There was an hour of rest between the previous round and the final round. That was because Captain Noel and Oga demolished the arena. The staff were working hard to repair it with magic.

I didn’t like my odds. Captain Noel was insanely powerful but Oga was stronger. His demon form was really scary. He could get 5 times stronger if he wanted to. I had a slight idea on how powerful he was. After all, he showed me his mana when he trained me on how to use Dark Magic. That pressure was suffocating.

“So? How are you going to deal with this?” Anya asked.

“I don’t really know... My only option in winning is to cut his ribbon. I don’t know how else I should fight. What can I possibly do with Dark Magic?”

Anya had a serious look.

“I said this before but I’m getting worried about the thing inside you”, she said.

“Thing inside me?” I asked.

“From what Moona said, you are probably the Primordial Dark’s vessel. That’s why I thought the presence inside you was it. However, every time you use Dark Magic, it’s becoming stronger. I feel uneasy about this”, Anya answered.

“But what else can I do? I can’t possibly defeat Oga without Dark Magic.”

“Then would you like a hint, young man?” a voice asked in the doorway.

The voice belonged to Yagoo and he flashed a warm smile.

“I’ve decided to talk to the finalists while they are repairing the stage until I overheard some things. It seems you are intimidated by Oga’s strength”, he said.

“Then do you have an idea on what I should do?” I asked.

“You are just using your own darkness. As the Primordial Dark, you have the authority to use every darkness in existence.”

“Use every darkness in existence?”

“Tell me this: have you ever talked to the Primordial Dark?”

I shook my head.

“Then that’s the first step you should take. A Primordial Being’s power is limitless. Try cooperating with it”, he said.

“Wait... Why do you know so much about Primordial Beings?” Anya asked.

“Let’s just say I’m one of your kind”, he said and left.

###

“Now... We are in the final round of the Idol Fan Tournament!” the referee announced and the crowd cheered.

“Presenting the Nothing Gang, the powerful demon Oga Aragami!!”

Oga walked to the stage while grinning.

“And we have Suisei’s champion, a master of Dark Magic, Mikage Kamishiro!!”

I arrived at the stage. The arena was completely repaired. There wasn’t a trace of destruction or anything. Magic sure was convenient.

“Yo, Mikage. We’re finally fighting each other, huh? You’ve improved since the last time I saw you use Dark Magic”, he said.

“Well... I’ve been through a lot. Besides, Anya is helping me out”, I replied.

“Oh yeah. It’s been quite some time since I last fought someone who uses Anya. You should do better than her.”

“Her?”

“Anya’s previous master. She was a pain to fight. Anyways, this is not the time for reminiscing about the past.”

“The final round of the Idol Fan Tournament. Both fans faced off against strong opponents and reached this round! Let your blades dance and magic go wild. Final round... Start!!!”

Darkness gathered around Oga’s fist and he charged at me. I made my shadow into a wall but he smashed it into pieces. Tch. He was strong. I wrapped darkness around my sword and swung it at Oga.

Oga blocked my attack by wrapping darkness around his arms. Anya said my strikes would be stronger if I wrapped darkness around her but Oga didn’t even flinch from my attack. I was definitely weaker than Captain Noel.... Heck, I might even be weaker than Arurandeisu.

“Shadow Companion!!” I shouted and my shadow turned into a humanoid warrior.

“You can’t defeat me on your own so you asked for help... That’s good”, Oga said.

We charged at Oga but he managed to toy with us. Even my Shadow Companion’s sharp claws couldn’t scratch the darkness wrapped around Oga’s arms. Captain Noel’s strength must be monstrous to make it crumble since my strikes couldn’t even scratch it.

I could use InfiNight Darkness and cut his ribbon like what I did with Temma.... But Oga was probably aware of that and could counter it. What should I do?

“So you use Anya for mana manipulation huh?” Oga asked as he punched my Shadow Companion.

“What about it?” I asked as I swung my sword.

“You do know you can do more with Anya, right? You’re not using her full powers.”

“What do you mean?”

“Try to find it out yourself. There’s no way I’m going to give hints to an opponent. Maybe we could talk about it over some drinks after all of this is over.”

