Shabranigdo wasted no time in hitting them with a fierce barrage of energy, and the Black Magic users threw up a shield barrier, protecting the group. Xellos and the other monsters launched a fierce attack, battering the shield with their energy.
The Shamanist Magic users walked to the barrier of the shield, stepping outside briefly to cast Ra Tilts and Elmekia Lances before they returned back to the safety of the shield. As agreed, Zelgadis charged at Shabranigdo as Amelia covered him, his sword raised, glowing red with his Astral Vine enchantment. He cast a Ra Tilt through it once more and slammed it into Shabranigdo's body. Amelia cast her own Ra Tilt, and Gourry came seemingly out of nowhere to add his own blade to it.
"Now!" Lina yelled, and the Shamanist Magic users threw Shadow Snaps at Shabranigdo. Lina didn't wait to see whether or not it was effective, she didn't have the time to waste. She had to cast the Ragna Blade now, before it was too late. Shabranigdo laughed as Lina started chanting, "Lord of the dreams that terrify, sword of cold and darkness, free yourself from the Heaven's bonds, become one with my power, one with my body, and let us walk the path of destruction together! Power that can smash even the souls of the Gods! RAGNA BLADE!" she yelled as she leapt forward. Shabranigdo threw an energy burst at her and knocked her from the air, causing her to fall to ground, the spell dying in her hands.
Lina moaned as the blood seeped through her clothing to the earth all around her as she marveled at how she wasn't even able to get close to him! He was so powerful that not even the shield her spell generated could fully protect her. Gourry, Zelgadis, Amelia and Scarlet ran to her side. Lina's eyes were closed, but her breathing was steady. She was simply trying to block out the pain that coursed through her body. Gourry took her hand, and she squeezed it tightly. Amelia took out the Jewel of Rajah and Zelgadis activated it. Amelia threw in her White Magical power.
"Violet, please!" Scarlet suddenly cried, "I know you're in there! You must put a stop to this madness!"
While no one replied, Shabranigdo became strangely immobilized, allowing Amelia and Zelgadis enough time to heal Lina. Once done, Gourry helped her to stand up, and the four turned to watch. Shabranigdo howled ferociously and let out an energy burst, surreal in its power, terrifying in its magnitude as it tore through the shield of the Black Magic user's like paper, claiming their lives with it. The Shamanist Magic users put up a stronger shield barely in time, but there was no way it was going to withstand another energy burst. Most of the sorcerers and sorceresses had been knocked off their feet by the mere force of stopping the blast!
"No!" Scarlet screamed. "Violet!"
"Scarlet, you have to stop us!" Violet said, her voice coming from Shabranigdo. "I should have listened to you when you tried to warn me about Sherra…"
"I should have tried harder to knock some sense into you!" Scarlet responded, her voice heavy with tears.
Violet laughed tiredly, "It wouldn't have worked. I was so sold on being humanity's savior I lost all perspective. I'm afraid I'm leaving you with quite the mess to clean up."
Scarlet smiled bitterly, "It's only because of all that you've taught me that I can see how to do so in the first place. Even if it is the hard thing to do."
Meanwhile, Lina looked to Gourry, Zelgadis and Amelia and said. "I have to use that spell."
"I know." Gourry said quietly.
"Miss Lina," Amelia said as she held up a small jewel in her hand, "You dropped this when you fell."
"People are dying and you're worried about something I dropped?" Lina snapped as she took the Jewel of Ahapta from Amelia.
"Well, it was so deadly you didn't want it getting in the wrong hands, so I thought…"
"Wait a minute," Lina said as an idea formed in her mind, "The Jewel of Ahapta. It looks a lot like the Jewel of Rajah. Sorcerer Keran said that he had tried to control the power of the Jewel of Ahapta on his own and lost control over it, but what if it doesn't work that way? What if it works like the Jewel of Rajah?"
"But…but the Jewel of Ahapta wiped out Ullis City!" Amelia said as she glanced over at where Scarlet was talking to Shabranigdo-Violet to make sure they were still preoccupied.
"I know!" Lina said, "By trapping its residents on the astral plane. This will kill two birds with one stone."
"I'm not following." Gourry said.
"Nothing new there," Lina moaned.
"The other monsters." Zelgadis said, "The inhabitants of Ullis City became trapped between this world and the astral plane when Sorcerer Keran used the jewel. If we trap the monsters there, then we won't have to worry about fighting them when and if we destroy Shabranigdo."
"Bingo." Lina said.
"But monsters are so much more powerful than humans." Gourry pointed out, "Would this really keep them out of our world?"
"Likely, no. But if we're lucky they wouldn't be able to appear in this area, they'd have to move to an area unaffected by the jewel to enter our world, or the astral world again. It would give us the time we need to disperse, and hope they don't come after us seeking revenge."
