It only took the group a few minutes to make it to the throne room of Hardhaigh Palace and as soon as they all got their Morag went over to a communicator and immediately started calling up several people.
"General, this is the Empress Morag calling. I need you to get the troops ready at once. I'm going to need all divisions on stand by." Their is a brief pause as the general speaks on the other line. "You are given permission to use the teleporters. Get the troops ready to deploy for Gormott immediately. We can expect Exodus to attack within the next three days so prepare the men." More talking on the other side. "You are permitted to make use of the titan weapons. Is that all?" A pause. "Good, get to it." Morag messes with the knobs to change the communicator to a different receiver as she dials it up. "Gormott division this is Empress Morag speaking. You are all to evacuate immediately. Exodus has just declared Gormott his next target. The military branches are to begin preparation immediately. Exodus is confirmed to strike in three days. If Gormott needs any resources for the evacuation or for defending then I shall provide what is necessary." Their is talking on the other side of the line. "Yes, the Ardainian military is on it's way over to provide support. They should be arriving soon." More talking on the other side. "If that is what you require then I shall have it sent with the military when they arrive. I wish you all the best. May the Architect be forever in your graces." Morag hangs up before quickly turning to Tora. "Tora, are the Mass Produced Artificial Blades ready to be deployed yet?"
Tora quickly thinks over the numbers before replying. "Currently have around five thousand Mass Produced Artificial Blades ready. Should have another one thousand by the time Exodus strikes." Tora informs Morag.
"That is not nearly enough." Morag scowls slightly.
"Tora only been mass producing for week, can't expect to make such large amount in so little time." Tora argues.
"I know that, it just doesn't sit well with me. Not one bit." Morag sighs.
"It ok Morag. Tora know you just stressed." Tora reassures Morag as he gives Morag a pat on the back with one of his wings.
Their is a sudden quietness between all of them as none of them want to bring up what just happened.
Rex is the first to say something. "I guess... we'll just have to fight them huh?" Everyone turns towards Rex. "Exodus really put us in a sticky situation this time. It's either save everyone else, or stop Exodus." Rex sighs. "I can't let all those people die. I just can't. I don't want another Cliffs of Morytha to happen y'know?" Everyone know's exactly what Rex is referring to and they all sport grave expressions on their faces. Although Jin doesn't know he makes an inference based on the implication.
Nia decides to speak up about something that has been bugging her about everyone who was revived. "Did you all notice? They were all still dead."
The whole group turns their heads and look at her in confusion. "What do you mean? They looked as alive as you and me." Zeke points out.
"I mean I wasn't able to feel any life coming out of them. One of my minor abilities I got from becoming a pure flesh eater was the ability to sense all life. However, I couldn't sense even an ounce of life coming from any of them." Nia cups her hand under her chin in a thinking posture.
"So what are you getting at?" Morag questions.
"What I'm getting at is this: They are dead, yet they have bodies that are perfectly healthy in the sense that they're not decaying or anything like that."
"That's fine and all but what does that have to do with your observation?" Rex wonders out loud.
"Think of it like this. I am able to revive people who had just recently died right? What if I attempt to revive all of them? My theory is that if I can revive them then Exodus will not only no longer be able to control them, but we can have more allies to fight alongside us against Exodus in the future."
Everyone looks at Nia with surprise at the thought that their old allies could be brought back. "That just might work!" Rex exclaims.
However, Pandoria brings up a valid point. "But how are you going to revive all of them? I doubt Exodus will just have all of them bunched together in one area. He even said that he's gonna send them to three different titans."
Tora suddenly perks up as an idea pops into his head. "Oh! Tora have solution!" The nopon jumps around. "Tora turn Nia's new ether into thick jelly like substance and place in syringe. Once friends defeat zombies just inject syringe into crack in core crystal and voila zombie is unzombiefied." Tora pitches to the group with confidence.
Nia snaps her fingers and looks over to Tora. "Hey that could actually work. Good thinking Tora." Nia praises the furball.
"Meh meh meh. Tora always big brain smart." Tora exclaims with pride.
Rex suddenly brings up another good point for all of them to think about. "Guys this still leaves one major problem." Rex closes his eyes. "Exodus himself. How do we deal with him if all of us are going to be fighting them? As it is we have to deal with Malos and Amalthus as is and I wouldn't be surprised if Pyra and Mythra can still turn into Pneuma. Those are all major threats as is, but having to deal with Exodus on top of that? I just see no way any of us can deal with him." Rex informs in dismay.
Everyone becomes saddened at the reminder that Exodus is still a major threat. However the door opens and they all here someone begin to speak. "Worry not littlepons, Soosoo help out their." Everyone turns their heads to see Soosoo enter the room with Tuplia in samurai form towering behind him.
"Grampypon?!" Tora looks shocked at seeing his grandfather offer to fight. "So, Grampypon finally going to use Tuplia?" Tora frantically questions. Soosoo simply nods his head.
"It time for Tuplia to do what she was made to do." Soosoo pats Tuplia.
"Are you sure about that Professor? I'm not sure how strong Tuplia is, but I'm not sure how long she'll last against someone like Exodus. Especially if it's a one on one." Morag warns the old nopon as she remembers back to the last time she fought Exodus in a similar situation.
Tuplia shifts her focus over to Morag. "Your Majesty with all do respect, are you aware of the reason the Professor built me? Or what I'm made of? Or for that matter what my title is?" Tuplia questions Morag.
Morag wasn't expecting for Tuplia to have such a response but still answers honestly. "No I am not. Care to enlighten me?"
"I am built from the technology that was apart of the world tree. After the world tree's collapse the Professor went out to sea to dig around for old technology that still functioned. My technology is by far the most advanced out of any robot to ever to be built. I was designed for one purpose and one purpose only." Tuplia pops open her face covering so she can look at all of them. "To destroy all Aegis'. That is my title after all. Tuplia: The Pinnacle of Technology and the Aegis Buster." Tuplia brandishes her Nodachi as everyone looks on in surprise at this revelation.
"The Pinnacle of Technology?" Nia wonders.
"The Aegis Buster?" Rex looks stunned.
"GAH! Big sister is so cool!" Poppi shouts in excitement as she walks up next to Tuplia and hugs her leg.
"Not as cool as my adorable little sister." Tuplia pats Poppi on the head.
"Take it from me friends. Tuplia is very strong. She manage to thrash Poppi and Lila quite easily." Tora points out to the rest of the group. "Tora have confidence she at least slow Exodus down."
"Thanks for the confidence Tora." Tuplia sarcastically replies.
"Sorry, did not mean to sound negative." Tora rubs the back of his head with his hand.
"So Tuplia will fight Exodus then? What about the rest of us?" Nia questions.
"I think me, you, and Jin should take on Pyra and Mythra. If my hunch is correct then they can definitely turn into Pneuma. If they do that, I don't think any of you stand much of a chance." Rex informs them. "I know them the best, so I should be able to fight them. Plus Nia and Jin are both pretty damn powerful. I think Pneuma is by far the biggest threat out of everyone."
"If you three are going to take them on then who will take on Malos? His ability to destroy anything could easily do any of us in. Besides Nia's healing I don't see anyone else being able to take him down." Morag points out.
"I'll take him on." Everyone shifts their attention to Zeke. "Me and Pandoria can do it."
"Are you sure Zeke? He could easily kill you if he hits you." Nia warns.
"That's where you're wrong kiddo. The Eye of Shining Justice can counter his ability to destroy anything. All I have to do is make sure my eye absorbs the ether off his attacks to prevent him from killing me." Zeke points out.
"But Zeke, that's still incredibly risky. Are you sure you want to go through with it?" Rex worries for his friend.
"Don't worry chum, I'll be fine." Zeke waves Rex's concern off.
"In that case I'll face down Amalthus." Morag declares.
"That scoundrel is a formidable foe your Majesty." Brighid comments. "He was able to take on both Pneuma and Jin at one point."
"That may be true, however I think that our new power should be able to take him on in a one on one fight." Morag explains.
"Haze will be a problem for anyone who uses blades and due to her not really being much of a fighter I'd assume Minoth will probably protect her." Mikhail points out.
"Let Tora and Poppi deal with them. Tora beat them up real good." Tora throws some punches in the air with his wings.
