Chapter 64: Cyrus's First Mission (Part 3)
Disclaimer:
The final part of Cyrus's first Magic Knight mission is here! I didn't realise how long the chapter was going to be at first but I really did want to add a lot here, considering there are seven characters here altogether. I didn't really want it to be almost 11k words but you'll see why it is anyway.
Also, on another note, apparently there has been some rumours that this site might get shut down in the future? I haven't heard anything about that but in case it happens, I'll upload on Wattpad with the same name and title as it is now. If anything does happen, I hope to see you lot over there if you can make it!
With that said, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
The darkness of the surrounding environment was telling of the current situation. The sun had set and the night was upon them. Talon Village was going to sleep if not for the commotion caused by the Magic Knights and the rogues facing opposite them.
"You're the rogues…?" Cyrus questioned as his confused looks kept growing with this escalating situation.
"I did just say that didn't I?" Evan repeated with a shake of his head.
Just a few minutes ago, Cyrus and Aiden had met and spoken with Evan in the Dreavy Hinker about his late wife and he seemed to be quite emotional. However, now, the grey-haired man had seemingly done a 360 in his personality and this surprised both of the mages.
Aiden brushed his right hand through his smooth, black hair to correct and put it in shape. It was as if he was getting ready for a battle and, from this situation, it looked like he was right to do so. After doing so, he sighed and addressed Evan.
"There's no need to be rude to Cyrus, Evan. We let you tell us your pathetic story of woe earlier to make us feel bad for you? Is that how you think you'd get on our good side?" Aiden shrugged his shoulders, staring at the older man.
The side of Evan's head flared up as it looked like a huge vein was about to burst. He was angry at what Aiden said and he made it known to the group of four.
"Don't you dare talk ill about what I said. I told you that story to make you understand that what we're doing is right. You Magic Knights are filth and always will be unless we do something about it!" Evan shouted, his arms tensing up and his pink-coloured eyes flared.
Angered, confused, and in disbelief, the Magic Knights didn't know what to say. However, the duo of Daimon and Fragil were more focused on the two rogues that had attacked them back in the guesthouse and who were now opposite them.
"And who are you two?" Daimon asked aggressively.
The masked man was the first to reply. He was the one that had met Fragil and Daimon before and guided them to the guesthouse, ambushing them later. He slowly lifted the mask from his face and revealed just who he was, earning a shake of the head and a sigh from Aiden, but a shudder from Daimon.
"How's it going, teammates?" The man said with a smirk and a wave of his right hand. He threw the mask away and it flew alongside the cold wind that engulfed the town centre.
"You're kidding me…", Daimon muttered as he lowered his head. Darkness surrounded his dark-blue eyes until they weren't visible and he started to tense the muscles in both of his arms.
"Veras…", Aiden said as if he knew who the man was that just revealed his identity.
"You know him?" Fragil asked, turning her head.
"Know him? He's part of the Purple Orcas…", Aiden closed his eyes.
Cyrus was taken aback at this revelation. "Hold on… Magic Knights turning into enemies? I've never heard of such a thing outside of simple fiction. There was the deal with Gueldre but that in itself was one in a thousand. Surely, that was the extent of it…?"
Suddenly, a white and orange flash of light came into view right next to Fragil. Then, the next thing you knew, that light had moved close enough to attack Veras.
Fragil's light-blue eyes widened with pure shock at seeing the speed at which Daimon had just moved. He had Explosion Magic but from seeing what he just did, you could swear it was more of a speed-based attribute.
However, just as Daimon was about to strike at his corrupt teammate, the girl right next to him reacted almost instantly. Her grimoire opened to a page and out came sharp, purple needles that stopped Daimon from striking at Veras.
Daimon landed on the ground and before he could say anything and he saw the mask of the girl fall off with how quickly she had just moved to help. Even before her face came into view, the magic that she displayed was enough for the angered mage to understand who it was.
"Alea as well?!" He punched the floor with his Explosion Magic, leaving a large hole below where he landed.
"Heya, you two!" She smirked as well, being in line with Veras right next to her. Her purple eyes scanned the mages in front of her and then she closed them, winking at them all.
Fragil turned her head to Daimon. "Is that the other Purple Orca you mentioned earlier – the one who was on a mission?"
Daimon shook his head, yet still stared at the opposing rogues. "No, it isn't her…", he said with a voice filled with anger.
Fragil stepped up, readying her grimoire. Her eyes were of shock but her actions showed that she was still ready to complete this mission, no matter what was happening.
"I have no idea why Magic Knights would betray their own kingdom, but I do know that we all have to stop you right now!" Fragil shouted, readying her magic.
A moment of silence separated the two groups before Evan spoke up once again. This time, he was calmer than he was in the interaction with Aiden.
"Betrayal? Hm, I guess that's right in a sense… but, what we're doing is what's right for this crumbling kingdom. I don't expect you guys to understand…", he addressed both Cyrus and Fragil in this instance. After that, he turned his head to first look at Aiden and then Daimon. "… but you two should have a good idea of why these two beside me changed their minds".
"…Gueldre…", the two Purple Orcas realised and said in unison.
"We're only doing what the Magic Knights should have been doing in the first place, you know", Alea said.
"We've found a reason to continue on and if it means hurting a few people to get to our goal, then I guess we'll do just that", Veras added on.
Cyrus instinctively stepped forwards. Perhaps it was his confusion at everything he heard and what was happening in front of him, or perhaps it was due to his questioning personality and his want for more information.
"From what I know of the Magic Knights, what you three are doing is far from what's right. Isn't it our duty to help the kingdom?" Cyrus asked with an intrigued, but puzzled look. In his mind, and his heart, he knew what was right and wrong but he still needed their perspective to try and understand what was going on.
However, instead of getting a response that was worthwhile, all Cyrus received was three separate sounds of laughter from Evan, Veras, and Alea. Sweat fell from all four of the Magic Knights as they saw the rogues act like this and it looked like a battle was the only way to solve this issue.
"Cyrus, how many missions have you gone on? What have you experienced? Because from what I can tell, it doesn't compare to what we've been through. I can't say for these ex-Purple Orcas, but I do know of what they've gone through in their squad. So, don't ask anymore pointless questions!" Evan answered.
