In the slums of Zalcien, atop a relatively clean and preserved building, was an office on its roof. Sitting at his pristine wooden desk the master of the area, looking over the last modifications to his defenses, dressed in his yellow three-piece suit over a white blouse partially covered by a cyan tie. The pair of slightly elongated ears framing the mane of grey hair that grew down to his shoulders twitched slightly, a rare sign of stress for the man as his piercing eyes studied the small metal orb held between two of his fingers while his free hand was rubbing his chin, covered by a thick yet short well-groomed beard. Runar had to admit, he hadn't expected Silhouette to come knocking down his doors, yet it made sense. Though he had underestimated his intelligence and power when he first sent the closest thing to a replacement Runarian Knight he had in the person of Grover, the fact remained he had been antagonizing the shadow wielder for a quite while now, dismissing the dark creature's obvious wish for peace and its apparent attempts at staying neutral. It was only logical that at some point the kicked dog would bite back, he just hadn't expected it to be so soon.

At least he had the reassurance of knowing most of his confidants were present and that Medraw was supposed to arrive for a report, and she undoubtedly noticed the attack. Knowing her, it was very probable she was currently following the most important members of the opposite side, waiting for an opportunity to strike, and he knew for a fact Speareau was already getting involved, having seen some parts of his namesake Flow technique earlier, though his work was too important for him to stop and see how the fight was going. The only unaccounted-for member of his elite troops would be Pierce Evil, and though Karadok had transmitted the emergency alert to all of their outposts, the runemaster doubted the hot-headed golden knight would return now. Despite Runar's best attempts the boy hadn't learned a thing, and he wouldn't be surprised to know he saw this attack as an opening to go after Silhouette's assets - and loathe as he was to agree with the insubordinate knight, Runar had to admit getting rid of any possible reinforcements that could come to save their leader or avenge his fall would be very beneficial.

The weapon Silhouette had used to start this attack had been quite impressive, and it was without shame that Runar would even admit it had him worried at first, but the fact there was no follow-up to this initial wave of darkness and that his building's runes had withstood the attack quickly eased him. Soon Karadok would be done making the runic cell they had to set up urgently, and with the Patcher's latest project enhanced by his work acting as a guard dog, it was only a matter of time until the corruptive shadow would be in his grasp. His only regret was the lack of time and resources to make all of his knights' equipment immune to the dark energy produced by Silhouette's spells and his men's weapons, but since such an extreme modification required essentially starting from scratch only his two latest works - Glapissant's enhancements and Pierce Evil's new armor - were fully immune. The others' armors had also been modified to better fight the living shadow, but not quite as effectively. Luckily he had managed to work in a few last-minute additions to Karadok's weapons and suit the previous day, not enough for immunity, but they would still be incredibly painful to deal with.

The elven man put down the runic bomb he had been studying and instead picked up the cup of tea his loyal orc had brought him before the attack began. He fought back a wince at the now lukewarm temperature of the liquid and forced himself to drink it all in one go, knowing that if he waited any longer it would grow even colder and the taste would worsen. Idly he wondered if this was the same cup he had used to teach Pierce Evil a lesson after his little unsanctioned raid and altercation with Black before fixing it when the golden knight was out of sight but dismissed the thought soon after. He owned more than one or two porcelain cups, and even if it was the same, it would be of no importance. This was merely his mind's best attempt to distract him to better cope with both the stress of the attack and the terrible taste of the beverage.

As he put down the cup a flash of light appeared at the center of the roof that made up his office, the telltale sign of a teleportation born from the shattering of a spatial crystal, and the runemaster frowned. The only person whose crystal was meant to bring them here instead of the closest crystal ball relay was his loyal right-hand man, and the orc should have no reason to use it unless there was a major emergency. His task after finishing the cell was not to return here but to join his brothers in arms and help them put an end to the attack and capture the enemy leader.

As the light faded it wasn't the towering form of the orc that revealed itself, but a silhouette that, despite having never in person before, Runar was very familiar with. A being of pure darkness, made of perfectly black material with no reflection, an uncannily oval head on top of a thin neck framed by two wide shoulders that ended in pointed tips directed at the sky, a body made of two convex lines that together formed a torso that slimmed down into a thin genie-like tail that widened back before meeting the ground, turning into an array of tentacles emerging from the shadows growing on the ground.

