Disclaimer: I do not own Star Ocean 3.
Chapter 8: Passage from Parch to Plenty
"I've never been in these caves before…" Farleen complained as she walked through the paths of the Passage from Parch to Plenty. "So how do we know where to go from here? I mean, we didn't bring a map or anything…"
"Hmm. Fool. You just want everything already done for you, like a little kid." Albel sneered. "Stop complaining and just follow where I go. Of course, if you are afraid of getting lost, you can always go back home to your loser friend."
"OHHHH! Quiet, YOU!" Farleen yelled.
"Just shut up and follow like you should, then. I know for sure that we have to go east, after that, we'll just have to search". Albel said as he walked towards to the east.
"He's right" Clair said. "The west section of this cave will only lead us to the Mosel Dunes… it is logical that the relic would be somewhere on the east side, instead."
"Okay then! To the east we go!" Roger said as he walked behind Albel.
The group traveled through the different sections of the Passage from Parch to Plenty, which was little bit of a maze. Many times they were met with a dead end, and were forced to backtrack. Enemies they met on the way offered little to no resistance so far.
"We've been searching for over an hour… man, this sure is one complex place, huh?" Lancar complained.
"We musn't give up." Clair told him. "I think we've explored most of the Cave so far. Surely there aren't too many other passages left."
"Well, I've recorded our past tracks on my quad scanner so that we don't go into the same area twice." Lancar said as he looked at his scanner. "And at least getting back won't be too much of a problem…"
"Quiet. We got company." Albel said as he went into this battle stance and reached back for his Katana "Same old worms?"
In front of them, stood 5 Ghoul Knights as well as Countless numbers of Bats. Though they have been overmatched so far, the monsters countered this time with sheer numbers.
"Alright guys, I have a feeling it'll be little harder this time." Lancar said as he adjusted his Gauntlet "Let's finish them off!"
Albel dashed forward and quickly cut through all the Bats that were flying towards him with his Katana. As more bats flew towards him from his back, Albel swung his Katana rapidly in a smooth, circular motion. "SHOCKWAVE SWIRL!" The shockwaves repelled all the bats that were flying towards him.
Meanwhile, Lancar and Clair were dealing with the Ghoul Knights. Lancar evaded a swing of the Knight's sword easily as he gave it a powerful knee thrust towards its midsection. The Ribcage of the Ghoul Knight shattered in pieces as its body broke into two. As another Ghoul Knight approached him, Lancar spun around and yelled "TRIPLE KICK!" as he hit the enemy three times with powerful spin kicks. The third spin kick took out its head as it shattered in pieces and the body dropped down on the ground like ton of bricks. However, as he gathered himself, another Ghoul warrior swung downwards with his sword, hitting Lancar with a loud impact.
"Heh heh. Almost" Lancar teased as he had blocked the sword blow with his gauntlet just in time. "I'll see you later!" He said as he ducked downward, turned and thrusted his leg high upward "LAUNCHER KICK!" The monster was sent high into the air, floating helplessly.
"Let me finish him off!" Roger yelled as he readied himself with his new weapons; Twin Axes that were chained together sort of like a Nunchaku. Roger swung his axe around in a circle, reached back and threw it towards the floating Ghoul Knight as he yelled "FIERY AXE!" The flaming axe shattered the enemy apart while creating a spectacular explosion.
Clair stood alone with another Ghoul Knight. As the enemy charged towards her, she quickly sidestepped its attack and yelled "SHADOW WAVE!" However, the enemy had also anticipated the move, as it jumped back to evade the waves. As it dashed towards Clair once again, she posed for another battle skill. "LEAF SLASH!" she yelled as she disappeared into thin air leaving only the flying leaves behind. She suddenly appeared in front of the enemy in another storm of leaves, giving it a double spin slash. The Ghoul fell apart in pieces as she stepped back.
Meanwhile, Albel and Farleen were having trouble with the sheer number of bats that were flying towards them. Each one of them were easy to defeat, but they just kept coming, their numbers seemingly endless.
