Heroic New Era: Fantasies of Heroism
Chapter 7: A Promise Fulfilled! A Duel for Allegiance: Siege VS. Valkyrie: Full Power!/Two Seraphims!? The Threat Grows!
The two stood far from one another, as Siege held his smile looking upon the Angel of Clemency to finish his Home Run against Sage. "I bet you're curious on why you're here. Considering you probably don't know what we discussed in the previous timeline." Siege assumed.
"Explain." Valkyrie stated, as there was a stoic look on her face, in contrast to her usually eccentric tone.
"Well. Let's say our duel atop the tower was glorious… and yet, lackluster. I didn't use my best weapons or my best forms, and neither did you." Siege informed her. "I'm here to fulfill a proper promise to you. The Tower of Fantasy is no place for what you requested. In your exact words 'Should you decide your mistakes in this timeline are too great, and dare to try again, promise me you'll grant me a duel with you at full strength. If you prove stronger than the Sage, perhaps I'll swear fealty to you.'" Siege explained, as he took his hands out of his pockets. "So I'm here to follow through with your request. Your arena set up here in the Warren Snowfield shall suffice well for what you wished in the timeline previous." Siege smiled.
"I see… despite how outlandish it sounds… that kind of statement is indeed something that I might say, in another time." Valkyrie answered back, before she then summoning her spear of light. "Engarde."
"Indeed." Siege stated as he drew Ragnell-Yato, and procured his transformation spell. "Declare Spell: Arcane Sign… RESTRAINTS UNLEASH!" Siege yelled as he erupted in the same power he used on Onigashima, as Siege stood before Valkyrie in glorious power.
Master of Arcana and Blades
Siege
"You wanted me at full strength. So let's have a proper duel at our best. Engarde!" Siege exclaimed.
Cue: Fódlan Winds (Inferno) - Fire Emblem Three Warriors OST
Valkyrie then immediately began to swing her spear widely, as each slash seemed to summon a wave of thunder that pulsed through the battlefield, stronger whenever it clashed with Siege's own blade, as the sounds of roaring thunder ringing from it shook the ground each time it happened.
Siege blocked and dodged each thunderous swing with masterful skill, as he countered using many spell circles of magic to pelt Valkyrie as she attacked, while also trying to gain the upper hand in their main weapon duel.
Valkyrie grimaced slightly, before she then went for a surge of lightning that danced across the entire battlefield, as Siege blocked it, although it immediately wiped away his magic circles temporarily, turning the battle towards Valkyrie's favour slightly, and weaken Siege's advantage for the time being, although she was still breaking even.
She then immediately rushed into the air with a thunderous burst of energy, before she then raised her spear, as a salvo of lightning spears appeared around her, before she then proceeded to bombard the entire battlefield, replacing each spear with a new one once they impacted the ground.
'Damn she's good. Better here than what she was doin atop the Tower…' Siege thought. 'She's taking this seriously, while she doesn't want to change sides… she knows she will if I can prove I can beat her at her best. Which I shall!'
Siege leapt into the air to avoid many of the spears impacting the ground, and while his magic was nulled for a bit, he still had his ki energy. "Eat this! BIG BANG SALVO!" Siege yelled as he fired a Big Bang Attack, which split into many smaller blasts, as they rushed at high speeds towards Valkyrie!
Valkyrie quickly began to weave through the barrage of blasts, leaving behind a trail of yellow electricity wherever she crossed, although she was unable to avoid taking some hits, as the attacks wore her down considerably, although she managed to get in range to slam Siege back with a powerful sweeping blow, which bounced him through the air slightly, before he quickly righted himself.
"How about this!? FLASH BANG FURY!" Siege exclaimed as he tossed his sword up and began firing multiple powerful blasts while mimicking Vegeta's Final Flash, the attacks sometimes waiting to get to Valkyrie before exploding, others exploding in bright flashes and loud noises to disorient Valkyrie.
Valkyrie was blasted left and right by the attacks, as it was her that was being knocked around the skies, before she then immediately recovered quickly, as she batted a few blasts away. She then raised her spear, as she began to pool lightning from the sky itself, as the sky darkened greatly with grey clouds, while Valkyrie was engulfed in a orb of lightning.
