Episode 9 Final Battle part 1
The next morning, everyone was properly suited up before meeting each other in the main hallway. One by one, they slowly emerged by the door. The Celestial Knights were the ones who were truly amazed because they had never seen the Great Five dressed in their full armor. Nothing in the galaxy could have shined more brightly than the five. It made the knights feel more inferior than ever before. Yae and Ran were also invited. They had grown a lot stronger since they first arrived and were planning to test out their skill in the final battle.
Their plan was quite simple. Fangblade had divided everyone among four groups based on their best skill. The first group consisted of Suuushi, Hirarii, Dolob, and Ran. They would be the group to advance Salleem directly and attack. Once they began the fight, the next team, Tiger, Shynobi, Keturah, and Yae would jump in when help was necessary. The last two groups were the Great Five split between Novinha and Starlightzz and Fangblade, Curryishott, and Korwyn. They were standby and were to only enter the fight when the worst came. They did not want Salleem to know that they were present.
This time Salleem was hidden in the Dead Mine, where Hirarii, Heroine, Dolob, and Loopedd first found him. Salleem didn't change. He was, as usual, casually leaning against the wall staring at nothing. He had no expression on his face when he saw the first group approach him.
"Salleem," Hirarii began. "It's not too late to stop what you're doing."
"Oh Hirarii," Salleem sighed. He rolled his eyes and began to walk towards her. "You always think that there's an alternative way to everything." He was so close to her that Hirarii could feel his breath. Hirarii didn't move.
"You're my friend, Salleem," she whispered and slowly touched his face. Salleem twitched a little from her warm and soft hand. "I'll do anything to save you." For a moment, Salleem was deeply touched. He still remembered their childhood times together, but his bad memories eventually overpowered them.
"Silly girl, you're the one who will need to be saved," Salleem chuckled. He gently removed her hand from his cheek, then turned around and did a backdrop unexpectedly.
"Hirarii!" Ran called. He and the rest of the group were ready to attack after that cheap move.
"No, stay back!" Hirarii yelled. She was still lying on the ground with Salleem on top. He had dug his knee into her stomach but Hirarii still didn't fight back.
"The Salleem you know will never come back Hirarii," he continued in a sympathetic tone. "I'm dead. Even if you manage to defeat me, my soul is still gone."
"I know," Hirarii choked from the small amount of air that was being produced from her crushed lungs. "But I want to send you to heaven where you can forever be at peace, instead of being possessed by darkness. Salleem, even if you are already dead, I want you to be happy. Isn't that what any friend would want?"
"Shut up!" Salleem yelled and dug his knee deeper, now crushing Hirarii's organs. Blood began to leak from her mouth. "You don't know what I want. You don't know ANYTHING about me. You've been gone for over thirteen years, how would you know what's best for me?"
"At least she knows enough that you need some major help," Suuushi growled. She had her hand tightly gripped to his shoulder. Salleem didn't notice that she was standing there.
"I think that's enough," Suuushi continued. "She was the only one out of all of us who were willing to give you a chance. You've lost all sympathy given to you now."
"I don't need any of your pathetic sympathy," Salleem spat. An arrow whirled swiftly in the air and pierced through Salleem's rib cage.
"I think there's no point holding back now," Dolob joked.
"There never was a point," Salleem sighed and observed the wound. "That was a cheap move." Something sharp ran through Salleem's skull afterwards. There was a huge hole in his head bleeding rapidly. Suuushi had thrown a kunai right through his brain.
"There aren't any rules in fighting," Suuushi stated. Salleem just glared and quickly lashed out his ice ibis stars. Suuushi had already disappeared from the scene and reappeared behind him before the stars could even hit the wall. She generated a giant energized throwing star and forced it into Salleem's body. Ran quickly shocked him so that his body became paralyzed. Then, he concealed him within a giant block of ice. Hirarii took the last blow and cleanly sliced the ice into many pieces with her Raven's Wing sword. Salleem's body was now tightly concealed in many places. It was a gruesome sight, but it was the best combination to ensure one's death. His heart had been taken away by Dolob's arrow and his brain by Suuushi's kunai. He couldn't have moved because Ran had paralyzed him and was then frozen on top of that. Lastly, how can any organism function with all those injures and can also stand being sliced into pieces?
