Chapter 21: Chapter 20
I lost track of time as I kept on battling the shadebeasts while attempting to incapacitate their summoner. It was clear to me that a normal attack wasn't going to work on him. So my options were to target the crystal held by the giant shadebeast in hopes that it would stop summoning the shadebeast hordes. And I had to do it quickly as I was running out of mana potions. My only saving grace was that I was not infected by miasma.
I conjured a large fireball and hurled it at the horde of approaching shadebeasts while simultaneously casting a wind spell to propel me away from the horde. I then casted the latter successively to make up a lot of distance between us before I began to cast another spell several magical circles appeared around me as the spells began manifesting. These included lightning bolts, fireballs, explosion bolts, Ice bolts and even windblasts.
I began pouring my mana into these spells as the horde was making its way closer. I then glanced at Kozra who was hiding behind the horde with in the distance. I took a huge breath, preparing myself for my upcoming attack as I was going to be pouring everything I had into this single barrage. Then, in the midst of chanting, one of my hands snaked its way to my pocket and grabbed the sling ring.
I then deftly used it to create a portal behind the creature holding the crystal and let the other spells lose, aiming them all at the portal. Both the beast and Kozra was shocked as the barrage of attacks came through the portal and began hitting both the beast, himself and the crystal. A thick smoke emerged as the spells hit their targets. Moreover, the sound of Kozra screaming in pain was music to my ears. And then, I saw the pursuing shadebeasts freeze in place, giving me hope that I had succeed.
When the smoke cleared, the saw the large shadebeast barely able to stand, the crystal now on the group and cracked at several different places and finally I saw Kozra with half of his torso and neck missing with his dead kind of dangling to the side. His robes were in tatters and his entire body had burns.
"Thats....enou...gh. " He spoke in a raspy voice with raged laced in it. "My .... na...me ... is Cass...ar...o .... Ko...zra ..... and...I wi....ll NOT..... be def....eated....by..... a spawn.....of a .....half...blood." He raised his remaining hand which now resembled a used matchstick. In response, I summoned Ullr and after enhancing my eyes with mana, I fired an arrow aimed straight at his forehead. Yet before it could hit, arrow was blocked by the large shadebeast who then curled up, shielding Kozra.
And so I took 2 from my last 4 mana potion and drank them in one gulp before rapidly shooting arrows enchanted with the explosion spell. Yet the shadebeast didn't budge. And then suddenly, i felt an unseen wave emerge from them. Almost immediately, I saw the shadebeast horde evaporate into a dark mist and converging on Kozra. This was followed by the crystal that also began to emit a dark mist before it lost its color and crumbled into pieces.
I redoubled my efforts trying to stop whatever it was that he was attempting yet it was of no use at the large shadebeast continued to shield Kozra. By the time he absorbed the mist I was almost out of mana once more and I drank another mana potion, leaving me with only a single one remaining.
The moment he absorbed the mist, A dark aura surrounded Kozra's vicinity and I had no choice but to wait until something changes. The aura faded away just as soon it had appeared, revealing the shadebeast which had somehow gotten even larger and now had an extra pair of arms on its back. And contrary to his previous hunched posture, it was standing upright just like a human.
But what alarmed me the most was Kozra's face emerging from its forehead. Kozra looked at me with fury in his eyes and he bellowed in anger. "No one will stand in the way of my destiny, not you not your ilk and not even Abbadon. I will force you to expose your secrets even if I have to tear you limb from limb. " he said in a demonic voice before the arms on its back raised themselves and a familar magical circle manifested on it. I stared in horror as Kozra casted Mistral wind on himself.
And then with a burst on speed comical for its size, the amalgamized behemoth began charging at me, rapidly closing the distance between us in mere seconds. And I fired several more arrows, targeting Kozra's face and the creatures joints in an effort to slow it down. Yet it was blocked when Kozra casted the Aegis shield on himself. "I took the liberty in indulging myself with some of your primitive spells." Kozra said mockingly.
It then lunged at me once it was close enough with one of its fists clenched I managed to evade it by jumping to the side before casting Mistral Winds on myself before the creature could make any follow-up attacks. Sure enough, Kozra sent another punch towards me while the arms on his back was preparing to cast another spell.
I switched Ullr for Dragnir and jumped on the incoming arm before using it as a stepping stone to jump over his head. I poured mana into both my arm and the blade and a blade made of fire emerged. And with the combination of the blade and my enhanced strength, it sliced through the arm like a knife through butter and sent the now severed arm flying through the air causing Kozra to yowl in pain before trying to grab me which I evaded by jumping off him back and landing near his feet.
I then swung Dragnir once more targeting the Achilles tendon of his right leg. Black miasma sprayed from the severed tendon and I immediately back stepped just in time to avoid the spray.
We continued this back and forth for a while yet neither of us could give a decisive blow to the other. I managed to evade his punches and interupt his spells but he was able to quickly regenerate from his wounds. Whereas I was quickly running out of steam and mana. Eventually, I used up my last mana potion and decided to gamble it all on a single strike.
I kept on dodging his attacks all the while focusing all my mana on Dragnir. And then evading a another punch from Kozra, I made my move. I swung Dragnir as hard as I could as I released all the power I had been gathering into the blade. A blade of flame even larger than what I had been using emerged, this time hot enough that even my runes were having a hard time withstanding it. I swung it straight at Kozras face. The later attempted to shield his face with his free arms but the blade easily cut through several of them before an explosion engulfed him.
I fell onto my knees as I felt my strength leave me. My runes lost their powers not long after and I was struggling to keep myself upright. I smirked victoriously as I saw no movements from within the smoke. Which quickly turned to horror as a large fist emerged from it and landed on my now unprotected body. In a single moment, I went from sitting to being hurled through the air with the wind knocked out of my lungs. I felt several of my bones break from the impact before I made contact with the ground.
I laid their wheezing and struggling to keep my consciousness in check as Kozra approached limping.
"Do you see now? I cannot, will not be stopped. Not by the likes of you. For it is my destiny to rule all of existence. Not Dormammu, not Abbadon or even the Beyonder. Its mine. Mine, mine mine mine mine!!!!" He yelled manically as one of his hand outstretched at me.
I tried to summon what little power I had left but it was no use as he came closer and closer. But then I felt it. Just like when I first unlocked my mana, and that night when I encountered the shadebeast. A string of unfamiliar energy beckoned and I mentally reached out and I found my self back at that place. It was at that moment i remembered where I had seen the tower. Unlike the delapidated one near me, the one in my vision was still in pristine condition and i stood right In front of the door to the entrance. The gathered my strength and pushed it open and felt myself fill up with energy.
I felt more powerful than I ever had been before as I opened my eyes to face Kozra. On instict, I delved into my ring and instead of any of the available weapons, my power beckoned something else. And it answered as an unkown weapon manifested into my hand, an old Thompson Contender.
I raised the gun and aimed it down at the shocked face of Kozra before pulling the trigger. Kozra didn't even got to fully realize his demise as both his and the face of the large shadebeast was obliterated by energy that was shot from the gun. And with that I embraced the darkness as i felt my strength leave me
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone