Jaymes
"How do you plan on fighting Noxium, Jaymes? The First Children are pretty strong, even for you."
"That's the good part-I don't plan on fighting him. Not head-on at first, that is. I'm going to stress his ability for a couple of minutes, use the Dark Territory environment to my advantage, then attack. But if I fail in three minutes...it may get tougher."
It's tough already.
As planned, I forgo fighting Noxium directly. His blades have extended into dark-colored whips and having them lash out and smash the landscape while attempting to squash me like a bug is already pushing me to the limit. Hyper Awareness, the skill I gained a year ago from Rei when we, Kureha, Zeliska, and Itsuki took on The GM in Itsuki's death server, works differently here. It isn't controlled by the system like in GGO, but by my own willpower - and it requires total concentration.
I circle around the youngest First Child, hoping the debris clouding the space between us can aid my counterattack. Sliding to a halt, I hold the Time-Piercing Sword at the height of my shoulders and quickly launch myself towards the center of the debris field. I thrust my sword forward to complete the sword skill Vorpal Blade, and it makes contact with one of Noxium's daggers. I dodge again as he swings the sickly green dagger, the one I'm sure has the poison, and attempt to counter again, just for the other blade to block me again.
His reflexes are good, I must admit. That just means I have to be faster.
I fly away before he can take advantage of the block and fly around him. I sense a shift in the ground below and prepare to go on the defensive when something much heavier than two daggers slam against my shield. I didn't see what it was before, so as I raise my head up, the first thing I see is furious brown eyes underneath short, pink hair. My guard falters, and then I'm dropped from the air to the ground. The impact knocks the shock out of me, bringing me back to my feet as several silhouettes surround me. Streaks of green and blue are thrown into the mix as I deflect attacks from a single, sharp knife and hold my shield against a flurry of arrows. I concentrate on their movements with Incarnation to protect myself while avoiding looking into the attackers' eyes.
Lisbeth. Koharu. Sinon. He's most likely using them against me while thinking that fighting them will slow me down. Noxium's wrong about that. Despite the distraction, I'm tracing his movements as well. Still, it pisses me off he's using those three like this. With a snap of my fingers, I summon multiple fire elements around the copies, bursting them apart. Feeling deeply hurt from having to do that, I forced myself to ignore my emotions and scanned the area for Noxium. "Fight me head on!" Sensing movement, I hold my shield behind me, hearing the resonating echo of steel against steel. I turn my head back to see his grinning snarl. He's enjoying this, huh?
He'll regret this.
Medina
"M-Medina?" The Supreme Commander is shocked to see the Lycoris Knight and her protege appear at the bottom of the lengthy staircase. She hails him from above and bows her head to Sheyta with respect. A contingent of Dark Knights, pugilists, and a mage surround the pair at the grand hall that leads outside the castle.
"We're here to help. Jay... Excuse me, Emperor Jaymes says that we just need to hold off the minions until he and Mia defeat their conjurer, Noxium."
"Well, then that explains why the emperor went out there, leaving the hard work to me," Iskahn says with a charged fist hitting his palm and a grin. "I really hate that guy." He turns to his followers and shouts. "You heard the woman! We're going to beat those cheap knockoffs to a pulp until the emperor is victorious!"
The knights and pugilists cheer, their morales high, and head towards the iron doors. Sheyta, however, lingers behind with Medina and Ilia. She doesn't show it, but Medina can read Sheyta's face. She answers the question before it is even asked. "I don't know, but we're expecting the Human Empire to be attacked as well."
"I see." She turns around and follows the group, leaving behind the mage. Medina turns to the tanned woman who looks to be somewhere between her age and Ilia's. She holds her hands in front of her nervously, like she wants to say something but can't.
Medina decides to take the initiative. "You must be Brunhild. I've heard some good things about the young mage Jaymes keeps in his close circle. I believe the other is the blue-haired knight up there. I thank you both for watching out for him."
