Hello there dear readers! We got the usual here before we get started!
xPricefieldx: I get what you mean, but you also gotta consider the fact he pulled that stunt twice on Matt. Matt basically strangled him to death on top of probably caving in his skull the first time, and the second time Matt blew him to hell in an explosion he literally walked off. Matt was confident he wouldn't walk off either back then, and yet he did. He probably would've warned Yato about his inhuman regeneration if he wasn't petrified in terror.
Eluvian Camaris: Sarutobi's death and Ultear's talk were moreso the push Matt needed to actually take this shit seriously. Most of the arc has just been him not actually going all out, dicking around, saying how he didn't like the council, etc, etc. Yato dying was very different though since that's the first time Matt has seen someone he knew, someone he liked die. He didn't blame himself for Sarutobi dying because it wasn't 100% on him, everyone fucked up in that brawl and everyone made mistakes, Matt just wasn't used to making big mistakes.
Yato's death was 100% on Matt, it's easily the biggest fuck-up he's made this entire story. All the blame can be solely pinned on him, and how that effects him will have to be seen down the line.
Alright, with all of that done, please! Enjoy the finale to this arc!
The Monkey King smirked as he smacked away one man with a kick and flipped over another with his staff, his feet cracking the heads of two unfortunate men nearby as he landed.
"C'mon! Show me what you all got!" He cried out in glee as the remaining forces of fodder charged.
'Tell me Sarutobi, is this what you fought for?' He thought as his tail smacked a man's face. 'Is a future where everyone is against each other all that you believe will happen?'
"No." A young man with short brown hair stared at the lazy Monkey resting on his throne. "I know that I don't have the ability to change the world. But I know that some day, someone will come along who can. Some day, a person that can unite everyone will come!"
"And yet instead of assisting that person, you stand as a member of the Rune Knights. Loyal dogs to men who can easily be bought and swayed. Men who oppose the change you speak of." The Monkey chided the youth.
"Be that as it may, I'll still fight in my own way. I'll make sure that anyone under me will not give in to the easy temptations. Justice may be blind, but that doesn't mean the men who place the judged on her scales are!"
"You speak with youthful ignorance, but tell me: why fight at all? If you believe someone else can do it, why bother? You can settle down with a beautiful woman or five and raise a family." The monkey picked his ear with his pinky.
Sarutobi chuckled bitterly, "Unfortunately the path I wish to walk doesn't allow for such commodity. Even if the world doesn't change in my lifetime, even if everything I do gets undone…" He fists clenched tightly shut. "I still have to try!"
"What? So you intend to live on your feet and die on your knees? You really are just a kid." The spirit scoffed.
"No." He bluntness made the Monkey look over, "I'll live and die on my feet. If I intend to protect others, then I can't allow this world to break me! No matter the setbacks or consequences of my actions, I'll push forward. Not because it's what I think I should do. It's because I know it's what I need to do." The fire in Sarutobi's eyes caused the spirit to falter for a moment.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" The monkey howled in laughter. "Alright then kid! I'll see it through to the end! Then I get to laugh at ya when you fuck up!" He grinned widely as the two shook hands.
'He reminds me of you ya know.' The monkey smirked as he wiped the blood off his cheek. 'That fire in his eyes is just like yours.' His staff twirled at impossible speeds and smacked away a group of mages. 'Maybe. Just maybe. He's the one you were talking about all those years ago.'
The monkey's train of thought was interrupted as the collapsing tower he and his foes were right in front of crumbled to the ground.
Matt scowled at the cause of all of this in front of him as the mage summoned a pair of swords above his shoulders. The blades shot out at the former slave at blinding speeds.
"This again?" Lucius sighed and went to repell them just like before.
This was not quite the plan however, as Matt shot knives at the blades, altering their trajectory enough for the contact point with Lucius' magic to miss.
A new knife was thrown from Matt's hand at the man who moved his head to the side.
Matt scowled at the sudden dodge and continued to fire blades at the man, using the same tactic to avoid the swords being thrown back at him or ricocheted around the room.
Said room became littered with swords impaled into the walls and ceiling, sparks flying off the control consoles. Lucius sighed and placed his hands in his pockets.
"I know you can do better than this."
Matt smirked to the man's surprise.
"Who's to say I haven't been doing that already?"
Before the older man could answer, Matt raised a knife and swung it. Lucius raised a brow at the action, but the sudden sounds of wire being strained caught his ears.
Suddenly he felt his arms bind to his body, his legs split apart at odd angles and his airflow cut off.
'Did all those blades have wires connecting them?!' He slightly panicked as the ability to breathe was stripped from him.
Without wasting a second, Matt charged at the man with those two short swords of his. A vein bulged on Lucius' head as his magic repelled and broke all the wires. The teen was sent flying and collided with the ground with a roll.
Lucius went to speak to the teen, but lost his words when he couldn't understand the euphoric smirk on Matt's face was there. That's when he heard it.
Drip
'No.'
Drip Drip
Lucius slowly turned his head to the right.
Drip Drip Drip
One of those short swords was now impaled into his arm. It wasn't a major wound, the blade only about a half-inch in, but Matt had done it. He figured out the weakness.
"Man, talk about an annoying weakness to figure out." Matt stood and wiped the corner of his mouth.
"Your magic repels attacks with the exact neccessary force it comes at you with. That means if something of greater of lesser force hits you too suddenly after a repel, your magic can't counter it. No, I should say you can't figure out the neccessary amount of needed magic to counter it. I had to synchronize my attacks to cancel your initial repel and use that slim window to attack with something harder or softer."
