Warrior of Light
Garland saw things differently now. Over his vision was superimposed the life force of anything he looked at. He could see the heat energy the Light Warriors' bodies exuded and as he charged toward the nearest foe, he meant whole-heartedly to extinguish the four lights that stood before him.
He was not surprised that the Break did not affect the Light Warriors. Any normal human that entered this place was immediately turned to stone and was left to crumble away, to disintegrate within a matter of hours. Garland wasn't certain why, but he knew it had something to do with how time itself was warped within the temple. The Light Warriors were touched by time in a similar way to how Garland was and were therefore immune. It was confusing at best, but Garland knew understanding would come. All he had to do was crush the four impudent children before him and he would be able to link to his past incarnation fully. The warped nature of the temple made it possible.
After that, it would not take long for him to become powerful enough to shatter what remained of the Crystals with his bare hands.
Wild roaring laughter exuded from him as he slammed his mighty black sword down at his foe.
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Valor Loftlan saw the monstrous black knight charge toward him, black armored boots clinking across the crystalline tiles. The young warrior was surprised at how fast the heavily armored man moved, and crossed his bastard sword over his shield above him to catch the blow.
Gritting his teeth, the strike drove him to one knee, shattering his sword and denting his round shield and the two soon entered a struggle with Garland trying to push him further toward the floor with him trying not to be crushed beneath the black knight's might.
The Chosen of Earth's body shook as he resisted Garland's strength. The black knight was easily as powerful as one of the trolls Valor had fought back in Truce, which meant he was weaker than the demon Baigan had been… however…
With inhuman speed that should not have been possible for one so armored, Garland broke the stalemate and swirled about, his black cape flaring around behind him as he brought his huge sword about to batter Valor with a monstrous blow. The Chosen of Earth caught it on his shield, but was thrown back ten feet to clatter across the tiles. With the momentum, however, he was able to roll back onto his feet only slightly dazed before the mighty black visage was before him once more, roaring before swinging his mighty sword at Valor again.
Valor summoned his mace in a flash of light and just managed to parry the next blow, though it slid him back several inches. Still, as aches began to accrue, Valor smelled a hint of fresh mint as a soothing green light swirled about him, easing his wounds, and the Light Warrior gave his own bellow before striking out with his mace with enough force to stagger Garland back temporarily.
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Gantz grinned wickedly, taking measure of his foe as Valor dueled Garland. The thief knew he could never trade blows with the monstrous knight and survive, but if he could get around to the flank, maybe he could find a chink in the beast's armor and slip a knife in.
The thief rushed forward in a blur, heading wide about the knight as Valor kept Garland's attention, yet just as he was poised to strike from the flank, the monster's armored helm turned to spit him with a glowing crimson gaze before whirling about with uncanny speed, bringing his huge sword around in a sweeping blow that Gantz just barley dodged, through the sheer force of it still flung him back twenty feet.
It took the thief a good half-minute to shake away dizziness. Luckily Valor had taken the knight's attention again or else the thief might have already been crushed into a fine paste.
"Hellfire, he's as bloody fast as he is strong," Gantz murmured, and he knew he would have to keep his distance. The thief also gained a new appreciation for Valor's might, since he was certain no other human could have traded blows with Garland and survived, yet Valor did, despite the beating he was taking. Fortunately, Miss Priss was keeping him healed.
The thief smiled again, however, where he stood behind the fight. "Guess its time to see if one of my shadow daggers can do the trick," and he began tapping his Shadow Source.
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Robin Magus stood off to one side of the duel, a melon-sized ball of fire writhing above one hand as she waited for an opportunity to get a clear shot at the black knight.
Garland and Valor fought an impossible battle before her. The knight was a visage of demonic death, twice Valor's size, and she still had trouble fathoming how the Chosen of Earth was able to trade blows without being crushed to pulp. Sure, she had witnessed him fight an even larger monster in Sumpter Baigan back in Castle Cornelia, but there was something different about Garland, something that made Baigan look like a pitiful little minion compared to what the four of them faced now.
No, for Baigan she had felt only contempt. For Garland, something else crawled up her spine, an emotion she would not allow herself to acknowledge.
Still, as Garland managed a straight kick that forced Valor back several steps, the black mage found her opening and flung her ball of fire at the monster, yet with a contemptuous twitch of his black cape, the unholy knight parried the ball of flame straight back at her and Robin's glowing yellow eyes widened in shock.