Before the Magic Knights could respond in any way, shape, or form, the battle between them and the rogues had begun. Evan had started to fight against Cyrus and Aiden, whereas Veras and Alea had their opponents in Daimon and Fragil.
"Doll Magic: Controlling Puppet!" Evan shouted as he targeted his opponents.
Thin, pink strings came out of his grimoire and coiled around the two Magic Knights. Aiden managed to dodge quite easily as he anticipated the spell, but Cyrus wasn't so fortunate. The string wrapped itself around the alchemist's legs, tightening and picking him up off the floor so that he was hanging upside down.
"What the…? Let go of me!" Cyrus ordered as he struggled to get loose.
"That was… quite easy?" Evan thought to himself for a moment but quickly moved on.
Aiden saw the struggling Aqua Deer and lent him a hand. "Cyrus, pull yourself together", he said calmly.
"Flame Magic: Crimson Wide Slash!" He pointed both of his arms to each side, whipped them back and then quickly moved them in a forwards motion towards the strings that held Cyrus suspended. Blades of red-hot fire were created and the two slashes easily cut the Alchemy mage free.
Cyrus landed on the floor, quickly returning back to where Aiden was. He brushed off the dirt from the back of his clothes as he landed and brought out his own grimoire to respond.
"The Magic Knights won't let you do as you please!" He shouted. The mage was about to cast a spell but paused as he realised the situation he put himself in.
"I… don't have any attack spells yet…!" His eyes widened with shock. It's not that he didn't know the facts about his own magic but the moment he was in just altered his decision-making. After all, this was his first ever fight, let alone an actual mission.
Aiden was waiting for Cyrus to attack so he could work with the magic he was about to show but since it never came, he began to understand the problem.
"I asked him about his Alchemy Magic when the four of us met outside the village but I never got to ask what I wanted in full since Daimon interrupted us. I was afraid of this…", he thought to himself but quickly shook his head as he had to focus.
Evan tilted his head and sighed with a questioning look. "Hm? It doesn't look like you're that confident in your own abilities. Oh well, I guess that's fine for me!"
"Doll Creation Magic: Hollow Inhabitants!" Evan used his Doll Magic to form people in front of him, all made from his pink strings. They were completely hollow from the inside but it looked like they were actual people from the outside. They had eyes, ears, noses, and mouths just like a normal human would but that was the extent of it. There were no details to them and it was almost like they were just there as some sort of placeholder just to show that they were actually dolls.
The two dolls that Evan created charged at Cyrus and Aiden, each with glowing, pink fists. One of them swung for Aiden's face, barely missing as the Flame mage has taken a step back in time.
"Flame Magic: Hell's Heatwave!" He slammed his right foot down on the ground and the impact from it created a wave of flames that surrounded the doll that attacked him, engulfing it.
Even though one Magic Knight was fine, it didn't mean the other would be…
"Ah!" Cyrus screamed as he felt the magical punch of the doll meet his face. He fell to the ground, holding his crooked glasses. The Aqua Deer looked up and saw the second punch that was about to meet his face…
… Which would be the case if Aiden hadn't just saved him. The Flame mage had created some fireballs in his palms to throw at the other doll, burning it up completely.
"Cyrus!" Aiden shouted for the first time, seemingly getting frustrated with his temporary partner.
"S-Sorry about that…!" The Alchemical Wizard apologised.
The enemy clapped his hands together once before speaking up. "Say… this is your first mission, isn't it?"
The Magic Knights didn't respond at all but that only confirmed it for Evan. With a reply, they could have refuted the claim but the silence was telling.
"I'll bet your captain thought that a mission like this would be easy for a newcomer like you, but it looks like he was wrong, ay?" Evan sighed sarcastically. It was like he was mocking the decision of Rill but also making fun of Cyrus as well.
Cyrus was silent. He was out of his depth in this mission and it looked like the fight was up to Aiden on his own.
Though, the Flame mage wasn't going to have that so easily from Cyrus.
"Cyrus!" Aiden shouted, prompting the Alchemy mage to look at him. "So what if this is your first mission out on the field? I'm sure your experiences and your research that you've done for the last year can help you now!"
Evan shook his head as he was unimpressed. "That Cyrus is no big deal. I'll deal with his partner and then help the other two…", he thought as he summoned Hollow Inhabitants again. This time, both of the created dolls targeted Aiden and swung for him with both of their fists.
Aiden took a step back to assess the incoming spell. "It looks like he can use his magic to manipulate other objects with his strings, or even create some out of scratch. I can deal with this on my own but having Cyrus will be a boost…!"
The Purple Orca took a quick glance at Cyrus who was behind him but all he saw was the scared look of someone who had no idea of what to do. The Alchemical Wizard couldn't find the answer to this problem.
"I guess it's just me then…", Aiden said to himself. "Flame Magic: Apollo's Burst!" He lifted his right arm up high and, from his palm, generated a large sphere of gushing flames that looked like they could spiral out of control at any moment. After a few seconds, once it seemed like it was big enough, he slammed his arm down towards the Hollow Inhabitants, completely burning them in the process.
"Man, you are really good", Evan praised.
"Thanks, it comes with being a Magic Knight", Aiden replied.
"Are you saying my magic can't compare to yours?" Evan shrugged.
"Oh, how did you guess?" Aiden smirked.
In the midst of the battle, screams came out from all around the village. The dark of the night was chilly but the panic from the citizens only added to the feeling as they were witnessing a battle right outside their homes.
Aiden looked around, cursing the problem. He couldn't leave Evan so the only one he could turn to at this point was…
"Cyrus! I'll handle this guy so you take care of the people around us!" He ordered before he saw the Doll mage get up from the floor, seemingly stronger than before.
Cyrus ran back away from the fight to see to the citizens around him. Some had been caught up by the battle from Fragil and Daimon's side, but it also looked like Evan wasn't going to let up in his attacks anytime soon.
"I'm going to defeat you right now, Veras!" Daimon shouted, jumping forwards with his right arm behind him. "Explosion Creation Magic: Close-Quarter Gauntlet!"
"Alea, I'm not taking our fight lightly either!" Fragil pointed. "Snow Magic: Winter Fest!"
Daimon surrounded his hand in a glove-like item which started glowing in the colour of his magic. Quickly, he whipped it in front of him and went to punch the enemy point-blank.
