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Chast:I kinda wanted to do that, but there would be no student body left.
Disclaimer: we do not own Fire Emblem
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(3 years later)
"Father!" Artemis said warmly upon walking through the front doors of the large house.
Ken'su, Artemis' father, smiled and embraced his daughter, "Artemis! 'Tis a pleasure to see you! Your mother will displeased for missing you. Next time give us a bit more of notice before you visit!"
Artemis chuckled, "Will do father."
Ken'su smiled. He was about forty and as Artemis put it, 'Still alive and kicking.' He was tall and had long black hair that reached his waist.
"So tell me, how's the academy?" Ken'su eagerly asked.
"It's amazing!" Artemis said immediately. She blushed, composed herself and continued, "I love it there. Especially the people there."
Ken'su scratched his head, "Didn't you know half of the people on your team before going there?"
"Oh, hush father," Artemis said with a slight smile.
Ken'su laughed, "What kind of training do they do there?"
"Zack has a fondness for random challenges, ranging from dodging lasers to fighting famous Einherjars," Artemis said.
"Hmph," Ken'su grunted. "Back in my day, we didn't have any of that fancy stuff. We'd be thrown into a sea of water wyverns and told to survive. Then we'd have to swim to shore. And fight bandits! And you know what? We were grateful!"
Artemis sighed, "Father, you're only forty."
Ken'su deflated a bit, but still smiled, "Got me there. But someone actually did that a few years ago to prove me wrong that it couldn't be done."
"Really? Did they live?" Artemis asked curiously.
Ken'su snorted, "Of course he did. You can't kill Zack like that."
"Zack did that?" Artemis asked, amazed.
"Yep. He's had a bit of a fondness for wyverns after that. A bit scary if you ask me," Ken'su said.
Artemis laughed and her father cracked a smile.
"I know you didn't drop by to visit just to hear me ramble! Come! We must see Falchion before anything else," Ken'su declared.
Artemis rolled her eyes. She couldn't wield the sword. She'd tried before, but the blade had been heavy in her hand, just like it was in her mother's. Technically, she could swing it, but it weighed more than five swords. Highly impractical, and fairly worthless.
"Father, is that really necessary? Must I be reminded that I can't wield it again?" Artemis groaned.
"Bah! This'll be the day you can wield it, I can sense it with my senses!" Ken'su declared.
"What senses? The ones you trained by fighting sea wyverns?" grumbled Artemis quietly.
Ken'su led her on the familiar route through her house to the sword of legend. Her family was the only with direct blood lineage to the line of Exalts. Traditionally, Falchion had been wielded by someone from her family. Could another distant relative wield it? Probably, but her family had long been a stickler for tradition.
Ken'su and Artemis came to a closed door. Ken'su reached for the necklace around his neck. On the chain was a key that fit the lock on the door. The swordmaster swung the door open and Artemis followed him through.
In the center of the room was a circular pedestal. Falchion stood in the middle, secured at the pommel so it wouldn't fall over. Two rings surrounded it, one at the guard and the other right below the tip.
"Go on," Ken'su said eagerly. He got like this whenever Artemis was going to try. It wasn't even his sword! The man was Chon'sinian for Naga's sake!
But he was her father, and Artemis had to humor him.
Just like every time, Artemis walked up to the pedestal and looked at Falchion. She reached down an grasped the hilt of the sword. She tried lifting it.
Heavy.
Sighing, Artemis was about to set the sword back down when the blade began glowing blue! Mystified, Artemis let go of the sword. The blue glow died.
"...Try again," Ken'su said.
Artemis nodded distractedly and grabbed the hilt. She tried lifting the sword.
It was as light as a feather.
The two rings surrounding the sword folded up and collapsed into the pedestal. Artemis held the sword in front of her, stunned. She gave it a few experimental swings like she'd been using it all her life.
She glanced at her father. Ken'su smirked, "Told you."
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Reno yawned lazily as he walked the streets on Dain. It'd been a few months since the last visit, and it was high time for another visit. Had to make sure the old man hadn't went senile.
