[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/221005/7d7c778891f3387ab231a2bbd26f2d1e.png[/img]
[H3]The Under[/h3]
[u]The Chasm ~ Temple of the Black Egg[/u]

[b]Word Count:[/b] 1,169
[b]Level 5 Ganondorf:[/b] 35/60
[b]Exp:[/b] +6
[b]NEW EXP Balance---[/b] 41/60[/center]

Ganondorf grimaced and made a low growl of frustration, [color=797979]”Of course the little coward runs away. But he can’t run forever. I’ll hunt him down myself if I have to.”[/color] That of course left the matter of the newly dropped Spirits. And the warlord did have his eye on at least one of them, that being Artorias. He hadn’t known the knight for long, but he’d shown himself to be a strong warrior in his own right, just the sort of power that Ganondorf wanted for his own. With the spirit in hand, the Gerudo Warlord pressed it against his torso in order to consume it. Like always, he was enveloped in a brief flash of light.

[center][hider=For Ganondorf]Notable spirit consumed:
[b][url=https://i.imgur.com/Hnpf4w9.png]Artorias[/url][/b]
The host's build is a little narrower and less brawny, though he's a little taller. His armor now just about fully covers him, a very dark gray in color, and though his helmet is more open from the front his face is cast in darkness, and it features a plume in the back. A faded, black-stained blue is added to his cape and the other cloth elements of his outfit. His personality is a bit more doom-and-gloom. This spirit confers the Power [b]Abyssal Resurgence[/b], granting the host the ability to channel and then let off a dark AoE explosion when his health reaches 1/3. Every explosion gives him a stackable (but temporary) damage buff and he takes reduced damage while channeling, though he can be interrupted. This spirit also confers the Weakness [b]Left Hand Rule[/b], making the host's left hand his dominant one, but his left arm a weak point that's more susceptible to breaking.[/hider][/center]

He examined himself, Ganondorf now looking fully armored. The armor’s colors were darkened by the influence of the knight’s attire, and his cape also took on a blue hue stained with black. His helmet now appeared to be open-faced, though his actual visage appeared masked in shadow. He reached up and felt the newly formed plume on the back of his helmet as well. But apart from this, Ganondorf couldn’t help but stare at his left hand. The reason being that it suddenly felt more dominant than it previously was. Had Artorias’ spirit made him… left-handed? [color=797979]”This will taketh some getting used to.”[/color] He said, realizing how he sounded shortly after. [color=797979]”This, too, t’would seem.”[/color]

With that done, Ganondorf followed along with the other Seekers as they made their way back to the Temple of the Black Egg. The place where it all started. The warlord was none-too-thrilled to revisit the place he had been imprisoned. But he had always known that this was inevitable. The Guardian was here, and so it was going to be here where the hopefully final battle would be fought before he could finally put this blasted Under behind him forever. Also Ganondorf really hoped that their trick to duplicate one of their mask fragments actually worked. Because if this turned out to be for nothing, then… he would not be a happy camper.

Thankfully those worries turned out to be unfounded. The temple, cracked and damaged as it was since the last time they were all here, accepted the mask fragments as they were presented. And what finally emerged from the egg was… another knight. Was that it? Just another masked knight who wasn’t really much bigger than Ganondorf himself? He’d better have a lot of power backing him up, otherwise this was going to be a short battle.

It was Bowser and his kin who moved first. Typical. Of course he would be the one to impulsively jump in before anyone else. Even if, truth be told, if he didn’t then Ganondorf may well have done so himself. Oh well, at least he could look at what the Hollow Knight could do before engaging with it himself. If nothing else, Bowser made for a useful guinea pig in that regard. The knight was faster than he looked, even managing a nasty strike on the Koopa King’s arm. Jr and Rika managed to get him off but it was Kamek who finally said something that Ganondorf took note of.

It seemed they would have to kill this creature in its dreams in order for it to die for real. And now the Orsterrians in addition to Sectonia were making their moves. Therion’s attempted attacks proved unequivocally that the Hollow Knight was a lot faster than his appearance suggested. And so now Ganondorf decided to revisit an old tactic of his. While the knight was contending with Therion and Primrose and Sectonia was casting her Slow spell on it, the warlord summoned his Phantom to his side. Phantom Ganon brandished his trident and immediately took to floating in the air.

[color=797979]”Have at thee!”[/color] Ganondorf shouted. He brandished his own trident and hurled it forward in the newly slowed Hollow Knight’s direction. It spun through the air, but the weapon itself was intended to be a distraction more than anything. Ganondorf used a bullet jump to launch forward into a high-speed bullrush that he could put into a powerful lariat or clothesline attack with his right arm. As he planned, the Hollow Knight was busy deflecting the thrown trident and therefore was caught by the warlord’s attack which sent him flying back a bit.

The Hollow Knight was quick to recover from this and snapped its attention on the Gerudo and lunged, trying to impale him with the nail blade like he had nearly done to Bowser moments ago. Thankfully for Ganondorf, the knight was under the effects of the slow spell which gave him enough time to re-summon the trident and parry the incoming charge. But before Ganondorf could retaliate, the bastard teleported straight up so he could try to slam down on the warlord from above. And that was when Phantom Ganon made his move, lunging at the airborne Hollow Knight from the side and slamming into him with his own trident.

But Phantom Ganon was not as quick or responsive as Ganondorf. So even the slowed Hollow Knight was able to retaliate with a slam of his nail that sent Phantom Ganon reeling back. But Ganondorf had now jumped in midair in order to catch him with a sweep of his trident that finally sent the vessel back down toward the ground. Ganondorf threw his trident straight down, but the Hollow Knight was able to dodge being skewered by it. But he was caught by the lightning bolt that followed the attack, avoiding a direct hit but still taking some indirect damage from the blast. This was when Ganondorf landed back on the ground next to the weapon and grasped it in his hands. But the Hollow Knight teleported behind him and managed to slash at his back with the nail.

[color=797979]”Thou shalt not get away with thy cowardice, ye knave!”[/color]