This one could. Salleem moved like slimy, thick tar, quickly dripping himself out of the frozen prison and attacking the four at the same time. Their hands and feet were attacked by the slimy substance and glued towards the wall or ground. Salleem reassembled himself swiftly without struggle. His hand transformed into a sharp blade and targeted at Hirarii first. None of them could move.
Green smog began to fill the area as the second group began to enter the fight. Shynobi and Yae worked to drag Salleem away from the others and towards the boiling lava. Keturah solo him from that point since she was able to manipulate the burning fire. She also temporarily had the advantage since the smog still blurred his vision. Meanwhile, Tiger freed Ran first so that he could easily freeze the slime restraining the others. The ice was easy to break and the slime was lifeless afterwards. Hirarii was the first to free herself and joined the battle. They moved onto their next combo attack as Keturah backed away. Tiger, Hirarii, and Yae, all being different types of warriors, stabbed Salleem with their most powerful skill through his frontal, transverse, and sagittal plane. All piercings should have left his whole body immobile.
It was definitely more effective than the last move. Salleem couldn't move any better than a stick figure, but with his undamaged hand, he carefully twisted his wrist pulled the sword out from under his arm that had pierced through his heart to his other arm. The rest were easier to remove.
"If that didn't work, I don't know what can," Yae stared. Tiger was also slightly shocked but did not show it. The rest circled Salleem with their next attack fully charged, waiting for his next move. They had a lot of other attack combinations ready to be tested, but would any of them be effective? Everyone had their doubts, but kept it hidden away, only focusing on the future of the world.
If an immortal could not be killed by destroying their whole body system, then what could?
Episode 10 Final Battle part 2
The battle continued with much effort. Some gained injuries, but none so severe that they had to be pulled out of the battlefield. The Great Five watched in the distance with tension, observing Salleem's battle strategies while hoping to find a gap to attack him effectively.
"He's a thief," Novinha stated. "But has no definite weapon."
"His definite weapon is himself," Korwyn objected. 'But notice how he uses nothing for defense. He would just let himself suffer the injury and regenerate afterwards."
"Perhaps the best time to attack is during that regeneration period," Starlightzz recommended. "But even if we split his body into billions of atoms, he'll still regenerate."
"That's why we have the split the atom itself," Curryishott added. "When atoms split, they explode and therefore cannot regenerate."
"So all we're missing is a really accurate laser beam," Korywn said sarcastically.
"Or," Fangblade paused. "A really powerful laser beam…" They weren't sure exactly what Fangblade was implying. He then turned on the sound on his earphone.
They were running out of battle strategies. No combination of attacks seemed to work on Salleem because he was so malleable and came back to life no matter what. The Knights began to intercept Fangblade's call through their small earphones.
"Celestial Knights," Fangblade began. "You need to use all of your power at maximum strength. I think it is time that you all use that strategy." The knights were stunned.
"My Lord," Shynobi objected. "No knight has ever survived after using that move."
"Take a look, Shynobi. All of you specialize in a different occupation. The effect would be stronger and because it's equivalent and the aftershock will be less for all of you." The strategy that Fangblade had suggested was forbidden. It required all of the knights to use their full potential to gather every ability into one hit, a move only a knight could project because they carried the power to unleash the effects of a thief, warrior, bowman, and magician. In conclusion, everyone had to project a strong force similar to the one Hirarii used in the previous battle, except that one was not the same. There were only three previous knights that were capable of unleashing that vast amount of power: VietxHue, Mecate and Hydrange. VietxHue had used it on a previous national rival but was so exhausted afterwards that he died hours after. Mecate had used it on Salleem a few months ago after he had taken the lives of AnhRau and LastBreath, and died instantly. Hydrange at that time was sent to Scania to protect Tiger and Suuushi. While they escaped to Bera, Hydrange went face to face with Salleem with one final blow.