But first a drink.
Reno pushed the sunglasses down from his forehead over his eyes. Since they were computerized, Reno used them to locate the closest bar.
Upon finding said bar, Reno walked in with a smile an swagger that made him belong there. None questioned you when you looked like you knew what you were doing. The trick to the universe was confidence.
Just as he was about to sit down at the bar, he glanced at one of the news screens up in the bar. It showed a news bulletin about several captured Space Pirates.
And they were being executed. Publically. But it was taking place on Hezul, so that made sense. Hezulians were all a violent bunch.
But what really made Reno lose his desire to drink was when he caught the name of the ship that they'd been captured from, The Interloper. That had been his ship. Thankfully, it seemed the majority of the crew had escaped. And Reno only vaguely recognized those who were being killed.
Sickened, Reno left the bar.
It took him a while to get to Gramps' house. What if it had been one of Reno's friends being killed on that screen? Reno shuddered.
It could have been her.
Reno blotted out that image as he arrived at the house he'd lived in a few years ago.
"Yo! Gramps, I'm home! For a bit, at least," Reno said.
"Boy?" came a raspy voice from the back of the main room.
Reno's eyebrows furrowed as he walked toward his gramps' voice. The old man sat in his favorite chair, but he didn't look well.
"Gramps, you all right?" Reno said, some concern slipping into his voice.
"Never mind about me boy, how's the academy? How's the money lasting?" he asked.
"The academy's fine. Money's tight, had to pawn my watch recently. But I'm surviving. But are you okay? You don't seem so swell," Reno said.
"Boy...I won't be in this world much longer. But don't fret, everything will be fine," Gramps reassured.
I wasn't going to, Reno thought. "I'm sure you're exaggerating."
Gramps shook his head, "Before you leave, I have something to tell you."
Reno nodded expectantly. He had some suspicion of what it might be.
"Reno...you're really twenty years old."
Reno stood there silently for a few moments before, "What the FUCK?"
The old man began cracking up, "Ha! Got you good boy! I haven't the faintest how old you are, just keep doing whatever flies your spaceship. But in all seriousness, I have something to tell you."
Reno tapped a foot impatiently.
"Reno...your mother, my daughter, was a pilot. Just like you are. I never got a chance to tell her before she died, but she had the blood of the Crusader Dain. And she passed that on to you," Gramps said.
Reno nodded, "I was expecting that. Some crazy stuff happened at the academy. I figured it was something like that. But what does that mean?"
Gramps chuckled, "You aren't a king if that's what you're thinking. That's primitive stuff, ruling because of bloodlines, we of Dain don't work like that. However, wielding Gungnir wouldn't be out of the question. And you will certainly earn massive respect from the pilots of Dain outright. But I should warn you, no one knows about us two. As far as the public is aware of, the line of Dain vanished from record one hundred years ago. We're the last two left to my knowledge."
Reno scratched his chin, "So this is my secret, I don't have to have everyone bowing down to me?"
Gramps nodded and Reno smirked, "Then it's my secret. And I don't plan to tell anyone."
Gramps shrugged, "It's your choice. Just so long as you pass on the bloodline. Letting a Holy Weapon's line die out would be very bad. And I'm not going to last long. Soon, you'll be last of Dain's descendants. Don't screw it up."
"Aw Gramps, you care about me!" Reno laughed. "Now I only came by for a brief visit to make sure you weren't crazy and killing people. I have to take a few academy buddies and teach them the true meaning of drinking! And boy, this'll be fun. Perseus and Hawke getting drunk will be a blast."
XXXXXXXX
Today was the day of our graduation. We were all called up team by team, to be presented before the younger students as well as anyone who came as spectators. These ranged from parents to high ranking military officers to even mercenary leaders who wished to hire some fresh blood, a practice that was surprisingly ignored by the military in most cases. I looked at the other members of our group. There were few changes between us, although the few there were held great effect.
Artemis had grown in her leadership skills, now becoming a great source for morale, if a poor one for strategy. As if sensing this, the Falchion had accepted her after three years of quiet.
