Chapter 6: Teaching
Karst held her scythe close to her body. "Agatio, we'll have to face Saturos head on. We can't keep running away from them." She spoke.
"But, Karst, you'll lose everything! Saturos and Menardi aren't the type to let us off easy... I won't be living the good life anymore!" Agatio moaned.
"Better us getting punished than me being cursed for eternity. Pity, I was never able to utilize Feh's talents to help conquer Kolima and Biblin, but I guess that Menardi's stopped us at a good time. Now, I'll only be considered evil by the people of Xian. The people of Kolima and Biblin have no idea who I am. I guess it was a good thing for my sister to have gathered Saturos, Ivan, and Sheba to her side to stop me." Karst muttered.
"What are you thinking, Karst? All that time we spent trying to conquer the city, and now you give up halfway?" Agatio groaned.
"Give up? Who said I was giving up? We're going to take Mia and Jenna with us and engage Saturos's party head on. Whoever wins this final battle will determine the fate of Weyward. Will I become Queen, or will my sister teach me a lesson? Don't you want this all to be over? We don't want to keep on being hunted down by Menardi, do we? Let's go, Agatio. Worst comes to worst, we'll be beaten, scolded, and maybe spat on by some Xian townspeople, but we're not really going to face severe retribution. Puelle might frown at us, but they'll all forgive us, considering that we helped save the world by giving Felix the Mars Star and making sure that he lit the Jupiter Lighthouse." Karst thoughtfully glanced at Agatio.
"I don't want to die." Agatio muttered as he followed Karst.
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Menardi led the way as the party stepped cautiously through the hallway of the inn. Karst emerged from one of the rooms, flanked by Agatio, Mia, and Jenna.
"So, little sister, are you going to stop misbehaving and give up, or will we have to fight you?" Menardi asked.
Karst raised her scythe: "Sis, why don't you answer that question?"
Agatio flexed his muscles: "Saturos, I'm going to pummel you until you fall flat on your face! You're a scrawny little wimp who can't even lift a hundred-pound weight without sweating and wincing in pain, but I can! Prepare to cry!"
Saturos laughed: "Agatio, do you honestly think that you are a threat to me? I admit, you are a strong man, but in reality, all you have is brawn. Let's see if you can face a combination of brains and brawn and emerge victorious. To tell the truth, I doubt you can."
"I... Fight... Menardi..." Jenna raised the Tisiphone's Edge.
"And... I... Fight... Sheba..." Mia raised her Clothos's Distaff.
"In that case, Ivan, you take on Karst. After all, you do need a rematch, don't you?" Menardi winked.
"That's right. Karst, you're going to pay for taking me down last time!" Ivan raised the Kikuchimonji.
Once again, eight adepts began their epic fight against each other.
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Agatio charged at Saturos with his fist outstretched. "I'm gonna pummel you till your eyes pop out!" Agatio roared. Saturos laughed and stepped to the side. As Agatio continued charging, Saturos grabbed Agatio's arm and yanked it forward. Saturos also took care to stick his foot out. The hapless Agatio fell flat on his face.
"Give it up, Agatio. There's not point for us to continue fighting. Retain Prox's honor by surrendering now and ending this madness." Saturos spoke.
"Raaah!" Agatio snarled as he tried to bite Saturos's ankle.
"Woah!" Saturos gasped as he lept back. The blue Proxian's foot lodged itself into Agatio's chin, sending the muscular adept flying. Agatio finally landed on his feet, and yelled: "DIE!"
"Rolling Flame!" Agatio pointed his finger at Saturos. A ball of fire emerged from Agatio's fingertip and flew toward's Saturos. The fireball elongated itself into the shape of a spring. However, Saturos waved his hand, and the spell dissipated.
"Huh?" Agatio stared in surprise.
"I see you haven't practiced your psyenergy much, Agatio. Don't tell me that's the best attack of a Proxian champion. Show me what you are really capable of!" Saturos sighed.
Agatio frowned: "Rising Dragon!" He yelled. The dragon caught Saturos in its mouth and flew into the air. Soon afterwards, Saturos came crashing down, but calmly got up and stared intently at Agatio. "Has your psyenergy dwindled that much? The dragon barely carried me for 100 feet before it finally gave out. It even failed to explode. You really need to work on your spells. Let me show you how it's really done. Pyrocataclysm!" Saturos yelled.
Four volcanoes exploded around Agatio, and the adept was bathed in magma. "YOW!" Agatio screeched. Saturos smirked and cast Rolling Flame, and Agatio was knocked back for several feet. The muscular adept crash landed on his back, and cursed: "Just you wait, Saturos!"
Agatio got up and raised his hand: "Meteor Blow!" He yelled. A large Meteor smashed into Saturos, catching him off guard. "Potent Cure." Saturos muttered. Saturos was healed, and most of his wounds disappeared.
