Herobrine's Message (54 page)

The two players took a deep breath, and instantly, enchanted diamond chestplates and helmets appeared on their bodies. Two enchanted diamond axes latched
themselves onto Stan's back, while a diamond sword enchanted with Knockback appeared at Lord Tenebris's hip. A bow and a quiver of arrows appeared on Lord Tenebris's other hip, while the same appeared on Stan's. Last but not least, each player's weapon appeared in his hand. Stan's axe had been enchanted with Sharpness, and the purple luster shimmered under the dark cloud cover. Lord Tenebris's sword glowed red and purple, and he grasped the hilt firmly in his hand.

For a moment, the two rulers of their two governments looked at each other. No words were spoken. They both saw the great irony in the situation. After months of fighting, of power struggles, of attempting to get the upper hand on each other, here they were, back at square one. So much had changed since then, and yet, so much had remained the same. As the two players looked at each other, they knew that the time had come to end their conflict once and for all.

With no verbal cue, the two players took off at the exact same time. Stan trailed his axe behind him the same as he had the first day that he had ever picked up an axe in the Adorian Village, while Lord Tenebris had his sword pointed directly toward Stan, the same as he had on the bridge of Element Castle when they had first crossed weapons. In the exact center of the platform, the two operators collided and began to duel.

As the weapons spun and collided with loud clangs, sending sparks falling to the bedrock beneath their feet, Lord Tenebris was immediately struck by how much Stan had improved since their last fight. No longer was he a budding axe fighter who was vastly outclassed by the master swordsman with whom he was in combat. Stan's axe moved fluidly up and down across Lord Tenebris's body, finding countless openings that were just barely blocked by Lord Tenebris's sword, and in turn deflecting his counterstrikes almost effortlessly. He was fighting at the level of a true axe master.

As the duel continued on, the weapons nearly invisible for how fast they were moving, Stan slowly started to press his offensive. He drew back his axe and started to spin it around himself, the blade slashing back and forth in front of him in a spiraling X pattern. Lord Tenebris stepped away from him, further and further toward the edge of the floating platform, but he wasn't worried. Rather, he grinned. Stan had made his first mistake.

Right as Stan's axe was about to cut across him again, Lord Tenebris stepped in close and brought his sword up against the handle of Stan's axe, shoving it down until it met his hand. Stan let go just in time, sending the axe clattering backward across the bedrock platform as Lord Tenebris brought his sword back down and slashed across the front of Stan's diamond chestplate, leaving a trail of fire blazing
across it as Stan tumbled backward.

Lord Tenebris rushed forward, hoping to capitalize on Stan's vulnerability while on the ground. However, just as the sword plunged, Stan rolled backward and, reaching behind him, sent one of the diamond axes on his back flying through the air, right at Lord Tenebris. The flying diamond axe struck Lord Tenebris right across the top of the head, sending him to the ground and causing his enchanted diamond helmet to fly off, hurtling through space and off the edge of the bedrock platform into the city below.

Stan picked up the axe that Lord Tenebris had knocked from his hands and charged back toward the Noctem ruler as he got back to his feet, shaking his head out of the daze caused by the impact of the axe. Lord Tenebris's immediate thought was to generate a new diamond helmet for himself, but he caught himself at the last moment. He had sworn that he wouldn't use his operating powers, and he wasn't going to start now. Instead, he raised his diamond sword to counter the axe that Stan had swung at him.

The two weapons collided in a shower of sparks, and the two masters continued to duel. They were very close to the edge of the platform now, the fighting angled parallel to the edge. Stan tried to force Lord Tenebris to feint to the side, take a misstep, and go over—after all, if either of them went over, they were honor-bound not to fly and would fall
to their death. Lord Tenebris realized what Stan was trying to do and in one motion he lowered his sword.

The momentum that Stan had been pushing with carried him forward, and he careened precariously close to the edge. As Stan kept himself from falling over the side, he sensed something coming fast from behind him, and knew that Lord Tenebris was about to knock him over. As quickly as he could, Stan ducked under the attack, feeling the rush of the diamond blade travel over his head as he rolled backward. Lord Tenebris recovered from the powerful frenzied sword slash and looked at Stan, just in time to see Stan's other spare axe flying directly out toward him.