Nocht had changed drastically. Physically, the only changes were his hair, which he had grown out to reach his shoulders and tied in a ponytail after he lost a bet with Artemis and had to try the Chon'sin style, and his eyes, which now held a very dull look, although Jett could brighten them a bit.
Emotional changes, however, were very prominent in Nocht. At the end of his first year he was sent to defend a small asteroid village from brigands. While he managed to drive the bandits out, he couldn't save the villagers, and blamed himself for the casualties, as he was the tactician. When he came back, he held onto Jett for hours, refusing to let go until he had fallen asleep. After the event, he began to train as much as possible, both physically and mentally, in order to prevent such things from happening again. He had become much more cold and calculating, like some of the veteran space pirates had after years of war. He chose to take all casualties upon himself, even if they were due to unforeseeable causes. He had become terrifying in two ways: his stability could crumble if too many more blows hit him, and his training had made him one of the most dangerous men I had ever met, even if he was nowhere near the most powerful.
Beowolf began to speak to the crowd about our group and our achievements, but the only part that really stood out to me was when Beowolf referred to me as the 'Wyvern-less Wyvern Lord' which, while accurate, still pissed me off.
As the other groups had gone already and could be considered 'graduated', Beowolf made a special speech just for us. However, as Beowolf began the speech he was interrupted by the sound of ships landing. Some flew overhead, dropping soldiers on us, while other troops could be heard battling outside the gates. Mimicka's team was most likely in the fray there, and possibly the other graduating team.
Groups that were in the bleachers were being combated by the younger students and the teachers, allowing the battle there to be relatively easy, although still dangerous due to the fact that there may be a few civilians in the crowd. Luckily, those were probably vastly outnumbered by the number of military officials.
On our end, however, there were a little less than thirty soldiers right in front of the mere seven of us.
"Twenty seven troops, that's three point eighty five each, or about four." Nocht began in a near monotone "It will be about fifteen seconds before the first ones arrive at us if we stand still, eight if we charge as well. Good luck, and try to keep yourselves alive." Nocht said as his voice softened. "At the very least, we'll be able to say we took out a fair portion of enemy soldiers, assuming all goes well. This attack will certainly be considered a declaration of war." Nocht's expression shifted, going from a worried frown to a small smirk before he charged into the new fray.
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Nocht pov
I was the first to reach the enemies, the others taking a bit longer to join the fray, likely still recovering from the shock of the academy being attacked. The first opponent I came in contact with was a mage.
The mage sent a bolt of lightning at me, which I quickly deflected with a simple flux spell. I closed in, drawing the killing edge I kept at my hip. With a slash, I slit the mage's throat, and the man fell. As the mage crumpled over, I saw another moving towards me at a swift pace.
Before I could react, a myrmidon had leapt past me, landing a fairly large gash on my shoulder. I rushed at him, sliding past his guard and clutched the myrmidon's face for a point blank Nosferatu spell. I felt my wounds healing as I sapped the man's life force, and threw the myrmidon into Hawke's firing range. The myrmidon was weakened greatly by the spell, and was unable to do anything to get out of the way before Hawke fired his rifle, getting a perfect shot to the head. The man's skull cracked open in a semi explosion, and some of his blood splattered on my cheek.
I surveyed the area, seeing that there were now only about fifteen troops standing against us. However, our squad had sustained several wounds, and Perseus was unable to heal them properly as he was being targeted as well.
With another glance, I saw something that absolutely terrified me. Jett was on her own, surrounded by enemy troops. A fighter was also joining the fray, and could easily finish her off if she got hit. Seeing as she was already tied up with two mercenaries and a dark mage, it would be a fairly simple task.
Right before the fighter could close in, a stream of Arcfire collided with him, melting him to the bone. Standing at the origin point of the spell was Mimicka, and together she and Jett had no issue defeating her foes.
Our enemies were cleared out, and Perseus began to heal everyone. Mimicka had the worst injuries, which was really only to be expected. Perseus started off with her, asking "Where are your teammates?"
