I do not own Legend of Dragoon or any of the characters.
Dearly Departed
Cade stood, drawing his sword as Coolon stopped to hover above Mayfil. Rose jumped instantly, drawing magic from her Dragoon Spirit without transforming to land safely on a broken section of wall before jumping to the ground, Cade and Meru flying down after her in silence. They landed on a stone platform outside a door leading deeper into Mayfil and walked through it, finding a room with a glass floor and glowing, green Magic Energy flowing from the wall of the circular room to the center, where there was a shaft of light. Cade frowned, sensing Feybrand's power, though only the echo of it.
"Feybrand was here," Cade said. "How..."
"Perhaps...with the city still active, it's pulling in the souls of those who could not fully accept death," Rose hypothesized, voice sounding almost empty and uncaring.
"He's gone, n-" Cade's voice was cut off by a deafening explosion and a spike of Magical Power sharp enough to bring him and Meru to their knees. When Cade spoke again, his voice was barely a hoarse whisper. "Divine Dragon!"
Rose swore and they all took off in a sprint. The path had a pair of teleporters before the next door, and a long stone path between them, but it wasn't bad. The next room they passed through was almost identical to the first, except for the way the cords under the glass floor were arranged and the Magic Energy Cade could sense in it. The Magic Energy belonged to Regole, and the cords in this room were in vertical waves running straight from the center of the room to the walls on all sides, where as the first room had a bundle of cords wrapped into a spiral around the center. The Magic Energy in the floor also flowed outward in water-like waves, rather than inward.
None of them slowed in the room, and quickly progressed along the next path. Then, as they passed through the next door, they entered into a pocket dimension, one that was completely black, but lit by the explosions of the battle ahead of them, one which all three joined instantly. A massive, transparent, white silhouette of the Divine Dragon was battling against Dart and the others, but where his power had been partly sealed the last time, this time, he had full access to his Magic. Cade extended his magic blade, streaking forward as the Divine Dragon unleashed a near-continuous stream of fireballs and lesser spells, each spell rivalling Faust's for power. Every once in a while, while everyone was busy struggling to avoid or withstand a spell, it slammed its head into the ground and took a shot with its cannon. Cade swallowed hard. This would be bad.
He focused, his fingers shining as he swiped them in a circle and upward. As his spell's magic blasts rained back down on the Divine Dragon, he formed his hand into a sideways claw, then curled his hand into a fist and twisted sharply. As the usual crimson sphere formed, this time encompassing the dragon's entire front half, all of his blasts passed into the sphere before exploding, and the fireballs the Divine Dragon had been about to fire added to the destruction filling the barrier. Instantly, the others added their own attacks, Dart launching a fireball the size of his own body, leaving him exhausted, Miranda using Star Children, to decidedly less effect than Shana had, Albert fired a Wing Blaster, Haschel sent a lightning bolt, Meru formed a massive formation of ice spikes that were blasted into shrapnel the moment they finished impaling the dragon, Kongol hurled a Magic Crystal that formed flying chunks of stone to shoot projectiles into it before crashing into the dragon and also becoming shrapnel, and Rose hurled her sword into it, using Astral Drain to heal Kongol, who was dripping blood and barely standing, being weak to Magic. Finally, the sphere erupted into a massive, crimson explosion before fading, leaving the area shrouded in smoke, only for the Divine Dragon to roar, blind-firing its cannon and catching Cade and Rose, the blast only barely weakened by Cade's barrier. Compared to how his barrier had fared against a weaker attack the last time they'd fought it, however, it was a huge improvement.
Cade groaned as he stood, then snarled in anger and exploded forward. Fireballs burst from the Divine Dragon's chest again, and he formed a spherical barrier around himself, gritting his teeth against the agony of the weakened explosions still slipping through. Then, he reached the dragon just ahead of Rose and Dart, his sword tearing into the dragon's transparent body, making it thrash and roar in pain. After several minutes of alternating between avoiding magic attacks and striking the dragon, they finally all retreated just as Miranda used Heaven's Gate to mostly heal all of their injuries. Cade focused, swiping his free arm in an "X" and using the same spell he'd used to finish off Faust on the Divine Dragon. As it faded, however, the Divine Dragon's cannon began to charge again at the same time as it unleashed yet another volley of fireballs.