"Guess that leaves me to take on Akhos and Patroka." Mikhail comments. "Makes sense. I know how those two fight pretty well and I guess I can take responsibility for dealing with them." Mikhail smirks. "Pluuus I get to talk with Patroka more."
Morag closes her eyes. "This does however bring up an important question." Everyone turns to face Morag now. "Should we revive everyone?"
"I know for certain that Pyra and Mythra will help us out." Rex offers.
"Haze is also innocent, as is Minoth." Jin also offers.
"Akhos may be over dramatic and Patroka may be a bit sour, but I think they would be willing to help if Jin is with us." Mikhail throws his own hat in the ring as well.
That only left the two that were the hardest to justify.
"I believe Malos will help us." Rex states out loud. Everyone minus Jin looks at Rex in shock.
"Are you crazy chum? That guy was hellbent on destroying the world last time around. What makes you think he'll help us this time?" Zeke questions.
"Don't you all remember? Five years ago at the end of his life Malos said how he regretted what he did. He felt bad for his actions deep down. Plus it was Amalthus who molded Malos into that mind set to begin with so it's not entirely his fault." Rex tries to justify.
"I must agree with Rex. I was around Malos more than anyone and I know that deep down he was a truly scarred man. If we are able to turn him then we will have a second Aegis fighting with us. If you don't want to think of the morality behind it then think of the logic behind it." Jin states his case.
The overall opinion on whether or not Malos should be revived is making the whole room tense.
"Ultimately this decision is up to you Zeke." Jin directs towards said person. "Seeing as your the one fighting him it will ultimately be your decision on whether to give him a second chance or not."
Zeke just gets a tired look on his face. "Really laying the big decisions on me, eh Jin?" Zeke sighs. "I don't know, I'll have to think about it."
Morag speaks what's on everyone's mind. "That only leaves one person left... Amalthus."
"We'll leave that up to you as well." Jin comments plainly.
"In that case don't be surprised if I don't spare him then." Morag plainly replies to Jin.
"If that is what you choose to do then very well." Jin responds back.
"I believe that will conclude this meeting for now. However do not be surprised if we end up having more meetings until the day of the attack." Morag informs everyone.
With that everyone begins to file out of the throne room one by one as they split off to do their own things.
Over the course of the next few days Morag continued to monitor the army and its activities to help protect the people of Gormott. The evacuations were done over a course of two days and most of the people have left Torigoth to hide in the upper lands away from the impending invasion. The army was still being set up outside of the capital and the Mass Produced Artificial Blades were being flown in every day to also be prepared for the upcoming battle. Morag additionally told the other nations to evacuate their capitals for the upcoming exterminations that Exodus' retainers were going to commit. With some reluctance the other regions complied and evacuated the people out as well. During that time Tora was able to extract Nia's evolved ether and concentrate it into a thick paste like substance to which he filled eight syringes up with said liquid. The syringes glowed a bright and magnificent green making the syringe look more like a glow sticks more so than a medication. Over the course of those three days Rex barely learned how to properly duel wield as he finally nailed down how to constantly change his ether points. Although he wouldn't be able to hold it as long as or as well as Morag it was sufficient enough for Rex. On the third day a large mass of ether signatures were reported marching across the land of Gormott as it was aimed dead for the capital. Upon hearing this Tuplia immediately used the teleporters to go to Gormott and begin setting up her plan to fight Exodus. About a few hours later the security systems of Tantal, Uraya, and Leftharia picked up on eight large ether signatures. Upon hearing this report Morag calls everyone into the teleporter room to give them the rundown on where each of them would be fighting.
"We have just gained word that The Eight Retainers have made landing on Tantal, Uraya, and Leftharia just as Exodus had said they would." Morag turns her head towards Tora and Mikhail. "Tora, Mikhail; your targets have made landing in Uraya, more specifically in Fonsa Myma. Remember that both on you need to take two syringes each to revive Akhos, Patroka, Haze, and Minoth."
Tora walks up and grabs his two syringes. "Poppi hold on to them."
"Roger Roger!" A chest cavity opens up and Poppi places the two syringes inside her chest before it closes back up.
Mikhail walks up and also takes his syringes and lightly shakes it to see the liquid slosh around. "Cool." Mikhail keeps his on his side near his fans.
"You three go on. The teleporter is already set for Fonsa Myma. I wish you three good luck." Morag salutes them off.
"Friend don't need to worry, Tora be back lickity split." Tora then faces Poppi. "Come Poppi! Off to save friends!"
"Aye aye Masterpon!" Poppi grabs Tora as the two charge right into the teleporter.
"Guess I'm off to. I'll miss you, your highness." Mikhail winks at Morag.
"Focus on the mission Mikhail." Morag simply states.
"You're no fun." Mikhail pouts before he walks into the teleporter.
"Next is Theosoir in Tantal." Morag begins putting in the coordinates as she continues talking. "Malos and Amalthus have both landed their. It will be up to me and you Zeke to take them down." Morag grabs her own syringe and pockets it in her coat.
"This is going to be the most difficult fight I've had yet. Fighting an Aegis one on one." Zeke grabs his syringe and places it inside his own coat as well. "Might as well take this off now." Zeke takes off his eyepatch and places it in a pocket on the inside of his coat. "I'm off." Zeke begins walking towards the portal. Right as he's about to walk in he turns around to face Rex and Morag. "I wish you all the best of luck my chums." Zeke strikes one last dramatic pose before going into the teleporter followed by Pandoria.
After Zeke enters Morag quickly begins to type in the coordinates for Fonsett Village in Leftharia. "That only leaves you three. Rex, Nia, and Jin; you all will be fighting Pyra and Mythra in Fonsett Village. You lot have the most arduous enemy to face. Take these." Morag hands out the two syringes which Rex pockets. "Good luck." Morag salutes them off.
"Thanks Morag." Rex turns towards his two blades after he closes his eyes. "Nia, Jin; it's time." Rex opens his eyes with a fierce determination on his face. "It's time to save our friends!"
"I shall accompany you all the way Rex." Jin stoically responds.
"There you go acting all heroic again." Nia blankly states before she begins to grin. "I'm with you all the way."
With that the three head into the teleporter as well. Afterwards Morag puts the coordinates back in for Theosoir and heads off as well. The stage has been set for the battle of Elysium!
Uraya- Fonsa Myma- Ports
Once Tora, Poppi, and Mikhail teleport over to Fonsa Myma Tora immediately gives Poppi the command. "Poppi, activate QTπ mode."
"On it Masterpon." Poppi transforms and the three head out. It wasn't long before the three made contact with their targets. The group saw Akhos, Patroka, Haze, and Minoth all walking around the abandoned city of Fonsa Myma.
"Ughk. This place is giving me the creeps." Patroka comments in disgust.
"What were you expecting? Of course they would evacuate. It's the only logical thing to do." Minoth stoically responds.
"I didn't ask for your opinions old man!" Patroka haughtily bites back.
"Oh come now Patroka, that's no way to treat an ally." Akhos joins in on the conversation.
Patroka frowns at Akhos as she puts her hands on her hips. "I don't need to hear your mouth either Akhos."
"You are aware that our opponents are already here, right?" Haze suddenly responds causing the whole group to stiffen up and get into attacking formation.
"How many?" Minoth asks as he aims his guns around ready to pull the triggers at any moment.
"I can only sense two. One is definitely Mikhail from the feel of it, as for the other one... it feels like a... nopon?"
Realizing they've been caught Mikhail quickly whispers to Tora. "I'll get Patroka's attention and have her and Akhos follow me. You take out Haze and Minoth got it?"
"Tora be sure to give blades nasty thrashing." Tora responds.
"Just remember, not too hard. We still need to save them." Mikhail warns Tora.
"Tora know. Now get out their and cause distraction." Tora whisper yells.
As Mikhail runs out to distract Akhos and Patroka; Mikhail mutters under his breath: "Geez I come up with the plan then he bosses me around." Mikhail sighs. "Oh well, watchya gonna do Mikhail?" Mikhail runs out in the middle of the street and slows down to a walk about twenty feet away from the group of zombified blades. Mikhail puts on a seductive smile as he looks towards Patroka. "Hey Patroka! How about you stop trying to kill everyone and try going out to dinner with me instead." Mikhail winks to begin enraging Patroka.
"Seriously Mik?! At a time like this? What. Is. WRONG. With you?!" Mikhail can sense that Patroka is getting angry so he continues on.