That's why his wire attack worked yesterday. The man's magic was already set to Matt's direct attacks. Not a wire being shot out and exposed to much harsher wind resistance than solid metal.
"GAAAAHHHHH!!!" Lucius, surprising Matt, screamed and hollered in agony from the wound. Falling to the floor and rolling around, Lucius started kicking his feet out in pain.
'Is he that unused to physical pain? Or is it a psychological reaction?' The teen's eyes twitched in nervousness at the new side of the normally collected man.
Suddenly the screaming stopped as Lucius just stopped moving entirely, not even breathing. He silently stood and pulled out the blade, dropping it to the floor before deeply inhaling and exhaling.
"My sincerest apologies for that unsightly display. I hadn't expected to be wounded after all these years." The man sounded sincere in his apology, but also somewhat exhilarated that the teen had found his fatal flaw.
Matt remained silent as the man did this. His observational skills being used to their highest ability to try and figure out the man in front of him, but to ultimately no avail.
"Now then, how about your remaining allies join us instead of hiding in the hall. Quite rude to have one individual fight me while the rest watch." His usual jovial demeanor returned from what it once was.
"I'd say it was more having faith in him than leaving the kid to the sharks." Yoru smirked as she walked next to Matt.
"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence "fearless leader"." The teen rolled his eyes.
"I apologize Matt-dono, but I assure you we would've rushed in if things got bad." Jura apologized as he stood with his comrades.
"Aw, did you miss me already?" Ultear teased the boy as she walked in.
"Don't know, ask me in another five years." His words caused Ultear to pout a bit.
"He is a strong opponent y'know. Nothing bad about wanting good Intel before going in." Siegrain shrugged as he finished off the group.
These five are all that remains of the initial group of ten.
"Looks like everyone is here." Lucius clapped his hands together. "How wonderful."
"Jura and Ultear stay back and bombard him. Yoru, Siegrain and I will be the main attackers." Matt instructed the group who all nodded in response.
"Hoh? Telling your enemy the attack plan right in front of him. Awfully confident aren't you?" The green-haired man teased the teen.
"Nope." Matt popped the p. "We just wanna kick your ass rea~ly badly."
As he finished speaking, Yoru immediately appeared in front of the man and went for a kick. As she was repelled, Siegrain charged forward with Metor. Lucius dodged the bluenette as Matt swung a blade swirling with energy at him.
Lucius raised his arm and pushed the blade away into the ceiling. Matt held on and spun midair, he kicked off the ceiling in a smooth motion and continued the attack.
"Useless-" As Lucius spoke, the floor beneath him audibly cracked, causing his gaze to shoot downwards.
"Go to hell!" The obscenely potent magical attack crashed into the man.
Ultear and Jura had combined their magics to make the floor directly beneath the man extremely brittle. Lucius was smashed through dozens and dozens of floors by the attack as a pillar of smoke emitted from the hole.
"Did that do him in?" Ultear walked over to the hole.
"Somehow, I think we're far from done." Yoru scowled, her sharply trained gut not letting up on the danger level.
The building then suddenly began to shake violently. Cracks quickly spread all over the remaining glass panels of the room and the support pillars.
"Oh shit." Matt realized what was happening. "We need to get to the ground. Now!"
"Why?!" Siegrain stumbled as the building was now rumbling at an immense level, causing the group to nearly fall.
"Because that bastard is gonna bring the whole building down!"
Everyone realized the weight of those words as Matt quickly ran over to the nearest window. He grabbed a nearby chair threw it at the already weakened glass, shattering it easily.
"Come on!" He waved the other four over and summoned Red-Eyes. The Fairy Tail Mage hopped on to his dragon, soon the others followed suit as the building quickly toppled to the ground. A pillar of dust almost as high as it was kicked up into the air.
"I think all we did was piss him off." Ultear spoke in legitimate shock over this absurd display of power.
"Okay, does anyone have some kind of mega attack that could maybe take him out in one hit?" Matt spoke as the dragon circled around the remnants of the building.
"I think I do. But I need time to set it up." Siegrain nodded to the slightly older boy.
"Alright then, let's get to planing."
Lucius dusted himself off after removing that key tower. It was certainly integral to his plans, but he was past the need for it. The local media would handle the rest of the hard work if all went accordingly.
"Now then young hounds of the Council, how will you play your next hand?" He smirked and gazed up at the circling dragon above. It was just about nighttime by now, so the setting sun was elongating every shadow considerably, especially that of the toppled building and walls. Almost the entire city was blanketed in shade by now.
After a few minutes, the black dragon descended with the five jumping off of it and to the ground.
Matt immediately shot out a volley of swords at the man who repeated the same song and dance the duo had been doing. Except now wires were pointless since he knew how Matt used them. A change of strategy from the teen is what he expected.
As this was happening, Jura landed and began using his magic to propel large boulders at Lucius, the already broken earth serving as optimal ammunition. The man in question began dodging them manually. Even when the massive stone pillars shot up from the ground, he kept himself safe just with his physical abilities.
Though that proved much harder when the duo of Siegrain and Yoru began using these pillars as springs to launch themselves at him, making sure to hit at differing power levels each time and to follow the others attack immediately after. Every time Lucius knocked a pillar down in a dodged attack, it'd immediately reset itself. The earth furthur obscuring his vision of the mages causing this nuisance.
