December 30, 2020

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Dust II: Elysian Kingdom

Chapter 16 — Sense of Doubt

"I don't want to believe you're already leaving again..."

"I know, but I have to do this. We have to."

"You're right. I just.. have a bad feeling about what's waiting beyond that prison."

"Hey, don't worry. We'll be back as soon as possible, with Corbin safe."

"You all better come back safe."

"Of course-"

"Please don't use your bad arm if you don't have to. Oh, and keep your eyes on Fidget; you know how reckless she can get!"

"Okay okay..! C'mon, you can count on me."

"Just reminding you! I know you'll do great, Dust."

"..ust?"

"Dust!"

He quickly shook his head to break himself out of the trance, echoes of the earlier conversation from outside of Aurora Palace still lingering in his mind. "S-Sorry, I'm alright. Just thinking about what Ginger said this morning," he confessed to Fidget, who was watching him perplexingly.

Sanjin tried to console him. "Take it easy, Dust. There's no one here."

"It's not here I'm worried about..."

It was around early afternoon when the group had finally made their way back to Alcaeus Village and into its infamous prison, currently positioned outside of the double doors to the room where Dust confronted Toru. On the way there, Sanjin had informed Dust how his squadron helped free the remaining captives throughout the whole building, and how every one of the rogue soldiers had left their posts to flee the area, leaving the prison completely vacant and the town peaceful once more.

"Alright, let's move," Sanjin instructed. Fidget fluttered over to land on Dust's shoulder, and they nodded at each other before following the Moonblood commander through the doors.

An ominous silence awaited them as they entered the next room. Shattered glass from one of the device's tubes was still scattered across the floor, along with a good amount of pitch-black scorch marks from Toru's actions with Baelrah. While Sanjin started to make his way through the room at a regular pace, Dust walked with a much more reserved sense of awareness. He didn't want to take any chances; he couldn't afford to. Fidget slowly moved in to press against the side of his face, clearly feeling some similar anxiety.

Sanjin got up behind the device, and peeked down a thin passage before calling over to his allies. "Hey, it's down this way." Dust refocused his vision towards the Moonblood, and walked over to where he was standing at a quicker speed than before.

"This creepy hallway that leads to infinite darkness?!" Fidget exclaimed when Dust reached the opening at the back wall.

"Relax, I brought a flameless light," Sanjin responded. "My troops scoped out the area ahead as well; nothing surprising down there for a while. Although, I don't doubt there'll be some of those soldiers guarding whatever it leads to."

With thoughts of rescuing Corbin and finishing what he started with Toru filling his mind, Dust was feeling a little more confident at this point. "A few soldiers won't stop us."

Sanjin smiled. "That's what I like to hear! Let's get going," he gestured as he turned to lead the group forward.

The passageway was quite narrow, yet still wide enough for someone like Toru to run through it, even while carrying both a weapon and another person. As the group made their way farther down, the dark began to envelop them until they couldn't see what came next. However, Sanjin pulled out a flameless light torch from his bag while Fidget held a wisp of Nimbat magic in her hands to illuminate the area just enough. At the end, they arrived at a sizable hole in the floor, with a thin metal ladder against the outer rim.

"It goes down more?!" Fidget complained.

"This is as far as my troops made it. They said the warden just jumped down there in an instant; no way they would've been able catch up to him."

"No time to waste," Dust said as he clenched Ahrah in his hand, moved past Sanjin to grab hold of the ladder, and began descending. Fidget looked at Sanjin, who nodded back to her; they both could feel a strong resolve from their Sen-Mithrarin ally, and took his cue to follow. While they climbed down, the Nimbat hovered close with a magic wisp in hand to continue lighting up the passage.

At last, Dust felt his foot meet the ground, and he turned around off the ladder to find another darkened hallway in his line of sight. He cautiously stepped forward, only to be stopped by a hand grabbing his shoulder. "I'll go first," Sanjin insisted, to which Dust nodded in agreement.

Fidget perched on her friend's shoulder once again, and the Moonblood commander walked past him to start down the path ahead, flameless light in hand. Sanjin wasn't exactly the easiest person to read; Dust hoped that his comrade was brave enough to deal with what they inevitably would face at the end of the tunnel, but he could've just as well been keeping his own swirling emotions bottled up this entire time.

