The Rebellion of the Northern Tribes

Chapter 10: Holding the ground

Shin screamed when the pain suddenly hit him without warning. His right side hurt like it never hurt before and if it wasn't of Ryo, he would have fallen from his horse.

"Shin!" The red warrior screamed while helping him to regain control of his horse. "What's wrong?"

"I… I don't know! It feels like someone just stabbed me. I'm ok but…" He shook his head. No, he refused to believe what he just felt. 'Aikyo is in danger? No. Not her. Anyone but her!'

"Shin! Ryo! Is everything alright?" Touma flew next to his friends. It has been about an hour or two since they realized they were lured away from the city, leaving it almost defenceless. With the portal spell disabled, they had no way to go back, but they didn't have enough spirits with them to open a portal of their own anyway. Like crazy, the army rode home and everyone prayed they wouldn't be too late.

"Touma!" Shin looked at his friend desperately. "I think Aikyo is in trouble!" He explained to him what just happened and the archer had the strange 'déjà vu' feeling to it.

"How come you can sense her getting hurt?" he asked the Suiko bearer.

"Azhure put a spell on us so we could always be connected somehow. I never thought I could feel her pain. I just thought that I would always know where she was in case she was in trouble!"

'That means Azhure put the same spell on me but when?' Touma frowned. 'Probably when she stole her sai from me. Why did she cast it though?' "Shin, we'll hurry but we're still at least two hours away from the city."

"I know," the light blue Trooper replied with a visible hurt expression on his face. "I don't feel anything else and I doubt it's something that will kill her right off but if she doesn't have medical care, she could die from blood lose. Dammit… DAMMIT!" He couldn't bring himself to lose her. She convinced him she would be fine, that nothing could hurt her and like a fool he believed her. He was so going to yell at her when he will find her.

"She's going to make it, Shin. I'm sure Azhure is not too far and will keep her safe for you."

"Aren't you worried yourself, Touma?" Ryo looked over at his friend.

"Yeah… I told Azhure to stay out of trouble."

"You know her better than us. Do you 'really' think she would?"

"No. That's exactly why I'm so damn worried." 'Azhure, please be safe… I'm coming with my friends! Hang in there!'

Azhure knew better than fighting her way to the lake in her condition, especially when your opponents were undead. She pushed her horse to its limit and when the zombies managed to stop it by throwing themselves on the beast, she jumped on one of the nearby rooftops and ran the rest of the way. She saw different types of zombies in her travels and these were the 'damn they're quick and resourceful' kind. They also fell in the 'thank goodness they don't eat human flesh' category. Most of them had their two legs and head but the number of arms varied from one to two.

Unfortunately, the lake was still very far off and she had to avoid all those undead warriors to keep most of her magic strength. It was a very frustrating situation because the longer it took her to reach the lake area, the more probable her friend might be already dead. But she kept her hopes up. She did train Aikyo well with the water and if she was hurt, she would able to heal herself. Even a partial healing could be enough to save her from death until Azhure's arrival. She was glad that the zombie archers weren't sharpshooters. There was a lot on her way but they all shot like they couldn't see properly their target.

Finally, after many obstacles, detours and some zombie killing, Azhure reached the sector Aikyo was supposed to guard. Fighting noise could be heard as well as lots of yelling. Among the voices, she recognized the water user's voice.

"AIKYO!" she couldn't help but screamed before dashing through the zombie mass to reach her friend. "I'm here! Where are you?"

"What? No! Azhure! Get—ARGH!"

"AIKYO!" She saw her friend knocked out on the lake shore by Hatsu. The necromancer's face was still hidden by his hood but the magician could clearly see his smile on his decayed lips.

"You took your sweet time to join us, miss," the man told her. He raised his sword to finish off Aikyo but Azhure quickly raised her right hand and created a barrier around her fallen ally. The necromancer smirked. "You've been protecting them all this time with such dedication. He told me you would."

"Who…?" She gasped at the view of Kira walking out of the shadows to stand next to Hatsu with a twisted smile. "You? But… No, it can't be!"

"Oh you don't know the half of it, princess," the undead magician grinned at her, which gave goose bumps to Azhure.

"How…?" She stepped back slowly, not sure what to think about all this.

"Hatsu here is a real necromancer, dear. Nothing like the ones we've encountered during our travels," the one with Kira's face said while the hooded man laughed at those words.