Mimicka began to weep, her adrenaline leaving her "They fell at the gate." She began to say something else, but her words were lost within her sobs.
However, we were to learn what she had been trying to say as a large squadron of soldiers poured in through the gates. No wonder they had fallen, even after fighting fourteen graduates, there were still about eighty of them. There was no chance we would be able to take them on alone, especially in this condition.
"Deathbound" A familiar voice muttered. Shinjiro was standing next to us, surrounded by blue flames and crushing something in his hand. Another being burst out of his skull, in the form of a knight in black armor on top of a mechanical horse. A blast of energy erupted from the knight's body, cutting down a few of the soldiers. As the attack connected, Shinjiro winced in pain. It seemed the attack used his own life force to function, and he would die if he overused it.
"Just leave it to us." The voice of Zack came as he charged into the fray, cutting down enemies with his sword. "You all heal, we'll take it from here."
I looked over at Jett, who had just been healed, and I reached into my pocket. I knew the timing for this was off, but with the war that would likely arise from this it was doubtful I would get a decent chance for a long time. If I didn't do this now, then I might not get another chance. "Jett?"
"Yes?" The thief asked.
I pulled out a small black box, opening it to show a ring. "Will you marry me? Some days, you're the only reason I can get by. You-"
I was cut off as Jett kissed me. She then wrapped her arms around me, muttering a 'yes' as she rested her head against my chest.
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Up in the bleachers, as Fredericka, Agnes, Corvo, and Shulk were fighting off the soldiers while Roxas and Neku fought off their own lone foe.
The foe was a being made of pure energy who took a shape similar to that of a man in his thirties.
"Joshua? Why are you fighting us?" Neku asked the man.
"When Shibuya fell, I ended up in this world, but unlike you I found myself in ancient Ylisse. For over ten thousand years I watched as humans went through cycle after cycle of war, and the faith in humanity I had regained faded over time." The man created dual blades of light "Humanity will never prosper, it will only decline more. That is why I must erase you all myself."
Neku launched multiple bullets of black flame while Roxas charged with his blades. Joshua dodged the bullets while matching Roxas blow for blow. Roxas raised his blades to bring down a storm of light magic which Joshua knocked out of the air with his own.
Roxas merged his blades together into one massive blade, and a copy of it appeared in Neku's hands. The two rushed Joshua, striking out multiple times. With a smirk Joshua began to move at a much faster pace to deflect the blows. As the attack's energy faded, Joshua smirked and brought down a massive blast of light upon Roxas. "Axel, Xion, I'll be joining you soon." he said as he crumpled onto the ground, dead.
As Joshua recovered from the expending of energy, Neku charged, stabbing his blade into the man's spine.
"You two had formed a pack hadn't you? That means you have maybe a minute before you fade as well." Joshua pulled the blade from out of his back and tossed it onto the ground "I may have lost, but at least I'm taking you with me." The man chuckled "How fitting. The man who had restored my faith in humanity is also the one to take me down when I lose it." And with that Joshua crumpled as well.
Neku began to cough up blood "Well, I guess that's all of us. Shiki, Beat, Rhyme, Hanekoma, we're coming. I guess in the end we could never avenge you all, I'm sorry." and he closed his eyes for the last time.
The others continued their fight. "Dammit" Shulk winced "if they had held up for just a little longer then they would have survived. There are only a few to go." Within a minute, the soldiers were cleared from the bleachers "That's all of them."
Suddenly, a red blade was plunged into Shulk's back, piercing through his stomach. Shulk turned his head back weakly to see his killer. The man had shaggy black hair and grey eyes, wearing street clothes: tattered jeans, a red t-shirt with a black hoodie over it. Two black wings burst out of tears in his clothes.
"Didn't see that one coming, did you, Monado boy?" The man said with a sneer.
"The fallen angel, grand specter Grant Stahl. What...an honor," Shulk croaked out as the specter kicked him off of the blade, bringing Shulk to a swift death.