One thing was for sure: They all wanted Corbin to be alright.

The pathway seemed to go on forever, making constant twists and turns, but eventually the group came to another ladder. This time it led upwards, with no natural light shining down from above. Not hesitating for a moment, Sanjin began ascending into the unknown, and Dust quickly followed. At the top of the ladder was a closed hatch in the ceiling, which Sanjin put his hand on to try to open. To his surprise, it was not locked.

As the hinges creaked from the hatch door slowly lifting up, Sanjin first poked his head through at eye level to make sure there wasn't anything waiting for them—which it seemed like there wasn't—then opened it all the way to climb out. The Moonblood warrior looked around the windowless, torch-lit room, and was instantly taken aback when he saw the side walls lined with jail cells; some of them still housing the bones of deceased creatures.

"What is this..? Another prison?!" Sanjin exclaimed in disbelief.

Dust had just lifted himself out of the tunnel, seeing exactly why his ally was shocked. "It can't be..."

Still in a haze, Sanjin walked over to one of the cells to inspect it further. While the skeletons were mostly bare, there were a few remnants of familiar garments and armor on the floor, which led him to connect the dots in his mind. "No.. I-I don't believe it..." Walking over, Dust and his companions immediately knew what Sanjin had discovered. The Nimbat put her hands over her mouth in response.

"..My friend," Ahrah spoke up after a pause, "This may be hard to see, but we all knew what Gaius was doing. It is in no way your fault."

"Ahrah's right," Dust agreed. "This doesn't change our goal. We will hold Toru and his master responsible."

Unresponsive, the Moonblood let go of his spear to shakily grip the bars of the cell, falling to his knees. "Y-You don't understand.. These men weren't just my soldiers; they were my friends, my family.. If I knew there were more of them out there, I wouldn't have stopped until they were all saved!"

Dust kneeled down on one knee and put his hand over Sanjin's shoulder. "But you saved everyone you could have, and you did a remarkable job, Sanjin. The ones we lost are in a better place now, returned to the Life Thread. We won't let what happened to them be in vain."

"..I was already infuriated enough from what these people did to our kind. Now, I have even more reason to be," he concluded, picking up his weapon and standing back up at last. "Come on, we have to find Corbin."

As he started toward an ascending staircase at the other end of the room, Dust and Fidget looked at each other with concern, but followed shortly after to continue pressing onward.

The walls and steps of the stairway were made of concrete and clearly aged like the floor of the room before, with several cracks strewn about. Four flights of stairs later, the group came to a large wooden door that differed from the previous style of architecture. There was the faint echo of an eerie song filled with the sounds of a church organ, which sent a foreboding feeling through everyone present. With due caution, Sanjin pressed the side of his head against the door to check if he could hear anything else over the music, then slowly turned the doorknob when all seemed clear.

The next room was but a simple carpeted hallway, empty but a bit worn out, with more wooden doors on the opposing walls. Dust and Sanjin stepped through to carefully analyze where each might lead. The organ music continued to flow into their ears from the right, while a whistling wind could be heard from outside the door to the left. The door opposite from where they originally entered was locked.

Fidget held close to Dust as he cracked open the door where the wind was heard. Immediately noticing the higher elevation of their location, they were greeted with the sight of an overcast sky and the darkened silhouette of the Zenith Mountains in the distance. Looking to the west, they could see the very village they traveled through the underground passage from. "Wow, this is.. ominous," the Nimbat whispered.

"No kidding," Dust said under his breath, closing the door once again.

Meanwhile, Sanjin was occupied with the door on the opposite wall. "Whatever's making that dreaded music is definitely through here."

"Who could be making it though? And why?" Fidget wondered. "There's no way it's Toru."

"..But it might be his master." The others looked at Dust, perplexed by his suggestion.

"Seriously?" Sanjin pried. "He's playing so loud; does he want us to find him?"

"To be honest, I think so," he began. "I've been wondering since Toru took Corbin, that it feels like they were trying to lure us here, or at least me."

"But for what purpose? To try to kill you?"

Dust looked down. "Possibly. Although, Toru said that his master didn't want him killing me, but would rather take care of me himself."