"Robin!" Sana screamed in alarm, and the black mage just managed to twitch to the side as the ball of fire exploded where she had just stood.
Only her immunity to fire saved her from death, yet the concussive force of the blast knocked her back like a physical blow, flipping her end for end twice before she hit the ground and slid to a stop. If it weren't for a flash of green light and the smell of freshly cut mint, she would have easily lost consciousness.
Staggering to her feet, Robin gained a newfound respect for her foe, something she had never once done for any enemy she had ever faced. However, this only fueled the fire that burned in her soul as she tried to decide which of her powers to utilize against the fiend next.
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Sana-Lynn held her staff out before her, motes of light swirling about as she locked her gaze on Valor again. She could sense that Robin was still alive after having healed her, but could not dwell on the black mage, as it was Valor that kept the other three Light Warriors from being crushed by Garland and she knew she had to keep him in the fight or none of them would survive the black knight's wrath.
Still, constantly healing him was draining her stamina quickly and she called upon another spell she had yet to utilize in battle though she had practiced it many times during her training at the White Temple.
Chanting softly under her breath, the white mage pointed her crooked staff at Valor and a sphere made of many yellow hexagonal tiles suddenly formed around the warrior before collapsing to outline the Chosen of Earth with a yellowish aura.
The Protect spell would grant Valor greater resilience against physical blows, lessening his need to be healed for a time, which was crucial, since Sana had no idea how long the battle would last. Despite a few strikes granted by Valor in their exchange, neither Gantz nor Robin had managed to damage Garland and that worried Sana, though she shook it away quickly to focus on her role.
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The protection spell had come out of nowhere, yet Valor knew it had to have been Sana's work, and suddenly he was able to parry the black knight's mighty blows a little easier. His armor held against several that had managed to slip passed his defenses. Garland was as tough as he was strong and Valor had been able to do very little in the way of damaging blows with the black knight. It was only because of Sana's healing that he was able to do anything at all and he knew that had to change.
Suddenly, however, something unseen seemed to strike the black knight from behind, staggering him forward before a sudden shrieking whirlwind encompassed Garland, actually lifting the monster from the ground a few feet.
Valor retreated back to witness the tightly focused whirlwind swirl Garland about, shrieking almost loud enough to drown out the black knight's angered roar, and Valor spied Gantz giving him a semi-serious salute from where he stood at Garland's flank.
Valor did not respond however, as the winds died only seconds later to dump Garland back to the ground, where he slumped to one knee. Immediately, Valor launched himself at the black knight, catching Garland across the helmet with a mighty full-armed blow from his flanged mace.
With a growl, the knight staggered laterally before several chunks of broken marble slammed into his chest, helm and legs, felling him backwards. Garland fell hard enough to crack several glass tiles beneath him, which sent waves of distortion out about the chamber.
Valor quickly glanced behind him, seeing Robin standing there with solid yellow runes glowing about her, giving him a nod.
He gave her one back before focusing on Garland again. The knight managed to plant his feet under him and rise again. "Not bad at all, whelps, I am somewhat impressed…" he then raised his great black sword above him. "Now, have a taste of my true power."
Darkly red tendrils of energy focused about his blade until a multitude of scarlet bolts suddenly angled sharply toward them all, shrieking out with tremendous speed.
A volley of five wicked bolts streaked toward each Light Warrior and they all did what they could in the few seconds they had to brace.
Valor merely knelt, his round shield raised above him as his five bolts lanced down. The first three dissipated against his shield with staggering force, but the last two split the metal barrier and struck Valor square in the chest. His armor held, but the blows knocked the wind from him and sent him sprawling.
Gantz readied himself; time seeming to slow as he focused on the wicked red projectiles that lanced toward him. Focusing his reflexes, he dodged, rolled, leapt, flipped and cartwheeled out the line of each projectile, which struck the floor and tiles about him, cracking the façade of the chamber and allowing ancient weathered stone to show beneath. The thief gave a truly relived sigh afterward, having dodged each strike by only a hairsbreadth.
Robin had already pulled hunks of stone from the walls to intercept the volley that had come for her, flinging each hunk into each projectile's path, all thick enough to dissipate or deflect them away from her, though one came close enough to batter against a milky stone wall, which caused another odd distortion to wash over her.
Sana-Lynn instinctively raised a Shell spell about her, the glimmering white barrier holding against the magical barrage, though the last two strikes shattered the shield, which jarred the white mage enough to make her lurch.
