WARNING: For details on overall warning, see Chapter One.
Author's note: I'm not even going to apologise for the horrible updating this time, because it occurred to me that if I were REALLY sorry, I would find some way to fix it. Even after saying that, this chapter has actually been finished for a few weeks, and I just forgot to post it, even while merrily working on the next one. CRAZY, huh? I'm officially losing my mind.
I've also been working on my website (the link is in my lovely out-of-date profile) which has been eating up writing time, but rest assured that until it is finished, this fic is top priority! So… close… to the end…!
As always, thanks to the awesome folks who keep reviewing despite my lousy updating practices. All of you are champions, and make the struggle through the end of a dying fic worthwhile.
Another Witchmaker
Chapter 53 – Revenge is a Dish Best Served With Lots of Fire
By Sinnatious
'Morning' came far too soon for any of their tastes, but none of the weary trio complained as they chewed on the last of their rations and checked over their weapons and armour for damage from their fight with the Darkshine Knight. Angela, determined to not think about the whole Dragon Emperor situation, focused most of her attention on finding appropriate moments to put her new plan into action. She had a deadline, now, and if she couldn't force Hawk to admit his own feelings before they parted ways, she may as well have just stayed back in Altena and let the world end.
Okay, she recognised that she was getting melodramatic, but the past couple of months had been tough on her. She thought she was entitled to the sentiment.
The trick, she gauged as they stood by unspoken agreement to head out of the cavern, was to try to keep it subtle. Hawk was a far sight more observant than Duran was, so hopefully she wouldn't have to use completely in-your-face flirting techniques to get his attention.
They left Dragon's Hole to emerge onto a windy mountaintop. She thought it might have been early afternoon, but the storm clouds that had gathered overhead made it impossible to tell. That was when they had their first glimpse of the Dragon Emperor's Palace.
Up close, it was a monstrous structure - nowhere near as tall as the Moonlight Tower or as expansive as the Beast Kingdom's Castle, but it was easily twice the size of Rolante. Wrought iron decorated the archways made of heavy grey stone that seemed to almost melt into the rich maroon rock that Dragon's Hole had been carved from. It was difficult to tell from where they were standing, but Angela thought that she could see blood red stained glass windows higher up. She idly hoped that they weren't stained with actual blood.
"Seems like a pretty big place just for one guy, doesn't it?" Hawk commented airily.
"The Wizard of the Red Lotus might be there too," Duran pointed out. "And there's a whole lot of dragons that sort of look like they're standing guard at the entrance."
"Let's not keep them waiting, then," Angela said with a smirk, raising her staff. "THUNDERSTORM!"
Thick bolts of lightning arced down from the sky with explosive impact, thunder clapping and shaking the ground on which they stood. The Magus's spell wiped out half of the dragons in one blow. The dust had barely cleared before Hawk let loose a hail of silver darts and Duran stepped in with his sword, cleaning up the rest.
"It's amazing what a couple of hours sleep can do, isn't it?" The Princess cheerfully slapped a hand on the Paladin's shoulder, letting it linger there for just a few seconds too long to be considered entirely innocent. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Rogue pointedly look away, and resisted the urge to smirk. Yes, Hawk was definitely paying attention.
They moved forward into the Dragon Emperor's Palace, and were surprised to discover that despite the large collection of dragons that had been sitting just outside, the inside was strangely deserted. In fact, a thick layer of dust seemed to cover everything, as though no living thing had walked through its halls for years.
That said, it was an obviously opulent palace - even more so that Altena's. Hawk's amber eyes were practically shining as they roamed over the architecture, and even the stoic Forcenan was looking suitably impressed. If the place had been better kept, every surface would have shone and sparkled with precious metals and gems. The furnishings all looked like finely crafted antiques that would have stood out even in an aristocrat's home, and the livery was printed on silks that even the Queen of Reason would have swooned over. This Dragon Emperor was RICH.
The Navarrian skipped ahead several steps, announcing, "I'm definitely looting this place when we are done."
"I don't think anyone will stop you," Angela replied dryly, "But isn't it a little odd how deserted it is? If not dragons, I would have thought that this place would at least be crawling with monsters or traps."
"Hmm, true, I can't sense a speck of life in here. There's a lot of magic hanging around up there, though - big murky cloud of it, can't quite make it out," Hawk observed, waving his hands vaguely upwards.