"Well we won't let him! C'mon, this is our chance!" Sanjin resolved as he turned to put his hand on the door handle, but Dust quickly held him back.

"I appreciate the help, Sanjin, but let me go alone first. I won't lose anyone else I can prevent."

He gave a faint smile and nodded. "Alright, I understand."

"Wait and listen from here. I'll signal for both of you with a gust of wind if I need backup. Ready, Ahrah?"

"Of course," the Blade affirmed, "Let us waste no more precious time."

Fidget's ears drooped as she nuzzled against her dear friend's cheek. "Be careful, Dust.."

The entrancing song continued to resonate throughout the room, even as the door opened. It was nearly pitch-black on the inside, so Dust entered while only allowing the smallest amount of light to flow in from the hallway as possible. However, right when the door was carefully returned to its place in the frame, before Dust could even make out what the room contained, the music immediately came to a halt with a two-handed slam on the piano keys.

"Finally, you've arrived. I've been so sick of waiting."

Practically frozen in place, Dust took a deep breath and tightened his grip on Ahrah, then slowly turned towards the voice. Past a few rows of church pews, the sight of a massive pipe organ with burning candles stuck in a few of the pipes' openings came into his vision, back-dropped by three towering stained-glass windows reaching up to the ceiling. At the base of the instrument, sitting on a bench facing away from the door, was a bat-like figure hunched over the keyboard, his wings blocking most of his body.

With his hands still on the keys, he pushed the bench back as he stood up and turned around. "This is quite the surprise, seeing you in the flesh. I thought for certain that volcano claimed your life. You couldn't have simply stayed dead, could you? Your damned Moonblood magic sure is a marvel, I'll give it that."

The thoughts swirling in Dust's mind became a chaotic storm; he couldn't even think of where to begin. "..Tell me who you are," he finally demanded, refusing to comment on anything his enemy previously said.

He simply sighed before responding. "You may call me 'Lazarus'. Judging by how you found this place, I don't doubt you can assume more about me all on your own."

"You're Toru's master, and the one who corrupted the other Blades of Elysium," Dust played along. "Care to explain how you even discovered them?"

"Very good," Lazarus tauntingly commended. "It was simple, really. Knowing that your kind had failed to locate any of them for so long, we organized searches in the farthest reaches of Falana; places that no Moonblood was capable of traversing. The one I bestowed upon Toru was even hidden in the Everdawn volcano, ironically enough. A few sacrifices had to be made to acquire them, but all for the greater goal. Any other questions?"

Dust was mildly surprised he was being this cooperative. "What exactly do you have against the Moonbloods? Were you conspiring with General Gaius?"

He paused briefly then chuckled under his breath. "Haha.. Gaius was a fool. So blinded by his friendship with Cassius, and the belief you could come back to his side, that he lost complete focus on his mission, then at the peak of his weakness, he allowed you to deal the fatal blow. He deserved exactly what happened to him. Ah well, it's just as they say; if you need something done, better to take care of it yourself."

After hearing that Toru knew who Cassius was, it should've been obvious Lazarus did as well, but Dust was still shocked he was the one who brought him up. "Toru said that he idolized Gaius, always jealous of how close Cassius was to him. Is that what made you target him?"

"Precisely. His pure, unbridled anger that arose from Gaius's death made him the perfect candidate for my first corrupted Blade wielder. He was like a perpetually flowing spring of corruption just waiting to be harnessed."

"I see. Now I'll ask again; why are you so against the Moonbloods?" Dust pried.

Lazarus scoffed back at him. "I don't need to explain my life story to you, of all people. Even before either of our time, Moonbloods have always been a stain upon the earth, a defiance of the natural order, a congregation of underlings. Your kind disgusts me. I need no other reason than that."

As expected, Dust was not satisfied with his foe's hollow answer. He became aggravated, pointing Ahrah directly at Lazarus. "I don't know who you think you are, but too many Moonbloods and Warmbloods alike have suffered and died by Gaius's actions! I refuse to let that happen again!" Dust then made a backwards swing which sent a blast of wind at the door, signaling his allies. Sanjin instantly kicked the door open and ran over to him, with Fidget right behind.

"Ah, you brought reinforcements."