"I was about to revive Kira when a lingering spirit showed up during the ritual and fought for the control of the body. Turns out poor Kira never stood a chance. I didn't mind, as long as the spirit could use the body for magic. We needed a capable magician after all to face you." Suddenly, the pieces all fell together to Azhure's horror.

"You…you are…" she couldn't bring herself to say his name.

"Hi, honey. I'm back," Silver said before attacking her.

"Orion, things are not looking good," Shiro winced as he blocked a powerful blow from an axe wielder.

"Really? What was your first clue?"

"The fact that we're not having the upper hand at all!" Without hesitation, the young man pierced his opponent's armor and killed him with his claw.

"Don't worry! I sent word! She's coming!"

"Who's coming?"

"My first surprise!"

"Why are strategists so mysterious?" Shiro screamed out of anger while trying to protect himself from another attack. "Can't you guys just plainly say things the way they are?"

"I wouldn't want the enemy to know because in case you haven't notice, genius, we're SURROUNDED!"

"This was a very bad idea!" The claw user yelled at the prince, losing his cool and calm composure once again.

"You didn't have to come!"

"But you said I had to!"

"You could have said no!"

"You never take no as an answer!"

"So? Doesn't stop you from trying!"

They ended up back to back, panting heavily as their remaining troops at the gates were killed. The enemies slowly tightened the circle around them. They were cautious because they knew these were skilled warriors and from what they saw, one false move was enough for them to exploit it and kill their opponent.

"This sucks," Shiro said, frowning. "I really wanted to go out with Nasuti."

"Always the pessimist," Orion rolled his eyes. "You're still breathing yes?"

"Barely!"

"So? You're alive! Don't give up yet!"

"If you weren't dead, I would kill you already!"

The warriors of the north didn't know if they should attack them or not. The argument between the two men was so intense that they feared for their life if they came too close to them. But before they could make up their mind, a beautiful song rose from the south. It was unmistakably a bird song and it was soon followed by a loud fighting cry made by thousands of warriors.

"What is that?" Shiro asked, mesmerized by the beautiful short song.

"My secret plan."

"Ok boys and girls," Sorshania rose her blade into the air and looked at her people proudly. The immortal leader was in her full phoenix form: fiery wings, golden and red armor, phoenix tail, feathery hair and talons instead of feet. Some tribal markings were found on her forehead and descended all the way to her left cheek. "It's time to show these guys that the people of Orbo honor their engagement! Orion kept us precisely for this battle! We must not fail! Fight with strength! Fight with confidence! And remember: the one with fewer injuries wins the pot!"

"My lady," a young man in the frontline asked. "Beg your pardon but are you in the competition?"

"Ah…well…" Sorshania scratched the back of her head and sighed. "Since I'll be fighting in my full form… No, I will not participate." 'Dammit. I would have loved to win this one but it wouldn't be fair in this form.'

The troops screamed of joy, the thought of winning the pot fired up their spirit even more than the inspirational speech their leader just gave them.

"For Orbo!" Sorshania spread her wings and flew toward the battlefield, closely followed by her army. They stroke Daisuke's army on their right flank, near the destroyed door. Half of the Orbo's forces fought to push the enemy back while the other half tried to enter the city and kill the enemy soldiers that penetrated Orion's defences. Sorshania was among the second group. With skill and dexterity, she slashed her enemies without mercy and made her way to Orion and Shiro.

"You surely took your sweet time!" Shiro frowned at her but deep down, he was glad she was here.

"What can I say? Heroes always arrive fashionably late. Didn't you know?" The lady swung playfully her sword around, killing two northern warriors. "Where's Orion?"

"Right here," the armored figure raised his hand before killing a soldier on his side.

"Wouah… What happened to YOU?"

"I got upgraded," he shrugged.

"What about your sister?"

"She went to help a friend." Orion was visibly concerned about that fact which made Sorshania looked around for other familiar faces.

"I see… It's true that I don't see Aikyo and Rin around. Are they alright?"

"Hopefully," Shiro clenched his fists.

"So, how disastrous is our situation?" Sorshania asked while she burned a few enemies with her fire spells.

"I'll give you the short version. Even with you, we're outnumbered. We got zombies roaming in the city. Our main force is still hours away and we don't know if they know that the report was false. Rin went to tell them but I have no idea if she'll fall into an ambush. The forces I sent to the lake to counter the zombie attack has not done their job so I fear the spy is behind that as well…"

"Orion, I thought you said you were giving me the SHORT version."

