283 Passion to win (2/2)

Lust tilted his head, ”Pardon...?”

”I told you... I'm not losing here and dying to you...”

”Oho...? You do realize that your desire to defeat me is just making me stronger, right?”

”So what!? If that's the case... Ugh...” Daren tried to reply before spitting a bit of blood out, ”Then... I just need to end you in one move...”

Lust began to smirk, ”You really love your family, don't you?”

”You damn right I do!! I love my son, my fiance, my friends, I love everything about my life... For the first time in a long time, I finally have a reason to care about being alive!! And if you think I'm losing all that for some shirt-less weirdo like you, then you better think again!!”

Daren started to take in all the power of his metal claws he had left and started to focus on his final spell.

”You're just an obstacle standing in my way!! And now... I'm going to remove you!!”

”Then give me your best shot!!” Lust dared.

Evlin started to notice a new group of shadows forming around Eclipse, but this time, they were forming around Daren as well.

”Hey, Ashley...” Evlin whispered, ”I know Daren's element is darkness... But what exactly is his affinity?”

Ashley began to hold her chin, ”Considering his personality, his desire to protect the things he cares about, an almost animal-like wish to keep the things he cares about safe... And considering his connection with Eclipse...”

Suddenly, Eclipse's back body turned into shadows one more time, but this time, Daren's body became shadows as well, and the two of them started to merge into one mass of darkness.

Once the union was complete, all that remained was the image of a humanoid muscular figure with red eyes and the head of a lion made entirely out of darkness wearing a pair of metal claws.

”I would call it... Primal instinct!” Ashley whispered.

Daren gazed at his own body and proceeded to release a powerful howl that echoed over the entire battlefield.

Marcus noticed that Lance seemed to be hypnotized as he looked at his own father in his current state, but not with eyes of fear, only admiration, as if he could not believe such a powerful creature was his parent.

”Amazing!!” Lust cried, ”This is just the best!! You truly are a man among men!!”

Daren bent his knees and prepared to move, ”Prepare yourself...”

”Come!” Lust replied.

The two then suddenly vanished completely and reappeared in another location of the arena trying to tear each other apart.

Lust and Daren looked less like two men fighting and more like a pair of beasts as they tried to rip each other apart with their fangs and claws.

They vanished one more time and moved to another location, then another, then another, constantly jumping from one spot to the next with a speed too great for regular eyes to follow.

One second the two would be stabbing each other, the next they would be bitting each other's skin off.

”This is crazy...” Auren noted as he tried to follow the fight of the lion-man and the dragon-man.

The most anyone could see was the blood from one of them spilling all over the terrain and pieces of debris being broken down into pieces.

”Hahahaha!!” Lust suddenly began to laugh out of nowhere, ”This is the best!!! I love this!!!”

”Aaaarghhh!!” Daren did not talk, he just continued to do his best to eviscerate his enemy.

Eventually, the two finally stopped out of nowhere, completely covered in wounds while staring at each other. Lust had its back facing Evlin's group while Daren stood in front of him with his metal claws in pieces.

”Wha- What happened??” Lilith gasped.

”The fight is over...” Lust explained while cleaning the blood from his mouth.

Daren finally ran out of magic and all of the shadows began to vanish from his body as he dropped on his knees, and right after that, getting knocked out completely.

Eclipse followed right after him and passed out on the ground.

The metal claws and the magic whip had been completely destroyed in the battle.

”Aaahhh... That was really the best... Thanks for showing me your passion man...” Lust commented while stretching his arms and legs.

”No... No, no, no... This can't be-” Lilith whispered before starting to cry, but the sudden gasps of her friends made her stop right at that moment.

Lust had just turned around and revealed a massive gaping-wound that went from his neck all the way to his abs in the shape of a claw mark.

”That was fun guys... Good luck with the rest of the game!” Lust wished with a thumbs up before dropping dead on the ground.

Daren opened his eyes and gazed at his friends. He had no strength to say anything so he just gave them a weak smile instead.

The group began to cheer again and rushed to his aid while Lilith buried him in her arms and proceeded to kiss his face over and over again.

While they were all distracted, Knucker just repeated the action from before and got his dragon claws back from Lust, as well as all of Lust himself, into his body.

”Five to go...”