Book 5, Chapter 59 - Cornered

The instant Ja.n.u.s’ dagger pierced his skin, Cloudhawk felt the toxins begin to spread through his body . It felt like fire was being injected into him .

Luckily it was just a matter of the flesh . Cloudhawk had nothing to fear from poison .

Ja.n.u.s must have known this one strike would not have been enough for he prepared to tear open a deadly gash through in his target’s frame . But as the a.s.sa.s.sin heaved, he suddenly felt his grip grow lax . Cloudhawk had engaged his phase ability and spun around with Arden Wrath cutting a deadly arc .

A ferocious cut followed, cleaving Ja.n.u.s apart at the waist!

For the third time, Skycloud’s master a.s.sa.s.sin was slain .  

Both halves of the man wafted away from each other like leaves on the wind, and settled upon the ground five meters apart . Only a handful of creatures could survive a wound like that, none of them typical humans .

But the mysterious patriarch of the Umbra family would not stay down .

Cloudhawk made sure to watch carefully . As he stared he saw the borders of that figure begin to dissolve into smoke before the two halves of the figure vanished entirely .

Of course, that wasn’t real . No wonder he’d been able to land blows so easily .

Cloudhawk looked around, this time finding more than one of the man . Shadows descended on him from several directions, each one masked in the same way and watching with soulless eyes . The daggers in their grip seemed real enough, were they all copies?

So that was his secret . No wonder he seemed invincible . It was certainly a unique skill, but something about it made him think of Adder .

Adder had been able to summon mirror images through high-grade relic . The doppelgangers it created were near-perfect replicas that copied the form and even the relics of its target . Such a relic had made Adder one of the most terrible enemies Cloudhawk had ever faced . Luck had played a big role in his victory that day under the G.o.d Tree .

However, Ja.n.u.s’ ability had a distinct difference from Adder’s .

Adder’s crystal mirror summoned copies of whatever he liked, but Ja.n.u.s’ mirror images were limited to himself . The former could replicate anything, however they were weaker than the original and capped at four or five copies . Ja.n.u.s’ relic was specialized, thus creating more powerful mirror images and in greater numbers .

Three… five… ten… twenty…

Shadow after shadow swept toward him like a flood of nightmares, appearing from the ether and gaining substance as they neared . There seemed to be no end of them .

Cloudhawk suddenly found himself alone in a sea of deadpan eyes . Each shadow was perfectly identical and it was impossible for him to pick out the true a.s.sa.s.sin .

It was no wonder this man was the head of the Umbra family, the leader of the Court of Shadows and Skycloud’s ultimate a.s.sa.s.sin .

The physicality of these copies was very weak . All of their power was concentrated in their attacks, whose strikes were as deadly as the original . But with each subsequent attack the copies became weaker .  

That was how Cloudhawk had been able to cut down several already . a.s.sa.s.sins were not warriors, they didn’t fare well in protracted battles . They were trained to eliminate their target in one blow, so a single opportunity was all they needed .

Ten of the shadows closed in one Cloudhawk and struck in unison . It was a frightening scene, for this singular attack was delivered by Skycloud’s foremost killer, ten times in the same moment .

Cloudhawk’s eyes slid toward Daen, motionless on the ground . He took a deep breath, sheathed Ardent Wrath on his back and retrieved the Rekindling Lens from a pocket . First he would have to heal the wound in her chest .

But Ja.n.u.s would not stand idly by and allow him the chance . Cloudhawk was immune to his poison? They he would just have to kill him the old fas.h.i.+oned way, cutting him to pieces!

Those ten copies dissolved into smoke and were carried away by the wind . A moment later four more appeared right beside Cloudhawk . They attacked him with incredible speed .

More followed, wave after wave converging on a single point .

Meanwhile Cloudhawk remained with his feet planted and did not move . All around him grim specters groped with lethal intent . Ja.n.u.s could be just as deadly as a Master Demonhunter, but his attacks were fundamentally different .

