“Don’t shout. It’s annoying,” said a voice out of the darkness.

“Ah!” Lakshman exclaimed in shock.

In this complete darkness, he had thought he was all alone. Except for the ground, he could not see or touch anything else. So to suddenly hear a voice from the darkness was quiet frightening, especially when the voice sounded very powerful.

“Um... Who’s there?”

“I’m the one who’s asking questions! You be silent!”

Again, the voice sounded aggressively powerful and it caused Lakshman to go quiet. He tried to get up when he suddenly felt a dangerous aura flowing towards him. Not wanting to anger whoever it was in the dark, he remained sitting where he fell.

“Now...! Identify yourself! Who are you, imposter?!”

“Ah...” Lakshman began and hesitated.

He was taken aback by the question. From how the man was asking him, Lakshman suddenly realised something when the voice had called him an imposter.

“He knows...” Lakshman thought quietly and he slowly crept his hand towards his other sword.

At that moment, a powerful was sent at him. It caused the sword strap to be cut and sent the sword flying into the darkness. Lakshman was now left with nothing, but his hands against the unknown person in the dark.

“No more games! Now! Who are you and why are you impersonating the Phoenix Titan?!”

The voice sounded angry as more and more power built up. It seemed the owner of the voice was nearing his patience while he wanted for a reply from Lakshman.

Lakshman did not know what to say. The plan was a secret and knowing it will get him and everyone involved into trouble. He did not like the idea and wanted to do something, but he did not know what. His mind was going blank with each attempt to think of a way out of this mess.

“I... I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Lakshman said firmly, but he could not hide his nervousness.

“Don’t lie to me!” the voice sudden shouted and a powerful wave of energy was unleashed.

Lakshman was shocked at the amount that was being released. He was certain that he will get seriously injured if he does not do something soon. On that note, he actually has no clue what to do when his Phoenix Blade, Tetra, was not with him.

“Fine! Pay the ultimate price of tarnishing the pride of the Phoenix to impersonate the Phoenix Titan, you lowlife human loser!”

With that, there was a sound of sword being unsheathed. Then it began to glow in the dark as the figure held it in his hands. It was the only thing eliminated in the dark and Lakshman had to cover his eyes to avoid the glare.

“Perish!” the voice shouted and lunged at him.

Lakshman widened his eyes in shock. He was wearing the Phoenix Armour, but even that cannot hope to stop something of that scale. Realising there was no way out, he closed his eyes and concentrated only on one thing; to call his sword.

Then his eyes flashed open and he shouted “Tetra!”

“Master?!” Tetra suddenly said when she heard his distress call.

She was still in her Phoenix Blade form while trapped inside the barrier. However, on his call, she began to emit power that began to crack the barrier. The Phintex Rajas kept pressuring the barrier to stay, but they were no match to the power of a legendary weapon.

With a bang, the barrier was destroyed. In an instant, the Phoenix Blade transformed into a ball of light and flew into the distance at incredible speeds. It looked like a shoot star to any eye that caught its flight.

It left the capital and headed straight at a mountain. Without pause or hesitation, she smashed straight through the top layer of the mountain. The ball of light kept digging towards the deeper layers of the mountain with incredible force.

Then it broke out and appeared in a room covered in darkness. The darkness quickly began to disperse from the powerful glow the ball of energy. It soared straight down to where Lakshman was sitting.

“Master! I’m here!” Tetra said and he heard her voice in his mind.

Lakshman jumped to his feet and stretched his hand out. There was a flash of light where the ball of light made impact with his hand. Next moment, the ball of light transformed into the Phoenix Blade as Lakshman held it firmly in his hand.

The next moment, he heard felt the powerful surge of energy behind him. He quickly turned around and, while gathering large quantity of energy into his sword. Then the two swords clashed causing the two warriors to stand off.

“What?!”

Lakshman heard the voice exclaim in the darkness as he suddenly found himself fighting against the Phoenix Blade. Taking this as his opportunity, Lakshman started to push forward. The man was struggling to gold hold his ground and Lakshman felt the hesitation and took it.

“AAAAAAHHH!!” Lakshman yelled and swiped his sword at him.

As he swung his sword, he released a powerful energy. It sent the man flying into the distance before crashing into something solid. There was the sound of broken rubble hitting the ground as the man slid to the ground with a thud.

