They begin to walk into the cave. As they step into the cave, a wave of oppressive energy crashes over them, like a physical force pressing down on their chests. It felt like a palpable bloodlust that wrapped around them like a straight jacket. The air itself felt thick and heavy, laden with a malevolent presence that whispers of ancient horrors and unspeakable deeds. It's a sensation that goes beyond sight or sound, a primal fear that resonates deep within their souls, urging them to turn back, to flee this place of unimaginable darkness. Dyre and Licht stand frozen, their eyes wide with a mixture of terror and fascination. The oppressive aura that engulfs them is unlike anything they've ever encountered. It's not just fear, it's a primal instinct screaming at them to flee, to run as fast as they can from this place. Yet, there's also a strange pull, a morbid curiosity that compels them to stay, to delve deeper into the heart of this darkness. It's as if their very souls are being tugged in two directions, trapped between the overwhelming urge to escape and the irresistible desire to understand the source of this chilling power. The words "OH NAH" escape their lips in unison, a guttural expression of their shared bewilderment and dread. Dyre then begins to charge his Kaime in hopes of countering the effects of the Ominous Aura. To his surprise, it works. Licht quickly catches on and does the same thing. "I think in order to move throughout this aura we have to keep expelling a constant stream of Kaime to counter the weight of this aura", Dyre states. "Bro if you haven't realized I am only a swordsman. My Kaime control isn't that strong" Licht replies. "So that move where you set your blade on fire that's the only thing you can do ?" Dyre asks. "No, I am a Master of my Kaime Nature but I don't rely on it like most of you Mages do. My blade is my main way of fighting magic means nothing to me". "Listen, Licht, that's cool and all but if you don't at least master Kaime control you won't be able to get through here". "I'm not wasting my Kaime on this. Your body is made out of Kaime you damn near have infinite so imma do me and you do you" Licht Replies with very clear annoyance in his voice. "First of all, I'm not Made out of Kaime, My body just produces a lot more Kaime than the average human." Dyre quickly shuts down Licht's statement. "Look imma do this for you" Dyre reaches out his arm, it then starts forming into a liquid-like state and starts moving towards Licht. He asks in confusion "What are you trying to pull here, Lentum ?". "Nothing crazy, You'll see," Dyre replies. The liquid starts to cover Licht and as he feels the weight of the Aura shifted off of him. "Idk what you just did but thanks" Licht says. "Imma tell you this since my body can produce massive amounts of Kaime and I can shapeshift, I created an armor like shell out of my body that is almost PURE Kaime." Dyre excitedly exclaims. "How does that even work ?" "Too much to explain right now i'll explain the details to you later" "Whatever oddball lets keep walking" Licht replies. The path ahead stretched before them, a long, narrow corridor of smooth, dark stone. The air hung heavy with the oppressive aura, making it difficult to breathe. At the end of the pathway, a massive, iron-wrought door stood imposingly, its surface scarred and etched with strange symbols. "How much you wanna bet we're not getting through here without a fight?" Licht said, his voice tight with apprehension. "Funny cause I was thinking the same thing bruh" Dyre replied, his gaze fixed on the door. As if in answer to their unspoken fears, the walls of the corridor began to writhe. Chunks of stone detached themselves, twisting and contorting into grotesque shapes. From the shadows, fifty creatures emerged, their bodies formed entirely of jagged, grey rock. They were humanoid in form, but their limbs were elongated and twisted, ending in sharp, pointed claws. Their faces were featureless, a blank slate of stone with two glowing red eyes burning fiercely in the darkness. They moved with a jerky, unnatural gait, their bodies grinding against the stone floor as they advanced on the two adventurers. "Told you," Licht said, a grim smile playing on his lips. Dyre, his annoyance momentarily forgotten, gave him an irritated stare. "Yeah, yeah, shut that shit up and fight." They turned back, only to find that the pathway behind them had vanished. The stone walls had closed in, sealing them off from their escape route. "And there's no escaping, so we definitely have to fight," Dyre said, his voice laced with a mixture of determination and excitement. Licht, the Swordsman, tightened his grip on his blade, the polished steel reflecting the flickering red eyes of the stone creatures. Dyre let out a low growl and his aura began to surge, his hands moving with a blur of motion. His body turned into a bright orange liquid, began to ripple and shift and massive amounts of slime began flowing down his arms. He then thrust his hands forward, the liquid cascading outwards, forming three identical copies of himself. The clones were not solid figures, but shimmering, fluid shapes, their forms constantly shifting like water. The two, with their