At that prompt, the Princess focused her considerably stronger magic senses on reading the Mana around them. It was true that the Mana in this area was rather more unstable than most places they'd been, but despite that she couldn't sense any individual pockets of magical power that she normally could when she was looking for it. She could see what Hawk meant - it felt like there was a big dark hole of malignant magic somewhere in the Palace, but pinpointing it felt rather like trying to find a black box in a dimly lit room. Amidst that great wash of unstable Mana, though, Angela could sense an eerily familiar presence mixed in with it.
"Koren!" she blurted, identifying the magical signature. "Koren IS here! Come on, Duran, we have some revenge to get!" She grabbed the Paladin's hand and started to pull him along in the vague direction she thought she had sensed his presence. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Hawk frown slightly as she dragged the eager Forcenan along. She kept it up for another minute or so before slowing her pace down and releasing his hand.
They wandered up several flights of stairs and through several wings of the castle, half checking for somewhere the Dragon Emperor might be and half looking for Koren. Angela had the vague impression that Koren was nearby, but her magical senses were so muddied in the Palace that she couldn't pinpoint him, so they were being forced to search using the old fashioned method. Hopefully it worked both ways and Koren wouldn't be able to sense their own approach at least. As they wandered the deserted halls of the opulent palace, they made small talk, as though to dispel the eerie silence broken only by the occasional distant rumble of thunder. And by 'small talk', it meant that the Altenan princess flirted with the Forcenan knight at every available opportunity.
"Duran, you better be sure to leave some of Koren for me, okay?" she cajoled with a wink.
"Of course, Angela," he replied with a smile. "To be honest, by now I'm more interested in fighting the Dragon Emperor than the Wizard of the Red Lotus. But I am looking forward to showing him that I'm not the pushover I once was."
"Indeed," the Magus observed, reaching out and squeezing the Paladin's muscled right arm playfully. "You've become a lot stronger - but what else do you expect of the Mana Knight?"
Duran blushed slightly at that, and modestly replied, "You've become a great deal stronger also, Angela. I'm sure that Koren is going to be surprised by that too."
She placed a hand on her hip and leant over, wagging a finger at him. "Don't try to be modest, Duran. You've worked really hard, and it shows." The effect was slightly lost with her Ancient Robe half covering her, but that pose still showed plenty of cleavage, and she caught the Paladin's eyes wandering.
"Hey guys, hurry it up!" Hawk called from up ahead, already making his way into the next room.
"Oh, sorry Hawk!" Duran replied, tearing his eyes away from her and hurrying to catch up. Angela followed at a more sedate pace with a grin. Before she'd taken more than a couple of steps, though, a small glowing orb zoomed towards her from the Paladin's retreating back.
"Fairy," she greeted congenially as the tiny deity rose to hover in front of her face.
"What are you doing?" the Fairy hissed. "Don't tell me you've suddenly changed your mind AGAIN?!"
Angela haughtily quirked a single lavender eyebrow at the tiny deity. "Contrary to what you may believe, I am not quite so fickle."
"Then why are... you... goddess have mercy!" Seems the shiny insect had caught on. It was a lot faster this time, but given that the Fairy WAS completely aware of her feelings on the subject, the quick arrival at the correct conclusion wasn't quite as spectacular as it appeared.
"NOW who's using the Goddess's name in vain?"
"Angela! I can't believe that you... you... completely ignoring how incredibly selfish and dirty that tactic is, have some consideration for Duran's feelings! He still really likes you, you know!"
"Of course I know," she replied, not even batting an eyelid.
"Then how can you do this to him! Especially after everything he's gone through recently... are you really that insensitive?!"
"I think we covered this topic ages ago and came to the conclusion that I am. Besides, it's not like he'll even notice. I did way more than this back when we first met and he didn't even blink."
The Fairy was flapping about in an agitated fashion, zipping from side to side and up and down in a way that would give the Princess a headache if it kept up. Her glow was dimming and brightening in an irritatingly erratic pattern too. "You... you're despicable! I can't believe... He might not have noticed then, but now-"
Growing impatient, the Princess let out a growl, her hand shooting out and catching the Fairy in a gentle but firm grip with a speed and accuracy that would make even Hawk pay attention. "Eeep!" Clearly, despite the numerous threats over the past couple of months, the tiny deity hadn't ever thought that the Magus would ever actually succeed in catching her.
