Final Fantasy: Rise of Despair
I'm still busy lately, but here is the next chapter.
When we last left off, Harris and Co. met up with Adam the Liberator. Harris, Heidi, and Syack attempted to get information about the bangaa Racemaster from Adam, but to no avail, and thus far their efforts to get more information have proven fruitless. And now, unbeknownst to our heroes, the black army is preparing to crush Clan Liberation, once and for all.
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy: Tactics Advance, I do own the characters and plot.
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Battle for Liberation
"Stop them!" A random black soldier shouted. Three people, a human thief, a bangaa white monk, and a viera archer from clan Liberation were running away from the black army camp back toward Sprohm.
"We have to alert clanmaster Adam." The thief gasped.
"Hurry!" The white monk said.
"Open fire!" Gunners and various bow-wielders began firing on the three members, but they were proving to be skilled enough to avoid them as they ran. "Don't let them reach Sprohm!"
"Aside men!" Came a familiar shout.
"Who was that?" The archer asked. "AAAUUUGGHHH!!!" She first felt the full weight of someone on her back, and then a lance pierce her through the back before everything went dark for her.
"No! Abby!" The thief cried as he skid to a stop and turned around.
"Don't stop running Chase!" The white monk cried fearfully as he saw a lance pierce the thief through. The white monk was afraid for his friend's lives but he knew he had to keep running. That's when a figure suddenly appeared in front of him. "You're…"
"That's right… I am Colonel Shawn… a member of the council of nine." Shawn said sinisterly. The white monk smirked.
"What? The black army has grown so pathetic that it had to cut down the council members?" The White monk mocked, figuring he could see his enemy angered before he died.
"Don't… you dare… mock the black army…" Shawn hissed. Shawn grabbed the white monk around the throat tightly.
"Ack… agh…" The white monk was gasping for air. Shawn then spun around and hurled the white monk to the ground with enough force to leave a trail in the dirt as he went sprawling.
"Pathetic worm…" Shawn inhaled, the white monk stood up and started running back for the clan liberation base. "Fire Breath!" Shawn breathed out a stream of flame that scorched the white monk as he attempted to run.
"Aaarrrrrrrrrrrgggghhhh!!!" The White monk screamed as he fell to the ground and fell over the small ledge.
"Hmph…" Shawn snorted. "A waste of my energy." Shawn turned around and looked at his army behind him. "Gather in front of me men!" Shawn shouted out. Slowly the men behind him gathered in front of him. "Today, is a glorious day for the black army! For today… we shall see the end of the rebellion!" Shawn shouted.
"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" The Black army shouted in applause.
"Today, in front of our very eyes are the enemies that have slaughtered your comrades in battle! The enemies that have degraded this glorious army! In front of us are our enemies that have dared to raise their sword against our king!" Shawn shouted.
"Down with the rebels!"
"Kill them all!"
"For nearly ten years! They have eluded us, they have insulted us, and they have made a mockery out of the name of our king! But now my men! We stand in front of them with enough force to crush them within our clutches! The rebels shall now fall! And with their fall, the dominion of the Black King shall rise!!!" Shawn shouted.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" More thunderous applause rose from the army as Shawn continued to speak. While Shawn continued to give this speech, little did he realize that a certain charred body was slowly limping his way toward Sprohm as sunlight was starting to peek over the horizon.
A short while later…
"I'm thinking of a number between one and ten." Monty said.
"Uh… seven?" Mendoza guessed.
"No no no." Monty said.
"Shouldn't you two be more worried about what we're going to do about getting information as opposed to playing silly games?" Gilbert asked.
"Gilbert, you know that we could never in a million years figure something out from Adam." Monty whined.
"…" Gilbert thought for a moment. "I know…" He sighed.
"Say where is everyone else?" Mendoza asked.
"Doing what they're supposed to be doing." Gilbert said, putting heavy emphasis on that last part.
"You old windbag!" Syack shouted at the morpher.