The likes of Arcturus and the Crimson One relied on psychic power, and had it in spades . When they summoned that strength the results of their power shook the earth .

Ja.n.u.s’ strikes, on the other hand, were not showy or sensational . They were a single adjective, taken to the extreme – fast!

Unbelievably fast, supplemented by an a.s.sa.s.sin’s deadly precision and stealth .

Cloudhawk found himself the dead center of a killing field .

For this reason Cloudhawk made no effort to protect himself . He knew he couldn’t match Ja.n.u.s’ speed, especially not ten of him . Instead he gathered his mental energies, took a breath, and let it go .

A torrent of green fire erupted from him . Before anyone knew what was happening it had consumed an area ten meters in every direction . Ja.n.u.s’ copies were instantly destroyed . Yet despite the orb of deadly fire it was no use . The a.s.sa.s.sin’s shadows were all-pervasive and slipped through even the smallest gaps between the flames . They racked their sickly daggers against Cloudhawk’s flesh and left a number of gashes .

“Get the f.u.c.k away from me!”

Cloudhawk roared and urged the fires forth like a tidal wave . More of the mirror images were obliterated .

As his fury raged a huge swath of ground around him was blasted by divine fire . It swelled out in every direction, an orb of all-consuming power with him at the epicenter . With no were to hide, the twenty or thirty specters around Cloudhawk were erased .

Yet in a display that robbed him of hope, the number of Ja.n.u.s’ copies was not affected . In fact, they increased .

The real a.s.sa.s.sin was hiding somewhere Cloudhawk could not pin down . He was controlling this perpetual onslaught from some inky shadow . These copies did not require much from him, but maintaining the field of Castigation fire was a demanding task for Cloudhawk . Under these circ.u.mstances, Cloudhawk was no match for Ja.n.u.s .

Nothing he was doing threatened Ja.n.u.s at all, but the killer was cutting him apart slowly, one strike after the other .

Cloudhawk sensed that each attack came at different speeds . Every time the dark blade raked across his skin he could feel the poison eating away at him . Even with Cloudhawk’s incredible const.i.tution, it would soon be too much for him . If this continued, he would die .  

Selene was watching from a distance in disbelief . She didn’t understand why Ja.n.u.s would do this .  

With each moment that pa.s.sed Frost’s brows tightened . It was the first time he’d seen the a.s.sa.s.sin at work . He was stunned by the strength and skill he witnessed . He found it amazing that such an accomplished person could remain such a well-kept secret in Skycloud .

At the same time the battle above them seemed to have cooled . The blazing weapons in the Khan’s hands were dimming . Armor once smooth and sleek was badly scarred from the conflict and the damaged parts revealed complex life-support equipment below [1] . The drunk’s clothes had also been reduced to little more than rags . Smoke rose from marks where his flesh had been badly burned .

Standing opposite to them was Arcturus Cloude . He was as calm and collected as ever . His simplistic uniform was unscathed from the conflict, irrespective of his powerful foes . In fact he hardly appeared to have broken a sweat .

“Bringing Nox into open conflict was an error . You were doubly wrong to appear here in person . ”

Arcturus drew his attention to the scene below . Cloudhawk was a ball of green fire flinging his rage in a constant stream . The ground around him for a hundred meters was obliterated . However Ja.n.u.s’ shadows were undeterred . They slithered through the cracks, ubiquitous creeping tendrils of death .

A strange looked pa.s.sed through the Governor’s eyes .  

The drunk stared at him with a hard, dignified stare .

Arcturus wielded supernatural mental powers, the likes of which Vulkan had never seen duplicated anywhere . The other two Master Demonhunters together couldn’t match what Arcturus was capable of . Based on his overwhelming capabilities Arcturus even ranked among the top of of those legendary demonhunters of old .

Ragged breaths came from behind the Khan’s mask . There was something unusual about this one’s body which forced him to rely on that armor to keep himself alive . As the battle raged and his armor suffered more damage, the effort needed to keep himself growing increased .

