From Sadduccee's hands, glyphs flared to life, conjuring silver claws that shimmered with deadly energy.

  Sadduccee: "We may be fewer in number in Eclipse, Lunalus... but the combat ability of any one of us far surpasses any of your agents."

  Lunalus dashed forward, his grin stretched impossibly wide. His dark spear shot toward Sadduccee in a devastating thrust.

  Lunalus: "Hahaha! Oh, I don't doubt that. But I'm no ordinary member."

  Sadduccee caught the spear expertly between his claws, holding it in place. For a moment, the two opponents locked eyes, power crackling between them. Then, from the tip of Lunalus' spear, a pulse of dark energy exploded outward, forcing them apart. Both landed several feet away, perfectly balanced.

  Lunalus: "Let me show you the limitless potential of raw destruction!"

  A black glyph spun into existence in Lunalus' left hand, conjuring a barrage of dark bolts that orbited him like hungry wasps. With a sharp gesture, they launched toward Sadduccee in rapid succession.

  Sadduccee: "Destruction, creation... Mastery over space and time encompasses all. Your primitive magic pales in comparison."

  Sadduccee clasped his hands together, summoning a glyph that formed a shimmering gray barrier before him. As the dark projectiles slammed into it, time itself seemed to rewind, sending the bolts spiraling back toward Lunalus.

  Lunalus: "Tch. No fun."

  Raising his spear, Lunalus absorbed the returning bolts into the weapon, its blade pulsing with overflowing dark energy.

  Lunalus: "You put too much faith in your fancy spells. At the end of the day..."

  With a roar, he hurled the spear with all his might.

  Lunalus: "... sheer power renders all tactics obsolete!"

  Sadduccee leaped high into the air, defying gravity. The spear tore through his barrier and flew beneath him, punching a massive hole in the library wall. Dark energy exploded on impact, rotting and decaying the wood around it, spreading destruction to the adjacent rooms.

  Lunalus: "Always running, always deflecting. You're so tedious to fight, Sadduccee -- no fire, no passion! Where's the thrill?"

  As Sadduccee descended, claws at the ready to slash at him, Lunalus propelled himself upward with torrents of dark energy fired from his palms. The ground beneath him disintegrated into ash under the force of his magic.

  Lunalus: "COME! Slash me! Spill my blood! Let this fight be unforgettable!"

  But as Lunalus collided with Sadduccee, his opponent's form shimmered and vanished -- nothing more than a mirage.

  The real Sadduccee stood below, glyphs already crackling in his hands. A sphere of gray energy shot forward, striking Lunalus in the back and binding his limbs with glowing shackles.

  Lunalus: "SADDUCCEE!"

  He crashed to the ground, pinned by the shimmering bonds.

  Sadduccee: "We each fight according to our strengths. Yours may be brute force... mine is precision."

  Sadduccee approached slowly, his voice calm and measured.

  Lunalus: "I wanted to give you a good fight, Sadduccee. I really did."

  Sadduccee: "This isn't a game, Lunalus. You kill to sate some twisted desire, but I kill to protect. My mission -- "

  Lunalus: "BLAH BLAH BLAH! Save it -- you bore me!"

  His eyes blazed with dark energy, and the petrified bodies of the maids and butlers began to break free, their limbs cracking as they regained mobility.

  Lunalus: "You should've killed them when you had the chance."

  Sadduccee's claws shot forward, piercing Lunalus' neck. But he already knew -- this body was a decoy. Lunalus' consciousness had already leaped to another.

  Lunalus' voice echoed through the room, taunting.

  Lunalus: "Do you know how many agents I have at my disposal? Thousands. Kill the ones in this room, and I'll just take over another body -- far from here. I have plenty of lives, Sadduccee. You have but one."

  Sadduccee: "I care little for your numbers. If I must, I will kill every last one of your agents, until you run out of vessels."

  Lunalus: "AND YOU PRESUME TO BE POWERFUL ENOUGH TO DO THAT?!"

  His agents rushed Sadduccee, dark glyphs flaring in their hands, while Lunalus stood back, preparing his next move.

  Sadduccee: "I don't have to do it alone."

  He drew a square in the air with his fingers, completing the glyph with a clenched fist. A gray burst of energy ripped the floor beneath Lunalus' agents out of existence, sending them plummeting to the room below. Only Lunalus and Cabdan remained in the library.

