Chapter 31 :: Derris-Kharlan
"What are those things over the Holy Ground?" Mithos asked. Derris-Kharlan was a land covered in violet cloud, a realm that existed separate from the rest of Aselia. From far away they saw the outline of the Great Kharlan Tree, the ash tree that was the source of mana."Those are clouds of mana, released from the roots of the tree," Solstice said.
"Solstice, Erebus has airships between us and the barrier!" Yuan called.
"I know. I'm counting on your friends," Solstice replied. He backed off to allow the Delthis-Macerdon fleet to soar ahead of them. Twenty wolves from Mithos' side and twenty tigers from Erebus' side dueled in the sea around Derris-Kharlan. Exchanging attacks furiously, the two airship groups filled the sky with fire.
"Red, red, red," Yuan said, seeing the Zephyr's flares. "They want us to go ahead."
"Now, if we can just break that barrier," Kratos said. Crying deafening roars, seventy white-scaled dragons speared down through a mana cloud. Forming around Solstice, all the dragons breathed a torrent of flame onto the barrier around Derris-Kharlan.
"Spirit that guards the light of life... I summon thee! Come, Luna!" Mithos called. Appearing out of a white magic seal, two orbs of light shot past them towards Derris-Kharlan. First was a two-headed golden bird, the spirit of the sun, Aska. Then came Luna herself, flying over the ocean on her crescent moon. With her staff pointed forward, Luna called Aska to her and both released a thousand arcs of light into the barrier before vanishing into the heavens.
"Solstice, turn now!" Yuan shouted. From the center of Derris-Kharlan came comets of dark matter absorbed into black auras. They smashed through the dragons and drained their mana.
"Lady Minerva!" Solstice yelled as their leader, a female white dragon with a red streak down her back, fell into the sea. As a last act, Minerva released a blast of light into the barrier and scorched a hole through it.
"Go now, Solstice!"
Heeding Minerva's words, Solstice shot through the barrier like a bullet, just as the entire wall came crashing down. From the heart of the Holy Ground, Erebus sent another series of black meteors to cut a swath of destruction into the dragons following Solstice.
"Almost there!" Mithos said. The Kharlan Tree came into clear sight, an aging ash that towered above the murky land below.
"The war must have sapped it of its life," Kratos said. Solstice landed at the base of the tree, where Erebus waited for them on a throne with statues of angels all around him. A giant lotus blossom floated above his head, emitting a blue glow.
"Martel?!" Mithos said, seeing his sister's figure inside the blossom.
"This is a flower of the great tree, so that when this fades, a new one will be reborn. However, the one who calls the new tree to sprout will have control over its mana," Eberus said. "Your sister's spirit now rests inside this seed."
"You scoundrel! Is that what you plan to do with this world, create a place where everyone lives to serve you?" Yuan said.
"Origin is under my pact now, so I hold his power. You are but mere insects compared to me," Erebus declared. His eyes fell to the gems that Yuan and Kratos held. "Angel Crystals?"
"That's right," Yuan said. He and Kratos showed their azure wings. Solstice, back in his human form, was incompatible with the crystals, but his dragon essence made up for that.
"Watch me," Erebus said. A few dragons made it through his meteors and dived down upon him. "Apocalyptic Prophecy." Erebus drained them of their mana and cast their remains aside.
"Martel will be avenged. I'll bring you down myself if I have to," Mithos said. Excalibur ready, he charged forward like a lion pouncing its prey. Erebus lifted himself off the throne by sprouting rainbow wings and floated towards Mithos.
"The supreme ruler of all mana, take me as a vessel for your strength!" Erebus held his hands up as mana flowed from the great tree into his body. CRACK! The earth beneath their feet shattered and made way for the tiles of a stone floor. A tower stretching into the heavens rose out of the ground, the center for Erebus' empire. Clouds of mana from the Kharlan Tree engulfed the spire in a violet haze. They stood on a semicircle platform at the top of his tower where his throne rested. The air whipped around them violently like a poweful storm. The flower of the Great Kharlan Tree continued to float over them. Erebus flung his arms out, causing two swords of light to appear. "Behold, Vinheim! My new kingdom!"