Bringing the squirming guardian up close to her face, and trying to ignore the fact that it felt rather like she had caught a moth in her hand, the Princess of Altena bit out her words with a vitriol normally reserved for their enemies. "Listen up, Fairy. I am a Magus who has fallen in love with a man who, despite being apparently quite well educated in the subject, is insistent on not getting the message. This man also happens to be a flighty Rogue who tends to disappear and reappear without warning, and so there may only be days, if not HOURS left in which his company is guaranteed. And let's also not forget that there's been quite a lot of stress and pressure going around lately, and I am one very frustrated Princess with far too much unresolved sexual tension pent up to be considered completely stable. So help me if I've since stopped caring about hurt feelings... I WANT THIS TO BE RESOLVED. In the meantime, I'm going to trust that yours and the Elementals' emotional band-aid that you've slapped on Duran is going to hold up, and that no interfering, plan-ruining, oh-so-helpful tiny deities stick their nose where it doesn't belong and mess things up AGAIN."
"Please don't squish me," the Fairy squeaked.
Sighing, Angela released the glowing parasite, watching her flit a safe distance away, clearly ruffled by her near-brush with death. It was about time their self-appointed 'guardian' knew what it felt like, anyway. Without another word, she strode forward, intent on catching up to her two companions who had already disappeared into the next room, the Fairy nervously hovering nearby, though the glorified gnat was making sure to keep at least an arm's length distance between them.
As she entered the next room - a giant ballroom, by the looks of it, complete with an unreasonably high ceiling and marble floor - she was surprised to see Duran and Hawk standing still just a few steps away. They were both in battle-ready stances; the Paladin with his hand on the hilt of his sword, and Hawk's arms deceptively hanging loosely by his side. Alarmed, she followed the direction of their gazes, and momentarily froze when the flash of red caught her eyes.
Standing calmly in the centre of the giant chamber with their back to them was an altogether too-familiar blonde-haired, red-caped man. Next to her, the Fairy let out an 'Eeep!' and vanished into her head, being the closest. She didn't pay any notice.
"Koren." Angela hissed the name as though it were a curse.
The wizard turned at the sound of his name, flinging out the edges of his cape as he did so, strangely reminding the trio of the now long-dead Jagan.
"Ah, Altenan's spoilt brat has returned, with the Mana Knight and street scum in tow. What a motley-looking crew you make. I'm terribly surprised you got past Loki." He regarded them with unnaturally pale blue eyes.
Duran, she noted, didn't even bother to make his customary request that their opponent stand aside. She thought that maybe he'd finally caught on that they were NEVER smart enough to leave when politely asked, but it was more likely that he still wanted to prove his strength to the wizard.
"Don't you even DARE talk about my father!" Duran announced, drawing his sword and placing his palm against the blade. A moment later, then blade shone with an unearthly glow. Saint Sabre already? They hadn't even finished all the pre-battle niceties yet.
With a war cry, the Paladin charged at the wizard, sword held high. Angela smirked when she saw the blonde draw his own sword. Didn't the fool know with Saint Sabre applied that Duran's sword would cut through his own as though it were butter? It looked like it was going to be a short battle after all.
The ringing clang of meeting swords proved her wrong. The Magus blinked. Saint Sabre was.…. gone?
The lustre had vanished from Duran's sword, and from the shocked expression on the Paladin's face, she quickly concluded what had happened. Dispel... the same magic Koren had used to take the Mana Sword from them.
"Holy Ball," Koren calmly intoned, blasting the surprised knight backwards.
Hawk flipped out his two wavy daggers. "I suppose we'd better get going, Angela?"
She shrugged, brandishing her Dragon Rod with a malicious grin. "It would've been boring if Duran took him out with the first blow anyway."
Hawk let loose with one of his silver darts that Koren sidestepped at the last moment, Angela following it up a moment later with a fire ball that singed the edges of his robe. Then he was stepping backwards quickly, barely keeping Hawk's flurrying daggers at bay with his sword, before retaliating with a spray of diamond missiles that forced the thief to back off. Duran found his feet again and returned to the fray, exchanging a few blows with the wizard before he was forced back by a barrage of fireballs. Half a breath later, Koren was directing a Saint Beam at Hawk, followed up an Evil Gate that the Rogue barely scrambled out of.
