Lord Shadow

In 1944, during World War Two General George S. Patton make a speech to the United States Third Army.

The speech was said to be delivered before the D Day. Many iterations of his speech exist with differences in wording

In one of his speeches he is said to say this word.

‘An army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps, and fights as a team. This individual hero stuff is bullshit.’

That word used to be true. There is no individual hero that could affect the course of a war, not matter how the stories try to prove otherwise. There is no man that could mow down an army alone.

There is no man that could charge alone into a thousand man troop and survives.

‘That word used to be true’ Jesse muttered as his weapon is pointed to the sky.

Behind him a thousand men pointing their weapons at the sky, their forehead sweating and their hand trembling.

They are all in high alert, pointing at the man in the sky; all were lined strategically across the island entrance.

Arrows are readied, swords are sheathed, guns and cannons are loaded. The alarm rings with blaring noise in the background.

Up there in the blue sky and white clouds, stand a man clad in black, his cape blow majestically by the wind, his hand crossed each other, his pairs of cold hazel eyes bore down on the troops.

He was on the clouds, like some sovereign of the sky, floating up there, looking down.

He did not say anything but the pressure on the thousand men troops is increasing by the second. Jesse gulped. He knows who this man is.

Lord Shadow.

Jesse was the first responder when Lord Shadow first appeared. He was at the surveillance room this morning supervising the work when an unidentified bogey come flying to the island.

He rings the alarm. He summons the troops and he gave the warning to the bogey to identify itself.

He sent a few missile projectiles and he sent people after his warnings were ignored.

Nothing comes back and the bogey keeps approaching with high speed.

And then the Energy Barrier was erected to defend itself from aerial attack. Jesse made an executive decision to erect the barrier up and thank God he did.

Because not long after that came the sound of explosion. Like the sky cracked open.

And there he is. Floating outside the Wall of the World Government, on the sky, looking at them, unable to invade the World Government airspace.

If he wants to enter he can either try to destroy the barrier or walk through the front door. The barrier only protects the airspace of twenty feet and above.

And the wall is twenty feet high

It’s like a partial dome.

Jesse was about to shout to Lord Shadow to ask him to state his intention when Azief looked at him.

And then his gaze causes a thunderous roar inside Jesse ear.

Jesse expression changed. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, and his entire body felt ice cold.

A deadly force fall upon him, crushing him with the weight of a mountain.

His head spun and he lost the power to even think or form a coherent thought. He felt his body withering and crushed by this pressure.

It was almost like Death was upon him, that destruction comes to him like a tidal wave. Blood dripped down from his ears and nose as he falls to the ground kneeling.

This is only a second after he look at Lord Shadow eyes.

‘Major!’ Some of his troops yelled as that troop realizes what is happening to his superior. They rushes to Jesse and Azief snorted.

It was like tribulation lightning descended.

Azief look at the troops that are running to Jesse.

And suddenly the sound of bones cracking could be heard as those two dozen troops in the front suddenly discovered that as they run to their superior, their bones was broken by an external force.

A boundless and terrifying pressure. And they scream in pain as some of them had their fingers bent in an unusual way.

Their bones are not as strong as an Energy Disperse Stage bones but still their bones are sturdier than normal human bones yet it was easily crushed.

Then Azief look back at Jesse and Jesse quickly hold up an amulet. And the amulet shines with a bluish purplish color.

This amulet he got from a Chinese American man from his previous squad. ‘It is a lifesaving talisman’ that man said to him before he died.

Azief release the pressure of Seed Forming and the sky above his head changed colors, red as blood and the amulet Jesse hold up exploded and Jesse immediately shouted

‘Lord Shadow! What do you think you are doing?!’

‘Open the barrier’ Azief said, looking uncaring

‘Hmph’ a cold snort rang out; filling the entire entrance of the island and someone emerged from the ground.

Muscly and handsome, and holding a hammer with lion armour, a man with long straight blonde hair appears. He has a manly beard, trim and neat.

He was tall almost as tall as Azief.

His figure was valiant and heroic and his face is pleasant to look at, possessing that charm that attracts people to speak to him.

Azief immediately knows who this person is. Raymond. And he smirked. Surely, the World Government won’t jeopardize their relationship just for a man?

