A/N: Dylan's (and Morgana's) ascent through the new and improved Golden Palace continues. There are only two out of the so-called "Four Pillars" left and Quintessus is looming up ahead.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything apart from my OCs. Anything that belongs to a third party is a property of that third party. Also, any OC created by another author that I'm using in LNWU (with the aforesaid author's/authors' expressed permission) is the property of that author. Obviously.
Chapter 199
March 19, 2012
Golden Palace Redux, Mayonaka
The seventh floor of the new and improved Golden Palace was crawling with Shadows almost as soon as Dylan and Morgana had arrived.
"Whoa! We've got more company! And it's not friendly!" Morgana blocked an attack from a Card Soldier.
Diego used Miracle Rush and Magarudyne on two different groups of Card Soldiers.
These Shadows had different Suits of cards ranging from Two to Ten, and had been dispersed with relative ease.
Dylan was facing down a group of Golden Snakes.
He leapt back from one of them and called on Nari no Okami to attack them. "Nari no Okami, BUFUDYNE!"
The Golden Snakes were incapacitated by the Bufudyne and eventually defeated by a combination of attacks by Dylan and Nari no Okami.
"We've got more incoming!" Morgana dodged an attack from a Golden Knight Shadow.
Morgana and Diego were busy pushing back the cohort of Golden Knights that were advancing towards them.
Dylan and Nari no Okami had gotten into a battle with a group of Golden Fuzz that were just joining the fight.
But they managed to punch through the Golden Fuzz and steadily take them down.
Dylan looked over at Morgana. "You need help with those Medieval Times rejects?"
"I think I can handle them just fine, but feel free to step in any time!" Morgana replied.
Dylan nodded. "Got it."
It had taken more time than they would have liked to defeat the Shadows that had ambushed them, but they managed to do it.
"I think we're doing well for time if it could be measured in this place." Morgana said.
Dylan shrugged. "Maybe. Then again, this would have been easier if we had a bigger team here."
"Or it could have been more complicated. You never really know how things are going to work out…" Morgana began.
Dylan kind of understood. "Right. And it's not as if Quintessus is going to care about dealing with anybody else apart from me."
"Because they'd get in the way?" Morgana wondered aloud.
Dylan's left eyebrow raised slightly. "Probably. Hell, you're on his shit list just because you were snooping around here before I showed up."
"Looking for treasure isn't "Snooping." It's part of what being a Phantom Thief is all about." Morgana retorted.
Dylan shrugged. "Whatever. We should probably get out of this room before any other Shadows start swarming in."
"Good call." Morgana agreed with this suggestion.
They decided that it would be a good idea to just keep moving.
After all, the remaining members of the "Four Pillars" might take a more active role in looking for them.
Which meant that they had to find them first.
….
They had gotten to a different room on that floor and found that one of the remaining Four Pillars was waiting for them.
This particular remaining member of the Four Pillars was tall and muscular, with neck length blonde hair and golden eyes. He was wearing white trousers with golden crosses on them and a white jacket with a gold trim over a blue short sleeved shirt along with black boots. Unlike Forlo and Egil, he had weapons on his person already. Specifically, swords.
"I'm sure you've already guessed who I am. I'm Albard, the Sword Saint. And I'm also one of the last two members of the Four Pillars." Albard was looking directly at Dylan.
Dylan rolled his eyes. "No shit, Sherlock. We've beaten down two of them already."
"You seem quite confident in your abilities. Maybe I should put them to the test?" Albard asked.
Dylan shrugged. "Fine by me. Then again, I should probably point out that I only beat Egil in a one on one fight. Forlo thought he could take on Morgana and I while also trying to play mind games with us. But it's your call…."
"I understand perfectly." Albard interrupted.
Dylan got into a fighting stance along with Morgana. "Fantastic."
Song: Daisuke Ishiwatari – Holy Orders III (Be Just or Be Dead) (Guilty Gear XX OST)
Albard unsheathed one of the swords that he had on him and shifted into a fighting stance.