It was more out of reflex than genuine doubt that Runar sent mana through his runic lenses to analyze the creature before him, for he already knew who was the one standing before him - though he noticed a few odd shapes hidden in the depths of his target's energy.

"At last, we meet, Silhouette."

"You must be Runar, then."

Neither of the two missed how runes flared up around one and shadows grew from the other.

"I did not expect to see you in my office before you were at my service, but like always, you surprise me."

"Do not talk of me like a rebellious child. I wanted nothing to do with you, yet you kept on trying to enslave me again and again. Well here I am Runar, what now?"

"Now? Now I take matters into my own hands. Before we begin though, I believe we both would appreciate some privacy, no?"

As he spoke Runar pressed something on his desk, and suddenly the invisible bubble shielding the office from the world turned a solid blue, blocking the view from both sides.

"Now no one will spy on us. I have my secrets to keep, and neither of us wants the world to know what you can do. An assassin whose tricks are well-known is not a particularly effective one, wouldn't you agree?"

"I'm not your pet, Runar, even less so a dog for you to sic on your enemies."

The bearded man nodded sagely.

"Indeed. I realized it not so long ago, after hearing my knights' reports following our test at your warehouse, but now I know you can be so much more. Transformation truly is the Aspect with the most potential, wouldn't you agree?"

James was disliking the man in front of him more and more with every word he spoke. Instead of answering the runemaster, he fired off dozens of partially charged shadow bolts, the dark balls of energy flying through the air in curves as they closed in on the sitting man until they all dissipated at once, blasted away by a wave of an invisible kinetic force as soon as Runar pressed his finger against another part of his desk, his face perfectly unreadable.

"I expected more from you."

James stayed silent and instead threw another volley of projectiles, all the while he kept on spreading his shadows on the ground, taking care to keep them separated and to have them slither around rather than have them form a single mass, just in case there was some kind of trap on the floor. Every rune he had dealt with so far had been visible, but Runar had somehow activated multiple effects by touching the desk despite the wood not featuring any.

Runar's face had a natural scowl to it, but the frown deepened when he released another blast of energy, and this time instead of destroying the shadow bolts it merely batted them away to hit the shield surrounding them, and though they were faint both of them could already perceive the faint traces of corruption seeping into the protective barrier. It wasn't even enough for dark spots to appear on its blue surface, but the fact remained that it had been affected, and Runar didn't want to risk his shield collapsing as it did with Speareau's. In fact, for all he knew, a fully corrupted bubble might do worse than just go unstable and collapse.

This time the runemaster acted first and pressed yet another spot on his desk before launching a fistful of small metal balls at James, each one covered in runes, and they suddenly flew toward him, aiming at his bigger Silhouette form though they did go lower to the ground as they approached his shadows and tendrils on the ground, while at the same time orbs of blue energy fired off from the wood and arched in the air to circle James, floating around him in circles as the metal balls tried to force themselves into his body. James melted down into the ground just in time to avoid the orbs all suddenly aiming at where his torso had been and merging before exploding right as the metal balls changed their course and curved in the air to aim at the darkness spreading on the ground, each one going after one of the larger spots of shadows before they were all hit by black bolts of energy and dropped to the ground harmlessly.

As the various spherical objects were being dealt with, black spikes and tendrils rose from the shadows around Runar and went after him, and each time one of them got close to the runemaster he pressed his finger against his desk, each time a blast of kinetic energy going off and pushing back the incoming threats while his other hand went under the wooden furniture to control yet more hidden runes, small bursts of blue magic appearing on the office's floor and chasing away the shadows ever time, occasionally accompanied by binding chains of mana appearing out of nowhere and grasping at the darkness that took physical form, though every appendage or spike that got caught turned immaterial immediately to rejoin with the larger mas body on the ground.

Runar's frown deepened as he felt the corruptive tendrils trying to sneak into the solid bubble surrounding them, and the hand under his desk switched position. Now instead of hidden runes on the ground activating, the downpour of magical attacks came from the shield itself, ribbons and projectiles of blue energy emerging from the edges and the magically constructed ceiling of the office and raining down on the living darkness, the shadows twisting as though they were a tangle of eels to avoid the attacks while still slithering and eating away at the shield and lashing out at Runar and his desk.