Clutching his spear, Sanjin stepped slightly forward. "You're the one who's behind this? Not as intimidating of a man as I imagined."

Lazarus tilted his head back, his golden eyes glaring at the warrior. "A Moonblood commander, hm? Enlighten me; how does it feel to know you've failed a countless number of your fallen comrades?"

That comment ignited Sanjin's latent fury. He yelled as he hastily rushed forward across the room to attempt an attack, but just as the tip of his spear was about to make contact, Lazarus conjured up a pillar of pure corruption from the floor that halted the strike in an instant. Sanjin fought to retract his weapon but to no avail; it was as if his spear was lodged in a solid block of stone.

"Oh please," Lazarus taunted, "I'm in no mood to entertain physical confrontation."

With the pillar still active, he thrust his arm over to his left, causing a burst of shadowy energy to impact Sanjin's body, sending him flying off the steps and onto the ground at the other end of the room. Lazarus dispelled the pillar right after, letting the warrior's spear fall.

"Sanjin!" Dust and Fidget called out in unison, the Nimbat urgently flying over to him. Dust followed her, kneeling down at his ally's side to check his condition. He hadn't gone unconscious, but was clearly fatigued.

Lazarus then turned his attention to Fidget. "Is that Nimbat your sidekick I've heard all about? Strange; my diminutive relatives had always been the pacifist type. Hard to believe she was even brave enough to abandon her tribe to travel with you."

"That's enough!" Dust interjected as he turned to shoot a gust of wind directly towards Lazarus. The bat raised his hand to block the attack with another pillar of corruption, but a portion of the gale made it through to strike his head, catching him off guard and causing him to slightly stagger backward. As he regained focus, he saw Dust lunging toward him with Ahrah at the ready. This time, however, he had ample opportunity to manifest a complete, wider wall around himself that Dust struck with all his might, the attack glancing right off. He continued slashing at the wall haphazardly while Fidget flew in to shoot a barrage of magic projectiles, both with no success of piercing it.

"What a nuisance," he mumbled, clearly unimpressed. He then pulled his hands inward and thrust them straight out again, causing two massive spikes to forcefully jut out from the corruption right into Dust and Fidget. A shadowy aura followed them as they flew through the air and smacked against the room's back wall. The corruption then gathered and swirled around their bodies, pinning them in place above the floor.

Holding onto Ahrah with the faintest grasp, Dust winced as he struggled against the mass of corruption that bound him, but it didn't budge; he had no choice but to endure the dark energy crawling all over his fur. "F-Fidget.. Are you alright..?"

Flinching, the Nimbat looked over to him. "I t-think so.. but.. this stuff is horrible! I-It feels like.. pins and needles times a thousand!"

"Ngh.. Just h-hang on!" Dust advised her before turning his head back towards Lazarus. What he saw was Sanjin, up from the ground at last, rushing at their foe once again. But before he could even reach his fallen spear, Lazarus sent out a dark cloud that stopped Sanjin in his tracks instantly, then slowly descended over his body. The warrior fought it for as long as possible, but he was gradually forced to the floor; down to his hands and knees for a brief moment until his whole body finally lay flat on the church's worn-out carpet.

There was nothing they could do. This power was unlike anything they had ever faced.

"Such disappointment. I think I'll take my leave," Lazarus announced, tossing a ring with a few keys attached to it across the room, then focused his gaze on Dust. "Truth be told, I wasn't ever planning on meeting you face-to-face, but Toru simply couldn't resist kidnapping your friend, so I guess this rendezvous was inevitable. You better go save him fast; no doubt Toru's growing quite impatient."

Still succumbing to the corruption, Dust's voice echoed throughout the room. "So that's it?! You're not gonna kill me while you have the chance?!"

Lazarus turned away from him. "Believe me… What I have planned will be far more satisfying."

He grit his teeth and struggled yet again as his foe moved towards a hidden exit at the back of the room. "I'll find you wherever you hide, I swear!"

"Is that so?" Lazarus countered, his back still turned. "This steeple is but one of our many strongholds scattered in the shadows. Good luck tracking us down."

