Chapter 88: Three Kings
Milady! Wait! That isn't necessary—"
"You've served me for far too long with your failures, Orion. Now come, open!
Gate of the Cursed King!"
He watched on with wide eyes as his key would begin to crumble. With tears forming in his eyes, unable to grasp the fact that Ruika simply sacrificed him without a stint of hesitation. "After all I've done for you. I was your most loyal..." He couldn't even finish his sentence as he fell to his knees, black dust replacing his figure as he disappeared into the wind. From there, the ground shook vigorously as Ruika's attire also begin to change.
"Marde Geer." The Celestial Spirit King addressed him, to which the King of Hades replied. "Celestial Spirit King." Marde clutched the book closely to him as the two bantered. The king of the Zodiac keys did the same to his sword, and the fight between them was about to commence until another earth rattling quake happened between them, and just off to the side, he appeared.
Just as tall as the Celestial Spirit King, draped in a black cloak and dark red armor, the Cursed King summoned by Ruika appeared. In his hands rested a large scythe that connected by chains from its hilt to its blade. Both Marde and the Celestial Spirit king then turned to the newcomer, the cursed king with vigilant outlooks. "A third party." The Spirit King stated. Marde gained a grin upon his features as he scaled Ruika's summon with his own eyes. "I didn't think this would happen, but welcome nonetheless, Cursed King. Are you here to help me rid of the Spirit King, or are you here to betray me just as your friend has?"
"That all depends on what she wants." The Cursed King replied in a raspy voice. He then turned to Ruika, calling out to her. "Well, girl who has summoned me? Which am I taking out, hm? Which one have you summoned me for?"
Ruika was staring at her own hands and frame at this time. Her entire attire had changed, and she could feel the power of Orion running through her. Her abdomen and limbs were exposed, cloth-like armor dressed over her chest and waist as a sword and shield remained sheathed on her back. Gripping her hands tightly, she relocated her sights towards the Cursed King as she spotted the other two in her peripherals. The answer became clear to her instantly. She wanted nothing more than to kill Lucy Heartfilia, yet at the same time, taking out Marde Geer for Daityas would put her in the limelight for her camp. So the greedy key holder made the call. "Kill them both." She said with pure malice. That's when he turned back to the Celestial Spirit King and Marde as well, simply stating, "Then consider it done."
"How foolish." His counterpart spoke, tightly gripping his sword before him. "After all the damage done here, especially towards my friend. It is I who will slay you both. For your crimes, I'll never forgive you!"
The fight commenced in explosive array. A piece of Alegria already crumbling where they once stood as the Celestial Spirit King lunged towards Marde through all the mayhem. Swinging his mighty blade in a horizontal fashion, he just missed his target as Marde took the air just to divebomb towards him with his curse power wrapped around his frame. Swinging his blade again, the two collided for a powerful stalemate, but that simply left each other open for the third party. Without warning, two chain linked blades soared towards them, missing the quick witted Demon yet wrapping and piercing into the Spirit King. Impaled into his ribs, the Spirit King found himself in a bing and it didn't end there.
"Thorns!" Marde shouted, creating a plethora of thorns that would stab through his target in multiple places, adding onto the Cursed King's own attack. What seemed like a trapped Celestial Spirit King quickly turned about face as he swung through the entrapment the two created, breaking free of both the thorns and the chain linked blade in one motion.
"An incidental cooperation." Marde states with a sly grin. To which the Cursed King agreed with a smile as they held the Spirit King down with their respective techniques. But suddenly, with a grin of his own, the Spirit King's sword began to illuminate just before he spun himself and his blade — freeing himself completely from both the thorns and the chain-linked weapons.
Without much hesitation, he then followed up with a counter attack of his own, raising his sword to the heavens before immediately pounding it into the ground with a mighty swing. "Meteor Blade!" He roared, creating a linear explosion of light that soared past both the evading Cursed King and Marde, through Tartaros and even the sea itself, splitting it temporarily.