"You old gargoyle!" the morpher shouted back.
"Man… what made us think he was going to be useful to us?" Hunter asked to nobody in particular.
"That other old guy is a clanmaster isn't he?" Jade asked as she walked up beside Hunter.
"Yeah he is…" Hunter said.
"Well what are a group of clanmasters doing traveling together?" Jade asked.
"We… act as representatives of our clans." Hunter said.
"Laura!" Came Kyle's voice.
"Uh-oh…" Hunter said.
"Let me at her! I'll annihilate her!" Came Felix's voice.
"Now kupo… don't start…" Molo's voice begged.
"I'd like to see you try!" Laura's voice shouted.
"Oy…" Hunter moaned.
Meanwhile…
"Harris…" Heidi started. The two of them were sitting on a roof-top, watching the sun as it started to reach sunrise.
"What is it?" Harris asked.
"You ever thought about afterwards?" Heidi asked.
"Afterwards?" Harris asked.
"I mean… if we find the Racemasters and defeat the Black King… have you ever thought about what you'll do when you see the end of it?" Heidi asked.
"Heh… No I haven't… for all I know I might not be able to see the end of it." Harris said.
"Harris…" Heidi sighed in disbelief. "You don't really think the black army will kill you do you?"
"You never know." Harris said. "What about you?"
"Me? Hmmm…" Heidi thought for a moment. "I…" Heidi started to say something when she saw something in the distance. "Goodness! Harris!" Heidi pointed off to the side.
"What?" He asked. He noticed the burnt white monk from earlier. "Oh no…" Harris and Heidi promptly leaped toward the white monk until they were in front of him. "What happened?" Harris asked.
"Clan…master…Adam…" The white monk said weakly before he started to fall forward. Thankfully for him, Harris and Heidi caught him as he fell.
Later…
"Has he been sent for?" John asked a random clan member while Harris treated his burns by holding his glowing white hands over him. The clan member nodded his head. "Good."
"Why isn't his white magic instantly healing him like it usually does?" Monty asked as he watched Harris.
"Wounds become harder to treat as time goes on." Harris said. "It also depends on the severity of the wounds, but still, to give me this much trouble healing them the wounds must have been inflicted some time ago." Harris said as the burns were finally starting to recede. "Finally…" He sighed.
"Just in time, clanmaster Adam has just arrived." A random clan member said as Adam came hurrying in to the infirmary.
"Where is he?" Adam asked in a panicked fashion.
"He's right here. Don't worry, he's out of danger, but he'll still need rest." Harris told Adam.
"Are you alright Ten?" Adam asked the white monk.
"Okay… does this guy know all of his clan members by name? I mean this is a huge clan." Hunter asked.
"I don't know, I can't say I know all of my clan member's names." Laura said.
"What? But your clan isn't nearly as large." Hunter said.
"Yeah… that was at the time I didn't care." Laura said. "Although now that I mention it… what was your name again weakling?" Laura asked.
"Gah!" Hunter growled.
"What!" Adam gasped.
"I wasn't able to… escape with them… they were killed…" Ten said.
"What's the matter?" Kyle asked. Adam paused for a moment, then turned to John.
"John… how many of our clan members are ready for combat at this very moment?" Adam asked, getting a gravely serious tone in his voice as he started to walk from the infirmary with all haste.
"Um… three-hundred sir. The rest are either getting treated for wounds, not yet properly trained, or are out on other tasks." John said.
"Grrrrr… that won't be good enough." Adam growled in frustration, the rest of the party was now following.
"Is something the matter?" Harris asked right behind the two of them right before he caught up.
"Clanmaster of Clan Falcon, I must regretfully request that you leave Sprohm." Adam said.
"Huh? What's this all of a sudden?" Syack asked.
"Ten informed me that the black army has two-thousand five-hundred soldiers poised to attack from the east, west, south, and north each. Making ten-thousand soldiers ready to strike Sprohm." Adam said.
"What!" Monty and Mendoza shouted. Everyone else just looked flat-out shocked.
