Special thanks to Strat for pretty much doing this whole chapter er... part ^^'
Chapter twenty-four part three: Intervention
~Lowe's pov~
A look of determination occupies my face as I lead off into battle, the frontline squads following in suit. With the swing of my sword, I disarm about five demons. Two run up on the left side of me only to be denied by the hilt of my sword. "Take them out" I tell those with the rifles as I continue moving. More demons come my way, their weapons aimed for my face.
"Sharp Fall!" I hear my assistant, Lime, shout as she flies down to the ground with a massive shockwave which causes the demons in front of me as well as some around them to collapse to the ground. "Forgetting someone?" she asks with a wink. I smile back at her.
"Of course not. I was only wondering when you were going to help fight." We both look forward the new wave of demons heading our way. I tighten the grip around my sword as I prepare a stance.
"Randomness Overloaded to the Max Powa!" I hear a voice scream. I look around me to find all my hunters looking around as well. "Feel Nova's Wrath!" I look up to see Nova in the throwing some type of bottle at the wave of demons. They all watch as it lands in the middle of them. It then explodes into a combination of colors, masking all of them. When the cluster of colors fades away, the end result is a group of demons covered in colors of purple and pink while their legs were somehow covered with webs. She then lands next to me. "And that was a prototype from your lame alchemist, Joaquin!"
We all stare at Nova with a dumbfounded look. I then snap out of it to use this... opportunity to our advantage. "Fire!" My hunters snap out of it as well and shoot their rifles, taking out the trapped demons.
"Let's proceed into the castle and convert the remaining demons" Lime suggests. I nod and begin walking again with everyone following behind.
~Elesis' pov~
As my squad and I charge through the fields, I see a platoon of demons heading our way. "Men stand ready!" I command. My squad forms a line and aims their rifles at the demons. I raise my right hand signalling them to hold. "Fire!" I shout as I swing down my arm towards the platoon of demons and a volley of bullets is sent towards them. They start dropping like flies. Once the entire platoon is down, I see Elsword standing there with a bored expression.
"Man you're annoying. Are you that desperate to die?" He says as more demons arrive. I turn around and face my squad mates and command them.
"All of you go on ahead and proceed with the plan. Leave this group to me!" My men look at each other in confusion with my sudden command.
"But Captain, we can't leave you here by yourself!" My lieutenant says as she steps in front of me. I grab both her shoulders.
"Don't worry I can do this" She looks down with a concerned look on her face.
"But captain you're…" I rub my stomach knowing what she means.
"Believe in me like I believe in all of you." I tell her. She looks up at me and salutes. The rest of my squad salute with her.
"Good luck captain!" They all shout.
I return their salute "Good luck to all of you as well." They start moving ahead and Elsword lets them through, not even attempting to stop them. He'll regret that for sure.
"So you really think you can take us?" Elsword says with a smirk.
"I don't think I can take you. I KNOW I can take you." I insert my sword into the earth and prepare myself for anything. He starts laughing and commands the demons to attack me. They charge at me and I start dashing towards them, chopping them all in the neck and knocking them unconscious. I then throw them all in the same direction, away from us because I know things will get ugly between me and Elsword. I turn to his direction and see his eye twitch.
"I'm guessing Luci trained you?" Elsword readies his swords to attack me.
"Why don't you come over here and find out?" I taunt him. He smirks at me again and rushes towards me.
~Elsword's pov~
This is it. One of the fights I've been waiting for all day. The fight where I finally kill my sister. I swing my sword downward at her to which she dodges. I quickly land and twirl around, holding my swords out to hit her regardless of her location. The sound of metal clashing causes me to jump back, now seeing Elesis holding her sword. "Blocking with your own equipment now? That's cute" I sneer as I rush at her again. This time, I'll wait for her to take the first strike.
""With your level of thinking Elsword, you won't be able to touch me as easily as you think" she says with that same look on her face. It's the same look she gave me back at the Altar. A grin creeps onto my face as she throws her fist at me. I flash step behind her with Conwell pointed right at her back.
"Sword Blast-"my speech is cut off by her reflexes. She managed to somehow turn around and grab Conwell with her bare hands. "H-how did you..." she cuts me off with a punch to the face. I quickly get up and get back into a stance. Alright, her strength has increased far more than it was back at the Altar. I can't play around anymore, gotta focus! I raise my arm and eight replicas of Conwell appear pointing at Elesis. "Sword Fall!" I swing my hand downward and they all fall one at a time. She reaches her arm out, grabbing the first one to come her way, and uses that one to deflect the other seven. I feel my eye twitch as I witness this. She's improved much more than I thought.
"What's wrong little brother? Is your confidence dropping?" she mocks. I grit my teeth at that statement.
"I like that big talk of yours sis. It reminds me of the Altar before you ended up panicking when Luci was stabbed." I rush forward again. I'll get her with a series of relentless attac- my thoughts are cut off with a fist connecting heavily with my gut. I struggle to try and breathe seeing as though that one punch managed to drain me of all the oxygen in my lungs. I stumble backwards as I hold my gut to try and reduce the pain.