"Oh come on Patroka! You know you're just following orders and being controlled by Exodus anyways. Not like you could say yes or no if you wanted, since Exodus is controlling you and all."
Patroka is starting to go red with anger. "I'm nobodies puppet! You take that back Mikhail or so help me!"
Mikhail knows exactly what to say to bring it home. "Ooooooohhh~ Patroka is getting angry!~ I LOVE it when you get angry~ Come on show me more!~"
"GAAAAGGGHHHHKKKKK! DAMNIT MIKHAIL! NOW YOU'VE PISSED ME OFF!" Patroka brings her Bardiche up and begins to run towards Mikhail as Mikhail begins to dodge her swipes and begins running deeper into the city.
"You've gotta try harder than that if you want to hit me Patroka~" Mikhail continues to taunt as Patroka continues to be lured away.
"Hey! Hold on Patroka! Don't get separated from the group!" Akhos yells as he runs to catch up with his sister.
"Wait Akhos! Not you too!" Haze yells in a futile attempt as Akhos is already out of sight.
Seeing his opportunity to strike Tora runs out of hiding and ready's his sword to slice at Haze.
"Haze! Get down!" Minoth sends a barrage of bullets over Haze as she quickly ducks down and moves over behind Minoth. Seeing this Poppi gets in front of Tora and erects an ether barrier which blocks the bullets. Haze then tries to restrain Poppi with her staff but finds that she is unable to.
"Wait a minute. I recognize you. You're that nopon that's in Rex's team." Haze identifies. "Although I don't know who your blade is. I only seem to remember your blade being a little girl from what I can recall."
"How blade lady not remember Tora? Tora is world's first artificial driver!" Tora cries in despair.
"Poppi quite sad that Fan la Norne not remember me." Poppi wilts her head at being forgotten.
Without a word Minoth tries to send another barrage of bullets at the two and yet again Poppi erects another barrier. Out of the bullets emerges Haze who gets up super close to the barrier and smashes it with her staff which shatters it. Before Haze can follow up Tora launches the sword from between Poppi's legs to try to stab Haze in the leg. Haze jumps over the attack to which Poppi brings her left leg up and in one swift motion roundhouse kicks Haze away. Haze skids a few feet before ducking a punch from Poppi and rolling to the side so Minoth can unleash more bullets upon them. Poppi and Tora both run off in opposite directions and hide behind some sets of crates to avoid getting shot. Haze walks back up and rejoins Minoth.
Haze shouts so the two can hear her. "I must admit. That was one nasty kick you gave me." Haze winces for a second before she begins to slowly heal herself with her ether. Haze turn to Minoth and quietly warns him. "My blade suppression isn't working on her. She must be an artificial blade."
Minoth sighs at this. "Looks like we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way then." Minoth changes his guns into knife mode as he slowly creeps up to the set of crates that Tora hid behind. Without a sound Minoth comes around the corner and makes a stab at Tora only to find that he's not their. "What the-"
Tora suddenly jumps down from the top of the crates and slashes Minoth on the back as Minoth quickly turns around to see Tora standing behind him preparing to thrust his sword at him. Minoth swiftly weaves between the strikes as he begins charging dark ether into one of his knives. Without hesitation Minoth releases the built up ether into a strike which Tora barely dodges. The attack was so close that it grazed Tora's clothes. Minoth quickly changes his other knife back into gun mode and begins to fire at Tora again. Tora begins circling around the set of crates they were fighting at but gets blind sighted by a smack on the head from Haze's staff which leaves Tora a little disoriented. Before Haze can land another hit in Poppi comes barreling through the street using her jets and grabs Haze by the throat in one quick motion. Poppi darkly states. "Don't ever touch Masterpon." Poppi then in the same motion throws Haze full force towards the walls of the Port which causes an indentation in the wall.
Haze coughs and gets out of the wall feeling the full brunt of that attack. Haze limps a little before she activates her healing ether to begin healing herself. As Poppi continues to walk towards Haze she neglects to see Minoth appear behind her and in one swift motion plunges one of his knives in Poppi's side before quickly jerking the knife to rip right through Poppi which leaves a nasty gash that starts too create sparks. Being caught by surprise Poppi tries to deliver a devastating elbow behind her only for Minoth to jump back and go back into gun mode and unload on Poppi. Poppi isn't quick enough and gets hit by a few bullets before she can erect a barrier. Not wasting any time Poppi flies right towards Minoth and begins unloading a series of strikes, kicks, elbows, and knees in an attempt to close the distance between the two. Minoth switches back to knife mode and begins blocking and parrying Poppi's strikes. The two are at a stalemate as neither can get the upper hand in this exchange of fierce blows. That is until Tora regains his bearings and attacks Minoth from behind. Tora ends up stabbing Minoth right in the back. When Tora does this Minoth's defenses are left wide open as Poppi unloads on him from the front. Tora swiftly pulls the blade out as Poppi finishes her combination with an uppercut which sends Minoth flying before he tumbles to the ground a few feet off.
This lets Poppi take a break for a moment. "Masterpon... did we win?"
"Not quite." Poppi turns around and gets smacked in the face full force by Haze's staff which leaves her groggy. Haze follows up by using the other end of her staff to bust one of Poppi's kneecaps which deals major damage but not enough to break it. Poppi tries grabbing Haze only for Haze to swiftly dodge to the right. Haze notices that as she's dodging that Tora is running up to her in her peripherals. As Tora sends a lunging attack at her, Haze simply sideways flips over it and uses the momentum from the spin to smack Tora in the back of the head with her staff.
"Masterpon!" Poppi shouts as Tora slumps to the ground for a few moments. Tora then groggily gets up bringing his blade into a ready position.
Tora spits out a tooth and looks dead serious. "Poppi, start using nano-machines to repair self. We in for long haul."
"On it, Masterpon." Suddenly what appeared to be a dark metal began to appear on Poppi's wounds but in reality were millions of nano-machines that began to slowly stitch new material in place.
"In that case I'll just do that as well." Haze raises her staff which emits a soft green glow which begins to heal Minoth. Most of Minoth's wounds are healed except for the wound in his back which only stops bleeding. Minoth then slowly gets up and joins back up with Haze.
Minoth quietly whispers to Haze so their opponents can't hear them. "How much ether do you have left?"
Haze thinks about it for a moment before responding. "About half left. How about you?"
"I still got about two thirds left." Minoth replies clearly thinking about something.
"Do you have a plan?" Haze questions seeing the look on Minoth's face.
"Yeah I do." Minoth keeps his eyes dead focussed on Tora and Poppi.
"Masterpon, Poppi think enemy is strategizing." Poppi observes as the wound in her side is nearly done being repaired.
"Don't worry Poppi, Tora is thinking of idea." Tora reassures his blade.
The two sides stare each other down for a few more minutes before Tora hands Poppi the sword and Tora bails behind some crates to avoid the incoming fire power. Although Tora seemed to be carrying something odd like a small black box that confuses Minoth and Haze. Poppi charges full throttle and begins to charge the two with a fierce assault of slices which Haze deflects using her staff to block. Minoth changes to knife mode and begins to combat Poppi along with Haze as they engage in a two on one. Minoth tries to strike at Poppi's back but Poppi side steps Minoth and swings her blade at monstrous speeds which nearly cuts Minoth's head off but he manages to pull up in time and at point blank range changes his knives back to guns and shoots Poppi. Poppi shifts her head and arms around to avoid the bullets as Minoth is too close to erect a barrier in front of her. As Poppi dodges the bullets something unexpected happens. Haze is standing right behind her and begins pouring her wind ether out in a gust of wind strong enough to make the fired bullets ricochet back around as Poppi is assaulted by gunfire from both sides. As Poppi can't dodge these attacks she begins to get impaled by bullets from both sides.
As Poppi begins to be riddled with holes Minoth stops shooting and switches his guns back to knife mode. "So long, robot." Right as Minoth is about to strike down and finish Poppi off his entire body goes completely stiff. "What the? How?!" Minoth is shocked that he is somehow being confined. Poppi takes the opportunity to blast Minoth with a full powered ether cannon shot which completely toasts him leaving him knocked out as he slumps to the floor unconsious. Haze is shocked at this development and tries to heal Minoth but finds that she can't.
"What is wrong... with my ether?" Haze looks down at her staff in confusion.
