Thirty Nine ran toward Horw on all fours, the overall appearance of Thirty Nine was very terrifying. Thirty Nine looked like a kind of monster, she had great flexibility, speed, strength, and long claws… a terrifying sight!!

  When Thirty Nine was one meter away from Horw and was about to slash him with her claws, Two shouted “WATCH OUT!”. Horw “submerged” into the ground and appeared behind Thirty Nine, aiming his sword at her head. Just before impact, Forty managed to create a small bubble around Horw.

  “So you’re trying to lock me in a cage like a damn dog? Then watch the ground under your feet!” - Forty created a bubble around Horw… but only around him, so Horw could once again “submerge” into the ground.

  He will emerge beneath us and stab Forty, but at the same time he will release several shadow attacks, and if I try to stop him, there is a high chance that I will die as well. - Two looked one second into the future with his third eye and saw Horw emerging. Two jumped onto Forty at the moment Horw emerged… which saved both Forty and Two.

  “Well Horw, I have to tell you… YOU HAVE REALLY NICE TRICKS!!” - Two ran at Horw with his sword, hoping to predict Horw’s movements and manage to stab him.

  “Nice tricks? YOU HAVEN’T SEEN EVERYTHING YET, three-eye!!” - Horw released a huge amount of shadow energy, which had no effect on the surroundings except for living things such as plants.

  The black Crystal is the most powerful Crystal. Even though it is called the Crystal of shadows because it allows the user to travel through shadows, as Horw demonstrated twice in a row, the black Crystal should rather be called the “Crystal of death”. Because besides creating a personal undead army from defeated enemies, the shadow energy released by the Crystal is extremely deadly to all living beings except the user. Shadow energy drains life from the target. Simply put, the more an attacker is hit by the energy, the larger the “bruise” it leaves behind. This bruise marks the place from which life was drained. Most shadow attacks cause only superficial and smaller injuries unless the user focuses all their concentration into a single powerful attack aimed at one specific place.

  Two saw Horw’s attacks one second in advance, which allowed him to dodge all the shots of shadow energy sent his way. Two managed to get close to Horw, but he had to keep his third eye focused on the shadow attacks… so he could not predict Horw’s sword strikes.

  As soon as Two approached Horw, Horw tried to strike him with his sword. Two blocked the attack with his own.

  “Very thin sword, I’m surprised it hasn’t broken yet!”

  “I’d love to tell you about my sword, Horw, but at the moment I’m busy dodging your shadow attacks.” - Two placed his hand on the Crystal embedded in Horw’s sword and pulled it out.

  Two’s entire arm was destroyed… the energy from the Crystal killed it. But Two did not care, because now he could fight Horw in a fair sword duel.

  Horw managed to slash Two across the face at the moment Two pulled the Crystal out of the sword. Two looked at his arm. - “Heh… I’m not left-handed anyway.”

  Two and Horw began fencing. Horw’s sword struck Two’s sword at full speed, and Two’s sword struck Horw’s in return.

  “You’re not bad, I’ll admit that… you might even be better than Mister One-ear!”

  I don’t understand how this man can fence and talk at the same time… is this all just a joke to him? Doesn’t his arm hurt after all life was drained from it?? If I touch that Crystal, will the same thing happen to me, or will I be fine because I am its owner??? - Many thoughts raced through Horw’s head… and it cost him his concentration.

  Two could once again focus his third eye on Horw, because after removing the Crystal from the sword, the shadow attacks stopped. Two predicted Horw’s next attack, dodged it, and stabbed Horw in the stomach.

  Horw slowly collapsed to the ground. - “You fought well, but no one… I repeat, NO ONE will stop me from reaching my goal! That said, I think it would be disgusting to end your life without telling you the reason why I want your Crystal. The people at the celebration decided that this reason was insufficient to give me their Crystals, but maybe you will have a different opinion!!”

  While Two was delivering his monologue, only one thought ran through Horw’s mind… how to turn this fight around.