As Farleen was fighting off the bats with her firebolt and wind blade spell, another bat on her blind side shot series of three needles at her. "!" Farleen turned around with having no time at all to react to it.
"ICE NEEDLES!" Clair yelled as her ice needles deflected the bat's needle shots just in time.
"Bah!…" Albel yelled. "There are no end to these worms… where are they coming from, anyway?" he asked as he cut through many bats in a flash.
"Let me finish them all at once then!" Farleen spoke out as she jumped backwards with her staff and began her spellcasting. After a few seconds, she posed towards the group of bats while yelling out.
"RAY!" Numerous laser beams from the sky cut through the bats all at once, as they all dropped dead like flies.
"That's all of them!" She said, "Let's carry on!"
"… looks like there is another path over to our right. It's a little dark in there, but it might lead somewhere. Let's check it out." Clair said as she walked towards the darker tunnel.
"It's getting darker and darker… I can hardly see anything!" Lancar commented, "I wonder if this path will really lead to anywhere? Probably another dead end."
"Wait a minute! Can everybody see that?" Roger said as his voice echoed throughout the now near completely dark tunnel. "I see a red light!"
The group walked towards the light, and what they saw was an altar holding a triangle-shaped relic shining red – just like the one Albel got from Airyglyph. "This is it!" Clair said. "We've found it! Alright, guys, let's head back out then."
"Not so fast." Albel said. "Something is coming."
He was right indeed… as the chilling wind began to blow throughout the dark tunnel, a dark demon appeared out of nowhere and swiped its claws. The wind blast took out all the members of the group, knocking them back to the wall and down in pain.
"Ack!" Albel yelled. "You'll pay for that!"
Albel dashed towards the monster that he could barely see in the dark, and slashed at it with his Katana repeatedly. However, not only was this monster difficult to see, it was also lightning quick; it evaded all of Albel's attacks easily, as it knocked him back with it's wind blast again.
"Shit!" Albel cursed. "I can barely see that bastard, and it's quick!"
"We're coming to help!" Lancar yelled as him, Roger, and Clair all dashed towards the monster, attacking it furiously. However, every one of their attacked missed him, while he appeared behind them to ready his own skill. "DAAARKK TORNADO!" The tornado blast sent everybody flying, all down in pain once again.
"Damn!" Lancar cursed. "He's too quick, and there is just no way we can track him down in this dark!"
"OH!" Farleen yelled as she thought of something. "I have an idea… I want to try out this spell, but the casting might take a bit long… can everybody keep him occupied, please, while I do it?"
"Alright, this better work." Albel said as he charged at the monster once again.
Everybody attacked the monster with all they got, trying to distract him from much as they can until Farleen completed her casting. All the Air Slashes, Shadow Waves, Triple Kicks and the Fiery Axe missed it however, due to the poor visibility as well as because of the quickness of the Dark Demon. Numerous slashes by the demon sent our heroes down in pain.
"Uwaa…. Hurry… UP!" Albel yelled to Farleen.
"Please… Hurry!" Clair also begged in pain. "I don't… know how much longer… we can hold… on… for!"
"Okay! Here it GOES!" Farleen yelled as everybody stepped back…
"STAR LIGHT!" Farleen yelled as series of Stars flew up into the air, lighting up the entire cave. The light from the stars shined right onto the Dark Demon, immobilizing it and stunning it in pain.
"NOW! Finish him off!" Farleen yelled.
"GWAAAH! TAKE THIS!" Albel cried as it dashed towards the now-easily seen and immobilized monster. "DOUBLE SLASH!" Albel yelled as he swung his Katana upward then downward at the monster with tremendous power and speed. The swings made a direct, precise hit, as monster went down from the powerful impact. It humped over on to its knees, then fell face flat on the ground, disappear into thin air.
"We got it!" Clair said in excitement. "Good job, Farleen!"
"Sorry… it took so long!" Farleen said, on her knees and apparently out of breath "That spell was new… and it took lot of concentration… sorry everybody!"
"It's alright… okay, lets get that relic" Clair said, helping Farleen up to her feet.
