Inevitable Conflict

Ereclaw watched the exchange in silence, though he had already seen what was going to happen. A good hunter knew how to read the forest, and everyone who lived there also understood this lesson. The two, Zach and the Grand Spirit, held their beliefs firmly, and neither would be willing to compromise. Even Zach, who might seem like he was willing to bend more often with his outward willingness to give chances, hid an iron will behind that open hand. It was made of determination and strength, always facing forward and never backing down.

The Grand Spirit had left them no choice. Zach took a step forward. "Very well then," He said as one hand turned into a blade and the other pulled out a sword from his storage. "Just as you cannot let me leave and interfere with your plans, neither can I allow you to aid someone whose goals mean death to innocents."

The great bear spirit raised its head and bared its teeth. Somehow, the old and once gentle looking spirit had its mask taken off, and now appeared far more ferocious. Ereclaw didn't know how he had misjudged it so, but now he saw what he had mistaken for kindness in its eyes to be an insatiable desire for knowledge of all kinds. A rabid hunger that had no end.

"You are still in the heart of my domain," the Grand Spirit said. "You stand no chance."

Zach's lips lifted in a pained smile. "It is you who don't understand," he said sadly, his voice dripping with sorrow. “You are right, it isn’t fair, but there must be a reason why we have been chosen, and why your kind are bound by your natures. You can’t push past the box that has always confined you, while we are all about advancement and change."

The Grand Spirit's eyes flashed with fury, and the spirits around it prepared for a confrontation. Ereclaw drew on his power and Oblivion responded to his summons. A wave of darkness flooded the room as Zach moved forward, everyone else joining in the momentary rush.

Ereclaw soared through the air, Oblivion quickly cutting away the gap between him and his prey, erasing space itself as he used his [Twilight’s Arrival]. He skidded into a beast-like spirit just as it leaped at Zach from behind. They both crashed against a wall, sending cracks spreading all around them. He raised his hand, its claws hidden in the abyss of Oblivion and swiped downward with the intention to eliminate anything that he touched.

The spirit burst into a blaze before Ereclaw could even take a swing, turning into an ephemeral substance made of orange flame. He stumbled away, leaving the fire to spread unchecked. The wall it was leaned on started to glow red, then the stone melted from the intensity of the flames. Ereclaw's fur caught fire and he dashed further away. He needed to give himself some distance.

The clamor of the fight raged on in the background, but he kept his attention focused on his adversary. The spirit circled him continually, its feet barely making contact with the floor, giving it an almost ethereal quality as it sailed around him.

An aura of Oblivion shrouded Ereclaw, and the heat on his body lessened, then disappeared as he actively erased all fire near him. The spirit was powerful, but so was Ereclaw. With intent firmly held in his mind, Ereclaw stepped forward and engaged the fire spirit head-on.

Naha darted through the corridors of the Castle of Knowledge, her silhouette fading in and out of view as she moved through the shadows. Through their link she could tell that Zach was conflicted, that he was trying to find a way out for everyone without spilling blood. Naha disagreed with that, she had spent a lot of her life trying to calm her base impulses, but this event had shown her that there were lines she would not allow to be crossed. Everyone should know and understand the consequences of crossing those that she loved. She could feel the old pieces of her, the ones that she had thought she had buried long ago, the parts of her that had been the Night Horror, resurface.

And she let them. The halls of the Castle of Knowledge were filled with the cries of the spirits that had come in her way. She didn't relish in the death that she had caused, but she had used those deaths to their fullest, to elicit fear at her sheer presence. To make every spirit who came upon a corpse and saw the carnage that she had left hesitate to follow after her. They were outnumbered, in foreign territory, and fear was a tool that she was proficient in using. She steeled her mind against what she was doing, trusting that the horrors that she left behind her had a purpose now. Her |Of Stalwart and Shadow's Mind| trembled inside her mind, keeping her focused on the task. She pushed her willpower into it, preventing her emotion and thoughts from impacting what she was doing. She had made a choice, and she would see it through.

She felt the pressure build up, then for a moment threaten to overwhelm, then it transformed. Her skill pushed past its boundary and evolved.

She slowed for a moment, as the world around her sharpened further, then with her new skill |I Stand Indomitable in the Shadow| she continued. Her course set.

Quickly she made her way through the Castle, her Shadow Hearing allowing her to hear everywhere in the Castle, in the entire territory around her, but she focused on Zach and his conversation. She knew him well enough to know when he made his decision, and timed her arrival appropriately. Her formless shadow, as dark and deep as the night's sky, seeped through the floor and into the room. Her presence in the shadows was like a black hole, sucking up all light in the room and plunging it into darkness. Her Shadow's Intent told her what the spirits would do before they even moved, and she moved to intercept them. Leaving the Grand Spirit for Zach.

—Grasp of Shadows—

Her Ideal sang in her mind, and she caught three of the spirits with with tendrils of shadow. She lunged forward into the mass of beast-like spirits, and with a flurry of motion and grace she eviscerated it. Life-blood spilling on the ground and then bursting into fire that burned bright and hot for a moment before extinguishing forever. Without missing a beat, the two spirits with blades for arms sliced at her shadows, yet she barely flinched. With a determination that burned in her soul, she focused all her attention on them, not allowing herself to be deterred by their razor-sharp weapons.

With her ideal, she shaped blades that attacked one of them, while she focused on the other. With her |Perfect Imitation: My Skill, Mirror Image| she faced off with one of the spirits, trading blow for blow as she imitated its styles. It put the spirit off balance, and Naha waited for the moment where it made a mistake. Its body was made out of metal, but with her |Perfect Fatal Flaw Sense: My Sense, Critical Sight| she saw the weak spot. Her sight might not be as good as Zach's, but it worked well enough.

She nimbly dodged the spirit's attacks, cutting into its metal bones with precision. Its alien screams of pain echoed throughout the chamber as it tried to fight back, but with every slash of her daggers the spirit grew more and more vulnerable. It screeched in agony as blades of inky shadow surrounded its form, forcing into its body, each blade of shadow honed in on the bones, crushing and tearing away its body until nothing but broken pieces remained.

With the death of the spirit, she turned to the last one.

Zach blinked through space, arriving in front of the towering Grand Spirit. He didn't know what kind of powers a Spirit of Knowledge could have, but he wasn't planning on giving it a chance to demonstrate it.

With a mental trigger he activated Time Stop just as the Grand Spirit finished writing a symbol in the air, a rune. He felt the pause of time wash over him just as he saw the Grand Spirit's clawed hand inscribe a rune in the air. He thrust his sword forward, the blade so fast that it was almost cutting the light in its wake, and then the rune flared with a brilliant pulse energy – and time resumed. The spirit lunged at Zach, claws outstretched and fury blazing in its eyes. The spirit blocked Zach's own attack just a sliver away from its throat, leaving him utterly exposed and vulnerable. Without thought, Zach spun away from his opponent’s onslaught and activated |Perfect Field of Frozen Time| hoping that this skill would be enough to protect himself from another attack. Just as before, the rune in the air pulsed with power and shattered his skill, but it gave him just enough time to dodge away from the attack.

Zach frowned, and looked in the Grand Spirit's eyes. It knew what his powers were, he was certain now. And it used what it had learned from the yeti to counter him perfectly. He knew that this spirit was as dangerous to him as any other foe, but there was also a strange sense of familiarity with it. They both sought knowledge, it was a cornerstone of their beings. They just disagreed with the methods. Neither spoke anything, they were beyond words now. Only their eyes met, silently conveying a message that both understood clearly. Only one of them would leave out of this room alive.