Then Lakshman could hear the voices of unknown people suddenly appearing. Doors opened and light was streamed into this room.

“Ah! Sir!”

“Oh no! He’s wounded!”

The people rushed towards the fallen man worriedly. Lakshman stood there with his sword lowered. He was taken aback at the sudden urgency as they worked to heal the man.

Then the voice of the man said “It’s fine...! I’m okay...!”

The voice of the man sounded familiar to Lakshman, but he could not place it together. He had heard that voice a long time ago. Then it suddenly hit him and he was shocked at how stupid he was at not recognising it in the first place.

“Tetra! Shine the room for us,” Lakshman asked Tetra in his mind.

“Understood, master. Flashing Lights!” Tetra said in his mind.

In an instant, his sword began to glowing brightly and several balls of light were released into the air. They floated around and began to glow light. The darkness of the room suddenly looked alive as light was thrown everywhere.

“Ah! No! Take out the lights!” Lakshman heard the man’s voice suddenly shout.

At that moment, the lights brought most of the room into view. As the light hovered the man, Lakshman was shocked to see something horrifying.

“Felix...? Felix!” Lakshman shouted as he confirmed who it was.

The man indeed was Felix Phoron, the Phoenix Emperor, but his face was distorted. Half of it was covered in black with strange eyes. It was as if something was attached to him and made him look like that.

Felix looked towards him with wide eyes. Lakshman felt a little creeped out by how the right side of his face was black with red markings covering it. He did not understand what that black stuff or the red markings were.

“Turn the lights off! Take them out!” Felix shouted as he desperately tried to cover himself.

“F-Felix...” Lakshman said in a low voice and he looked unhappily at how sad Felix’s appearance was.

At that moment, Tetra suddenly said in his mind “Master. Felix is being corrupted from the inside! We must destroy it before it completely takes over him!”

“Felix is cursed? Damn...! Will Transcendent Blade and Transcendent Talk work?”

“Naturally, but remember, master! This is an extremely powerful curse! If you don’t do it properly, you will also be corrupted!”

“I know...!” Lakshman said in a firm voice.

He instantly raised his sword into the air and shouted “Transcendent Blade!”

The Phoenix Blade began to glow in a bright glow of white light. It was far brighter than what the balls of light were casting around the room. Then Lakshman used a wave of energy that he released from his hand to make the people get away from Felix.

Felix, hearing his words, realised what the Sacred Armoured Phoenix Titan was planning to do.

“Transcendent Blade...? Wait! Stop it, imposter! You’re not powerful enough to deal with this!”

“I don’t care if, but I won’t stand down when there’s a problem right in front of me!” Lakshman shouted.

The next second, he darted forward and brought his sword forward. The people tried to stop him, but they were no match to his movement speed. He instantly avoided and stabbed Felix in the forehead.

“Transcendent Talk!”

There was a violent flash of light and everything became pure white. Lakshman opened his eyes and was surprised to see raging flames around him. They were like the sea of flames bowing around the wind. Then he noticed the blackness in front of him and it stunned him.

It was a dangerous looking black creature with four legs on each side, sharp pincers and a long pointy tail. Lakshman had read about this creature to be called a Scorpius. Lakshman had heard how the monster was ferocious and dangerous to be near.

Lakshman was confused as to why such a monster was here. Then he reasoned that the corruption took on the form of a Scorpius. It was twice as big as him and looked really aggressive as it attacked the flames.

“So that’s the corruption...!” Lakshman said in a low voice as he faced it.

The corrupting was slowly turning the flames colder and colder. Lakshman could feel it slowly getting closer to where he was. Where he stood was the area where the core of the mind is and there will be trouble if that gets corrupted.

“Not today! Not ever!” Lakshman shouted and he brandished a sword that magically appeared.

Quickly gathering large quantities of power into the sword, he lunged forward and soared straight at it. As it reached it, the reptile-like creature swung its pincers and sent a black wave at him. Lakshman suddenly found himself facing the dangerous force of the corruption.

Using his sword, he stood his ground. He tried to push forward, but it was no use. The corrupted energy was far stronger than he anticipated it to be. It began to push him back as he struggled to maintain his ground against it.

Then he heard a familiar voice said “How pathetic! You’ve become so strong, yet haven’t changed one bit!”

