I was not expecting to get this chapter done by tomorrow, but here we are XD This has been one I've been looking forward to for a long time. I hope you enjoy it so it was worth the tears I shed while writing it.
Chapter 45
Whispers of the Guardian
The red curtain fell all around us, unveiling soldiers clad in red armour. Immediately my mind went to the Blood Knight that was found in the Catacombs from The Land Beyond, and somehow Vecta had pulled them from Infinity. But soon enough, I realised what they were. The way they moved, the way they looked around…
They were humans from the real world.
"Wow, this really does look real."
"Seriously, is this all there is?"
"Nine people? What a waste of time. Where's the log out button?"
They all were speaking in English. I gripped my sword tight, getting into a stance. We had all formed a defensive circle around Alice, who had no way of defending herself. I looked up at Vecta, who just watched from his dragon, safely away from the battle.
Meanwhile, a dark shadow dropped down from the dragon. He landed crouched, the plates of his dark purple armour clattering together. He looked up, his venomous eyes locking onto Kirito, a crazed grin on his face. "Yo Kirito. It's been too long."
"It is you…" Kirito seemed to finally have gotten past the initial fear of seeing him, and looked focused now.
"Looks like we can finally continue our little fight that got put on hold. The continuation of Showtime!" He drew a dagger before turning to the red soldiers. He began speaking in perfect English. "Let us kill these Japanese invaders, and then I shall lead you into a glorious battle against their main force." He pointed to Alice, hiding in the centre of our ring. "Just don't hurt the girl."
The army let out a war cry. I closed my eyes, feeling my eyes burn for a second, before stepping forward. "Wait!" I yelled out, my voice now in English. Almost immediately, the crowd stopped, looking at me. "We're not invaders. We're not your enemy. We just want to protect this world." Some of the soldiers looked confused, so I took that as a sign it might be working. "Please. We love this world. We came here to protect it from him." I pointed my sword up to Vecta's dragon. "He-"
The dagger in PoH's hand found its way into my chest. The chestplate prevented it from going all the way in, but about an inch of steel pierced my skin, barely missing my heart. I looked down at it, and PoH was in my face, pulling the dagger out, pushing me out of the way and running at Kirito. The two began to clash blades, sparks flying from both their metal and their locked eyes. He drove Kirito away from the circle, and Eugeo followed, both of them teaming up to fight this demon.
The red soldiers looked confused as to what to do. Everyone was ready to defend Alice, but the only one who seem to have any intent to actually fight was PoH. Vecta seemed to notice, his dragon landing on the ground, a dust cloud rising around us as it beat its wings. Our ring around Alice got tighter, not wanting him to sneak inside. But when the dust settled, no one else had moved, but something had definitely changed. All the red soldiers were stood upright, staring at us with blank, glazed over eyes.
One of them took a step towards us, slowly raising his sword. "Wait! We're not invaders!" I yelled out.
"It's no use." I was getting really annoyed by him having the same expression on his face no matter what. "I was hoping that they would all just kill you, but they're all just pawns anyway."
"What did you do to them!?" Leafa looked horrified, her sword trembling in her hands.
"My name is Subtilizer, the one who sharpens, one who renders, one who chooses…" His eyes flashed, the whites of his eyes fading to black, highlight his icy eyes. "…and the one who steals. I will steal your souls."
The first soldier swung at me. I blocked the strike, bringing my leg up to kick him in the chest, but another blade was coming down, ready to slice my foot off if I dedicated to the kick. On my left, another sword was aimed for my exposed left. If I broke my guard to stop his blade, the first guard would surely take advantage.
I gritted my teeth, ready to take the blade to my side. I looked at the approaching strike, which seemed to happen in slow motion.
But it never touched my skin. In fact, something seemed to be pushing it back. A golden light was touching the tip of his blade. At the same time, a beam of light hit the guard in front of me. I looked to see Holly raining Moon Beams down upon the soldiers, but her eyes weren't on them. It was staring in shock at the golden light.