Through this method, wounds started appearing on his body. Simple cuts mind you, but these simple cuts were also some of the first wounds he's had in years. And much like a germaphobe being sick, his abstinence from pain made it all the worse.
Lucius hissed in pain as the speedy duo began to tear his flesh apart like a shredder.
'So they aim to kill eh?' He smirked. 'Good. Very good. However, they can't be the ones with that privilege.'
That's when he realized something, if Jura and Ultear were handling the pillars while Yoru and Siegrain did the attacking. Where was Matt?
"Scatter, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
The man's eyes widened as the ground beneath him erupted with silver petals. They carved into his flesh even more ruthlessly than the other two. He felt his body rise up with the ground beneath him.
"Not bad! But useless nonetheless!" He repelled the ones below him.
"I wouldn't say that." Matt smirked from the ground. As he had the torrent beneath the man at regular speed. The teen moved his hand and sent a different flood of the butchering petals above the man.
'Shit! Those can get faster?!' Lucius clicked his tongue.
"Heavenly Divide!" The greenette shouted as an immense force dispersed the flower petals around him.
To his shock, they then dispelled as Matt threw a series of thin blades at him. Like all the others, they were pushed away without issue.
The teen then dashed over to the man with another blade coated in his own magic power.
"Not this time!" Lucius' magic redirected the purple wave of magic power that came from the sword into the large tower's remains.
Siegrain managed to get in a good kick to the man's back while he was distracted, a solid cracking noise coming from the now broken rib. The pain was beginning to dull his concentration and awareness. After this, the bluenette was spontaneously pushed by Lucius' magic into a nearby building.
"Eat this!" Matt screamed as he fired off a volley of Cadabolg II arrows at Lucius.
Even with his redirecting and his position in the air, the man was still hit by the hot rubble the explosions kicked up everywhere. This once again proved enough of a distraction for Yoru to wrap her arms around the man's torso. They then began to fall towards the earth, spinning like a drill courtesy of woman.
'Oh crap!'
"Inazuma Drop!"
At the last possible second, she released the man and the earth itself gave way for his dunked body. Large slabs of broken ground shot up like shattered glass.
She landed with a flip and kept her gaze locked at the man. To no one's shock, Lucius stood back up after a moment. His head bleeding from that last attack, but more than capable of continuing the fight.
There was no time for him to attack as Matt charged him from behind. The man opting to manually dodge the sword swings. Jura got in on the action as he caused a pillar to smash into the back of Lucius. Though the damage was mitigated through minor applications of his magic, the man now needing to conserve magic power if he wanted that special part of his plan to be enjoyable.
Jura ran forward with Matt, each man flanking a different side of Lucius. He chucked a knife at the antagonist who easily dodged by moving his head. The Dark Mage then got in a horse stance with both palms facing Matt and Jura, and just as they were within touching distance.
"Almighty Gust!"
Matt and Jura were immediately pushed away. Lucius would've smirked, if not for the chains now binding his arms tightly to his body.
'When?!' The man soon realized Matt's knife throw was actually him passing a chain to the man.
"Haaaa!" Yoru roared as she closed in on him.
"Foolish girl, I already know how to repel you!" He cried our confidently.
"Wind Goddess Mode!" Powerful gusts of wind wrapped around her limbs like an armor and massively amplified her speed and attacking power. If one were to touch these winds, it'd be like sticking your hand into a blender.
Faster than a blink, Yoru was bombarding the man with punches that didn't even need to hit him. The sheer force of them causing the ground to shatter apart and smash into him.
The chains firmly held by Matt and Jura fell limp after the onslaught. This backfired though as they were suddenly pulled quite quickly. The two smashed into Yoru and were all immediately sent through a nearby wall with a swing.
"Nice trick. But unfortunately it won't be enough to kill me." Lucius wiped some blood out of his eye with a grin.
Matt kicked up a large slab of rubble and shakily stood, dusting himself off.
"Oh. I know that." He spoke bluntly between his quick breathes to the confusion of the man.
"What do you-" Lucius was seemingly interrupted by no one except himself. He couldn't move a single muscle in his body for some reason.
"Oh? What's the matter? Can't move big guy?" Matt smirked as Ultear quickly ran over to them.
Lucius saw this and looked around with only his eyes, only to realize he'd played right into their hands. Atop the pillars from earlier were large shards of glass that he'd broke by repelling Matt's attack into the building.
'That means...!' Lucius had heard Matt used blades that could bind people if they touched their shadows. 'They redirected the sunlight so my shadow would hit one!'
"Do it now Siegrain!" Matt shouted at the other teen who was currently atop the building he'd been so rudely smashed into.
The bluenette's stance widened as both his hands pointed downwards. As he raised his right arm, a massive black cloud formed above Lucius' head, unfortunately they only meant the man's shadow became bigger.
"True Heavenly Body Magic: Sema!" He shouted, causing a meteor to be shot from the center of this cloud.
Jura quickly put up a strong rock wall to shield the quartet from the resulting massive explosion and hurricane-like winds it kicked up. The island rumbled from the sheer force of the meteor diving into it.
After a moment, it settled into an eerie silence. Matt poked his head out from around the wall. At the bottom of quite the impressive crater, was the limp form of Lucius, his clothes shredded.
The teen scowled and slowly slid down the crater before landing next to the man. Matt saw he was still barely breathing and pulled out a sword to end this for good.