"Hmph… that makes two." Albel said as he picked up the red relic from the Altar.
"There's two more to go. Let's head out." Albel said as the group walked back towards the exit, with their mission for the second relic now complete.
Chapter 9: An old nemesis
After a night's rest in the Mayor's house in Surferio, the group made its way out once again, to their next destination – Aquatic Gardens of Surferio.
"Alright, our next destination is the Aquatic Gardens of Surferio." Clair said as the group walked along the Sanmite Steppe towards Peterny "First we get to Peterny, then head northwest on Irisa Fields."
"Aquatic Gardens, huh…" Lancar commented. "So have you ever been to this place? Aquatic Gardens… sounds like a pleasant place."
"The Aquatic Gardens of Surferio was built back in the days of the Ancient Kingdom of Aquor, hundreds of years ago." Clair explained, "It used to be a beautiful place from what I hear. However, it was destroyed during the war between Aquor and Greeton… lot of the structures still remains, but its access has been banned by her majesty because a lot of dangerous monsters have taken residence there over the years… I've also never been there myself, so we'll need to be caref…"
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Clair was interrupted by a voice coming from front of them. Three men stood there, all armed with thief swords. "If you would like to live, drop all your belongings now, because we'll be taking it!" Their Leader said.
"Ah… more worms…" Albel commented, with a sigh. "You'd better get out of my face before I cut you into pieces."
"WHAT did you say? Do you even know whom you're messing with? We're the famous Moonshadow Clan!" The leader said. "We've been out of action for a while, but now we're back! And more dangerous than ever! SO if you value your life, you will be giving us all your belongings… including those two little red jewels you got there, now!"
"Get out of our face, morons!" Roger shouted. "Or we're gonna be forced to… HEEEEY… I've seen you from somewhere…"
"Huh? Wait a minute… that tail…! IT'S YOU!" The Clan chief yelled out in surprise.
"Who's the evil looking dude? Roger, you know him?" Lancar asked quietly.
"I HEARD THAT!" The Chief yelled in an annoyed voice.
"Oh yeah! Hehe, that's right… my boys and I taught him a lesson two years ago in the Duggus Forest! But it looks like the idiot is back for more!" Roger said, amused.
"You'd leave right now if you know what is good for you." Clair said, "You guys are not going to want any trouble"
"SHUT UP! This is perfect! It's time to teach that Raccoon boy a lesson, and put him back in his cage where he belongs!" The Chief said. "Let's get them, boys!"
"HAH! You are NO match for Roger S. Huxley, THE MAN! Step back guys… I shall take care of this moron ALL by myself!" Roger said as he stepped forward.
"But are you sure Roger? That man looks really evil and dangerous!" Farleen asked.
"It's true, Roger," Lancar agreed. "Not only does he look evil, but he seems like you really pushed his buttons last time! Must be a really sensitive guy…"
"WHY, YOU!" The Chief yelled, now REALLY pissed off.
"Let him take care of these worms" Albel said. "I can't be bothered to play with these fools, anyway."
"LET'S GO BOYS! GYAAA!" The chief yelled as him and the other two thieves charged at Roger with their thief swords.
"Hah!" Roger said as he easily dodged the thieves' clumsy sword slashes. He took his Double chained axe, and wrapped it around one of the thieves. As he had him tied up, Roger pulled on the chain while yelling "WHIRLING HEAT!" The thief spun off from the chain like a tornado, hitting the second thief hard and knocking them both out.
"Wha… HOW DARE YOU!" The Moonshadow Clan Chief yelled as he charged towards Roger furiously.
"TAKE THIS! Roger yelled as he dodged his sword slashes, and ran up to his midsection. "CHARGE!" The impact sent the Moonshadow Clan Chief flying, who then hit a tree and passed out.
"How do you like THAT, boys?" Roger said cockily as he did a pose back to the group.
"WOW, Roger, you've really gotten strong!" Farleen cheered, "You really showed those evil people!"
"Good job Roger." Clair said. "That was really impressive!"
