Chapter 11: The Obsidian Counterstrike

Elevated high above the ground, the daimonas shadow mages worked together, their incantations weaving a web of power which vibrated against the oppressive grief of the Shadow Lord's own shadow power. Nyx stood at the center of the circle, his focus absolute, channeling the power of the grimoire. He imagined the shadows not as a disorganised force, but as an adaptable tool, a mass of cyclone which he could manipulate.

The simplest tactic employed by Nyx was a "shadow veil"—he instructed his wizards to cast a thick walker opaque, mobile screen of invisibility that covered the battlefield, masking the Nightmares' location maps. This strategy benefited from the Nightmares' dependence on vision and hearing, thus rendering them blind and deaf. This allowed smaller groups of Daimonas warriors to engage the Nightmares in close combat, using specialized weapons forged with obsidian that could disrupt the creatures' shadowy forms. Such strategy was very risky, but also very profitable, and was built on speed and accuracy of temporal time relations.

In the meantime, the Harbingers, with their powers to bring the rift to Shadow Realm,did so in an alternative way. They were causing localized, miniature rifts in the vicinity of the battlefield, making way for a greater number of animals to go through. Nyx countered this with a "shadow disruption" tactic. He got his mages to direct their energies on the interception of the Harbingers complex hand movements, which produced punctual, struggling counter energies that obstructed the spell casting. It was analogous to jamming enemy communications on a contemporary battlefield by disrupting their attack planning.

Nyx's plan was the most powerful (the "shadow siphon". He knew that the strength of the Shadow Lord lay in the "great vortex out of which he had been born. Cutting him off from this supply could be severely debilitating by removing the dependence on it. Nyx, by means of the grimoire, conducted a complicated ritual, exploiting the battlefield's inherent shadows and transferring them to the primal rift. It set off an inverse flow of energy, a "siphon" that started the evacuation of the Shadowworld of darkness. That is, it is the same as the practice of depriving the enemy of its exchange base, depleting its exchange base, and as a result rendering it immobile.

The Shadow Lord, feeling his power diminish, let out a battle cry of fury. By doing so he let an unseen force of dark energy tide enter and shake things up, the Daimonas magicians' usual way. This was the critical moment. Following this beat, Nyx has deployed his elite troops, the "Shadow Stalkers," to guard his magic wielders. These warriors they amalgamated the martial art of fighting and shadow magic, functioning as a living wall blocking the Lord of Shadows' attacks and protecting the ceremony. It's similar to the kind of specific unit usage encountered, e.g., special operations units or air ladders, to achieve strategic objectives or vital asset protection.

While the power of the shadow siphon is increasing, the Nightmares began to vanish, leaving their silhouettes as soon as possible in a translucence slowly fading. Turned free from their connection to the Shadow World, the Harbingers were easy pickings to become nothing. Lastly, the Shadow Lord himself began to dissolve, his form became less solid, his strength diminished.

Nyx not noticing the power gain, took a step forward and used the maximum power of the grimoire. He spewed a powerful bolt of shadow gauss at the Shadow Lord at once. The blow sent the creature reeling, severing his connection to the rift completely. With a final, agonizing shriek, the Shadow Lord was pulled back into the Shadow Realm, the rift collapsing behind him.

The fighting ended, the comforting hush of night gone to the way of things, in its place an eerie glow of the setting day sky. The Daimonas had won.