Chapter 22 :: The Final Spirit

"It's trying to say something," Alice said.

"It? That's just a ball of lightning," Mithos replied. The sphere turned to show that it possessed two glowing eyes.

"Then that must be the lightning spirit," Martel said.

"Volt!" Yuan finished.

"Its thoughts are in an ancient dialect of Elvish. I can't really make out what it's trying to say," Alice said.

"Can you link it to me?" Solstice said. Alice's mind reached into Volt and Solstice at the same time. "I see. Ralf munel... my power... kural lifa... destroy life... sectaral.... wars."

"Volt's power is used in nearly all magitechnology. He must no longer desire to serve the warring nations," Martel surmised.

"Pharl sordesh... your friends... anthi munel kural ralf... find the strength to defeat me," Solstice continued.

"And here it comes!" Mithos cried. Volt came down like a cannonball and pitched a bolt of lightning into each of the six pedestals. They in turn emitted a web of electrified beams on the floor.

"Take care not to step on those. They are charged with ten thousand volts of electricity," Alice cautioned.

"I'll show it how we fight summon spirits," Mithos proclaimed, calling his wings and slashing at Volt with the wind incarnation of the Starsword.

"Mithos, you can't hurt it that way," Kratos said, too late to stop him. Mithos's sword, at the core a metal weapon, conducted Volt's electricity into his body and gave him a terrible shock. Martel hopped over the web of lightning to heal him.

"Why couldn't Volt be a giant electric rat?" Mithos commented.

"We could use magic. You all stay back and let the three of us fight him," Yuan said. "Dragon of eternal darkness, I call on your strength... Fafnir's Breath!"

"Dragon of the endless abyss, I call on your strength... Fafnir's Fury!" Alice chanted. Both dark wizards changed held their hands out as a black mass in the shape of a dragon lunged forward into Volt's heart. "You're still one step below me, Yuan."

"And you are both amateurs compared to my skills. Asgard sirr frostal, Celsius, frosta siralas tal Volt. Absolute!" Solstice yelled, freezing Volt in a block of ice. Incredibly weakened by the three attacks, Volt shrunk to a quarter of his size. By now Mithos was back up and ready to join the fight.

"Mithos, just let Yuan and them handle it," Martel urged.

"No, I'm the pact-maker. I'll have to fight him," Mithos said. Volt lowered himself to the center of the room and sent a thunderbolt into the spires again. This time, they all fired a blast of electricity into him. With only a few charges, Volt returned to his full strength.

"Impossible!" Yuan exclaimed. He took as step back as Volt turned to him, but suddenly realized he was about to step on a lightning thread.

"Yuan, watch out!" Martel cried. Yuan stumbled backwards, then seeing yet another strand of lightning, continued moving back. At the very last second Volt shot a powerful electric attack at him, which both electrocuted Yuan and blew him over the ledge into the water.

"Spirit of the worlds oceans, I summon thee! Come, Undine!" Mithos hastily said. Ripples appeared in the water as Undine emerged. Yuan was still falling when she called for the waters to split and create a dry spot for him to land.

"I can't hold this back much longer, Mithos, with all this lightning going through me," Undine said. Yuan quickly jumped back up and landed in front of Volt.

"Here's an idea. What if we gave him a good old dunking?" Yuan suggested.

"Right, his electric energy will discharge into the water," Alice replied.

"But how do you think we will be able to move him? The golem had a physical form, while Volt is pure energy," Kratos said.

"Electricity is bipolar. If we send a negative charge into the water, Volt will naturally be attracted," Alice said.

"My Indignation, a dark lightning spell, should do just the trick," Yuan said. "But he has to be close enough for this to work."

"Master and I will lure him close," Mithos said.

"Wait, I'll help too. Isis' Protection!" Martel called. Everyone was surrounded by a warm aura, the same as Amaterasu's. "You'll be able to absorb one hit."

"Let's hope that's all we need. Sorral hydros, defreas! Lightning Wall!" With Martel and Alice behind him, Solstice erected a barrier of lightning bolts bearing the same charge as Volt's power. Repelled by the barricade, Volt pulled in all the energy from the pedestals before chasing Kratos and Mithos to the edge of the platform.

"I call upon the spirits in the land of the dead to strike my enemy down with dark lightning... Indignation!" Yuan shouted, sending a black lightning bolt into the pool of water. It was charged with such powerful energy that his hair stood on its end just being so close to it.

"Let's roll, master!" Mithos said.

"Divine Storm Blade!"

"Divine Storm Blade!"

"Dragon's Encircle!"

By touching the wall around the pool for only a millisecond before making the next step, Mithos and Kratos made the illusion that they were running on it. Volt chased his quarry at the same time pulled by the negative charge. His lightning shot out and struck both Mithos and Kratos dead on.

"Hey, that actually felt good," Mithos said, absorbing the attack with Isis' Protection. Kratos and Mithos returned to the platform while Volt was drawn into the pool. As soon as he hit the water, all of his energy discharged, providing them with a dazzling light show. Defeated, Volt reappeared above them as a smaller sphere.

"He's saying something. Solstice, translate for me," Alice said.

"Asgard magus... summoner of gods... creas pharl incar sirr eterna lifa... create the words binding you for eternity," Solstice interpreted.

"In order so that nobody will have to suffer from war or discrimination again, I as that you give me your strength," Mithos declared.

"Phar freytal. Eterna sectaral creas felsa. Tal arc. Thank you. May you bring an end to this eternal war. Good luck," Solstice said.

"So, I'm hoping our airship still works," Mithos said.

"Don't worry. That new elemental fusion dealy that Darius put in makes us independent from the summon spirits. We instead harness the power that lies at the very smallest level of existence," Alice replied. They left the tower of Volt to find a second airship, an identical copy of the modified Zephyr, waiting for them.

"Lady Enigma, Lord Yuan!" Darius saluted.