  Lunalus: "Outrageous. Disgraceful. You call this fighting? Where is your drive?"

  Dark energy surged in his hands, forming a swirling black orb.

  Sadduccee: "I'm too old for theatrics, Lunalus. Aren't you?"

  Lunalus laughed, his voice echoing ominously.

  Lunalus: "If you're bored, you're doing it wrong. Every kill should be a thrill. And when boredom sets in..."

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  He raised the orb to his lips and swallowed it whole.

  Lunalus: "... it's time to get creative."

  Dark energy pulsed through his veins, his body glowing with unstable power. He lunged at Sadduccee, a living bomb ready to detonate.

  Sadduccee conjured a shield, but as Lunalus' body collided with it, the explosion shattered the barrier and obliterated the library floorboards.

  Cabdan's black ring flared, protecting him from the blast, leaving the small corner he cowered in untouched. Sadduccee, however, was flung to the floor below, landing amidst the recovering agents. They approached slowly, stepping aside as Lunalus, now in a fresh body, strode forward.

  Lunalus: "Every body I take learns my shape, my memories, my powers... But do you know what it doesn't learn, Sadduccee?"

  Sadduccee stood, blood dripping from his claws, his breathing labored.

  Sadduccee: "I won't indulge your twisted monologues, Lunalus...!"

  Lunalus chuckled, dragging a blade across his palm and letting the a black, thick blood-like substance drip onto the floor.

  Lunalus: "My pain, Sadduccee. It doesn't learn my pain."

  Sadduccee's brow furrowed as Lunalus' grin widened.

  Lunalus: "By the thousandth time you're stabbed or sliced, your mind becomes accustomed to the agony. It dulls, like a memory fading over time. But every time I take a new body... I start fresh."

  He stepped closer, tar still dripping from his hand.

  Lunalus: "Every slash. Every wound... Every ounce of suffering feels like the first time."

  Sadduccee: "And you enjoy that?"

  Lunalus raised his bloodied hand, the dark liquid glowing with black energy.

  Lunalus: "No, Sadduccee. I crave it. I savor it. Every new body brings with it the exquisite gift of pain, unspoiled and pure...!"

  He dragged the blade deeper into his palm, grinning through gritted teeth.

  Sadduccee: "You're pathetic. A prisoner to your own twisted desires!"

  Lunalus let out a bark of laughter, his blackened eyes glinting with something that could only be described as joy.

  Lunalus: "And you, Sadduccee... are a prisoner to your delusions of purpose. You fight for a world that has already forsaken you."

  Sadduccee clenched his fists, gray energy surging through his body as he faced the agents swarming him. With a sharp, precise motion, he crossed his arms over his chest and then flung them outward, releasing a burst of shimmering glyphs into the air.

  Sadduccee: "Enough."

  The glyphs crackled and expanded, freezing the agents in mid-motion. Their bodies stiffened unnaturally, frozen in time like lifeless statues. Only Lunalus, standing at the center, continued to moveb -- though his steps slowed, as if he were wading through molasses.

  Lunalus: "Don't... Friend..."

  Sadduccee began forming a glyph in the air with his hands, drawing lines of intricate gray energy that coalesced into a shimmering cage around Lunalus. As the bars of light solidified, Lunalus' movements slowed even further. His dark aura seemed to waver under the weight of the cage.

  Sadduccee: "Stay still and die -- again."

  The glyphs surrounding the cage flared brighter as energy gathered in Sadduccee's palms. He snapped his fingers, sending a surge of power into the cage. Inside, a pulse of gray energy erupted, slamming into Lunalus with explosive force.

  The blast ripped through Lunalus' body, shredding flesh and bone. When the energy dissipated, large portions of his torso and limbs were gone, leaving exposed sinew and jagged fragments of bone.

  Sadduccee: "Stop. Resisting."

  He snapped his fingers again. Another blast rippled through the cage, further disintegrating Lunalus' form. Flesh peeled away, muscle fibers unraveled, and his body became an unrecognizable mass.

  Sadduccee: "I wonder... can you even hijack another body now? Or have you finally run out of strength to fight? Accepted death...?"

  He snapped his fingers once more. The explosion stripped away the last remnants of Lunalus' skin and muscle, leaving a grotesque, skeletal frame barely clinging to life. Blood that should have pooled beneath him was erased by the same energy that devoured his body.