Feeling a little left out, the Magus lobbed off a few fireballs of her own, but they were intercepted by an Ice Smash, and wound up just producing steam. The Scarlet Mage directed a quick Air Blast at Duran to keep him off balance before returning his attention to flinging an array of spells after Hawk which the thief narrowly dodged one after another, his Silverwolf Pelt easily protecting him from one stray fire ball that managed to land a glancing blow, though Angela suspected that tips of his long thin ponytail probably got singed.
They continued like this for some time, enough so that Angela was left wondering how much magical endurance Koren had, since he hadn't even paused in his onslaught of magic yet, using his sword only to defend against Duran and Hawk's occasional blows. She liked to think that they were wearing him down, but in truth the only damage they'd really done so far was add some tears to his distinctive red cloak, whereas both of her companions were starting to get a little puffed from the constant evasion, and the Paladin had gathered a few burns and bruises that were starting to slow his movement.
She was beginning to notice that Koren seemed to have more of an issue with Hawk than anyone else. It didn't make a whole lot of sense, seeing as the desert rat had no personal vendetta against the Scarlet Wizard, unlike herself and Duran who had plenty of bottled up resentment for the blonde man. She could sort of understand him wanting to take care of Hawk instead of Duran first, even with the Mana Knight thing, but it wasn't terribly smart to ignore her, or for that matter ANY magic user for too long - they had a tendency to cook up really big spells when you weren't looking.
Which was what she was doing now. "Hawk, Duran, clear!" she warned.
At her signal, both of her companions leapt backwards from their onslaught against the Scarlet Mage. Angela brandished her Dragon Rod, dark magic crackling in the air around her as she unleashed Shade's power. "DARK FORCE!"
Spears of dark magic converged en-masse on her foe, blocking him from their sight. Angela waited, already preparing a follow-up Holy Ball, but was thrown off balance by an Air Blast. Cursing, she turned back to see a somewhat-battered Koren return his attention to throwing volley after volley of fire balls and diamond missiles at the Rogue, pausing only to stave off Duran's sweeping attacks with his sword. She was gratified that she'd done at least some damage, but figured that the scarlet robe he was so fond of must have had some pretty heavy-duty protection spells woven into it after all if he was still in one piece after that.
Still, even after she fired off that Dark Force he had the nerve to ignore her and continue wasting magic spells on Hawk? What, had the Rogue stolen his favourite hairbrush or something? The Princess knew first hand that it was stupid to earnestly attack the Navarrian with anything but area magic - he was so damn fast, and not to mention he had that irritating counter magic for any of the weaker spells...
Actually, she might have been on to something there. She chuckled evilly to herself. Was it possible that the cold, calculating, removed Wizard of the Red Lotus was so childish as to be holding a grudge from that time Hawk had stolen the Fairy out of his very hands, and then proceeded to dodge Koren's fireball as though it had been cast by an amateur?
Oh, this was going to be EASY.
Angela started gathering her power for another large spell. "Let's see how you like this one, then... THUNDERSTORM!"
She shouted the spell mostly for Hawk and Duran's benefit, who immediately retreated a safe distance. Moments later, thick arcs of lightning struck in the Red Wizard's vicinity, temporarily blinding her and adding black scorch marks to the already torn up ground at their opponents feet. Blinking briefly to get her eyesight back, Angela caught sight of an extremely annoyed Koren, blonde hair poofed up, gathering his magic.
"Explode!" he snarled, stretching out his hand.
A little startled by the sudden shift in attention, Angela leapt backwards hurriedly to try and at least avoid the brunt of the spell. As though in slow motion, she could see the balls of fire multiply and explode in front of her eyes, shooting out spurts of lava and intense streams of flame that turned the ground in front of her molten.
Then all of a sudden, the world was tilting strangely.
It was a careless mistake. After all, after so many battles, and TWO class changes at that, Princess Angela of Altena DID NOT do something as incredibly idiotic as trip over her own feet in a battle.
She landed on the ground with a hard thud, eyes widening at the sight of the torrent of fire that was descending upon her. There was no way that her Ancient Robe could protect her from THAT.
Reflexively, she shut her eyes, preparing for the searing heat and accompanying pain. After spending months envisioning her battle with Koren... she was going to die because she tripped over her own shoes. How utterly humiliating.