"Hahaha! OF COURSE! Like I said, I've been doing a lot of training over the last two years! These guys are no match for me! Come on guys, let's go beat up on some stronger opponents next time!" Roger said proudly… as one thief, recovered, slowly sneaked up behind Roger, ready to impale him with his sword. "ROGER! Watch out!" Lancar yelled.
"Huh?" Roger said, not having any clue of what's going on.
"THUNDERBOLT!" Farleen yelled as her thunderbolt spell fried the thief black and crisp. "Er…err…" the thief mumbled as he passed out for good.
"Hmph, watch your back at all times, and never get overconfident, fool." Albel grunted as he started walking towards Peterny again, leaving ahead of everyone.
"Umm…heh… gotcha…" Roger said, little embarrassed.
The group rested a short while at Peterny, then made their way Northwest of Irisa Fields to finally reach the Aquatic Gardens of Surferio
"So this is the place." Albel commented as he stepped into the dungeon.
"Yes, this is it." Clair said, walking in behind him. "As I have said before, this dungeon is infesting with various types of monsters… They shouldn't give us too much trouble, but still…everyone should be careful."
"Right." Lancar said as he approached an empty hallway, seemingly devoid of anything. "But what's with this place? It just seems completely empty!"
"Hmph…" Albel grunted as he walked ahead of everybody into the hall. Oblivious to what was on the ground, he took his steps towards a shiny green panel on the floor.
"WAIT, Albel!" Clair yelled as he ran after him, trying to stop him from stepping on it.
As Albel stepped on the green panel, the trap fence appeared from the ceiling and shut itself right down to the ground, barely missing Clair who made it over to Albel's side.
"Bah… What is this?" Albel asked. "A trap?"
"Ugh…" Clair moaned as she got up slowly. "I did hear that this place was full of defense mechanisms… but…"
"Lady Clair! Lady Clair!" Farleen shouted from beyond the fence on the other side. "Are you okay? We'll be right there! Hold on!"
"Ugggghhh… no…it's no good" Lancar said as he tried to pry the fence and break it open. "It is made of something way too strong. We can't break through it."
"Hmmm… that means we're split. Perfect… less fools to take care of." Albel said.
"This is not good…" Clair said. "Are you guys going to be all right? This is horrible…"
"Well… it does look like there is another path besides our side that leads to something." Farleen said. "I hate to say it, but it looks like we're split for now… But rather than sitting here and thinking of what to do, how about we each go our own way? Maybe this way we can find the relic even faster!"
"The worm's right" Albel agreed as he started walking towards the path. "We don't have much of a choice. We'll go our own ways, and see who gets there first."
"…Alright then. Farleen, Lancar, Roger… take care. We'll meet you later" Clair said, as she followed Albel to the hallway.
"You too, Lady Clair! Be careful!" Farleen yelled back.
Chapter 10: Split in Aquatic Gardens
"Hmm…" Farleen mumbled in thought. "I hope Lady Clair is going to be all right…"
"She will be fine, don't worry." Lancar reassured her, "It's not like she's alone or anything; she's also with Albel. With those two together, they won't have too much trouble."
"Them being together is EXACTLY the problem!" Farleen yelled back in frustration. "UGHH! Just thinking about what happened with them last time, how can I not worry?" (Referring to the Peterny event, of course.)
"Huh? What do you mean?" Lancar asked, confused.
"NOTHING! Forget about what I said…" Farleen said adamantly. "Anyways, this path over on the left doesn't seem to be leading to anything… so many of the paths are dead end, too."
"Just follow me, the experienced adventurer!" Roger claimed proudly as he started walking ahead. "If my senses are telling me correctly, we should be going that way!" He said as he pointed to the path on the right, which had the arch structure at the entrance.
"Might as well, let's try it." Lancar agreed as he walked along.
The group entered the room, which had many different paths leading out, but also had another path blocked off by one of those fences. Farleen went over close to it, as she examined what was on the other side closely.
