Chapter Twenty-Six: Power of Twilight

The forces of order and chaos surged within Tassadar, who opened his eyes as the crystal on his brow flickered between blue and green. A sudden eruption of power shattered the prison that bound him, drawing the attention of the Fang King.

“So, you’ve prepared a few surprises for me after all.” The Fang King tossed aside the Templar he held and arched an eyebrow at Tassadar. “I’ll admit, anyone who can break free from my cage is impressive. But if you think you can challenge me, you’d better return to your mother’s womb and train for another ten thousand years.”

The Fang King held the relic in his left hand while amassing a vast amount of psionic energy with his right. He had no intention of dragging this out with Tassadar—he would strike to kill, and then amuse himself with his captives.

A crimson beam shot toward Tassadar, who raised his left hand. The blue beam he projected was gradually forced back by the red, so he extended his right hand as well, and a green beam joined the struggle.

“Hahaha, it’s useless! With this treasure’s power, I am invincible!” The Fang King laughed, pouring even more energy into his attack. Tassadar’s twin beams were soon overwhelmed, and the scales of victory tipped once more in the Fang King’s favor.

Sweat beaded Tassadar’s brow. Wielding both light and darkness multiplied his strength many times over, but made it nearly impossible to control. Yet, even with this enhanced power, victory remained out of reach against the relic-empowered Fang King.

Tassadar strove to bring his hands together, preparing to perform the fusion technique. A bold idea had come to him: his mentor, in order to protect everyone present years ago, had unleashed all his power in one burst to create a barrier. But if Tassadar wished to defeat the Fang King, one strike would not suffice. The Fang King, with the relic in hand, was simply too formidable—Tassadar could not guarantee success in a single blow.

But what if he combined the fusion of light and dark with the Archon ritual? Could he, alone, become an Archon? The idea had come to him when he first reached into the spirit realm for power. The Archon secret, at its core, was the merging of several Templars’ powers, not simply drawing from the spirit realm—because fusion required complete mastery of one’s own strength. If he could channel both order and chaos, he would possess many times the strength of a typical Templar, and this power, once fused, would be truly his own. Then perhaps he would succeed.

With that, Tassadar closed his eyes and silently prayed to the deities of the spirit realm: “Great God of the Psionics, great God of Order, great God of Twilight, protect us and destroy the evil Fang King.”

He opened his eyes, his resolve steeled. Whatever the outcome, today, the Fang King must die.

As his determination crystallized, the gem on his brow turned orange. The blue and green beams merged into a single orange beam, which instantly halted the crimson light and pressed forward toward the Fang King.

“No! Impossible! What have you done?” The Fang King was terrified. In the instant the orange beam appeared, he felt the threat of annihilation. He had no time to consider Tassadar’s actions—his first impulse was to flee.

“You won’t escape, Fang King! Today is your end!” Tassadar, radiating orange light, appeared before the Fang King in a flash, seizing the relic in his left hand.

“Damn you, Tassadar! Let go!” The Fang King, his escape foiled, lashed out with his free hand. Both understood the stakes: if the Fang King let go, death was certain; if Tassadar released his grip, the Fang King would vanish into the shadows, perhaps never to be caught again.

Psionic might crashed in the confined space, and the hapless cavern could not withstand their battle. Red and orange figures fought from earth to sky, their power surges soon catching the attention of a Protoss Empire probe.

The Lightshadow Council received word: the Fang King and Tassadar were locked in combat on the homeworld of the Hivebrood. There was no time to study why the Fang King had appeared, nor to reconsider their earlier plan for covert action. The Council immediately prepared to order the deployment of the Spear of Adun and the Triangulum Expeditionary Legion to that world, determined to annihilate the Fang King at any cost. However, the order to dispatch troops was canceled after Zeratul’s subsequent message.

After the clash began, the Templars who had been imprisoned by the Fang King broke free and helped Kariel’s group remove their bindings, though their sealed powers could not be restored at once.

Seeing the wounded left in Tassadar’s wake, Zeratul decided to contact the Lightshadow Council. The open battle would surely alarm the probes, and his side now needed support.

‘Zeratul, why have you asked us not to send reinforcements? The Fang King might escape at any moment!’ a councilor demanded. ‘And how did you encounter the Fang King? We need to discuss this.’