Saturos raised his own hand, and cast Meteor Blow. A meteor three times the size of Agatio's meteor came crashing down and smashed into Agatio. When the dust cleared, Agatio was panting and exhausted in the crater.
Saturos lept into the crater. "Here is our final showdown. Whoever loses this one loses the fight once and for all." Saturos spoke. Agatio quickly drank a Vial. "Ok, I'm all healed up." Agatio smirked. Saturos had actually let Agatio restore more of his health than him, but Saturos was certain that even with the extra health and psyenergy left, Agatio could not defeat him. Agatio had no idea what kind of opponent he was fighting against.
Agatio cast Rolling Flame, and so did Saturos, but Agatio's Rolling Flame only helped to blacken Saturos's cape. Saturos's Rolling Flame knocked Agatio back several feet. Agatio cast Flare Storm, and a wildfire surrounded Saturos and burned more of his clothes. Saturos cast the same spell, and Agatio's clothes, hair, and dignity were all consumed by flames.
Agatio was quite angry, so he yelled: "All warriors of Prox were taught one special spell, one special tactic that they could use to defeat their foes when they were in danger. Let us use such spells against each other. I can definitely pummel you with mine! Stun Muscle!" Agatio roared. He charged at Saturos with a glowing fist.
Saturos lept out of the way, and Agatio ran so fast that he failed to stop himself. The moment Agatio's head flew past Saturos, the blue Proxian muttered: "Heat Flash." Saturos rammed the flat side of his blade into Agatio's head, and the scorching heat burned Agatio's hair. The puissant warrior immediately went down.
"Ivan... Sheba... Menardi... I did my job. The rest is up to you." Saturos panted and collapsed. The warrior was too exhausted to fight for the time being.
Menardi and Jenna attacked each other. The Proxian wielded her deadly scythe, while the Valean girl held her short sword. "Vengeance!" Jenna yelled. Seven sharp and magic arrows flew at Menardi, and only two hit her. Menardi laughed: "Sorry, Jenna. Better luck next time. Death Scythe!" Menardi swung her scythe at a critical angle, and Jenna was hit in the neck. The girl began to convulse and went into a spasm. Finally, after shaking wildly for a bit, Jenna went down.
Menardi sighed: "It was cowardly of me to force her into shock, but it was the only way I could end this fight fast. We can't let anyone else get hurt by Karst's insane plan."
Sheba and Mia closed in on each other. "Glacier!" Mia yelled. Sheba was covered in ice, but quickly broke free. "Destruct Ray!" Sheba screamed. The bolts zapped Mia, knocking her off balance. Before Mia could cast Pure Ply, Sheba used Luff. The dijin sealed Mia's psyenergy, making it impossible for Mia to cast any more spells.
Mia looked at Sheba in fear as Sheba raised the Atropos Rod. "Life Shear." Sheba muttered as the giant pair of scissors closed in on Mia. In desperation, Mia used her own Dijin, Hail, and Sheba was hit by a torrent of water, as well as a column of ice that flew from the ground and rammed itself into her backside, but Sheba quickly recovered from the attack as Mia was cut by the scissors. The blue haired Imilian went down.
Sheba turned and saw Ivan battling Karst. "Ivan? Don't get killed..." Sheba whimpered as Ivan was taking several blows from Karst.
"Dragon Fume!" Karst growled. A large plume of Flame morphed into the shape of a Dragon and crashed into Ivan. "Thunder Mine!" Ivan yelled as a large ball of lightening flew forward and rammed itself into Karst. "Supernova!" Karst roared. "Tempest!" Ivan yelled. The spells continued to fly as the two adepts tried to best one another.
"You lost to this spell, remember? Death Scythe!" Karst snarled as she flew at the boy with her scythe. "Asura!" Ivan shouted back as he flew forward with the caped warrior beside him. Both spells hit home at exactly the same time, and the two combatants cringed in pain. "Apocalypse!" Ivan yelled as he pointed the Lachesis's Rule at Karst. An angel flew at Karst and gave her an uppercut to the jaw. Karst was thrown back, but raised her Scythe. "Searing Beam!" Karst yelled. The beam of fire blasted itself into Ivan's chest. "Have I been beaten... Again?" Ivan moaned as he began to sway from side to side and stagger.
"You're dead." Karst laughed as she tried to run forward. But, a wall of fire appeared before her. "Huh?" Karst thought as she stopped in mid sprint. At that moment, Karst felt a heavy hand on her shoulder and felt a scythe placed close to her neck. Karst could feel the steel of the blade nearly pressing up against her soft flesh. "Who's there?" Karst asked. "Stand down, sister." Karst heard Menardi's stern order, and was forced to put down her scythe.
"I surrender, Menardi..."