Moon Shadow

25

How do you beat sixty-thousand demons?

Simple: You send them back to Hell.

The first thing I learned as an occult detective was summoning and banishing demons from and to Hell. I had done it to a few, not thousands. I needed access to a near-infinite magic well to accomplish such a feat.

Thankfully, the full moon provided me with the latter.

Esther flew to the top of the stadium, standing on the edge with her hands behind her back. The moon glowed above her, chasing away the possessive darkness threatening to consume the world.

This was another test from her. Even if she knew I was powerful tonight, it seemed she wanted to see how much. It was a good thing she had the best seat in the house. Or should I say the best seat on the stadium? Ha!

The vanas jumped from the stands at the same time—activating their magic powers—covering every potential escape route. Sadly for them, I wasn't planning on running away. I'd fight to the death.

I took a deep breath, clasped my hands together, then summoned every bit of the moon's power. The moon flicked twice like a bulb, making Esther give it a shoulder glance. I snapped my fingers—a white hexagram materialized below me—and stomped my foot on the ground, causing fissures to form over the lines before exploding. Millions of fiery tentacles shot out of the crevices, wrapped themselves around the vanas, disintegrated them with one squeeze, and returned to the pits of Hell.

It ended in less than ten seconds.

The public would notice the missing sixty-thousand corpses and complain as usual. The Supreme Leaders would blame "Grave Robbers". The people would move on to the next thing fast. That was the modern world.

Esther dropped to the ground, standing a few feet from me. "That was anticlimactic." She sighed. "Never send demons to do a sorcerer's job." She rolled her neck, cracked her fingers, then clapped twice.

Her body bloated before fifteen clones popped out of her like bubbles. They surrounded me, the glare in their eyes beautified with the sparkle of mischief. The necromancer had met her match. Excitement caked her face like a problem child.

"In another life, we would've been best friends," they said.

"Definitely."

Two copies ran at me. I stomped the ground, making it explode under them, thrusting them in the air. Then I raised my right hand, creating hundreds of arrows made of the moon's light. I lowered my hand, and the arrows tore the two copies into pieces before disintegrating.

Another one was already on my tail, trying to catch me off-guard. It aimed its open palms at me and released bolts of dark magic. I evaded a few while others grazed my skin, drawing blood. The wounds healed immediately.

The third copy created five clones of itself. Jeez! What was this? The Matrix? Naruto? The clones attacked me. Activating my time magic, I froze them in place, including the remaining copies. I didn't want to use this power now, wanting to catch Esther by surprise, but this nonsense needed to end.

I observed the thirteen copies and five clones, unable to tell which one was Original Esther. I raised my right hand—summoning the lunar arrows—and opened my left palm, activating my fire magic, which caked my hand with a roar, ready to devour everything in its path. Then I moved my right hand downward and thrust my left palm forward, unleashing the lunar arrows and blaze of fire upon the copies and clones.

Esther leaped sideways before the arrows pierced and fire disintegrated her body.

I smiled. "There you are."