"Amusing." The Cursed King said with a smile, Marde Geer doing the same as the two of them unknowingly stood in unison before the Spirit King once more; once the Meteor Blade died down.
Another person the massive attack just missed was Jackal, looking on in shock as the Meteor Blade finally died down. "What the hell was that!?" He asked frantically, unaware until he heard sniveling near him. He turned to spot her, Lucy Heartfilia holding onto the key that once belonged to Aquarius, broken in half. "You! You bitch!" He shouted, and without hesitation, he fired off an explosion towards the Celestial Spirit Mage.
At the same time, Ruika had just made her way towards the area, still marveling at her newest power, the cursed dresses. Orion's west and weaponry, along with his power was now in her grasp. Giddy even, she looked herself over once more before clenching her hands into fists. "Finally, I can do it myself. She should be weak by now as well after that fight. Stupid little mages relying on magic power. My curse power is endless! And with it, I'll kill that blonde bimbo with my own hands...with this advantage!"
In the midst of her floating laughter, she abruptly stopped once she saw Jackal sent flying into the air. "What did that?" She asked but was quickly answered as she turned to see Lucy once more in a new attire of her own, falling from her stance and hitting the ground after her Urano Metria attack. Her eyes widened, shaking in anger as she glared towards the fallen Lucy. "You too, huh? Because you broke your key...I hate how similar our curse and magic is, and how you think you're going to continue to grow and move forward! This is my fated win, my destiny! And I won't let it slip through my hands! I was created to kill you and the other Celestial Mages! I was created to close the gate to the heavens, and I'll do so, starting with you!"
As Ruika made her proclamation, a shadowy figure remained behind her, unseen as she gripped the hilt of her blade, pressing her thumb to the handle to expose the steel of her weapon as she waited for the right moment...
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The battle raged on, Marde Geer and The Spirit King exchanging unsuccessful blows until the Cursed King interjected, finally turning attention to Tartaros's leader with a chained scythe aimed for his body. Marde avoided it by leaping upwards, creating more thorns that fired up from the ground, just for Ruika's King to slice through them with his scythe. The Spirit King attempted to parry the next strike by his counterpart, barely managing to with his now slower movements. This caused Marde to smirk. "What's wrong, Spirit King? Your movements are getting slower. You're rather sluggish."
"It's his summoner." The cursed king answer the obvious. "That girl is out of magic power, isn't she? That's the drawback of working with magic. We only last as long as the one who summoned us does, but the difference between me and you, brother, is that curse power never ends!"
Ignoring their taunts, The Spirit King spoke lowly to himself. "Old friend. I'll need to borrow any magic power you have left."
"You're done!" Marde shouted, he and the Cursed King readying to finish him off once and for all.
"Not if I destroy you both first!" He replies, raising his blade to the sky. "Let the eighty eight constellations of the Heavens shine! Infinite Starlight! Galaxia Blade!"
From the call of his attack, an enormous flash of light appeared in an explosive manner, shaking Tartarus to its core. Even Marde had to shield his eyes from the sight, yet he still grinned at the light show. "That's a pretty big attack, Spirit King. Do you plan allowing your summoner to be hit by such collateral damage?"
Instead of answering, The Celestial Spirit King grinned, causing Marde to widen his eyes once he realized what was happening. The Cursed King as well became aware, panicking as he attempted to charge forth, only to be pushed away by the blinding light.
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"What the hell!?" Cygnus shouted from a random region of Tartarus. He pulled himself from the ground, noticing Luke and Jaxon doing the same near him. "What the hell was all that?" Jaxon asked. "I don't know." Luke added. "But it looks like it's been dispelled..."
"Maybe that light has something to do with it?" The Gravity God pondered, finally pulling himself free from the ground to stand with the other two. Jaxon then dissected the situation. "So apparently, we were caught by some technique, and that light freed us from it. It looks celestial, so I can only assume..."
"Lucy..." Luke flashed a grin.
"Yeah yeah, show love to your girlfriend later. Right now, lets get back to kicking some demon ass. Where are they anyways?" Cygnus questioned, looking around. Yet, he didn't have to look far as smoke began to linger around the three once more.