In some tiny corner in the back of her mind, she was mildly surprised that the Fairy wasn't shrieking inside her skull in panic as she frequently did whenever they came into harms' way in a battle. Or had the tiny deity escaped when she hadn't noticed?
That was when a new sound caught her attention, cutting through the roar of flames about to hit her with a shrill whine. Surprised, the Magus opened her eyes just in time to witness the fire dissolve into motes of light as it approached, and those sparkling embers in turn being sucked towards the top of her head. At the same time, she felt her magic replenish, almost as though she had eaten one of those gross magic herbs.
In such a fashion, the entire spell dissolved in front of her eyes. It was hard to tell who was the more confused - herself, or Koren, who moments before had been smirking vindictively, certain of victory.
Sensing her confusion, an exasperated Fairy explained from within her skull, 'Have you forgotten about that fancy ornament you wear on your head already?! Fire magic's useless against you when you're wearing that!'
Tentatively, the Princess raised a hand to the hairpin she'd bought in Pedan - it was warm to the touch, and hummed strangely underneath her fingers. It was true that she'd forgotten about it - she'd been so certain she was done for.
'Damn,' she thought to herself. 'All of these near death experiences are about to turn me into the religious type.'
'You?' the Fairy snorted. 'Never.'
Standing and brushing herself off, Angela attempted to calm her still raging nerves by laughing. "Ha ha! Surprised Koren?" Never mind that she was just as surprised as he was - such powerful magical artefacts were rare, after all. When she'd originally bought it, she'd thought that the damn hairpin would ward her against fireballs, not completely suck in one of the highest-level fire spells around.
As if in disbelief, Koren let loose another monumental volley of half a dozen fireballs in her direction, simultaneously sending off two Air Blasts to keep her two allies at bay.
"Scarlet Mage. Wizard of the Red Lotus. The Queen of Altena's right hand man. General of the Army. So many names, Koren, but in the end, you're nothing more than a HACK! You didn't have to sweat and bleed and fight for every scrap of magic you have! And that's why your spells will NEVER beat mine!" she crowed, effortlessly dousing his storm of fireballs with a small Megasplash, just to prove she could.
NOW he was paying attention.
Hawk and Duran forgotten, Koren started flinging spell after spell at her, Angela either dodging each one nimbly or countering it with her own spells. Then she started mixing things up, adding an ice smash to her diamond missiles so that even if her enemy were to intercept the spell with a fireball, the diamond missiles coming behind the hail of ice would still make it through. She dispersed her own fireballs, controlling each one individually as though it were merely a finger on her hand, so that Koren was being attacked on all sides. Angela stepped forward slowly as her own barrage of magic pushed the increasingly battered and harried wizard back. Every time he looked like he was going to recoup, Hawk would throw one of his pumpkin bombs that way, keeping the wizard off balance, but otherwise her two comrades kept a safe distance as the Magus let loose.
"Holy Ball. Fire Ball. Thunderstorm. Air Blast. Dark Force," she calmly chanted, one after the other. If she kept it up forever, her magic would drain, but for now she was running on pure adrenaline, the thrill of finally facing her nemesis - the man for whom she had reserved her most intense hatred for such a long time. Her magic seemed to hum beneath her fingertips in excitement, heating up and making it feel as though merely snapping her fingers would cause them to spark.
After the dust from her latest barrage of spells cleared, she caught sight of a bleeding and battered Koren falling to one knee, trying to catch his breath. She stopped moving forward, pausing to look down on his half-fallen figure.
"This is almost disappointing, Koren. To think I chased after you for so long, and this was the extent of your abilities. You might have some big spells, but you have no idea how to use them! You were just a puppet of the Dragon Emperor after all. I WAS going to make you suffer, but I think I'll just end it here and now."
She HAD fantasised about torturing Koren and making him suffer for months now. But Carlie wasn't around, and after that, the Princess knew that there couldn't possibly be anything crueler to the self-named Wizard of the Red Lotus than the declaration that he was not even considered to be a worthy threat anymore.
Angela grasped her Dragon Rod with both hands, holding it out horizontally in front of her and pointing it at the wide eyed wizard, who even now she could feel was desperately trying to gather magic for an impossibly large spell - no doubt some monumental last ditch effort that would use up whatever magical stamina he had remaining.
She'd never let him fire it off, though. Focusing her magic, the tip of the Princess's weapon began to glow white-hot.
