Seraphine ran over to where Malrik was at and saw him battling with whom she guessed was Aruun. She reached Malrik's side just as Aruun's blade came around in a wide arc, forcing them both to scatter.
Up close, the being was nothing like she'd imagined from Malrik's descriptions. He looked like most humanoids, walking on two legs, and his eyes were red with tattoos on his face. The Dagger of Mortis in has hand emitted a strange presence that made the force warn her that it was dangerous.
"Two against one now," Aruun observed, his tone conversational despite the chaos still raging around them. "How very Imperial of you. Does your father teach you to always outnumber your enemies, little prince? Or is that simply cowardice dressed up as strategy?"
"Says the being hiding behind an army of mind-slaved insects," Malrik shot back, circling to Aruun's flank while Seraphine mirrored the movement from the other side.
Aruun's laughter spread throughout the battlefield. "Mind-slaved. Such an ugly term for what I've given them. Purpose, child. Unity. Before me, they were scattered and useless beings hiding in the dark, waiting to be forgotten by a galaxy that never knew they existed. I made them matter."
"You made them tools," Seraphine said, lunging forward with her blade aimed at his exposed side.
Aruun caught the strike almost lazily, the Dagger of Mortis deflecting her blow with a force that she felt up through her arm and into her shoulder. "Tools serve a purpose. What do you serve, Princess of Rylothis? A husband who was not your first choice, on a world that is not your own, fighting a war that began before your first betrayal and will likely outlast your second."
As he was talking, Malrik used the opening to drive forward, his lightsaber slashing toward Aruun's exposed back, but Aruun spun around with insane speed, catching the first strike on the flat side of his dagger and redirecting it past his shoulder.
"You'll have to do better than words to beat us," Malrik said, refusing to let the taunt get to his head.
The three went on to exchange blows, with Aruun holding an advantage because of his strength and knowledge.
He was just toying with Malrik while his forces continued to press the advantage and kill as many of the inhabitants as possible.
However, this wasn't the only place where he was attacking. All across the Imperium's controlled territory, the Killiks had launched massive invasions in three different regions.
They attacked the Imperium's Northern territories, Imperium Hutt space, and the Imperium's core.
The attacks were meant to spread the Imperium's forces thin by attacking with a massive number of Killiks from three different sides.
Aruun had used the fact that Daimon was looking for him as a distraction to launch his invasion of the galaxy. He may not have been ready, but he knew his current forces were enough to hold out while more were created.
The fight with Aruun himself, was taking quite a while, with more Empyrean Guards and Balance Keepers attempting to join the fight. But Aruun was so much more powerful that he managed to kill all of the Empyrean Guards using the dagger of Mortis.
The Balance Keepers managed to stay alive and fought side by side with Malrik to try and defeat Aruun. But they were being held off quite well, by not just Aruun, but the dozen or so Killiks that had arrived to help.
They were much more powerful than the regular Killiks, which made Malrik think that these new arrivals must be a different variant of Killiks.
Malrik parried another strike from Aruun, just barely as the tip of the blade grazed his skin. The cut caused him to drop to one knee, leaving an opening for Aruun to attack him.
Two of the Balance Keepers and three Empyrean Guards jumped in front of Malrik to block Aruun and protect Malrik.
The Balance Keepers used the Force to push Aruun back, while the Empyrean Guards went in, to attack. But the power difference between Aruun and the Empyrean Guards were too great and like every time, they were killed in a matter of seconds.
The Balance Keepers stayed on the defensive, while Seraphine checked on Malrik.
"Malrik, look at me," Seraphine said, her hands hovering over the wound to try and Force heal it. "Stay with me."
"I'm fine," Malrik grunted, forcing himself back to his feet despite the pain.
The cut wasn't deep, but the blade that made it dealt something more than physical damage. He could feel a strange numbness spreading from the wound.
"It's not fine. Something's wrong." Seraphine's eyes widened as she felt it too through their brief contact.
"The dagger," one of the Balance Keepers called out, deflecting another strike from Aruun while retreating a step back. "It doesn't just cut whatever it touches. It also severs the Force itself from whatever it touches. Be careful."
Malrik looked at his wound and wondered why he could still use the Force. He figured it must be because of his father's genetics and Force connection.
Aruun watched this exchange with amusement, making no move to press his advantage immediately. "Clever people, your Balance Keepers. Yes, little prince. The dagger is a lot more powerful than you think. It is something that can cut a god from his own godhood. I could have taken your arm just as easily, but I chose not to."
Malrik gritted his teeth as Aruun was just playing around with them. He tried to reach out through his father through the Force, but there was something that was blocking him from doing so.