"Mother!" A young boy with messy green hair and tattered clothes approached a woman in the middle of a large ditch. His feet covered in mud as the torrent of rain practically flooded the land.
"Ah, my sweet sweet Carlo." Her voice was coarse and would make any listeners own throat hurt. She gestured for her son to come closer, the bullet wounds in her body staining her ruined maid uniform an unsightly red.
Her usefulness to her owner had been outlived with her body now a withered husk that could no longer work or bring pleasure.
He dare not hold her hand out of fear of it falling off or even shattering like porcelain. Her frailness at the level in which even a mayfly would hold pity for.
"Mother, please don't leave me! I don't wanna be alone! The people here are so mean to me. You're the only person that likes me! You're the only one who loves me!" The boy pleaded to his mother. Terrified of the prospect of having nothing in his life.
"Carlo." She warmly spoke and brushed the tears from his eyes, her arm quivering at the strain. "I was never meant to stay in this world forever. You know that."
"Of course I do!" He yelled between his sniffles. "But it's not fair! You would've lived forever in any other country!"
The woman gave out what was meant to be a chuckle, only for it to be more like a wheeze.
"It matters not my sweet baby." She smiled at him. "Please do one more thing for Mommy."
"A-anything you want!" The tears cascaded down his face without end, blending with the rain seamlessly.
"Live."
That was the final word she spoke before shedding her mortal coil.
As Matt went to remove the man's head, he suddenly felt a massive spike of magic power. Lucius' body floated upwards like it was ascending to heaven. Matt could've sworn he saw tears on the man's cheeks as he rose up.
Once he was above even the wall of this massive fortress, he spread out his arms.
"HEAVENLY CATACLYSM!"
Then it all went black.
Not far from where this battle was occurring, a young boy in a large empty room looked towards the direction of all of this. His body draped in lavish clothing worth millions, potentially billions of jewels.
"Toyo, you may make yourself known." The high-pitched voice spoke to the seemingly hidden man.
The familiar armored mage took a knee and bowed his head.
"Forgive me Milord, I just felt that massive surge of power and wished to make sure you were safe."
A giggle came from the boy.
"I appreciate the enthusiasm Toyo, but rest easy, this is a matter that won't storm the homefront… for now potentially." The brown orbs gazed over to the barely visible island far in the distance. It used to be far more recognizable with their recent renovation there, but that was just destroyed.
"Sit. You should also bare witness to this." The young emperor ushered the mage forward.
"What makes this so important if I may ask?" The man sat next to the boy, earning an amused chuckle from him.
"It's not every day you witness two devils dancing to the melody of death."
Matt slowly opened his eyes, darkness was all he could see. In terms of feeling, he felt nothing off outside the agonizing soreness his body felt. He placed his hand in front of his body and felt the familiar texture of cobblestone.
'Is this the ground? What the hell happened?' The teen then used all his strength to push, his arms and legs working together.
Thankfully this was the only thing atop of him. Once it was removed, he dusted himself off and looked around.
"What in the world just happened?" Matt looked around and could only describe what he saw with a single word: destruction.
The entire city had been leveled, all the walls toppled and any sign of life being here was reduced to dust and rubble. A colossal crater was in the epicenter of this calamity where Lucius was seen on one knee. Breathing like his life depended on it.
Matt gazed around the ruins of the city, only seeing piles and piles of rubble and debris.
"Is anyone there?! Jura! Yoru! Ultear! Siegrain! Answer me damnit!" He shouted around in dwindling hope, his voice traveling far and reaching nothing.
Only dead silence responded to his pleas.
"You can't be serious…" He gazed around, the magnitude of what happened finally setting in.
"No." Matt clutched his hand.
"I can't give up."
He approached the center of the island and stood atop the crater. His gaze shooting daggers at the man who defied any sense of logic.
"So, you still live huh? That's good." Lucius sounded truly exhausted after that. "How fitting that the King is the last one standing in a land without any subject's." He bitterly smirked and stood, his eyes slightly widening in shock as he looked at Matt's own. "Though given those eyes of yours, you resemble a Demon more than a King." A chuckle escaped his lips. "I suppose they are two sides of the same coin though."
Matt's fist clenched tightly enough to turn his knuckles white as Lucius met his gaze.
"Alright then… if this is all just some game to you." The teen threw his hand back.
"Lucius! I challenge you to a fight to the death!" He roared at the man who looked dumbstruck for a moment at the teen's words.
"Heheh. Hahahaha. HAHAHAHA!" His hand covered his eyes as he laughed, not as an insult, but in genuine amusement to be challenged to a game of death by the very king of them. His plan had finally entered the part he so wished to see done with just to two of them, the perfect development.
"Very well! I accept your challenge!" A smile of excitement rose upon the man's lips. "But let us do away with meaningless titles and masks! Our true names and our pride as magi shall do all the speaking!"
"Lucius" cast aside his tattered shirt and coat to reveal a body coated in scars clearly caused by beatings and whippings of a countless number. Chunks of flesh had been ripped from his back, like a knife had carved out the wounds. Burns, bullet holes and a large variety of others scars also decorated his flesh.
"I am Carlo Divinia! A slave who is no longer chained!"
Matt reached up and threw aside his own tattered upper body garments, showing his own scars and telling his own story.
"I… am Matthew Percival Conrad! A stranger from a far away world!"
Carlo's stance widened as he raised a hand to Matt.
"To the victor of this battle: the title of hero! And whomever falls shall be known as the villain in this story!"