It was going to be a sweet victory. She hadn't simply defeated Koren in battle - she had crushed him completely. And it couldn't have happened to a more deserving person.
"Goodbye, Koren," she murmured.
She gathered her magic until she thought she wouldn't be able to control it anymore, then released it one focused beam. A flare of white fire burst forth from her weapon. Koren only had time to open his mouth in surprise before he was consumed by the blast of incredibly powerful magic.
The spell scorched the ground, ripping up the earth in its wake. And it had hit the Wizard of the Red Lotus at almost point-blank range. Coolly, Angela stepped back, praying to the Goddess that it had worked - she certainly didn't have enough magic left for more than a few Holy Balls now.
Splayed out on the floor was a burnt, tattered red cape... and what was left of Koren. It was a pretty gruesome sight, in all honesty, one that would have normally had the Princess gagging. He was definitely dead, of that there was no question.
Just like that, it was suddenly over. Silence fell over the wrecked ballroom once more.
Angela allowed herself a moment to catch her breath, quickly swallowing a magic herb to at least somewhat restore her heavily drained magic before allowing herself to celebrate. "How do you like that? Ha!"
"That was pretty cool, Angela, what's it called?" the Paladin asked admiringly.
"Um, I don't... I actually just invented that spell just then," she admitted.
"Hmm, for a brand new spell it sure fried him good," Hawk said, poking Koren's charred, prone form, then pulling his finger away. "Ouch, hot!"
"Maybe you could call it 'Hot Shot'?" Duran suggested.
Plan to make Hawk jealous aside, there was no way the Princess was going to subject herself to the Forcenan's simple naming conventions again. She'd had to live with that horribly named 'Star Attack' for months! "That's a dumb name!" she snapped.
"Really? I think it's pretty appropriate," Hawk commented, this time toeing their fallen foe with the tip of his shoe.
"Hot Shot it is!" she declared.
"He was pretty tough, but you completely overwhelmed him," Duran observed, a little bit of regret in his voice. She spared a moment to feel a little sorry for the Paladin - after all that, he really didn't get the opportunity to best Koren in any way.
"You know, Angie, you're pretty scary sometimes," the thief mused, staring at the path her spell had scoured into the ground.
"Only sometimes?" the Fairy mumbled under her breath, emerging from her head at last.
"I HEARD THAT, BUG!"
"It still seems like it was too easy," the Forcenan commented, staring nervously at their fallen foe, as though expecting him to suddenly resurrect himself. "I really thought he was about to fire off some big spell that would have messed up everything at the end. It's a good thing he didn't get the chance."
Hawk shrugged then started making his to the other end of the room. "How do we really expect to take on the Dragon Emperor if the three of us had to struggle with his underling?"
That piece of logic seemed to sate the knight, who turned and walked away also. The trio rather calmly made the way out of the room, already pushing Koren - once such an untouchable foe - to the back of their minds where he would eventually be forgotten. The Princess paused as her companions walked ahead, though, staring back at the fallen form of their enemy. Smirking, she took a brief bow. "In all fairness, Koren, I should really thank you. If you hadn't convinced my mother to try to kill me, or had me exiled, or just generally messed up my life so badly for so long, I might never have become this strong. And even more importantly," her voice dropped to a conspiring whisper, "I might never have met the man I love. And you probably would have survived, too. Funny how things work out, huh?" Giggling, she skipped after her comrades. She really didn't know why people were always lecturing on how revenge was wrong and ultimately self-defeating - it felt GREAT! So long as the object of that revenge was a cruel and callous individual bent on the world's destruction, she figured that no harm would be done.
"Where to now?" Duran asked when she caught up.
Hawk looked towards the ceiling and then glanced briefly in her direction. "Can you feel it too, Angela?"
The Magus nodded distractedly, raising her gaze heavenward. Now that Koren's magical aura had vanished, there was just one outstanding source of magic left, and it felt much clearer than before. It was twisted and evil - worse than even that mutated Mana of the God-Beasts. It was familiar too - after a moment she was able to peg it as the same sort of energy she'd felt surrounding the Darkshine Knight.
No question, the Dragon Emperor was on the roof.
"We'd better get going, then," the Rogue suggested, already making his way to the stairs. The Princess groaned when they reached the next floor, only to be confronted by more stairs. Why did the evil bastards always have to be waiting at the top?