"Nano-machines." Haze looks up and turns her head to look at Tora who reveals himself to her from behind his hiding place. "Tora had brilliant idea of using Poppi's nano-machines as weapon against you two. Tora make sure to use nano-machines to get inside Minoth's body and close pressure points to prevent moving thus giving Poppi enough time to strike Minoth down. Tora use remaining nano-machines to plug up Fan la Norne's ether points to prevent from healing Minoth. Match set second you take eyes off Tora." Tora boasts out loud with wings on his hips.
Haze however doesn't give up. "I'm not done yet. Even if I can't use my ether, I can at least still fight you with physical combat."
"In that case, Fan shouldn't leave self wide open." Poppi quietly says behind Haze. Before Haze can even react Poppi delivers a devastating chop to the back of Hazes neck which completely knocks her out. As Haze begins to fall over Poppi catches her and lays her down gently.
"Tora think Poppi need these back." Tora begins typing on a tiny computer display he pulls out of his pocket and after a few moments the nano-machines begin crawling back into Poppi's body to begin repairing all the holes that now littered her body.
"Thank goodness Masterpon not give Poppi pain receptors or this would be very painful." Poppi comments with thanks.
"Of course, Tora not that cruel. Although Poppi does look like tasty cheese right now." Tora comments seeing all the holes in Poppi.
Poppi sighs and hangs her head in disappointment. "Is food only thing Masterpon think of?"
"It good motivator." Tora replies. "Now then let see if special serum work."
"On it Masterpon." Poppi opens up her chest cavity and pulls out the two serums which miraculously didn't break during that fight. "You know Masterpon, we be in high water if these broke during battle right?" Poppi questions.
"Oh nonsense. Even if did break Poppi can always use Nano-machines to repair syringes." Tora brushes off Poppi's concern. "Now to see if Nia's prediction correct." Poppi hands Tora the two syringes and Tora walks up to Haze. "Hope this works." Tora places the needle inside the crack of Haze's core crystal and begins to push down on the syringe as all of its contents are poured into the core. As the needle becomes emptier and emptier Haze's core glows brighter and brighter. Once the entire serum is drained their is a small eruption of ether that pours off of Haze's core crystal as it returns to a nice healthy blue. Tora makes sure to open one of Hazes eyes and sees that the sclera has changed back to white. "Yippie! Serum is a success!" Tora hops around. "However, no telling if Exodus still has control. Just have to wait and see." Tora then walks over to Minoth's body. "Poppi, if you would."
"On it." Poppi flips Minoth's body over. Tora does the same thing again with the same result.
"Poppi think this a big success." Poppi winks and gives a thumbs up to her driver.
"Tora agree!" Tora once more jumps up in excitement. The two eventually sit down and wait for the other two to wake up to see whether or not this was truly a success.
Uraya- Fonsa Myma- Middle of the City
'Alight, I've lead them far enough.' Mikhail turns around to face the pissed off flesh eater and her concerned brother. "You really want a piece of me that badly Patroka?" Mikhail reaches down and pulls his fans up into an attacking stance. "Then come and take it!"
"You bet I WILL!" Patroka charges Mikhail with a fierce lunge from her Bardiche to which Mikhail brings his fans up to block the attack. When the attack connects with the fans Mikhail immediately swerves the Bardiche to hit the ground beside him as he lunges past the Bardiche and aims his fans to slice directly at Patroka. Seeing this Patroka uses the length of the handle to pole vault herself over the incoming attack and uses the momentum to turn back around and deliver a kick too Mikhail. Mikhail seeing this brings his fan up to block the attack. Upon blocking Patroka uses the sudden platform to jump away from Mikhail which unsticks her Bardiche from the ground. While in midair Patroka swings the Bardiche which sends rocks flying out of the swipe. Mikhail continues to block the attacks as he brings his fans higher up. This leaves his mid section fully exposed giving Akhos the perfect opportunity to shoot Mikhail. The arrow is too fast for Mikhail to dodge as he is hit spot on in the chest which sends Mikhail skidding a few feet. The attack also caused dust to be kicked up as Akhos and Patroka look on in anticipation to see the state Mikhail is in. After a few seconds the dust settles and the two look on in shock as Mikhail seems perfectly fine.
"What?! You were unaffected by my arrow even though I hit you spot on. Just what are you made of Mikhail?" Akhos questions.
"What, you did't think I did anything all this time did you?" Mikhail smirks. "I've gotten stronger myself you know. Here, let me show you." This time it's Mikhail who goes on the offensive as he charges Akhos head on. Akhos tries to run and shoot arrows at Mikhail but Mikhail dodges the attacks not even bothering to block them. Before Akhos knows it Mikhail is upon him raising his fans up to assumedly attack him. What Mikhail does instead is chop down in front of him which causes a major updraft that sends him flying upwards about ten feet as Patroka comes crashing down into Akhos with her Bardiche. Akhos has barely enough time to bring his bow up to block the attack. The Bardiche ends up bouncing off of Akhos' Bow but ends up moving to the side and completely cutting the string on the bow.
"Aggh! Damnit Patroka! You broke the string. Now I'm going to need to fix it." Akhos sits down on the ground as he begins to repair the broken string.
"No! It's Mikhail's fault for dodging my attack!" Patroka tries to argue in vain. Taking advantage of this distraction Mikhail sends a torrent of black feathers at the two which Patroka sweeps them all away with one swipe of her Bardiche. "Like it would be that easy." Patroka flips her hair before charging back at Mikhail.
'Alright, I've got Akhos distracted. Now I can focus on Patroka and take her down as quickly as possible.' "Oh Patroka~ The red in your face is like the red of my passion for you~" Mikhail flirts with Patroka.
"SERIOUSLY?! We're in the middle of a battle!" Patroka again swipes at Mikhail to which he jumps away and begins running towards the entrance of Fonsa Myma while also sending barrages of black feathers towards Patroka. Patroka alternates between swiping and dodging the attacks as she follows Mikhail. Once at the entrance gate Mikhail stops, turns around, and lunges right towards Patroka. Being caught off guard by the sudden change Patroka erects a barrier to stop the attack incoming which cracks heavily under the might of Mikhail's swing. Right as Mikhail tries another one Patroka uses her earth element to force a rock out of the ground which off balances Mikhail giving Patroka a window of opportunity to stab Mikhail in the side of the ribs. Unfortunately for Patroka, Mikhail was a lot tankier than your average person as the lunge only cuts deep but doesn't completely pierce. Mikhail takes advantage of his disadvantage by punching the blade section into the ground and then stomping the blade deeper into the ground as it makes contact with the ground. Patroka is not able to pull her Bardiche out as Mikhail runs along the hilt and attempts to kick Patroka square in the face to which Patroka jumps away from her weapon leaving her temporarily unarmed. Mikhail then begins to charge at Patroka with his fans in an almost dance like manner as Patroka tries her best to weave through the attacks. Unfortunately for Patroka, the chaotic and unevenly timed hits this style had left her completely in the dark for what would come next causing her to get nicked by several of Mikhail's attacks. It only got worse as Mikhail started channeling dark ether into his fans which caused him to not only move faster but also cut deeper.
"You know Patroka, you're a pretty terrible dancer~" Mikhail taunts.
"SHUT IT!" Patroka uses her ether to force multiple rocks to pop up from the ground which throws Mikhail's footing off. This gives Patroka enough time to run back over to her weapon and with all her might pull it out of the ground. Yet again as Mikhail is tripping three arrows appear out of nowhere and hit him in his left thigh, ribs, and forearm. These attacks leave small indents in Mikhail's flesh but not enough to pierce him all the way. Upon seeing Akhos, Patroka runs over to him and slumps over in exhaustion.
"Patroka, are you ok?" Akhos asks seeing the state his sister is in right now.
"I'm... fine... just need... a breather..." Patroka pants out.
