"The Grand Maximus."
The name hung in the air, a pronouncement of doom. The hooded man, who had just moments before believed himself to be a master puppeteer, now found himself facing a legend he thought was only a myth.
"A lie," the hooded man stammered, taking another stumbling step back. "A trick! The Grand Maximus is dead! Gone for an age!"
The being wearing Riku's face—the Grand Maximus—didn't even deign to reply with words. He moved.
It wasn't a Blink or a step. He simply ceased to be in one place and appeared directly in front of the hooded man, his movements so fast they didn't register as motion. Rimeheart, his dark ice blade, swung in a lazy, contemptuous arc.
The hooded man, despite his terror, reacted with the instinct of a powerful mage, throwing up a hastily conjured shield of crimson energy.
The ice blade touched it. There was no grand explosion, only a soft hiss. The shield instantly froze solid, then shattered into a million glittering red shards.