"Fuck!" Cade shouted, silver light shining from his index and middle fingers.
He swiped his hand down, then up and left, inward to directly in front of him, then up and out to his left again. Silver Magic Energy flooded inward, filling the barrel of the Divine Dragon's cannon, then erupted into an explosion at the same time as the Divine Dragon attempted to fire, setting off the Magic Energy built up inside the cannon. As the massive silver explosion rapidly expanded into a sphere, they all fled, the sheer size of the blast far exceeding what Cade had expected. Finally, they all stopped as the explosion stopped expanding, and a few seconds later, it faded. Without smoke this time, they saw that the dragon was still present. However, it was swaying, and its transparent body was beginning to fade. As it did, the world around them lightened, leaving them inside the third room. Its floor was violet, with the Magic Energy in the floor flowing outward, and below that, instead of cables, there were what looked like random roots. In the center of the room was a whitish-silver thing shaped kind of like a sea horse with no face and a ball at the end of its tail. It was curling forward and back slightly as it floated, but as the pocket dimension finished fading, it fell to the ground, growing transparent before fading entirely.
"We did it!" Miranda grinned.
"You mean Cade did it," Meru corrected her. "It was his spells that killed it."
"We were fighting that thing for hours before you all showed up!" Miranda snapped.
"We were only separated from you for, like, an hour and a half grand total!" Meru snapped.
"Time moves differently in pocket dimensions, Meru," Cade rasped, everyone spinning toward him and seeing him lying on the ground, face screwed up in pain and breathing heavily.
"Cade!" Meru yelped.
"He's fine," Rose said. "He just used too much magic."
Miranda quickly healed him with Moonlight, and Cade sighed in relief as his energy was almost fully restored, pushing himself up to his feet. He nodded to the others, swapping his Magic Sword for his normal one before they all hurried through the next door. After a single teleporter and a short magic bridge, they entered the main structure of Mayfil and stopped, staring at the room before them. They'd entered from a corner, and there were other doors around the room, but the majority of the floor was dominated by metal rods forming boxes, barely three feet by three feet. Bright balls of light like sparks of Magic Energy were flying up from below and passing through the boxes before flashing red as they hit the ground. Cade held his hand out experimentally, but the spark that hit it passed through his hand harmlessly. Dart drew his sword and experimentally moved it down through a square. He tried his foot, but it likewise passed through. He frowned.
"We have to fly," Dart said.
"It is a Wingly city," Meru shrugged, extending her wings.
Just as she moved to pick up Dart, Cade stared at a box where a spark had suddenly flared red. He set a hand on Meru's shoulder and watched the square, seeing another flare red. He walked over, taking a breath before stepping out onto thin air inside of the box. Sparks passed around him, but he watched his feet, seeing another spark turn red directly ahead of him.
"There's an invisible path," he said. "Watch for the sparks that turn red."
He led slowly, everyone watching the sparks carefully. The path led to the first door on their right, and inside, they found a room similar to the last three, with a pillar below the shaft of light, which was green this time, rather than white. Dart frowned, approaching the shaft of light just as a shining white light descended from it, forming a spot of light no larger than a Dragoon Spirit, and floated toward him before the light brightened.
"This soul," Dart murmured. "I think I know it." He was silent for a moment before speaking again. "We will stop Dad."
The light shone blindingly before fading entirely as the soul departed.
"Wait for me," Dart whispered.
"We should hurry," Cade said. "All souls here are being pulled to the Demon World. I expect whatever's keeping Mayfil active is between us and the Signet Sphere."