As the Purple Orca attacked his opponent, large bits of snow hovered over the other enemy opposite the Aqua Deer. They quickly fell down and it didn't look like Alea had a counter to it with her lack of movement.
"You're always way too serious, Daimon", Veras said with a smile. He put both of his palms in front of him and towards where the Explosion mage was coming. "Grass Magic: Tropical Resistance".
A wall made entirely of thick grass erupted from the floor, creating a defensive barrier which separated Daimon and Veras. The Explosion mage's spell met the sturdy wall and everything that came after was pure silence.
"Needle Magic: Wasp's Retreat!" Three sharp points came out from the mage's grimoire and created a triangular barrier in front of her. A yellow shield was generated and Fragil's spell stuck to it, melting away in a few seconds.
"Huh?" Daimon said as he saw that his attacks were ineffective.
"Needle Magic…?" Fragil said, confused.
"You never really paid attention to the others at the base, did you?" Veras chuckled. "My magic is built to keep the peace and that's exactly what it's doing here. Your Explosion Magic is completely nullified by the thick grass absorbing each blow", Veras addressed Daimon.
"As for you, Fragil, was it? My magic isn't all that impressive, really. But, since it isn't very common, I get to have the upper hand on a lot of my opponents", Alea clapped.
Daimon jumped back, undoing the spell on his right hand. "You said your magic is to keep the peace? But betraying us… there's nothing peaceful about it!"
"It's a type of magic that I've never seen before and it sure would be useful to the Magic Knights, but… you left them for a reason I can't understand", Fragil added.
"Like we said earlier, we have to do this. Not because we hate the kingdom, but because we want to change it. You realised it yourself before… you knew the reason we left was because of Gueldre", Veras explained.
Fragil was about to react with another spell but a shout from the side stopped her as she turned her head to face Daimon.
"Was he that bad for you to turn your backs on us?!" Daimon shouted.
"Shut up!" Both mages responded. Veras then carried on talking. "You and Aiden were the only ones that Gueldre took a liking to well before his crimes were revealed. Do you have any idea of what Alea and I went through whilst you two got all the praises from him?"
After this, Veras described what went on with Gueldre and it was nothing like what a Captain of the Magic Knights should be doing. Money laundering through his own squad, paying everyone less than their earned wages, mental abuse, deliberately selling us out on missions so that he could earn easy money from the enemies, and then not to mention the shaming our squad got because of him in the end…".
Alea dropped her head but her eyes were pulsating as she was remembering everything that she went through. It seemed like it truly was horrible for a lot of the Purple Orcas, so betraying their squad was the only way they saw to escape the pain.
Slowly, the Needle mage lifted her head and sighed heavily. "It's okay, though. It's not like I expect you to understand us, Daimon. Just… if we ever meant anything to you, you'd let us do this".
"Huh?!" Daimon shouted. Fragil looked at him again and saw that the top few buttons of his shirt were undone. His black tie was stuck to the side under his crumpled collar, giving him a sort of dishevelled look.
"You guys have always thought I'm some hothead that doesn't pay attention to anything else other than myself… The reason I wanted to join the Purple Orcas was to help improve the squad from within. I knew what a piece of shit Gueldre was but I didn't betray anyone because of it. I believed we could change things from the inside rather than attacking from the outside. We… can do that now since he's gone. You haven't committed any crimes that can't be forgiven yet, so please?"
The way Daimon was speaking was unlike anything the other three mages had expected from him. He was always aggressive in his approach to almost anything so seeing him actually articulate what he was thinking in a way like this was surprising.
"So, this is how he really thinks…", Fragil noted to herself. She realised that Daimon spoke from his heart but she also knew that something like this would never deter the enemy, especially ones that had the courage to betray the very thing they had sworn allegiance to previously. For that reason alone, she kept her guard up.
Veras and Alea exchanged quick looks with one another before responding. However, this reaction wasn't from their words, but with actions as they both targeted Daimon at once.
"Now you want to speak like that with us, after everything that's already happened?!" Veras shouted. He reinforced his hands with a green aura, giving them a boost in strength to attack his former teammate with.
"Damn it!" Daimon shouted back.
He dodged one fist from the Grass mage by ducking his head away from the punch. Though, this allowed Alea to come in from the back to attack as the Explosion mage was focused on the one in front of him.
"… Perhaps, if you talked to us like this before and helped us understand… things would be different", Alea sighed. "Needle Creation Magic: Needle Hammer!"
The enemy formed a large hammer in both of her hands. The handle was firmly grasped and the face of the weapon was covered in sharp needles, waiting to be swung into Daimon's back.
"Shit… I can't do this on my own!" Daimon cursed. For now, he reacted to Veras's left hand coming in for the punch by sticking both of his arms out in front of him. He generated white and orange energy and made his magic explode, hurting Veras and sending him backwards.
However, Alea was going to hit Daimon and the Explosion mage braced for impact, closing his eyes.
"Snow Magic: Unclimbed Ice Wall!" Fragil shouted all of a sudden. She raised her hands in between Daimon and the attacker, creating a thick sheet of ice.
The Needle Hammer slammed into the ice wall, shattering parts of it but it managed to help save Daimon from being hit.
He opened his eyes and saw what Fragil had done. "Thanks, woman", he said as he panted.
Fragil wore a poker face once more and shot a small snowball at him, making his face wet. "You know my name's Fragil, you've even said it before!"
Daimon chuckled slightly which was a first. Fragil shook her head and focused back on the battle again. "Hmph, I'll make sure you call me by my name!" She thought as she clenched her fists.
Back with both Veras and Alea, they walked up to each other once more and got ready again.
"I thought Daimon was the one to watch out for but it looks like the other one is a problem", Veras spoke out, prompting an angered look from Fragil.
"I guess we have it out for us", Alea added. She kept tapping her foot on the ground as she was getting impatient with the battle.
A few minutes went past and each battle was getting more intense with stronger spells being used as well as more of the village getting caught up in it. People that were initially further away when the commotion started were now looking on as they saw the Magic Knights fighting.
Aiden's flames were generally well contained but Evan wasn't making it an easy battle. His magic had just grown so things were getting difficult. As for Daimon and Fragil, their own battle was just getting started and it was quite evenly matched with both pairs working together.