"Sadly, I won't be able to enjoy the meal you would make, but once the Plegian Empire rises I'll be able to savor a bountiful feast daily, no matter which faction prevails. The Plegians will feed me all the Ylisseans I desire while under Loptyrian rule us specters will be given freedom to eat all of the universe's humans."
A strange sound could be heard as Corvo appeared in front of Grant with his blade. Grant simply dodged the attack and grabbed the hand holding the blade. "You can take out entire squadrons of weak soldiers, but against a truly powerful foe…" Grant gave a sinister look as he brought his face right up against Corvo's "your precious Outsider can't do anything to save you, mister Attano!" Grant lowered his face towards Corvo's neck and ripped his throat out , leaving teeth marks on the corpse's neck.
"Fucking disgusting, I've eaten dark mages that tasted better than that slop." Grant spat out the chunk of flesh, a small stream of blood running down his lips, before dodging a blaster round that went his way.
Fredericka stood there, pointing her blaster at him. She quickly launched three elemental rounds, one fire, one ice, and one electric. Grant pulled out a levin sword and swung, the tendrils of magic taking out each round before piercing her arms and legs.
Before she could make another move, Grant was already swinging his sword, decapitating her.
Agnes began to launch a barrage of light magic, which Grant dodged or deflected with his own magic. Grant's slowed down with each dodge as he grew tired from the strain, but he managed to hold out until Agnes could cast no longer.
Grant charged again. He was now moving at an immensely slower pace, but that mattered little against a foe whose only remaining weapon was a staff and who had little physical strength. Grant launched an orb of dark magic, eliminating yet another target.
After defeating Agnes, Grant snuck his way out of the battlefield, unable to fight any longer. He had only survived his last encounter because of his opponents lack of physical strength. Against anyone at their full power, he would fall very quickly in his current state. As abruptly as he had appeared, the grand specter disappeared.
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Beowolf watched the carnage with despair. How had the Plegian's gotten past their security.
The Headmaster felt disgusted, the damn Plegians had picked their most vulnerable time and struck with precision. An unlikely quality for them to exhibit.
Suddenly, there was a crash to Beowolf's left. A large amount of troops began pouring in through one of the lower levels, only just arriving in the graduation hall.
Beowolf leaned forward on his cane and squinted, trying to see who was in the center of the soldier mob.
"Damn," he muttered, recognizing both people. Then Beowolf saw something worse, Nocht's team preparing to rush the enemies.
Beowolf jumped down from his vantage point and ran with the swiftness he hadn't felt in a long time towards Nocht.
"Stop," he commanded them. Beowolf's voice turned from his usual peaceful tone to a hard whip crack. "This is not your fight."
When Nocht began to protest, Beowolf shook his head, "You are to go and rendezvous with Zack and lead a counter attack. I will handle things here."
"Yes sir," Nocht said, reluctantly. He, his team and the few tag-alongs retreated.
Beowolf stood, hand resting on his cane as he watched the force approach. His manakete eyes counted at least forty, not including the two individuals in the center of the group.
"Kill him!" shouted the impulsive man. The woman next to him nodded and the soldiers began their attack.
Beowolf began to chuckle, "I may not be able to transform any more, but that does not discount me from battle!"
One swordbearing soldier got to Beowolf first before the others. Beowolf grasped the pommel of the cane, a bright green emerald, and twisted a nob right above the emerald. The Headmaster pointed the end of the cane at the swordsman and fired, a blast of energy shooting from the base of the cane.
And that was where the nob came into play. The kick of the blast pushed Beowolf back several feet. Beowolf turned the nob again, this time pointing the cane behind him, away from the soldiers, and fired. The kick was increased due to the adjustment and Beowolf shot forward into the crowd of enemies.
The manakete never stopped moving, in one fluid motion he spun the cane in his hands and sword blades shot out from either side of the metal rod. With a one handed sword in hand, Beowolf began his work.
Spinning the blade in a wide circle, Beowolf forced the thirty nine remaining enemies away from him. He jumped at the nearest, an axeman, and decapitated him.
"What are you idiots waiting for! Shoot him!" shouted the man.