After the attack, Garland gave a hearty laugh, the rumbling of which was accompanied by alien squeals of delight. "Ah, such a display of skill. I had seen few such as I slaughtered the knights and soldiers of the King's Army. Of course, I took them by surprise, and even the ones that managed to wound me only fed my fury. The wounds you inflict, however, cannot be healed in such a manner. I suppose that is because of the cursed light you bear. No matter… you shall fall and I shall ascend as before! Kneel before your executioner, fools!"
He raised his sword again, summoning more wicked red power about his sword, but Gantz darted in, flinging another shadow dagger at him at the same time that Robin flung a massive fireball. The dagger connected just a split second before the other, shattering into a shrieking whirlwind just as the fireball struck. Fed by the shrieking wind, the fire exploded into a blazing fury that wrapped about the black knight and made him howl in agony.
Suffice it to say, the black knight dropped his sword, its red energy dissipating as the Garland staggered back, his whole armored form singed and smoking. Only seconds later, Valor came in with sweeping blow from his mighty dark steel maul. Putting all the strength and momentum he could behind the blow, Valor's strike mangled Garland's breastplate, smashing a heavy concave dent into the black metal and sending a great wave of distortion throughout the vast chamber.
The black knight was flung back against the dais, shattering the web-work throne, as the entirety of the chamber fluctuated about him.
Where Garland slumped against the shattered throne, he looked up, his glowing red eyes flickering fitfully through the visor slits, and yet, amazingly, he stood before the glow of his gaze strengthened again. Wheezing a bit, the monster knight laughed long and low, his bass rumbling guffaws punctuated again with inhuman squeals and shrieks. He said nothing, however, as he suddenly charged at Sana-Lynn. Valor intercepted, summoning his own broad-bladed greatsword in a flash of light before the two struck sparks near the center of the chamber.
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Robin Magus ignored the fight momentarily, looking at a portion of the wall that was now dull gray stone surrounded by milky pristine white about it. She knew the past and present were somehow combined in this place, the past being the beautiful façade of milky white stone and crystal while surely the dull gray must be the true and present form of the ancient ruin. Wondering at this, the black mage came to theorize that Garland must be drawing strength from the past as the ruin did, to be stronger and more vibrant than was possible in the present.
To test this, she summoned another incandescent ball of fire to hover over her palm before moving back from the dull gray scar in the pristine façade all around it. She figured that if the ruin took enough damage, perhaps the link between its two cohabiting time periods could shatter, and, if they could be shattered, perhaps Garland's link could be as well.
Gazing back at the duel between Valor and the black knight, it seemed that Garland was still fighting at peak strength despite the damage he had taken. It was obvious that he was far beyond mortal now and the four Light Warriors could not defeat him in his current state.
Therefore, Robin narrowed her glowing yellow eyes before flinging her fireball at the gray scar of the present wall surrounded by the pristine past. The fireball struck with an explosion that blasted more chunks of masonry out accompanied by another wave distortion…
And the dull gray scar grew larger.
Robin nodded, summoning an even bigger fireball and flung this one at the base of a white fluted column. The explosion was enormous, sending more waves of distortion out as the column seemed to fluctuate from pristine and dull gray before it finally collapsed into a pile of cracked gray stone, worn and ancient and now singed as well.
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Valor parried another great blow from Garland's black sword, the burnished steel of his greatsword striking dark red sparks as it clashed with the knight's sorcerous black blade. The Chosen of Earth's arms were beginning to tire from deflecting such mighty blows, and each time he had managed to get a strike past Garland's defenses, his blade had been turned by the knight's demonic armor, despite that it was charred and mangled in several places.
Suddenly, however, a vast wave of distortion passed through Valor with little effect, while it seemed to strike Garland almost like a shockwave, staggering him sideways. With a roar, Valor took advantage, sweeping his greatsword across Garland's greaves with enough force to knock the black knight to his knees. A great overhead blow was blocked by Garland's sorcerous steel, however, just before Valor noticed Gantz leaping from behind to jam one of his long knives into a narrow gap between Garland's right pauldron and the armored gorget covering his neck. It was a tiny gap between protective plates, but the thief had found it before leaping away, drawing out his knife in a spray of brackish blood.
Garland howled in fury and pain, just as another wave of distortion knocked him aside again, but he still quickly arose to one knee, still parrying Valor's blows, his blade ringing against Valor's, sorcerous red sparks flying.