"By looking over on the other side, I think that's where we are supposed to go" Farleen told the others. "But it's blocked off by this fence… I wonder if there is a device somewhere that will open this thing?"
"Take a look here!" Roger said, looking at a green panel on the floor. "You think this thing might trigger it? I mean, it enabled the fence before, maybe it can work other way around, too!"
"We might as well try it" Lancar agreed, as he stepped on the panel. Suddenly, magical blocks began appearing everywhere in the room, sealing the pathway to the fenced pathway. However, the fencing that was once blocking the path ahead also disappeared.
"!" Lancar reacted, surprised. "What's this? Another trap? Actually, this seems more like a puzzle… it seems that the fence over on the other side disappeared, but now these blocks are in the way… and it looks like each blocks only move in a certain direction."
"Awww, drats!" Farleen complained. "I HATE puzzles! But I guess we're gonna have to crack it!"
"Okay, leave this to me, I know exactly what to do! Okay, first, you have to move that blue block to the right, then…" Roger said as Farleen quickly interrupted him.
"No, no… I think we have to first move that white block up, THEN move that blue block to the right…" She said, thinking hard about which block to move where.
"NO! NO! Trust me! I have skill when it comes to these things! We have to move that blue block to the right first!" Roger complained back, sure of his judgement. "Just trust the leader, and everything will be all right!"
"A leader? What are you talking about! You're not the leader!" Farleen complained.
"Of course I am! Pshh… what… who did you think the leader was? YOU?" Roger replied sarcastically.
"HOW RUDE! For your information, I got the highest leadership grades among the Crimson Blades according to Lady Clair!" Farleen shot back. "And what do YOU know, anyway?"
"Ohhh boy…" Lancar sighed as he as put his hand on his forehead, shaking his head. "kids, kids, settle down, now. I think I know what to do"
"Huh? I'm NOT a kid!" Farleen retorted. "And what do you mean? You know what to do here?"
"Well, I do have my quad scanner here with me," Lancar said as he took out his scanner from his pocket. "I can analyze each of the block's data to see which direction each blocks will move and how far they'll move. Once I analyze them all, the computer can calculate the exact moves we have to take with each of the blocks so we can reach that path on the other side."
"WOW! It can do that?" Roger asked.
"Really? That's amazing!" Farleen agreed.
"It sure can. Just wait for a little bit till I analyze each of the blocks… uh huh… okay… all right, it's done. Okay, here's what we have to do guys. First, move that Yellow block on the right up, then…" Lancar told Farleen and Roger as they began moving around the blocks.
Thanks to Lancar's Quad Scanner, the blocks were moved precisely so that the clear pathway was made towards the path over on the other side. "All right! We cleared the way… so lets keep moving." Lancar said.
As the three made their way along the pathway, they eventually reached another room, one that was much bigger than the rest of the rooms they've been to so far. There was a fence on the other side of the room, which led to some sort of a portal. Over on the right side of the room was a switch.
"Let's hit that switch over there…" Farleen said. "I think we're almost there now!"
Farleen hit the switch, and the fence on the end of the room disappeared. However, they were also greeted with a voice coming from above them.
"INTRUDER…ALERT…INTRUDER…ALERT… TERMINATE ALL INTRUDERS!" The object said as it descended below to face the group. It was a huge Sculpture, seemingly made entirely of stone.
"Crap… a guardian… okay guys, let's get ready to fight!" Lancar said as he got into his fighting pose.
"Alright! Let's do it!" Roger shouted as he got his Axes ready.
"I'm ready to go!" Farleen said as she held out her staff.
Lancar dashed at the Sculpture Lord as he began throwing series of punches and kicks. As each blow landed on the Sculpture, it made cracks to the surface a little bit, but not doing nearly enough damage. "Pretty tough, aren't ya!" Lancar taunted as he jumped up into the sky and his fists locked together, swinging it downwards at the monster. "HAMMER OF MIGHT!"
The qigong waves pushed back the Sculpture a little bit, but still not doing much damage.
"Hmph!… Pretty tough indeed…" Lancar commented as he gathered his breath.