With that, the creature vanished behind a curtain covering the doorway. Mere seconds later, every trace of the corruption dissipated, releasing Dust and Fidget from their places against the wall and allowing Sanjin to recuperate. Without any hesitation after landing, Dust bolted straight to the curtain-covered passage, throwing the cloth aside and dashing down the short hallway that followed. He thrust open a wooden door at the end, but stopped when he found there was no footing on the other side, only a sudden drop down the edge of the hill. The cloudy, darkened sky loomed overhead as the whistling wind rushed past him, with Lazarus nowhere in sight.

He dropped Ahrah to the floor and leaned his arm against the wall, hanging his head down and clenching his hand into a fist as he let out his frustration. "Damn it!"

Fidget heard his voice echo back down the hall as she came flying toward him, transitioning into a tiny hug after making contact. She rubbed her face against his, tears beginning to form in her bright green eyes as their feelings synchronized. "Shh.. it's alright, Dust," she whispered. "You did what you could..."

"I-I know," his voice escaped, noticeably shaken. "I just.. wish this wasn't so difficult."

"We'll find a way.. to stop him," Sanjin called to them as he appeared in the doorway, leaning on the frame and still somewhat out of breath. "There's no way a power made from pure corruption can't be countered."

Dust pulled himself from the wall and picked Ahrah back up before walking towards where the Moonblood soldier was standing, Fidget still perched on his shoulder. "..Of course, you're right. We have to continue recovering the Blades to stand any chance." When he came up to Sanjin, he offered his good arm. "Can you stand okay?"

The warrior pushed off the door frame, balancing on his own two feet well enough. "Seems so. You bet I still have enough energy to give Toru a piece of my mind."

"Same here!" Fidget chimed in.

Dust smiled wide. "Heh, glad to hear. I hope you're up for another fight too, Ahrah."

"I believe you know my answer," the Blade responded. "Let us make haste. Corbin needs us."

Back in the foyer, the group turned their attention to the locked door from earlier. Dust readied the newly acquired ring of keys and tried a few of them before one finally worked. The door creaked open, revealing a set of concrete stairs parallel to the opposite side where they first entered the church, no doubt leading to a similar cell block. Without a second thought, Dust began leading the group down the flights of stone steps to where they would meet with Toru once again. They were ready to end this; to reclaim both Corbin and Baelrah.

As soon as the room at the bottom of the stairs came into full view, Dust's vision immediately homed in on their captive ally Corbin, leaning against the bars of one of the farthest jail cells, his hands tied behind him and his head hanging down, clearly unconscious. Next to the boy, sitting against the back wall, was none other than Toru, his helmet on the ground and the Blade of Baelrah held across his chest.

"Took you long enough. Master Lazarus kept you busy?"

"What did you do to Corbin?!" Sanjin shouted across the room before anyone else could respond.

Toru sighed. "Relax, Moonblood. I gave him something to knock him out for awhile; he was much too feisty."

The conversation was sternly picked up by Dust. "..Let Corbin go and surrender that Blade of Elysium, now."

"Or what? You'll lose to me again?" Toru taunted back, to which Dust clenched his fists. "Here's my only condition; I want a one-on-one duel with the so-called Sen-Mithrarin, no tricks. But everyone else has to stand down and watch. If I win, you all become my prisoners."

"Why would we agree to that?!" Sanjin yelled. "You're outnumbered three to one; we could easily overpower you!"

"Hmph, as untrue as that is, you're not in any position to ignore my demands. If you don't comply with me," the soldier continued, flipping the Elysian Blade's edge to rest just under Corbin's throat, "this boy is dead."

Both Dust and Sanjin inched forward slightly while gritting their teeth, as Fidget gave her input. "Th-That's a coward move!"

"Call it what you want, but believe me, I won't hesitate."

The whole group could tell he was dead serious, so they'd unfortunately have to deal with this situation the way he wanted. Dust would have to fight the ex-warden yet again, likely until one of them was completely exhausted, and who knows what would happen after that. In his mind, Dust quickly went over the possibilities, concluding that he'd somehow have to get the upper hand on Toru for long enough to be able to restrain him, or else he'd never give up. After all, his goal wasn't to take his life; it just wasn't in his nature. He was never out for revenge, only justice.

"Alright," Dust finally announced, "I accept."