"What big talk?" I hear her question as I fall backward from her tripping me. As I fall, I see her appear in front me. How is she this fast?! She punches me once more in the gut, making me hit the ground much faster and feel more pain than expected. "I talk like this only because you're no match for me anymore, Elsword. You're better off giving up now." I chuckle.
"Give up? You really expect me to give up?!" I flash step away, now back on my feet. An evil grin goes across my face as I raise my left hand. "Let's see how you feel about going up against a skill that took down one of your precious Executioners! Blade Rain!" A giant Conwell falls from the sky.
"Critical Dive!" I look back at Elesis to see her claymore in hand. With a rush, she goes s-straight through the giant Conwell? H-how?!
"T-that isn't possible! You can't be this strong! I refuse to bel-" in the blink of an eye, my sword is flying out of my hand. I stare at her as the world seems to slow down. It's as if my reality completely shattered. She... disarmed me...
"Waltz of the Sword!" She dashes past me, pain quickly comes into play. This continues ten times or so until I realize I'm in the air. She's... too fast for me to keep up. "Sword of Relics!" A giant symbol appears in the sky as well as a giant golden sword ripping through it, aiming straight for me. I've... lost this one...
~Elesis', pov~
I run towards the crater that my skill just created and see Elsword in the center. It's a good thing I held back or that would've obliterated him. "Elsword! Are you okay?" I say as I pick up his head and rest it on my lap. His eyes slowly opens up and sees me.
"What the hell are you doing?" he asks with anger clearly in his voice.
"Don't ask silly questions. I'm tending to your wounds." I rip some clothe from my dress and wrap them around his wounds, fastening them tight so no blood drips.
"Are you stupid?! I just tried to kill you!" He tries moving around violently but stops once his wounds start aching.
"Hush you; your wounds are going to get worse if you keep moving around like that." I hold him down till he finally calms down. He looks away from me.
"I don't need your pity. Just hurry up and finish me off already." He mutters with a depressed tone filled with defeat.
"I can't do that Elsword. Luci and I want you to be part of our family again." I wipe a tear forming under his eyes.
"Even after everything I've done to you, Luci, and the hunters? I don't deserve to be part of your family again." He covers his face with his forearm and I can hear him crying again.
"Not "your" family, "our" family." I remove his arm and pull him close and embrace him. "After all, you'll be an uncle soon." I rub my stomach. Elsword looks at me after realizing what I meant.
"You were fighting with a child inside you?! Are you insane?!" Elsword yells at me, surprised at my sudden announcement. I giggle at his reaction.
"The only reason you beat Luci at the Altar of Dedication was because of his guilt. He couldn't bring himself to hurt you. At the time, he blamed himself for you becoming a demon and turning to Edan." Elsword gives me a surprised look and turns his face away from me. He then shakes his head which makes me raise an eyebrow.
"It's too late for me. I can never turn back into a human..." Elsword stares at the palm of his hand and starts to clench his teeth in frustration .
"At least that's what you think." I grab the bottle that Luci gave me which I have been safe keeping between my breasts. "Amethyst prepared this bottle for you. He said it'll return your humanity." I show the bottle to Elsword and his eyes open wide in surprise.
"Really?! With this, I'll be able to turn back into a human?" He grabs my hand holding the bottle with eyes filled with hope which makes me smile.
"Yes. With this, you'll be able to come back home with us." Elsword's face changes to a frown and looks down.
"I don't know… Who's to say they'll even give me a chance…?" Before I can respond, he continues talking. "Even if Edan was using me, all the hunters and innocence I killed... was all me…" I grab Elsword's chin and lift his head so he can face me.
"Then repent for all the sins you've committed. Spend your life building up everything you've destroyed." I pause for a second. "Dedicate your life to protecting the weak that cannot fight the strong." I can see tears forming in Elsword's eyes and he buries his face in my chest and starts to cry his eyes out. I stroke his hair and a big wave of déjà vu hits me which makes me giggle. "You and Luci are very much alike. It's as if you two were really brothers." Elsword raises his head and looks at me.
"Who'd wanna be related to that loser?" He says sarcastically. I laugh at his sarcasm.
"Alright enough jokes. Lay down now. I'm going to cover your body with the dust that Amethyst gave me." I lay Elsword down and he takes a deep breath.
"Alright, I'm ready." He closes his eyes and prepares himself for what's to come. I uncap the bottle and start to pour the dust on Elsword from head to toe. He winches a bit then relaxes. It's then when I see his body turning back to normal. Once he completely changes back into a human, he sits up open his eyes and we stare at each other for a few seconds. I wrap my arms around his neck and give him a tight embrace.
"Welcome back, little brother." I say with tears in my eyes. He wraps his arms around my back and I hear him say.
"I'm back sis…"