Meanwhile, Roger started spinning around his Double-chained axe, and tossed it at the Sculpture Lord. "FIERY AXE!" The axe made a direct hit with the surface of the Sculpture, and only made a slight chip to the surface.
"Heh, not bad! But take this!" Roger said as he dashed forward. "CHARGE!" Roger went in head first into the Sculpture, only to bounce back from the impact and not doing slightest of damages. "OWWW!" Roger yelled in pain.
"Looks like I'm going to need a stronger spell for this one…" Farleen said as she began her spellcasting. "ENERGY ARROW!" She yelled as number of Dark Energy Arrows homed in into the Sculpture lord. With a loud impact, pieces of rocks broke off from the monster, surely damaged but far from being defeated.
"! No good…" Farleen exclaimed as she stepped back in surprise.
While the fighters all gathered themselves, the Sculpture Lord rose up slightly off the ground into the air. In its mechanical, robotic voice, it spoke out "STONE. RAIN!" Many pieces of rocks fell out of the Sculpture lord and fell on top of the group, first knocking them all down and then making them run for cover.
"SHIT! Crap, we can't damage this thing! The damn rock is too solid!" Lancar yelled out in frustration.
'Damn, it's the stone. It's too hard….' Lancar thought to himself 'think… what can weaken the structure of rocks?…! That's right!' Lancar looked up as an idea flashed before his mind.
"Farleen!" Lancar yelled to her as they ran away from the Sculpture lord's attacks. "You happen to know any spells that is… acidic?"
"Huh? Acid?… That's right! I do know one spell!" Farleen said as she stepped back into fighting position. "Buy time for me while I cast the spell!"
"Alright!" Roger yelled as it dashed towards the Sculpture Lord, hitting it with his Axe blows.
"Hey big hunk of rock! I'm here!" Lancar said as he taunted the Sculpture lord and started running away. The Sculpture fired numerous laser beams at Lancar, which he outran and dodged.
"It's ready!" Farleen yelled. "Move away from the monster!"
Farleen pointed at the Sculpture lord while number of dark clouds began gathering in the sky. "ACID RAIN!" she shouted as burning rain began showering down on the Sculpture lord. It smeared into the rocks and started weakening the structure of the monster.
"Okay! Roger, are you ready?" Let's hit it with all we got!" Lancar yelled to Roger.
"Gotcha!" Roger yelled as he began dashing towards the monster. "FLYING TORPEDO!"
Lancar stepped back, got into a three-point stance, and dashed forward across the battlefield at a lightning-quick speed with his elbow high up. "FIERY TACKLE!" he yelled as he hit the monster with the tackle at the exact same time with Roger's Charge.
With the double crushing impact, the Sculpture lord shattered, breaking down into thousand pieces. "We did it!" Farleen screamed in joy.
"Good job, guys." Lancar said, little out of breath. "Let's continue on up those stairs."
The three warriors arrived in the room with the transporter, and stepped on it. With a blue flash, they disappeared, transporting to another place within the dungeon…
"There is no end to these stupid puzzles…" Albel complained. "And the enemies here are pathetically weak… bah…"
"That's a good thing." Clair said, as she cleared out the last block so they can make the pathway to the next room. "We want the least trouble as possible with the monsters, so that we won't run into any potential danger or harm. Especially with our group split up as we are now… remember, we are not here to fight."
"Hmm, boring, aren't you? I looked forward to getting at least some type of challenge, but I guess I'm not getting any of that here." Albel sighed.
"I guess you're a true warrior type…" Clair said. "Personally, I don't enjoy fighting, and I avoid it unless we really have to. I do it purely for mission purposes, or protecting myself and my comrades…"
"Hah… how weak…" Albel sneered. "Your so-called comrades are just getting in your way, and are not necessary. They're merely a distraction…I've never cared for dumb things like that."
"Oh, have you not now?" Clair questioned him, with a serious face. "Nel told me once about what happened at the Kirlsa Training Facility two years ago… that you showed up to save Fayt and the rest at the same time as her. If you didn't care for your comrades, then why did you come to their rescue?"
