Arc I: “Apocalypse”
Chapter II: “Growth”
Episode II: “The Shadow Demon”
[In the forest near Woodberry…]
If I don’t get serious, I’ll lose this fight.
“Demonic Base Form!” Rikito roared, his aura surging as he launched at Bills.
If I can’t clear the soldiers, then I’ll just have to crush the general first!
But three shadow soldiers leapt into his path.
Rikito countered, “Tch, Seems I’ll have to stall these shadows first. Dark Demolition Cannon!”
Rikito fired, obliterating four soldiers, then rushed Bills.
“You’re mine!”
He overpowered the massive warrior, forcing Bills on the defensive—until Rikito stopped suddenly, staring toward the village.
“W-woah. That must be Akira… and… someone else. It must be another general, but it feels different than Kai’s aether.”
“Hmm.” Bills grunted, slowly retreating toward Julie. The shadow soldiers began regenerating, regrouping with unnatural speed.
“Go, Bills! Deal with him already! I’ll get Grimm. Stay here and hold him off.” Julie barked orders before dashing off in the opposite direction of the village.
Ha! You really thought I was going to stay here and fight? As if!
“Hey! Come back!” Rikito tried to pursue her, but the clones and Bills cut him off.
“Dammit.”
“Don’t worry, brother! I’ll take care of her!”
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“Asuka!?”
Rikito turned just as his sister emerged from the bushes, dashing after Julie.
“Hey, come back! Don’t fight her alone!” He gritted his teeth.
Shit! Asuka’s nowhere near strong enough to fight her. I need to finish this quickly so I can go save her.
The five shadow soldiers circled up, palms pressing together. Aether was expelled violently, distorting the air as their forms melded into a towering, hulking shadow beast.
“What the hell is that?” Rikito’s brow furrowed. “That won’t be enough to beat me, though.”
He lunged, destroying the fused soldier’s head with a single punch.
“I know that you guys can’t move while regenerating!”
But this one regenerated instantly and countered with a devastating blow.
“W-what? Its regeneration is five times faster!”
Before he could recover, Bills Aether-Skipped behind Rikito, slamming him with a crushing ground-pound.
[Woodberry]
The battlefield had become a shattered symphony.
Grimm’s dark aether clashed with Akira’s pure white blaze.
The air itself felt like it could break at any moment.
Akira was being bounced around by Grimm’s relentless, consecutive strikes.
Dammit. I have to find a way to counter this!
“What’s wrong, vessel? I thought you had more in you.”
“S-shut up.” Akira panted. “Heh… let’s try something new.”
Okay… here goes nothing!
“Galaxy… Star… Destroyer… HA!”
A white beam with green and black arcs rocketed from Akira’s hands, tearing through the air like a living storm.
Grimm raised an eyebrow. “Impressive, this attack seems to have some force behind it… But that’s still not enough. Shadow Beam!”
His energy wave met Akira’s.
The two beams clashed violently.
What!? I’m… losing? How can I possibly be losing!? Is he overcoming my shadow affinity!?
“HA!”
“D-damn you, you rat!”
Akira won the struggle. The blast engulfed Grimm, leaving him kneeling and smoking.
“What? Giving up already?”
“Curse you…!” Grimm’s wounds began to steam.
What? “Your wounds… they’re healing!?”
“Hahahaha! Yes, that is the power of the Demon Form! This may not be as aether-efficient as the Demonic Base Form, but it requires less concentration and provides a healing factor.”
Dammit. Not only can he increase his power more than I can, but he can heal himself, too?
Then a thought clicked.
Wait… I can do this.
In my fight with Julie, she burned out fast. Maybe that was an imperfect form, but increasing your yield so much and healing yourself must be draining.
And if there’s one thing I have over him, it’s my stamina. I should have enough aether to outlast him. All I have to do is stay alive…
“Don’t just stand there, vessel!” Grimm lunged.
Akira blocked, firing rapid aether blasts in retaliation.
“Hmph. With my yield level, these are nothing.” Grimm batted them away.
Akira didn’t stop.
“What? Don’t you know this won’t do any good? What’s the point of wasting your energy in such a way?”
“Star Destroyer!”
The golden beam slammed into Grimm, who was still trying to avoid the previous blasts.
“Argh! Dammit, stop doing that. I’m just going to heal myself; you fool!”
Yeah, that’s right. Fall right into my trap.
Akira layered on the pressure — melee strikes, aether blasts, Aether-Skips — forcing Grimm into a corner. His energy began plummeting.
“So that’s what you’re after… you thought you could get me to use up all my strength on healing. That’s actually not half bad of a strategy. But too bad!”
Grimm snarled, his form erupting in shadow-red energy as it twisted around his frame.
“Demonic Base Form! I won’t let you toy with me!”
Akira staggered, feeling the strain.
Dammit! His energy was dropping, too! But my body’s done. Twenty Layers of Hyper Energy — it’s ripping me apart.
His orange aether fizzled out as he collapsed.
[Next Time on Lyte of Utopia]: “Unlikely Savior!”
[Yield Levels]:
Rikito: 250,000
- DBF: 500,000
Bills: 150,000
- Rage Boost: 300,000
Shadow Soldiers: 100,000
- Super Shadow Soldier: 500,000
Julie: 40,000
Asuka: 15,000
Akira: 200,000
- HEML20: 4m
- Strain: 10,000
- Galaxy Star Destroyer: x2
Grimm: 1.2m
- DFL1: 6m
- DBF: 2.4m
- Shadow Beam: x1.5