And suddenly, the monster brought his blade down in ferocious blow that Valor managed to dodge, though the floor at his feet suddenly erupted with spikes of crystal that flung him back to land hard on the ground ten feet to the side. The crystalline spikes continued to erupt in a line that shot toward Sana-Lynn though she had plenty of time to move out of the way before the spikes slammed into the southern wall of the chamber, causing more waves of distortion.
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Gantz summoned his invisibility, hoping to come round the monster knight's flank after the creature's strange crystalline attack had flung Valor away. Garland seemed intent on going after Sana-Lynn and the thief knew he couldn't let that happen.
His backstab from earlier should have stopped Garland in his tracks, but the black armored monster kept on, though he was definitely moving slower than before.
Gantz smiled an invisible smile. The black armored beast was obviously not human, but he could still bleed, and that meant that he could still fall.
The thief snuck around to Garland's other flank as the knight made his way toward Sana-Lynn just as Valor staggered to his feet. The Chosen of Earth bellowed at the monster, trying to take his attention from the white mage, but Garland ignored him, though the black knight did hesitate just before Gantz made his move.
Intending to stab Garland in the left shoulder in the same spot he had on the right, he leapt with silent grace, his invisible knife poised in an invisible hand—but the black knight whirled, catching Gantz by the neck in mid-air.
The thief instantly became visible, dropping his knife as both his hands tried in vain to pry off the monster's grip. The huge armored hand fully encompassed his neck, and the thief felt sudden panic as the snarling demonic helm turned its crimson eye slits toward him.
"I saw you…" the monster hissed before turning back. "Blow another chunk from my wall, black mage, and I snap your fellow Light Warrior's little neck!"
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Robin Magus was tempted, her fireball poised.
The thief could be insufferable. Obnoxious, scathing and irritable were all attributes he possessed and they had been aimed at Robin plenty of times. Still, the black mage wanted nothing more now than to see Garland destroyed, and the thief did possess one other trait as well…
Her lightning magic would not touch him…
Therefore, Robin attacked.
Her runes switched from blazing red-orange to electric blue, and her summoned fireball vanished in a puff of smoke as crackling energies sparked to life around her.
Ultimately, she was doing exactly as the black knight had ordered, ignoring his precious temple wall completely as she flung several electric bolts at him.
The lightning arced around Gantz where he was held in the monster's grip, each blasting into the knight and forcing him back. He released his grip on the thief, who promptly shot off to the side before skidding to a halt and rubbing fiercely at his neck. Valor then gave another bellow before charging in toward the knight, but Garland recovered quickly enough to meet the other blade for blade again.
Nodding to herself, Robin switched back to concentrate on the wall once more. Her tactic seemed to be working. More and more of the wall near her was losing its pristine façade, the present overcoming the past, and she had noticed that each wave distortion she sent out was affecting the monster knight. Hopefully, it would not take much more damage to the temple to weaken Garland to the point where the other Light Warriors could finish him off.
The black mage certainly hoped so anyway, because she was beginning to get casting fatigue and had no more potions to replenish her flagging strength now.
One way or another, the end had to come soon.
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Even despite Sana's many strong heals; Valor's stamina was lagging, his arms almost numb. Even with her clearly significant holy power, the white mage's heals were having diminishing returns, and yet the fighter bet that Garland's unholy presence also had a hand in weakening the Light Warriors even beyond his attacks.
Trying to think of a plan was difficult, as all the Valor's concentration had to go into parrying each of the monster's brutal strikes. One of the other Light Warriors had to make a decisive move, because Valor simply did not have the luxury of doing so while trying to keep from being crushed.
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Gantz realized he had made a mistake before, trying to attack Garland without Valor keeping him distracted. Still, Gantz had distracted the knight long enough for Robin to free him with her bloody lightning. Luckily she had remembered that he couldn't be touched by her electric power, because the thief certainly had not. Their first meeting in that warehouse in Cornelia nearly a month ago seemed like ancient history now, and trying to think of ways to keep Garland off kilter was definitely keeping Gantz occupied.
Never had an enemy managed to present him with such a puzzle, but now was not the time to stand idle on the sidelines. The bloody blue blood was giving his all, keeping Garland occupied, trading blow for blow with the black armored brute, but it could not last. Though Garland had clearly taken enough damage to slow, so had the rest of them and the thief couldn't help but feel that something in this cursed place was slowly draining them as well…
So with Garland's focus on Valor again, now as the time for something decisive.
Gantz lowered himself to the ground, poised to push off his feet with all the speed he could muster, and summoned one final black dagger from his Shadow Source. Doing so made him pant and dazed him a bit, but he shook it away. "Time to go all in."