Regardless of the past honorable knights, Shynobi, Hirarii, Dolob, and Keturah were going to do it under Fangblade's orders, but they all had a little fear inside. Shynobi let out a huge sigh. Tiger, Suuushi, Yae, and Ran were a bit confused about what they were planning. Shynobi commanded them to take the first hit on Salleem and then immediately step back.
"Alright, let's do it," he said. Everyone else too took a deep breath.
"For my dear NeoJunker," Keturah sighed.
"Heroine…and Loopedd too," Dolob added.
"For His Lord," Hirarii continued.
"For Bera," Shynobi concluded and nonchalantly took out a single ibis star. Hirarii slowly lifted her sword directly above her head. Dolob pulled back the string of his bow while Keturah held her wand close to her heart. Yae and Ran attacked first, injuring Sallem to throw him off balance. Then, Tiger and Suuushi made sure that he had exploded into plain mush and stepped out of the ring of the Knights' path.
"Spirits Unite!" they all called. Each knight glow a bright different color as waves of energy flowed into their weapons. The action stopped moments later and Salleem was beginning to put himself back together.
"Execute!" Shynobi threw what now was a giant star of over twenty feet in diameter. Hirarii followed as a giant phoenix flew out of her sword as she waved it, merging with the revolving star. Dolob shot a single glowing arrow that emerged as a vigorous wolf, adding to the combination to create a star with an image of a pouncing wolf with wings. Lastly, Keturah unleashed a whirling green and red combination of fire and poison from her wand that added as flares on the massive attack. Their attack directly hit Salleem before he could regenerate and did not end there. It continued to grow as an extensive attack and soon the knights were controlling the attack with their bare minds.
They were at the point where they couldn't take it any longer. Shynobi was the first to let go and after that they all followed, dropping to the ground. The Great Five emerged from their hiding spot to assist the knights. There was no sign of Salleem or a single spot of the slimy substance he was made up of. The knights were incapable of fighting. Shynobi and Keturah were unconscious, Dolob was internally burning with pain, and Hirarii was paralyzed.
Assuming that Salleem was gone for good, they rushed back to the palace without even celebrating. Starlightzz, being a powerful cleric, healed all of them steadily for hours. Even after wakening up and being healed, all the knights were too tired to move, literally. They were all lying in a vacant bedroom, bored.
"Dolob, please change the channel," Shynobi moaned. The TV screen filmed little lemurs hunting for food as Dolob watched with little effort.
"I would give you the remote but I can't even move my hand," Dolob glared.
"Move it?" Shynobi asked. "I can't even feel mine!"
"At least you both can physically move it, sheesh," Hirarii interrupted. She was still paralyzed up to her shoulder but was thankful enough that she could speak.
"Can you all shut up?" Keturah yelled. "Maybe if you all tried to sleep like me then you'd get better faster." She rolled on her bed and faced the wall. Dolob gave up, left the TV running since it made him sleepy anyways, and fell asleep too.
"Still awake, Hirarii?" Shynobi asked.
"Of course," she replied bluntly.
"Do you think Salleem's really gone?" Hirarii took a long pause before replying.
"No," she answered. "He's not in heaven yet."
Episode 11 New Enemy
The night had not yet struck midnight. Gradually, the sleepless Shynobi began to feel his strength return as Hirarii could move her muscles again. The majority of the residents in the house were asleep except for Korwyn, who usually stayed up late, and Suuushi, who found it best to concentrate at night. Korwyn was silently watching the news in the living room while Suuushi sat a few feet away reading a thick novel. They too thought that something was left uncompleted that still night.
A sudden shiver went down Hirarii's spine. Shynobi noticed her abrupt twitch.
"What's wrong?" he asked. "Did you feel something again?" Shynobi did the have the special sense that some of the knights possessed.
"No, I'm just cold," Hirarii lied, but Shynobi believed her. She pretended to fall asleep, hiding most of her body under the covers and facing the wall. Something wasn't right. The shiver she felt continued at random intervals. It was not a normal feeling either.