  Sadduccee's breathing grew heavier, sweat dripping from his brow as his glyphs flickered faintly. One more snap. Two more snaps. Three, Four... Each following wave seemed to take less and less from Lunalus' body. Was Sadduccee's energy fizzling... or was Lunalus resisting more and more as he got closer to dying?

  Sadduccee: "WHY DON'T YOU DIE?! YOU HAVE NOTHING LEFT! NO REAL REASON TO FIGHT ON...!"

  He snapped his fingers one final time, but it was no use. It seemed to have no effect anymore. Sadduccee ceases his attack, as the cage of energy dissipates. Lunalus' skeletal form remained intact, his black eyes still glowing with malevolent energy. Slowly, agonizingly, he shambled forward, dragging his nearly obliterated body toward Sadduccee.

  Sadduccee: "Is it killing...? Is killing what keeps you going, to take the lives of others? Or is it pain itself -- yours and others'? Is that your purpose? Your fuel?"

  Lunalus' eye sockets began to weep trails of black blood, but it was unclear whether the liquid was from his injuries or something deeper.

  Sadduccee: "All these years... Is that truly what keeps you alive?"

  Lunalus stumbled closer, his skeletal frame quivering, his mouth moving as though trying to form words. But without flesh or a tongue, he could only emit guttural, wet sounds.

  Sadduccee: "E-enough... Enough of this!"

  Sadduccee turned from Lunalus and faced the frozen agents. His claws gleamed as he moved swiftly between them, slashing their throats one by one. Each blow severed their connection to Lunalus, ensuring he would have no vessels to transfer to.

  When he reached the last agent, their eyes began to glow, signaling that Lunalus was already transferring his consciousness into the new body. Sadduccee spun around just as the skeletal remains of Lunalus collapsed behind him.

  Sadduccee: "You haven't given up... "

  Before he could act, a dark explosion erupted from the final agent, blasting Sadduccee backward. Lunalus emerged in his new body, fully restored. His aura flared brighter than ever, the floor beneath him crumbling into ash.

  Lunalus: "All these years, and you still don't understand. You and I are two sides of the same coin."

  Sadduccee struggled to his feet, gripping his chest where his ribs ached from the blast.

  Lunalus: "Why do I persist...? Because people like you exist. You are still here. Stuck."

  The floor beneath his feet turned to ash, as he walked towards Sadduccee. In this state, it seemed that anything that touched him was instantly vaporized.

  Lunalus: "You are a prisoner -- we all are. Prisoners of a reality that breaks us, bleeds us, and casts us aside like discarded tools."

  The ground beneath him cracked as his aura intensified.

  Lunalus: "And yet you fight to preserve it... A universe that robs you of everything you love. A reality unworthy of your devotion. You are a slave, Sadduccee -- a slave to the illusion that this existence is worth protecting."

  Sadduccee: "And you're a fool who thinks tearing it all down will bring freedom. Destruction is not liberation, Lunalus -- it's just more suffering."

  Lunalus dashed forward with inhuman speed, crashing through Sadduccee's hastily raised barrier and slamming him into the wall. Black spikes of energy protruded from Lunalus' aura, piercing through Sadduccee's body and pinning him in place. Blood dripped from his wounds as he slumped forward, barely able to stay conscious.

  Lunalus: "It was good to see you one last time, Sadduccee. My only regret... is that we had to part as enemies."

  Lunalus raised his hand, dark energy swirling in his palm as he prepared to deliver the final blow.

  Lunalus: "Any last words?"

  Sadduccee's eyes flickered open, his voice faint but steady.

  Sadduccee: "Yes... I have --"

  Before he could finish, Lunalus unleashed a torrent of energy, vaporizing Sadduccee's upper torso.

  Lunalus: "... I'd prefer you die without giving you the pleasure of sharing."

  Lunalus let out a long, heavy sigh. What remained of the Leopard's body crumpled to the floor, lifeless.

  Cabdan: "You... you did it! You killed him!"

  Lunalus turned to Cabdan, his expression unreadable.

  Lunalus: "This? This is nothing. This is only the beginning."

  He strode toward the library's exit, his aura flickering ominously.

  Lunalus: "Come... Before he wakes. "

  Lunalus turned back, pointing in Barr's direction.

  Lunalus: "Have the servants carry him -- we will start immediately."

  Cabdan hesitated, glancing nervously at the young man, but ultimately did as he asked.

  They followed Lunalus into the shadows.