“The mayfly attempts to shake the oak – a tragic overestimation of its strength . Some powers, some truth cannot be known or profaned . To do so would be to invite death . ”

Arcturus slowly drew forth a weapon – a mere exorcist rod .

It was the sort of lowly relic you could pick up at any equipment shop – a couple gold pieces at most . Even among other relics of its sort this rod was of subpar quality .

The drunk glowered dubiously at him . “Is this meant as an insult?”

“You both are spent . It would be an injustice to destroy you with Ruin . ” Arcturus tightened his grip around the rod . “My intention is to instruct you on a fundamental truth: When facing absolute power we must be willing to accept our inferiority . Be quiet, be hidden, and comprehend your weaknesses so that one day you can grow strong . ”

With the last syllable a flash of electric energy sprang up around the Governor . He dashed at the drunk quick as lightning, exorcist rod at the ready .

The drunk’s martial prowess was eternally adaptable . Sunstroke answered Arcturus’ attack with a dozen of its own . Exorcist rod and mighty relic sword clashed forty times so quick it seemed to last only an instant .

An opening was revealed, and Arcturus took it . His exorcist rod slipped pa.s.sed the drunk’s defenses .

Power gathered in the heart of the rod and was suddenly released from the head . It struck the drunk’s sword . To him, it felt like all the worlds mountains and rivers were cras.h.i.+ng through him at once . Vulkan lost control and was flung twenty meters through the air .

Arcturus spun around, turning his attention upon the Khan of Evernight . In his hands even an exorcist rod commanded horrific power – no less oppressive than Transcendence was when borne by Selene . Once again the Governor dissolved into a bolt of lightning and darted erratically around his new target . The Khan of Evernight managed to defend himself from several dozen blows but the rod eventually caught him in the left shoulder .

The sound of that impact was deafening . The Khan’s left arm was torn from its socket and flung into the distance .

None could see it, but if anyone had been near enough to spy the limb they would have been surprised at what they found . It was not human – at least not wholly . The limb was a combination of man and machine, flesh and steel .

“So this is how you’ve managed to keep yourself alive until now?”

Arcturus spared a moment to offer a sardonic grin before attacking again .

The Khan of Evernight was cast away, flailing uncontrollably .

Arcturus peered at the two who were struggling pitifully like drowning mice . Floating calmly in the air before them, electricity crackling all around, he regarded them with the calm and geniality of a practiced teacher . Stately, unflappable, una.s.sailable – a man so far above the insects beneath him that he hardly paid them any mind .

“Even knowing defeat was inevitable, you still pursue death . Even though you understand that being vanquished would end everything you’ve built, you still foolishly jump into the abyss with both feet . Neither of you comprehend true power . You are ignorant to believe you have what it takes to overthrow Skycloud . The thought is laughable . ”

The drunk didn’t know what the Khan was thinking, just as he wasn’t sure of the look on his own face . But he could feel the hopelessness sapping his strength, worming into his heart . He had begun to believe against all evidence that there was some small chance he could defeat this man – but the truth was proven otherwise .  

An exorcist rod! The tool of students and novice demonhunters . That was all Arcturus needed to defeat both of them . Were Arcturus’ powers so immense that even such a lowly thing was a masterwork when he touched it?

The War Saint was no pushover . The Khan of Evernight, even less so . Both of them could rival a Master Demonhunter, and either could be considered among the greatest warriors alive . And yet, before the eyes of Arcturus they were no threat at all .

“Here is where your struggles end!”

Arcturus clenched his hand around the exorcist rod, ready to deliver the final blow . Yet as he drew his arm back a sibilant hiss reached his ears . From the corner of his eyes he saw sand and grit being to gather in the air nearby .

His eyes narrowed revealing once more the deep creases at their edges . He raised his head toward this new presence .

1 . Strong Vader vibes you guys .

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