"!… Bah… What nonsense! I didn't come to their rescue! I just merely spared their life so that I can finish those worms off myself one day… I wasn't going to let those Vendeenis have them! In MY turf at that!" Albel replied back at her, annoyed.
"Is that really so?" Clair asked, smiling a little bit. "Somehow, I really can't believe that was your reason."
"Hmph! Believe what you want, then!" Albel retorted, as they arrived in a large room with fencing on the other side, as well as a switch on the right.
"Looks like we're finally here." Albel said, walking up to the switch. "Let's get that relic and get the hell out of this place."
As Albel pushed the switch, the fence on the end of the room disappeared. However, at the same time, they heard a women's voice.
"Intruders…" the voice murmured. "Begone from our sacred sanctuary, mechateers from Greeton…"
"Huh?" Clair said in surprise. "But we're not – "
"I am the embodiment of Sirvia, the protector of the land of Aquor." The voice continued, as a beautiful Woman in a white hooded dress came down from above. "You are not getting our sacred treasure. I, the protector of this land and this sanctuary, will now punish you intruders from Greeton… For all the pain you have caused to this land… I shall annihilate you for all your sins!"
"Sirvia I? The legendary Heroine?… But we are not from Greeton! Please, you have to listen to us!" Clair pleaded.
"You are not getting our treasure…" Sirvia continued. "Die, intruders!"
"This scum just won't listen… heh, fine, I'm just going to have to teach her a painful lesson then." Albel replied happily, reaching back for his katana.
"But!…" Clair hesitated.
"BEGONE!" Sirvia yelled as she opened her palm and shot at Clair and Albel with a blinding flash of light energy. Both fighters dodged the blast, just barely.
"Forget about reasoning with that women, just attack!" Albel yelled at Clair as he lunged forward at Sirvia to attack. He slashed at her furiously with his Katana, but missed as she simply flew up in the air backwards.
"AIR SLASH!" Albel yelled as the wind blast from his rapid Katana swing homed in at Sirvia. However, she simply neutralized the blast with her palm.
"Damn!" Albel cursed. "She's tough, she's not like the rest…"
"Hah!" Clair yelled as she tossed her twin daggers at Sirvia while charging it with the power of ice. "ICE DAGGERS!" The daggers were simply deflected back by Sirvia without much effort.
"Let's attack her from both sides, she can't block our attacks that way!" Albel yelled, as he got ready to attack her from his side.
"Alright!" Clair complied.
"One, two, NOW!" Albel yelled as both him and Clair charged at Sirvia from opposite sides. However, while running up, Clair's foot caught a crack on the floor and she fell down on the floor. "Ah!…" Clair yelled as she stumbled.
"!" Albel reacted as he hesitated for one split second, glancing over to Clair.
That split second hesistation was enough for Sirvia to finish charging up her attack. She raised her hand up high in the air, charging it with her powers of sacred energy. "DIE, intruders!" she yelled as she thrusted her hand towards Albel. "SACRED ETHER!"
The Quick, powerful Ether blast was fast for Albel to dodge. The blast hit Albel squarely on the chest and exploded, knocking him tens of meters backwards. "GWAAAAAAAAAAA!" Albel let out a blood-curdling scream in pain as his body hit the floor in a loud thud.
"ALBEL!" Clair yelled as she got up from the floor, running up to Albel fallen on the floor. The blast had burned right through Albel's armour, creating a nasty burn wound on his chest.
"gahh…ah... ahh…." Albel struggled as he began to lose consciousness. "Albel, NO! Get up! Answer me!" Clair shouted as she arrived to his side.
"Stay still!" Clair told Albel. "I'm going to cast a healing spell!" Clair began her spellcasting, positioning both of her hands near Albel's wound. "HEALING!"
Albel, who almost lost his consciousness completely, felt something warm and comfortable flowing over his wound. After few seconds, the wound had been completely sealed up, Albel's body feeling like he had just woken up from a long sleep.
"Wha… what? Why did you?" Albel asked Clair, stunned at the sequences of events that just happened.