She then rushed towards Siege, at fast speeds, as the soldier was forced to block, as she passed right through him, before then bouncing back from a different angle, getting faster and faster each time she ricocheted through the air, before she then warped right above Siege, with her spear raised for a crushing blow.
Siege merely smirked, before he then put his arms out to take the blow, as he enhanced his own defenses and grit his teeth both literally and figuratively, just in time for the blow to hit him, as it created a massive pillar of lightning that consumed both of the group, large enough to be seen from the entire island itself.
"Good god…" Richard remarked, seeing the massive bolt of lightning. "That is definitely one hell of a blow, whoever threw that…"
"That's… that's Valkyrie's, I think." Ruby stated. "That fight has to be super intense over there."
Back at the fight, Siege smiles as he isn't even downed from Valkyrie's attack, as he shoves back and begins sparking in his own strength. "Right into my trap. Eat this, HEAT DOME MAXIMUM!" Siege yelled as Valkyrie was blasted by red hot ki, shooting her up towards the sky, as the group saw a counter beam of fire shooting upwards from all over the island.
"Jeez! And Siege just fought back hard!" Ruby exclaimed.
Valkyrie was sent right in the sky, as the beam hit her right in the chest, leaving her gasping, as the beam shot right through the sky, as the force of the attack cleared the sky once again, as Valkyrie reached the apex of her rise, before she then began to fall towards the group at hurtling speeds, before hitting the ground with a thud.
Before Siege could even move to check on her, she quickly rose to her feet, although she quickly had to stabilize herself using her spear to keep steady.
"Urgh…" Valkyrie growled. "So this is what it means to be defeated… To think that you would be able to push me this far."
"H-hey… don't take it too hard." Siege chuckled as his reserves were spent and he dropped to a knee himself. "You wiped my energy reserves out…. Guess in reality, I didn't best you completely… and I doubt you'll be changing your fealty from the Heirs, eh…" Siege chuckled.
"While that was truly a fun fight… I have no reason to turn down your request… But yes, I cannot say that you've met the side of your own promise." Valkyrie answered back. "So I will give you a compromise… I'll be more lenient on your friends the next time we meet. And avoid having to fight them. The Sage only cares if his plans go through, not about the rest of you."
"Well, to put it bluntly, how would your opinion of us change if we stopped Sage?" Siege asked. "Would that convince you of what we're attempting ourselves is for the good of the world?"
"If you can prove that your conviction surpassed that of the Sage… Then yes, you have put it neatly." Valkyrie stated. "I will leave the service of the Heirs of Aida, and be a part of whatever plan you have in motion. Perhaps you will prove to have a far more idealistic solution to this great cataclysm… and perhaps you are the only ones who can carry it out with such confidence."
"We would be happy to have you if we can show you that. Until then… keep safe, alright? We'll likely be meeting at the Tower soon." Siege informed as he would take the Astrum and start heading off to the Omnium Tower. "And one last thing… Help Frigg keep Numa safe for me, okay? I want to give that kid a bright and healthy future."
"Numa… Ah, you mean the one that Frigg brought back." Valkyrie stated. "Very well, I suppose that would do as a reward for proving yourself against me so well. I truly felt excitement fighting someone like you, and the fact that you still got bright eyes to look upon this word with. Until next time."
Valkyrie then disappeared in a flash of lightning, as it zipped away out of the entire location.
With a satisfied smile, Siege turned to go unthaw and shut down the Omnium Tower… before being greeted by not one, but two Seraphims. David and Mark. "...Oh… that's just great. So I just got done with my fun match, and now I've got two Seraphim ready to send me to my grave…" Siege dryly stated. "The World Government is so desperate to put me under then…"
Siege dryly chuckled more as he had no energy to fight, let alone fight two Seraphims at once. He sent a discreet S.O.S. message out to the group, hoping it would get to them, and they to him, before Siege met his untimely end.
As the Seraphim David walked forward, as its eyes were crystal shards for irises, it immediately covered its right arm with ice, forming the signature Ice Reaper Claw, before it then raised an arm to strike Siege down, only for a high-powered blast of magic to come out of a sukima right in front of it, sending it flying back, as Richard appeared, with the rest of the group.
"Two at once… Tsk…" Richard remarked, before he then curled his fingers into a fist. "...But at least we don't have casualties this time to worry about."