"We're not going to last if the guys with their mystical armors don't get here in time to do some clean up."

"So our job is to hold on until they come. Well, I did promise my soldiers a good fight." She grinned.

"Are you serious? You would have had plenty of opportunities if you had stayed with us!" Shiro sighed in frustration.

"We'll talk about that later!" Orion swung his sword and cut off the head of a soldier who was about to strike Shiro from behind. "For now, focus on holding on! Sorshania, keep your troops together! If they spread too much, they'll be wiped out!"

"On it!" She opened her wings widely and took off to give orders to her forces.

"Do you think we'll be able to make it?" Shiro asked, his focus back on fighting.

"With her, we should be able to hold."

"We 'should'?"

"Yeah… At this stage, if they have any other surprises besides the zombies…we're screwed."

"Rider is sight!" Naaza shouted as he pointed to the lone figure in front of them.

"Who is it?" Anubis asked.

"Hopefully, not a survivor!" Touma replied, flying forward to see who it was. "What the…? RIN?"

"Touma!" The tomboy turned her horse around and slowed its pace in order to join up with the army smoothly. "I'm so glad to see you guys! I was scared you didn't catch up to the false report!"

"What are you doing here?"

"Orion sent me to warn you all. The capital is under attack!" She looked behind and found a spot between Ryo and Kayura where her horse kept up with the army's pace.

"How many are there?" Kayura asked as soon as she heard the dreadful news.

"Orion thinks it's their whole army! I bet the zombies Azhure saw near the City of dreams are in the bunch too."

"How is that possible?" Ryo looked at Touma.

"This only confirms what we talked about earlier, Ryo. They have someone among them that can use portals." The archer frowned.

"Why didn't they use it before?" Kayura demanded.

"Probably because they couldn't. It took them a whole week to go from the east all the way to the north to the fort of the Abyss." Touma tried to think about how they could have acquired the ability to move their army like they did. He knew that Azhure made sure the spell wouldn't fall into the wrong hands and the access to the spirits was strictly watched. Still, somehow, the enemy got their hands on a spell that allowed them to move as they pleased.

"None of this makes sense," the Oni Masho told him. "Naaza said Azhure killed their magician! Our reports stated clearly they only had one magic user capable of matching Azhure's skills and beyond!"

"Maybe the one who is behind the creation of zombies has something to do with it?" Rin suggested.

"Even if he somehow revived their main magician, he didn't have the spell or the knowledge to create a spell similar to Azhure's. No. There's something else behind this. I'm sure of it. We better be careful," Touma replied.

"Rin!" Shuu's voice suddenly rose to the tomboy's left. She looked aside and smiled as her lover found his way to her. "I knew I felt you coming! I wasn't sure though."

"You should trust your instinct more," Rin teased him.

"I'm so glad you're safe. But we're not out of the woods yet! You stay close to me, you hear? I'll protect you!"

"But I have to find Shiro once we're arrived! I don't know what Orion had in mind for him. He sent me away before I could hear the rest of his plan!"

"Don't worry. We'll look for him together," the orange Trooper promised her, taking a heroic pose on his horse with his left fist clenched. "I won't stop until we do. I promise. Besides, I'm sure he's safe. Orion would have never put him in the frontlines."

"You can't hide forever!" screamed Silver at the lot of empty houses near the lake. "I know you're here somewhere, draining yourself from your magic to protect your friend."

From her hiding place, Azhure held her right hand close to her chest. It was still glowing, proof that her barrier around Aikyo was still effective. However, this also meant she was powerless in front of Silver. She didn't possess the ability to dual cast but she knew that if she could somehow remove the seal around her dormant abilities, she would be able to face her old enemy. But that solution came with one problem: the lost of her mental stability.

In her family, many before her awoke to the gift the goddess left behind and it never ended well. Most were consumed by the power, unable to control it and destroying everything and anyone around them. A few exceptions somehow managed to keep it under control, but lost their sanity within the next few days or weeks after their awakening. In all cases, they were killed by a member of their family who wield the power to nullify magic.