newfound reinforcements, charged into the horde. Licht, a whirlwind of steel, sliced through the stone creatures with deadly precision. Dyre and his clones, like liquid serpents, flowed around and through the horde, their bodies twisting and turning, their forms shifting to evade attacks and deliver blows. They tore through the creatures, their movements a blur of orange. Ten creatures fell, their bodies crumbling into dust. But in their place, twenty-five more emerged from the walls, their red eyes burning with malevolent hunger. This process repeated many times over, "This is so stupid!" Licht shouted, his voice strained. "We keep destroying them, but more just keep popping up!". Dyre, with his three clones swirling around him, nodded grimly. "With every second, your armor starts to wear off, my movements are getting slower" Says Licht. We have to end this right now.". Dyre focused his will, and his form began to shift again. His three clones began merging with him, their forms flowing into him, creating a single, massive, orange being. "You're right… Take cover" Dyre says. Licht proceeds to grab multiple stone constructs and uses them as cover. "CLONE KAMIKAZE ATTACK". A fiery explosion erupts from inside of Dyre's body taking out a massive amount of the constructs at once and destroying his body leaving nothing but slime residue all over the cave. Licht stumbled back, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Did he just... kill himself?" he muttered, his voice barely a whisper. "Hmm, that's odd. His presence is still here... AND his armor is sti-" His sentence trailed off as he saw the orange residue that coated the cave floor and walls begin to writhe and churn. Small, shimmering, orange figures emerged from the slime, hundreds of them, each a miniature version of Dyre, their forms fluid and ever-shifting. The miniature Dyres swarmed the remaining stone constructs, their small bodies a blur of orange as they tore through the stone creatures. They moved with an almost frantic energy, their attacks precise and deadly. Within moments, the last of the stone creatures crumbled into dust, their red eyes extinguished. Then, as quickly as they had formed, the miniature Dyre's began to merge. They flowed together, their forms swirling and shifting, until they coalesced into a single, massive, orange figure. The figure solidified, taking on Dyre's original form, the shimmering, orange slime now contained within his body. "Could you do that this whole time?" Licht asked, his voice laced with awe and a hint of fear. Dyre, his expression unreadable, simply nodded. "Yea, but that's more of a last resort. One fuck up and I'm dead." Licht nodded slowly, his mind reeling. He still wasn't sure he understood what he had just witnessed, but he knew it was something powerful. The two then began to walk towards the door at the end of the room. The whispers in Dyre's head grew louder as they neared the door, their voices like a chorus of serpents hissing in his mind. "Come here... Open the door... You are the one... No-one else..." Dyre's eyes glazed over, his expression becoming vacant. He reached out his hand and it grew in size, a shimmering, orange mass, and slammed it against the door. The whispers reached a fever pitch, their voices echoing in the cavern. The door, thick and heavy, creaked under Dyre's touch. He focused his will, channeling the power of the earth, and a massive hammer, formed from the very rock of the cave, materialized in his hand. With a roar that shook the cavern, he brought the hammer down upon the door. The stone destroyed, the metal groaned, and the door shattered, crumbling into a heap of debris. The two stepped through the doorway, the whispers fading as they entered a new chamber. In the center of the chamber, bathed in an eerie, blue light, stood a skeleton. It wore a silver pendant around its neck, its bone-white chest adorned with a black gourd with weird orange markings. "Is that it?" Licht asked, his voice hushed. Dyre said nothing, his eyes locked on the skeleton. He moved forward, his steps slow and deliberate, his body seemingly under the control of an unseen force. Licht reached out, his hand outstretched, but Dyre's arm turned to liquid, flowing around his grasp. He was unable to stop Dyre's advance. The whispers in Dyre's head grew louder, urging him forward, drawing him closer to the skeleton, to the pendant, to the gourd. Dyre, a puppet in the hands of the whispers, reached out to the skeleton. He then grasped the silver pendant and the black gourd. As he did, a chilling aura emitted from him, a dark energy that mirrored the ominous presence that had filled the cave. The whispers intensified, their voices a chorus of malice echoing in his mind. He turned his vacant gaze towards Licht, his eyes burning with a cold, unnatural light. Licht, sensing the shift, knew what was coming. He gripped his blade, the polished steel reflecting the eerie glow emitting from Dyre. "If a rematch is what you want, then a rematch is what you're gonna g-" "HUSH IT WORM!" Dyre roared, his voice deep and guttural, a stark contrast to his usual gruff tone. The words echoed in the chamber, carrying a power that sent shivers down Licht's spine. Dyre, no