Chapter 31

Six dropped immediately, while many others took injuries ranging from minor to severe. Trading to Hammer ÄRM, she charged into the group and started swinging. Not pulling anything, the air was filled with the sounds of screams, crunching bone, and tearing flesh. Blood sprayed in beautifully grotesque fountains as she flipped between Hammer and Dagger.

With about 30 of them on the ground, the remaining Chess Pieces clumped closer together. "We're not done yet! She's only human! She's got to get tired sooner or later! Human wave!"

"Only human? You sure about that?" Gargoyle appeared with a roar. The Rooks yelled and scrambled backwards as the ring spun. The beam tore through flesh, bone, and the cobblestone beneath them.

Solara panted, sweat running down her face. Babbo reverted as she let go of the magic energy. "Are they dead?" he asked.

"Maybe a few. Some could die from blood loss. Anyway, done here, Dorothy."

"Not yet… not done yet."

Sol and Babbo froze as Phantom appeared. "Shit." Babbo grunted his agreement. "You've got to be bloody kidding me. Don't you have a damn ghoul to go screw, you fucking zombie!" Sol snarled.

Phantom laughed. "So you're here too, eh, Solara? What a delightful coincidence! They were all just Rooks… but still, beating over 50 of them in just 10 minutes or so… You know, this isn't part of the War Games… but I'd really like to fight you right here, right now."

Sol's lip curled in a sick caricature of a grin. "You're not gonna let me say no, are you." Sol stated. Phantom just smiled. "Didn't think so. Babbo move."

"What?! But -!"

"I don't have enough magic energy left to use you, so just stay out of the way. Please." She looked back at Phantom, who was snickering at the exchange. "Alright, cadaver. You wanna fight? Fine. Let's see how well you handle it now."

Phantom frowned and tilted his head. Handle wha… Oh.

Sol's eyes went blank as her face twisted into a ferocious snarl. She threw her head back and roared. Phantom took an involuntary step back, startled by her spiritual energy as it surged up like a raging fire. It extended into numerous tendrils, many of which lashed out around her. Some forced Phantom to dodge, while others swung towards the spiritually blind Rooks, making them scream in agony as what felt like flaming whips struck them, leaving behind deep cauterized wounds. However, 12 of them spiraled out, then turned back and drilled into Sol herself, three in each limb.

Phantom's eyes went wide. Feedback!

Sol kicked off, shooting at Phantom with stunning speed. Just the pressure of her launch crushed a huge chunk of the ground under her boot. Phantom discovered that he wasn't fast enough to get out of the way. She drove her fist into his lower chest, twisting, and there was a disgusting crunch. Blood spurted as two of his ribs tore through his side. Before she hit him again, he raised his hand, and a collection of transparent blue hexagons appeared. Sol drove her fist into it with a crash.

Sol pounded on the shield that Phantom had erected with punches and kicks. The force of the blows forced Phantom to skid back a few centimeters with every strike. Blood ran down it as Sol split the skin on her knuckles. Phantom found he was both thrilled and annoyed.

"Your power in this state is truly impressive, but you also take all the fun out of it. I can't provoke you when you're already furious, and I can't have a conversation with you when you're too out of it to talk." Phantom pouted. He jumped back between strikes, making Sol stumble.

She recovered quickly and charged toward him, but he separated his shield into individual pieces and shot them at her. They threw her back to the ground. She flipped back onto her feet with a violent wrench. Before she could lunge at him, he held up what looked like a large flaming black orb with a nasty laughing jack-o'-lantern face. He threw it at her charging frame.

"Solara, look out!" Babbo yelled, but Sol's rage prevented her from hearing the warning.

The creature engulfed her and exploded. The percussive impact of the blast was strong enough to knock her out. Sol slammed into the ground, alive, but badly injured. Phantom was amused to see Babbo hop over to her, yelling in concern.

The Rooks started yelling for Phantom to finish her off, but he silenced them. He looked down at the bloody and boney mess that was his left side and smiled. "Forget about the ÄRMs. We're going back. Tell the others at the east tower." The rooks rushed to comply. "Solara. The next time we fight… I will kill you."


Sol stared blankly at the red haze that was her unleashed rage. She doubted that she was going to win, but what else could she do?

Phantom… He… was a human once… I wonder why… he accepted the Queen's Zombie Tattoo? She blinked owlishly as the red turned black, indicating that she had been knocked out. The one thing I do know… today… I couldn't do a thing against Phantom… I'm… useless. She closed her eyes, sliding into the darkness.


