Chapter 14: Joe vs Sludge

Chapter 14: Joe vs Sludge

While Emily fights Tar, Joe now faces off against Sludge.

Sludge chuckles. “Your friend must be in a hurry to die.”

Sludge’s words trigger Joe’s anger. “Shut up and keep your focus on me!”

“Haha! I see you are in a hurry to die too!”

Sludge begins to liquify, his whole body drooping down until it seeps into the ground. His voice fades away as he fully submerges. “Enjoy your last moments…”

Joe focuses on the dirt ground in front of him. “Damn, what did he do?”

Sludge begins to reform behind him. “I’m right here!”

He lands a powerful punch, hitting Joe in his back and sending him flying forward. Joe ragdolls just a bit before he regains his footing. He creates lightning bolts in his hands, crackling with power. He throws two of them, hitting Sludge directly and electrically shocking him. The shock breaks Sludge into more pieces.

“Got you!” Joe shouts victoriously.

However, Sludge seeps into the ground again. All pieces disappear from view.

Joe grins. “Now I see what you are doing! Downpour!”

Large rain clouds form above the area. Heavy rain falls and forces the sludge pieces out of the ground.

“Extreme Winds!”

The winds blow all of Sludge’s pieces into the air.

“Thunderstorm!”

Lightning strikes down from the clouds, striking every piece of sludge with reasonable accuracy. The strikes cause extreme damage to Sludge, sending electricity through every ounce of his separated body. No longer able to continue his current strategy, Sludge fully reforms himself, but now has burn marks all over his body.

Sludge pants. “It seems my powers are at a disadvantage against your Weather Magic. Time to pull out the big guns…!” He pulls out a sword with a black blade and a brownish-red hilt. “…Or should I say, the sword.”

Joe raises an eyebrow, staring cautiously. “A sword? You don’t look like the sword-wielding type.”

Sludge looks at his sword in admiration. “It’s not just any sword, but a sword formed from the powers of the Dark Goddess. The Shadow Sword!”

With sword in hand, he splits himself into two halves, each half growing an additional leg for movement. One half wields the sword, while the other half remains unarmed.

“Don’t take me lightly like this,” The swordless half says.

“I am arguably more dangerous like this than I am whole,” The sword-wielding half adds.

“We’ll see about that…” Joe murmurs as he forms lightning bolts in his hands.

He throws the lightning bolts but misses as the two halves go in opposite directions. The sword-wielding right half attacks first, but Joe dodges the sword slash. The other half attacks Joe from behind, punching him in the back and knocking him to the ground. The right half begins another sword slash, but Joe gets up and jumps out of the way just in time, receiving only a slight cut on his right arm.

Joe charges his magic and begins another attack. “Ice Storm!”

Icy droplets begin falling from above, landing on the two halves of Sludge and freezing them in place.

Joe smirks as he charges his magic again. “You freeze very easily. Razor Hail!”

Hail, as sharp as razors, falls from above. They slice right through both of the sludge halves, tearing them apart. Unable to continue his attack, Sludge begins to reform very slowly.

“My Weather Magic leaves you outmatched,” Joe says with confidence.

Sludge quietly laughs to himself before bursting out laughing. “Hahahaha! You are right! It does! However, you were cut by the Shadow Sword wielded by a demon!”

Joe raises an eyebrow. “So?”

Sludge grins. “When that happens, your arm becomes encased in shadow and its overall power is drained for a limited time. Unfortunately for you, this effect only happens when the sword is wielded by a demon or someone of divine power. You would not be able to do the same to me. By the time it wears off, I will have taken the opportunity and killed you!”

Joe stares back, his nerves rising. A drop of sweat flows down his forehead.

Will the side effect left by Sludge’s sword be Joe’s downfall?

Chapter 14 END

To Be Continued in Chapter 15: Zeth and Sasha vs Crimson