"It's time for you to taste my blades!" Albard rushed towards Dylan and Morgana.
Dylan frowned slightly. "No thanks."
Morgana attacked Albard from the left while Dylan blocked him and counterattacked.
"Not bad. But you'll have to do better than that! NOLI ME TANGERE!" Albard exclaimed.
Dylan looked in the Shadow's direction. "Good thing I know Latin."
"I'll say." Morgana was smiling. Or, smiling as much as a bipedal anthropomorphic cartoon cat could smile.
Dylan had an idea. "I know it sounds obvious, but not use Physical Attacks because he'll just reflect them back at us."
Nari no Okami and Diego used Ziodyne and Garudyne in tandem before Nari no Okami followed up with a Bufudyne.
Albard was still able to take the attacks that were thrown at him and keep on fighting.
"That almost tickled! ODI ET AMO!" Albard was almost enjoying this.
Nari no Okami and Diego were hit with multiple sword slashes that drained health, or HP, from them so Albard could recover.
Dylan made an annoyed face. "Damn. Just when I thought that this was going to be easy."
"Don't worry about it. He's not going to be using that move forever." Morgana said.
Diego quickly used a Mediarahan in order to heal any damage that Albard had done with his last attack.
Nari no Okami used a Ziodyne on Albard before Diego followed up with a Garudyne. Both attacks hit him at almost the exact same time, sending him backwards in the process.
"I think it might be time to change things up a little… NON NOCERE!" Albard growled.
Dylan looked at Morgana. "I know what that means, but I'm not quite sure what it does."
"It reflects all magic attacks back at us." Morgana replied.
Dylan nodded. "That makes sense. I guess we'll just have to go back to using Physical attacks again, at least until he switches back to blocking them."
"Sounds good to me! Diego, MIRACLE PUNCH!" Morgana exclaimed.
Albard was hit with a Physical Attack from Diego before Nari no Okami followed up with a Roaring Blade.
Dylan watched as Nari no Okami started pushing Albard back. "Alright! Maybe we're starting to get somewhere!"
He attacked Albard at roughly the same time as Nari no Okami, backing the Shadow against the wall.
"Don't get too cocky! He's probably still got some tricks up his sleeve!" Morgana warned.
Albard unsheathed another sword and tried to slash at Dylan with both swords.
Dylan blocked Albard's slashes before counterattacking with Stormbreaker.
He quite literally carved through the Shadow's body with the axe before Nari no Okami slashed him with his nodachi.
Morgana and Diego attacked Albard from the right side.
Dylan noticed that Albard was leaning on his swords. "Either we're winning, or he's about to start transforming. And I'm really hoping that it's not the second thing…"
"I'm not done yet." Albard interrupted him.
Dylan and Morgana watched as bits of Albard's skin started to crack before falling off.
It looked like something was underneath the surface of Albard's skin waiting to break out.
Dylan winced at the sight. "That's just gross!"
"You've clearly got a way with words. It's such a shame that you might not be able to keep talking when I'm done with you." Albard retorted.
Albard's transformation had finished and he looked different, to say the very least. His hair had grown longer to the point where it almost down to his waist and his skin was blue and had golden lines running through it. Instead of there being multiple swords at his side, he was now effortlessly wielding a sword that was roughly twice the size of the swords he had been wielding before he had transformed.
Dylan looked nonplussed. "That doesn't look too impressive."
"Looks aren't the only thing that matter." Albard said.
Dylan grinned. "You're probably right. Then again, I'm not the one who looks like a Blue Man Group reject."
"Shut up! NOLI ME TANGERE!" Albard put up the block on Physical Attacks that he had used earlier in the fight.
Dylan slipped into a more defensive stance. "I think you need to take a chill pill! Nari no Okami, BUFUDYNE!"
Albard was hit with a Bufudyne and a Garudyne at roughly the same time before Nari no Okami followed up with a Ziodyne.
"Enough playing around! MORS CETRA, HORS INCETRA!" Albard exclaimed.
Dylan looked over at Morgana. "And that means what exactly?"