"In that case, I'll deal with him." Akhos pushes up his glasses as he aims his bow dead on at Mikhail. Akhos fires and Mikhail blocks the attack with his fans. Akhos then charges Mikhail head on and slams his bow into him which knocks the wind right out of Mikhail. Akhos then tries to uppercut with his bow as a follow up which Mikhail ducks and tackles Akhos to the ground. While Mikhail is on top of Akhos he tries to stab downwards with his fans to cut into Akhos but Akhos brings his bow up to hold the attack back. As Akhos struggles against the force that Mikhail is exuding an idea pops into his head. Akhos charges electricity through his bow which gives Mikhail a nasty shock. This dazes him for a moment allowing Akhos to smack Mikhail in the face with his bow which gets Mikhail off him. Running on pure instinct Akhos scoots back a few feet as he draws his bow to fire an arrow dead center at Mikhail. Once fired the arrow hits Mikhail dead on which kicks up more dust around them. As Akhos gets back up to his feet he fails to see the shot of concentrated dark ether that shoots out of the dust which hits Akhos dead center in the chest hard enough to send him flying out of the entrance of Fonsa Myma and into the rice fields in the front. Akhos feels pain all over his body as he looks up to see that the attack did some major damage to him as half of his armor seemed to be blown off from that attack and leaves a large dark spot on his chest which was an after affect of dark ether. He slowly gets up as his vision goes blurry from his glasses being knocked off. He sees his glasses on the ground and quickly picks them up. When he puts them on he curses his luck. One lens's is completely broken and the other is cracked. When Akhos looks up he sees that Mikhail is slowly leaving the entrance to follow after him. He sees that the attack he left tore the clothes around Mikhail's stomach region as lightning burns could be seen in that area.
"I've got to admit, you got me pretty good." Mikhail praises while panting a few times before he straightens up and brings a hand to his neck and a loud popping sound could be heard. "Ah yeah, that felt good." Mikhail groans as he pops his other joints before bringing his fans back into an attacking stance. "I'm ready for round two."
"Well I'm not..." Akhos pants out.
Mikhail begins to run towards Akhos. "Well too bad." Mikhail begins to swerve and slice with his fans towards Akhos as he sluggishly dodges the attacks. Unlike Patroka, Akhos has some experience in the arts so he was able to predict Mikhail's attacks a bit better.
'Damnit! He's too close. I can't get a shot off on him.' Akhos internally swears. Out of the corner of his eye Akhos sees Patroka coming down the stairs after them. 'Perfect! Come on Patroka, get this guy off me so I can shoot him.' Patroka begins to run at full force the moment she gets down the stairs as she jumps and lunges her Bardiche in a downward strike towards Mikhail.
"TAKE THIS! MIKHAIL!" Mikhail turns around and blocks the attack with his fans.
"You know you really shouldn't yell if you're trying to go for a sneak attack. Kind of ruins the point of one." Mikhail points out. Mikhail then changes the directory of the attack causing the attack to begins falling to the ground. As Patroka is falling closer to the ground Mikhail lariats Patroka square in the gut which knocks the wind out of her as she is yet again unarmed by Mikhail. Patroka tumbles back a few feet but before Mikhail can go after her Akhos shoots an arrow that pierces him through the back. Unlike his other arrows this one pierces all the way through.
'Crap... I let my guard down.' Mikhail internally criticizes. Mikhail turns around and sees Akhos preparing another arrow. Mikhail brings his fans up to block the attack. When the arrow makes contact with Mikhail's fans the arrow explodes which kicks up the water around them which gives Mikhail the time to duck into the rice fields and quietly sneak around towards Akhos. Akhos quickly points his bow back and forth waiting in preparation for Mikhail's next attack.
'Where are you Mikhail?' Suddenly Akhos hears a rustling in the fields and immediately turns around and fires an arrow. The hit misses as their is nothing their. While this is all going on Patroka unsticks her Bardiche and runs up to join Akhos.
"Where is he?" Patroka asks as she makes sure to cover Akhos' blind spot.
"He ran into the fields." Akhos informs his sister as he pulls back another arrow. "He's trying to play hit and run tactics."
"In that case, why don't we give him nowhere to hide instead." Patroka readies her Bardiche as she begins to quickly hack away at the rice fields which causes a rustle to be heard in the fields as if something was running away from Patroka's swipes. For a split moment Akhos sees a tuft of blond hair in the field and releases his arrow right towards the target. The hit is a success as Mikhail is sent tumbling a few feet in the fields as he hits the ground.
"I hit him!" Akhos cheers in triumph. What he doesn't expect however is when Mikhail's fans come spinning right behind him as they tear deep into his back. Akhos also falls over to the ground as he can barely stay conscious from how deeply the fans cut into his back. "That clever son of a bitch. He was the bait for his own sneak attack..." Akhos' head falls forward as unconsciousness takes him.
"Akhos!" Patroka turns around to see that Akhos has fallen unconscious and quickly goes over to check his pulse. "He's still alive, thank goodness." Mikhail begins to slowly get up as he quietly hides back in the rice fields circling around Patroka looking for an opportunity to strike.
'After that sneak attack I no longer have my fans on me. That means I would have to fight Patroka unarmed. In the current state I'm in that would be suicide. I need to think of a plan.' Mikhail thinks about it for a moment as he looks around. Mikhail spots a few stones that are simply laying on the ground. Upon focussing on them for a few moments Mikhail hatches an idea. Mikhail picks up a few of the stones and throws one off in a random direction. The stone soars through the fields as it hits a few of the crops which causes a slight rustle to be heard. Patroka's head immediately perks up as she listens closely to the rustling.
"Mik? You still out their?" Mikhail throws another stone. "Come on, show yourself." Another rustle. "If you don't come out I'm going to shred this entire field." Patroka threatens. Another rustle. "This is you LAST warning!" Patroka readies her Bardiche. Another rustle. "That's it! This whole field is getting leveled!" Patroka brandishes her Bardiche before slashing as fast as she could around the entire field as she begins to level it in an attempt to find Mikhail. Seeing that Patroka took the bait Mikhail quickly and quietly makes his way over to Akhos' body as he pulls his fans out of Akhos' back. Mikhail then quietly creeps back into the grass to begin sneaking up on Patroka as well. Unfortunately for him Patroka ends up cutting the crops he was hiding near which ends up revealing himself to her. "I've found you Mikhail." Patroka says in a dangerous voice.
"I knew you would." Mikhail brings his fans up and gets into an attacking position. "Let's finish this."
"I couldn't agree more." Patroka grins. The two slowly begin to circle each other as one waits to strike first. Patroka hunches forward with her Bardiche close to the ground while Mikhail has his fans hanging loosely to his sides. Patroka lunges her Bardiche forward which Mikhail blocks. Patroka tries a few more jabs with her Bardiche which Mikhail barely blocks. Patroka does something unexpected as she lunges the Bardiche past Mikhail and swings it to the side to smack Mikhail. Mikhail doesn't see this coming and gets hit by the attack. Patroka then runs around in an attempt for the blade section to slice Mikhail but Mikhail ends up ducking beneath the attack and does a leg swipe which off balances Patroka. In her dazed stupor Patroka gets sliced by one of Mikhail's fans on the side. Patroka pulls her Bardiche back so the blade portion is closer to her as she begins to furiously swipe at Mikhail in all directions in an attempt to cut him. She succeeds as several of her slices cuts into Mikhail even further. Mikhail suddenly throws one of his fans to the side as he begins to create an updraft to send Patroka's weapon aiming upwards. Patroka is confused by this as she brings the weapon down with monstrous strength which completely buries the blade section deep in the ground. As Patroka is focussing on unburying her weapon she feels a sharp pain hit her in the back as she now realizes that the fan that Mikhail threw earlier has just cut deep into her back.
"You should really pay more attention to what's right in front of you." Patroka turns back around only to be pelted with dozens of black feathers. Patroka's vision begins to fade as she leans all of her body weight onto the Bardiche to keep her standing upright.
"I lost?" Patroka questions as she slumps over onto one knee as she continues to lose balance. "How?"
"Simple. You let your anger cloud your judgement." Mikhail points out. "Maybe if you learned to love like yours truly you could've won." Mikhail smiles.
"I think you're full of crap." Patroka spits out as she collapses on the ground and passes out.
"Looks like I won." Mikhail spits out some blood. "Damn, I sure don't feel like a winner." Mikhail sighs as he pulls one of the syringes out and turns Patroka over. "Time to see if this really works." Mikhail injects Patroka's core crystal with the serum as he sits back and watches Patroka's core shine brightly once more. "Looks like it worked." Mikhail grins to himself. "I guess I should do the same for Akhos as well." Mikhail gets up and slowly moves back over to Akhos as he revives Akhos as well. After that Mikhail slowly drags both flesh eaters out of the fields and onto the main road as he collapses beside them. "It sure is good to have you two back." Mikhail smiles as he rests his head back and drifts off to sleep. 'I hope everyone else is doing better than I did.'