His dark eyes narrowed as he suddenly shot off like a blur, gaining enough momentum to run up the walls, leaping across niches and columns, which had become pits and hurdles with the change of perspective, racing about to the north wall just behind the shattered throne before pushing off and sailing through the air in a long backwards leap that allowed him to twist over the two warriors battling below in the center of the chamber.
With such speed, everything below the thief seemed to be happening in slow motion and Gantz waited until just the right moment before he flung his shadow dagger down with all the precision and force he could muster.
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Valor parried a cross cut, then a diagonal slash, before Garland swung his monstrous sword up before bringing the weapon down with an unholy roar. Though Valor caught the blow with his own blade, the sheer force drove him to one knee as he heard his greatsword crack.
The warrior's blue gaze glared up into Garland's baleful crimson eye slits, the snarling visor of the knight's full helm no doubt an accurate representation of what the creature beneath was doing.
A wisp of greenish energy swirled about Valor again, easing his pain and fatigue, but not enough to grant him the strength to free himself from this brute force struggle.
But then something sailed overhead like a blur and what seemed to be a shadowy dagger struck Garland through his left eye slit with enough force to stagger the monster back several steps.
With a great bellowing roar, Garland clapped an armored hand over his wounded eye, which spurted something like wicked crimson smoke.
A second later another wave of distortion struck the black knight, knocking him to his knees as he continued to bellow in agony, a chorus of horrific shrieks and wails blasting throughout the throne room like some abyssal chorus.
Valor tried to take advantage to finish the monster, but he only managed to stagger forward several steps before collapsing to his knees himself. Tremendously weak all of the sudden, he found it too difficult to even hold up his greatsword, the cracked weapon falling from his hands before it disappeared in a flash of light.
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Robin Magus knew it was now or never, and put all her remaining strength into a final fireball before flinging it at the wailing black knight. The burning sphere struck the bellowing monster in the side and exploded, his wails gaining in pitch as he was engulfed in writhing flames.
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Sana-Lynn nodded sharply, knowing it was time to use everything she had left.
Feeling the Holy hum within her, she focused the power in a way she never had before, instinctively letting its power pour from her like a rushing torrent as she pointed the glowing crook of her white staff at a point over Garland's helmed head.
"With a strength borne of purity…" she intoned, and focused her holy power.
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Even in his weakness, Valor saw a bright halo of radiance form above where Garland slumped on his knees, smoking and singed from Robin's fireball.
The radiant power overhead formed several concentric rings with glyphs flashing within them, before each started to rotate slowly within the other. The ring then extended to ten feet in circumference, soon hovering above Valor as well.
He had to avert his eyes before the holy blast struck.
Valor only thought Garland had been screaming before. Now the knight wailed like pandemonium itself, a horrific chorus of countless moans, shrieks and bellows, as the holy energy seemed to tear at his very being…
And yet the monster managed a foot despite the force battering at him. "This will not be enough, you impudent scabs! I am linked to my past incarnation, the Abyssal God of all Demons! I am Chaos and I will not fall again!"
Yet the radiant force about Valor felt light, as if he were buoyed by it rather than hindered, lifted rather than beaten down.
He suddenly looked down at himself, seeing his body sheathed in armor that shone even brighter than the light all around him, a suit of full-plate unlike any other, barely weighing anything at all.
Valor slowly stood as the radiance about him died, and yet he continued to shine, sheathed in heavenly armor, his silvery hair shoulder-length and floating about him, a white cape billowing out as he took a step toward the black knight, summoning to him a broadsword of shimmering power.
"A past incarnation?" the Chosen of Earth wondered in sudden awe before he focused his gaze on his foe.
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Forcing himself to his feet, Garland staggered forward. His enhanced vision able to see the heat source of his living foes, he was suddenly blinded by the aura of the boy warrior before him, rearing back in pain as the other advanced. "Stay back, curse you, stay away from me!"
But the other did the opposite. "You will never harm another living thing, Garland… now, rest in heaven's embrace…"
Instinctively, the black knight raised his sword to parry the other's thrust, but the second his black blade was touched by the other's radiant sword, it shattered into a thousand pieces and Garland felt the holy blade bite into his chest, piercing his breastplate and then his heart.
"…This… is not the end… Chosen… this is not…" and he said no more as his singed body suddenly disintegrated into flecks of char that slowly dissipated into the energized air.