"It means that we've now got a limited amount of time to beat him." Morgana answered.
Albard switched to blocking and reflecting non-Physical Attacks, prompting Dylan and Morgana to commanding their Personas to just use Physical Attacks.
Nari no Okami and Diego attacked Albard from either side.
They were managing to push Albard back before the Shadow launched a series of counterattacks, including multiple hits of his "Odi Et Amo" skill.
Dylan managed to smash Stormbreaker into Albard's ribs while Morgana stabbed him in the leg.
He blocked a retaliatory sword slash from Albard before headbutting him. "Just give up already and quit embarrassing yourself!"
"You little shit. That actually hurt me. I can't believe it." Albard put his hand to his forehead and drew it back with black ichor on the fingertips.
Dylan quickly followed up with another attack. "Oh really? How about this!"
"ENOUGH! NEMO ANTE MORTEN BEATUS!" Albard used his strongest attack.
He quite literally exploded, releasing all of his energy in one huge burst.
Dylan and Morgana were thrown to the floor along with their respective Personas.
There was dust and smoke everywhere, but when everything settled, it was clear that Albard had used a suicide attack in order to try and defeat them. Luckily, that also cancelled out the timer that he had placed on their battle.
End Song
Dylan sat up. "Fuck. That really packed a punch."
"I didn't think he was going to do that. And, I think that just leaves one more member of the "Four Pillars" to deal with." Morgana was back on his feet.
Diego used a Mediarahan to heal their wounds before they went to go and find the way to the next floor.
There was only one more floor, along with one more obstacle left for them to confront, between them and Quintessus.
….
Albard's defeat and ultimate destruction filled Quintessus with rage.
Dylan, and to a certain extent Morgana, were far stronger than he had expected them to be.
It didn't make any sense.
"Lord Quintessus! They've made it to the eighth floor! Rathion is supposed to be on that floor, but…" A Shadow burst into the room.
Quintessus glared at the Shadow. "What?"
"He's not there." The Shadow answered.
Quintessus sat forward on his throne. "Where is he?"
"I'm right here." That was Rathion's voice.
Quintessus got up from his throne and walked down until he was standing in the middle of the room.
He looked around the room. "Shouldn't you be on the eighth floor?"
"I should be… But I just want to be sure that you won't interfere." Rathion's voice was growing closer.
The doors opened and Rathion strode through them.
Rathion was taller than Quintessus and was more muscular than he was. He had blonde hair with red streaks in it styled into a mohawk and golden eyes. The Shadow was wearing a black leather jacket with spiked shoulders over a black t-shirt with red stripes, ripped black jeans with a studded belt and steel-toed black boots with skulls on them. There was also a gold chain around his neck and gold rings on his fingers.
Quintessus looked him directly in the eye. "Forlo, Egil and Albard all believed that they could defeat Dylan by themselves, but they still failed. Why exactly do you think that you'll do any better?"
"What's that supposed to mean? Are you finally going to step up?" Rathion asked.
Quintessus smirked. "It means that you might not be strong enough to defeat Dylan. Which means…"
"That you might as well just destroy me and save him the trouble?" Rathion got in Quintessus' face.
Quintessus took a step back. "That's precisely what it means."
"You don't sc…." Rathion was about to say something but he wasn't able to get the words out.
Quintessus clenched his fist and drove it right through Rathion's stomach. "You should have feared me when you had the chance."
Rathion dropped to his knees and dissolved into a strange black substance that flowed towards Quintessus until he absorbed it into himself.
He could tell that Dylan and Morgana were close by.
In fact, they were extremely close.
A/N II: I was going to have a big knock down, drag it out brawl between Dylan and Rathion but I thought that it would be too predictable. Plus, there's about 8,000 words or so over two chapters and the next chapter is going to be fairly long. Which means that I wanted to spend more time writing that chapter as the big fight between Dylan and Quintessus as opposed to having a big fight at the end of this chapter leading into the next one. My sincere apologies if that's "Short-changed" anybody who's still reading, or indeed following, LNWU.