Tantal- Theosoir- Upper Levels
Once Morag teleports to the other side she sees Zeke and Pandoria waiting behind a wall in front of them. Zeke looks over and sees that Morag has just arrived. "Status report on targets."
Zeke motions for Morag to come closer so she can peek from around the corner. Morag complies and when she takes a peek she sees Malos and Amalthus both just walking around. "At the moment they seem to be looking for targets to destroy."
"Looks like we'll need to split them up." Morag closes he eyes in though.
"Agreed. However, how are we going to do that?" Zeke questions.
Morag peeks back around the corner and does a quick scan around the area before settling on the staircase that leads down to the lower levels of Theosoir. "We need to get one of them to go to the lower levels. That should create a big enough gap between them."
"I'm doubtful that you'll knock Amalthus down their seeing how heavy the blighter is." Zeke closes his eyes for a moment. "Looks like I'll just have to somehow drag Malos down their."
Morag thinks about it for a moment. "How about I shoot some water ether at Malos and you shoot your lightning ether at him? That should leave him stunned for a moment. Take that moment to strike."
Zeke nods his head in agreement to the plan. "Alright, let's do it."
"Damn would you look at that. Everybody left." Malos comments as his Monado is slung across his shoulder.
"I don't know what you were expecting. Of course these insects would cling to their worthless lives." Amalthus replies as his tentacles slowly slither around.
"I was still expecting at least someone to attack." Malos narrows his eyes as he looks off in a direction. Suddenly a large splash of water hits Malos in the back, which is immediately followed up with a shock of lightning which completely stuns Malos. "What the hell?!" Malos turns around to see Zeke charging at him head on with his sword raised. Zeke comes down on Malos with a fierce strike which begins to make Malos walk backwards as Zeke continues to strike and slowly push Malos back. Amalthus tries to intervene but when he tries to go help Morag suddenly appears in front of him and slashes at him with Brighid's rapiers. This leaves Amalthus grounded in place as Zeke continues to push Malos closer and closer to the edge. "Don't get cocky with me, bastard!" Malos tries to swipe at Zeke with his right hand as it coats in his destructive power but finds that it's power is sapped as Zeke activates his eye.
"I've got a few tricks myself!" Zeke grunts out as he slashes up which causes Malos to lose his balance. This in turn causes Malos to tumble over the edge as Zeke jumps down to continue their fight.
"We'll go take care of Malos, be sure to beat Amalthus." Pandoria yells towards Morag as she runs down the stairs to follow after Zeke in his fight against Malos.
"Ah I see now. You wanted to separate us and take us down one at a time." Amalthus laughs. "As if you could beat me. Zeke has even less of a chance against Malos."
Morag begins to walk towards Amalthus with Brighid's rapiers in her right hand and Aegeon's katana in her left. "I have the utmost confidence in Zeke to complete his half of the mission." Morag's ether begins to spike as dual wielding is activated. "You should focus more of your attention on me, Ex-Praetor." Morag's katana begins to secrete water as it encases the blade. Morag then points the katana at Amalthus while the rapiers go into whip mode and leave a magnificent blue flame behind the Empress as the flames create a shadow over her face so Amalthus can only see the cold seriousness in her eyes.
"And what will you do against me Special Inquisitor? I am the Architects holy messenger given flesh once more by one of his children. I shall not squander this opportunity to purge you heretics." Amalthus' tentacles begin to arch back ready to strike at any moment.
"I am no longer the Special Inquisitor." Morag runs right towards Amalthus as he strikes down on her with his tentacles. Morag jumps to the side as the tentacles smash into the ground leaving a massive crater. Morag continues to run towards Amalthus as he begins to pull his tentacles back for another hit.
"Oh? Then what are you?" Amalthus grins as he continues his assault.
In one fell swoop Morag slices off one of Amalthus' tentacles. As it falls to the ground the tentacle starts spasming around from being severed. Amalthus yells in pain. Morag runs right up to Amalthus and jumps onto his kneecap before spring boarding off of it to reach him eye to eye. "I am..." Morag takes both weapons and slashes in an 'x' shape on Amalthus' chest before jumping away from him. "...the Empress of Elysium." Morag declares.
Amalthus' severed tentacle begins to grow back as well as the wound on his chest begins to heal. "So you're in the same position I used to be in." Amalthus charges Morag as he begins to lash out with all his tentacles at her. Morag weaves and ducks under the assault as she tries to slash at the tentacles but their is just too many. "Let's see if you're worthy of such a position!" Amalthus grins in excitement.
Morag begins covering her weapons in water and fire to get Amalthus to back off a bit which doesn't help that much. Morag pours more ether into the rapiers and slashes the weapons in an upward motion causing a massive wall of flames to jump out and scorch half of Amalthus' tentacles as Amalthus is forced to step back a moment. Seizing this opportunity, Morag begins to spew flames at Amalthus which ends up leaving even more nasty burns on Amalthus' tentacles. However, Amalthus wasn't going to take this abuse for long as he runs full speed towards Morag and slams his massive body into her which sends her skidding. Thinking fast Morag stabs her katana into the ground to slow her momentum as she comes to a stop. When Morag looks up she sees Amalthus right in front of her reaching out to grab her with his hand. Morag narrowly rolls to the side as she slices at Amalthus' leg. She cuts deep into his leg but before she can continue Morag sees a shadow on the ground as she looks up to see Amalthus' tentacles on that side were coming down to slam into her. Morag brings her weapons up to block the attack. As Amalthus' tentacles bounce off the weapons Morag takes that tiny window of opportunity to slice upwards which ends up slicing that set of tentacles clean off. Unfortunately for Morag she was too close to the tentacles and the blue blood that sprays out of them ends up hitting Morag in the eyes which temporarily blinds her. Amalthus then proceeds to kick Morag with his cut leg at full force. The kick ends up breaking a bone in Amalthus' leg while Morag is sent flying back as she slams into a wall hard enough to form cracks in it. As Morag leans against the wall for a quick breather she notices that Amalthus has already begun to heal his tentacles back in addition to the bone in his leg snapping back into place. 'He heals much faster than I anticipated.' Morag notes. 'Looks like I'll need to use a little more firepower then.'
"Are you impressed by my healing Morag? It took years of harvesting core crystals to get to the point I am currently at. You will never be able to damage me, at least not for very long." Amalthus smiles as he gloats of his experimentations.
"I must admit, your self healing is phenomenal. I'd say other than Nia you would have the best regeneration I've seen." Morag admits. At the mention of Nia's name Amalthus scoffs. "That being the case. I will be forced to show you one of my new techniques I have learned while you were gone." Morag reactivates dual wielding as she slowly walks towards Amalthus.
"It doesn't matter what you've learned Morag; it will all be futile within my presence." Amalthus shoots a beam of ether out of his finger tip towards Morag. Morag simply swats the attack away as her ether continues to rise.
"You will regret those words Ex-Praetor." Morag begins to let water flow out of her katana as flames from the rapiers begins to funnel next to it. Steam start rising up from the ground as it begins to fill the area the two are in. "Secret Dual Art: Writhing of the One Thousand Phantom Blades."
Amalthus begins to panic as his vision begins to be obscured in addition to not being able to sense Morag inside the steam. 'Where did she go?!' Amalthus begins to thrash his tentacles around in an attempt to find where Morag was. He has very little success as he soon feels several cuts start to cover his body. 'What is this?!' Amalthus continues to be pelted from all sides by hundreds of small cuts all over his body as blood seeps out of all of them. Once the steam fades Amalthus sees Morag standing right in front of him. Amalthus immediately regrets not taking the Empress serious. "Damn... it... I did not think I would have to use these techniques so early." Amalthus stands up as all of his cuts begin to heal much faster than before. Morag looks on in shock as Amalthus simply states: "Reincarnation." After Amalthus' wounds are healed he charges Morag full force and whips his tentacles at Morag again as he simply states: "Holy Robes." Morag tries to slice at Amalthus' tentacles but finds that she can no longer cut them.