She understood what her brother truly did to her the day he finally revealed himself to her when she switched places with Rin to save her from Silver. He wasn't a great magic caster so the only way for him to put a seal on her that was strong enough to hold something as big as her awakening powers was to use his sword and its ability to nullify magic. It explained why her powers were weak and sometimes erratic the first few times she tried using it after Silver's attack on her home.

But that was before she was using magic daily. Orion probably made a small mistake back then, when he put the seal in place to save her from losing herself in the lust her new powers were giving her. Nothing serious, maybe barely perceptible. After all, she only used her magic to open portals to new worlds where Silver was headed or to build charms to protect bearers of great power…and the occasional cheats here and there to win bets when she needed money. Such things weren't strong enough to break the seal, no matter how defective it was. Moreover, she never really used her magic abilities to fight the thief because she soon discovered her skills weren't as they were. Until she spoke with the brother, she blamed it on the psychological trauma of losing her home. Based on that conclusion, she bought a magic book, the one who used to fly around her, in another world to tie her magic with words in order to control it better if she really had to relay on it. However, fighting here for weeks without actual verbal spells and using stronger spells each time put stress on the small flaw and finally, the seal cracked, giving her access to some of her forgotten abilities.

Still, it wasn't enough. Not to defeat someone like Silver. She was dead scared of him and that fear surpassed the one of her fate if the seal was removed.

"Dammit, Orion… Call your sword back," she whispered as she looked up. At the same moment, the house next to the one she was hiding in exploded.

"Come out now," Silver laughed, charging a spell for another attack. "It would sadden me if I were to kill you without a real fight! I thought you were a fighter, princess!"

"Call your sword back!" Azhure said a little louder, running out of her hiding place just in time as the house was destroyed by an explosion. The shockwave threw her against a wall and despite the pain, she didn't lose her focus and kept the barrier spell up. As she tried to stand up, she saw the silhouette of Kira walked through the flames toward her.

"You've been running away from me for the last hour, little princess. I'm growing tired of this. Fight me." He held up his right hand and started to cast an energy ball spell.

"ORION, CALL YOUR FREAKING SWORD BACK! NOW!" Azhure screamed.

After he struck down another enemy, Orion turned around. For a second, he could have sworn that he heard his sister.

"Watch out!" Sorshania yelled at Orion before slashing an enemy in two. "What the hell? Are you trying to get yourself killed? Focus!"

"Sorry! I was thinking about my sister," the prince shook his head. 'Damn! Where's Shiro? I don't see him anymore! I hope he didn't fall in battle. Rin is going to kill me…if that's even possible at this point. And where the hell is Azhure?'

"Look, I know that you care about her and all but this is really not the time to be lost in your thoughts!" The small lady hit the swordsman behind the head as she told him this. "She's not a child! She's capable of taking care of herself."

"You don't understand!" Orion started but Sorshania immediately cut him off.

"No. YOU don't understand!" Despite the fact she was at least two heads smaller than him, the Orbo leader looked straight at him, her sword magically finding the killer spot of anyone trying to attack from behind while she was facing him. "This is war! Making hard decisions is part of your job as a strategist. Our lives are in your hands. If you start to think about something else while you fight, you will doom us all!"

"She's my responsibility!"

"And so are we!" Sorshania raised her voice and got her face closer to his. "So stop whining like a spoiled kid and do your fucking job!"

Before Orion could reply, he felt a tight grip around him and an incredible force pulled him forward. Luckily, as he fell, he somehow managed to shift his gravity center to make him fall on the side instead of falling face first, avoiding crushing the phoenix under the weight of his armor. The small lady struggled against him, also caught in the chain which pulled him forward. While she was cussing about their situation, he followed the chain with his gaze and found Daisuke barely a few meters from them. It wasn't hard for him to recognize the man who beat up his sister and torture her. He glared at the man in armor, ignoring Sorshania's struggle and frustration.

Silently, the northern leader walked toward his preys. He didn't know that the armored warrior was in fact Orion, the man he sought to destroy for foiling his plans, but he knew the creature he caught with him.

"A phoenix… That's an interesting turn of events," he said calmly as he looked down at them. "Not only am I going to have more land but I will have the secret to eternity. I will rule forever. Even Arago couldn't have done that."

"You'll find me very uncooperative," Sorshania shot an angry look at him. "Especially chained like this."

"Don't be silly. I just need to get you in bird form and get your feathers. Even my greatest generals will live forever. At least they won't look as ugly as Hatsu."

