Chapter 59: The Might of A Shadow [Bonus - ]

Students in the front rows threw their arms over their faces, crying out as the violent rush of wind whipped through the stands.

When the winds cleared, they all exclaimed at the sight of the deadlock in the center of the battle floor.

Argus the Moon Knight—or rather, his shadow—pushed downward with all the unholy strength of a fallen legend. The edges of his greatsword ground against the thundersteel haft of Thor’s warhammer, kicking up a blinding shower of sparks.

But Thor’s greaves did not slide a single inch. She planted her feet, her muscles coiled taut, her silver-blue eyes glaring up at the faceless abyss of the knight’s helm.

"Is this the might of a shadow?" Thor sneered, her voice vibrating with thunder.

"Break her guard, Argus," Nereus whispered an order his shadow summon could hear. "Use Eclipse Rend!"

Eclipse Rend was the twisted form of the legendary Moon Knight. The original Argus had used moonlight to heal and defend, but his shadow inverted it.

The pitch-black greatsword suddenly fractured, splitting into a dozen serrated, whip-like tendrils that completely bypassed Thor’s hammer.

The tendrils struck like vipers. Two slashed across her thigh armor, tearing through the deep blue tunic beneath. Another whipped brutally across her left shoulder, biting deep into the flesh.

Thor grunted, her head snapping back as a heavy, blunt-force shadow-kick from Argus slammed squarely into her golden breastplate.

The impact sounded like a cannonball hitting a fortress wall, sending her skidding ten feet backward across the ruined floor.

Blood dripped down Thor’s pale arm, staining her magenta sash.

The crowd erupted into panicked gasps.

"She’s hit!" Anita cried out, grabbing Kasto’s arm.

"Why didn’t she block the tendrils?!" Kasto yelled, his eyes wide. "That shadow is bypassing her physical defense!"

Luke watched with great interest. ’She’s a Platinum legend. Why is she moving so linearly? Why is she just taking the hits?’

Nereus scoffed silently. "Do you see, Lancet," he said, mostly to assure himself. "It doesn’t matter what era she’s from. My shadows exploit the openings. They drain the life from the—"

Nereus stopped. His thoughts froze in his head.

"What the—?"

Down in the arena, Thor wasn’t falling. She wasn’t even staggering. She had dragged her silver greaves against the stone to halt her momentum, and now, she was slowly lowering her hammer.

She looked at the blood dripping from her shoulder. Then, she smiled.

Despite her beauty and her heroic armor, that smile didn’t look like a hero’s smile. Thor looked like a terrifying, bloodthirsty soldier who had just found an excuse to go to war.

The blood dripping from her arm vaporized mid-air, dried by the heat of her aura... or her lightning.

Whichever one didn’t make it any less frightening.

Lancet stood perfectly still behind her by the edge of the battle floor. He watched with a dark smile of his own on his face.

’They don’t get it,’ he thought, feeling the surge of Grace pulsing through their connection. ’She’s a Tempest Lightning Mage. You aren’t hurting her, Nereus. You’re just charging her up.’

Thor’s wound began to emit a blinding, violent white light. The kinetic energy from Argus’s heavy kick, the magical lacerations from his shadow-whips—all of it was being instantly converted into raw, apocalyptic lightning within her core.

"You’ve struck me," Thor whispered, causing the hair on everyone’s skin to rise. She gripped the Hammer of Force tighter. "My turn."

A deafening thunderclap shattered the air as her unbelievably rapid speed broke the sound barrier. She crossed the ten feet in a literal flash of blinding white light.

Argus had no time to do anything. Not to even raise his greatsword. In that flash of light, Thor appeared in front of him, her warhammer raised like a judgment.

With a KABOOM!, the hammer crashed into his flank.

The impact caused the Shadow Knight’s armor to shatter into black glass whilst sending the hulking mass of darkness spinning violently through the air.

"Ngh!" Nereus’s jaw tightened in shock. "Argus! Recover!"

The Shadow Knight contorted mid-air, using its tendrils to grapple the floor and right itself. It was successful and catapulted itself forward, swinging its greatsword horizontally to decapitate the Valkyrie.

Thor merely ducked under the massive blade like she had seen the Knight’s projection from the very beginning.

As the black steel passed inches above her white hair, she drove the butt of her hammer upward, slamming it directly under Argus’s chin. The crack of kinetic force snapped the shadow’s head back.