The two battles carried on in the middle of Talon Village. As the Magic Knights fought on to beat the rogues, their spells would occasionally get too intense, ricocheting and spiralling away from the target with each change in the fight. The statue of the eagle in the middle had started to crumble with bits of debris landing on the floor.
Cyrus looked on at the battle, away from the action.
"After only a year of absence from my squad… I've really fallen behind everyone. I don't know how to battle so can I really be that useful?" He began to think. However, he realised that he still needed to do something to help them and so he did what Aiden asked him to. He ran around the village, helping the citizens that were watching or had been caught up in what was happening.
The nearest person to Cyrus was none other than the shopkeeper that he and Aiden had spoken to earlier in the day. He was crouched down beside the wall of a building and it looked like some debris from the town's eagle statue had dug into his back, leaving a few wounds around.
"Marvin, are you alright?!" The Alchemy mage asked, worried.
The man slowly turned around and recognised the Aqua Deer's face to be the one from before. "Ah, hello… It looks like those shady people are really making a mess of things, ay?" He chuckled before falling down onto one knee as his body weakened from the pain.
"Let me help you", Cyrus said as the grimoire beside him flipped through a few pages. "I can't fight but I sure can heal… Alchemy Recovery Magic: Healing Elixir!"
Some green smoke formed in the middle of Cyrus's right palm and then a vial appeared, holding a glowing, gold liquid. He opened the lid and handed the vial to Marvin.
"Drink this. I made this elixir for you and when you drink it, your back's injury will heal up in no time", he said.
Marvin looked at the gold liquid and then turned his head to face Cyrus. "Say… you're a Magic Knight, aren't ya? I knew something was up when you two came to me in your cloaks, haha!" He laughed. "Could you tell me a bit more about this here elixir before I go gulping it down?"
The shopkeeper was worried and it was obvious why. He was just handed some odd-looking liquid in a glass vial and asked to drink it. Anyone would be skeptical.
"Uh, yeah, sure. My magic is all about making things. Mixing substances together or creating new materials is what I do. Usually, I'd have to analyse an injury before I can make an elixir for it but since this particular one is quite basic, I already had the knowledge for it beforehand", Cyrus explained. He pointed again at the vial and then apologised. "Oh, and yeah… we are Magic Knights. Sorry to put on a front but we were on a mission but now I'm telling you the truth".
A few seconds went by and then Marvin drank the glowing, gold liquid from the vial and then sat down away from the action. His body felt a little heavy but the wound on his back had already started to heal up.
"W-Woah, you really did drink that quickly…", Cyrus said with a bit of worry.
"Ah, I guess I did!" He burped before slumping against a stone wall. "I trusted ya with what you said".
Cyrus started to smile with what Marvin said to him. He felt appreciated it and it was also a feeling that he never got when he worked by himself all alone and away from his squad.
"Th-thank you…", he said sheepishly.
"Now, I'd like to help you and all but I'm mighty tired after everything that's happened. I'm sure there are other people that need your help, kid", Marvin said with a thumbs up.
Cyrus got up and looked around the area. A lot of people had moved away off their own accord but there were still others that couldn't get away in time. One particular person was a little girl around the age of seven and it looked like she was ducking behind a tree in the middle of a park that was near the centre of the village.
It was a small area that had fencing around in a square. There were a few swings, and also a small, flowing fountain that was in front of the tree in the middle. The tree covered a large portion of the place with the shade that its large leaves usually gave. Though, since it was the night, there was no shade to protect the girl and it was up to the Alchemical mage to provide a form of it for her.
As Aiden used his Flame Magic to attack, Evan was using his strings and puppets to deflect the attacks away. A lot of them were ending up nowhere important but a few of them hit different buildings. Two blasts of magic had been deflected away and they were heading towards the girl and hiding behind a thin tree wasn't going to protect her at all.
"Shit, I have to get to her quickly!" Cyrus thought to himself as he started running.
The magic blast was edging closer and closer to the cowering girl and the Alchemy mage was running out of time to catch up.
The first blast broke apart the small fountain that was near the tree and the water from it started flowing everywhere on the floor. The park was filled with water and the depth of it was slowly lowering as the water spread outwards.
"Hang on…!" Cyrus stopped and his grimoire flipped to the first page in its contents. "That's it!" The water had almost ran out but it managed to reach all the way to Cyrus. His feet stood on top of the wet floor and he saw a straight path to the park where the girl was.
Aiden spotted that his magic had been deflected and saw what was happening with Cyrus and the girl in the park. "Cyrus, hurry up!" He shouted, worried that he might not manage to help.
Cyrus raised both of his arms and then bent down to touch the water on the ground. After this, he focused on where the fountain used to be. Seeing that the second blast was just about to meet the tree, he had to hurry. "The water is touching me and there's a trail of water leading all the way up to the park… a moment like this is just what I needed!"
"Alchemy Magic: Basic Transmutation!" The water that Cyrus touched started bubbling and expanding, giving it height and depth. Quickly, this change travelled all the way to the source of the water and created something that protected the girl from being hit.
The girl stopped cowering as she realised that her surroundings started to quieten. Moving her head away from the tree trunk, she saw a small wall in front of her that had saved her.
"H-how… there wasn't a wall here earlier…?" The girl whimpered. Her fear had finally got to her and she started to cry, even though she had been saved.
Cyrus ran up to her, kneeled on the ground, and spoke to her. "Hey, hey. You're safe now", he said.
"Wh-what did… you do?" She asked, wiping her tears.
"I can create things with my magic. This spell allows me to change the properties of anything, physical or magical, into another", Cyrus explained. Then, he looked back and saw both battles still going on and turned back to the girl. "Look, just, get away from this place so you don't get scared anymore. The Magic Knights will handle this, okay?" He smiled.
After a few seconds, the girl calmed down and replied to the Aqua Deer, hugging him. "Thank you…!" She smiled before running away, far from the action.
Cyrus was silent for the next few minutes as he was processing everything. It was his first mission as a Magic Knight and he was experiencing so many things that he never had done previously. He then went to go help other citizens around the town and, during this, both of the battles with the other mages were raging on and it looked like they were going to end soon.
