Then he saw it, Malcon's arms stretching unnaturally, the edges twisting and sharpening into blade-like forms.
At that moment, Malcon no longer looked human.
To Cage, he looked like a demon sent to bring his downfall.
Cage activated his ability. Hoping to get a glimpse of the future, but the future seemed to have arrived faster. As he saw Malcon standing in front of him, his bladed arm moving towards his neck.
Cage quickly bent down avoiding the blade, but instead met Malcon knees, which slammed at his jaw, sending him up again.
Malcon's body was getting stressed out, and he knew that was why he wanted to end the fight with all means possible before his body gave up on him.
Maintaining the pace between them, Cage was panting. His cloth was drenched with blood from the several cuts Malcon had given him.
'I should just yield' he said to himself, looking up and was surprised to see Malcon standing still, panting, as the shadow slowly wore off.
"I guess the tables have turned," Cage asked, smiling." I'll make sure you bleed just the way you made me," he added, as he ran towards Malcon.
From the sideline, Bane could see how pale Malcon looked. His legs were numb and could barely carry his weight, it looked as though he would stumble and fall anytime soon as he struggled to keep his eyes open. But Cage didn't seem to care, as he charged towards Malcon with his blade.
'No, no, no, no' mlaocn said to himself, not admiring defeat.
"Shadow craft" malcon said, using the last piece of mana he could muster. A small shadow pin slowly materialized in midair.
"Just yield," Cage yelled with frustration.
Pointing the shadow spike at Cage, he shot it, but Cage swiftly moved his head, allowing the spike to graze the air and pass him.
Malcon was knocked off his feet as Cage's fist crashed into his stomach.
The impact stole the air from his lungs, and his vision blurred. He felt his consciousness slipping.
"No, I can't lose," he said to himself as his consciousness completely drifted.
When he opened his eyes, he was no longer in the arena. A dimly lit room surrounded him. The ground was damp, and the steady drip of water echoed in the silence.
Looking up ahead, Malcon could feel an intense, powerful energy radiating from the dark.
"You're weaker than I expected," a voice said from the shadows.
It was cold, deep, and laced with power, each word echoing with an authority that made the air tremble.
"Try not to fail my pride again," the cold voice warned.
Suddenly Malcon felt a compelling raw energy flood into his body. It was overwhelming, wild, and Malcon suddenly felt very much alive.
Cage instinctively stepped back, his gaze locked on Malcon, who now stood still, something was different and he could feel it.
Cage, for some reason, felt like he would soon turn to a prey as he felt the surge of power growing in Malcon.
His breath quickened as beads of sweat rolled down his temples. The pounding sound of his heart echoed in his ears, thudding like a war drum, trying to break free from his chest.
"What is this…how?" he asked himself.
The shadow underneath Malcon slowly wrapped his body in a living armor of darkness, sleek and fearsome. Only his eyes remained visible, glowing a menacing crimson through the veil of black shadow that covered his entire body.
"No… I can do this," he muttered, Cage swallowed hard, forcing confidence into his trembling voice.
He quickly activated his ability, eager to get a glimpse of Malcon's next move again.
"Ahhhhh!" Cage shouted in pain. Blood streamed from his eyes like crimson tears, pain searing through his mind as if it were being torn apart from the inside.
With one of his hands slightly covering his eyes, he looked at Malcon who was still glaring at him, as though he was thinking of the best way to attack him.
Cage felt a sudden air waves smash into his face.
His eyes widened with fear as he saw Malcon standing in front of him, his fist moving towards his face. The pressure was so much that he wet his pants. Instinctively, Cage knew if that blow so much as graze his skin, he would drop dead.
A massive shockwave erupted across the arena, tearing through the air and sending chunks of earth flying in every direction.
Malcon suddenly dropped to the ground. And out of the haze of dust that covered the arena, they all saw Eckhard glowing blue eyes.