The others all nodded and they hurried to the other foor out of the room, back into the room with the invisible path. Once again, they used the sparks as their guide, and progressed more quickly this time. The next room, was empty but had a similar design to the rest, and they passed through quickly. After one more repetition of following the sparks' guide, they finally reached a teleporter, which took them, from what Cade could feel while moving, upward toward the top of Mayfil's tower. However, what was waiting dor them wasn't what they expected. A soul shining with a green light awaited them at the end of a stone path, before another teleporter. As they neered it, it shone, and a familiar voice shrieked in psin as it tranformed into Lavitz.
"You...You are...no way!" Dart breathed.
"Lavitz!" Albert gasped.
Lavitz stood from where he'd fallen to his knees and turned toward them. "It's been a while, Your Majesty Albert."
"I knew it was you!" Albert smiled.
"Your Majesty, I have the honor of seeing your face again," Lavitz smiled, only for Cade to step forward, leveling his sword at Lavitz's chest. "Cade?"
"Whatever you are, show yourself, now!" Cade snapped. "We don't have time for your games!"
Lavits began to pale instantly, eyes wide with fear. He groaned, and Dart stepped forward, only for Cade to hold his left arm out, stopping him.
"Stay back!" Lavitz warned before shrieking in agony.
Light shone from him, and as it faded, he was left twisted and corruoted. His armor and shirt were gone, and his flesh had turned a sickly bluish-grey. His blonde hair was snow white, his sclerae pale yellow and bloodshot, and his irises shone crimson. He also held his spear now, which he held ready, aimed at Cade and the others, the tip of it rusted and shaped like a devil's head. However, attached to his back was a parasite. Five pointed, purple legs, and a pair of eyes taking up the center of its body the same color as Lavitz's had become.
"Get out of here!" Lavitz groaned, his voice distorted by a second voice, then fled to the teleporter behind him, vanishing.
"What happened to him?" Dart asked.
"There's a devil feeding off his soul like a parasyte," Cade said. "Come on. Let's save our friend."
Everyone nodded and they all followed Lavitz using the teleporter. They left the teleporter it was connected to onto a wider stone walkway, this one flanked by odd machines releasing shafts of light, into which souls were being pulled as tiny balls of light. Lavitz was waiting for them, spesr held at his side and breaths rattling in and out of his mouth in large gasps.
"Who are you bastards!?" Lavitz demanded instantly, readying his spear.
"It's me, Dart!" Dart called out to him, stepping forward.
"D...Dart?" Lavitz rasped.
"Don't you recognize us?" Albert asked.
"Majesty...Albert?" Lavitz croaked, then shouted in pain, clutching at his head as he staggered backward, turning away from them and falling to his knees.
"There, on his back," Cade said. "That's the thing corrupting him. Try not to hurt Lavitz, but kill that thing."
The others nodded, Dart, Albert, and Rose all stepping forward as well. Lavitz turned, swiping his spear toward them before readying himself as the others all drew their weapons.
"That things smells of the devildom," Rose noted.
"Who...are...you?" Lavitz groaned.
"It's me!" Dart called out again. "Don't you recognize my face?"
"Da...rt," Lavitz rasped, then shrieked in pain as he fought for control of his body, staggering away from them and turning. Cade and Rose shot forward instantly, their blades slashing across the parasite in an "X" as Cade slipped padt in front of Rose. However, the wounds healed almost instsntly, and Lavitz shouted in pain, spinning and swiping at Cade. He blocked the spear, but the force of the blow hurled him backward to Dart and Albert, Rose retreating to them as well. Cade huffed, extending his wings, and flew around Lavitz to land opposite him from the others. The parasite's widened and Lavitz turned, keeping the others to his left side and Cade to his right. Miranda fired an arrow at the parasite instantly, but Lavitz's spear blocked it. He shot toward the others, stabbing at Albert, but Albert managed to knock the spear aside with his own. Cade slashed at the parasite, but Lavits spun, blocking it. Dart stepped forward, but Lavitz hurled hinself backward, twisting and ramming his shoulder into Dart, hurling him at the same time as the shaft of his spear crashed into Rose's sword, hurling her into Meru, who caught her. He turned, stabbing at Albert, but Albert caught the spear between his own and his back, locking it in place and getting in Lavitz's face.