Seeing what he was trying to do, Aruun shook his head which Malrik saw. "Your futile efforts at reaching your father is quite amusing, but it will amount to nothing. I have already severely limited your connection so that he will only feel when you die." explained Aruun as he rushed toward Malrik.
The Balance Keepers tried to push him back, but Aruun brushed their Force attacks off and made it to Malrik, delivering an overhead attack.
Malrik managed to barely block the attack and was about to be kicked in the stomach, but he managed to grab Aruun's foot and move it the side, allowing him to barely cut Aruun's face with his lightsaber.
Aruun touched where his face was cut and started to Force heal it. But he was also angry that Malrik was able to even touch him so he ragefully charged at Malrik, this time aiming to kill him.
The Balance Keepers and a dozen other Empyrean Guards jumped in the way yet again. But this time Aruun didn't hold back. He shot out a wave of Force lightning at the Balance Keepers and Empyrean Guards.
The Balance Keepers were training on how to deal with Force lightning so they managed to block the attack and divert it away from them, but not before Aruun ran into the Empyrean Guards.
The Dagger of Mortis carved through them like they were nothing, three Empyrean Guards falling before Aruun even slowed down. He broke through the remaining Empyrean Guards and closed the remaining distance to Malrik.
Malrik raised his blade to meet the strike, but Aruun's speed had increased, causing their two blades to clash in shower of sparks, and this time Malrik felt his knees buckle under the force of the attack.
"You cut me!" Aruun yelled. "No one has done that in a long time,"
Aruun repeatedly slammed the dagger against Malrik's lightsaber trying to break his defense.
Seraphine tried to flank him, but Aruun used his free hand, catching her by the throat with the Force. He lifted her clean off the ground as he continued to hammer away at Malrik's lightsaber.
"Seraphine!" Malrik's voice cracked as his eyes briefly turned yellow as he broke Aruun's guard and pushed him back. But just before he could counterattack, Aruun raised his hand.
"Ah, ah," Aruun said, tightening his grip just enough to make Seraphine gasp. "One more step, and I will kill her. You've seen what the dagger does to you, imagine what it will do to her soul."
Malrik froze, his lightsaber still raised, every instinct screaming at him to charge forward and close the distance, but he was worried about Seraphine. The Balance Keepers around them had stopped as well, unwilling to risk Aruun actually killing Seraphine.
"That's better," Aruun said.
"You Imperial children, so quick to throw yourselves at problems you cannot solve. Your father does the same, I'm told. Charges forward, trusting in his own strength to carry him through anything. It has worked for him so far. But strength is not the only currency that matters in this galaxy, little prince."
"Let her go!" Malrik said. His anger grew by the second. All he wanted to do now was kill Aruun. "This is between you and me."
"Nothing is ever between just two people," he said as he turned to Seraphine and started to increase his grip.
"NO!" shouted Malrik as his eyes flashed red this time, and he blindly charged at Aruun.
Seeing this, Aruun chuckled as he tightened his grip, and waiting on Malrik to get closer.
Once he got close, he released the grip on Seraphine, letting her fall to the ground and he turned to block Malrik's attacks which had become predictable.
Despite his training, Malrik allowed himself to be overtaken with rage as he saw Seraphine about to be killed. This was one of the things that Daimon warned him about before he got married.
No matter how much training one gets, a person's emotions for someone that they care about will always be a dangerous force to overcome. And it seemed that Malrik has lost that battle and allowed his emtions to dictate his actions.
Aruun blocked every attack that Malrik threw at him, and even occasionally delivered a small cut on Malrik's body, fueling his rage. These small cuts also slowly drained his ability to use the Force.
Malrik kept attacking despite this, the only thing on his mind is to kill Aruun. Meanwhile Aruun simply waited and waited until Malrik grew weak enough.
Once he got weak enough, he punched him and sent him flying into a nearby tree. Then he rushed forward, and before he could recover, Aruun stabbed the dagger right in the center of his chest.
Recovering from being chocked, Seraphine saw this and screamed "NOOO!"
But it was too late. Aruun threw his body from the tree and into the middle of the battlefield for all to see. Malrik wasn't quite dead yet. He was still holding on with what little life force he had, reaching his hand toward Seraphine.
As this was happening, a massive Imperium fleet had entered the system led by none other than Progenitor Orin Volkar. The fleet was already en route as soon as they figured out that the planet was under attack.
Not only was the massive galaxy wide invasion an indication, but the Empyrean Guards had failed their comm check, which was an indication that something was going on. With Daimon elsewhere Progenitor Volkar decided to go himself.
Arriving in the system, he was angry at what he saw, and he hoped that he had arrived in time. But what he didn't know was that the battle was already lost.