"Richard… what do you suggest we do here?" Kaguya asked Richard.
"Some of us will keep the Seraphim of Mark busy." Richard advised, gesturing at the Seraphim, whose eyes had cross-shaped pupils inside of them. "Out of the two, he's the least lethal in terms of attacking power. Just don't let his light powers scorch you, especially you, Ruby. Taking a holy hit from him will spell death for you if it's direct."
"Ulp…." Ruby shivered at that prospect.
"Sorry about this, guys… Valkyrie drained my energy reserves in our fight, but there's still hope. If we have the conviction to beat Sage and change this world truly for the better… we'll have Valkyrie's allegiance." Siege smiled as he looked towards the Omnium Tower. "We need a force to shut down the Snowfield Omnium Tower, then we need to get to Crown Mines before the Tower of Fantasy overloads."
"Hand it over to me!" A familiar voice called out as Yang rode into view atop Bumblebee, with Heiwa and Popol riding on the back, with the rest of the group in Sam, Lucia, Brazera, Shirli, Mokou, Gus, and the rest coming into view to help with the battle!
"Hot damn!" Ruby cheered. "Reinforcements are here!"
"You're right we're reinforcements!" Heiwa exclaimed with fervor. "I've got a score to settle with these walking hunks of metal after what they did to me and Popol!"
"We managed to get here in time…" Gus remarked, before noticing David. "Wait… that's David Ishihara and Mark Anarchy, that you had fought alongside in the past, as WG cyborgs?"
"Hole in one." Richard responded back. "You got it in time. Sam, Lucia, lock down David, if I know him well enough from what the other Richard's databases tell me, he's got a mean blade that he will not waste time using, and Mokou and Gus, help them out, since your fire should counter his ice abilities if you combine your proficiencies. Shirli, and Brazera, keep that angel busy, he can't do much harm, but Shirli, take extra care not to get hurt badly, we almost risked you once, and I'm not going to be responsible for another. If you're overwhelmed, fall back and let us draw their attention. They aren't your ordinary foes, they're deadly super-weapons."
"I know, I'll keep my distance!" Shirli responded.
Yang grabbed the Astrum from Siege as Heiwa and Popol dismounted while Siege got on.
"We're off to shut down the Tower, do what you have to, blow these Seraphim to bits!" Siege exclaimed.
"You better believe we will!" The familiar voice of Klora shouted as she, Destiny, and Ryojmia also arrived.
"Good! We'll be off to Crown Mines after we get the Tower shut down to start things there, meet us ASAP!" Siege yelled.
"Roger!" Ruby called out as Siege and Yang rushed off. "Let's kick some ass, everyone!"
"Alright, I suppose that I should start with you first!" Richard remarked, before he then summoned a magic blade, as the Seraphim immediately drew a slender blade with a godly aura around it, as the two blades clashed. "Just as I thought… the replica of Masakado… isn't something to be trifled with."
Richard then immediately kicked the ground, summoning a series of earthen spikes that forced the blonde-haired swordsman to leap back, before throwing a barrage of icicles that the group were forced to dodge, although Mokou used the chance to grab the Seraphim from behind.
"I've got you now!" Mokou exclaimed, before she then launched a burning piledriver that slammed the Seraphim right into the ground, as it slowly rose up, only to be decked by a powerful blast of hell-fire.
"Try cooling this, ice-boy!" Heiwa remarked, as the fire engulfed the Seraphim, although it did not seem to be fully affected by this, as it immediately raised an arm to charge an ice attack towards Heiwa.
"Not on my watch!" Klora yelled, loading incendiaries into a high tech shotgun, as she fired the shot, which blew right into the Seraphim, burning it even more in mechanical flames, as the Seraphim was momentarily stunned at the fact that it couldn't cool the flames off.
"Keep him rooted!" Gus remarked, before he then plunged his hand right into the ground. "I need some time to gather the magma around the area."
"How do you get magma out of a snowfield!?" Ruby exclaimed.
"No matter what surface it is, you dig down deep enough, you'll find magma closer to the core of the planet!" Destiny explained.
"Ooooh…." Ruby stated as she began to help keep Seraphim David rooted… But had to dodge a holy blast from Mark as it nearly hit her. "Aiyeeeeeheee! That was close! Bad holy magic!"