Toru grinned as he grabbed his helmet and got up off the floor at last. "Finally.. I knew you'd come around, heh," he said, spinning the Blade of Baelrah into a firmer grip.

"Stop talking and let's get this over with," Dust demanded as they slowly made their way to the center of the room. Per their foe's instructions, Sanjin and Fidget stayed back on the bottom step of the stairway, albeit rather reluctantly. However, they had the utmost confidence in their friend; their Sen-Mithrarin.

"Oh, I'm in no rush," Toru admitted, putting his helmet back on. "I'm gonna savor every second!"

As expected, Toru made the first attack, thrusting Baelrah forward in Dust's direction, prompting him to parry with Ahrah's edge as he stepped backwards. The spear wielder continued making stabbing moves, which Dust reflected each time. Though the attacks were swift, he was clearly just warming up. In between one of the strikes, a tiny flame sparked to life on Baelrah's blade, engulfing the entire head of the weapon. This caught Dust off-guard, especially when Toru switched to wider, side-to-side slashes, with bright flames trailing behind each swipe.

Naturally, fire worked in a much different way than wind. While both of the Elysian Blades could conjure these elements at will, as well as shoot concentrated blasts of them, fire had the potential to gather and grow, carrying a much more devastating and lasting effect, but wind dissipated almost as soon as it was released. Dust had no choice but to take a more defensive approach, otherwise he would definitely get burned from the flames that briefly lingered in the air after every move.

The hero quickly ducked underneath one of Toru's horizontal swings, then swung Ahrah upwards with a blast of wind following his path. This caused his foe's weapon to lift into the air, giving Dust ample room to bring his blade back down into Toru's armored body, delivering a strike powerful enough to knock him back. Toru surprisingly kept his footing, but Dust dashed forward to follow up on his onslaught, this time conjuring a wind gust in a wide, horizontal arc. The blast slammed into Toru with his guard still down, sending him flying into the back wall. Dust came to a halt not too far away, holding Ahrah firmly at his foe.

The ex-warden stumbled to stay on his feet and grunted from the damage he incurred. "Hah.. You're still pretty quick despite that injury..."

"Disappointed I'm not as weakened as you thought I'd be?" Dust asked rhetorically. "Strength is not only physical; it comes from my resolve all the same. That's something I'm sure you can understand."

Toru readied his spear once again. "Resolve..? No, that can't be it. Serving my master is the only purpose I have left; if strength came from resolve, I'd have exhausted you before this even started!"

With that, he leaped forward and transitioned into his signature pole vault, a string of flames expelling from the end of Baelrah's blade. As Toru flew overhead, Dust seized the opportunity by spinning around as fast as he could, creating a wind vortex that swirled so strongly that it diverted Toru's path in midair, launching him towards the jail cells on the side. The spear wielder saw what was happening, so he turned his weapon back around to face the wall. His blade made contact with one of the cell's bars, and Toru slid against it to perfectly cushion the impact, a screeching sound resonating throughout the whole room.

Despite the detour, Toru bounced back just as his toes touched the ground, aiming his spear directly at Dust, who stopped his previous move in time to block the strike with Ahrah's edge. The two Blades collided in a burst of fire and shadowy aura, some of the flames rushing past the hero's body, slicing through clothes and into his skin like throwing daggers. Dust clenched his teeth tight, forced to endure the pain as best he could. He then desperately grabbed onto Ahrah's hilt with both hands, in order to muster a slash to the side that overpowered Toru's forward momentum, causing both his weapon and body to stagger in the direction of the blow. In that opening, Dust switched back to one hand, bringing Ahrah into an uppercut with a razor-sharp gale following. The push of the wind thrust Toru into the air and against the jail cell's bars yet again.

Not wasting any time, Dust homed in on Toru, holding Ahrah at such an angle that when he came in contact with his foe's body, he effectively pinned him against the bars, with the handle of his Elysian Blade caught between his own armor and Ahrah's edge. The pressure that Dust maintained was so strong that Toru couldn't freely move his weapon, only minimally nudge it back and forth.

As Toru's shaking hands refused to relinquish Baelrah, Dust pried at him once again. "Still not giving up?"

"Ngh," the ex-warden grunted, "..Are you?!"