Brunhild stammers out a response. "Th-Thank you. And the same for you, Lady Medina and Lady Ilia. Mia told us much about the friend she made in the empire. I was afraid she would be disliked, given her position and personality, but I'm glad in the end."
Ilia's cheeks flush, and she looks away. "It's not that big a deal. We were around each other most of the time, so logically it-"
"Ilia."
"...I'm happy she's my friend too." Medina smiles, pats her student on her shoulder, and then eyes the warriors preparing to leave the palace.
"Okay, we've dallied long enough. Let's-" Medina's voice falters as a malevolent presence sweeps through the opening doors, and a shadow seeps through. It flies over the warriors and lands on the other side of Medina and the two young girls. Its form is feminine, with greenlight armor underneath a dark cloak. Grey hair covers onyx eyes, and she bears a scowl as she stands up, a black bow in her hand.
Medina recognizes her from the northern kingdom. She's the archer who shot Jaymes and Ilia, the one called Stella. Medina stands firm and reaches for her sword, looking back to the group with Iskahn and Sheyta. "We'll handle this."
Iskahn nods and gestures to the others to follow. "Come. The battle awaits!" As the dark worlders join the fight in the city, Brunhild included, Medina watches as Stella holds out her bow to the side.
"System Call: Convert Weapon ID, Bow to Spear." In a flash of light, similar to the one when Administrator turned gems containing Orthinanos blood into a sword, Stella's bow shifts into a spear. She gives it a twirl and holds it in front of her as her opponents draw their Divine Objects and charge the First Child. Ilia leaps above Stella, placing the spearwoman between Medina and herself to through her off, yet the woman fights them both off expertly.
Medina figures this will be a troublesome duel.
Jaymes
"Tch!" Hyper Awareness pushes me back from a wide-area explosion of dark arts. As I take to the skies, I look to the nearby cliffs, where Mia is located, based on my senses. She should be fine, but I'm running out of time. Eyes back on Noxium, without a word, I form arrows of light and fire them towards the ground. As they inaccurately batter the ground, I soar down at supersonic speed. Bercouli's blade angled for a distracted Noxium's neck as I passed his shoulder, glaring at him murderously. "Your time is up."
"No, yours." A second set of short blades appear in my face, and I get away scot-free only by the grace of Hyper Awareness. I flip away to reassess the situation. Tne Noxium I aimed for turns out to be another copy made from the dark arts, while the real one hid until I took the bait. Dammit. I can't fight with a clear head, and it frustrates me. Noxium must see this frustration as the brown-haired bastard starts to chuckle. "What happened to you making me suffer, Your Highness? Is this the limit of the one who slew Administrator and Father? Seems to me you're just as powerless as you were when you let Medina die!"
"Bastard!" Forgetting my original plan, I launch myself at Noxium, using all my speed to strike at him. He somehow keeps up, just barely, and just when I move away for one second, he grins and his normal dagger emits a purple light. He strikes the ground, and an eruption cracks and rips apart the ground below me towards the cliffs. I narrowly avoid the attack, allowing myself to freefall towards a large chunk of earth. I resist looking towards the remnants of the cliffs to see if Mia is okay, instead keeping my eyes on Noxium. His face has not changed in the slightest since this fight began...he still thinks he has the upper hand? So be it.
As soon as I'm close to the ground, I leap toward him again. Our blades collide, but I flip over with a kick to Noxium's gut. That kick sends him off the ground, and I follow after him. Moving so fast that it seems the world around us is frozen, our weapons connect again, but he's sent crashing through several still-falling chunks of earth. I fly after him again, avoiding the debris and finding Noxium poised to attack. We return to solid ground, our swords clashing and dancing against each other. Noxium leaps away and brings back the whip attacks, both of which I block with my shield and avoid the collateral explosions with Hyper Awareness. I appear right in front of Noxium to resume close combat, but now it seems he's going all out with the output of his power. It's no surprise that the son of Vecta would be strong with the dark arts.