Raymond looks at Azief in the sky and sighed before saying

‘Your attainment is at Seed Forming level. Not at low realm either but in the High Realm. Isn’t it beneath you to bully an Orb Condensing Stage user like this?’

Lord Shadow smiles and without warning he stomped his feet at the clouds.

A deafening earth shaking roar erupted as the space around him distorted and the winds around his feet changed direction.

The sound thundered out, seeming as if everything in sight would crumble from it as the clouds exploded into even smaller particles of atoms.

The red clouds above his head dissipated and the sky regains its calm. Azief slowly floats down and then his feet touch the ground.

The ground beneath his feet crumples up like paper because of the heat and pressure generated around Azief body.

The wall to the entrance of the World Government is huge and this narrow path is the only way in right now.

Behind him he could hear the lapping of waves. Not far from where he is standing is the white pearly sand of a beach.

The Island is idyllic and heaven on earth yet with Lord Shadow appearance, it looks like this Heaven will be invaded and almost like a certain evil has come to rob the island of its idleness.

Azief could use his sabers and destroy the Sky Barrier but Azief is not here to make trouble with the World Government. He wanted to retrieve Will.

He stood in front of a thousand men, unflinching and unafraid, standing there like a mountain.

As if he was the only person in the world. Azief stares coldly at Raymond and spoke

‘It seems a person with authority has come out.’ He said with a gentle but cold laugh.

‘I’m here to take something of mine. I hope that the World Government will not obstruct me. After all you did give me the title of Prince.’ His eyes were filled with an indescribable arrogance.

Raymond looks at this man in front of him. An enigma. His attire is as black as the night, and domineering.

He is tall, and his face is hidden by his hood. His stylish black hair reached his neck.

His attire looks like an Assassin Creed costume if Assassin Creed costume look like the reaper of death.

His attires look like armour for people that go to war. And Raymond realizes something else.

The man….has no shadows. Even when light shines on him, there is no shadow produced by him.

And he realizes the Ten Rings on each of Lord Shadow fingers and he grew restless looking at that ring

Because with his Discernment Eyes Skill he could see that ring is very ancient and very powerful.

And what makes Raymond even more unease is the fact he could not see Lord Shadow weapons.

Not the blade in his hips but the sabers that he saw in the footage. Where is that domineering saber? He asked himself.

‘It is better to keep our relations amiable, Raymond.’

The troops behind Raymond all looked at Azief like they were facing the greatest enemy of their life. Raymond sighed and then he said to Azief.

‘I’m sorry. But I could not accede to the request. Your spy knows too much’

Azief eyes narrowed

‘World Government sure is arrogant aren’t you?’ Said Azief with a harrumph.

His voice rang out like a thunderclap as he stood there alone, surrounded by a thousand troops, suppressing the voice which had just spoken.

Then he waved his hand and a hum sounded out as an invisible wind sprang up and gales as sharp as sword were formed from the forming of his energy.

It shot toward Raymond and Raymond stomp his feet as a ten foot high Earth Wall suddenly exploded from the ground.

The sharp gales slice the Earth Wall and crumbles almost immediately. But Raymond has already retreated ten feet away, leaving him and his troops harmless.

‘Return him to me!’ Azief said and he takes a step as the essence of death envelops him and the ground where he landed his feet withers and darkened.

Raymond looks at this sight and instead of feeling dread he smiles. There is not many people in this world that could take that kind of tone with him.

But it is also an opportunity for Raymond to temper himself with battle.

‘He knows what’s in the Closet’ Raymond said and he looks at Azief expression trying to see if he knows it too.

But he was disappointed to see that Lord Shadow expression remains the same.

Raymond is not sure whether Azief has already knows about the location of the Closet and what inside it or whether he still did not get the report from Will.

The Closet contains something that is vital to the survival of the World Government. It is what convinced Raymond to join the World Government.

It is also the reason why the World Government did not interfere with the Forest Region.

Because Lee Sangmin knows what’s in the Closet, and the World Government knows what secret Lee Sangmin hides in his Cave.

‘Do not come any closer’ one of the soldiers yelled at Azief, pointing his hand at him. Azief face under the hood distorted and humphed.

Jesse did not even have the time to stop that soldier from making that remark.