"I understand." Valentine remarked, before she then immediately used her familiar to pummel Seraphim David from various sides, before having to dodge a series of ice spears, which Richard recognised.
"Rrgh, so they decided to add some certain techniques in the mix." Richard growled, before he then pulled out a tome. "Well then, I'm going to have to keep those arms bound."
Richard then created a large dark magic circle beneath Seraphim David, before a myriad of shadow hands rushed out of them, as they seemed to be powerful enough to restrain the Seraphim, despite its immense power.
"Sam, Lucia! While it can't attack with its arms, damage its shell!" Richard exclaimed to the samurai and swordswoman.
"Orders received. Executing." Lucia affirmed as she began to slash into Seraphim David's shell deeply.
"Here I come!" Sam smirked as he slashed deep into the shell himself.
The damage that the two were doing seemed to be miniscule, although their attacks were leaving cuts and gashes on the Seraphim's skin, which exposed the synthetic material within.
"I'm done! Stand back!" Gus exclaimed, as Sam and Lucia leapt back, to see that the Seraphim was sent flying into the air by a massive pillar of lava that engulfed the Seraphim, as the force caused the laval to bypass whatever fire resistance the Seraphim had, even with its ice powers, and inherent Lunarian DNA, as its skin was damaged further.
"Surf's up!" Heiwa remarked, before she then used the lava itself to pursue after the Seraphim, before she then entered the pillar of lava, as she began to slash through it like she was cutting through water itself, as the lava weakened its defenses further, causing it to take severe damage.
"And now, the finishing touch…" Richard remarked, before the Seraphim was thrown into the top of the lava pillar, as he drew a Spell Card. 'Declare Spell Card: Metal-Earth Sign 'Blades of the Round Table'!"
A massive sphere consisting of metallic blades appeared around the Seraphim, before Richard flicked his finger, as they pierced through the Seraphim together, mashing every single inch of its body with the magical metal, as it spasmed, while synthetic fluid was leaking out of it, as Destiny immediately ascended, with claymore sword raised.
"BEGONE!" She yelled, as with Odin's might, she slashed it in half in one motion, decommissioning it…
However, disaster struck once again for the heroes.
"EYAAAAAGH!" Ruby shrieked. The group turned to see the worst had come. Seraphim Mark had managed to land a direct holy blow, which hurt Ruby severely as she tumbled across the ground, skidding to a stop harshly, as she barely moved after stopping.
"Ruby!" Popol exclaimed to his fellow Overlord.
"Ngh… I… I can't…. I can't die here… not like this…" Ruby weakly said as she tried to find the strength in her to stand and escape. Alas, the damage she took was critical, as she couldn't move from her spot.
"Damnit…" Klora growled as she saw the state Ruby was in. "We can't let her get hit again, she'll die if she takes another hit!"
"Richard, what's the best way to bring down Mark?" Lynestra asked.
"Well, on the same coin that he is the bane of demons… he can be overwhelmed with a lot of darkness. Good thing I stock up on Dark spells." Richard remarked. "But other than that, he's more simple in the fact that his light spells won't be too harmful compared to what it did to Ruby… actually, Popol and Heiwa… take five for this one, you don't want to join the line. And while I'm at it."
Richard then snapped his fingers, quickly moving Ruby to the back-line. "There, she'll be safe here, so long as we keep that Seraphim solely on us." He stated. "Just keep hitting him, he might have more meat compared to the other Seraphim, but he can't defend as well as they do."
"Got it. So wail on him until he goes down!" Brazera stated.
"I'll shoot him from afar!" Shirli said as she began opening fire on Seraphim Mark with her automated turrets, as it immediately blocked the attacks, although it opened itself up to get flung right into the air by a geyser of energy that Kaguya summoned by dragging her naginata right across the ground.
"I got you now!" Kaguya remarked, before she then used the flat end of her blade to drag Seraphim Mark closer, then flip the blade hard enough to slam the Seraphim right into the ground.
"My turn!" Brazera yelled as she shifted Molten Shield V2 into Axe form, slamming down into Seraphim Mark in a large blaze, the axe burying deep into his core, as sparks began to fly from the core.
"Damn, critical hit!" Kaguya exclaimed, before the Seraphim immediately knocked Brazera aside, as Richard caught her quickly, as the Seraphim then immediately charged up, before a familiar red aura appeared around it.
