Solo opened the gate, and after groping around for about twenty minutes, the group entered the Royal Library.
The unsettling feeling grew stronger. Mo and Dogen began to investigate the surroundings, while even Taidor moved with increasing caution, his hands constantly gripping his war pike. Though his senses weren't as sharp as a Jedi's, he could still sense the oppressive aura of danger permeating the air.
The library resembled a vast, cavernous art gallery, but instead of paintings, scrolls stacked from floor to ceiling lined the walls. Scattered throughout the hall were worn-out meditation cushions, remnants of their former use.
The most striking feature was a massive scroll hanging on the wall opposite the entrance. Measuring approximately two meters wide, its jade-green end caps radiated an ancient luster.
Dogen suddenly spoke, "Is that the scroll from the fifth level?"
Taidor was about to respond when he froze in place.
Solo instantly felt the room's temperature plummet, and a crushing sense of dread washed over him.
The aura of the Dark Side!
Mo reacted swiftly, whirling to his left and leaping over Sheldon's head. Activating his yellow lightsaber, he slashed fiercely into a darkened corner.
Clang!
A scarlet lightsaber suddenly ignited, blocking his attack.
"Look at that!" a gleeful voice rang out, laced with icy mockery. "A Shadow Warrior, after all. Your senses are quite sharp."
Mo leaped back. Ahsoka lunged forward, her green lightsaber humming, but Solo grabbed her arm.
"Master, a Sith?"
Solo shook his head, studying the figure closely. He immediately recognized the chilling presence emanating from the man before him—a Sith?
Yet this figure felt different from Asajj Ventress. His yellow eyes burned with the Dark Side's power, and glimpses of white hair and a thick beard showed beneath his black cloak. The sheer force of his presence made Solo gasp for breath.
"So you're the Jedi who defeated Asajj Ventress," the Sith sneered, his gaze sweeping over Taidor and Sheldon. "You hardly seem remarkable."
Only then did Taidor and Sheldon grasp the situation. They immediately flanked Mo, their war pikes held horizontally before them, ready for battle.
Meanwhile, Rick Dagon swiftly moved into position, his lightsaber igniting in a purple glow. Yellow and green blades joined Solo's pale blue lightsaber, their intersecting beams illuminating the dimly lit library.
Hearing the Sith mention Ventress, Solo tensed. Although footage of his duel with Ventress had circulated throughout the galaxy, hearing her name in Wild Space was startling.
Could it be Dooku? Or Palpatine?
The monitoring station's discovery of his presence immediately made him suspect these two figures, the masterminds behind the war.
But he was just a minor player; such elaborate schemes seemed unlikely.
"I've been waiting for you, Matukai," the Sith chuckled. "I thought I'd have to go back and capture some, but the Force has delivered exactly who I need. I only wanted a Shadow, but I've gained two Matukai who understand Zhai, and three Jedi to boot."
Solo's brow furrowed. "Who are you? Why are you waiting for me?"
"Someone said you were special," the Sith replied, pointing his lightsaber at Solo. "They wanted me to test you. And he—"
He turned to Rick Dagon. "You demonstrated Dark Side techniques on Geonosis, and Mo, as a Shadow, has long dealt with the Sith. You are both intriguing servants of the Dark Side!"
"Our information is classified by the Jedi Council!" Dagon blurted out. "How did you find out?"
"Do you think I'm an idiot?" the Sith sneered. "Enough chatter. I need a Matukai to decipher the knowledge here, and you—others want you. I won't kill you."
He knew Mo's name!
As a Jedi Shadow, his name should have been secret. Could there be a traitor within the Warrior Order?
"However, that's someone else's problem," the Sith continued. "I'll give you a choice: one Matukai must die, either by my blade or by their own hand. The rest of you, surrender now."
"Why don't you crawl back into a Rancor's ass!" Sheldon roared, charging recklessly at the Sith. "I'll fucking kill you!"
"Sheldon, don't attack alone!" Taidor shouted urgently, but it was too late.
The Sith extended his left hand, and blue Force Lightning crackled from his fingertips, striking Sheldon instantly.
The young Matukai screamed in agony as he was hurled through the air, crashing heavily to the ground.
Immediately afterward, the Force Lightning turned toward Solo and the others with astonishing speed.
"Block it now!" Solo shouted, channeling the Force into his lightsaber and assuming the Soresu defensive stance. A blue energy barrier materialized, intercepting the lightning.
Mo and Dogen swiftly flanked the Sith Lord, circling to his left and right, while Ahsoka shielded the injured Sheldon, vigilantly observing the battle.
Seeing Solo and the others had stabilized their defenses, Taidor seized the opportunity to circle behind the Sith Lord. His war pike whistled through the air as he aimed a sweeping strike at the Sith's waist.
Simultaneously, Mo launched a counterattack, using telekinesis to manipulate his second lightsaber, sending it hurtling toward the Sith's nape.
Unexpectedly, the Sith released his scarlet lightsaber, telekinetically maneuvering it to block Taidor's strike. He then redirected the blade to strike Mo's lightsaber away before sending it hurtling toward Taidor's chest.
The precision of his telekinetic control was astonishing!
Mo immediately deactivated his second lightsaber to avoid accidentally harming Taidor, then lunged forward, his lightsaber aimed at the Sith's throat.
"This battle is shaping up to be quite interesting," Taidor murmured, crouching slightly, his war pike poised to strike.
"Agreed," Solo said, gripping the awkward lightsaber in his left hand and adopting a hybrid stance. His left hand maintained a Soresu-style defense, while his right hand drew a blaster from his armor, ready to strike at any moment.
The next instant, Mo and Taidor launched their attacks simultaneously. As their lightsabers clashed, an energy blast shot straight for the Sith's face.