Beowolf had been waiting for that, he ducked close to the ground when the initial shots began firing. Throwing the cane up in the air, Beowolf brought his arms around his face. After a few seconds, he swung them so they extended straight out. With that motion, a wave of fire shot outwards and smashed into the ten soldiers in front of him, incinerating them.
Beowolf caught the cane as in fell back to the ground, half a second after the attack. Using the momentum of the gravity from the cane's fall, Beowolf spun three hundred sixty degrees around and cut off the nearest three soldier's heads.
Beowolf brushed his yellow blond hair from his eyes. The soldiers stood warily, not attacking. All twenty four of them.
"Is this what Plegians call an army? Standards have decreased through the ages," Beowolf observed loudly.
"KILL HIM!" screamed the man.
"All talk and no show," muttered Beowolf. He grasped his metal cane-sword tightly and sent a pulse of fire magic through the cane. Beowolf spun it in his hand, and slammed it down through the floor.
Fire exploded from the contact point. The heat kissed the soldiers, melting the nearest ones' armor, killing them. Fifteen collapsed to the ground dead. Another four fell, not dead, but their armor melted enough so they were useless.
Five remaining.
These five seemed to be the smartest of the forty. They began circling Beowolf, eying him carefully.
They didn't act, so Beowolf did. He jumped at the one carrying a lance and knocked it aside, severing the man's hand from his arm at the same time. Said man collapsed to the ground, where Beowolf drove his sword through the man's heart.
Spinning on the spot, Beowolf's one blade met three others. The fourth man held up a gun, aiming directly at Beowolf.
With a quick calculation, Beowolf acted. He held back two of the swords with his, and grabbed the last man and pulled him into the pathway of the shot. Now dead, Beowolf threw the body at the other two swordsmen. They awkwardly tried to avoid it, bumping into each other. Beowolf capitalized on their confusion and practically materialized in front of them, driving a sword through both of them at the same time.
Ducking to avoid the gun shot he'd seen from during his attack, Beowolf turned and threw his cane at the last man. It stabbed him in the heart, killing him instantly.
Beowolf retrieved the cane and looked at the other two people who still stood. Brushing the hair out his eyes, he growled at them, "Like I said, do not discount me from battle."
"You surpassed my expectations, Beowolf," the woman said calmly.
"We're not here to praise him, we're here to KILL him!" shouted the man. He stood shorter than the woman, with dark red hair that snaked his face.
Beowolf laughed harshly, "And because you're royalty I should obey that? Yes, I know who you are, Gangrel II."
"You little shi-"
The woman cut him off, "Enough. We are not here for pleasantries. We are here to cripple one of the best academies in the universe and...remove its Headmaster from play."
"I'm afraid I've never gotten your name. The head of the Lopt Sect is infrequently referred to by name," Beowolf said.
"I am Than," the tall woman smiled cruelly. Her pale grey hair hung loosely at her back while her cold features stared down Beowolf.
"Pleasure to meet you both. Now that we're properly introduced, is it time to get on with it?" Beowolf asked.
"You insufferable little prick!" shouted Gangrel as he jumped at Beowolf. Just like his namesake, he held a Levin Sword, bolts of electricity radiating from the blade. It's zigzag pattern was poor for physical fighting, but perfect for transmitting bolts of thunder magic. With a slash of the sword, Gangrel launched a bolt of thunder at Beowolf.
The manakete's sword absorbed the attack, the metal perfect for conducting electricity. And the handle perfect for keeping his hand safe from the violent magic.
Beowolf closed the distance between them quickly and swung his sword at an overarching arc. Gangrel brought up his blade and blocked it, countering with a hack towards the leg. Beowolf flipped the cane-sword in his hand and deflected the strike. The Headmaster kicked at Gangrel's leg, scoring a successful hit. The Prince collapsed, his leg temporarily disabled. But his arms still were well, and he jabbed at Beowolf, sending a bolt of thunder at him.
Beowolf jumped deftly to the side, narrowly avoiding the strike. By pure chance, he turned to see Than in the middle of executing an attack with her long lance. Beowolf barely managed to get his sword up in time to block the strike. He and Than stood, face to face, trying to overpower the other.
