70 Drastic Measures #70

As we stumbled into what looked like the umpteenth iteration of the reception hall, frustration clenched at my gut. Sure, the furniture was arranged differently each time, but the déjà vu was hitting hard—running in circles was definitely not how I envisioned spending my day.

"How long have we been at this?" I groaned, shooting a glance at Raven. 

She sighed wearily, her expression mirroring my annoyance. "About an hour and a half," she replied, her tone tinged with frustration. "I suspect we're caught in an illusion spell..."

I ran a hand through my hair, feeling the tension knotting my muscles. "Can you break it?" I asked, my impatience leaking into my voice.

Raven shook her head, her brow furrowing with concentration. "I've been trying for the last fifteen minutes," she confessed. "But it'll likely take another hour or two to dispel it completely."

My frown deepened, and I glanced between Raven and the unconscious Bruce Gordon sprawled on the ground. With a resigned sigh, I made up my mind.

"Forget it," I muttered, tossing Gordon's limp form onto the floor. Retrieving my gun, I leveled it at Gordon's leg, my voice echoing through the empty hall. "Eclipso! I know you're watching! If you don't want your little plaything to suffer, you better show yourself now!"

Silence greeted my demand, mocking me with its emptiness. I sucked in a breath, steeling myself for what came next. Without hesitation, I pulled the trigger, the gunshot ripping through the stillness of the room.

Gordon's eyes snapped open, his screams of agony filling the air as pain coursed through his body. I saw Raven flinch, her gaze averted, but I pushed aside any guilt.

"Your buddy here's got a new bullet hole in his leg!" I called out, my voice laced with a mix of frustration and impatience. "He's bleeding out, and it won't take more than five for him to breathe his last!" 

Once again, my demands echoed into the void, met only with the cold silence of the empty room. Without a second thought, I shifted my aim to Gordon's other leg and squeezed the trigger, the sharp crack of the gunshot punctuating the air.

"That's two holes and less than two minutes!" I barked out, my frustration mounting with every passing second. "You've got till the count of ten before he gets a third hole in his head!" I threatened, my finger hovering dangerously close to the trigger.

Before I could even begin the countdown, shadows coalesced before me, gradually taking the form of Eclipso. His presence exuded a menacing aura, his gray skin contrasting starkly against the darkness that surrounded him. He wore black pants and a purple pointed hood, the lack of a shirt exposing his muscular frame.

"Ah, the troublesome variable rears its head," Eclipso remarked, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips as he looked down at us, both literally and figuratively. "And here you are, masquerading as a hero," he taunted, his voice dripping with disdain.

But I wasn't in the mood for banter. With a swift motion, I pointed my finger at Eclipso and unleashed a beam of blinding light, hoping to catch him off guard. Yet, Eclipso proved elusive, his form dissipating into black smoke before my attack could find its mark, only to reappear elsewhere.

With a frustrated sigh, I reached into my cloak, retrieving a healing potion I'd procured earlier. "Feed this to Gordon... he's a piece of shit, but he's still useful," I instructed, tossing the potion to Raven. "I'll handle Eclipso," I declared, summoning a long sword of pure light into my hand. 

With determination coursing through my veins, I advanced toward Eclipso, my sword gleaming with radiant energy. He regarded me with a mixture of amusement and disdain, his eyes glowing with an unsettling crimson hue.

"You think you can challenge me?" Eclipso scoffed, his voice dripping with arrogance. "You are but a mere mortal, wielding borrowed power."

I ignored his taunts, focusing instead on closing the distance between us. With a swift motion, I swung my sword, aiming for Eclipso's chest. But once again, he vanished into shadow, reappearing behind me with unnerving speed.

Before I could react, Eclipso struck, his fists crackling with dark energy as he unleashed a barrage of punches. I staggered under the onslaught, feeling the impact reverberate through my body despite the Guardian Veil barrier taking the brunt of the damage.

Gritting my teeth against the pain, I summoned my light magic, covering myself in a protective aura. The dark energy dissipated upon contact with the light and forced Eclipso to jump back, leaving me unscathed.

Refusing to waste any time, I lunged at Eclipso, slashing at him with all the strength and speed I could muster. But he was a slippery foe, dodging and weaving with unnatural grace.

Despite my best efforts, Eclipso seemed to have the upper hand, his attacks relentless and ferocious. I knew I didn't stand a chance in a physical confrontation, but I didn't think it would be to this extent. 

With a smirk curling on my lips, I activated my Storm Walker Shoes, gearing up for some down-and-dirty combat tactics. With a surge of power coursing through me, I blurred into motion, exploiting the shoes' speed boost to dart right in front of Eclipso, my blade already on its way.

Eclipso's surprise was evident in his widened eyes, but he wasn't one to be caught off guard for long. With a swift motion, he raised his hand, halting my light blade in its tracks with an unseen force. Gritting my teeth, I dispelled the blade, opting instead to blind him with a burst of searing light aimed straight at his face.

His pained grunt was music to my ears as I conjured another light blade, thrusting it toward his chest. But just when victory seemed within reach, the blade halted, mere inches away from his body, thwarted by a barrier akin to my Guardian Veil.

I poured all my strength into trying to break through the barrier, but it held firm, frustratingly resilient. As Eclipso began to retreat, morphing into shadowy mist, a dark chain emerged from the ground, ensnaring his leg and anchoring him in place.

Raven's timely intervention saved the day, though I barely had a moment to appreciate it amidst the chaos of battle. Mustering all my power, I unleashed a relentless barrage of light spears, bombarding Eclipso with all the fury I could muster.

With determination blazing in my eyes, I unleashed a relentless assault on Eclipso, bombarding him with flying light spears from point-blank range. As if that wasn't enough, I materialized light hammers in my hands, swinging them with all my might, aiming to shatter the barrier protecting him. Blow after blow, I hammered away until finally, the barrier crumbled under the force of my assault.

Without a moment's hesitation, the hammers transformed into swords, and I drove one deep into Eclipso's chest, while the light spears continued to impale him from all sides. Yet, despite the onslaught, he remained standing, his hateful glare burning into me.

But I wasn't about to let him off easy. With grim determination, I swung the other blade at his neck, aiming to end this once and for all. Time seemed to stretch as the blade hurtled toward its target, but before it could make contact, Eclipso erupted in a furious scream.

"Enough!" His voice echoed with power, sending a shockwave that blasted me backward and dispersed Raven's magic chain that bound him. The light spears embedded in his body faded away, replaced by swirling dark energy that began to knit his wounds back together.

"You are but an ant!" Eclipso's voice thundered, his form expanding with ominous power. "Your futile attempts to strike down a god no longer amuse me!" His proclamation rang out as his dark aura intensified. "It is time to put you in your place!

As Eclipso's form continued to expand, the reception hall couldn't contain him anymore. The ceiling crumbled under the weight of his immense presence, and before I knew it, his head brushed against the roof, causing it to collapse, revealing the starry sky above.

"Well, shit..." I cursed softly, watching as the structure around us began to crumble, the air rushing out into the vacuum of space. "How the hell am I supposed to fight in space...?" 

...

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