"...Oh right, I forgot Mark seems to be able to use Ki Techniques… and it can use Kaioken to a unknown degree… Crap…" Richard remarked, before he immediately drew a magic barrier, just in time to protect the others from a massive barrage of ki blasts that the Seraphim was throwing, "Alright, this is going to need some close-combat expertise… Ryojmia, you think you can bring this fake angel down a few notches?"
"Hmp. Easily." Ryojmia stated, twirling her spear as she took her battle stance. "Your move, you faker." The monk goaded the Seraphim.
The Seraphim immediately rushed down Ryojmia, as it struck at fast speeds, although Ryojmia was able to handle the attacks, being the more experienced of the two combatants, as she began to use the enhanced strength of the Seraphim against it, forcing it wide open to several crippling strikes that it took in full force.
"RYUSOKEN!" Ryojmia yelled as she fired another Hadouken-esque fireball from the twirling of her spear, as it crashed into the Seraphim as the monk followed it up with a combo proper, leaving the fake angel little room to guard as Ryojmia mixed up attacks and even martial arts styles in her combo, ending with the classic, a powerful Metsu Shoryuken!
The Seraphim was knocked back, as it began to leak blood from the side of its head, before it then cupped its hand together, as if preparing a Kamehameha, as it then rushed into the air, before firing it right at Ryojmia, who merely scoffed in response.
"SHINKU…." Ryojmia declared as she twirled her spear to block the Kamehameha in full, preparing a one handed attack in return. "KAMINARI HADOUKEN!" Ryojmia yelled, firing a massive beam which almost looked like pure lightning, when it was actually a beam Hadouken made of powerful lightning, as it shot right into Seraphim Mark.
The Seraphim didn't even have the time to defend the attack, as the attack struck right through the Seraphim, overloading it, as parts of its body began to explode from the massive overload of power that Ryojmia was feeding into the attack, as it was finished in a massive explosion that scattered torn flesh and synthetic fluid everywhere.
"Hmph. Too simple." Ryojmia scoffed as she planted her spear and took a Ryu style victory stance, folding her arms and closing her eyes in acknowledgement of her victory.
"That's two of them down… and we didn't need to rely on a power-up to deal with them." Richard remarked, recounting the battle through his head. "...I guess another round of thanks is owed for you, Ryojmia."
"No thanks needed. I'm simply doing what Magina requested of me." Ryojmia stated. "By my spear blessed by the might of Surtr, I will dispel any enemy that stands in our way."
However, it wasn't all good news for the victory, Shirli and Brazera both were checking on Ruby, who was barely clinging to consciousness.
"C'mon, stay with us, don't close your eyes!" Shirli exclaimed.
"It's…. Highly… tempting…" Ruby weakly admitted as she was doing her best to hang on.
"Hey, don't you go fading out on me!" Heiwa exclaimed, trying to keep Ruby awake by using a slap to induce some pain to give Ruby some adrenaline from the sensation. "You can't possibly go down like this as an Overlord!"
"I'm sorry… this is such a disgrace… bested by a… holy blast…" Ruby coughed in apology to Heiwa.
"We have to get her to the nearest infirmary, but that's all the way back in Banges! I don't know if we have that kind of time!" Shirli panicked in trying to think of a way to keep Ruby alive.
"You guide me around, Shirli, and Brazera, come with me." Richard stated, as he immediately hefted Ruby over his shoulder, creating a sukima. "Gus, I'm leaving command on this group to you momentarily. Shirli, where's the nearest place you know!?"
"A-as I said, the infirmary at Banges Port!" Shirli exclaimed.
"Banges Port… I think that I can make it there in time." Richard remarked, before he swiped his hand, as the sukima quickly made a route towards Banges Port. "Get in!"
Richard then leapt through the sukima, as Shirli and Brazera followed after him.
"I hope Ruby makes it…" Destiny prayed.
"For now, we should refocus like Ruby wanted." Ramlethal said. "Siege and Yang shut down the Omnium Tower here. We need to get to Crown Mines."
"Let's head off then." Gus stated. "We need to meet back up with both of them."
With time of the essence, the main group rushed to meet up with Siege and Yang at the Crown mines. The Tower of Fantasy was only 20% away from becoming overloaded, which meant they would need to act quickly.