"System Call!" I project metal chains from the cracked earth, wrapping them around Noxium's wrists and ankles. The others I connect to broken rock and yank them inward, colliding Noxium's body with them. As the self-made boulder drops to the ground, I wrap it with more chains, aiming to crush the man...or slow him down as I hold my sword up again, initiating the premotion for my signature move. That's when Noxium's capsule breaks open, and I call the skill out. "Koharu's...Fire!" The Time-Piercing Sword erupts with fire as I zip towards Noxium, yelling and slashing his body. With each burning strike, he yelps in pain, and I relish in it for nine scorching hits before I finish the move by ramming my shield in his face.
Mia
The battle lasted longer than Jaymes told her, but then again, the original plan was for him to use Hyper Awareness as the main technique of offense for three minutes straight. Whether intentional or not, he eventually started confronting Noxium head-on, leading to the destruction outside of Obsidia. They're far enough from the city that it hasn't suffered any damage, but she's sure the effects during the battle were visible from the castle town. The duel was quite a spectacle from her position on the cliffs, which miraculously was spared. It wasn't Jaymes' full might, and it may not have been Noxium's, yet both sides impressed the young woman. In the end, however, her master hit his finishing move, and the burst of power afterward blew Noxium back.
"Master..." He's nowhere to be seen amongst the destruction, and neither is Noxium. She holds her bow with an arrow prepared on it, scanning every corner for the enemy while searching for her teacher. The battlefield is quiet, save for the wind and the distant noise from within Obsidia. By now, her people and the minions should be fighting. Jaymes proposed that defeating Noxium would end the minions, so the idea that he's still alive doesn't register in her mind. It's a matter of how much life he has left.
She hears breaking rock to her right, quickly taking aim on that side. Her fear is abated by her desire to prove herself, shaky as that resolve is, but she downs all doubts as she slowly steps towards a particularly large piece of earth. It continues to crumble as Mia approaches, then is sliced in half by dark energy. From the split walks Noxium, his robes charred and tattered, but otherwise, his wounds are healed. Mia pulls back on the Loveblight's bowstring tighter, squaring her aim for Noxium's head. "Don't move."
"I surrender," he says while holding his hands up mockingly. He grins in the meantime. "Or I have a better deal. Join me, Mia Zancale."
"J-join you?"
"Yes. Join me, and together we can usher in a new era for the Dark Territory. The one now is filled with lust for power that no one gets along. Humans sit at the top of the hierarchy while demihumans get the scraps. But Primus has a grand plan. When he remakes this world, imagine the wealth of the land for everyone. No more hunger, no more struggles, no more slavery, no more orphaned children. That's what he wants, a world of equality as Lady Stacia saw it. A world he can promise, not a world your beloved master can. After all, Jaymes is responsible for everything the Dark Territory doesn't have."
Mia's arms slackened at the new revelation Noxium had just spilled. "What? That's not true!"
"It is true. You forget; I know every memory of his, so why would I lie? You know he's from another world, but not the extent? He, along with others, made this world as a simulation for life to create a being capable of war in their world. To do this, they needed to simulate war here, so they made two realms. One, a realm blessed with all of life's givings. Sun, earth, fertility...and the other realm, disposed of it all." Noxium drops his arms and takes a step forward. "Jaymes is responsible for everything the dark realm suffered. He doesn't care for this realm or the empire for that matter. All that matters to him is his father's wish for the perfect intelligence, even if it means you all die."
"...No..."
"Search your feelings, you know it to be true." Noxium now extends his left hand out to Mia, his smile softening. "Join me, and help me put an end to the crimes of Jaymes, Kirito, and Asuna. Let's bring a new order to the Underworld as a whole together under the guidance of Primus."