  That bastard thinks he has won, but he didn’t realize that he didn’t hit any of my vital organs… or I’m full of adrenaline and don’t realize it yet. That damn third eye of his… it gives him an advantage. If I get rid of that eye, I have a chance. The two previous attackers were hit several times by my shadow attacks, so they should currently be recovering. I have to risk touching the black Crystal, and if the same thing happens to me as to him, so be it. I’d rather lose an arm than lose to that asshole who is trying to make my family’s situation even worse than it already is!

  Horw grabbed some sand mixed with dust and stones… basically the contents of the city streets, and threw it into Two’s eyes. Two didn’t manage to react, because while explaining why he wanted the black Crystal, it didn’t occur to him to predict the future with his third eye. Horw ran toward the Crystal that Two had thrown on the ground. Two managed to slash Horw in the back, but it didn’t stop him. Horw picked up the black Crystal and aimed it at Two.

  Horw released shadow energy toward him… Two was hit. Horw controlled the black Crystal without the help of a sword. A massive amount of shadow energy flowed through Horw, draining life from inside him. Horw quickly grabbed his sword and placed the black Crystal back into it. Horw looked into a window of one of the houses in the alley where he and Two were fighting.

  He saw his reflection. Black scars covered his entire body… dead scars from using the Crystal without a sword.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  What just happened went against many Crystal rules, but Horw didn’t have time to think about it, because as soon as Thirty Nine and Forty saw what happened to Two, Thirty Nine ran toward Horw again. On the other side of the alley stood Forty, ready to support Thirty Nine.

  “YOU’RE STILL TRYING???” - Horw submerged into the ground using shadow teleportation and appeared in front of Thirty Nine, then submerged again. Thirty Nine thought he would appear behind her, and Forty prepared to protect Thirty Nine… Horw jumped out of the shadow of a wall next to Forty.

  Horw stabbed his sword through Forty’s neck. Thirty Nine ran to help Forty, but when she tried to stab Horw with her claws, Forty’s dead body, controlled by the black Crystal, stepped in front of her. Thirty Nine drove her claws into Forty, and at that moment Horw cut off the arm she used to stab her.

  Before Thirty Nine could recover from the severed arm, Horw launched another strike, this time at her head… the strike was successful.

  Horw began laughing loudly. - “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK! I am Horw, prince of the kingdom of the black Crystal… THE HEIR TO THAT DAMN THRONE!”

  Suddenly, Horw saw Two getting up from the ground. - “You think your shadow little tricks will stop me… prince??”

  Horw aimed his sword at Two and released shadow attacks again… this time focused only on him. For a while, Two managed to dodge them, but then they hit him… Two’s third eye couldn’t keep up.

  All life began draining from Two’s body, more and more dead bruises appeared on him. Suddenly Horw’s attacks began to weaken slightly… With his last remaining strength, Two raised his hand into the air.

  A purple portal appeared behind Horw… It was actually the same one Two and his group used to attack Horw, but the portal controller had shrunk it so much that it was barely noticeable… This portal was used to observe whether Two was winning.

  The portal expanded again, and something resembling chains shot out of it and grabbed Horw’s arms…Horw was pulled inside.

  You’ve got to be kidding me… I’m probably on the Black Islands… It doesn’t really matter where I am, but it’s DAMN sunny here, almost no shadows anywhere… except for a few small ones near trees and such.

  Horw looked around and saw people running out of purple portals. When he looked into the portals, he realized that if someone is on the other side of a created portal, they can see through it… Those people were fleeing the celebration for his younger brother.

  Everyone began staring at Horw, ready to attack. Suddenly another portal opened, and Two crawled out of it, with most of his body dead. A woman with the number one hundred burned into her arm ran to Two. She placed her hands on him and began healing his body.

  “ARE YOU KIDDING ME” - Horw aimed his sword at the two of them and wanted to release a shadow attack, but at that moment something dawned on him.

  Two coughed up blood. “I see you hesitating to fire your attack! Exactly according to my plan. You were so filled with rage that you used most of the shadow reserves in your Crystal on me! Instead of drawing shadows from the surroundings, you tried to push the Crystal beyond its limit!!! You are not a suitable Crystal user… but I will be.”