"Grass Creation Magic: Severing Blades!" Veras summoned two, large blades of green grass in the palms of his hands. They were shaped like boomerangs but he kept them in his grasp at all times.
Jumping forwards, he tried to slice Daimon's chest with his spell and he managed to do exactly that with how quick he moved. Daimon fell to the ground and clutched his wounds that were dripping blood.
"Daimon!" Fragil chased. She got close and tried to summon Unclimbed Ice Wall again to create some distance between them and the enemy.
"Not so fast, lovely!" Alea interrupted. She conjured up Needle Hammer again, slamming it down near both of the Magic Knights, making them both fall to the floor in a heap. With this, Fragil started to black out as she was beginning to reach her limit.
"Our quick approach worked, Veras", Alea said as she backed away.
"Yeah, but… I don't think it's over. You know how Daimon is when he's on the back foot…", Veras said as he started to flip through a few more pages in his spell book.
Suddenly, they heard a slam on the ground coming from where Daimon and Fragil were laying. It was from the Explosion mage's hands. He punched them into the floor, creating another crater and the two mages fell down it.
This fall woke Fragil up due to the sudden change in what was happening. She took a look around and saw they were a small distance into the floor and deduced that it was because of Daimon. She turned around and saw the mage kneeling down, staring up into the air.
"Was I wrong about wanting to change this squad…?" He asked, softly.
"Wrong? No, I don't think you were. You actually had some good reasons but they can't see that", Fragil replied, getting close to him.
"They went through horrible things in the squad and I… I was ignorant to it all", Daimon sighed, shaking his head.
"Ignorant? Perhaps, yeah. But you understand what they went through now, don't you? If so, you can agree with their version of events but in the end, you can still reject what they're doing", Fragil explained. "In our line of work, not every villain or opponent we face is the fact of simply being right vs wrong. You can understand them, emphasise with them, but in the end, we have to reject them".
"You think they'll understand that?" Daimon asked as he began to stand up again.
"Maybe not right now, but if you promise to change things for the squad, as well as in general, then in the future they'll know you were right", Fragil smiled.
Daimon shook his head, smiling. "You know, you really are something, Fragil".
The Snow mage paused and her light-blue eyes widened. Without realising, she started to smile but she quickly tried to hide it from the Explosion mage.
"Fragil, I'm gonna tell you one thing. I'm going to go all out now against those two. If you can keep up, I think we can win this in no time at all", Daimon said. His dark-blue eyes fired up as he put his palms into fists.
Cutting away to the former Purple Orcas, the Needle mage was intrigued with what was going to happen. "Hm, are they actually okay?" Alea asked, leaning towards the small crater in front of her.
"Alea, I told you. Be ready", Veras cautioned.
"But I really don't thi-!" She began to say but the ear-piercing sound of a large explosion stopped her, knocking her over.
Both of the rogues saw a hovering Daimon a short distance above them in the air. There was no sign of Fragil but Daimon was the one they had to look out for since it looked like he was smiling for some reason. He was hovering because he kept using his Explosion Magic in bursts through his palms that were facing downwards, giving him the balance and means to stay up in the air.
"… Here it comes…", Veras warned. He got into a defensive stance and his grimoire started to flicker. "Grass Mag-!" He shouted but within one more second, Daimon had appeared right beside him, blitzing him.
Veras turned back to try and look at Daimon but it seemed to all be in slow motion with how quick he was moving.
"Explosion Creation Magic: Close-Quarter Gauntlet!" The gauntlet formed on his right hand and he went to punch the enemy again. This time he hit and the glove-like item, that was powered through the mage's magic, easily sent Veras backwards and into the ground.
All of a sudden, Alea came into fray and was going to attack Daimon. She couldn't help Veras but she was confident in her own magic to beat the black-haired mage.
"You really are quick. I should've paid more attention but now you're off your guard! Needle Creation Magic: Twin Needle Strike!"
Alea turned her hands into giant , silver needles and she went to stab Daimon. As she was about to, her face turned into a look of sadness for a few seconds but she still carried on. Daimon noticed this and he understood what this meant.
Though, just like as the moments prior in the battle, Fragil was right there to do her part in the fight.
"Snow Creation Magic: Snowmen Assault!" Fragil formed two snowmen in front of her out of three, large snowballs each. Each of them tanked the Twin Needle Strike each, which allowed Daimon to move away from danger.
"Sorry, Alea, but you left me no choice!" He used his Close-Quarter Gauntlet and tried to strike Alea in the chest to send her into the floor just like he did with Veras. However, things didn't go exactly to plan when he saw a grass wall come up between him and Alea.
Daimon and Fragil turned around and saw that Veras had moved away from where he was and was now behind Alea, helping her.
"… You know, I can also do a bit of defending like that Aqua Deer there…", he panted and smirked at the same time.
"Veras!" Alea shouted, shocked that he managed to move after getting knocked down.
The two rogues came together and then started at both Daimon and Fragil. "You two know we can't give this up. We… wanted to be Magic Knights too but after everything that Gueldre did… I don't think there's much hope in that dream anymore. We are still going to fight!" The both of them said in unison.
Daimon, whilst listening and understanding the two ex-Purple Orcas, gave a glancing look to Fragil who was next to him, and nodded. Fragil understood what to do and while she gave a concerned look, she decided to go along with the plan.
"I understand your pain and while I didn't go what you went through, all I can ask is that you understand where I come from as well…", Daimon said.
"We do", Veras said as the two rogues nodded.
"Then I guess…", Daimon started to say.
"We end this here…", Alea finished.
"Grass Magic…".
"Needle Magic…".
Daimon propelled himself upwards through the explosions from his palms, hovering up in the sky. He saw both of the rogues summon some powerful spells to finish off the battle but this was what Daimon wanted – the both of them in the same area and as close as possible.
"Explosion Magic: Great Crater Destruction!"
Daimon moved the position of his hands from below him to slightly in front, facing both Veras and Alea. From his palms, he summoned huge, orange and white blasts of energy that fell down onto the floor, destroying everything it made contact with. The magic was so intense that the buildings around started to move and rumble and it looked like the whole village was going to lose much more than their eagle statue.
This spell disrupted Veras and Alea and they couldn't summon their own spells with the amount of power that Daimon was generating.