"It's because of people like you that my kind chose to give up their immortality." She clenched her teeth together, ready to jump on him the moment the chain would release her.

"A stupid choice." He turned his gaze to Orion and raised his sword. "First, let's take care of the dead weight." It was then that Shiro jumped on him, trying to slit open his throat with his claw but despite the surprise attack, Daisuke managed to stop him by grabbing his hands. However, Shiro's move was exactly what Sorshania was waiting for. While the man of the north struggled with clawed young man, the chain loosened up and she was able to get free. She jumped on Daisuke when the latter threw Shiro against a nearby wall after breaking his arm.

"Shiro!" Orion yelled before getting free himself and ran to the young man's side. Though the armor took most of the impact, Shiro was unconscious. The prince couldn't help but think it was for the best when he saw the twisted angle of his left arm. "I'm sorry… This is all my fault."

He looked behind him when he heard a bird cry and saw Sorshania pulled down by the ankle by Daisuke's chain and crashed to the ground. Struggling to get back to her feet, she somehow managed to throw a fireball at him. The explosion was impressive and took out about five other soldiers nearby but the northern leader walked out of the fire without a graze. There was no time to hesitate. Knowing he could seriously hurt her, Orion grabbed his sword and stood between Daisuke and Sorshania. A long glaring contest began, each man not moving and waited for the other to make the first move. It was Daisuke who spoke first, his eyes locked on Orion's blue bandanna around his right bicep.

"I know this," he nodded toward the tissue. "Who are you?"

"I'm the ghost you've been looking for," the warrior replied immediately. He wanted his opponent to forget about Sorshania at all cost.

"You're awfully alive for a dead person."

"You're not the only one who knows someone who can bring back the dead."

"How can I be sure this is not a trick?"

"After the fight my sister gave you for not removing this bandanna from her, you still have doubts?"

"Ah… She's your sister. That's why you were following her around all the time. Where is she now?"

"Don't waste my time with stupid questions. You're never going to see her again."

"We'll see about that."

Their swords clashed and the warriors started to dance. Even though he didn't fight for years, Orion didn't have a bad start. He was able to evade some dangerous deathblows by rolling around or just stepping aside but Daisuke was a patient man. Each one of his attacks was planned carefully and even if he did miss his opponent, he remained calm and went for the next attack. Eventually, the prince ran out of space to dodge and he had to parry the next attack. After his metal met his rival, his sword became suddenly lighter and a weight on his left shoulder pulled him down a little. He realized with horror that his weapon broke, its alloy being no match for the one carried by the northern leader. The prince was too surprised to try to dodge the other attack, but he was saved in extremis by Sorshania who came behind Daisuke and tackled him down.

"Did you really think I would let you get away after chaining me up like that?" she told him furiously. "No one chain or tight me up and live to tell about it. NO ONE!"

As another fight between the leaders from the north and south started, Orion looked around for another weapon. His mind couldn't stop thinking about his sword, the one he used to seal Azhure's powers. He shook his head, trying to get the idea out of there but it remained, stronger every second.

'No. If I do that, I might doom us all!' He kept looking for something to fight. 'No, I'm not calling you back! Damn! Stop it!' He fell to his knees, holding his head. Why did he feel like he had to call it back? He couldn't take this risk. His sister could go mad. No. He had to resist. But what if she needed her sealed powers? He did let her go into a monsters' den in her weak state. If Aikyo didn't fight back, maybe there was something bigger there than he first anticipated. 'What am I supposed to do? Azhure, please… Tell me.'

'Orion!'

He lifted his head up. That was Azhure's voice. There was no mistake about it. He tried to hear it again, but the only thing he could hear was the fighting nearby. Despite them being apart, Orion realized they still shared some kind of connection to each other. Maybe it was only temporary because they just got separated…or maybe he was just making this up.

Her seal was already weakened and it was only a matter of time before it broke completely. He knew that a strong emotion would be the end of his spell and there was no doubt that Aikyo's death would be the trigger. But maybe the seal would hold on still and if they win the war, they could… Could do what? Let her go crazy in another world? She was doomed. There was nothing else he could do for her. No more seal or spell. His sword was the only solution he had back then and he screwed up by forgetting one small word in his incantation.