Two medics rushed in, picking both cage and Malcon who had both blacked out.
After the duel, the kids were asked to go back to their rooms while the captains were called to a meeting by the king.
"Firstly" the king started.
"I'd like to thank the captains who devoted their time to training these children."
"It's an honor, your Grace."
"Secondly," he continued. "Some of them impressed both me and Darius with their level of skills."
"indeed" Darius agreed.
"The boy who used mana magic as though he were at the rank of an expert, and to make everything worse. He had a breakthrough in his duel, entering the rank of a veteran." the king said, his tone filled with amazement.
"The second person," he continued. "Was his opponent. He displayed no ability but was very much advanced in his speed and strength."
"Adrian" the captain said. "He's the strongest among them," he added.
"as expected" Darius commented.
"The third Person who also amazed me was the mind control girl," the king said. " What's her name"
"Megan," the vice captain answered.
"But among all these people, none of them caught my attention like the Eden boy," the king finally said.
For a while, the room was quite like a graveyard.
"Darius" the king called. "What did you find out about Eden Malcon?" he asked.
"Mhmm mm" Darius coughed before starting.
"Eden Malcon is the last son of Eden mavis, who was known as the shadow viper" Darius announced.
"Mavis left the family house after their father's death. I could not get the reasons for his departure."
"You've done well, Darius," the king commented." was there any other information you were able to retrieve?" he asked.
"Yes, after Eden Mavis left his family home he settled at Diagon where he married and gave birth to two children. Eden Mal, and Eden Malcon. I also found out that Eden Mal was a prodigy blessed by the gods. As at a very young age, he attained power that was unbecoming even as an Eden. Eventually, he left diagon, and a few years later his head was found by the holy knight."
"Thank you for the information" the king appreciated. "Honestly, I am surprised because we were told many years ago that the shadow viper died." for a while he paused, thinking.
"There is a problem," he finally said.
"Shadow viper was the hair to the family's throne, if Eden Theodore, who is the current family leader, finds out that his brother's last son is alive, He'll tag him as a threat to his throne. But hopefully, it won't get to that" he finally said, smiling.
"Now let's get to the main reason why I called the meeting" his voice turning deep and serious.
"During the duel. I am sure you all felt what I felt?" he asked, looking around while they all nodded their heads in agreement.
"When… I grabbed his fist" Eckhard stammered.
"I felt an underworldly energy radiating from the boy"
Lets all hope is not something to invite the holy knight" the king commented. "Where is he now" he asked.
"the clinic"Eckhard answered.
"I'll go and visit him. This would be the end of the meeting, tomorrow the children should be teleported to Eleanor" the king said, leaving, and they all stood up and bowed.
The king was led to the hospital wing be a medic.
"Thank you" he said as she showed him Malcon,
and she bowed and left.
Malcon was innocently sleeping, the king tried to sense the underworldly presence he sensed during the duel, but he couldn't.
He placed his hand on malcon's chest, and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.
Opening his eyes, he saw himself in a dimly lit up space, the floor was damp and the sound of drops of water broke the silence of the room. He took a few steps forward, the sound of the echoing drops of water getting louder and louder.
Then he felt it, a sudden shock wave of death intent smashed into his face, an underworldly presence that choked him. He tried to breathe but he couldn't, he tried teleporting back to reality but he couldn't. Running out of oxygen, he fell to the ground, his face red as he struggled to breathe.
"Little mouse" a cold deep voice radiating with power and authority called from within the darkness of the room. Looking up, his eyes interlocked with two huge flaming red eyes, looking at the eyes alone he felt his life essence slowly being drawn from him.
"Little mouse, dears to enter my chambers" the voice said mock fully. The glowing red eyes still fixed on the king who was bleeding from his eyes and ears.
"Ha ha ha ha" the cold voice laughed, making the king bleed the more.
"Begone, little mouse" the voice said, as the eyes slowly faded into the darkness.