"H-hang on… with this much power…", Alea tried to say but she was knocked over by the pressure of his spell.
"He's going to destroy much more than just the immediate area! Did he really think this through…?!" Veras shouted before he was also knocked over.
The two cowered together and when they looked above, all they saw was a blinding white light form around them and then everything fell silent.
A long few minutes passed after Daimon used his Explosion Magic. Veras and Alea were laying on the floor in the middle of the village, but they didn't have a lot of injuries considering that Daimon used one of his most powerful spells to defeat them.
Slowly, the rogues opened their eyes and sat up, looking around. They saw the village in its entirety and it looked like that Daimon didn't actually destroy anything of importance.
Looking at their hands, examining their bodies, they turned to one another.
"What the…? I thought for sure we were goners…", Alea said with a shocked expression. Her eyes had widened and her mouth was open wide as she couldn't believe it.
"I thought the exact same. H-how are we alive?" Veras asked.
The sound of a shout came towards them and the two ex-Magic Knights turned to look at the source of it. Daimon was jumping up and down in anger at what the two were implying and he made sure he got his words across to them.
"You dumbasses! You really think I would kill you…?!" Daimon crossed his arms together. "We definitely disagree on things but you were once my teammates… honestly, I can't believe you thought I'd do that!"
The opposing duo sweat-dropped as they realised what they said.
"But… how did we stay relatively unharmed? That magic of yours was surely going to destroy everything and that blinding white light we saw – what was that?" Alea asked.
A cough from next to Daimon diverted their attention. It was Fragil and when Veras and Alea looked at her, she waved to them.
"That was my Snow Magic protecting you two", she spoke to the two.
FLASHBACK – JUST A FEW MINUTES PRIOR:
"Explosion Magic: Great Crater Destruction!"
This spell disrupted Veras and Alea and they couldn't summon their own spells with the amount of power that Daimon was generating.
"H-hang on… with this much power…", Alea tried to say but she was knocked over by the pressure of his spell.
"He's going to destroy much more than just the immediate area! Did he really think this through…?!" Veras shouted before he was also knocked over.
However, unknown to them, Fragil was on the move putting in barriers, defensive protection, and other such measures to make sure things would turn out in their favour.
"Hm, this plan of his is wild but I guess it's who he is", she thought to herself as she summoned spell after spell during the time that Daimon was unleashing his own.
"Snow Magic: Unclimbed Ice Wall". The mage ran all around the village square summoning these spells. She didn't have to worry too much about the Explosion Magic since she that Daimon would avoid hitting her.
Fragil stopped to the side and looked at all of the Unclimbed Ice Walls that she had just formed. "These barriers can help minimise the damage from the explosion. I reinforced each wall many times with the same spell to increase the defence but that also means…", she started panting. "My mana might run out soon. I sure hope this plan works!"
The Aqua Deer looked above and saw Daimon also tiring out. This meant that there wasn't much more time left for the preparations she had to do. Fragil took a look around and analysed the key areas.
"I've put the barriers to protect the buildings to the side, the church in front, as well as any other important places. It's a good thing that I saw Cyrus helping out the people that were caught up in this fight so props to him", she smiled. "The only thing left to do is… protect those rogues".
"Snow Magic: Veil of Protection". She used another spell to cover everything that was inside the barrier she had made. This spell allowed Fragil to cast another protective barrier but she could manipulate this one to suit exactly what she wanted.
Fragil weaved it around Veras and Alea who were both too preoccupied by the supposed destruction that Daimon would cause to notice her near them. Quickly, she circled the two mages with a white veil that completely shut them away from the outside.
"Okay, now… I need to get out!" Fragil rushed away, heading away from the blast radius and returned back to safety.
Daimon looked behind him and saw the thumbs up from Fragil. "She really is… well, good job, Fragil!"
The two cowered together and when they looked above, all they saw was a blinding white light form around them and then everything fell silent.
FLASHBACK - OVER
Fragil explained everything that happened while they were too focused on what Daimon was doing.
"Well, look around. What do you see?" She asked them.
The two looked around and saw that the colour of the village had changed. Though, it wasn't exactly like that when they took the time to realise what actually happened.
"Snow. It's everywhere!" Veras exclaimed.
"Daimon told me about his plan when we were in that hole earlier. He would up the power on his magic output and I was supposed to supress it. A bit of a farfetched idea but it worked. His Explosion Magic is capable of destroying a lot but my magic can reduce the effects of it by piling on tons of snow all around. Therefore, the only thing that would happen is my snow explodes in place of the stuff I had it protect", Fragil explained.
"So, that white light we saw…", Alea asked.
"… Was my Snow Magic protecting you. I created a barrier around the village square which stopped the Explosion Magic going out of control", the Aqua Deer sighed. "Though, it was really dangerous…", she shook her head.
"You know, I didn't really go all out there", Daimon smirked.
"Yeah, alright, Whatever you say", Fragil retorted sarcastically.
Another few minutes went by and both Veras and Alea thought deeply about everything they were doing through it. Eventually, with a heavy heart from both of them, they decided to give up their pursuit in their plans with Evan.
"We… we'll stop our plan to attack the Royal Capital. I'm not saying we agree with the system but we won't participate in it any longer", Veras explained.
"Take us in, Daimon", Alea said as they both offered their freedoms.
During this battle, the other one was also carrying on. Aiden and Evan were continuing their fight at the same time as Daimon and Fragil's.
Going back to when Cyrus saved the girl from the deflected magic blast, Aiden was watching. "Phew…", he sighed as he saw that she was unharmed.
Turning around, he focused on Evan once more. His grimoire flipped through again and he summoned another spell to fight against him.
"Flame Magic: Apollo's Burst!" He shouted as he slammed down the fireball in front of Evan. As it hit the ground, multiple flames burst up and hit the Doll mage into the air.
As Aiden walked forwards, he asked the enemy; "do you really think three people have what it takes to destroy the Royal Capital?"
"Doll Creation Magic: Hollow Inhabitants!" He shouted and looked towards the ground he was above. He conjured up a few dolls which helped break his fall as he landed. He was on the ground after this, but he still answered the question Aiden posed.