‘Fleet weapons can hardly help Tassadar,’ Zeratul replied, ignoring the accusatory tone. ‘Tassadar is fighting the Fang King to a standstill, wielding both light and dark, and he is clutching the relic with his right hand. Otherwise, the Fang King would have fled long ago. Sending a large force would only cause chaos.’

‘Says who? We can use time stop—’ The opposing councilor’s words trailed off. Against the relic-wielding Fang King, even time stop would be swiftly broken. As Zeratul said, if Tassadar weren’t holding the relic, the Fang King would already have escaped. ‘But what if Tassadar loses? The Fang King may take it out on you.’

‘You may send a fleet, but do not engage—nor allow other races to detect you,’ Zeratul advised after careful thought.

‘Very well. Shall we send a shuttle team to retrieve you?’ The council agreed after brief discussion. The destructive power of ship-based weapons was too great, and unlike in simulations, there was no such thing as “no friendly fire.”

‘Yes, please send a group of Karai healers. We have many wounded here,’ Zeratul said, glancing at his companions with a sigh.

‘We’ll dispatch shuttles immediately; do not sever the psionic link.’ The councilor nodded and ended communication. Zeratul gazed at the roiling clouds above, anxiety gnawing at him. He didn’t know how long Tassadar’s fusion would hold; he could only hope all would go well, and pray for the gods’ protection.

Meanwhile, Tassadar’s battle with the Fang King was not going well. The two opposing forces clashed fiercely within him, and he could sense his body nearing its limits. The terrified Fang King, too, gradually sensed Tassadar’s weakening—though Tassadar’s power exceeded his own, it was ebbing away.

“Hahaha! I thought you had some skill, but you’re just a silver-plated spear—impressive on the outside, useless within. Five seconds of glory, and you dare to challenge me?” The Fang King’s fear turned to anger as he realized Tassadar was merely posturing. He was furious at himself for being intimidated by someone so unworthy.

“Heh, Fang King, as I said, today is your end!” Far from despairing at the mockery, Tassadar began to invoke the Archon ritual in this place far from any bystanders. “Now see the true power of the Firstborn!” A tremendous psionic surge enveloped Tassadar, forming him into a sphere of energy, yet he did not loosen his grip on the Khaydarin relic.

The Fang King’s pupils contracted. He sensed an even greater power brewing within the sphere, but would not await his doom. His right hand became a massive blade, striking at Tassadar’s right hand, attempting to sever it and flee.

But his blade never struck. The transformed Tassadar caught it with one hand, and the Fang King stared wide-eyed at the being before him, unsure if it could still be called “living.”

Tassadar’s body was now composed entirely of psionic energy, exuding an illusion of both reality and unreality. The psionic radiation formed a huge sphere, and the only features marking it as living were a pair of hands and a head—one hand grasping the relic, the other catching the Fang King’s blade.

“What is this? Tassadar?! Impossible!” The Fang King could not believe it, staring at the nearly pure energy being. He could scarcely imagine this was the same Tassadar he had fought moments before.

“Unstoppable!” murmured Tassadar, now an Archon. He felt immeasurably more powerful than before—was this the sensation of divinity? Yet he also sensed his energy draining rapidly; even standing idle, he could not maintain this form for long.

With no time to hesitate, Tassadar looked at the Fang King and, instinctively, unleashed the Archon’s ultimate technique: Energy Annihilation.

He released the Fang King’s blade and, as terror filled the Fang King’s eyes, seized his right hand instead. Countless streams of twilight energy poured into the Fang King’s body, enveloping them both.

“No! Impossible! I am invincible! This cannot be!” The Fang King, unwilling to release the relic, could not escape the Archon’s grasp at such close range. Nor would Tassadar, now the Twilight Archon, allow him to flee—the moment his transformation succeeded, he had sealed the surrounding space.

Twilight energy tore through the Fang King’s body. As Tassadar unleashed his full might, the Archon’s form began to collapse inward—birthing a new black hole. The Fang King, held fast, was shredded and drawn into the singularity, his final words a despairing “Impossible.” The relic, fought over by both, was also sucked into the void, its fate unknown.