"But what about the other people here?" Zelgadis asked.
"I have an idea," Lina said, and then she stepped forward, eyes narrowed as she advanced on Shabranigdo, "Hey, Shabranigdo, you want another round, because I have one final challenge for you! Or are you not tough enough to take on a mere human?"
"I would be a fool to mistake you, one who has already defeated a seventh of me as well as my ghost, for a mere human, but as I wish to go up against you again to assure my supremacy, I shall accept your challenge."
"Then let's do it like we did it before!" Lina said, "The other sorcerers and swordsmen get to go home now and your minions will leave them unharassed. It will just be Gourry, Zel, Amelia and me to take you down!"
"The girl wasn't here last time."
"Yeah, but I want her here this time!" Lina snapped, "Or are you too afraid to take us four on?"
"Five," Scarlet said, "I'm staying as well."
"Five then." Lina said.
"Hardly." Shabranigdo said, "I accept your challenge."
Shabranigdo roared once more, and the monsters crowded around him, "Stand down. We're letting the humans go. We'll come for their town later once we defeat these four."
"Do you think we're going to let you walk away?" Gunther asked.
"Yes!" Lina said, "You are! So get going!"
Gunther looked at Gourry incredulously, who smiled as he said, "Trust me, it's easier to just do what she says."
"Look, if we can't stop him here, you're going to need to get Kirva prepared, because it's the first town in his wake! So go home, batter down the hatches, and prepare for the worst!" Lina snapped.
"She has you well trained." Gunther muttered, but he gathered his troops to retreat.
Meanwhile, Amelia walked up to Lina and asked in a whisper, "What about us?"
"Let's just hope this only goes forward and not in a three sixty." Lina muttered.
"Miss Lina!"
"It's either these people or the whole world!" Lina pointed out, "It's our safest gamble."
"One berserk spell for another." Zelgadis commented dryly.
"Oh," Amelia said. "Then let's do it!"
"What do you want me to do, Lina?" Gourry asked. Every single bit of the magical information Lina had supplied had gone over his head, and he understood that there was nothing he could really do in that area, but that didn't mean that he couldn't be of some help. He did have the Blast Sword, after all.
"Stay back and defend us." Lina said. "And be ready to launch an attack in case this doesn't work."
"What are we waiting for then?" Zelgadis asked.
Lina held out the Jewel of Ahapta, and Zelgadis activated it with his Shamanist powers, the jewel glowing blue. Amelia added her White Magic to it, and the glow changed from blue to white. Lina threw her own powerful brand of Black Magic into the mixture, and the jewel glowed black. Red energy suddenly spouted from it, wild and untamed. While Zelgadis and Amelia fought to keep their energy flow steady, Lina fought to combine and control the power, to wield it, to use it against Shabranigdo.
Meanwhile, energy pooled in Shabranigdo's hands. He unleashed it so quickly that the group didn't have any time to defend themselves! But fortunately Gourry stepped in front of them with the Blast Sword, cutting the energy in half, diverting I around the group. Meanwhile, Scarlet cried, "Violet! Please, do whatever you can to help us!"
Once again, Shabranigdo became frozen in place. Sweat ran down Lina's brow as she fought the Jewel of Ahapta for control over the power, and she was so focused on the task that she couldn't spare the attention for what Shabranigdo was or was not doing. Slowly, piece by piece, the red light took the shape of a sword.
"What's this?" Shabranigdo asked.
"Just a little something we found along our journeys." Lina said, trying to sound confident as she wondered what to do next. The prospect of running with Zelgadis and Amelia as they held the jewel between themselves in a bizarre twist on the three-legged race to bring the sword down upon him seemed too ludicrous to work.
"Think about going forward, Miss Lina!" Amelia said.
Lina nodded, and did so, surprised to find that the energy seemed to obey her thoughts. "Gourry get back!" she yelled.
But Shabranigdo was forming another energy burst. Lina's heart started beating so hard she could feel it in her throat as Gourry stayed in front of them to meet it head on. "Violet!" Scarlet cried, "Please! Think of our town!"
Shabranigdo snarled as the energy died in his hands. "Gourry, move, now!" Lina yelled, and he rushed back behind them, and Lina wasted no time in directing it to Shabranigdo. Zelgadis and Amelia struggled to keep the power flow steady as Lina controlled it, throwing it as quickly as she could at her enemy before he got another chance to attack them.
Shabranigdo screamed as it hit him, but fought against it, keeping the power from completely enveloping him. Lina struggled to push forward, just a little bit just…just a little bit more, just a little bit more to defeat him. Fortunately, the earlier wounds he had taken from multiple Ra Tilts and hits with the Blast Sword had weakened him somewhat, and Lina soon felt her spell pierce through him.
