My Devourer System: Rise of the Bastard Son

Lucen stepped out of the cell, sweating. The darkness in the pits grew eerily sinister.

Thomas' carefree footsteps announced his arrival. His black hair melded with the dark, but his eyes that had a sinister glow to them.

"What are you doing here?" Lucen asked first. If Tron hadn't raised his voice to warn them, Thomas would have caught him unprepared. He summoned the runes of his spells, but held them back for now.

"I ask the same of you," Thomas sneered, "here to release your little friend. I worried Chester was just trying to get me in trouble, but I'm glad I snuck away. I will kill you, and rejoin the battle against the Tyrant wolf."

Lucen activated all his spells. Heat surged through his tired body. "I thought you'd have some self respect. Ambushing and killing someone weaker than you, I wonder how good you feel."

"It'll be a goddamn pleasure."

Thomas wasted no time. His figure blurred, there was a sharp click of boot, and the sound of a sword being drawn. Lucen dodged sideways, Thomas' blade passed inches from his neck.

Lucen ducked as the sword returned to his neck. The purple metal bit into stone and sent dust into the air.

He reached into the air and pulled out his silver spear. The edge flickered towards Thomas' neck, but the Knight batted it aside carelessly.

The fight was silent, deadly and fast. Thomas' sword was a thin strip of purple light, cutting through the darkness at unpredictable angles. His enhancement spells must have been on crack because it sent out the most random mana patterns.

Lucen could barely read his movements, but unlike their fight in the training yard, the halls of the pits were narrow. Thomas' couldn't run circles around him.

Lucen spun his spear in the tight space, making Thomas chuckle. But Lucen wiped that smile off his face with a sudden attack that grazed his cheek. Lucen smirked in the face of his unbridled rage.

The fight returned to its silent fury, only the whistling of death, and the sharp footstep filled the dark pit.

Why did Chester send Thomas down here? His whole speech in the tent was just bait to get him down here? Then it was a very flimsy plan, because without Selene, he wouldn't be here.

But this smelled like just a throwaway move. The fact he sent Thomas, someone who already had a grudge against Lucen, was a sign that Chester was ready to blame it all on Thomas if this failed.

Lucen jumped back after five purple slashes exploded into the air. He enchanted his spear with one breath, and let go of it. The spear turned into a white bolt of light, and shot towards Thomas'

A smile crept over Thomas' handsome face, and his purple blade blossomed with sinister light. He met the spear with the tip of his blade.

A loud band ripped through the air, and the multi-coloured clash illuminated the underground prison.

Sparks flew between the two lights, but the purple light pushed back the white, and eventually his spear lost energy. He summoned it back to his hand, the smooth silvery metal was hot.

Thomas smirked. "Too easy."

"A knight using a weapon skill and spells blocked a squire's attack, how shocking," Lucen mocked, "do you even hear yourself?"

Thomas growled and stepped forward. Lucen ran into a cell, and waited. Thomas stopped himself from going in, smiling.

"You think if you fight in an even narrower space, you'll have more of an advantage?" Thomas chuckled. "With that spear?"

Lucen remained quiet, gesturing at him to come in.

"Halfblood fool, I'll teach you some respect." Thomas laughed loudly. His sickly purple mana surged, and then split. A double of Thomas stormed into the cell beside the original.

Lucen's mind spun in those seconds. He hadn't planned for this. Were both of them real?

One of them fell into his sinkhole at the entrance, and Lucen acted immediately. His shot forward, spear cutting a glowing path through the air, towards Thomas's head.

He passed the second Thomas on the way, and it didn't react. So the real one was in the trap.

His spear stabbed towards Thomas' throat. But a shimmering blue shield expanded around the Knight, and his spear bounced off it.

Thomas sent a slash of purple light at Lucen to ward him off, and escaped the sinkhole. Lucen blocked the sword light but skid across the floor, his arms shaking under its force.

He stared at the blue ring on Thomas' left hand. "You brought a whole ass enchanted object just to fight a Squire. Damn I really left my mark on you when I whooped your ass."

Thomas was livid with anger. Different spells and surges of mana rose in his body. But he glanced at the small space they were in and put them away. His more powerful spells could bring the roof down on their heads.

Lucen smirked. Thomas was a fool that probably couldn't appreciate the beauty of a non-flashy small spell.

He attacked, spear jabbing at Thomas like a dart. Thomas dodged and sent an upward slash at his head. Lucen leaned aside, hearing the blade whistle, cold metal just grazing his ear.

Lucen didn't want him using that clone spell again, and Thomas might forget him, and go after Selene and Aya. He needed to end here.

The purple blade slashed across his shoulder. Thomas grinned madly, dodging another jab, and slashing for his neck this time. Lucen was late to dodge it, the blade cut a painful line across his collarbone.

"This is so fun!" Thomas laughed, grabbing Lucen by the collar, and flinging him out of the cell.

He partially activated [Starfall], his spear dragged his body sideways mid-air. Not a moment after he was gone, Thomas' purple blade split the air.

He slid to a stop, panting. [Blood Rebirth] was already healing his wounds. But the pain only grew his desire to split Thomas' skull. The only thing he was worried about was the consequences.

At this point, it was kill or be killed. [Reading] was useless against Thomas' strange enhancement technique, and as long as Lucen couldn't break his shield, he was unbeatable. Even if Lucen killed Thomas, it might have just been another facet of Chester's plan.

But Lucen had faced unbeatable, and he was still here. He needed to Veil his mana

Thomas's form blurred, his sword glowed over him, and Lucen braced himself. A web of purple blades collapsed over him, and he did his best to protect his heart.

The air split with rapid clangs, and his spear vibrated painfully with each blow. Slashes lined his body, blood splashed over the cold stone. His face was lacerated, his throat slit, arms and legs tore apart. But his chest went partially unscathed.

Some of his fingers fell to the ground, but Lucen gripped the spear with everything he had.

When the barrage ended, Lucen fell to his knees, a bloody corpse.