"Hirarii, you're shaking a lot," Shynobi finally stated.
"It's probably just a side effect from being paralyzed too long," she lied again. This time her voice was unstable and Shynobi didn't fall for it. He got up from his bed and walked towards Hirarii.
"I'll do my best to heal you," Shynobi volunteered. "Maybe you'll stop shaking then." Not wanting to wake up Keturah for help, he slowly warmed up his healing skill until it glow bright blue and placed his hand on Hirarii's forehead. It helped her calm down and the shaking did stop.
"Thanks," Hirarii sighed, feeling relieved. Whatever she was feeling was gone now, but why was it so strong before? There was a small knock on the glass window leading out to a balcony. Hirarii had her back faced to it and didn't see the strange girl standing on the other side of the glass.
"Huh, I wonder if she's lost," Shynobi thought. The girl was calm; she looked innocent and patient but at the same time more happy than scared from being lost. Shynobi was about to slid the door open to ask for what she needed.
"Are you looking for something?" Shynobi asked through the clear glass before unlocking the door.
"Yes, and I found it too," she said cheerfully. Shynobi was unsure of what to do next. Did she need directions to go home then? The girl was probably no younger than Hirarii who was nineteen, but she acted as if she was still sixteen and clueless.
"It's right here," she continued and pointed directly at Shynobi. Hirarii suddenly jolted after her phrase.
"Shynobi, get away from the window!" she yelled and sprinted towards him. Pressure banged against the glass door, and then shattered into pieces lying all over the ground and even against walls. Hirarii grabbed Shynobi just in time, who wasn't able to react fast enough, and used her power guard ability to create a shield surrounding them and the interior of the room. Dolob and Keturah woke up instantly. The shield had covered them so they had more time to react to the sudden challenge. Hirarii couldn't hold the guard for very long because she was still weak and the force was abnormally powerful for a small glass explosion. As she released the shield, Hirarii and Shynobi rolled onto the bladed floor. Dolob and Keturah stood in front to protect them against the new mysterious person on the balcony.
"What do you want?" Dolob sneered.
"I want the things that I'm looking for," she continued in her cheery voice.
"What things exactly?"
"Why, your souls of course. You all would make excellent servants!" They all glared at her response. She seemed too innocent to be an enemy, and they didn't even know who she was.
"I think I'll take you first. I've never seen such a fierce bowmen in hundreds of years," she stated, observing Dolob.
"Sorry, none of us are for sale," Keturah sneered and prepared to attack. She had caught Keturah's throat before she could generate an energy ball from her hand and lifted her up.
"Leave the Berian alone," Hirarii growled.
Berian?, they all thought.
"Are you still unsatisfied after all these years, Lord Urajji?" she continued.
"Oh, it's you," Urajji blinked. She dropped Keturah and walked up to Hirarii. "Why did you pick such a weak girl this time? She couldn't even stand a little explosion from a tiny glass window." Urajji played around with Hirarii's hair, and then gave her a light shove.
"Watch it," Shynobi growled from behind Hirarii and held onto Hirarii's shoulders in case she did anything else. Hirarii seemed to have spaced out. The one thing the knights noticed was that Hirarii's eyes were now a hot magenta color, brighter than her hair's, instead of her usual deep purple.
"These people have nothing to do with us," Hirarii continued. "Lord Urajji, if you cannot settle your childish games up to this point, I'm afraid I don't have much of a choice to give you anymore."
"Your Highness," Urajji replied gently. "You would've finished me off a long time ago if only you could."
"You question my capabilities?" Hirarii glared. She took her Raven's Wing from the side of her bed and then raised it to Urajji's throat.
"You don't have a human body to protect yourself now," Hirarii declared. "Your treatment towards many civilians in the past and also using the boy, Salleem, as your servant is unforgiveable. I will bring him to where he needs to be, but I guarantee you that you will not arrive at the same place."