"Sol!" Snow gasped in horror as Alviss rushed over to take the injured Solara off Dorothy's back.

"What happened?!" Alan demanded.

"The Chess Pieces attacked." Dorothy's face was tight with stress. "The villages are about half destroyed. Restoration will take a while… but the ÄRMs they were after are safe. Most unowned ÄRMs are stored in the east and west towers. Since there were only two of us, we split up. I don't know what happened." Alviss set her on the floor so Snow could heal her wounds.

Babbo spoke up. "There were about 50 Rooks, maybe more. She blew through them quite easily… the problem was… Phantom showed up." The group was horrified.

"S-she didn't… try to… fight him… right?" Jack's voice cracked at the end. Babbo just looked at him.

"Are you kidding me?! Is she stupid?! She tried to take on Phantom after fight that many Rooks?!" Alan exclaimed.

"You need to silence yourself, Alan! Do you really think Phantom would have allowed her to walk away once he decided he wanted to fight? Of course not! He is a creature that thrives on the pain of others! Even if he had been willing to let her walk away, he would have continued to attack Caldia! Solara couldn't let him do that! So, you'd better stop calling her stupid you-!"

Sol had woken up while Babbo was ranting. Her expression was vacant, like she wasn't totally with it. Looking at Babbo, she grabbed him. Wrapping her arms around him, she pressed her forehead against him, her hair falling down around her face, hiding it. "You're okay." She croaked.

Babbo blinked. "Of course I a-! Solara?" His expression changed from mild annoyance to concern. The others heard a soft sniffle. Was she crying?

"Don't leave me…please…" Sol choked out. Babbo was really concerned. Alviss, standing behind her, winced, remembering a time she had said that to him.

"I won't." Babbo said quietly.

After several long seconds, "I missed you…dy." She mumbled. Only Babbo and Alviss heard her.

After a minute, Babbo said, "She's fallen asleep."

"Is she gonna be okay?" Jack asked, concerned.

"She will be fine." The team was surprised when the Elder answered. "Her energy shows that she is extremely resilient. She simply needs rest."

"Great Elder, we have a battle tomorrow and…" Dorothy said.

"Yes. Leave the restoration to me. Just stop her… Stop Diana." Dorothy bowed to the Elder as Alviss picked up Sol. The others said their goodbyes and Dorothy activated Andata.


They appeared in the Reginlief courtyard. Some of the audience members were hanging around despite there being no battles today. "Oh! Solara and the others! They're back!" They rushed over. "Solara! It's terrible – Oh!" They skidded to a halt, seeing Sol asleep in Alviss' arms. Although Snow had healed her wounds, her clothes were fairly beat up. "Wh-what happened?!"

Alviss glared at their loud voices, making them flinch. "There was a fight. She used a lot of energy and needs to rest. So don't wake her up."

Nanashi was snickering while Snow and Jack looked confused by Alviss' harsh demeanor. Dorothy smiled tiredly and Alan blinked before shaking his head. "What's so terrible?" Alan asked.

"Well… y'see… This guy who says he's a Chess Piece is over there… playing with the kids!" He pointed at a tall man wearing a skull mask with a tongue sticking out. He was indeed playing with a group of children.

No one was expecting that. "What the?! Who are you?!" Alan barked.

"Huh?" the man turned to look at them. "Oh! You're finally back! I was getting tired of waiting! At least I had fun playing with these kids. I have a message. Who's 'Nanashi'?"

"That's me. What's this message?"

The Chess Piece pointed at him. "There's a man who wants to meet you. He specifically requests that you make an appearance in the fifth battle! And I – Ash of the Zodiac – have a request as well! Solara… uh, is she awake?"

"No. Is it reasonable to assume that you want to fight us?" Babbo questioned.

It was hard to tell with the mask, but Ash seemed surprised that Babbo had answered. "Ah, yes."

"We'll be there. Now, if you'll excuse us." Alviss took the hint and headed towards the castle. The rest of the group followed.

Dorothy moved up next to Alviss. "Oh, with everything that happened, I forgot. You guys… each got a new ÄRM, right?"

They all grinned. Alviss answered, "We were all given ÄRMs matched specifically to us. We'll show you later… in battle."

Dorothy laughed. "Alright. Let's get Sol in her room and relax for the night."