"You were hurt badly, I had to - " Clair started answering, only to be interrupted by another energy blast from Sirvia that she had been charging the whole time. The energy blast hit Clair squarely on the shoulder. "AHHHHHHH!" Clair cried as the blast knocked her back in extreme pain. Albel stared at Clair in the air, flying back, and then finally hitting the floor. At that exact moment, something snapped in his head.
"Wha…. WHHYYYYY YOU!" Albel yelled at Sirvia, overcome by fury. "GWAAA! DIE! SCUM!"
Albel pointed his palm towards Sirvia, charging it with massive qigong energy. "TAKE THIS!" Albel yelled. "PALM OF DESTRUCTION!" The energy ball homed in towards Sirvia, creating a spectacular explosion upon impact.
However, Sirvia had simply flown up to avoid the energy blast just in time, raising her hand once again to charge her Sacred Ether attack. "Die, intruder!" She yelled as she pointed at where Albel was.
But Albel was nowhere to be found. Albel then appeared out of nowhere above and behind Sirvia with his katana held over his head with two hands, with Sirvia completely oblivious to what was transpiring.
"HIYAAA!" Albel cried as he swung his Katana downwards at top of Sirvia's head with extreme force. "HEAD SPLITTER!"
As Albel's swing continued downwards, it sliced through top of Sirvia's head like hot knife through butter, all the way down, splitting her body in half. Her split corpse hit the floor, then disappearing into thin air.
"Huff… huff…cough" Albel gathered himself, tired out from his sequence of attack. However, before he could gather his breath completely, he glanced over at Clair, on the floor and not moving.
"!" Albel reacted as he rushed to Clair's side. "HEY!" Albel yelled in panic. "Wake up! Get up!"
"Is… the battle… ov… er?" Clair asked in faint voice.
"It's over. Enough about that, GATHER YOURSELF!" Albel yelled.
"I'm…. glad… you're all…right…" Clair struggled to say, as she tried to get up.
"Why the hell did you do that for?" Albel asked in anger. "There was no reason to heal me! Putting yourself in harm's way like that, what's wrong with you?"
"Be… cause…" Clair answered, struggling, "You… were… bad.. ly… hurt… I had… to heal…" she murmured as Albel held her up, around his arms.
"There wasn't any need to…. HEY!" Albel reacted as Clair began losing her consciousness.
"I… wanted… to…" Clair said faintly, as her head tilted sideways, passed out.
"…" Albel went silent, as he picked up Clair in his arms, standing in thought for a while. After a few seconds, he gathered himself, and walked over to the room with the transporter. He stood over it, as they disappeared in a blue flash.
Lancar, Farleen, and Roger appeared with a blue flash in a room that had another transporter on the other side, and also at the bottom of the room. On the top of the room was an Altar, with triangular relic glowing crimson red. Few seconds after their arrival, Albel also appeared, with Clair in his arms.
"L... LADY CLAIR!" Farleen yelled, as she rushed over to Clair's side. "Answer me, Lady Clair! Wake up!"
"…" Albel stood quietly, not saying anything.
"WHAT HAPPENED TO HER? WHAT DID YOU DO?" Farleen yelled at Albel in rage.
"…She got hurt in battle. She's just passed out, don't worry. She's not mortally wounded…" Albel replied quietly.
"Yeah… she's still breathing fine… but that's a bad wound" Lancar said, examining Clair's condition. "She should be fine, but still, we should get her to a doctor quickly as possible."
"Errrrr!" Farleen growled in frustration. "It's times like this I wish I knew a healing spell…"
"Yeah, we need to get her some treatment, quick!" Roger replied. "Let's get that relic and get out of here!"
Albel walked over to the Altar, and collected the third relic. Their mission here was finally done.
"Let's go." Albel said, as he walked over to the portal on the South of the room.
With a flash of Blue light, they disappeared, and then reappeared at the entrance of the Garden.
"Okay, we're finally out of here!" Farleen said. "Let's get to Aquios, quick!"
