"I honestly didn't expect you would be the one I would face in the end. I had heard many a rumour about you, you're quite the topic of conversation you know?"
"You honour me with those words grandson of the supreme general!" Moby bowed. "But I must ask, are these rumours good or bad?"
"Hmmm… I can't say…" Adam shrugged. "I dare not complain though. You have come this far, thus, this means you must be the strongest this school has to offer. Does it not?"
"I can say the same for you as well!" Moby returned.
"Oh… Such boldness…" Adam's grin extended. "Last I heard such confidence the battle turned out to be a great disappointment."
"Don't worry. That won't happen, I can assure you of that."
"I hope so!" Adam sighed.
That was when Moby walked away from his position, heading to the center of the stage. And in a move that no one foresaw, he brought out his hands.
"I hope we have a good match."
Upon witnessing this sight, Adam's face widened, and the quivering sweat around his body intensified.
He walked up towards the center to shake his opponent's hand in a sign of unforeseen sportsmanship.
"I hope so too. And good luck."
The crowd applauded as they shook hands. Their eyes locked, their warrior gazes trying to withstand the other's pressure and read their minds. To the audience, all that was invisible, yet these mind games lasted long before they both went back to their own respective sides with the announcer rambling about how impressed he was at what he saw. Yet, for Adam who was still walking back, that voice was nothing but ambience to his own thoughts.
'This guy… That gaze of his… Solid, ominous, with no sign of wavering. my body is acting up now even more than before… What's up with it? Ever since I came on stage I've been shaking like crazy. My blood is pumping, my fingers are tingling… Nago... why is that?'
The spirit, toothy red-eyed blob of shadows slowly emerged from his feet and slithered towards his back with heavy breaths.
"Adaammm… Indeed you thought right… This man is different from every other… Even more so than that fire fox of yore… Your body is sensing something, and is reacting to it without your knowledge… Yesss… I can feel it too… This is true excitement, Adam! The feeling of a worthy foe!" Nago's soft hissing seethed into Adam's ears like a typhoon, and his mask of proud indifference began to crumble into an open grin.
"Yes… I truly hope so…"
"— Now! Allow me to count you in for the beginning of this match to end all matches!" Adam noticed the announcer as he backflipped off of the stage and out of the way, yet his steady gaze was sharpened, never venturing to leave his opponent.
"3!!"
"2!"
"1..."
"BEGINNN!!"
'WHAT!?' Adam inwardly shouted.
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He had yet to even blink, but the enemy once in his sights suddenly disappeared into thin air like he had never even stood there.
For the second time in his life, he inwardly panicked, looking everywhere he could in the time he could, all but one direction.
"UP!!"
Like an eagle, Moby soared down from above, camouflaging with the blinding light slashing down his black, purple pulsating katana. Had it not been from Nago's foresight erecting a shield of shadows, he would have most certainly been cut.
Adam's vision was blocked by thick darkness, yet luckly for him, he and Nago shared senses allowing him to see through his beating red eyes.
Moby was pushed back from the attack, yet before he found ground he created several purple ice knives and threw them at him. But, just like his previous attempt, his attacks proved futile, bouncing off the erected shield of shadows that Adam immediately dispelled to go on the offensive.
However, just when he thought he was safe, Moby once again disappeared into thin air. And the next thing he knew, a katana was stabbed through his chest, just narrowly missing his heart due to Nago's quick thinking.
*Gug—*
Adam gagged. And with shadows engulfing him, he exploded a force field around him, sending his opponent flying, giving him time to calm and catch his breath.
Fortunately, a plate of shadow armour built up within his body, yet he could still feel every moment of that sword plunged into his system.
However, he would only get a mere moment to take everything in as a voice rushed in his ears.
"Those knifes! He can teleport to them!" Nago immediately followed those words by shrowding the ground in shadows that engulfed the knifes, immediately destroying them.
Once again, both fighters found themselves standing at their respective ends, the only difference being their condition and the expression upon their faces.
The crowd's cheering somehow became even louder, and the announcer began speaking with heavy breaths like he was on the verge of having a stroke, yet none of that even made a dent on either of their concentrations.
Especially that of Adam. He could not allow his opponent to gain the upper hand once again and humiliate him by disappearing before his very eyes. He could not guarantee survival the next time such a thing would happen.
And in that moment of deep intensity… Something changed within him… His eyes widened. Like a rush of power, or some sort of energy was now permeating through his veins. His eyes glowed, and his vision reflected that. He felt empowered. It was an odd feeling, yet one that he had experienced once before during those final moments with Kai Fatebringer. There was no doubt in his mind, it was the same exact thing…
And in the next moment, he noticed something. Two throwing knives were headed his way, only one was secretly hidden behind the other. That was when the figure from behind began to glow a deep purple glow and disappear. In that next instant, that same purple glow transferred over to the hidden knife.
Out of instinct, his body reacted. This moment was so surreal. From before, no matter how hard he stared, that purple glow just before teleportation was virtually invisible in his eyes. But now, it was clear as day. There was a weakness in his moves— a clear delay in teleportation, and Adam planned on capitalizing on it.
With his two-bladed spear in hand and shadows strengthening its tip, he dashed over towards that glowing knife like a blurry charging bull. And just like he expected, there he found Moby exactly where he expected.
Their blades clashed. Moby only just managed to react and block his move. The absolute shock on his face was evident, filling Adam with untold euphoria as he sent him flying.
And whilst Moby was recovering in the air, there was Nago waiting for him as a thin shadow slithering on the ground in waiting. When he reached above him, that was when he struck, turning into a shark and snapping his jaws down at him like it had just escaped the murky water of haze, leaving nothing behind in its wake but the sound of its roar and echoing jaws...