"I too will guarantee you that this will be the last time you will be able to reincarnate back into this world," Urajji threatened. They exchanged glares for a long time. The knights did not want to interfere with what was happening. Then Hirarii took the first hit, pushing them both out of the broken window and onto the courtyard before the knights could even blink. Many footsteps were gradually getting louder from the main door. Korwyn slammed open the door with Suuushi behind him.
"What happened in here?" he demanded. He was more concerned about what caused the explosion rather than about the mess it made.
"There's a girl that broke in," Dolob pointed out the balcony. They ran outside to check the battle. They were moving so fast that you could only hear the noise that the two swords made when they clashed and the occasional sparks that flew from the impact. Korwyn and Suuushi looked closer.
"Is that Hirarii fighting?"' Suuushi asked. They nodded.
"We'll end this conflict," Korwyn stated. "You guys just get some more rest." Korwyn and Suuushi leaped off from the balcony and entered the invisible battle. The knights could not rest from all the tension and instead watched the battle from above.
Episode 13 The Cygnus Empress
Korwyn and Suuushi attacked the intruder forcefully away from Hirarii. Urajji and Hirarii had already received cut wounds from each other. Unlike Salleem, Urajji was living with full flesh, or so it seemed. She bled normal red blood and didn't seem to have anything special besides being a very fast Night Lord. Urajji had no interest in fighting Korwyn or Suuushi, but they did not let her glide toward Hirarii's direction. Suuushi's stars had hit her lower limbs, making her unable to avoid Korwyn's dragon spear ability. Urajji gave up, took another quick glance at Hirarii, and then fled.
"You shouldn't be fighting in your condition," Suuushi told Hirarii. "You could've held some defensive attacks until we came."
"Who exactly are 'we'?" Hirarii asked in a powerful yet polite tone. Korwyn and Suuushi blinked in confusion.
"Maybe she has amnesia," Korywn analyzed.
"The one you call Hirarii is not here right now," she responded. "But I assure you that she is still safe under my protection and I will do no harm to her body."
"Then…who are you?" Korwyn asked.
"I am the Cygnus Empress," she declared. "I'm here to stop Lord Urajji from continuing her ruling of darkness. If I may, I want to speak to your king."
Judging from her use of language, she did not seem to be from this time period. Previously, Urajji had mentioned that the Empress had reincarnated again, and this time Hirarii seemed to be the victim. None of them, not even the knights, knew who the Cygnus Empress was. They only hoped that Fangblade had a clue to what was going on.
"Lord Fangblade," Korwyn spoke. "There's someone that wants to see you."
"Hirarii?" Fangblade asked confused, seeing her standing behind Korwyn.
"Actually, she claims to be the Cygnus Empress." Fangblade flinched. He took a deep breath, stared into Hirarii's eyes, noticed the difference, and kneeled in front of her. Everyone was shocked; the most powerful Lord was bowing to someone else.
"It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness," Fangblade spoke.
"As the King, I assume that you know of me," she responded.
"I'd prefer if you did not refer to me as a King," Fangblade objected. "I am simply just a leader. More importantly, what is Her Highness doing back in the mortal world?"
"You know the reason already, but I have come to put a full end to this issue before it consumes all that's left in this world. Do you have knights to serve you?"
"Yes, they're all standing behind you." The Empress turned around to see Shynobi, Dolob and Keturah, all extremely tired and yawning.
"This is all you have?" she blinked.
"And the one you're currently possessing," Fangblade added. "We lost half of them in a previous battle." The Empress stared at them again, feeling a little sympathy knowing that it must have been extremely tough and exhausting for the past couple of months.
"We also have the Great Five and other heroes on our side, Your Highness," Fangblade gestured towards Korwyn and Suuushi, knowing that she was thinking that they did not have enough people to fight.
"That's good enough," the Empress sighed. "When do you plan on attacking?"
"I was hoping to wait until the knights can be at their full strength again."
"A reasonable action," she observed, drawing her finger across a bleeding wound on her arm. "Do you have a strong cleric?"
"Yes, my wife is the best cleric in the world." Starlightzz was in the same room, overheard the conversation and instantly popped up next to him.
"Is there something you need, Your Highness?" Starlightzz asked with her head lowered, pretending to know who she was.
