And then the young men were alone with the guardian of the temple, they did not hesitate to start the next stage of their confrontation.
"Let's see what we are capable of with that small increase in power."
Ghusty was overconfident even though Shiko momentarily grew stronger, so he pointed his finger at Shiko and began to shoot multiple bolts at him. The young man moved so fast that it seemed as if he was being transported back and forth throughout the temple, causing all Ghusty's attacks to fail, thus giving Dreik a chance to use a direct attack. He created two huge tornadoes of water that attacked the guardian from different directions, impacting him without being able to dodge.
After all the water dissipated, they observed the guardian that was very angry and hurt, which disappeared into the complete darkness. Shiko stopped for a moment from running, to which he turned and kneed into the air, causing his knee to impact into Ghusty's stomach, who tried to attack Shiko from behind: "H-How could you guess where it would attack?", said and disappeared again after receiving such a blow, to which Shiko shouted:
-Thanks to this power increase I can still use my shadow moves, so I can hit you as I wish!
Dreik created another huge tornado of water and this time he made the attack head towards Shiko "Shiko, I'm sure that by sharing my dragon powers you will at least be able to move that tornado in another direction!" If you locate a specific point and Ghusty is there, then you can catch him! Shiko cut the tornado in two with his sword, stating that he was able to manipulate such an element, he then caused the two severed parts of the whirlpool to dissolve creating a small flood in the temple. Ghusty hid in the shadows of the temple's roof so as not to be caught by the current created by attacking his two enemies with bursts of black magic.
Both seeing the direction of the attacks, dodged and Dreik decided to direct an attack towards that place, to which Shiko stopped him so that he would not waste his attack.
-Shiko: Obviously it can move almost instantly to another place if there is some shadow, so I recommend something else, if you are able to create many water towers that destroy enough of the temple's roof, we will make there be fewer shadows because of the light.
-Dreik: I understand your point but what will you do? We cannot waste time.
-Shiko: I can feel where it moves, calculating the corners in which the temperature drops, every time it passes through a shadow the temperature of that place falls a minimum of 41 Fahrenheit degrees, so the opportunity that it goes to cross to another shady place, having limited spaces I will be able to predict its movement.
-Dreik: You are agile-minded. Well, if that's what you think is better, I'll support you!
Then the young man, having better control of his water powers, decided to create many water towers causing great pressure against the roof of the temple, so strong that it caused it to collapse from many places.
All the debris on the roof was falling, and next to them the clarity of the forest hit the entire area, the duo having a great speed were able to avoid being hurt by the collapse. Once everything stopped, Shiko continued to look around to predict where the guardian would move. At the last moment, the swordsman realized where his enemy had moved. He was transported to Dreik's shadow to make an ultimate attack to which Shiko decided to use his shadow bending powers to move Dreik away from his own shadow so that when Ghusty attacks, he could notice the attack and dodge.
They barely managed to predict Ghusty's move, it was then that this ghost decided to materialize again in front of his opponents.
"Wow, you really are a cunning young man. But you still lack power and skill".
The guardian began to accumulate a huge amount of black magic in his mouth in a very short time, thus expelling it in the form of lightning against his enemies, Shiko who was able to counteract his powers by manipulating the shadows took a step forward, threw away his sword and put his two hands together. The young man began to gather a lot of magic created from shadows -Grim triangle! - He shouted and expelled in the form of another large triangular beam an enormous amount of magic made from shadows.
Both attacks collapsed, being so powerful that they caused an earthquake throughout the area, thus causing the rest of the group that was outside protecting the Kiman to worry about the two young men who were fighting. The entire temple began to crumble more than it already was, and once the lightning stopped collapsing the nearby area, they caused a huge explosion which kicked up a huge cloud of dust.
As the cloud of dust slowly disappeared, Shiko and Dreik emerged from the rubble badly injured and dirty from the attack.
-Dreik: Ahg! That guy is really a pain in the ass... but I don't think he was able to come out of such an attack unscathed...
-Shiko: You're right... And now that the entire temple has been destroyed, the light comes in completely, it is as if we were on the total outskirts of the forest, just wait for it to show up to give it the coup de grace.