It was by a few pixels that Lord Tenebris managed to dodge the axe, and by an equally narrow margin that he managed to dodge the follow-up swing of Stan's single remaining axe that would have knocked him over the edge.

Lord Tenebris started to panic. He was being pushed back quickly now, overwhelmed by the sheer speed, strength, and ferocity of Stan's axe swipes. In his desperation, Lord Tenebris's blocks and counterstrikes were becoming more and more wild and frenzied, while Stan's attacks, though still powerful, were much more controlled and deliberate. Lord Tenebris didn't manage to land a single hit on Stan, but every few strokes of the axe, Stan made contact with Lord Tenebris's chestplate, sending him staggering back and struggling
to block the next strike.

Lord Tenebris found that he was being pushed back faster and faster. In one moment, Lord Tenebris looked below him and realized with a start that he had been driven all the way across the bedrock platform and was now standing at one of the corners, just a few blocks away from the edge. Then, without warning, Lord Tenebris felt a sharp pain in his hand, and he cried out. Stan's axe had cut into the Noctem leader's hand, sending his sword flying into the air and off the platform.

Lord Tenebris fell to the ground with a thud, clutching his hand in agony as he slid across the bedrock platform, coming to a stop right where the two sides of the square platform met. His hand was in agony as his head dangled off the platform, the rest of his body sprawled out over the corner. He forced himself to look up and saw Stan advancing on him. Stan raised the axe high over his head and swung it down as hard as he could at Lord Tenebris's head.

The attack never connected. Lord Tenebris's fist shot forward, sending an invisible pulse of energy squarely into Stan's chest.

Stan's axe flew out of his hand and over the edge as he caught the energy pulse with two hands, once again giving all his energy to keep the pulse from touching him. As he winced with focus, Stan looked up, trying to comprehend
what happened, only to see Lord Tenebris levitating back up on to the platform, taking a deep breath as red smoke started to seep from his pores.

A shot of rage coursed through Stan as he struggled to hold back the explosive blast in his hands. Lord Tenebris had cheated and used his operating powers.

As he filled with rage, Stan felt the pulse of energy in his hands growing stronger and stronger, until he could barely contain it. Finally, when Stan could hold it no longer, he forced his hands forward, sending the explosive energy blast right back to where it came from.

Lord Tenebris sensed the energy coming and gave Stan a look of undiluted hatred as he took a deep breath and, once again, erupted into some sort of blue aura. Stan's heart skipped a beat as Lord Tenebris stretched out his hands to catch the energy pulse. He was drawing power from the server again.

The invisible pulse hit Lord Tenebris like a truck, and he slid back toward the edge that he had just been hanging over, his face screwed up with the effort of containing such a massive power. For a second that seemed like an eternity, Lord Tenebris held the pulse in his hands and, even from a distance, Stan could feel it growing stronger and stronger. Then, with a mighty roar, Lord Tenebris pushed the pulse of energy forward, sending it back toward Stan.

Stan could feel the energy coming. He could even see a slight shimmering in the air now, like heat rising off pavement, as the pulse traveled toward him. Stan nearly began to panic as he wondered if this super-powered explosive blast was going to overwhelm him the moment he touched it. He was already drained from the last time he sent it back to Lord Tenebris. Then, all of a sudden, Stan's brow knitted, he dug in his heels, and he stretched out his hands in determination. It didn't matter if he would be able to send it back or not—he was too tired to warp. He had to try.

Never before had Stan even imagined the sheer intensity of the energy pulse that he caught in his hands now, sending him sliding ten blocks backward across the bedrock. Although the pulse was now little more than a block in size, it felt as though Stan were struggling to keep a planet from crushing him as he held the ball of undiluted power in his hands. Stan tried to push the pulse off him, but it was as if he were trying to stop earth itself from moving. Slowly but surely, despite all his best efforts, the pulse of energy pushed into him . . . crushing him . . . threatening to overwhelm him . . . until finally . . .