"My manakete powers aren't working," growled Than. "You wouldn't have something to do with that, would you?"
Beowolf chuckled, "I may or may not have a trinket of high value with me that allows me to stop transformations of manaketes."
Than's eyes widened, "You have the Fire Emblem?"
Beowolf laughed, "I know its guard. He let me study it for a spell."
"But...you can't transform either then," Than deduced.
"I swore off that a long time ago," muttered Beowolf darkly. And with that, he stuck a leg out and tried the same move he'd utilized on Gangrel. It only partially worked, Than was knocked back, but she used her lance to keep herself upright.
Beowolf now found himself pressed between two competent fighters. Both stood at a distance, but they stood ready for any sudden movements.
They're afraid, Beowolf realized. They think they should fear me.
So let's show them why they should.
Beowolf lashed out at Than. She brought up her lance to block it and any other further attacks, but Beowolf was already moving on. He spun on the spot and stabbed at Gangrel. The Prince did the same as Than and blocked the attack. Beowolf used their distraction to his advantage and jumped out from between them and dashed behind Gangrel, stabbing towards his back.
Unfortunately, the Prince hopped forward, avoiding the attack. He spun on the spot and Than arrived and stood by his side. The two looked at each other, nodded, and charged Beowolf.
The Headmaster swung his cane-sword and began deflecting their attacks with relative ease. Eventually, he began sending his own attacks back towards them. His two opponents were suddenly rushed with alternating strikes from Beowolf.
Than switched to a one handed hold on the lance and used her other hand to summon a ball of dark magic. She threw it at Beowolf, who proceeded to summon a raging wall of fire, rendering the darkness powerless.
And that was when Gangrel hit Beowolf with a thunder attack.
The manakete was thrown backward several feet, his vision haywired. Thunder was very bad for dragons, and Beowolf could feel the effects of the attack taking their toll. He'd have to finish this fight fast.
Looking up, Beowolf saw Gangrel flinging another thunder attack at him. With great haste, Beowolf blocked it the same way he had the first time. The Headmaster pushed himself off the ground, using his cane-sword for assistance.
Just as he stood up, he saw the floor turn dark. Beowolf was standing in a circle of dark magic. It erupted from the floor and began to smother him. Concentrating extremely hard, Beowolf summoned enough control to send of pulse of flames out of his body. The attack allowed him to force his way out of the spell's grasp. But Beowolf was getting tired. Very tired.
He'd have to make this last burst of strength count.
Launching himself forward, Beowolf swung his sword with all his might at Than. The woman blocked, as he'd expected and followed up with a counter attack. Beowolf anticipated that though, and caught the lance with his free hand. Beowolf pulled it, attempting to disarm his opponent.
Too slow.
A bolt of thunder struck the manakete in the back. He was thrown from his feet and landed on his back, utterly exhausted.
"Heh, looks like you talked rather big," said Than with a tone think with smugness.
Gangrel II walked over and looked at the man laying on the ground and began to laugh, "Pathetic. I've fought peasants stronger than you." Lifting his Levin Sword, he stabbed it into Beowolf's right leg. The manakete screamed.
Than Gangrel sent a bolt of thunder out of his blade.
Beowolf's scream was even more terrible, echoing throughout the graduation hall. It rang so everyone could hear it. The inside of Beowolf's leg was being fried.
"NO!" shouted a new voice.
Zack charged the two enemies from where ever he had been. Beowolf's vision began to blur, he couldn't feel his right leg any more.
"How did they drive all the soldiers back!?" cursed Gangrel.
"No matter," said Than. "We did what we came to do. Let's make haste and get back to the ship."
The two began to run away as Zack approached. Beowolf saw the black haired man bend over Beowolf and call his name, his voice turning into a blur just like his face. Beowolf's eyes slowly closed.
And the Headmaster blacked out.
XXXXXXX
Well, There's the end of the academy arc. The next chapter will be a bit of a transition into the next arc
