91 Forge Versus Phantom (1/2)
Scales covered Ed's body as he cautiously watched for any attacks. Flames blasted from his feet as he flew upwards to escape the maze. Unfortunately, regardless of whether he flew up or down, the maze continued to follow him.
'Damn!' He ground his teeth in frustration as a large ball of flames appeared in his hands. He hurled it towards the maze, but it went straight through the wall and vanished from his sight. He tried following behind it through the wall but was immediately blocked as it turned solid. 'I knew Phantom was going to be a pain.' He sighed to himself. 'It'll take a while to wear down his mana. That's the main prerequisite to my victory.'
He cautiously made his way through the maze. Each hallway was exactly the same. A dark void for the ceiling and floor, animal head ornaments lit with green flames, and blood-red walls on each side. After walking for what felt like a quarter of an hour, he arrived at a large dome-shaped room. The ceiling was replaced by a brilliant blue sky, and the floor became a lush grassland. White birds soared in the skies as gentle winds brushed past Ed's body.
Suddenly, a middle-aged man appeared within the room. He was dressed like a fisherman, wearing bright red clothing while wielding a fishing rod. The ground around him transformed into a small sea, leaving only a small chunk of land in the center where he stood. He sat down cross-legged on the tiny island as he leisurely cast his fishing hook into the water. He glanced towards Ed and waved. ”Yo! I'll be your first opponent.”
Ed frowned. ”Is Phantom playing some kind of game?”
”He likes to do stuff like this.” The fisherman shrugged. ”Something about it reminding him of his childhood. Video games I think he called them?”
'Video games?' Ed thought for a moment before remembering what he had read about them. They were basically interactive books or something. One of man's favorite hobbies before the apocalypses. 'So the old man played video games when he was a child and uses that as part of his fighting methodology?' He shook his head. ”It doesn't matter what he uses. I'll just crush any obstacle he throws in my path.”
”You're a confident one.” The fisherman smiled. ”We'll see how long that lasts.” He flicked his rod, sending the hook out from the water towards Ed. A silver glow covered the fishing hook and line as crackling lightning covered it.
”Humph!” Ed snorted in disdain as he released a strong blast of flames towards the fishing line, incinerating it to ash. Suddenly, a blast of water slammed into Ed. ”Ugh!” He groaned and took several steps back as a hole appeared in his shoulder, blood pouring out from within it. Flames released from his feet as he immediately took to the sky. He used wind from his hands to form a weak defensive barrier. ”That was a high-pressure water attack.” He said towards the fisherman. ”The lightning fishing hook was an illusion? Or maybe you're an illusion too and the real esper is elsewhere within the room?”
”Yup.” The fisherman replied nonchalantly. ”Not much point in using illusions if we were to be upfront about the fighting, right?”
Ed frowned as he cautiously examined his surroundings. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Suddenly, he felt the surrounding winds change slightly. He hurriedly dodged to the side as another stream of high-pressure water shot past him. ”Tsk.” He clicked his tongue. 'Best to just brute force it.' The winds surrounding him disappeared as he changed tactics. A mixture of fire and light formed invisible flames within his left hand. A mixture of water and dark formed corrosive water within his right hand. He slowly pushed the two opposing forces together.
BANG! The two opposing forces reacted violently to each other, sending a strong shock wave of hot and cold energies throughout the entire room. The explosion of mana seemed to interfere with the illusion, causing it to flicker several times. The fisherman disappeared as it was replaced by a pretty young woman hiding within the waters surrounding the island.
”There you are.” Ed grinned as he aimed towards her. Two blasts of plasma shot from his arms and slammed into the water. A high-pitched scream rang out as blood rose to the surface of the water.
'Did I win?' He wondered as he waited for something to happen. Slowly, the room began to fade away. Once again, he was within the tedious maze. ”Do you really think I'll keep playing your games?” He said aloud. Invisible flames and corrosive water appeared in his hands as he repeated his earlier attack. The maze trembled as it started fading away. It took several tries before the maze vanished entirely. Once again, he was flying in the night sky in the middle of nowhere.
”You're making things quite boring.” An aged voice said as Phantom appeared from nowhere. ”To kill such a pretty young woman. No manners in the younger generations these days. Have you never been taught chivalry?”
”I'm more of an equal opportunity kind of guy.” Ed replied. ”You know, I run the whole Harmony show and such? Equality is kind of our thing.”
”Oh?” Phantom rubbed his beard as he nodded. ”That does make sense. Well, it matters not.” He grinned. ”We still have plenty of games to play. I've brought dozens of espers along after all.”
Suddenly, a chorus of screams echoed through the skies.
”MORDY?!” A high-pitched voice screamed.
”What are you doing? WHY?!” A man's voice trembled.
”TRAITOR! TRAITOROUS FILTH! DIE!” A deep voice boomed.
”Hmm?” Phantom frowned as he looked to his left.
Ed also looked in that direction but saw nothing. He frowned as he released another strong shock wave of opposing elements in that direction. The sky in that area destabilized, revealing the scene of carnage within.
The ground in that area had turned into a swamp of dark acid. White skeletons floated within it, most in the process of melting further. A sludge monster sat within the middle of the acid swamp. It was over 10 meters tall. Several espers were lobbing elemental attacks towards it from the banks of the swamp.
”Looks like you miscalculated?” Ed grinned as he looked towards Phantom.
”Indeed.” The old man sighed while shaking his head. ”It would seem Mordy really pulled one over on me. A shame really. I rather liked that boy. Espers with nearly invulnerable forms such as him are quite rare, and he showed a good temperament for picking things up quickly. I had planned on making him my right-hand man in the future.”
”You should meet Dupe then.” He replied. ”Bastard has the most ridiculous power I've ever seen. If he wasn't so interested in being an observer or background character, then every major power in the world would be in for a major headache.”
”True.” Phantom agreed. ”I've seen his files. Quite the power that one has.”
”You aren't going to go help your men?” Ed questioned.
”They're outside my range I'm afraid.” He shook his head.