'So not only did he increase his regeneration, but he also increased his defenses as well? This fight just keeps becoming more and more difficult. I guess I have no choice but to switch over.' Morag quickly throws Aegeon his katana as she wields both of Brighid's rapiers normally. Morag brings the two swords into an 'x' shape with the tips facing towards the ground as she pulls them up and away while simultaneously turning on whip mode. Morag's ether spikes further as an orb of pure white fire floats off to her right. "Sun of Judgement." Morag quickly points all five fingers right towards Amalthus as the scorching white flames pour onto Amalthus. Amalthus is held in place for a moment as he can't progress forward due to the intensity of the flames. Amalthus brings his hands up to block the flames as the heat begins to burn his hands. Amalthus runs forward as he closes the gap between him and Morag in a matter of seconds. Amalthus manages to grab Morag by the leg and proceeds to smash her into the ground a few times before tossing her to the side. Morag lands back on her feet as she sends the orb right towards Amalthus. While the orb is traveling towards him Morag grips her hand as tightly as she can as the orb begins to glow brightly and begins to shrink as it gets closer to Amalthus. The orb becomes so hot that the snow in the capital begins to melt away at the sheet heat being generated. The sudden brightness catches Amalthus off guard as he brings his hands up to block out the light. Morag then quickly shifts her fingers to have all the tips touching as she quickly opens her palm. The orb explodes right in front of Amalthus which blows a good chunk of flesh right off of him. However it doesn't do much as Amalthus begins to heal back almost immediately. Seeing as Morag is currently unarmed Amalthus sprints towards Morag full force yet again as Morag is left wide open. Seeing Amalthus barreling towards her Morag quickly looks over to Aegeon. "Aegeon!" Morag shouts.
Without a word Aegeon throws Morag his katana. Morag catches it and immediately blocks the incoming grab by slicing at Amalthus' hand. The orb slowly begins to return as Morag feels the major difference in ether between her two weapons as she can feel that dual wielding is about to be broken. She quickly sprints past Amalthus to give herself some more space as she slams the tip of Aegeon's katana into the ground. Once the katana sticks Morag takes both hands to the bottom of the blade and traces upwards. Once she reaches the guard she spreads her arms outward. Upon doing so the katana morphs into that of a giant shield. "Sea of Protection!" Morag gains a little relief as she feels her ether balancing out again. She can't celebrate for long as Amalthus is already shooting dozens of ether beams from his fingers towards Morag. Morag tucks her head behind the shield as she blocks every single beam. When she looks back over her shield she sees Amalthus right in front of her swinging downwards on her with his hand. Morag pours some of her ether into the shield which creates a wall of water that shoots upwards which completely kills all the momentum in Amalthus' swing. Morag quickly grabs inside the shield for the hilt which changes the shield to broadsword mode and slashes through the wall and ends up cutting Amalthus' hand off along with a few of his tentacles. However a tentacle from Amalthus right side swipe below and trips Morag. In one swift motion Amalthus stomps Morag into the ground and follow up by kicking her full force which sends her tumbling. Amalthus continues to heal all his wounds back. 'She's already taken about half of my ether out of me. Impressive.' Amalthus inwardly praises. Morag ends up hitting another wall as she can feel her body slowing down.
'Damn, I don't know how much longer I'll last at this point. Blade Shift and Dual Wielding are taking a lot out of me.' Morag checks her ether reserves. 'I no longer have enough ether to use my new technique... however, I may be able to use one more dual art. I must not squander this opportunity.' Morag begins to slowly walk towards Amalthus once more. "I'm going to end this with my next technique." Morag's ether begins to spike even further.
"Go ahead. I'll be able to tank the attack no matter what you throw at me." Amalthus begins to build ether up in his hand. "But I'll still try to kill you until then." An arrow of light forms in Amalthus' hand as he throws it full force towards Morag. Morag brings her shield up to block the attack. As the arrow and shield make contact Morag begins to be pushed back a few feet from the power behind the arrow. As Morag's ether continues to rise she lifts her shield up causing the arrow to ricochet upwards into the sky. Water begins to pour out of the shield as it begins to flood the entire ground the two were standing on. Amalthus throws another arrow at Morag which ends up having the same result as the last one. Morag uses her right hand to point downwards as Sun of Judgement begins to spew white hot flames towards the ground. Once the flames meet the water another large sheet of steam is lifted into the air as Amalthus' vision is yet again being obscured.
"Oh come now. This ability didn't do much to me last time. What makes you think this time will be any different?" Amalthus questions.
"This time I have something else to add to it." Morag simply states. Morag grabs for the hilt inside the shield. As she pulls the hilt the shield yet again changes to broadsword mode. Morag swings the blade up and rests the sword on her shoulder. With her right hand she reaches out to grab the miniature sun. As she does so the sun elongates into a spear of white hot fire. Morag breathes in deeply as she calls out the name of this modified ability. "Secret Dual Art: Writhing of the One Thousand Phantom Blades: Retribution for the Fallen!" Morag brings the broadsword down as she sprints right towards Amalthus. She then proceeds to swing the broadsword with enough force to chop one of Amalthus' reinforced tentacles off. She follows up by lunging her spear right towards Amalthus' kneecap which ends up completely impaling through to the other side. Morag continues to speed up the same way she does with the regular version of her dual art as she becomes faster and faster. In about ten seconds the steam clears and all of Amalthus' tentacles have been chopped off along with extremely deep gouges now covering his entire body. At first Morag thought she went overboard and accidentally killed him until he coughs up blood and falls to the ground. Morag deactivates Blade Shift as it was taking too much out of her.
"It would appear that I am the victor here." Morag states plainly. Morag begins to walk towards Amalthus to confirm whether or not he was dead. As she gets closer to him she witness as Amalthus' wounds slowly begin to close up. "It can't be." Morag jumps away and shoots a torrent of flames towards Amalthus' body. Amalthus brings his half reformed hand up to block the flames. Amalthus' gets back on one knee as most of his major injuries are already healed up and his tentacles begin to slowly grow back.
"You've pushed my hand Morag. You leave me no choice but to completely and utterly destroy you." Amalthus claims as he gets back onto his feet as all of his wounds have healed. Amalthus charges Morag even faster than before as Morag begins to slow down due to ether exhaustion. The core in the middle of Amalthus' head begins to glow brightly which completely shuts down Brighid and Aegeon. Feeling their ethers leaving her body Morag realizes she is completely screwed against Amalthus. Amalthus grabs Morag by the head and slams her at full force into the ground. Morag begins to bleed from the attack as her vision is now blurring. Amalthus then uses his tentacles to restrain Morag by all four of her limbs as he brings her closer for him to examine. Amalthus feels something off about Morag's limbs as the feel far too hard to be regular human flesh. Upon tightening his grip slightly he hears the sound of metal creaking. "I see now. Your limbs aren't even made of flesh anymore, you've become some sort of cyborg." Amalthus suddenly realizes something else off about Morag. She is giving off the ether a blade would give off. 'But how? No one should know how to do that, unless... Zeke must've used it on her.' Focusing his attention he wraps his tentacles even tighter around Morag's limbs as he reaches for her shirt.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING YOU BASTARD?!" Morag screams at Amalthus. Amalthus using his hand tears a hole large enough in her shirt to reveal the two core crystals she was hiding.
"So I was right. You're a blade eater just like me." Amalthus smirks. "Well not for LONG!" Amalthus then lunges his arm straightforward as he pierces through Morag's chest through to the other side.
"AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!" Morag screams as she feels Amalthus' hand going right through her. Amalthus then pulls his hand back out as he looks at the gaping hole that was now in Morag's chest. Amalthus' hands curls in delight at the feeling of Morag's fresh blood still on his hand.
"INCREDIBLE! A normal person would've died from such an attack, but you! You! You would simply be far too valuable to simply throw away." Amalthus' grin becomes even sicker. "I'm going to torture you and see just how much pain you can take 'Empress' HA HA HA!"
Morag coughs up blood as she can feel her whole world begin to become fuzzy. Morag concentrates whatever is left of her ether into making sure she stays conscious as she knows she will die otherwise. Amalthus brings a few more tentacles to wrap around her mid section and begins to squeeze as hard as he can. The sounds of bones breaking can be heard all around them which elicits another blood curdling scream from Morag. Blood begins to seep out of the hole in her chest as well along with a disgusting squelching noise.