A brilliant red light lit the sky, and everyone was knocked to their feet as a loud whooshing sound rang through the air as one by one the monsters disappeared into another realm. Shabranigdo was enveloped in ruby red light, and even more light spilled from his eyes and mouth, his pores, washing over him like rivers of watery blood. The light congregated at Shabranigdo's center and imploded, sending a shockwave through the battlefield knocking everyone to their feet. Then it was like the first time Lina had defeated Shabranigdo. His complexion changed from dark to sandy white as he crumbled in fountains of sand into the ground, saying as he did so, "It seems you have defeated me a second time, Lina Inverse. Feel proud, for there are few who could claim such an honor. Be prepared, if we ever fight again."
Lina let out a sigh of relief. They had done it! They had won! She slumped forward then, suddenly exhausted but happy.
"Thank you, Scarlet." Violet's voice sounded from far away, "Goodbye."
Lina looked over at Scarlet, who was crying, but appeared to be at peace. "Goodbye." She echoed.
Soon after they had defeated Shabranigdo, Gunther and his troops returned to where the group lay resting, in awe of what they had witnessed from afar. "You'll want to make sure people stay away from this area at night." Lina said, "Just to be sure. The only other place this jewel was tested was haunted by beings trapped between this world and the astral one."
"I'll keep that in mind," Gunther said as he looked at Gourry, his expression somber. "We need to talk."
Gourry's insides seized, but he nodded as he got up and followed Gunther. When his brother finally stopped and turned to face him, Gourry braced himself for the worst.
"So, it really isn't the Dukedom you're after?" Gunther asked again, tentatively.
"No," Gourry said, his eyes widening in surprise as relief washed through him. "Never had a taste for politics. Besides, I go where Lina goes."
Gunther smiled, "That's one wild kid you picked up."
Gourry shook his head, "You have no idea."
"I still don't like you, Gourry, but I guess that you've always been true to your word. If you ever cross Elmekia's borders again, you will be safe from me. Just don't stop by to visit. It would be too awkward."
Gourry frowned. He figured as much. There would probably still be members of his family who felt that he should be the heir. Maybe they had a point. Gunther was paranoid and power obsessed after all, but Gourry knew that he could in no way run a Dukedom successfully. For one thing, no matter what your intentions, you don't abandon your domain like he did, even if it was to protect the family and the Sword of Light. That, and while there were members of his family who would want to give the Dukedom to Gourry, he knew that there were just as many who would want it to go to Gunther, and thus the old family feud would be re-ignited, and Gourry in no way wanted that. He had no want of a civil war within his family again. Whatever else he might do, he did not want to murder members of his own blood in the name of some senseless power struggle. May be Gunther wasn't fit to rule, but even as inept leader was better than a brutal war.
"I understand, Gunther." He held out his hand to shake, and Gunther looked at it a moment before accepting it briskly.
"Now if you'll excuse me, Gourry, I've got to talk to Scarlet."
Gourry watched him walk off silently, sighing to himself. And people said he was thick headed. He looked over to where Lina was talking with Scarlet, who looked rather composed considering all she had been through.
"I'm afraid I was rather harsh with you when we first met." Scarlet said.
"Don't mention it." Lina said.
Scarlet shook her head, "It needs to be said. I judged you harshly without understanding the severity of the situations you face. You can't exactly fight a monster like Shabranigdo and worry about how your reputation will fare."
"Well, you were right about a few things." Lina replied, "It's not like I'm facing him every day. And I can be a bit reckless."
Scarlet patted her on the arm, "A first I thought you were quite the bitch for insisting that I confront Shabranigdo. I understand now. Violet and I got to say goodbye, and I was able to come to terms with the fact that this was the only way to save the world, and that it was what Violet wanted. I needed those resolutions. Follow your instincts, Lina, because they are uncanny." She shook her head, "I wish mine were as good. Especially as I've got to figure out what to do now."
"Well, you're welcome to stay at Gabriev Castle." Gunther butted in, causing the women to jump in surprise, "There's quite of bit of history there that needs investigating."
Scarlet blinked, "I'm afraid I think I should rather go home and broach this tragedy with my parents."
"Oh," Gunther said, obviously deflated.
"Granted, once they hear the news I gather they'll be so furious with me I'll be in need of a fortress to hide in."
Gunther smiled, "I'll keep the light on for you."
"Scarlet, you don't need us to come with you, to make sure you'll be okay?" Lina asked.
"I'll be fine." Scarlet said dismissively as she waved her hand, "Sherra's grip on the town was rather strong, but I think I can make them come around."
"Well, if you need a place to stay for the night before you head out in the morning, we have plenty of rooms at Gabriev Castle." Gunther said.