Jesse knows that the level of power the people in Energy Disperse Stage was akin to heroes in fairytales.

And if that is the extent of power that Energy Disperse Stage user have, then one can only imagine a Seed Forming user abilities and power.

‘Impudent!’ Azief said calmly but to the ear of that soldier it was like thunder.

Azief pointed his finger to the soldier hand and the aura of death converges and formed the immaterial wind into solid state.

A needle made of wind covered with death aura shot out from Azief fingers and the soldiers hand exploded into bits of meat.

The soldier was thrown back meters away screaming in pain, holding his exploding right hand with his left hand, looking dumbfounded and confused.

His comrades all ran to that soldier and perform healing. One of the soldiers forced down the Bone Regrowing Potion on that soldier mouth.

They all looked at Azief with dread and no one spoke another word fearing they would suffer the same fate.

And Azief take another steps and his aura exploded to the clouds and the oceans behind was rocked by giant waves.

‘Enough of this!’ A voice resounded in the entrance but the voice was coming from the clouds and then clouds of lightning covered the islands, thunders roared and lightning crisscrossed.

Then a bolt of lightning strikes ten meters away from Azief.

The explosion destroyed the ground and a crater five feet deep was formed and a mass of lightning congregated there before exploding into bits of sparkly lightning that calms the waves and ease the pressure of Azief death aura.

The voice was light but filled with suppressive power and domineering spirit not losing to Azief spirit.

Clad in yellow lightning, a man appeared. He is wearing an armour full with intricate designs.

Lightning sparks and discharge could be seen covering his body like a shield of lightning. His face was youthful, his eyes however was lazy.

But there is seriousness in those lazy eyes, discerning eyes.

He is tall for a Japanese person, six feet six with lean body and long black hair that reached well beyond the neck.

But it was stylish and was full of lightning.

The soldiers who was intimidated and had their face drained of color after Lord Shadow landed finally regained their vigour as they cheered.

‘Thunder Lord’ they cheered

The Japanese were the most joyful as they shouted Dragon of Echigo loudly. Lightning and thunder fell from the skies as Oreki matched eyes with Azief.

The Sky listens to him, winds and thunder obeys him and Azief could feel that sky above his head become heavier and instead of feeling panic Azief could not help but chuckles.

Azief look at Raymond and Oreki alternatively and said.

‘It seems you want war’ Azief calmly said like he was discussing the weather and Raymond eyes narrowed.

‘Do not be too rash, Lord Shadow’ another voice sounded out as white mist comes out from the oceans behind Azief back.

The troops gasped as they shouted in reverie.

‘Illusion Archmage Hikigaya!’ Another champion of the World Government has arrived. The troops began to sense the tension and the conflict that is about to erupt.

Jesse ordered his men to retreat slowly sending message in whispers. Gods are fighting. Mortals should hide.

The Japanese shouted

‘The Tiger of Kai!’

Formed from the white mist another man appeared, looking young but has droopy eyes and his hair is unkempt and messy.

He looks lanky

He wears a horned helmet, and wears a purple robe. He is on the back of Azief and Azief chuckles again.

Jesse heart was beating fast as he looked at the generation strongest. He wanted to become stronger just like these people.

To conjure up clouds with one turn of one’s hand and rain with another

Azief was about to say something when a commotion on the Entrance Wall of the Island of Peace was fill with commotion before a silhouette of someone jumping from the 20 feet wall can be seen.

Landing on the ground with an explosion a woman appeared in front of Azief, dressed in white.

She was a beauty with a pale white flawless skin. She was five feet five and cute, more like a teenager.

‘Cease your threat, Lord Shadow!’ The woman spoken and her voice was gentle and full of compassion.

The troops cheered again as one of them exclaimed

‘Holy Lady Giselle also comes! She will surely help bless the other Lords!’

Then another commotion begins again on the Wall and the sound of grating chains of steel could be heard.

Then a chain of steel appears from the walls and hook itself to the ground as one person rappels down from the walls and appears right next to the woman.

‘This is the Island of Peace, Lord Shadow. You are not welcome here!’ the man said, his voice was full of pride and confidence.

Five feet tall, curly hair, black skin and muscly. His face is clean and his hair is neat and trim and has that hint of military styling.