I looked back at it, and I felt warm tears flow down my cheek.
He stood there, bathed in golden light. His black hair waving in the breeze, his silver armour adorned with golden edges. In his hands was a massive kite shield, holding back the sword. It even had the dent that I had put in it.
Leon smiled back at me. "You should watch your flanks more."
My voice got caught in my throat, my mind a mess. It had to be a dream. There was no possible way he was standing there beside me once again. But the look of pure joy on Holly's face…there was no way my mind could've created that in a dream. I looked back, shaking the tears from my face and smiling. "Why would I need to, when you're always there to save my life?"
Leon let out a laugh before disappearing. He quickly reappeared on my other side, knocking away the blade trying to cut my foot off. I took the opportunity to slam my foot into the man I was locked blades with, sending him flying back.
"On your left!" Leon's voice seemed to come from with my mind. I turned and swung upwards, knocking away a blade that threatened to cut Leafa's spine. I could see flashes of gold all around me as Leon appeared and disappeared, blocking strikes that would've proven lethal to anyone they touched. He even appeared next to Kirito and Eugeo, knocking PoH forwards to throw him off balance, which Kirito took advantage of by slicing PoH's side open. Eugeo stabbed the Osmanthus Blade into the ground, drawing his Blue Rose Sword, gleaming in all its glory, fully repaired.
"Release Recollection!"
Blue ice began to spread all across the battlefield, vines of ice gripping the red soldiers and freezing them in blocks of ice. It was violent, but it certainly stopped everyone from fighting. No more blood was shed at that moment, no more clashing of steel. I looked over at Eugeo, giving him a smile. He returned it before collapsing to the ground, exhausted.
"Eugeo!" Kirito ran up to his friend, trying to lift him to his feet.
"I'm okay…just tired…" Eugeo smiled, closing his eyes.
Kirito sighed with relief, smiling. "You really know how to worry me, don't you?"
"You still haven't learned Kirito…never turn your back to me!" Ice flew into the air as PoH was suddenly leaping in the air towards the two, dagger ready to plunge into Kirito's heart.
I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and leaping towards them. Normal human speeds would make it impossible for me to close the gap. But back in The Land Beyond, there was a moment where I was so fast, I could've stopped any blade from piercing flesh. Back then, fear and shock stopped me. But right now, my desire to protect…the part of Leon inside my soul…that was stronger than any fear. In that moment, I saw both Crystal and Mint standing there, Crystal's sword plunging towards Mint's heart. I brought my sword, the real version of the Night Shadow Blade, straight up, the blade cleanly going through PoH's wrist. At the same time, Kirito grabbed the Blue Rose Sword and plunged both of the swords in his hands into PoH's heart.
PoH coughed a little, splattering blood onto Kirito's face. He smiled a little. "You really are the best Kirito…you even got dressed up for the occasion…"
I looked at Kirito, his black blade in one hand, and his white in the other. His jacket had been replaced by a long coat, black like the night sky. For a brief moment, I thought his eyes had flashed gold, but it must've been a trick of the light. I had seen him in this coat before, on the top floor of the Central Cathedral. But seeing him like this with both swords in his hand…it felt right to see him like this.
"It doesn't matter…when I log out, I'll come find you…and kill you…" PoH coughed again as Kirito drew the Blue Rose Sword out of his chest. "No matter what…I'll keep coming for you…forever…"
I put my hand on Kirito's. "If he dies here…he dies in the real world…" I felt my heart stop for a few moments, worried that Kirito might actually consider letting him die.