Without missing a beat, Thor spun on her heel, using the momentum of the turn to swing the massive head of the warhammer right into Argus’s chest.

CRACK! Arcs of wild, untamed lightning tore through the Shadow Knight’s form, frying the viscous black Grace that held it together. Argus staggered backward, losing its footing.

"No! Use Lunar Tomb!" Nereus shrieked. He was loud for the first time as panic had entirely seized him.

Argus slammed both of its shadowy hands into the floor. Out of the ground, a freezing dark tome erupted, intending to swallow Thor whole and crush her within a vacuum of twisted gravity.

Thor inspected the magic, but remained on its edge, watching the dome of darkness expand.

Suddenly, she began to spin the hammer, creating a whirlwind of crackling lightning on her wielding arm.

Everyone’s eyes widened.

"What’s she about to do?"

"I thought she was done for?"

Thor channeled every ounce of the kinetic damage she had absorbed directly into the Hammer of Force.

Lightning crackled uncontrollably in the spinning weapon, striking the ceiling, the walls, the ground.

Nereus’s eyes widened. "Argus! Finish her!"

"Spinning Lightning Fury!" Thor roared.

She vaulted high into the air, soaring above the expanding dome of darkness. The spinning hammer emitted so much lightning, sizzling everywhere...

...Until she directed it downward, right at the Shadow Knight.

The collision was silent for a fraction of a second, and then, the world turned white.

Lightning—a mad fall of it—blasted from the warhammer and erupted against the dome, washing over the entire arena in a blinding flash of raw destruction.

The thunderous boom that followed knocked several students out of their seats. The ruthless heat vaporized Argus’s dark dome instantly.

There was no hope for the Shadow Knight. The deadly barrage of electricity tore the twisted shadow apart at a molecular level, threatening to erase it from existence.

"Return," Nereus whispered, saving his summon from imminent death.

When the blinding light finally faded, and the students dared to open their eyes, the arena was completely silent, save for the crackle of residual electricity dancing across the blackened, molten stone.

Where the Shadow Knight had stood, there was nothing but a smoking, glass-lined crater.

Thor Stormchild stood at the edge of it. She held the Hammer of Force beside her, standing unmoved like she had only swatted a fly as the last few arcs of lightning faded from her white hair.

She breathed out a sigh of hot vapor, her silver-blue eyes utterly devoid of mercy.

The entire hall was paralyzed. No one clapped. No one cheered. They were too deeply horrified by the devastation they had just witnessed.

Slowly, Thor turned her back on the center. Her greaves crunched against the broken stone as she walked towards Lancet.

"The black knight is dust," Thor stated, her voice tight and authoritative. She pointed a finger directly at his chest. "Now. We must have that talk."

Lancet, astonished by what he had created, gave a constricted smile. "Ah. Right. Well... why don’t we do it later?"

Thor’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. The air around her immediately began to sizzle with static electricity again. "I said now."

She took another step towards him.

"Yeah, definitely later!" Lancet said quickly. He quickly sent her back into Summon Space.

Thor’s eyes widened in outrage as she felt the command take hold. "You insolent little—!"

KRAKOOOM!

Before she could finish her threat, a brilliant bolt of lightning rose from the floor directly beneath her boots. It shot upward, engulfing her entirely, and in a flash of thunderous light, the Valkyrie vanished from the hall, unsummoned back into the ether.

Lancet let out a long, heavy breath. ’Holy hell, she is intense.’

He turned his attention away from the spot where she had been and looked across the ruined arena.

Nereus Grimlake was still standing across from him. The Year Three senior looked entirely broken. His face was ashen, his hands trembling slightly at his sides.

He, a renowned upperclassman, had just been completely dismantled and humiliated by a Year One student in front of an entire class of other Year Ones.

Nereus could hear the murmurs, and he already knew what would be said about him from tomorrow.

Despite his frustration, he refused to overreact. Calmly, he lifted his head to Lancet and gently spoke.

"You have bested me. Well done."

After that, he simply turned around and walked out the professor’s door, disappearing into the corridors.

The silence in the hall was deafening.

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A/N:

Thanks for reaching the goal so fast guys! Another 50 more for 2 Bonus Chapters. You can check the aux Chapter for other ways to get bonus Chapters. Please remember to support with reviews as well. Thank you for reading so far ◉⁠‿⁠◉