‘Steel Chain Arno!’ the troops recognizes the loyal guard of the Holy Lady

‘Five, huh? Five Energy Disperse Stage user, What a welcome!’ Azief said before laughing. His laugh however does not sound joyful and even contain a hint of malice.

The troops hearing his laugh could not help but shiver in fear.

‘Seeing as you are all ready to fight me to the death, then this is a trap for me, right!’ And Azief takes a step and essence of time exploded out from him as time distorted around him, and the wilted grass under his feet suddenly experiences rebirth.

His Seed in his consciousness shines with golden colors.

‘But seeing as you all expand this many effort to trap me but not sparing all of your resources means that I need to defeat five of you first and then defeat whoever inside the Walls.’

‘We have millions of troops Lord Shadow. Acquiesce and let Will stay with us.’ Raymond tries to persuade Lord Shadow.

Even Raymond doesn’t know what will happen if Lord Shadow really wanted a fight to the death with them.

The World Government still have some lords to guard Will in the secret room beneath the Quorum Building.

But if Lord Shadow managed to breach the inner walls and found where Will is imprisoned, then Raymond is sure, Lord Shadow will broke the lords.

‘Seeing that you trying to negotiate with me instead using that thing, I am relieved. I can really let loose now that I know’ and his words shocked Raymond.

‘You know what is in the Closet?’ Raymond asked in shock. Azief did not answer but from his expression Raymond is sure that Azief knows.

‘The only reason why I do not blatantly makes a move against the World Government are because I don’t want our conflict to benefit the true enemy of humanity. The other reason was because I fear that you know how to use that thing. But it seems only Lee Sangmin has some understanding on that thing.’

And then he laughed

‘It seems you are not yet worthy. We have an agreement. And I stay still for the greater good of the survival of our species. No longer. It seems as I was staying still, the World Government pegged me as someone that could be intimidated. Someone that could be threatened’

Then he laugh dryly as the Five Energy Disperse Stage user are all on their guard if Azief attacked.

Arno has conjured up metals, Holy lady was glowing white, Raymond feet is covered with the energy of the Earth, Hikigaya body melded with the white mist and lightning roared out in the clouds as it provides energy for Oreki.

‘I fought Seven Energy Disperse Stage and I broke them. Now, there is only five of you, what makes you think you can fight me and win? Let me teach you the disparity between our strength.’

And Azief takes his four steps and his aura surged up to the sky.

The winds howled and screamed, the clouds above his head opens up as the island shook like an earthquake is hitting it.

Jesse then yelled to his troops

‘Run!’

Darkness envelops the sky as the domains of darkness in the sky clashed with lightning domains of Oreki.

Rippling waves of energy emanated out from Azief body as he charged forward. As he launches forward, the ground beneath his feet exploded and turns to dust.

Raymond balled his fist and the Earth gave him energy and he too charged forward to meet Lord Shadow fist, his face smiling.

In one second they both appeared in front of each other and at the same time they punch at each other.

Their fists collided and the waves resulted from that punch cracked the land beneath them as explosions of fire and wind was produced and the island shakes.

Heat circles formed around them as the sand near their sites of battle turns into glass because of the discharge of heat generated from their fist.

The War between the World Government and Lord Shadow begins

***

IN THE DEPTH OF THE ISLAND OF PEACE

Hirate was sitting on the chair looking at the emaciated man that is Will when he was jolted awake by the shakings.

‘What’s that?’ Will who was closing his eyes focusing his mind so his mind could not be read by Hirate smiles suddenly as he opens his eyes.

His mind become clears as joy and hope appears on his face. He recognized this energy

‘What are you smiling about?’ Hirate ask as he realize that a new vigour seems to nourish Will haggard appearance.

Will laughed with madness. The torture of his mind has not been kind on Will.

‘I told you didn’t I? He’s coming.’ And Hirate suddenly remembers as another shaking makes Hirate face stressed.

He looks at Will and clicked his tongue as he looked at the surveillance camera on top of the walls of this dark room.

‘Guard his cell and no one is allowed in or out of this facility. Execute protocol Six.’

And Hirate immediately went out from the room leaving Will alone. Will on the other hand could not help but laugh

‘You come finally’ that is the only word he said before closing his eyes again.

***

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