Mia's bow falls from her hands, her head downcast, and her mind swirling with various thoughts. She hears the roaring wind, blazing fire, fierce battle, and a dragon's roar that seems to come from elsewhere other than Obsidia, but her mind focuses on Noxium's words. True, Jaymes keeps a lot of information about the other world to himself, other than he, Kirito, and Asuna are from it. She doesn't know the true Jaymes...but at the same time, he's the first person to give her a real chance at being a knight after Lipia's death. He trained her with all her knowledge, took her on a mission to the other realm, gave her a weapon of divine-level priority, and has continued to be there for her.
Mia's answer is full of conflict, but at the same time, it is simple. "If... If I join you, will you call off the minions?"
"To fully usher in the new world, the old one must be destroyed. The Law of Power and the Taboo Index, the Axiom Church and the Dark Council, all of it and everything connected must burn to ashes. It is cruel to make you watch everyone you know die, yes, but...in the end, it will be worth it. So no, I will not call off the minions."
That makes her choice simple. "...Then I cannot join you."
Noxium's hand drops suddenly, and his grin vanishes. "Why are you fools holding on to this world? Especially the people of this land. Beyond those mountains is a land of plenty. You have the numbers, the war proved it. The Integrity Knights are not invincible, and you'll witness that soon enough." Noxium takes a deep breath, calming himself, and he looks to Mia's left, where Obsidia stands in the distance. "Fine. Subtilizer may have taken Father's name and likeness, yet he has the same ideals. If the people of the world do not bend to those who hold power, they shall burn with it. You'll stay loyal to your emperor and his creation, you can watch as it is crushed under my heel!"
The next few seconds move so fast that Mia doesn't react until her mind processes everything. First is the right arm of Noxium appearing, his hand holding the dagger with the green coloration. He charges at the girl, both disarmed and frozen in place, and Mia braces herself for that knife to impale her. It never comes to it, despite the sound of splitting flesh and a pained gasp. Her eyes saw a form intercede between her and Noxium,
When her body catches up to her mind, she recognizes the form in front of her that begins to convulse. Who else would have saved her if not Jaymes...at his own sacrifice. Noxium looks at Jaymes, realizing what he's done and smiling as he yanks the dagger out of the emperor. "...Hehehe! Hahahaha! You idiot hero!"
Mia's frozen in place until Jaymes steps back, falling into her arms. "M-Master!" She holds him steady, but she can feel his body slowly going limp. However, there's still some fight in him as he tries to force his body to fight the poison, his eyes on the retreating son of Vecta.
"Mia... Run."
"H-Huh?"
"Run."
"Why?"
"I have to...b-beat him. Urk!" Jaymes' right leg fails him, but Mia still has her hold on him. She gently drops to the ground, holding him on her shoulder. "I...have to protect you...and everyone..."
Mia looks Jaymes in the eye, Noxium's earlier words still fresh in her head. "Jaymes... Tell me the truth. Is everything he said...is it true?"
Jaymes looks at her, then forward towards Noxium. "Yes. Every word he said is true...except one thing. He told a lie that all I care for in this world is the success of my father's dream. The Underworld is my dream too... Yes, once, you were supposed to be nothing more than human souls developed for warfare, but in my heart, you were atonement for what happened to me and thousands of others years ago. A countermeasure should something like that ever happen again. That's what you fluctlights were to me at first, even when I first came here three hundred years ago... Then I came back two years ago. and I met them."
"Them?"
"When I came back, I only cared to protect Kirito. But the first thing Eydis did was point her sword at me, and moments later, we went on our first mission to the southern jungle. In time, she became very important to me...and someone I fell in love with. And Medina was someone I could relate to, having a family-oriented goal and the trials that came with it. I cannot return her feelings, but I can be at her side forever as her friend. Because of them, I fought so hard to save Alice and this world beyond my personal goals. It is because of them that I... That I know this world has a greater meaning. That I want to change the world for the better with her. But still... No... No, maybe I still didn't care as much for this world as Kirito and Asuna. I slowly began to realize that until six months ago, when I saw a young, determined girl in the training yard and took her as my student. When I met that third girl, I truly began to care for the Underworld."