"Lavitz!" Albert shouted. "Fight it! You were my friend! The most loyal citizen of Bazil!"
"Ba...zil..." Lavitz groaned, then staggered backward. "King...Albert."
Cade shot forward instsntly, pulling his sword back, but the parasite unleashed a shrieking cry, waves of multi-colored light spreading from it, and Cade groaned as his head spun, his balance vanishing. He fell to his knees, vomiting, then looked up as three blurred Lavitzes shifted around in his vision. All three turned toward him, clutching at their head, an a small army of Darts, Roses, and Alberts shot forward, striking rapidly at the three Lavitzes backs. And then, Cade's vision blurred more and they were all Lavitzes. Cade groaned, holding a hand to his head, and white light shone from his hand. As he lowered his head, the parasite's influence was gone, just in time for Lavitz to drive his spear at him. However, Meru dropped from above, her hammer slamming Lavitz's spear into the ground before Rose's sword tore through the parasite rapidly. Again it shrieked in pain, and Lavitz spun, only for his spear to be blocked by Kongol's axe, Kongol skidding backward into Rose, both of them being forced away from Lavitz. Lavitz again spun, stabbing at Cade as he charged, only for Cade to split into three blurred afterimages, two circling Lavitz to either side and one flipping over him. All three struck the parasite, and it shrieked in pain, thrashing on Lavitz's back before detaching and crumbling into ash before it hit the ground. Instantly, Lavitz collaped, but as he did, darkness like thick black smoke burst from his back.
Something else appeared from the darkness, and Cade narrowed his eyes. This was it. The devil whose power was keeping Mayfil active, abd who had been controling Lavitz. It had tight black armor covering its body, clawed fingers and toes, a mostly humanoid appearance, except for a pair of huge, leathery wings, and a pair of horns sticking out to the sides of its head about two feet. In its right hand was a long, white, bone scythe with a huge skull at the end, the blade extending from its mouth. His armor left only his face and abdomen exposed, but Cade doubted it'd be as easy as stabbing him in the gut.
The devil cackled. "What a show! It was such a moving reunion thst I'm totally choked with tears!"
"I'll have you choking on blood in a minute," Cade growled.
The devil regarded him carefully, then Rose, before his face split into a grin. "Rose, you beautiful woman. So many of the souls here know your name. They're all just dying to see you again. Well, not exactly. They're already dead, but I'm sure you know what I mean."
"Who...Who are you!?" Dart asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry," the devil said. "My name is Zackwell. I'm a resident of the darkness."
"You're controling Lavitz!" Dart accused.
"Yes, I am," Zackwell grinned, his red eyes still locked on Rose as Cade's senses began to scream of danger. "The man insisted he was so worried about you that he couldn't bear dying. I thought it was a little presumptuous, but I granted him momentary life." Again he cackled.
"You bastard!" Dart spat. "Lavitz was my friend! How dare you! You will never get away with this!"
"Oh?" Zackwell grinned. "Do you think you can defeat me?" He cackled agsin as Dart and Rose both shot forward.
Zackwell blocked their blades with the shaft of his scythe before spinning and hurling them both away. Dart bounced off of his back, but Rose landed on her feet and sjot forward again. This time, she struck at Zackwell rapidly, her sword sparking against his scythe's shaft and blade as he fended her off. Left, diagonally up and right, a stab, a spinning slash with her sword in reverse grip, another stab, a leaping, spinning slash up and to the right. Zackwell's scythe was knocked out to Zackwel's left just in time for Rose to land on her feet and slash out to her right, tearing a gash across Zackwell's chest, then back out to the right. Zackwell shrieked in pain, retreating from her and laughing breathily.
"You truly are as much a monster as they all said," Zackwell grinned, just as Cade reached him from behind. Zackwell spun, but just as the scythe reached Cade, Cade turned blue and faded, the real Cade appearing behind Zackwell in reverse, fading into sight as a blue silhouette before the blue faded. Then, Cade's sword split Zackwell down the back. Zackwell shouted in pain, launching himself forward away from him before snarling in rage.