"I think this body needs some treatment before I return it," she stated. She knew Hirarii wouldn't have been able to take the extra damage done to her body. "And perhaps you should consider some neopendeath honey. They will help your knights heal faster."
"Yes, Your Highness," Starlightzz replied and began sealing up all the new wounds. A couple minutes passed until Starlightzz healed every wound inflicted during the battle with Urajji. The Empress gently ran her smooth hand across the scars feeling satisfied, and then left without another word. Hirarii was so dizzy that she couldn't stand on her feet, and fell on her knees.
"Well, this explains a lot," Fangblade sighed in relief from all the tension.
"Who exactly is the Cygnus Empress?" Suuushi asked.
"The Cygnus Empress is basically our God," Fangblade recalled. "This world was created by her and protected by her. Our religion even comes from her, but so few accept her existence now that she has been long forgotten. I only know because I found an old book that had the theory that the Cygnus Empress always returned to the Maple World and if she was not satisfied, she would destroy everything that she is not pleased with."
"That came from the research about the great power?" Korwyn asked.
"Yes," Fangblade stated. "And it seems that it has been proven true; the power is rare and so extreme because the power is the Cygnus Empress herself."
"But she doesn't want to destroy everything," Hirarii objected, still on her knees. Although she was not in control of her body in the presence of the Cygnus Empress, she was still experiencing the same moments on the inside. "She just wants to stop Urajji."
"I believe what he means is that the Empress would do anything to stop her," Starlightzz replied. "Even if it means killing all of us, especially you Hirarii." Fangblade nodded.
"But we don't have a choice," Fangblade sighed. "We would face the same consequences of we don't obey her."
The Cygnus Empress was generous and gave the knights a full week to heal. Urajji had no activities during that time and the Empress also remained idol. Sometimes she would pop into Hirarii's mind and ask her random questions, but she kept that to herself.
What do you fight for?, The Empress asked once. Hirarii was fixing her hair in the mirror one morning.
"For the safety of others," Hirarii replied out loud.
But what do you strive for?, she asked again. Do you wish to become as powerful as your Lord?
"I only live to serve him."
If he died, what would you do? Hirarii never bothered to consider that question and didn't respond. She walked out of her room to the assigned meeting place. They were going to ambush Urajji that day. All the knights were present and so were a few of the Great Five. Under the Cygnus Empress' orders, everyone would go in and fight for hopefully the last time concerning the darkness that has been consuming the world.
"Your Highness," Hirarii whispered after she arrived and smiling to the others. She was listening. "I would die in his place." The Empress smiled.
Good Answer, she replied before taking over her body again to assemble the battle line.
Episode 14 Final Battle Part 3
The Cygnus Empress had asked Urajji to show up that day outside of Ellinia, the impressive city built within tall trees and filled with many fairies and mysterious findings. Urajji kindly showed up right on time, expecting the numerous amounts of opponents. The Cygnus Empress and Lord Urajji were fair people, probably an old tradition in their time. They respectfully bowed to each other before beginning their battle and exchanged final words.
"Let me tell you Your Highness," Urajji began. "I'm not any more vulnerable just because I'm human again, and that doesn't mean I'm easy to kill either."
"But you are not immortal," the Empress stated. "You will be at rest when we are through."
"I won't hold back," Urajji teased.
"I don't expect you to." A kunai flew towards her head not a second later. The Empress had her power guard shield on unknowingly, making the kunai bounce off the invisible wall. They began their fight, first in solo. When she needed assistance, she would call up groups just like Fangblade had assigned before.
Although Hirarii's best job was that of a warrior's, the Empress concentrated on magic attacks because she was previously a magician. There was no struggle because the Empress was a master of every job. Urajji was only a master in thievery, but she fought just as well. In fact, Urajji was stronger than the Empress. She had darkness on her side.