"My my. It seems Marde-Sama is backing into a corner. Even Alegria has been defeated.."
"You're that shit head from earlier!" Cygnus shouted, rushing towards him without any warning. The one he spoke to, Crow, simply moved his white hair from his glowing visage, creating a spire of flames that shot forth towards Cygnus in the midst of his momentous charge. Before connection could be made, a mirror appeared before the two, reflecting the spire of flames back towards Crow. Before that could hit him though, a wall of magma formed, blocking the weaker element completely. That's when she walked into the picture. "What a bloody bother. I load Erza and Minerva thanks to Alegria, but I guess you'll have to be a consolation prize."
To compliment her words, the sound of something breaking the air could be heard behind her. At another glance, it was Kiora herself, swinging her scythe as she now stood between both Crow and Maggie, completing the trio that stood before White Eclipse's own. "I gotta say, this is a better look than having Tobias with us, hey Maggie?"
I couldn't agree more. Thanks for joining us, Crow." Maggie winked.
"You're the ones who joined me." Crow chuckled, and the three of them kept malicious visages towards their new prey.
"This won't be easy." Luke noted while sliding into a defensive stance. "It might not even be possible." Jaxon added, also preparing himself for battle. That's when Cygnus himself clenched both of his fists tightly, grinning with a wild nature as he released an influx of magic. "But one things for sure! This is about to be a good time! No more distractions! Bring it on, Tartarus!"
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"Do you think you can actually stop Mard Geer!?" He shouted, slowly reaching out for the Spirit King as his body slowly turned to stone. "This malice...for all human kind...don't...forget it!"
"N-no!" The Cursed King shouted. Unlike Marde who was simply turned to solid rock, he himself was vanishing from sight completely from the feet up. He could only watch and beg for his existence as he roared into the air. "Not now! After thousands of years, no! Don't let me perish—"
The two of them were no more. Both the Celestial King and the Cursed King disappeared from the battlefield, leaving just a petrified Marde.
She clenched her fists together, now even more infuriated than before. "Tch!" Ruika made her anger completely visible, clenching her new sword tightly. "Even that Damned King can't follow through with his words. How disgusting! Everyone I own let's me down! It seems it's my time to do it myself! Like it should have been from the beginning! And I'll be starting with you, Lucy Heartfilia!"
Her eyes turned back to the fallen Lucy, taking a single step forward. But the second she did, light footsteps could be heard closing in behind her. That's when Ruika turned a confident eye to the side to spot the shadowy figure behind her. "You really think I didn't know you were there!?" She shouted, but as she did, a second figure appeared at her newest blind spot — in front of her. Leaping, that figure clasped his hands together, creating a torrent of flames that shot forth. Ruika turned at the last second, only to take full contact of those flames. Her eyes widened as she let out a shrilling scream of pain. "Wh-What's this!?" She could only think to herself, unable to form words aloud besides the screams of pain she released. "Why does this hurt...so much?" As she forced her eyes to turn to her attacker, the shadows went away thanks to her new angle, revealing that Kuro, now without his usual jacket stood before her with familiar markings on his left arm. "D...Demon Slaying Magic!?" She questioned, but the pain made her well aware of the answer. "No..." She cried out, reaching for a far away Lucy Heartfilia who remained still on the ground. "My destiny..."
As the flames pushed Ruika away, the pain caused her to momentarily forget who was behind her. As that figure came into range, the demon slowly turned back to face her in realization. She had no time to properly react, attempting to throw Orion's shield before her, only for the quickened strike to connect just before she could. Now on the opposite side of her, Skye held her blade that carried the same markings as Kuro's arm, standing next to her guild mate with a matching serious visage as Ruika gasped for air and her life before finally disappearing into nothing. Her last actions, was a struggling reach, Lucy her last sight before vanishing into black mist that would eventually dissipate into nothing as well.
On the other side of Tartarus, a seated Daityas suddenly blinked, slowly raising his head to the sky as he could feel something off.
"Someone just...died? But...
How?"