Matt drew a card and raised it high, it gave off a blinding light as a the silhouette of a massive dragon was downcast over the former slave.
The mighty and proud beast was of a pure, untainted white color with an icy-blue gaze that struck primordial fear into all that gazed at it. It gave a mighty ear-splitting roar, as it to let the very heavens themselves know it has arrived, and it shall spare no mercy to its enemies.
The teen summoned a blade and took a stance, his gaze never breaking with Lucius' own.
Time slowed to a crawl as nothing else mattered to these two other than the person right across from them.
The dragon charged a sphere of energy and fired it at Carlo.
Just before he could block it, Matt suddenly appeared in front of him and drove his foot deep into the man's gut.
The teen the quickly dashed away as Carlo was consumed by the attack from Blue-Eyes. However the man practically flew away as he glided along the ground, unharmed from the endeavour.
Blue-Eyes continued to fire off attacks at the greenette. He raised his hand and deflected them into the ocean. Massive pillars of water shot into the night sky from these attacks.
Carlo took to the very skies as Matt tried to shoot him down with his bow. This attempt at offense was easily countered though, so Matt upped it. Well over a hundred weapons appeared around the teen as they all fired with a flick of the wrist.
"Haaaaaaaaaaa!" Carlo's magic caused the rubble to rise up as entire buildings were raised up as a manual defense. The man was not taking any risks with Matt now, his secrets exposed and easily exploited by the teen.
Realizing his opponent could play the distance game much better than himself, Matt took matters into his own hands. Leaping onto the back of the mighty dragon, it shot towards the man, blasting apart his improvised defense.
The greenette grinned ear-to-ear as he dashed around the island, picking up more and more rubble as he went, amassing a small army of destroyed buildings.
Carlo shot up high into the air, directing the torrent of stone towards the dragon.
"Don't slow down no matter what!" Matt ordered as the beast didn't falter in the face of the attack.
Matt shot out a series of blades into the larger pieces of rubble, the impaled steel detonating in a massive explosion shortly after contact. The massive cloud of dust obscured Carlo's vision as he barely dodged Blue-Eyes biting him in two. Though he noticed the absence of Matt far too late as the teen's heel, covered in an odd black and white light, shattered Carlo's right shoulder and collarbone, spiking him to the ground almost instantaneously.
The dragon followed up with its own attack, consuming the spot their enemy landed with a blue sphere of devastation. Matt grabbed onto the flying monster and kept his gaze locked below, ignoring the sharp pain in his heel now.
"Dodge!" Matt barked as a stream of rubble flew directly at the duo.
Fairy Tail's young mage held in tightly as the dragon rolled in its dive to the earth, he blindly fired weapons in the general direction of Carlo without rest. Matt leapt off in the face of an entire chunk of the island's wall being launched at them.
He created a bow as large as his body just over his head, his arm mimed the motion of pulling back the massive sword being used as an arrow. The axe-sword elongated and became a new breed of destruction as it was shot out at speeds that sound would gape at.
Without any effort, the wall was torn asunder by the arrow as it dived into the earth, erupting into a fireball that rivaled Matt's first attempt of genuine damage to the dark mage yesterday.
His free fall continued even when he spotted the manically grinning form of Carlo. He clicked his tongue and moved his hand oddly. Matt's body spun and landed on a moving mass of the the intact blades he'd shot out, it coiled around the sky like a snake.
"HAHAHAHAHA! More! Show me more Matthew!" Carlo cackled as he dodged the assault from the flying artillery unit.
The mass of the flying tornado of blades decreased as it shot itself at the green-haired man relentlessly. Carlo quickly acted and caused massive eruptions of land to come up beneath the teen, making him abandon his air superiority.
Blue-Eyes shot a beam of concentrated energy at the man, his magic causing the attack to carve into the ground. A massive explosion of power shortly followed in its wake, running the length of the island.
While this was happening, Matt charged in at the man, his blade overhead and itching for the former slave's blood.
"Predictable!" Carlo cried out as he prepared to counter.
What wasn't predictable to the man was Matt shattering into a million pieces like glass.
By the time Carlo realized it was an illusion, it was too late.
"Now burn in hell!"
A dragon of flame engulfed the man and pushed him around the ruins of the city in its maw. He barely kept the flames at bay, but felt his skin burning from the heat alone. The man was dragged into the sky by the flame construct.
The snake dispelled in time for Blue-Eyes to finally score a hit on the man. That wasn't entirely it though, as a colossal wave of magic power practically coated the entire sky upon contact with the hunk of flesh still suspended in the air.
Matt breathed heavily as he had difficulty staying on his feet, the heel he'd hit Carlo with aching with pain.
"You were holding out on me." Carlo smirked. The skin on his forearms was completely burned along with a large portion of his torso. Most of his exposed flesh was now covered in burns and dust.
"What can I say? I'm full of surprises you bastard." Matt grinned between his dry heaves.
"Well guess what?" The ground around Matt began to rumble as the debris of the massive tower was lifted high into the air, massive piles of dirt and dust falling off of them. "So am I."
With a wave of his hand, the rubble of the skyscraper was shot out at Matt far faster than the other times before it.
"Tch. No choice." He clicked his tongue and drew two more cards. "Merge my dragons!"
The light coming from the card in his hand was blinding. When it settled, a new card of ten stars was in its place.
"Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
A massive dragon with three heads appeared behind Matt. The power it gave out would stun almost anyone that gazed at it, as even its sheer size towered over its one-headed counterpart.
"Tri-Burst of Calamity!" He roared the order out.
The three heads charged their own colored attacks and fired them all out at once, the free attacks merging into one.
"Unison Raid by itself?!" Carlo screamed in shock.
What was rubble before was reduced to absolute nothingness by this attack. The beam shot so high into the sky one could see it from entire countries away.
Immediately after this, the dragon was desummoned and Matt fell to a knee. Not even a minute of that Dragon being out pushed him to the brink of blacking out. His gaze at the ground was unfocused and full of black spots, his body unsteady and losing strength rapidly.
The noise of something colliding with the ground harshly extended Matt's ability to remain conscious as he slowly looked up in disbelief.
"Oh come the fuck on." He groaned in exasperation.
Carlo was barely standing himself. One of his arms was entirely gone, not even a stump remained of the appendage everything up to the armpit was eradicated.
"Magic is amplified in power should the user sacrifice something. It took my arm and several organs to barely block that attack. You have my praise King, I doubt even a Wizard Saint could push me that far." His voice was coarse due to all the flames that had boiled the saliva in his throat. The man coughed up blood quite profusely, clearly having to sacrifice important organs to sustain a strong enough defense.
Matt stabbed his sword into the ground and used it to stand. His body shook at every minute movement, all his muscles ached in immense pain.
"As reward for reminding me why I fight, your death shall be quick and painless." He raised a large piece of rubble up above Matt, his tone somewhat overextended. Like he was stalling.
'Damn. Move damnit! You'll die if you don't move!' His mind roared at his body that was barely responsive.
"Farewell King." Carlo waved his hand down. The massive slab went to crush Matt.
That is until it was suddenly shattered apart.
"Man oh man kid. You're gonna be the death of my y'know?" Yoru grinned as she stood in front of Matt.
"Yoru…" He gazed at the woman and noticed something quite distinct. "Y-your arm." What should've been a right arm was now a stump just below the shoulder. Dried blood and pitch black skin on the remnant painted the grisly image of what happened.
"Huh? Oh yeah, that thing got crushed by some rubble. So I cut it off." She spoke nonchalantly at Matt with a shrug.
Carlo, while caught up at another survivor appearing, failed to dodge a pillar of stone smashing itself into his chest. He coughed up even more blood as he collided with a pile of debris a ways away.
"I apologize for my tardiness." Jura appeared beside Matt.
"Heh. Good to see you still standing buddy." Matt gave a small smile to the man.
Jura grinned at Matt, "Likewise my friend."
"Okay, so what the hell is this bastard made out of?" Siegrain rolled his shoulder as he joined the group, his clothes tattered and body cut.
"Don't know, but it's starting to get on my nerves." Ultear sighed in annoyance, her clothes holding up just fine compared to her dirt-coated skin.
Matt sighed in relief as everyone was still kicking even after that kind of attack.
"Right. So. Anyone else got any hidden super powerful tricks they wanna pull out?" Yoru asked the group with a hint of desperation.
"Well. I got one trick left to play." Matt sighed as he stood up straight. "It's still rough around the edges, and it hurts like hell to use, but with support and that bastards current condition, I think we can beat him if I use it in one last push."
"You sure you're good to go? You look ready to black out." Ultear expressed her concern at him.
"Not like we got any other options." He responded plainly. "Plus it's a full moon, so while not ideal, it's the second best option."
"What, you gonna turn into a werewolf?" Siegrain joked to the teen.
"Nope. This is considerably different. Just watch and get ready to attack." He exhaled deeply.
Matt dispelled the sword and tilted his head up. He then breathed in extremely deeply. To the shock of everyone, the light around his body and beyond just... vanished. He was completely invisible, a sphere that made one think of the dark matter in space surrounded him. Sweat beaded down his head rapidly until he finally stopped, becoming visible again immediately.
Matt coughed up some blood into his hand, "Goddamn! Feels like my lungs are gonna pop!" He got control of the pain in his chest, his other hand clutching his chest.
"Matt, are you?" Jura spoke in revelation of recognizing that specific kind of move.
"Nope. This is something new." He smirked and began to walk forward, a rush of adrenaline keeping him going. "Back me up, this magic and my body are still working on the whole agreement aspect."
Carlo stood shakily and eyed the approaching teen.
"Still eager to fight? I admire your persistence." He bitterly chortled.
"Sorry, but this ends here." He plainly spoke to the dark mage.
"Oh? How do you plan to accomplish this?" He raised a curious brow.
Matt raised his arm and pointed at the man.
"I see, so you'll mock my lack of an arm and point at me to death. I'm shaking in my tattered boots." He chuckled sarcastically.
"Light God's Baldur."
A laser of white energy with a black outline shot from his fingertip and easily pierced the shoulder of Carlo. The skin on Matt's fingertip sizzled and turned black where the spell fired.
The man needed a few seconds to recognize what had just happened. But when he did, it was immediate shock.
Faster than his neurons could even fire, Matt drove his right fist into the ribs of Carlo. The man vomited up the contents of his stomach and an surprising amount of blood from the now likely crushed organ.
His body violently skidded across the ground. Tearing his flesh from the bone and then breaking said bones. Unfortunately for him, Matt was in front of him and kicked him in another direction, the mixed-colored light wrapped around his body.
A barrage of hits littered the older man's broken body as Matt kept up with the speed he was moving. An axe kick drove his skull straight into the earth.