In a split-second move, Toru lifted his leg and kicked Dust in the abdomen, sending him flying to the ground and backwards across the floor. He then instantly jumped into the air to retaliate, aiming to come down right where Dust had stopped sliding, but the hero rolled out of the way towards the back wall just before the end of Toru's spear made the connection. It was then that he felt a sharp sting in his shoulder as he maneuvered, the pain from his injury finally catching up to him.

"I can't keep going like this for much longer," Dust thought. "It's now or never."

A ring of fire dispersed around the spot where Toru landed, standing slightly hunched over. He then turned his burning gaze directly to Dust, who was getting back up off the floor just out of range of the strike. The spear wielder leaped towards him to continue making stabbing attacks, but Dust jumped backwards in a zigzag pattern to dodge the moves, each time sending out a quick blast of wind which diverted Toru's movements, as well as quelled the flames that each of his stabs released. He could tell that Toru's strategy was growing more haphazard by the minute.

"That's it! Try dodging this, hero!"

Clearly frustrated, Toru stopped his tirade, holding Baelrah behind him to begin gathering an immense amount of flames around the entirety of his blade. Dust took a final defensive stance, quietly preparing his own counterattack, while Sanjin and Fidget's worry grew as they watched Baelrah's flame continue to accumulate to an enormous size. There was no way Ahrah's wind would be able to dispel that much fire in one move. They just had to believe Dust knew what he was doing.

With a spark of rage in his eye, Toru grinned wide before he flipped his spear underhand to bring the burning head of the blade in Dust's direction. He released the built-up flames at the point of the arc when his spear was parallel to the floor, the sphere launching forward and exploding into a swirling, horizontal vortex.

In the face of the bright flames coming toward him, Dust mustered all his remaining strength to swiftly carry out his last resort. He leaped back into the air as high as he could, then used Ahrah to send a huge wind gust against the ground, propelling him even higher. As the vortex came closer, Dust sent out another gale to re-position himself in the air, aiming his feet towards the back wall. Just before Toru's attack made contact, he pushed against the concrete while simultaneously slashing Ahrah backwards to launch himself forward again at such a speed that he soared high over the flame cyclone.

The blast hit the wall at last, but Dust was already far away from its range. Toru's eyes widened, unable to believe what his foe had done. Time seemed to slow down as he watched Dust fly over his head, readying his spear for a follow-up attack. However, Dust swung Ahrah below him as he passed by Toru, hooking onto his helmet. With a huge gust of wind following the slash, the ex-warden was pushed to the ground as his helmet was ripped off. Finally, Dust came down from the air and landed right on top of Toru's body, immediately pressing his knee against his chest, stepping on his arm, and pinning his other wrist with Ahrah's edge, totally immobilizing him.

"Sanjin! Quick!" Dust called to his ally, and he ran across the room to meet him, Fidget cautiously following.

"You piece of shit!" Toru screamed as he struggled to get up. "Your kind are all dead for this!"

Dust didn't even bother giving him a response. "Do what you will, Sanjin," he said when the Moonblood warrior came up to them. Sanjin looked down at Toru's exposed, scowling face with a fury in his eyes, resisting the urge to kill him right then and there as he lifted his own spear up above him.

He knew how Dust felt about that, however, so he chose the next best option. "I'll never forgive you."

Sanjin then took the other end of his spear and made a blunt strike into the side of the ex-warden's head, knocking him out cold. Dust sighed heavily and dropped Ahrah to the ground, relaxing his body in exhaustion.

"Finally, it's over... Let's get out of here."

[Phew, done at last.. I was planning to have two chapters posted this year but uhh I'm guessing you guys can understand why I didn't. This year has been crazy for everyone, but I'm lucky and grateful I'm still here and able to continue writing this fanfic. This is one of the most important chapters, so naturally it took longer to write; I think it might actually be THE longest one so far O: Anyways, I am very happy with how this one came out and I hope everyone enjoys it. In the new year I'm hoping to finally get some art done of the other characters in the story like Nadia and Toru, as well as a few scene pieces from both this chapter and previous ones, so we'll see how those go c: When they are done, they'll be posted on my art Twitter and DeviantART account, both MasterAvalon. Happy New Year and stay safe everyone~]