-Dreik: … Perhaps...
-Shiko: What are you thinking of?
-Dreik: He may be hidden among all the shadows of the rubble. When accumulated, bricks on top of each other produce shadows on those below them making Ghusty able to hide in them.
-Shiko: Damn! Then I'll have to resort to another of the new abilities that I got when this power activated... I must hurry since the fifteen minutes are about to end...
Then Shiko decided to gather a huge amount of magic in his lungs, he prepared herself by making a pose in which he could retain such a vast quantity of magic in them and then, he let out a huge scream from which came all the magic he accumulated. The scream was so powerful that it removed all the rocks and debris that were in what was left of the temple, it was so powerful that it was even able to destroy some bricks that were weak.
When Shiko finished screaming with such power, the entire area had been cleared making Ghusty finally present in his physical form "You are also a headache for me, I didn't think you were going to make it so difficult for me to be honest, but now all that remains is for each one of you to try and give the coup de grace." Shiko picked up his sword again which had been visible from clearing the area, raised it and it began to be totally surrounded by shadows, so the young swordsman started charging all the magic he had left in his last attack.
"Fang of the shadow dragon!"
It was the name that the swordsman decided to give to this technique, since it was one totally improvised by him, so after giving a sword blow to the air, it released the shadows it contained and began to release multiple huge and fast shadow gusts, which were directed mercilessly towards Ghusty.
The guardian was filled with fear at the sight of the immense power of the attack, thus creating strange eyes which formed a shield of black magic -Eclipse protector! - he screamed desperately, and in the moment the huge bursts generated by Shiko impacted breaking this shield and cutting Ghusty in half. The gusts were so powerful that they did not stop when they made contact with their target but continued along a long path cutting through everything in their path until they vanished, leaving a part of the forest cut and destroyed.
Although all the bursts of the attack hit the guardian, he was badly injured and with little vitality he had left, he still could move and stand upright, unlike Shiko, who spent his time limit and magic with the last skill.
"We gave everything we could... But now that you've returned to your normal form, my attacks won't be very effective against him and even though he's hurt, he still has magic to finish us off... we have lost the fight".
Dreik said these words devastated to see that they could not defeat the guardian even by gathering their forces... They felt useless and the only thing that awaited them was death.
Very hurt, the guardian began to laugh out loud at his victory, so he carried black magic in his hands and threw two lightning bolts at his enemies. When they were about to hit the duo, they were suddenly diverted and crashed into trees in the area. A man with blue hair and a hood, all dressed in black hiding his identity, saved both Dreik and Shiko. -Well, well, I would say that it is one of those moments in which the hero is totally lost, and that by chance... a cliché of convenience, someone appears to save him... well if it's one of those moments, if it wasn't for what I've followed you, you would have died child!- the stranger turned to Shiko saying these words while smiling, then when he saw Ghusty again he said:
-Excuse me, I can tell you that this victory is literally yours, you win, feel proud... but, for having such a victory I will have to kill you Ghusty...
-Ghusty: No... You are...!
-???: Ahg! Don't you dare mention my name! You'll ruin the surprise of who I am! Ahg anyway, it hurts me to do it since I have given you this position of guardian... but it is my duty if the boy has not fulfilled his.
The mysterious man raised his hand to Ghusty and in the blink of an eye made him disappear crumbling from a flash that came out of the stranger's palm. Without saying a word, Ghusty disintegrated and dropped only the bags of experience.
The mysterious man saw the defeated young men again, raised his hand to the sky and exclaimed:
"O goddess of the moon, may your light shine on these young people and restore their energies!".
With that said, a warm light filled the young men, and they recovered from all their wounds fully, before they could thank the man who healed them for their death.
-Dreik: He... He is here and said that he has always been present...
-Shiko: Do you know him, Dreik?
-Dreik: ... No... I don't know him, but if he said that it is too early for you to know him, he had to plan something.
Dreik decided to lie about the identity of this man, so both young men stood up and returned to the others, who were protecting the Korin, once they got there, they decided to tell everything that happened...
To be continued…