"OH I'M HAVING FAR TOO MUCH FUN WITH THIS!" Amalthus howls in delight. Before he can continue he suddenly feels his tentacles get cut off. Amalthus quickly turns his head around to see who did that. "Who goes their?!" Before he knew it who ever it was was already gone.
As Morag's vision begins to fade she hears two familiar voices. They seem to be arguing about something. What they are arguing about Morag has no idea. As her vision fades she feels an extremely light prick in her chest as she suddenly jolts her eyes awake at the sudden monstrous surge of power her body feels. It's as if her entire body has life coursing through her veins as she feels something odd down below. She looks down and sees that the mechanical portions of her lower body begin to be rejected as she feels her internal organs growing back. Along with that she notices that her legs were also fully growing back as well. However Morag's arms continue to stay mechanical. Morag looks up to see Brighid and Aegeon looking at her with pure shock on all of their faces as Morag's legs grow back. Morag quickly takes the pants off of her mechanical legs as she puts them back on her new legs as her blades turn their heads to give her some privacy. After Morag gets her clothes back on she stands up and at first struggles to stand on her new legs so she decides to lean on a nearby wall. "You can look now." Brighid and Aegeon turn their heads back around. Morag notices that Brighid is holding something as she focuses in to see what it was. It was the syringe that Morag had in her pocket. It was now completely empty of its contents. Seeing this Morag puts two and two together. "So you used the serum that was meant to revive them and used it on me?"
"Well I couldn't just let my driver die." Brighid counters.
"Fair point." A pause. "Also thank you for saving me."
"Your very welcome your Majesty." Brighid slightly curtseys.
"How will we deal with Amalthus now your Majesty?" Aegeon asks.
"Now that the serum has been drained we have no choice but to eradicate him now." Morag states. "Brighid, Aegeon. That serum completely refilled my ether. Not only that, but I can feel that my ether reserves are overflowing right now. I think I finally have enough ether to perform 'that' technique."
"Are you sure Morag? Every time you've tried to use that technique before you ended up failing due to not having a large enough ether reserve. You will be completely out of ether again if you go through with this." Brighid opens her eyes to give Morag a very serious look. "Just be aware that we do not have another serum on hand, so if Amalthus survives this you're as good as finished." Brighid warns her driver.
"I believe that I will be able to pull it off this time. If it is a success there is no way Amalthus can heal back from the attack. It will simply be impossible given the theoretical destructive power it entails." Morag explains her reasoning.
"If you are sure of this decision then I shall support it any way I can." Aegeon holds his katana out for Morag to use. Morag grabs it and holds the katana in her left hand.
"Thank you Aegeon. Loyal until the very end." Morag praises.
The two look towards Brighid expectantly. Brighid just gives them a sigh as she closes her eyes again. "Alright. I'll trust your better judgement." Brighid complies as she hands Morag her weapons.
"Thank you Brighid." Morag expresses.
Morag holds her two swords in the dual wielding formation as her ether begins to rise. She then activates blade shift on both of her weapons simultaneously which makes her ether rise even further. Once the two weapons turn to the miniature sun and the giant shield Morag comes out from around the corner as she sees Amalthus looking around for her. "Ah, so that is where you were. You caught me by surprise I must admit. Now that you have shown yourself I shall destroy you and I shall begin to ravage the population of this nation." Amalthus declares as he shoots his tentacles back towards Morag. Morag points forward and the flames that spew out of Sun of Judgement completely obliterate the tentacles in a single stream. As Amalthus pulls back he begins regrowing his tentacles again as he tries to subdue Brighid and Aegeon like he did last time. However when he attempts to do this he feels a humongous wall of ether that is completely blocking out his signal. Amalthus is shocked at how large Morag's ether has gotten as he unconsciously takes a step back. Realizing he did this Amalthus becomes infuriated as he glares at Morag defiantly. "Where did all this ether come from?! You didn't have this much ether a moment ago! YOU WERE ON THE VERGE OF DEATH!" Amalthus continues to get angrier as he concentrates his ether into another arrow of light as he throws it full force at Morag. Morag simply brings her shield up and blocks the attack. While she is blocking Amalthus runs right towards her and tries to grab her with his hand. In response Morag grabs the hilt inside Sea of Protection and turns it into broadsword mode. In one fell swoop Morag slices Amalthus' arm off with very little difficulty. Morag then follows up by quickly changing the broadsword back to shield mode as she bashes her shield against Amalthus which sends him back a few feet.
'Without this temporary ether boost from the serum I would never have been able to deal with Amalthus as easily as I am right now.' Morag internally thinks as Amathus tries to restrain her with his tentacles once more. In response Morag chops more of his tentacles off. Amalthus backs off a few feet to regain his bearings as Morag declares: "I'm going to finish this right now." Morag takes a deep breath. 'Here goes nothing.' Morag's ether spikes even further as Amalthus watches in horror as Morag's ether begins to become visible in an aura of pure blue ether that covers her. Morag begins to unleash a tidal wave of water from her shield which snakes around Amalthus as she gestures for her sun to float towards Amalthus as well. "Secret Dual Art: Blade Shift Style: Supernova." Suddenly the water sprouts up from the ground and incapsulates Amalthus in a dome of water. The sun inside the dome begins to start expanding rapidly as it gets larger and larger. Seeing his impending doom Amalthus tries to smash his hand against the dome. Unfortunately for him the water dome doesn't budge, not even an inch.
"Break! Break already!" Amalthus begins to rapidly slam all of his tentacles into the dome as all the attacks harmlessly bounce off of the dome. Amalthus can feel the flames lick at his back as he desperately forms an arrow of light and tries to pierce the dome. This time the dome responds as it begins to slowly shrink as well. "DAMN IT!" Amalthus continues to be sucked into the barrier as the sun begins to collapse on itself due to the sheer mass it was building up. As the dome continues to shrink further and as Amalthus begins to be burn alive he can only yell and curse Morag. "DAMN YOU MORAG! HOW COULD YOU A MERE HUMAN DEFEAT ME?! DAMN THIS NATION OF ELYSIUM! I HOPE YOU ALL BURN! I AM THE HOLY MESSENGER OF THE ARCHITECT HOW COULD I LOSE!? YOU HAVE COMMITTED HERESY! HEEERRREEEEESSSSEEEEYYYYY!" Amalthus begins to burn away to nothingness as the sun inside explodes from the incredible energy built up inside of it. The explosion it causes shakes the entire city as the explosion is contained inside the dome. After the explosion the dome dissipates leaving the ground on the inside of the dome a pitch black in color as nothing is left.
"It is done." Morag states as she slumps to the ground. Both of her weapons immediately go back into their normal states.
"Your Majesty!" Brighid and Aegeon both call out as they go to carry her over to a nearby wall to rest against.
"I am fine, just a bit tired." Morag reassures her blades. "That took almost all of my ether, even with the boost from the serum." Morag comments.
The three just sit around in silence for a moment before Brighid breaks the silence. "What should we do now?"
"For now we rest and wait to see everyone else's results." Morag responds with half lidded eyes.
"Should we go help Sir Zeke?" Aegeon asks.
"No we shouldn't. I would only be a hinderance to his fight in the current state I am in." Morag admits. "We can only wish him the best of luck in his fight, along with the rest of our friends." Morag looks off towards the stairway that leads down to the lower levels. 'I do hope you are winning.' Morag internally thinks to herself as her eyes start to become heavy.
With that Morag falls asleep due to ether exhaustion. The fight for Elysium rages on!
to be continued...
Authors Notes: The battle for Elysium has begun! Sorry this ones going to be a two parter. If I wrote every fight into one chapter then the chapter would probably be over 30K in words and I feel like not only would people not want to read something that long but I would also suffer major burnout trying to write a chapter that long, so instead this is part one. During development of this chapter I must admit that I had the most fun writing Mikhail's fight. Guess it's because of how technical some scenes were. The part that took the most editing was the Morag fight as that needed some major tuning before I finally felt satisfied with how it turned out. That's also the reason this chapter has taken so long to release is because of the last fight in this chapter. I originally wanted to write all six fights going on simultaneously and just shift perspective but I realized that I'm just not a talented enough writer to write something like that and it turn out not crappy so I decided that I would do each fight one at a time. Overall I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and the fights next chapter will hopefully be even better. With that being said as always I appreciate seeing your opinions on the chapter and I hope you all are having a wonderful day. This is Exile Mansion signing off.