Evan, upon hearing and processing the question, just laughed before replying. "You really think there's just three of us in on this? Think about the Magic Knights and then think about the world we live in. If three of us have suffered injustice then imagine how many others have as well. There's much more than us three who have a bone to pick with the system but their whereabouts? That's a secret even to me".
Aiden was taken aback with what Evan said. "There really is some kind of movement against the Magic Knights, maybe even the kingdom itself. It's definitely in its early stages right now but…", he sighed. Then, he addressed Evan again, changing the topic. "What actually happened with your wife for you to end up like this? I understand Veras and Alea, but with you it's a mystery".
Getting up, Evan sighed and dropped his shoulders. "I guess an explanation is due, hm? Earlier when I spoke about my wife, it wasn't a lie to gain empathy or whatever… it was the truth. When Cyrus mentioned the Magic Knights, I felt hurt because… they were the ones that killed my wife while she was on duty".
Aiden dropped his head and tensed his fists. "It makes sense now…", he thought to himself.
"They thought she 'stole their spotlight' or whatever that meant. And… you can guess which squad she was part of, right?" Evan said, staring at the Flame mage with deep anger.
"It's a clear pattern when it comes to the Purple Orcas, isn't it?" Aiden admitted. He looked at Evan again but this time there was no hostility or anger from him. He understood and emphasised with what he was going through.
Still, even though he understood, Aiden had a job to do.
"Evan, did your wife like being a Magic Knight?" Aiden asked, startling the Doll mage as he didn't expect him to ask a question about his wife.
"Of course, she did. Even I… loved it when she would come back and talk about her day for hours upon hours…". The man started to smile as he thought back to happier days, but quickly lost his expression as he snapped back to reality.
"Then… wouldn't your wife be sad seeing you like this – defiling everything she stood for?" Aiden posed a serious question which didn't bode well with the man that was clearly hurting.
"How dare you?!" Evan screamed, his grimoire turning a page.
"No. I think that's enough messing around", Aiden said, coldly. He walked forwards and unleashed Hell's Heatwave, sending a wave of flames at the Doll mage.
Evan saw this and decided to dodge it. "I've seen this spell a few times now. It's getting tiring", he said.
Aiden was silent but he kept closing the distance between them. His magic kept being cast, the same spell over and over before it started to overwhelm Evan.
"It's more powerful this time?" Evan realised with shock. He fell over as Aiden had closed him down to the broken eagle statue. The Doll mage's back bumped against the stone structure and it looked like he had no escape.
"Give it up and think about what you're doing", the Purple Orca said with an angered tone. His understanding approach just a few seconds prior had seemingly disappeared and now he was more serious.
Evan looked up and the towering Aiden and his face went pale with the sight he saw. Aiden had a blank expression but there was no anger, even though his face said otherwise. Perhaps it was just a front to intimidate the Doll mage, but there really was no malice. However, the one thing Evan was sure of when he looked up at the Purple Orca was that his mana seemed to be increasing ever so suddenly.
The crescent moon was up high above Talon Village, illuminating parts of the it with a sombre light. Aiden's head covered it from Evan's perspective and he just looked like a shadow. Getting desperate, he tried to look around for something to be of aid to him.
"That's it!" Evan turned his head to the right and saw some broken shards of stone from the statue on the floor. "Doll Magic…", he summoned and some pink strings wrapped around the sharp object. Quickly, he placed it in his own hand and went to stab Aiden.
"I win!" Evan screamed as he launched himself at Aiden, not realising what was coming just a second away from him.
Though, just before this last-ditch effort from Evan, Cyrus had started to walk back to where Aiden and his opponent were. He had finished helping everyone around the village and thought that he could help now that his confidence was up.
Cyrus stopped as he saw Aiden use Apollo's Burst to send Evan into the air. Instead of joining Aiden, he just watched for a while.
"Man, what I'd do to have some attack spells like that…", he thought to himself. "If I don't improve, then I can't do much in the future…".
The alchemist thought back to how he just helped the other citizens through his magic. He used Basic Transmutation and Healing Elixir together multiple times to do so which he was confident in.
"My magic has always been quite different to the ordinary mage. My spells don't just come from training, wishful thinking, or even at serious moments. I have to actually make my spells… and that's why Basic Transmutation was my first ever spell. It helped me create Healing Elixir", he thought back to his first few months when he received his grimoire.
"Working with Doctor Owen helped me too. My experience with him aided in me making my second spell. I used Basic Transmutation to convert some materials and analysis of different injuries into my first recovery spell. Perhaps…", he stopped thinking back and looked towards Aiden and Evan again.
"I can do something like that, but with an attack spell?" Cyrus gasped.
Then, he took a look at what was happening and saw that Aiden had pushed Evan all the way back towards the broken eagle statue.
"It's a shame that statue broke apart but what can you do… huh?" He focused on the stone shards on the ground around the two mages. "They're sharp and if he… oh no!"
Cyrus started running towards Aiden to help, not thinking about ifs, maybes, or buts this time. His legs almost moved on their own and that would be the case if it wasn't for what the Aqua Deer was thinking.
"I have to help Aiden. He gave me the boost to use my past experiences to help and even though I couldn't join in the battle, I did help the people around here", he looked down at the stone shards again and thought hard about what he wanted to do. "If my theory is correct, Evan will use one of those to his advantage. I can't just stop them with my hand since I'm not strong enough but what if I…", he thought quickly.
In the rush of the moment, all he could picture was a sword in his mind. His thinking only went towards a weapon and since there was no time to think around it, that's what he went off.
Evan had used his magic to wrap up a sharp, jagged, stone shard and was about to put it in his hands.
Without thinking too much about it, Cyrus also picked up a stone shard from the ground and twirled them around his hands for a second or two before his light-green eyes started glowing and his grimoire opened up to a blank page.
"Alchemy Creation Magic: Alchemist's Blade!" Cyrus shouted as his grimoire finished writing a new inscription. Just as he said it, he saw Evan launch himself at Aiden but Cyrus managed to get in between with his newly-made spell.
The stones in his hands disappeared in a cloud of smoke but, after that, loose tendrils of metal came out of his spell book, gathering into the shape of a sword right in front of him. Upon instinct, he grabbed the sword's handle and used the blade to stop Evan in his tracks.
"C-Cyrus?!" Aiden shouted, backing up slightly. It didn't look like he had even noticed him either as he was too focused on Evan.