But now, he knew that it wasn't him that wanted to call his sword back but rather it was Azhure who was asking him to do so. Or so he hoped it was. Another hard decision to take and this one could decide the fate of his comrades. However, he would rather take the risk of releasing the seal than keeping it there until it broke. He knew there was a slim chance that Azhure could remain sane afterwards until the end of this battle.

'Sister… I want to believe you will be able to handle this. I hope this is not me wishing for this but you. You must have a good reason for asking me this, but know that if you go out of control…I promise that I will free you before you kill your friends.' He lowered his head and clenched his fists to his sides. Still, he hesitated. He protected her for so long and now, he was going to let her face her destiny alone. Anger and hatred filled his heart, but those feelings were directed at him.

"Guardian sword, come back to me!" he screamed.

Aikyo glared at Hatsu, a hand on her wounded side. Her helmet had been knocked off of her head when the necromancer knocked her out and stood at the feet of the dead keeper. The corpse was lying on its back, his eyes staring into nothingness and dried pink foam on his lips. The man found death quickly after he stabbed Aikyo but not painlessly. The water user, enraged by this treachery, did exactly what she always threatened to do in her 'don't you dare leave me behind speech': she filled his lungs with water and let him drown on dry land.

Her troops managed to protect her while she tried to heal herself but the zombies coming out of the lake were full of energy for dead people. They fought even thought had no more limbs and only remained dead once they lost their head. All she was able to do was to cast a small regeneration spell by keeping water on her wound and letting it heal her slowly while she helped her soldiers with the invasion. Despite their best efforts, they were overwhelmed and things got worst when Azhure finally joined them.

"You like what you see?" Hatsu asked at her, unmoved by her stare.

"Ew! No!"

"Pretty little creature," he added, touching slightly the barrier with the tip of his index. "I will enjoy killing you. I'll wait for your boyfriend to arrive and kill you before his very eyes, making him regret the day he left you behind." He chuckled lightly. "This will be my price for the day you drowned my unit."

"Like hell you're going to lay a finger on me!"

"But I will… You see, Silver told me a lot of things about your magician friend. Once she dies or get mad, this barrier will vanish and nothing will protect you from my wrath. Nothing at all…"

Suddenly, a blinding light filled the area, forcing Aikyo to shield her eyes. From the corner of her eye, she saw a ball of light flew high into the air and Orion's words came back to her mind.

It was the time they went in another world to practice magic in peace, far from anyone who could see her or her friends as a threat. Rin, though mentioning she wasn't interested in being trained, asked Azhure for some advice with the magic her claw sometimes provided her. Aikyo, for her part, was sitting on a rock, taking a break from her recent failure in water magic.

"You're getting there," Orion told her as he floated next to her, watching his sister from afar.

"You think? I couldn't maintain that bubble long enough under water. I could have drowned!"

"Azhure wouldn't allow it. She was watching you."

"Watching over people seems to run in your family." She glanced at him and noticed his worried look. "What's the matter?"

"Aikyo, I need to tell you something but promise me you will keep this to yourself."

"I will if it's not something too important." She frowned a little.

"I just need you to know about her situation…because someone needs to know. But I don't want the others to be aware because they could grow afraid of her and she would be alone again." He looked at her. "Promise me."

"I promise," she sighed after a while, hoping she wouldn't regret this.

"I put a seal on my sister's powers and I…kind of messed up. I don't know how long she has before it breaks. Could be days, weeks, months…hopefully years! But it will break up eventually… And that day, you need to be ready."

"Ready for what?"

"To run and hide until I figure out a way to stop her."

"Stop her?"

"Aikyo, the day you will see Azhure's eyes glow will be the day you will no longer be her friend."

"What does that mean?"

"Aikyo! Come here!" Rin yelled from afar, swinging her claw into the air. "I think I'm starting to understand that blasted thing!"

They never talked about it afterwards as Orion became evasive or ignored her questions, but Aikyo never forgot his words. She surprised herself a couple of times staring at Azhure's eyes in search of the glowing effect Orion mentioned but it was never there. It was only when she saw the white flames and the ghost's worries about the seal that she started to put the pieces together. Something bad would happen to Azhure if the seal broke and it would be bad. The extended of 'bad' was still unknown to her to this day.

An explosion replaced the light and Aikyo blinked away the brightness. Her barrier was still up but an enormous crater stood in front of her. She noticed a figure walked toward her slowly and time stopped the moment she saw Azhure's eyes glowing through the dust cloud.