Silhouette's form reemerged from the evermoving black on the ground next to Runar, and as the runemaster turned to address him the humanoid suddenly went up and bent back before violently striking down as yet another tentacle attack, and this time when Runar's finger pressed on the desk the energy released was enough to push back the attack, instead, the mass of shadows given flesh, though slowed, pressed on and the elven man had to block it himself with one of his white-gloved hands, the cloth covered in yet more runes catching the incoming strike with some difficulty before Runar let go of his desk with his other hand and punched Silhouette away with enough strength to tear him away from the rest of his shadows and to throw him against the closest wall of the shield. The black mass lost its humanoid form as it fell from the solid mana and merged back with the rest of the living darkness, but as Runar turned to put his hand back on his desk his eyes widened as he saw the once pristine wood turning black, and he gritted his teeth as he kicked hit away just in time to avoid the spike of shadows that emerged from it.

"Surrender, Runar. You have no hope of success."

The runemaster grunted as he stood up from his seat and rolled his neck.

"Congratulations, you ruined a perfectly good piece of furniture. I will admit you can do more than rely on your corruptive nature, and I underestimated you once more. Do not worry, this is the last time."

His hand rose to his tie, and another shield appeared around him just in time to catch dozens of dark projectiles coming from all directions before he pulled at the piece of cyan cloth which began to glow, it suddenly fell apart into particles of light that floated off to the side before coalescing into five distinct orbs, each one shielded from James' numerous attacks, before at once they shattered.

In the vacant space in front of the building, an abandoned white skeleton suddenly found itself without its ivory armor.

In the stairwell where the Shadow Commando and Techlord left their prisoner as they took on the third floor's forces, the armor of the unconscious knight and the straps of leather at his side vanished.

In front of Silhouette's warehouse, a burning man encased in metal became only a burning man, to the confusion of the people watching him die.

In a sealed room on the fourth floor of Runar's building, a knocked-out orc was freed by the disappearance of his equipment, and so was the abominable beast at his side.

In front of James, at Runar's sides, where once had been orbs of power, were now five hollow armors covered in glowing symbols wielding runic weapons. A white armor crowned by a frogmouth helm that still dripped with a dark green liquid that sizzled as it hit the ground, an armor of mostly chainmail with a three-eyed helmet with a hole in one shoulder and covered in impacts, a leather armor with a large open gambeson that seemed more at home on a cockroach than a person with a helmet tainted by dark fluids, a golden jousting armor that reeked of burned flesh, and a comparatively simple yet massive armor with mangled arms.

Runar spared a look at his reinforcements, and despite his best attempts couldn't hide the small disappointment that invaded his features.

"I was recalcitrant to resort to this, for it put my Knights at risk, but seeing their gear now..."

He let out a sigh before shaking his head, paying no mind to the dozens of dark projectiles that kept hitting the barrier between his enemy and himself as well as his guards.

"My poor Knights. Perhaps they yet live, but I doubt it. Had I still been blind to your potential, I would be outraged now, furious for you ruining my operation and killing my closest confidants. But I know your potential now, what you could be capable of, and I know you alone will be a more valuable asset than any of them ever were."

Runes of solid blue mana began to flow into existence from the palms of the white gloves on his hands as the hollow knights moved into position, Karadok's and Speareau's armors standing at the runemaster's side as the one made of chainmail disappeared from James' senses and Pierce Evil's golden suit approached him without breaching the barrier separating them, the humanoid leather bug following it

"These suits may find new owners, but there will only ever be one of you. Let me mirror your offer: surrender now, Silhouette, for you have no hope of victory against an Arthen and his knights."

The barrier within the greater bubble broke, but the metal suits stayed unmoving, waiting for the shadows' reaction.

From the darkness on the ground, emerging from the black mist that spread, a humanoid shape rose, and its faceless visage turned to the runemaster, impassible in front of the abyss turned to flesh.

"They have fallen. So will you."

Runar said nothing, but metal creaked as the hollow suits shifted, and the fight resumed.