longer the Lentum, but a vessel for the whispers, lunged at Licht. He moved with a speed that defied his previous movements, his body a blur as he closed the distance between them. Licht, realizing the danger, let out a battle cry. His blade, imbued with a fiery energy, erupted in a burst of flames. "INFERNO ASHEN RYU!" he roared, his voice echoing with the power of the fire that consumed his blade. He launched himself back, meeting Dyre's charge head-on. His blade, a fiery serpent, lashed out, a whirlwind of searing heat and razor-sharp steel. He slashed at Dyre, his movements precise and deadly, but Dyre was no longer the friend he knew. Dyre, his eyes burning with a malevolent light, raised his hand, the black gourd in his grasp. The sand-like substance within the gourd, imbued with the whispers' power, swirled and churned, forming a shimmering, black shield. The shield, a barrier of darkness, deflected Licht's fiery attacks, each slash meeting a wall of impenetrable sand. With a brutal force, Dyre slammed his shoulder into Licht's chest, sending the Swordsman hurtling back. He slammed into the wall of the fighting chamber, the impact echoing through the cavern. The force of the blow sent a wave of pain radiating through Licht's body, but he gritted his teeth, his eyes burning with a fierce determination. He knew this was no ordinary fight. He was facing a possessed Dyre, a creature fueled by the whispers, a force he had never encountered before. But he would not give up. He would fight, he would protect himself, he would protect the world from the darkness that threatened to consume it all. Licht rolls back and smashes into a rock stopping him in his tracks. He then gets up and thinks "What is that, Who the fuck is that I know for a fact that's not Dyre". "You are correct" The source of this aura stepped out the shadow. His dark brown skin shimmered, his physique lean and muscular. Curly Black and Orange hair framed his face, contrasting his dark skin. A white compression shirt hugged his torso, black and orange sweatpants highlighting his athletic build. But something was different from the Dyre that Licht knew. A silver pendant hung from his neck, and a small black gourd was secured to his hip by rope. His intelligent eyes that matched the same vibrant color of his pants held a watchful gaze, reflecting the wisdom of his unique abilities.The silver pendant, now pulsating with an ominous energy, began to extrude strange markings. They spread across Dyre's left arm, etching themselves onto his flesh. He roared, his voice a guttural growl, "EBONI FLASK". A massive, greatsword, forged from the iron sand within the gourd, materialized in his hand. The sword was a weapon of immense power, a manifestation of the whispers' will. "I won't let you die with mystery in your heart, so I'm going to let you know," Dyre said, his voice a chilling whisper. "My name is Duke Bijou." Licht's mind reeled. "Duke Bijou? The Warlord that took down entire armies by himself? BUT HOW?" he thought, his disbelief palpable. Duke chuckled, a sound that sent shivers down Licht's spine. "Are you gonna sit there in awe, or make a move?". Licht remained silent, his mind racing. He sensed this was his final stand, the culmination of everything he had faced. He prepared his strongest attack, his heart pounding in his chest. He stood, his body trembling with effort. He raised his blade, his voice booming with the power of his resolve. "SKYHAVEN!". His blade erupted in flames, but they were not the usual red flames of his Inferno Ashen Ryu. They were black, laced with streaks of purple, a dark and ominous fire, a reflection of the evil that faced him. Duke scoffed. "Hmph, PATHETIC!" He raised his iron sand greatsword, preparing his own attack. "IRON STORM!" But as he began to swing, his body tensed. A wave of pain, a feeling of exhaustion, washed over him. He dropped to his knees, the greatsword clattering to the ground. "I guess my time here is up... for now," he said, his voice smug. The power that had fueled Dyre, seemed to be fading, their grip on him loosening. He slumped to the floor, unconscious, his eyes vacant. The markings on his body began to retract, flowing back into the pendant, leaving Dyre's body. Licht, his mind reeling from the events that had just transpired, slowly approached Dyre's unconscious form. He stared at the pendant, at the source of the whispers, the source of Duke's power. He felt a mixture of relief and dread. Relief that the threat, for now, had passed, but dread that the darkness was still out there, waiting to return. He reached out and gently touched Dyre's face. He felt a pang of sympathy for his friend, for the vessel that had been used by the whispers, for the man who had been forced to fight against his own will. He knew that the fight was not over. Whatever this pendant is, the source of this outburst was still residing there, waiting for their chance to return. He would be ready for them, ready to fight against the darkness, ready to protect the world from the shadows that threatened to consume it all. Licht tried to grab the pendant and take it off of Dyre's neck, to no avail it wouldn't budge. "What type of sorcery is this ?" Licht whispers.