He turns his head back to Mia, his eyes fighting the pain within his body as he struggles to maintain contact. "Eydis... I want to spend all the time I have here with her. Medina, I want her to live a happy life with no regrets. And you, I want to be the best mentor I can be. I want to be the best emperor you can honestly follow. I want...to be the best brother I can be. I want to change the world and lead it to the future it deserves. You people...This is your world, and you are alive in it. That is the one lesson I learned from Koharu. Which is why...I have to win. Kirito and Asuna are depending on me, so...I need you to run so I can fight. I...can't watch another person I care for die because of my powerlessness..."
"No." Mia sets Jaymes against a rock and leaves him there, walking out towards the fallen Loveblight Bow. Picking it up, she dusts it off and turns back to Jaymes, still seated. then glares forward at Noxium. "Noxium! I am Mia Zancale, apprentice and right-hand to Jaymes, Emperor of the Dark Territory! I will be your next opponent."
"...Hahahahahaha! You surely jest, little girl! Your emperor couldn't put me down. What makes you think you have a chance?"
Mia angles her head in confusion. "Who said I was going to win? As far as I see it, you're outnumbered. I will fight you now, but it will be Master and me who beat you once he beats your poison. I just have to hold you off until then!"
Now it's Noxium turn again to be confused. "What? Now you claim he'll beat my poison? Without an antidote? Good luck on that."
"No, we'll get an antidote, but there's one thing stronger than any medicine in this world, and that's will. So let me repeat myself: I will be your next opponent in defense of my homeland. With all he has taught me, I will hold you off until Jaymes can fight again, and then we will send you and your family to hell." Mia feels a resonating warmth in her right hand as she says this. "Loveblight?"
And it responds back. "Unleash my power."
Jaymes
"Very well, then, girl. If it is a fight you want, you may have it!" Noxium twirls his dangers and sends spinning dark energy towards the girl. They close in on their mark and explode, sending Noxium into euphoria at the ease of Mia's defeat. As the dust settles, he begins to chuckle and sets his sight on me. "Well, all that bark and no bite. Now it's just you and me."
Despite my body fighting paralysis and poison to the point that I'm actually scared I may die, I find myself grinning. "No, Noxium, we're all still here." Enjoying that smirk falling from his face, I turn to my left, seeing the girl I call my student standing there after using Hyper Awareness to dodge. Her whole demeanor has changed in the last few seconds. Her appearance has changed completely, losing the armor of the Dark Knights for a green, black, and gold set befitting that of an archer. But the biggest change is her bow. It was designed already like a scythe, but now it is an actual scythe. I'm instantly reminded of a friend of Asuna's who once wielded a scythe back in SAO.
Noxium is stunned. "H-How? You're just some whelp..."
"Did you not hear me? I am Mia Zancale, the apprentice and right-hand to Emperor Jaymes. All I know, he taught me, so you're not fighting a whelp. You're fighting Emperor Jaymes again, and as I recall, you lost round one." She holds the scythe in front of her and up. "Loveblight Bow: Release Recollection! Soul Hunter!" The scythe begins to glow a heavenly light in the darkness, in contrast to the demonic appearance Mia presents herself with. She twirls the scythe and holds it behind her as she prepares for her toughest duel yet. "Noxium! May you drown forever in your soul."
It's like looking in the mirror. I cannot stop the smile on my face from growing, yet at the same time, I can't let her do all the heavy work, not after this display. It is the student's job to surpass their master, and the master's to not fall effortlessly behind the student. I reach my left hand out, focusing on my displaced weapons and the incoming fight ahead. I've never been poisoned or paralyzed before in the Underworld, so I don't know if Vindica's healing power can cure me of it. If not, I'll thank Tiese and Ronie later for their forward thinking. As I reach out, I sense a distant presence heading in this direction. I can't see it, but I recognize it...and this time, I know it is an ally.
My greatest ally here.