"You've inherited the skills of you kind," Zackwell snarled, then grinned wickedly. "Fine. Let's call some extras in, shall we?"
He put his fingers to his mouth and whistled. Instantly, Cade's sense of danger spiked sharply, and Cade swore, spinning. Just as Rose and the others began to turn, a stone axe exploded into Cade's sword, sending him hurtling backward before a Dragoon in golden armor rammed Kongol, sending him spinning after Cade. As Cade stood, he swapped back to his magic sword, then glared at the new arrivals. Four Dragoons now hovered above the path opposite the others from Zackwell. The Golden Dragoon who rivalled Kongol for size and held a stone axe in his right hand, a Jade Dragoon who wielded a spear identical to Albert's when he transformed and who had short brown hair and glasses, a Violet Dragoon who was bare-handed, had a hard, sharp-featured face, a hawkish nose, and his brown hair upward almost in a spike, and a Blue-Sea Dragoon wielding a giant stone hammer identical to Meru's when transformed, who was younger than Meru, and who had white skin with patches of blue scales around her red eyes, the tops of her shoulders, sea-blue hair, and fins in place of ears. It was the original Dragoons.
"Kongol, help kill Zackwell," Cade growled, Kongol nodding.
Cade flew into the air, and all four enemy Dragoons' attention snapped back to him as he held his magic sword out to his side. Then, all at once, they exploded forward. Cade flew to meet them, and spun out of the way of the axe and hammer before splitting into silhouettes as he aboided a stab from the Jade Dragoon, moving to slash him, only for him to spin, his spear catching Cade in the side, the afterimages vanishing intantly, before Cade shot downward into the ground.
"Cade!" Rose shouted, taking a step forward, eyes wide, before Cade teleported out of the way of a downward stab, appearing in front of her, facing the Dragoons.
"Rose?" the Blue-Sea Dragoon asked. "What's going on?"
"Damia...You're...You're dead, Damia," Rose said, eyes betraying her pain, though she didn't cry. "All of you are. Kazas, Syuveil, Belzac. You all...You all died in the Dragon Campaign. You...You all died eleven thousand years ago."
"We did?" Syuveil asked. "I see." He frowned before fear blossomed. "But...death...that darkness..." he looked to Rose in a panic. "What will happen to me? Will I...Will I be swallowed by that darkness?"
"She's lying!" Belzac snarled furiously. "I can't be dead! I haven't killed enough!"
"That's right!" Belzac agreed. "I'm not dead! I don't believe it!"
"Then allow me to release you all from your lingering regrets," Cade growled.
"You're suicidal," Rose said. "These are the original Dragoons. They all specialize in killing Winglies."
"Rose, what's going on?" Damia asked.
"I'm sorry, Damia," Rose said, drawing her sword. "But there's somewhere you have to go. Forgive me."
As she transformed, the fight began in earnest. Rose's sword clashed with Kazas's armor rapidly, Cade's magic sword crashed into Belzac's axe as it extended rapidly, and Cade himself used his feet to block both Syuveil's spear and Damia's hammer, both by the shaft. Mer shouted for the others to kill Zackwell, and everyone but Kongol transformed as they all attacked the devil. Cade shoved both weapons away as his magic sword shrank back to normal and drew his normal sword in his left hand, then flipped and spun over Syuveil again. As with the first time, Syuveil predicted the movement and spun, stabbing at him, but Cade's magoc sword's blade block Syuveil's between its two heads, allowing him to flip down behins Syuveil, slashing. However, his sword shrieked as it scraped along Syuveil's armor, barely damaging it, and Cade swore, kicking Syuveil forward into Damia before teleporting out of the way of Belzac's axe. He sheathed his normal sword again just in time to spin aside from Damia's hammer. She spun away, her wing slamming into the side of his head before her hammer crashed into him and he exploded into the wall far to the left of the stone walkway. Just as he bounced off of it, Kazas's fist exploded into his face, slamming him back into it before pummelling him rapidly, Rose now fending off Belzac and Syuveil.