The knights and the brothers were called in, and together they fought, thinking that their final weapon should be restricted until last resort. Eventually everyone was elicited to join the fight. They were doing well until they forgot about one of a thief's most powerful weapons: the meso bomb. They were too late to stop it, and only the thieves could protect themselves with dark sight. The explosion shook with a huge magnitude, causing many trees in the forest to collapse. Only Suuushi, Shynobi and the Empress remained unhurt. The Great Five combined defensive attacks to protect each other but the explosion broke their shield easily. Dolob and Keturah were partially protected, but their experience with using dark sight was very modicum. Yae, Ran, and Tiger took the most damage with nearly nothing protecting them.
Korwyn, Novinha and Keturah were trapped beneath the thick pile of trees. Curryishott and Suuushi took time to rescue them as the rest, who were still capable of fighting, took on Urajji. Shynobi threw stars, the Empress casted a giant thunderbolt and Fangblade used his dragon spear ability to attack her. They missed terribly and were ambushed from behind.
Once again, there was no sign of winning the battle, but the Empress did not allow them to quit. Yae had been severely injured from the meso bomb, and all three had suffered broken bone injures from being squashed beneath trees. Starlightzz pulled to the side to heal them and Ran stood by as a guard. There were only six left who were still fighting one enemy, less than same amount of Fangblade's original Celestial Knights.
Urajji had a secret special ability that enabled her to throw three stars at once containing a massive amount of shock that would be critical to the person who got hit. However, it could only be used for a limited amount of time because it drained out so much energy. Regardless, she decided to use it twice to hit all six opponents. None of them saw it coming and it was harder to repeal compared to a normal kunai. Curryishott got hit on his forearm, but one repealed off of Fangblade's steel mask. Dolob canceled out the attack with a soul arrow and Shynobi attempted to catch it with his bare hand, having no other defensive strategy in that short amount of time. Not wanting to damage his dominant hand, he caught it with his left, but he was still hurt from the kunai's special effect. The Empress could not stop the kunai that aimed for her. She made a quick dodge from it, but it was heat censored and followed her every move. Tiger carefully pierced the kunai right in half before it reached his face, splitting it cleanly into two pieces. He saw the Empress still trying to avoid the kunai and went to help as Fangblade quickly assisted Curryishott and Dolob with Shynobi.
The Empress could not outrun the kunai fast enough to turn around and attack. She hoped that it would get caught eventually in a tree. Running forever was better than being hit by its majestic shock effect. She ran in circles, and unknowingly ended up back to the center of the battlefield where Urajji was watching, feeling appeased. On purpose, she made the Empress slower by attacking her at the same time with regular kunais. She avoided them all, but the heat-censored kunai was just a few feet away and now she had no choice but to accept it.
Tiger jumped in unexpectedly in front of the Empress, but he could not do anything either because there was not enough time to react. Instead, he took the hit directly as it sunk deep into the lower part of his rib cage.
"I owe you one," Tiger stated before she could question his action. The Empress was stunned. Not knowing what to do, Hirarii retook control of the body temporarily.
"Tiger," Hirarii whispered as she wrapped her arms around him. "I can't lose anyone else, not again…" Her right hand, being closest to the wound, glow light blue as she attempted to heal him immediately. He took her hand off, wanting her to save the energy for fighting.
"I've done all that I ever wanted to do," Tiger smiled. "I couldn't possibly be more than the Dragon Knight of Scania, but you still have a bright future ahead of you. Please continue to strive for that, Hirarii." Hirarii couldn't help but cry and clench onto him tighter.
"Why are you giving up so easily?" Hirarii questioned. "It's not over yet, we can still win."
"Then prove it to me before I go," Tiger joked. "I wouldn't mind dying if I knew the world was safe once again."
We must continue, the Empress reminded her. Hirarii agreed, taking one last look at Tiger, setting him aside with Starlightzz, and then sprinted back towards Urajji. Fangblade had to solo her for some time but managed to keep up while Dolob slightly healed Curryishott and Shynobi, enough to stay in the battle. Hirarii grew with anger, and the Empress understood and accepted her rage. She allowed Hirarii to fight the battle without her help because she was capable of exposing the power on her own. The Empress just hoped that she would her mind focus because revenge increases vulnerability.