PoH just laughed. "That's even better… My face will haunt you forever… At night, when you think you're safe…I'll be right there in your nightmares…"
I could hear Crystal's laugh in my head. All the sleepless nights because of her death at the end of my blade, watching the life slowly drain from her eyes…I never wanted anyone to ever experience that. I gently began to pull the black sword from PoH's chest for Kirito, but he stopped me. "Kirito…"
"No, you're never logging out of Underworld." A golden glow came from his sword as Kirito pulled it out himself. PoH smiled a little, but then he started to scream in agony. The armour that once protected his body seemed to contort and twist as his skin became…bark. I understood what Kirito had done. He had released the memory of his sword into PoH's body. It was all over…
"NO! This isn't how this ends!" PoH screamed from the top of his lungs, and then suddenly, two shadows formed next to him, identical to him, except wearing what seemed to be a black poncho. They charged at Kirito, both of them striking at the same time. I blocked one of them, while Kirito knocked the other's weapon away and finished him with his other sword. Soon enough though, thousands of shadows were surrounding us.
As everyone got ready for an endless battle, it was then I saw Vecta breaking out of the ice, starting to make his way towards us, towards Alice.
"Give me a boost!" I leapt in the air, knowing that my feet would find themselves planted on Leon's shield. It was a move we had performed thousands of times. I saw him below me, charging straight at Vecta. Vecta simply put a hand out, stopping him in his tracks, while drawing his blue crystal sword and raising it to block my downwards strike. A burst of energy threw us back, knocking the wind out of me. The thousands of shadows began to descend upon us, blocking Alice from our sight. Leon raised his shield above us, stopping the onslaught from cutting me.
Last time we were in this position…his shield broke and he died.
He looked down at me, smiling, as if accepting this was the end. "Light…I know you probably have a thousand questions."
"Leon…don't leave me again…"
"The reason I'm even here is because of you." He smiled down at me. "The me that's here is only the memory that you've kept alive in your soul."
Fresh tears began to fall from my eyes. "Please…Leon…"
His hand fell onto my heart. No…not my heart…my soul. "I'm always alive right here." A tear fell from his eyes, vanishing as soon as it broke away from his chin. "I'm so proud of you Light. Proud beyond words."
"I'll always keep your dream alive…" My vision became blurry with the tears as they dropped thick and fast. "I promise to protect everyone I see, just like you wanted to."
"I know." He gave me a smile. "Take care of yourself Light. These few minutes…they were a miracle." His shield broke, and he disappeared in a brilliant flash of golden light.
Where he once was, a sword floated, the blade silver and the rest gold, a white crystal embedded into the blade. It was the sword we crafted together. I took it in my hand, the words we engraved into the sword appearing on the flat edge of the sword. "A sword to become a shield". Our Excalibur.
I gripped it in my other hand, the silver and purple blades feeling like they had doubled in weight. I looked down at my hands, now glad in dark steel gauntlets. My coat now replaced with my Dragonscale Armour. A golden chestplate in the shape of a dragon's skull adorned with rubies for eyes now protected my heart. I flourished both of the blades in my hands and looked at the army of shadow PoHs between me and Vecta, who was still going towards Alice. "Alright then…let's do this one last time."
If Light has been the one protecting everyone, then who is there to protect him? Deep within his soul, another rests, always dormant until it was needed. And that's Leon. Light's best friend who he lost. He came to terms with Leon's death during the events of The Land Beyond. But since Light took on his dream and wished to carry it for eternity, their souls are now forever bound, and Leon lives on in Light's soul. So Leon can appear as an Incarnation. And within his Incarnation is the sword he and Light crafted together. Excalibur, the sword of light.
I wanted to write this moment for so long, as this was kind of a passion project, combining my favourite story in anime with my own. I love that I was able to share it with so many people. I know for most, this probably won't mean as much, as a lot of these moments rely on moments from No Land Beyond. I promise to get to that as soon as I'm done with Nightshade. And I'll update the prologue with a link to it once I'm done with at least the first volume.
And sorry if PoH seems a little sidelined. This is still Light's story, but I wanted for him to have a large impact. In fact, his Shadow army will be the biggest threat to the heroes now. Though next chapter will be starting out...a little uniquely.
Reviews:
blackbutterfly1313: I'm glad you enjoyed. Yui is doing what she did in the anime :) And Garret is slaughtering Amercians back at the supply unit. Don't worry, that's not the last you saw of him ;)
Until next time, Stay Cool.