Finally, Kazas leapt backward, charging Magic Energy into his hands, only for Cade to slash, his extending Magic Blade carving through Kazas's armor and into his chest, sending blood spraying out of the wound. Kazas shrieked in pain, the blade spinning him and sending the blast past the walkway and into a wall opposite it where it exploded harmlessly. Damia shouted instantly, her hammer held over her head as it began to rain from clouds she'd formed over them. A ring of rainbow light formed around Kazas in the air before she swung her hammer down to her side. The light flashed and healed him partially, but using the ability had held her immobile too long. Rose spun around her, slashing her throat before blocking Syuveil's spear. Belzac roared in rage, exploding toward Rose, only for a crimson sphere to appear around him, explosions erupting inside of it instantly.
"You magic's pretty strong!" Kazas shouted, punching several times before knocking the sword out of Cade's hand.
Cade narrowed his eyes and leaned oit of the way of a punch, an explosive sphere of Magic Energy forming around his fist before he drilled it into Kazas's face. The explosion hurled Kazas away just as Cade swiped his glowing index and middle finger through the air. A split second later, a pillar of stone exploded into Kazas from below, as he was beginning to build Magic Energy for an attack again, and shot upward to meet another falling from above. Then, when the two exploded into each other, the point of impact erupted into a massive, violet explosion.
"Kazas!" Syuveil shouted, just before Rose stabbed him from behind. "Rose...you..."
Rose backed away, letting him turn toward her, and nearly slipped. "You won't go into that darkness, Syuveil. "You studied life and death. Life is a wheel. It may seem dark now, but you'll find the light again."
Syuveil took a rattling breath before nodding and faded. Rose turned to Damia's remains and knelt, lifting her into her lap and stroking her hair.
"It's alright, Damia," Rose said gently. "You won't feel alone ever again. "You're going to be with the others. Syuveil and Kazas are there. And Shirley."
Damia nodded, smiling as tears rolled down her cheeks, then spoke in a wet croak. "I...feel...them."
Then, she also faded. Rose turned to Belzac just as he slammed Cade to the ground, burned by Cade's magic but more than powerful enough still to beat Cade, who had failed to reach his sword before Belzac reached him. Belzac pulled his axe back, but Rose stepped up beside him, slashing his arm off. Belzac shouted in pain and Cade held his hand out, his magic sword flying back to him before he stood, driving his sword through Belzac's heart.
"Rose," Belzac wheezed after a moment. "Did...Shirley...survive?"
"No," Rose said. "Shirley was killed along with you."
Belzac nodded slowly, then smiled tiredly. "I'll...see her...then. Thank you...Rose."
He faded, and Cade lowered his arms, turning to Rose, who was weeping silently into her hand. He stepped forward, reaching out to her, but she slashed at him, Cade barely avoiding it and seeing the grief in her eyes transform into rage and hatred.
"Don't touch me!" Rose shrieked. "I hate you! Just leave me alone!"
Cade grit his teeth and nodded in silence, then turned, teleporting to Zackwell and drove his sword up into his back and out his chest. As he ripped it back out, Zackwell fell, transforming back into darkness before hitting the ground. A moment later, Zackwell reformed as a parasite on Lavitz' back. Lavitz roared, charging at Dart and striking rapidly. Before Cade could end the fight, however, Dart did. He dropped his sword, calling out to his friend, and Lavitz shrieked in rage and pain before driving his spear through his own heart, piercing Zackwell on the way and finishing him. Then, he cast his spear away, smiling at Dart and Albert.
"Dart, Your Majesty," Lavitz smiled. "I am sorry. Even though I was being manipulated, I was..."
He was beginning to sway on his feet. Dart set a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head.
"I could even..." Lavitz closed his eyes and bowed his head. "Thanks to Zackwell, I could even meet you again in death."
"You are not dead!" Dart snapped. "You will continue to live in us!"
Albert nodded, and all three placed their forearms together. As they did, however, Lavitz's body began to crumble.
"Time's up," Lavitz sighed, backing away. "I'll lead you to where the Signet Sphere is...with the last of my strength."