Oga landed a punch on my stomach and knocked me away. I felt like throwing up my lunch but I held it in. His right fist then began to glow and he punched my Shadow Companion. It shattered into pieces.

Sorry, Mikage! It seems that the Shadow Companion took so much damage that it shattered! Shall we try another one?, Anya’s voice echoed in me.

What should I do? Oga was menacingly walking towards me. My stomach hurt like hell. At this rate, I would lose. It was a small chance but I had an idea.

I imagined that there was something inside me. Something like a swirling ball of darkness similar to the Primordial Memory. I channeled my thoughts towards it.

Hey... Primordial Dark?? Are you there?? It’s me, Mikage.... Sorry for not talking much but... I sort of need your help? Please respond.

There was nothing.

Mikage... What are you doing? Anya asked.

If she could facepalm, she would’ve done it already.

Oh well... It was worth a shot, I stood up and pointed my sword at Oga.

I then charged at him. He swung his fist but I avoided it in time. I tried to cut him but he blocked it with his darkness-enhanced arms. Without knowing anything, I received a blow from below and flew to the air.

When I looked at Oga as I was flying, I saw that his shadow turned into a fist and landed an uppercut on me. Crap... I was so focused on his arms that I forgot his shadow was also a weapon.

I landed on the ground and I was dizzy. My vision was dimming. This was bad... I was going to pass out...

It seems you need my help, an unknown voice echoed in my mind.

###

Did I hit him too hard? Oga wondered.

He thought it was sort of dishonorable to land a surprise attack but the fight was a free-for-all. Besides, he wanted to win the tournament for his friend.

“Oiii! Mikage! Are you still up? Or are you down?” he asked.

There was no response.

“It seems that Mikage is out for the count. The winner is-” the referee was about to announce the winner until it happened.

Everyone in the arena felt it. An eerie feeling appeared inside their minds. It was like staring at a deep dark abyss and having a thought that something was staring back. Oga knew that feeling well. He never thought he would feel it again. After all, it’s been 4000 years since he last felt it.

Darkness oozed out of Mikage’s body as he slowly stood up. He had a blank expression. There was no emotion on his face. It was like looking at a person who just woke up from a nap.

“You’re not Mikage... Who are you?” Oga asked.

Despite asking, he already had an idea on what he was facing. It was the same feeling from 4000 years ago when he fought in the Dark Times. He knew that the person in front of him was not Mikage but instead, it was the Primordial Dark.

50 Shadow Companions appeared in the arena. There were also 30 large four-legged beasts made up of darkness. A shadow dragon flew overhead and 40 small shadow bats appeared.

“T-This is insane! Mikage summoned a lot of creatures!!” the referee announced.

A huge burst of mana enveloped the entire stadium as Oga entered his demon form. Balls of fire, lightning, water, and wind appeared above him and several icicles appeared on his side. His arms were completely wrapped by darkness.

Mikage pointed his sword at Oga and all of the shadow creatures attacked at once.

It was an amazing fight. Oga single-handedly fought all of the creatures. He shot magic and threw punches as each creature crumbled. No one knew how much time passed since they were focused on Oga’s struggle. Mikage kept on producing shadow creatures to replace each one that was lost.

“This is getting nowhere!” Oga charged at Mikage and threw a punch.

However, a thick wall of darkness formed and blocked his attack. Oga threw 5 punches in 1 second and the wall shattered to pieces.

“Hey! Mikage! I know you’re there! Try to keep control of yourself! Don’t let the Primordial Dark take over you!” he shouted.

The shadow creatures surrounded him and he released a huge shockwave all around his body. He grabbed the tail of the Shadow Dragon and used it to maul the other shadow creatures. When he was done, he applied lightning magic on it and it crumbled to pieces.

More creatures made up of darkness appeared and Oga clicked his tongue.

“There’s no end to this”, he said.

###

I was in a very dark room. There was a huge black substance at the center. Strong winds blew from it so I couldn’t go near it. All I could feel from it was sadness. Where in the world was I?

I felt something tap my shoulder. When I turned around, I saw a white-haired girl. She had red skin, pointy ears, and orange eyes. Two large horns grew out of her forehead.

“You’re Anya’s new master, huh?” she asked.

“W-Who are you?” I asked.

“How do you do? My name is Yoclesh!” she grinned.