“That voice! D-Decisive Player?!” Lakshman shouted in shock.

“Ah! So you remember me after all! That’s good. I was starting to worry that you forgot about me being inside of you.”

“No! How can you expect me forget when that wasn’t a dream?!”

The Decisive Player laughed and said “Well...! Seems like you’re in a pinch! Struggling to destroy the Corruption Force even though you’ve overcome thousand times gravity training?”

“That’s different and this is different!” Lakshman shouted.

“Oh really? Stupid! Everything is connected! Your training made you become strong! Now use that strength to beat this thing!”

“How?! It’s pure twisted power and my powers aren’t working at all!”

“That’s because you’re not using the right technique! Corruption Force can be destroyed with the power of light! Pure and transcending light!”

“Okay, but I don’t know any techniques like that!”

“There is one you can use right now, but you will need to give everything you got into it! You got that?! Everything!”

“Alright! I’ll do it! What is it?”

The Decisive Player took a deep breath and said “The Blade of Light!”

When he said those words, images began to flow into Lakshman’s minds. The Blade of Light was a sword that reached as far as the sky and can cut down anything in its path. Over the years, many Phoenix Titans used it to cut down destructive and evil forces.

“Ugh...” Lakshman groaned and he clutched his head as it hurt a little.

The images showed him exactly what he needed to do. It was simple, but it was also one of the mightiest techniques.

“I know what to do now!” Lakshman said quietly.

As he struggled, he created a small ball of energy that caused an explosion there. Then, as he jumped into the air, he raised his sword above his head.

Then he started screaming “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

His sword transformed into a blinding light and it grew taller and taller until it was really high. The monster covered itself and screeched angrily at the sudden surge of power.

Lakshman looked down at the monster and shouted “Blade of Light!”

Then he swung the brightly glowing sword down at the monster. On impact, there was violent flash of white light that blinded everything. Throughout it all, Lakshman heard the loud screeching of the monster before only silence remained.

Back in reality, there was a sudden shock and Lakshman was blasted away. As he crashed on the ground, the armour was destroyed and he appeared as his thirteen year old self. There he lay on the ground while groaning softly.

“Master! Master!”

The voices of the people suddenly rang as they hurried to Felix’s side. Lakshman felt a little annoyed that they completely ignored him. Then he saw a hand stretching towards him. He looked up and saw Tetra there with her hand out for him.

“How are you feeling, master?” Tetra asked him with a worried expression on her face.

“I’m fine!” Lakshman said and they smiled at each other.

Grabbing it, she heaved him until he was able to sit down. Then he saw that Felix had closed his eyes and seemed to be asleep. All the black stuff with red markings have disappeared. He now appeared as the person that Lakshman remembered him to be.

Then Felix slowly groaned and he opened his eyes. He had a surprised expression on his face and he checked his body as if he could not believe what he saw. Then he made the people around him to move aside and he looked directly at Lakshman.

Seeing everyone looking at him, Lakshman became nervous and asked “Um... Is something on my face?”

Felix chuckled and said “No. Rather, I am truly grateful that you saved my life, Lakshman. I and the other Phoenix Sages have tried to cure this curse off me, but it seemed you were the one that I needed to save me from it.”

“Ah...! It was nothing, really!” Lakshman said and he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

Seeing him scratching the back of his head in embarrassment reminded him of his father, Indra. Lakshman’s father and Felix were best friends and they have been for a long time. To the resemblance of father and son was similar.

Then he looked towards the girl standing beside Lakshman. For a second, he was confused because he did not recognise the girl. Then his eyes widened as he suddenly saw a shadowy figure of the Phoenix Blade hovering above her head. That was when he realises she was the manifested form of the Sacred Spirit, Tetra.

Felix began to laugh much to the surprise of everyone around. His wife, Rasha and their daughter, Sasha, came into the room through one of the doors looking surprised. Seeing their husband and father cured, they rushed over and hugged him.

“I should’ve realised it from the very beginning, but it seems I was too busy to notice the legend coming true,” Felix said once they separated.

“What legend, dad?” Sasha asked curiously.

Felix smiled and looked at Lakshman who looked confused.

“That man standing over there, Lakshman Reddy, is destined to be the Phoenix Titan.”

When he finished speaking, there was only silence within the room. There everyone, including Lakshman, let out cries of shock.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHH?!”