CHAPTER 31: CH 31: A DUEL [3]

I tried speaking. The thoughts originated at the back of my mind.

’I am not telling anything, Reinhard! It’s not me!’

But the words refused to come out of my mouth.

Instead another voice replied me. Right inside my head.

’Its okay, kid. Don’t try so much, I have the control over the body now. So weird right that I need you to get weak just so that I can use MY own body?’

My mind froze at those bone-chilling words.

His body...?

Does that mean...

’You...you are...’

’Yes, it’s me. Henry Mordant. The body of whom you have clung onto like a parasite for your own dear life.’

My vision suddenly turned normal.

No sooner had that happened than a force, a completely foreign, absolute force pushed me towards the back of my mind.

Or that’s how it felt as I saw my vision being locked within me...

I could still see what was happening through the eyes. But the eyes themselves no longer followed my command.

I tried moving the eyeballs but to no avail. Instead it moved on someone else’s instructions and I was forced to see whatever he saw.

My eyes were no longer mine. Or probably they had never been...I was only borrowing them afterall.

I can still hear through my ears. The rumblings of the skies, the distant water crashing on the shores and the tapping of my own shoes on the ground.

Wait, I wasn’t doing that....Henry was.

I couldn’t control anything of my body. It moved at the whims of Henry and him alone.

I was locked in a body that I had believed to have possessed from a dead man.

But someone forgot to tell me...

That this dead man was very much alive.

Henry stood up and faced Reinhard. I felt all the injuries, starting from the deep cut in the stomach to the broken ribs...each of them started healing.

The pace wasn’t rapid but it was progressive.

And then...

[Unknown ability being used. Mana recharging at an abnormal speed!]

A notification rang out in front of my vision.

[Mana Meter: ◻️◻️◻️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️]

The air around me became charged. A vortex of vaccum formed in the charged space as mana from the surrounding air rushed to fill up the empty void.

And then, they all entered my body. At Henry’s command.

[Mana Meter: ◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️◻️]

By now, even Reinhard had a concerned face. With a cautious frown, he asked or rather he said.

"You are Henry....you aren’t the mindless person from few moments back."

My lips curled into a devilish smirk and my mouth opened to speak. But from it, Henry spoke.

"What do you mean I am not the same person...? Did you face any concussion...or are you hallucinating at the face of my power?"

"I am Henry Mordant. Period."

He raised his katana that was now chipped at few areas.

Then in a calm manner, he whispered.

"To the darkness that follows the path of light. To the hollow void that rules the cosmos. To the predator of all, the nihilistic omniscient.

I heed you to let me be...

One With Shadows."

[One with Shadows forcefully activated! ]

[An unknown deity has been detected.]

At that moment, my shadow transformed. It no longer looked like the humane mirror image of me.

It twisted and encircled my figure as it expanded over a large radius.

"Oh goodness... it’s really you!" Reinhard’s grip tightened on his weapon as he stared at the growing sense of danger covering the ground.

But the shadow didn’t care about his sudden realisation. It expanded and blotted the entire land. Trees, bushes, rocks, menhirs...nothing were left in its wake as darkness settled over the entire island.

That might as well as be an exaggeration as I couldn’t look at the entire island myself. Or it might be true as well.

But regardless of this darkness, I was able to see every single outline of objects. In fact, my vision in this darkness was far better than my normal vision.

It was almost as if the world was suddenly painted in charcoal and the white lines of the objects gave their appearances away.

But that couldn’t be the case with Reinhard...

"What did you do?! Why did the world turn black, bastard!"

Henry didn’t speak. He only walked forward, his steps not making any sound against the forest floor.

Taking few steps in rotation, he came behind Reinhard.

Then without speaking a single word, he stabbed Reinhard with a single jab of the katana.

"W-what?" He stammered in surprise.

Suddenly he shouted, "To hell with you Reinhard. I am not losing a second time at your hands!!"

With a grunt, he oulled out the katana from his back and punched the air behind him.

Almost instantly, a strong wave of power radiated from his fist that evaporated the darkness covering it’s path and resched Henry. Or in other words, it reached me.

But without showing any signs of fear, Henry melted into the shadows and appeared at a far away spot from Reinhard.

My mind felt muzzy as I was dragged along with him in this swift teleportation.

And then I saw something surreal, something that defied every logic I knew. In the belly of this dominating darkness, a cylindrical shaped space had opened up.

And in the space only light showed. No darkness. It was right at the spot where Reinhard had just punched the air.

It looked completely abnormal.

However soon, the surrounding shadows diffused into this lightened space and just like that, darkness once again claimed the lands.

"If you are really strong, stop this petty tricks and come fight me. Henry!! Come out."

Reinhard shouted while keeping on punching the air around him. Light would permeate the areas where he punched, but only for a small frame of time before the shadows would fill back into them.

"Is that what you shall be shouting at the mages in a battlefield? The ones whose main task is to fire spell from the backlines." Henry teleported to his back and delivered a swift backhanded jab to his neck.

Reinhard crashed on the ground, both his face and his dignity muddied by the remains of the mud sponges and the humiliation respectively.