Stan,
an eerie, familiar voice called from inside his head.
Don't let the power dominate you . . . fight back, Stan, you must . . .

“I . . . can't . . . ,” Stan got out as his breathing became
shallow in the midst of his monumental struggle. “It's . . . too . . . much. . . .”

Remember why you fight, Stan,
the voice echoed into his head yet again.
You fight in the name of justice. . . . You fight for those who cannot help themselves. . . . You fight in the name of those who have fallen. . . . You fight for the protection of the game of Minecraft and the server that you love. . . .

Stan's eyes flew open. He had to overcome this. If he didn't, then not only would Elementia be destroyed, but Minecraft, the world that he and so many others had come to love nearly as much as their own, would be destroyed. He couldn't let that happen. And if he gave up a part of himself to save it . . . then so be it.

Stan let out a savage cry as he straightened his back, standing upright for the first time as he held the ball of energy tightly to his stomach. As the shout continued, Stan poured all his energy into the blast that he was holding before him—all his love for his people, his server, and his game—and, slowly but surely, it grew larger and larger. Before long, Stan knew that he could give no more. Despite his newfound resolve, the intensity of the energy was beginning to force him to the ground yet again. With one great motion, Stan dug in his heels and forced the ball of energy out of his hands and back at Lord Tenebris.

Stan collapsed to the ground. He couldn't stand, and he
could hardly move. He had given all of himself to this one final attack. If it didn't destroy Lord Tenebris, even with all his extra stolen power, nothing would. And there was no way that it wouldn't . . . there was no way that even an operator could return an explosive blast of that magnitude. Stan imagined that he would be lucky if he himself were not wiped out by the sheer force of the blast when it hit. Slowly, he forced himself to look up, to see the impact.

What he saw, he couldn't believe.

Lord Tenebris stood in place, still radiating with a cerulean aura. His eyes were closed, and he hadn't even bothered to hold up his hands to catch the pulse. Instead, he had only one hand outstretched, clutching a diamond sword that was pointed directly at the enormous energy blast. Stan watched as the explosive pulse made contact with the sword and seemed to travel down the blade and into Lord Tenebris, as if the diamond weapon were some sort of lightning rod absorbing the sheer power behind the attack. The energy engulfed Lord Tenebris, causing the aura around him to glow brighter and brighter until it was nearly pure white, and a split second later, a flash emitted from the Noctem leader, so intense that Stan felt as though his eyes were being fried.

For a moment, everything was white. Stan's head fell to the ground, and he could not see a thing. He was totally blinded in the aftermath of the burst of light, and too
exhausted from his final effort to kill Lord Tenebris to move even a single muscle in his body. All he could do was lie on the bedrock surface like a rag doll, praying that his plan had worked, desperately hoping that whatever Lord Tenebris was doing had backfired, and that he had disintegrated in the dazzling light.

But as Stan's vision finally started to return, and he found himself looking upward at the gray sky, his heart stopped with dread as he realized that a dark figure was standing directly above him. As his eyes shifted back into focus, Stan could see that Lord Tenebris actually wasn't dark at all; the light blue aura that had engulfed his body before absorbing the blast had now changed color to a royal gold, and tiny little sparks of electricity danced around his body.

Despite feeling as though he were made from rubber, Stan forced himself to raise his head. He was acting purely on instinct. His mind was too deadened from energy loss to form any cohesive plan. As Lord Tenebris looked down at him like a hawk eyeing a wounded mouse, Stan took aim and shot a punch at Lord Tenebris. Not even a tiny explosive attack flew from Stan's hand, and he flopped to the ground yet again, too exhausted to hear Lord Tenebris chuckling at the feeble attempt.

“Thank you, Stan,” Lord Tenebris simpered, as he looked down at the pathetic shell of a player that was Stan, lying
on the ground. “Thank you for so generously handing me everything that you had. I now have the strength of two fully-fledged operators infused into my body. And now that I know not to draw power from this server, I will draw from all the other servers instead, and destroy them. Elementia will reign supreme as the sole remaining Minecraft server, and I shall be its undisputed and unstoppable ruler.”