Matt grimaced harshly as he felt his body scream in pain. Not exactly easy moving faster and hitting harder than what your body is even remotely used to. Especially when you're already beat to hell and are on the brink of blacking out.
The teen was shot back and through a few walls of rubble by a retaliating Carlo.
Carlo's face was covered in a mask of crimson from the awful head wound he'd just gotten from the teen.
Jura immediately set to work as the ground beneath him rose up, dragging the man to the sky.
"Heavenly Body Magic: Zwergstern!" A large ball of fire appeared above Jellal and beams of flame shot out from it at Carlo, this heat far more tolerable compared to the earlier level he'd faced, but still unpleasant.
Despite repelling the attack, the ground beneath him collapsed as a series of strikes from the sphere broke down his already destroyed body after this.
Yoru in her lightning goddes form kicked a wave of electricity at him from high above. The force of this sending him crashing down the pillar faster than it could crumble.
"Light God's Bellow!"
A massive beam of black-coated white light destroyed the area Carlo would've landed in. Matt violently coughed as blood fell from his mouth, the esophagus torn from the force. He was pushing himself far past his limit, and his body was begging him to stop.
Matt happily would have if this bastard wasn't the goddamn Terminator.
"ENOUGH!!!" A massive wave of force came from the man. No where close to the one that destroyed the city, but it definitely wasn't a slouch.
Matt dashed back with his shoe rune and wiped the blood from his mouth with a finger. Once the attack was done he rushed forward and drew a rune in the air with said blood.
"Try this asshole!"
A torrent of powered up flame shot forward at Carlo who used the rubble to block it. Matt was now within ten feet of the man.
Another rune was drawn with blood. This one kicked up a tornado of wind that sucked up Matt and Carlo and expelled them high into the air.
'Thanks for the tidbit about magic getting stronger with sacrifice. Blood is a pretty useful amplifier.' Matt smirked as the man beneath him once again used a large sphere of force to launch the teen higher into the sky.
Ultear and Yoru sent volleys of attacks at Carlo who had to focus on those nuisances with his magic. This allowed Siegrain and Jura to launch a platform to Matt.
The teen cocked his right fist back as he felt his foot touch the platform he'd been specially delivered.
"Light God's..."
With all the remaining strength his legs could muster, he launched himself off of the platform at a breakneck speed towards Carlo. A ball of the odd light gathered around Matt's fist.
"Not so fast!" Carlo went to block the attack. That is until a staff that was thrown and broke his remaining arm. His gaze fell to the heavily wounded form of Sarutobi's summon, smirking maliciously at the man.
"Heh. That Monkey actually made it." Siegrain spoke, clearly impressed by the summon making it this far without dispelling.
With his concentration disrupted, Carlo was utterly helpless to this next attack. Matt didn't even notice the wide smile on the man's face.
"Judgement!"
Carlo couldn't even hope to dodge as Matt punched him as hard as he possibly could. Matt felt his arm practically explode on the inside from the strain, like everything inside the limb spontaneously erupted into pure agony.
The Dark Mage vomited out what had to have been the last of the blood in his body as he shot down to the ground. Massive slabs of earth shot up from the ground, truly exemplifying how hard the hit was.
Matt began to fall to the ground, unable to move anymore. Fortunately he was caught by Yoru and gently set down on the ground.
Siegrain slowly approached the body of Carlo. He went to kill him, but realized the man was already dead. Likely from Matt's punch caving in half his chest.
The youngest boy sighed in relief. "It's over."
"Di-Did we win?" Matt spoke in clear exhaustion.
"Looks like it." Yoru sat down and rested.
"Alright woo. Go us. Good job everyone, let's take 5." Matt unenthusiastically cheered.
"Minutes?" Ultear questioned.
"Hell no, hours." Matt quickly responded.
"I can agree to that." Jura smirked and sat on some rubble.
"Looks like you brats actually did it." The Monkey King spoke as he approached the group, covered in cuts and bruises.
"Can't believe you're still going." Ultear was clearly surprised.
"Heh. Don't underestimate Captain Sarutobi, even in death." Yoru bitterly smirked.
Gold dust began to leave the Monkey.
"Well, either way, it looks like I'm done here. Give Sarutobi my last regards." He smirked as he dissipated into nothingness, sparing a glance and smile at Matt.
Silence consumed the group for a moment as they took in the weight of their lost comrades.
That is until…
"You know."
Everyone's eyes shot open and turned to face the unbelievably standing form of Carlo.
"That was a very good punch." He weakly smirked as everyone tried to prepare for another fight.
However exhaustion had claimed them once the adrenaline passed, Matt was unable to even muster the power to move a finger, hell he couldn't even feel his right arm after that punch.
"How the hell?!" Siegrain exclaimed as he gazed at the caved in chest of the man.
"My magic is rather handy. I'm using it to force my remaining lung to move and my heart to beat. Nasty damage you did to me King." Blood leaked from the corners of his mouth uncontrollably as he praised the teen.
"It doesn't matter, you're almost out of Magic Power as it is." Matt scowled as he surrounded the man with weapons, his only option available.
"Indeed. I'm no longer able to fight, however that's not why I still stand." His words caused the group to look on confused.
"King, do you remember where our conversation before this fight occured?"
"A control room." He recalled.
"Correct, I assume you to also be an avid newspaper reader too. Recall a recent renovation undertaken by this country, Iceburg and Caelum."