The Sith's lightsaber skills were exceptionally refined. When Solo saw the hilt of his blade, he initially assumed he was a practitioner of the Makashi style and prepared to unleash the "Rising Dragon Whirlwind" technique, attacking from all directions. But—the Sith effortlessly deflected every strike.
His speed surpassed even Mo's, the Shadow Warrior renowned for his agility in the shadows. Now, Mo found himself completely overwhelmed, barely keeping up with the Sith's rhythm. The only result of his efforts was an energy blast that grazed the Sith's cloak.
"Just like the reports said—he fights unpredictably!"
The Sith's voice remained calm as he suddenly unleashed a lightning-fast Shiak thrust, aiming directly for Solo's helmet.
The strike was unimaginably swift. Solo's Force precognition failed completely, and he relied solely on his body's instinctive reflexes to dodge.
Even so, the scarlet lightsaber left a searing mark on Solo's helmet.
Solo immediately activated the grappling hook on his left arm, latching onto a scroll rack in the distance and using the momentum to escape the attack range.
As the Sith prepared to pursue, Taidor's war pike slashed at his flank.
The Sith blocked the strike with a sliding parry, using the momentum to spin around and thrust his lightsaber toward Taidor's neck.
The Old Matucadan twisted to evade, narrowly avoiding decapitation at the last moment.
Mo seized the opportunity to close in, his lightsaber simultaneously targeting the Sith's head and legs. The Sith blocked the lower strike with his lightsaber, but Mo's free left hand suddenly seized the hilt of the lightsaber aimed at his head!
In the nick of time, Mo leaped upward, twisting his body to kick the Sith in the chest.
The Sith released Mo's wrist and retreated, giving Taidor the chance to unleash the Divine Dragon's Tail—a sweeping strike with his war pike aimed at the Sith's legs.
The Sith leaped high, allowing the attack to pass beneath him.
Landing, Mo immediately used the Fire Manipulation Technique, sending a fireball hurtling toward the Sith. The Sith effortlessly absorbed the flame using Tutaminis.
"Aaaah!" Taidor roared, spinning his war pike in a Rising Dragon Whirlwind—a dense barrage of strikes that forced the Sith to retreat repeatedly.
Solo used a grappling hook to latch onto the ceiling, leaping over the heads of the warring parties to land behind the Sith. He immediately fired another energy blast.
"A futile gesture," the Sith said without even turning around, absorbing the energy blast with his Force-enhanced senses.
"Master, I'll help you!" Ahsoka cried out, her lightsaber already descending in a strike. The Sith whirled around, parrying her attack.
The force of the blow sent Ahsoka staggering back. Without sparing her a glance, the Sith dodged Taidor's war pike sweeping in from behind, his red lightsaber slashing toward Taidor's waist.
A single hit would cleave him in two.
Seeing his master in danger, Sheldon charged in from the side, swinging his war pike. If the Sith insisted on his waist-level strike, he would inevitably be struck by Sheldon's pike, suffering a humiliating defeat if not death.
The Sith snorted, executing a backflip over Taidor's head, leaving Sheldon's attack to kick up only dust.
"Decent teamwork," the Sith sneered, his tone still contemptuous. "Pity your skills are lacking. You're only getting in each other's way."
"Bastard! Hiding behind your mask!" Sheldon roared, his anger flaring. "What's your name?"
"Your names are irrelevant," the Sith said, his gaze turning cold as he looked at the Jedi. "All that matters is that you will die here today. Though others may have plans for you, I have never hesitated to break the rules."
"Who are these 'others'?" Solo asked, his mind racing. "Is it your Master? A Sith Lord? Separatists? Or someone within the Republic itself?"
"Do you think I would tell you?" The Sith's eyes narrowed before he let out a cold laugh. "Decide how you wish to die first: in battle or on your knees?"
The response was a simultaneous attack from all five Jedi.
Solo, Mo, and Dogen led the charge, Taidor provided support, and Ahsoka focused on drawing the Sith's attention.
But Ahsoka and Sheldon's inexperience, combined with their ongoing struggles to master their lightsabers, forced Solo to divide his attention to protect them. This distraction gave the Sith Lord an opening.
He unleashed a blast of Force Lightning that sent Taidor, the Old Matucadan, flying backward. Then, with a swift strike, he severed the shaft of Sheldon's war pike, his lightsaber poised at Sheldon's throat.
"Watch out!" Mo shouted, lunging forward with his twin yellow lightsabers to block the attack and pull Sheldon to safety.
The battle was turning increasingly dire. Sheldon had lost his weapon, and Taidor's left arm was slashed by a lightsaber, leaving him to wield his war pike with his right arm and telekinesis.
Dogen's purple lightsaber had been knocked away, forcing him to rely solely on the Force to evade his opponent. Mo's dual-bladed lightsaber barely held off the attacks, and his stamina was rapidly failing.
Solo's armor was riddled with wounds, his energy reserves critically depleted. The barely visible scratch he'd managed to inflict on the Sith's face felt like a hollow victory, considering how many times he'd narrowly escaped death.
"Enough!" the Sith Lord suddenly declared during a brief lull in the fighting. "The expendable ones will be buried here."
He extended his left hand, unleashing a powerful telekinetic wave that slammed into the group.
Mo immediately retracted his lightsabers, channeling the Force with both hands. Two telekinetic waves collided violently.
In the next instant, scrolls flew from the shelves, and all five warriors were hurled backward, crashing heavily to the ground.
"Burial doesn't require movement," the Sith Lord said, spreading his arms wide. The Force gripped the massive rocks at the Royal Library's ceiling.
"No! He's going to collapse the library!"
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