"Oh give it a rest!" Lina cried.
"So, where are you headed off to, Zelena?" Amelia asked as they walked the streets of Kirva on their way to the inn.
"Now that the trolls aren't attacking Trespin anymore, I think I'll finally get around to doing some traveling. I'm thinking of going to the Outerworld, actually."
"The Outerworld?" Zelgadis asked, "What for?"
Zelena shrugged, "Just to see what it is like."
"Well, when you're back from the Outerworld, on behalf of Seyruun, you're welcome to visit any time. Just tell the palace guards that you're a friend of mine and I'll see to it that you get through the palace gates." Amelia said.
Zelena nodded, "Thank you. I'll be sure to visit when I get back." She looked at Zelgadis and grinned, "And I'd better see you there as well."
"Don't worry," Zelgadis said, putting an arm around Amelia, who snuggled up closer to him, "Amelia has informed me of a research position into the Shamanist Magics available at Seyruun. I think I'll be staying there for quite a while, actually. Now that I'm not worried about finding a cure anymore."
"So, you're going to use the Jewel of Rajah?" Lina asked.
Zelgadis shook his head, "Not now, at any rate, but perhaps in the future, when things are quieter. Knowing the way we tend to attract trouble, I doubt this will be the last time we have to face some ridiculous danger. And, like Milgasea said, I've grown accustomed to the strength my rock body and the powers my demon half gives to me. Whether I like it or not, they have made me who I am today, the man that Amelia loves," he said, stroking her hair, "And the man that helped to defeat Dark Lords and monsters. Whether or not I want to, I can't go back to being a mere human again. That doesn't matter, however. I'm human at heart."
"Wow," Lina whispered to Gourry, "I wonder what all brought about that change."
Gourry shrugged but said nothing.
"So, where are you two headed off to?" Zelgadis asked as he looked at Lina and Gourry.
"Well, I guess we'll go back to Seyruun with you, and then, who knows?" Lina said.
"Are you going to destroy the Jewel of Ahapta?" Amelia asked.
"No, Amelia," Lina said, "I'm keeping it. Just in case."
"Be careful with it, Lina," Zelgadis warned, "Even with the three of us, controlling it still proved enormously difficult."
"I know, I know," Lina said, "But that is also why I'm keeping it. To prevent it from getting into the wrong hands, because quite frankly, I'm not sure that the thing can be destroyed. Something that Sorcerer Keran mentioned in his notes."
"My, my, that was a close one for you. It was a close one for us as well! We nearly had what we wanted, but it seems as though victory was no to be ours." Xellos said, floating over them in midair.
Lina groaned. She so wanted this to be over, "What it is you want, Xellos?"
"Now, now, Lina, no need to fear. I'm just shaking your hand over your victory. I may be many things, but I am not a sore loser. I have no further plans regarding you, for the moment that is, but trust me, I have the feeling that we shall meet again!"
And with that, he vanished. Lina sighed, "Oh great. Just what I needed to hear right now." She grinned suddenly, "Well, not much I can do about it, is there, so why even worry?"
Gourry laughed, putting an arm around her shoulder. "You got that right."
"You should have killed him while you had him in the Shadow Snap." Zelgadis said.
"Well, if I didn't kill him, then I didn't kill him. Besides, you never know, he might actually be somewhat useful next time." Lina said.
"I hope you're right," Amelia said as they reached the inn.
"Night!" Zelena said as she walked over to the desk.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm heading off to bed myself." Zelgadis said.
"You're not going to eat?" Lina asked.
"Too tired. Night!"
"Me too," Amelia said as she made to follow him, "Night!"
"Night," Lina and Gourry said after them as they left, leaving the two of them alone as they wandered into the dining hall and took a seat.
"So, Lina, where are we headed after we go to Seyruun?"
Lina shrugged, "I don't know, Gourry, all I know is that no matter what, I'm just going to keep on going."
Gourry chuckled, "I guess some things never change then."
Lina frowned as she grabbed his hand, "You don't mind, do you? All this time on the road, constant traveling, not to mention the worry I must put you through…"
He leaned forward to cut her off with a kiss, stroking her hair gently as he did so, "The rewards are far greater than the pains." He whispered in her ear as he pulled away with a smile.
Lina smiled as she pulled up the menu, "In that case, I know of a resort in Thigl that boasts the bluest lagoon you've ever seen. I figure after all this monster fighting we could use some rest!"
He laughed, "Do you honestly think anywhere you will be restful? You attract trouble like no one I've ever met!"
Lina shrugged, "I guess. And side by side, we always get through it!"
AN: Wow, this was an interesting experience. Thanks for reading/following/favoriting/doodling/commenting! I think there is definite interest in a new season of Slayers if they ever decide to create one!