Cyrus's sword stopped the attack but it quickly loosened and fell to the floor like it was some kind of liquid. It was very flexible but it lacked the strength to hold it together right now, so after only one use, it was useless.
"I guess that needs a bit more work…", he laughed.
Instead of celebrating right away, Aiden acted to restrain Evan in place and he did so by using some Binding Magic to tie the Doll mage in place.
The duo looked at Evan who was in restraints. Soon after he had been defeated, they saw tears fall from his face and onto the ground, staining it a darker colour.
Cyrus and Aiden said nothing.
The two just sat down next to each other after realising that their mission was complete. Before they could talk, they saw Daimon on the other side of the square float up into the air and unleash some crazy Explosion Magic.
"No, no, no, no… Daimon, what are you doing?!" Aiden shouted before seeing their events play out.
Now that both battles were over and the enemies had been restrained, the Magic Knights met together in the centre of Talon Village.
"Yo, Aiden!" Daimon raised his hand. He was wearing a huge grin on his face. "Did you like that plan me and the woman pulled off?"
"No, of course I didn't! What were you thinking? What if the plan went wrong? You would've destroyed the village!" Aiden protested, getting agitated with his squad mate.
"You too? Man, Veras and Alea also thought that I couldn't pull it off", he said with a frown. Suddenly, his head was met with a slap and when he turned around it was none other than his temporary partner.
"Fragil, what was that for?!" Daimon shouted.
With an angered expression, she replied. "Huh, what the-? First you call me 'woman' and then you finally call me 'Fragil' and now you're back to the start?!"
The two started to bicker a lot which was out of character for someone like Fragil, but completely in character for someone like Daimon.
"Looks like he's brushing off on Fragil", Cyrus said.
All of a sudden, the citizens that had all ran away for cover or to hide had reappeared and started clapping for the Magic Knights. The argumentative duo stopped their back and forth and heard the applause.
Aiden and Fragil didn't like the praise too much and just looked away but Cyrus and Daimon were a different story. Daimon liked to be appreciated for his work as it made him believe that what he was doing was correct, but in Cyrus's case, he was amazed because this is the first time he felt so accomplished as a Magic Knight.
"W-Wow… so, this is what it's like to be a proper Magic Knight?" He asked with stars in his eyes.
"Don't take this instance for granted, Cyrus. We don't usually get claps of support after a mission", Fragil replied, shaking her head. As she did, she spotted a certain someone in the corner of her eye.
Walking up to Daimon, she nudged him. "Hey, there's that girl that you threatened earlier. Go apologise", she ordered.
Daimon yawned. "Do I really have to? It's just a kid", he responded.
Fragil said nothing but she didn't have to. Her death stare was enough for Daimon to realise that it wasn't worth another argument so close to the previous one.
He walked up to the girl and knelt down to speak to her. "Hey, brat", he said.
The girl turned around. First, her glance was towards Cyrus who had saved her and she had a look of happiness on her face. Soon after, her expression changed to a bit of fear and also some anger.
"What do you want?" She replied rudely, crossing her arms.
"I… hm, I just want to apologise for be- OW!" Daimon tried to speak but was met with a kick to his shin from the girl he was speaking to. Her foot dug into one of the mage's wounds that was also coincidentally on his shin.
The girl stuck her tongue out. "You might be a Magic Knight but I don't like you at all! Be more like the others like that one over there!" She shouted and then quickly ran away before Daimon could respond.
The Explosion mage said nothing about what happened as he returned to Fragil even thought she had seen exactly what transpired.
"Heh…", she thought with a sly grin.
The night was beginning to lighten as the crescent moon started to set. The Magic Knights had worked all the way through the night to help the citizens with the aftermath of this battle. Evan, Veras, and Alea were tied up near the statue with no access to their magic.
Aiden and Cyrus were to one side and they spoke about everything that happened. Of course, a lot of the talk was about the battle, the spells, and also Cyrus's development, but some talk was about the other events in the village.
"This village really did take some beating. Daimon's magic didn't do too much damage but it still broke apart some things like the ground and whatnot. I'll admit, my magic also went a bit crazy when I fought Evan", Aiden sighed.
"I think we should come back to the village after putting these guys in the prison at the Magic Knights HQ. I really want to help them… plus, there's the problem with the other people that were with Evan and those two. I don't know where they went but you can never be too safe", Cyrus replied.
Aiden smiled. "Wow, your first mission and you're already talking like a fully-fledged Magic Knight!"
Cyrus's cheeks reddened up as he realised how he was talking. "W-Well, I told you. I like going through these experiences to improve myself, you know…", he said as he shied away.
"Haha, I'm just kidding", Aiden laughed.
A few minutes went past and by the time the group were getting ready to leave, Aiden went up to Cyrus once more. Something was in the back of his mind from before the battle started and now he had the time to say it.
"Say, Cyrus, what did you think about Evan's story before – the one about having regrets?" Aiden asked.
"I… I don't know", he replied. Cyrus didn't want to respond to the question for some reason and he avoided looking directly at Aiden.
"I was listening in even though I walked away from the table but I agree with him. Years ago, something similar happened with me and it left me with nothing but regrets. If you have any grudges or things are a bit toxic right now, then you should probably seek to change that, you know?" Aiden advised the Alchemical Wizard.
After that, he started walking off towards where Daimon was. Cyrus was left alone as he stared towards the rising sun.
"Regrets, huh? I guess if there's one thing that I'd like to change is… how things are with Daisy…", he sighed.
NOTES:
A very, very long chapter indeed. I really didn't think it would be this long but I really did want to fit everything into one chapter for the Part 3 of this mini arc. I hope it didn't bore you, haha! In the future, I will try to shorten them but when I get writing and have ideas to put down, I rarely ever stop. Sometimes I think about cutting some content and whatnot but then I think otherwise at the same time, :P.
Anyways, Cyrus's first mission is now over! What did you guys think of it and also the way that the Purple Orcas were involved. We never saw their perspective in canon which is fine since the story doesn't really focus on them, but here I wanted to give it a bit of insight.
That strategy with Explosion Magic and Snow Magic worked well in my head with snow kind of minimising the former's strength so I hope I worded it well in the chapter.