Chapter 293
The last light of Tatooine's twin suns vanished behind the dunes, leaving the rocky plateau bathed in deep indigo and silver starlight. Only the wind and the low hum of my bleeding lightsaber broke the silence.
Saa Qalu stood ten meters away, amphistaff coiled like a living serpent at his side. The Yuuzhan Vong Hunter no longer bothered with his stolen human skin. Scarred, tattooed flesh gleamed under the stars, living armor rippling across his chest and shoulders. His eyes burned with religious contempt.
"So… a worthy challenge appears," he repeated, voice a guttural rasp. "You sense the true gods, infidel. Good. Die knowing your blasphemy ends here."
I didn't waste words.
I exploded forward.
**First Form: Dark Moon, Evening Palace.**
I dropped into a low iaijutsu stance, then unleashed a singular horizontal slash that traced a perfect crescent. The bleeding blade screamed as it released a storm of chaotic crescent moon blades along its path — razor-sharp arcs of white-blue energy laced with crackling red lightning. They howled through the air toward the Vong.
Saa Qalu laughed — a wet, inhuman sound — and swung his amphistaff. The living weapon met the barrage, shattering several blades, but others sliced deep gashes across his chest and arms. Black blood sprayed. Before my eyes, the wounds began to close, flesh knitting together with grotesque speed.
*Strong. Far stronger than any Jedi. Thrawn was not joking.*
The Hunter retaliated instantly. His right arm whipped forward with unnatural speed. The limb elongated dramatically — growing spiky red coverings and morphing his hand into a bladed protrusion ten meters long. The arm-whip cracked like a thunderbolt, slicing toward my neck.
I barely ducked. The whip tore a chunk out of the rock behind me, sending stone shrapnel flying.
**Second Form: Pearl Flower Moongazing.**
I spun on my heel and performed three rapid crescent-shaped slashes. A multitude of smaller crescent moon blades erupted with each cut, filling the air like deadly silver petals. They converged on Saa Qalu from multiple angles.
The Vong twisted, amphistaff spinning in a defensive blur. Several blades carved fresh wounds across his thighs and shoulders. Again, the gashes sealed almost instantly, leaving only faint scars.
"Pathetic machine-magic!" he roared. Both arms elongated this time — twin whips, one red-spiked, one white, each stretching nearly ten meters. He swung them in wide, crisscrossing arcs.
I leaped backward, but one whip grazed my left shoulder, slicing through armor and flesh. Pain flared hot and bright. I gritted my teeth and countered.
**Third Form: Loathsome Moon, Chains.**
Two extremely broad crescent-shaped slashes swept directly in front of me. From them erupted a storm of smaller crescent moon blades that howled forward like chained lightning.
The barrage slammed into Saa Qalu. One whip was severed mid-length. The Hunter staggered as dozens of cuts opened across his torso and face. Blood poured — then slowed. The wounds began healing again, slower this time but still closing.
He laughed through the pain. "Your false power cannot kill what the gods have blessed!"
**Fifth Form: Moon Spirit Calamitous Eddy.**
I planted my feet and created multiple long, curved slashes layered over one another. A vortex of crescent moon blades whirled into existence around me, spinning faster and faster before exploding outward in a deadly spiral.
Saa Qalu charged straight into it. His amphistaff lashed out, but the blades tore into him relentlessly — slicing arms, legs, chest. Living armor cracked. Flesh parted. He roared in fury as the vortex shredded his left side, nearly severing his arm.
The limb hung by threads of muscle… then began regenerating before my eyes, new spikes pushing through the wound.
*He's healing every slice. This is insane.*
I was breathing hard now, the bleeding kyber in my hilt crackling with raw power. The Vong was far stronger, faster, and more durable than any opponent I had faced in this galaxy. No midi-chlorians. No Force connection he could be manipulated through. Pure, hateful biology engineered by gods that despised the Force itself.
**Sixth Form: Perpetual Night, Lonely Moon.**
I dashed forward and performed a multitude of rapid curved slashes several meters in front of me. A wild barrage of crescent moon blades erupted, slicing up the surroundings in a frenzied storm.
The plateau became a blender of moonlight and blood. Saa Qalu was caught in the center. His body was carved open in dozens of places. One whip-arm was completely severed and fell twitching to the stone. His amphistaff was slashed in half.
For a moment, I thought I had him.
Then the severed arm began to regrow. The amphistaff twitched, living tissue knitting it back together. Saa Qalu straightened, eyes blazing with fanatic joy.
"More!" he bellowed. "Show me the depth of your heresy!"
**Seventh Form: Mirror of Misfortune, Moonlit.**
I performed a frontal crescent-shaped slash that unleashed numerous straight slashes interlaced with crescent moons, expanding outward through the ground like roots of destruction.
The stone beneath Saa Qalu erupted with blades. They tore upward into his legs and lower torso, lifting him off his feet. Blood and chunks of living armor rained down.
He landed hard, most of his lower body shredded… and began healing again. Slower now. The regeneration was finally taxing him.
I pressed the advantage.
**Eighth Form: Moon-Dragon Ringtail.**
Using the full length of my altered lightsaber, I performed an extremely wide, long-ranged curved slash. Dozens of crescent moon blades trailed along its path like the tail of a dragon.
The attack bisected the plateau. Saa Qalu threw himself sideways, but the blades still carved deep furrows across his back and side. One nearly took his head.
**Ninth Form: Waning Moonswaths.**
Multiple downward curved slashes in close proximity left numerous crescent moon blades in their wake. I hammered him relentlessly, driving him back toward the edge of the plateau.
**Tenth Form: Drilling Slashes, Moon Through Bamboo Leaves.**
I created three rotating circular saw-like slashes. Crescent moon blades followed their spiraling path, grinding into the Vong like living drills.
Saa Qalu's remaining whip-arm lashed out in desperation. It caught me across the ribs, opening a deep gash. I ignored the pain and kept attacking.
**Fourteenth Form: Catastrophe, Tenman Crescent Moon.**
This was my strongest.
I planted my feet and performed a multitude of curved circular slashes that expanded outward in every direction, incrementally growing in size. An omni-directional vortex of crescent moon blades whirled around me — a cataclysmic storm far larger and more violent than the Fifth Form.
The entire plateau trembled.
Saa Qalu was caught at the center.
The vortex tore into him with unrelenting fury. Living armor shattered. Flesh was flayed from bone. His amphistaff was ripped apart. Both arms were severed at the shoulders. His torso was opened in a dozen places. One leg was nearly severed.
For the first time, real pain and doubt flashed across the Hunter's face.
He staggered, blood pouring freely now. The regeneration struggled — wounds closing only partially before new blades tore them open again.
I stepped forward, breathing ragged, blood running down my side from the rib wound. My eyes still glowed blood-red.
Saa Qalu looked up at me, chest heaving, half his face sliced open.
"You… are no mortal," he rasped. "The gods will remember this name…"
He tried to lunge one last time with his remaining strength.
I raised my lightsaber for the final strike.
The plateau was a ruin of slashed stone and Vong blood. The night wind howled over the carnage as the lone surviving warrior faced the last desperate charge of the Hunter.
The battle was not over yet.
But Saa Qalu was finally breaking.