterned scales extended from his neck all the way towards his glowing eyes, jagged and rough around the edges.
In fact, the same could be said about the rest of his appearance, it lacked polish. It was unbalanced, some parts seemed to be completely missing and others were mismatched.
In all places, the crowd never expected to see such a thing here… An incomplete spirit mode. Yet, even at such a sight, no one dared to raise their voice in protest, after all, the energy and presence expelling out of that man were undeniable…
In many ways, these two spirit forms looked very similar, and in others, they seemed completely unique. Thus, the question on everyone's mind was: through this now ever-thickening darkened arena, who will emerge victorious?
"GOOD!!" Adam laughed. "Now let's go!" He waved his hands, and an army of Nago spirit summons emerged out of the darkness at his feet like a small battalion that he sent.
And once again, in the face of such a force, Moby's smiling composure remained as he nodded and rushed straight into battle.
He opened his left fist up in black and purple light, and after crushing it, the falling hail that was once blocked by the dome of shadows began to once again rain down, cracking and breaking through the erected barriers with more power and ferocity than before.
These large spikes of hail made their mark on Adam's summons who shrieked in defeat, and allowed Moby a perfect way in with his teleportation.
The battle that ensued could only be described in one word… Legendary.
Their abilities perfectly complemented and countered each other. Moby's clones that he used to trick his opponent and confuse him with teleportation proved to be excellent distractions for the ever-growing army of summons, and Adam's crafty manipulation of his shadows was perfectly matched by Moby's purple ice.
Nothing but the sound of weapons clanking and the ghastly whales of dark energy filled the arena. All sat silent, sweating uncontrollably watching the fight… That was, assuming they could even watch the fight. Everything moved so fast that even the strongest beings sat in the crowd struggled to keep track of their movements as they flew zooming across the skies like dark blurs.
The power ceiling seemed to have no limits, the more they fought, the more insane it all became
The barriers placed to protect the crowd began to crack aggressively, more and more as the fight continued to the point that staff was forced to reinforce it as they fought.
Yet, despite that fact, the two fighters never acknowledged that nor once ceased battle— They were far too lost in the adrenaline and rush of combat to even care about anything else, and that fact was especially true for the openly beaming Adam.
♦️ ♦️ ♦️
"So, Vilhelm, have you changed your mind yet?" Ashley Orbec smirked and nudged the man to her side who leant forward in his seat almost unable to believe his eyes.
"Y— y… Yes Ash… I— I believe you okay! This Kane is no joke, even with his incomplete spirit mode…" He gulped. "If this is how strong he is when it's incomplete, it scares me to think how he'll be once it gets perfected…"
"So, you ready to hand over that guild weapon of yours yet!?" She burst out laughing.
"EH!? Calm down there! Who said I think he's gonna win!" Vilhelm immediately turned his head. "It's a close match, but Adam's still gonna squeak it out! Right supreme general!" He looked over to his superior looking for comfort.
"Ho ho! Yes yes! Don't worry, leader of the hunters guild. My grandson is guaranteed victory. Most certainly so!" He confidently stroked his beard with his left.
"Hmm? Are you sure about that supreme general? Your sweaty face and shaking right hand of yours sure tell a different story! You may be trying to hide it, but I can see through the cracks clear as day! You shouldn't give him false hope you know." She smugly retorted.
"..."
"Ah—"
The fellow judges who sat all-around promptly stopped what they were doing as they stared directly towards Ashley with apprehensive expressions.
'Did she really just say that?' they all thought in unison.
For all their lives, they never once heard the supreme general be addressed in such a way and they expected to see some consequences…
Yet, despite all they thought, that was not at all what she received…
"Haha! You think so miss Orbec? I understand that I may not always predict things right, but your words may have been too harsh no? Nevertheless, we'll see in the end who's right and wrong! Oh, in fact, the match seems to be coming to an end now!" He assuredly acknowledged and leaned back onto his seat, which led the eyes of the judges away from him and back glued on the fight below.
♦️ ♦️ ♦️
Abruptly, the seemingly never-ending hail falling from above ended, and the cracked dome of shadows closed from above, never to be opened again…
As a result, the Arena darkened, and the thick miasma of Adam's shadows finally began to take root.
That was the first time the fight had stopped for even a moment as the two severely injured and heavily breathing fighters acknowledged what had happened with two drastically different reactions.
Adam's smile now extended two his pointy ears, and his eyes were now the only light that could be seen from within the space.
For the first time, a look of true panic appeared on Moby's visage… His source for escape and teleportation was no more, and he was now defenceless in the face of Adam's crippled yet still potent power.
It was a moment that Adam could not allow himself to pass, thus he swiftly acted. With his newly summoned minions unhindered, he surrounded Moby from all sides. There was no escape as they slashed and bombarded him while he tried his best to use his ice as a shield.
"Surprisingly resilient…" Adam commented. "But that ice can't save you from this!" He hoisted his right arm up in the air in magnificent spectacle, and the shadows all around Moby began to dissolve and mould into a new form.
Together, they combined in a new figure, that of a perfect sphere, a floating ball that completely encased Moby's entire body.
Whatever material that shadow was made of, it was solid to the core.
The sound of heavy echoing of crashes emanated through the inky void as Moby hurled his hands from the inside trying to escape, yet no matter how much he tried, it all proved to be futile… The ball did not crack nor did it even vibrate anything substantial.
The sound of Moby's attempts at escape sounded like music to Adam's ears as his twitching arms continued to keep the ball afloat.
"Ha… haha… It's finally over Kane! This! This was it! Although it's now over, you did not disappoint! That was by far the best time of my life! Thank you so much! But don't think this is over! We will fight again! And next time! I will be stronger! And I hope you will be too! But for now… GOODBYE!!"
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