  Someone shot a small, fast bolt of lightning at Horw, hitting his leg. When Horw looked at who it was, he saw a man with the number five burned into his arm… A massive amount of energy flowed through Five’s body… Five’s ability was energy.

  Five prepared to strike Horw with a powerful energy blast, but at that moment Horw spoke a sentence that sent chills down everyone’s spine.

  “You think I’ll let you win?!”

  Horw aimed his sword into the air and released the last shadow energy stored in the Crystal. The sky was covered in darkness. - “We’re not finished yet!”

  Horw began using shadow teleportation again, because the entire land was now covered in shadow. He emerged from the ground next to members of Two’s group, slashed one of them with his sword, then submerged again. Within twenty seconds, several members of Two’s group were wounded and several others killed.

  Two was finally healed and prepared to predict where Horw would emerge next, but before Two could predict anything, Horw was already standing behind Hundred and stabbed her in the head.

  Horw submerged into the ground again, but this time Two knew where he would emerge. Two pointed to the spot and Five fired a massive energy blast there.

  Horw was hit, but instead of lying on the ground, he stood up and began screaming into the air. He drove his sword into the ground and absorbed several units of shadow energy into it. Five prepared another attack, but Horw created a shadow cloud around himself and flew straight toward Five. Five fired energy, hoping it would stop Horw, but Horw shot shadow energy from the cloud, overpowering Five’s energy. Before Five could realize what was happening, Horw had split his body in half.

  Horw tried to submerge into the ground again and continue the massacre of Two’s group, but… it no longer worked. The massive shadow cloud Horw had created in the sky had dissipated… Horw could no longer use the power of the black Crystal.

  Members of Two’s group stood in a circle around Horw, and Two began approaching him. This was Horw’s end.

  “Enough… ENOUGH! Don’t try anything, I won’t fall today! What the hell kind of people are you??!! You just walk in here and try to kill me after my mother was murdered?” - Horw’s eyes began to fill with tears.

  “You CAN’T DO THIS! You can’t try to take someone’s property and kill them when they refuse… What is happening to this world… you are all filth… FILTH. I managed to kill a few of you, and by doing so, I did the world a favor.”

  “You really are a delusional young man, aren’t you?” - Two began talking. “Don’t you realize that I gave all of you a choice? A CHOICE NOT TO FIGHT. All you had to do was give me your Crystals and I… I would have saved you from the threat that is coming… a threat for which I… no… we devoted our lives to stopping. So if you think I will satisfy a few lives by not killing them at the cost of tens of thousands of lives being saved… you are terribly mistaken!!”

  “Delusional? Me? Allow me to bring you back to reality from that fantasy of yours. The people you kill for your grand goal have families… they have people they care about. By killing me, you will truly destroy one family. If you think you are saving anyone here, you are deeply mistaken…or actually no… there is one person you are saving… yourself.”

  Horw stared into Two’s eyes, which carried a wide smile Horw’s speech seemed as a joke to him. Horw continued.

  “You know what’s really funny? That you think you’ve won. The biggest question circulating around Middleworld is how the Crystals work… how exactly they work. No one knows the exact answer, maybe my great-great-something grandfather knew it, but… we’ll never know. But you know what? Something became clear to me today. The Crystals have their own core, and I connected with that core today when I touched the Crystal, and it answered one of my questions… what allows me to travel through shadows!”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” - Two said as he approached Horw, ready to end his life if Horw did not give him the Crystal.

  “I’m speaking facts! The core of the Crystal of shadows… is the shadow world. The souls of those I kill with my sword go there. Through that world I teleport, in that world the energy is stored… and you know what? I think I’ll go take a look there myself… after all, I am the ruler of the black Crystal!”

  Horw prepared to fence with Two one last time, but when Two raised his sword to kill him, Horw stabbed his own sword into his heart.

  Shadow energy began flowing out of Horw and straight into the black Crystal. Horw fell to the ground, and with him his sword.

  Two ordered the largest number to pick it up, because Two feared that Horw’s ramblings might be true. The one who grabbed the sword began screaming and dropped it.

  “Two… I think… I think we did not obtain the black Crystal…I just felt the shadow world.”