Their eyes widened as they realized what happened.
"You broadcasted our conversation to the entire continent?"
Carlo nodded, "Yes. There was a reason I was especially eager to chat before fighting."
"That's all fine and dandy, but you got a reason?" Ultear glared at the man.
"It's a big world out there you know." Carlo started speaking and slwoly gazed up to the starry sky. "Lots of people with broken hearts and wills. Tell me, what happens when someone who breaks under the pressures of this world is still held together by this force against their will?"
"They'd be functional lunatics." Yoru slowly pieced together his plan.
"Indeed. So what happens if that pressure is instead relived with gifted hope?"
Matt realized where this was going. "You're gonna make yourself into a martyr to people who see themselves as oppresed. You intended to die here!"
The teen's words made everyone realize the gravity of this entire incident.
"Looks like the King figured it out." Lucius grinned, "There's a reason I needed you specifically, everyone else was just additional reinforcement. What better way to die than having the Poster Boy chosen by the Council do me in? That'll throw anyone that wakes up from my words wish to fight even harder. To rebel against this horrid world. My apologies for using you like that, but I'm sure you understand."
"Does that mean you held back you bastard?!" He raged at the man.
"My sincerest apologies, but I just couldn't bring myself to kill such fantastic mages like you all in such a barbaric manner like the guards or Councilman. Your dedication warrants that much respect at least." The man lowered his head in an attempted bow, though all he did was collapse to his knees weakly.
Matt's hand bled in pure frustration from his grip, anger allowing some movement. Even after all this hard work and training, even after hitting him with everything he had, this bastard that he thought he beat after all that work wasn't even going all out all along!
"You say your message and death will inspire others, but are you sure?" Jura questioned the man.
"Of course." He answered plainly. "People that are broken or feel like they don't belong crave a place to belong. Give them the right words and nudge, and they'll fight back against what they believe oppresses them."
"You're gonna send thousands off to die!" Yoru roared in anger at Carlo.
"Perhaps I will, perhaps they'll succeed regardless. I seek change, even if the blood of thousands must be shed, if it means preventing the suffering of tens of thousands in the future, then it's worth it." Carlo began to wobble as blood started to leak from his body once again.
"The ends justify the means." Ultear gazed away, unfortunately knowing where the man was coming from.
"Now then." He turned to look at Matt who looked at him in anger. "I truly apologize for insulting your strength by not going all out King, however rest assured I wasn't taking it easy on you."
"If you're trying to beg, it won't work." The teen scowled, his voice coarse.
"Oh parish the thought." Carlo waved his remaining hand side-to-side limply. "I want you to finish me off."
Matt's scowl deepened. "Why? So your whole plan can come full circle? Fuck off." He spat out.
"Heh." Carlo weakly chuckled. "It was worth a shot." His eyes bulged as he began wheezing. His magic running on fumes now.
No one dared finish him off. A slow death was the best they could do to try and quell their fury at the man.
"Good." He weakly spoke as his vision blackened. "Those eyes, will cultivate the future." Carlo's head slumped against his chest. "Forgive me mother...I...bro..ke...
.our...promi...se..."
At that moment, Carlo passed on from this world.
An ominous silence consumed the group as they kept their gazed locked on the corpse of their foe. His words echoing in their minds.
And there you have it ladies and gentlemen.
Welcome back everyone! I hope you enjoyed that bombastic chapter!
Matt and Co. vs Lucius was a very fun fight to write. I wanted to have a little bit of everything in there. The first half was far more technical and strategic while the back half was just more fun ANIME bullshit.
We also got to see Toyo again, along with Enca's Emperor, a young boy. He won't be a major character mind you, but I just wanted to add that extra dash of world building.
So Matt's "hidden" magic has been revealed, Light God Slayer. I don't think I kept it hidden well. As for why I picked that, future backstory fun. However Matt's future use of this magic will he very different compared to how any slayer uses their magic. We'll see in time, but don't expect this magic to make another appearance anytime soon.
Blue-Eyes has finally taken to the stage. My sharper eyed readers will notice a key detail that Ultimate Dragon is just 10 stars. This is because 11 stars are even more absurdly powerful, and 12 stars are taken up by 2 cards exclusively (they aren't hard to figure out).
We finally find out what Matt's actual name is. I felt it was only appropriate to have him say it at least once before uh... stuff happens in the next arc. Don't worry about it.
So. Lucius' plan. Effectively, the root of it was going to Enca's Lacrima tower since it would be the easiest to get to, somehow get the council to deploy Matt, have Matt talk with him and broadcast that, have Matt kill him, local media will handle the rest of the information distribution. Essentially Naraka, the 9 others, the stolen battleship, all of that was just consequences of him making sure Matt would be selected.
Ultimately, he wished to become a martyr so he could inspire the oppressed to unite. He understands the cycle of hatred well, so Lucius wished to alter it by becoming a symbol instead of a statistic.
Now in the off-hand chance he acidentally killed Matt, he would've had to figure out something entirely different. Legitimately he hadn't really planned on that, hence why he didn't just esplode everyone when they fougt him and why he stalled crushing Matt for Yoru to make the save.
But needless to say, our heroes lost. Sure they accomplished the goal of killing Lucius and the Dark Mages, but that was ultimately his plan too.
Next time, the epilogue where the consequences of this arc rear their ugly heads and we get a peek into some future battles that Matt will be facing down the line.
Until next time, I bid you all adieu.