Then, he raised his hand, and a circle of golden light formed below him, shining into the air as Lavitz faded. Cade walked forward instantly, and stepped into the light, feeling hinself be yanked into motion instantly, though the light was warm and restored his strength rapidly. Then, he landed on a platform at the top and ran through the next door without waiting for anyone. As he arrived, he sensed Melbu Frahma's approach and formed his wings, extending the blade of his magic sword again.
"It's safe!" Dart sighed.
"He's coming," Cade warned.
"That Signet Sphere is the last line to defend the world," Rose said. "We will protect it."
"We'll finish it here!" Dart nodded.
"I agree," Melbu Frahma said, appearing in the air before them. "Our settlement should be a peaceful one. A fight is not appropriate before a birth."
Dart roared in rage, transforming and launching himself at Melbu Frahma, Cade just behind him, but Melbu Frahma repelled Dart with a red barrier. He moved to do the same, but the barrier clashed with Cade's identical one for a long moment before both exploded, hurling both backward. Melbu Frahma snarled angrily as Cade shot forward again, but before he could get to him, Melbu Frahma teleported off to his right. Cade spun just as Melbu Frahma crushed the final Divine Moon Object, unleashing a massive pulse of Magic Energy. Below them, the Signet Sphere's light pulsed, shuddered, and then faded as it exploded. The concussion hurled Cade backward into a wall, and a ball of light shot skyward, then arched toward the Moon That Never Sets as the final seal broke.
"The arrow has been released!" Melbu Frahma glosted. "To the end of the world!"
Then, he teleported away. Cade shouted in rage and frustration, flying to one final door, and sprinted through it, the others just behind him. On the other side of the door was a round platform on the outside of the building, and Cade whistled loudly. A moment later, Coolon arrived and they all leapt on.
"Where are we going?" Meru asked.
"To the Moon That Never Sets!" Cade snarled as Coolon took off. "We either stop Melbu Frahma from reaching it with Shana, or we have to kill the God of Destruction!"
"We'll stop Melbu Frahma!" Dart agreed confidently.
Cade remained silent, and Meru set a hand on his shoulder. He glanced back at her, then to the front, natrowing his eyes as he watched the Moon fall. After a moment, it vanished from sight, but Cade could sense the Virage Embryo's power from it now, and was guiding Coolon toward the horrible, oppressive, icy shadow he could sense growing closer.
"Look!" Meru shouted finally, pointing ahead of them.
Cade blinked, returning his focus to his normal five senses to see the Divine Tree, now broken at the top of its legs, with the Moon That Never Sets resting atop its trunk. Massive roots grew up the trunk and into the Moon, and as they did, spots all over the Moon like craters stretched open, allowing countless Virage to climb out of the Moon, standing on its surface and watching them approach. Cade swallowed hard, extending his wings and magic sword.
"So many!" Meru gasped.
"There must be hundreds!" Dart gaped.
"They're coming," Cade growled.
Sure enough, the Virage all leapt off of the moon, their wings extending out to the sides from their heads and their bodies curling up, making them into something resembling a dragon. Cade took off instantly, extending his blade in time to slash a Virage's wing off. Five more fired their lasers as him, and he narrowly avoided them, swiping his fingers in a circle and upward as he slashed three Virage out of the sky. Magic Blasts rained down on Virage, and Cade avoided another laser, only for it to explode against Coolon's wing, sending it plummeting to the ground. Cade roared in rage, firing off the same spell before streaking forward, ripping through the Virage as Magic Blasts rained down around him. A massive flood of Virage raced toward him from ahead, and he cast his ultimate spell, the silver one. It explosion consumed all of the Virage, and Cade raced forward, only for more Virage, this tine including a few Super Virage, to leave the tree. Lasers began to flash past him and he bobbed and weaved around them. However, suddenly, lasers were flashing up past him as well, from the Virage he'd knocked out of the sky without finishing. He struggled to avoid the blasts for a long while before two met beside him and exploded. He shouted in pain as he sailed through the air, trailing smoke, before crashing into the Divine Tree.
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