They mounted staircase after staircase in the deserted castle in a reverent silence. Even the Elementals felt unnaturally still in the back of Angela's consciousness and though the Fairy had temporarily left the sanctuary of the Mana Knight's head to rest on his shoulder, she didn't say anything either. Every now and again they passed a suit of armour or an idle sword that they expected to come to life and attack them, but they remained motionless. It was somehow even creepier than if the place had been crawling with dragons and monsters from the Underworld.
So when they came across the statue on the next floor, she shouldn't have been surprised.
The trio paused, and stared. It was a golden Mana Goddess statue, the standard type that was nearly everywhere - just about every town or temple they'd ever been to had one. It was common to find cheaper versions made of grey stone or granite littering well-travelled paths in the countryside also, so that the devout could have a place to pray to the Goddess.
Only this one was missing its head.
Angela wasn't sure why exactly she was so disturbed by it. After all, she wasn't really the religious type like Riesz or Carlie who regularly offered thanks to the Goddess in such a ritualistic fashion. To her, the statues really served as nothing more than ornaments and as such she rarely even noticed when they passed one, though after meeting the Goddess in person she found herself looking out for them a little more often, finding their presence strangely reassuring. However, this... this didn't sit right with her at all. It seemed like a horrible omen. After all, it was quite clear that the head had been very carefully and deliberately severed off. Did the Dragon Emperor hate the Mana Goddess or something? And if that were the case, why would he then remove the head of a statue but still leave the rest of it there?
"Such utter blasphemy," the Fairy whispered, obviously too shocked by the sight to even embark on her usual rant about the lack of proper respect for the Mana Goddess.
The trio remained silent, unsettled by the sight but unable to pinpoint exactly why. Other than the fact that it was creepy, of course... maybe it felt a little more sickening after having met the Goddess personally. She had seemed like such a kind and benevolent deity... the very idea that anyone could harbour such hate...
The Dragon Emperor truly was an agent of the Underworld. He was dangerous. He should have been killed fifteen years ago, but because he hadn't been... was the Dragon Emperor the cause of Mana's recent instability, or merely an entity who had taken advantage of it? Was he the instigator or an opportunist?
Both possibilities were frightening. But Angela focused her resolve, stepping resolutely past the decapitated statue and making her way up the next set of stairs. They were close. A moment later, the fall of footsteps assured her that Duran and Hawk were following.
Another two flights of stairs later they found themselves emerging onto the rooftop. Dark clouds swirled chaotically overhead as if they were a direct manifestation of the unstable, foul magic that seemed to permeate the atmosphere, making the Magus force down the urge to retch. At the far end of the roof a lone figure stood, unaffected by the high-altitude winds that buffeted the castle.
He turned as they cautiously approached, and Angela found her breath taken away. The Dragon Emperor – for there was no mistake that this was their sought-after foe - was an incredibly handsome individual, with pale blonde hair and fine features half hidden underneath a large, ornate dragon-head-like helmet that would more appropriately be called a crown. His countenance reminded her strangely of Koren, though the wizard of the Red Lotus never had such broad shoulders and regal poise.
As handsome as he was, though, his pale blue eyes were cruel and hid the hint of insanity at their depths. His gaze chilled her to the bone, and irrational fear spiked through the Princess as those cold eyes crept over her. This man... she felt power rolling over this individual, and the nervousness of the Elementals in the back of her consciousness was doing nothing to bolster her suddenly shaking confidence.
"So the Mana Knight and his lackeys have arrived after all. You children turned out to be more amazing that I thought... but no matter. You are of no threat to me." He turned away again, and it was then that they realised the Mana Sword was resting in front of him.
"Return to the Mana Sword to us," Duran demanded firmly, stepping forward. Once again, they were reminded that the Paladin was courageous almost to a fault.
The Dragon Emperor turned back to them, sword now in hand. "Why would I do such thing? Right when my plan is so close to completion?"
Angela's mouth felt dry, but she managed to work the question from her lips anyway. "What do you plan to do with the Sword? What exactly are your intentions?"
He turned that heavy gaze on her again, and the Princess had to call on her memory of her defeat of Koren to buoy her confidence and prevent her knees from quaking.
"What are my intentions? You mean you haven't figured it out yet? I thought it obvious. I'm going to take this Mana Sword, and use it to destroy the Mana Goddess."
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