"So you'll need our help then." Hunter said.
"I've thought of that, and that wouldn't be wise." Adam said.
"Huh?" Everyone looked at him.
"If the black army does defeat us, they'll capture all of us. And if you leave, then at least you will get away and have some hope of stopping the black king." Adam said.
"But…" Heidi started to say.
"Clan Falcon, I am truly honored to have met you, and I hope that you will stop the black army." Adam said. He then turned to John. "John, get Jade and Stro to guard the Southern entrance with seventy-five men." Adam instructed suddenly running with John close behind.
"What about the other gates clanmaster Adam?" John asked.
"I'll guard the eastern gate with seventy-five, you guard the northern gate with seventy-five." Adam instructed.
"That leaves Felix and Molo and the remaining seventy-five to guard the western gate." John finished.
"Correct! Now move! Ten told me that the attack will start any second now!" Adam shouted. The two then disappeared down the tunnel.
"Harris… what are we going to do?" Heidi asked.
"…" Harris only looked ahead with a hard stare, deep in thought.
"Harris…" Heidi started.
"…He has a point." Harris said.
"Wait… we're not seriously going to leave them are we?" Hunter asked.
"He does have a point. Gather your things together everyone." Harris said.
"He's not serious…" Laura said.
Later…
Adam stood outside the eastern entrance to Sprohm with seventy-five men behind him. The area had two cliffs on either side, with a few slopes and ledges to climb to the top of those, but either way led in to the city just fine since Sprohm was such a mountainous city. Adam turned around to face his clan members.
"My fellow Liberators! Our enemy has finally found us! They now intend to wipe us from the face of Ivalice and wipe out all hope of bringing peace to Ivalice!" Adam shouted. The clan members started to murmur at this. "But let it be known, even if we die here today! Hope will not die! We shall take our stand here today! We shall fight for Ivalice and stand for the hope that a better future shall one day come! Now raise your arms in glory! Fight for truth! Fight for Ivalice's freedom! And fight for hope!" Adam cried.
"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" The clan members all cheered. The black army was now coming in to sight.
"Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarge!" Adam cried as he ran forward with his clan members behind him.
Meanwhile…
"To battle for liberation!" John shouted. "Forward men!" He shouted again as he led the charge with his men behind him to meet the oncoming black army in the pretty wide-open area, although there were certainly mounds and hills.
"For freedom!" A random member shouted.
"The rebels! Kill them!" A generic black soldier shouted.
"Air blast!" John hopped slightly and did a spinning kick that sent a blast of air flying in to a crowd of black soldiers in an arc that blew away the black soldiers it hit and killed them. John and the rest of the clan Liberation members began killing black soldiers left and right.
Meanwhile…
"Fire Whip!" Jade's rapier suddenly caught fire and she lashed it out as it took the shape of a whip and started thwacking black soldiers. The weaker ones were instantly killed, but most of them instead noticed something strange.
"Hey! Fire's circling around my arms!" One shouted. The ones that survived had flames encircling their arms and they found themselves unable to use them.
"Exactly!" Jade said as she lunged forward and started piercing soldiers through with her rapier.
The battlefield in the south was really a large cliff hanging over an urbanized area in Sprohm, this entrance was hardly used since you had to take a steep set of steps to get up to here, but the top of the cliff was pretty level really.
"Soul of the dragon… merge with me and I shall take thy form!" Stro, the morpher from earlier, chanted. His body was covered by a shadow that was growing larger and more muscular until it cleared away. Once it did, he now had the body of a thundrake. "Dragon Force!" He could apparently still talk but his voice was certainly more of a growl. A transparent image of a dragon's head appeared over him until it disappeared in to his body. "Grooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrr!"
"Look out!" A random black soldier cried as Stro dashed forward clawing and biting black soldiers and tearing them to shreds.
Meanwhile…
"Holy!" Felix cast a holy aura in the area of a number of black soldiers and thus killed them.
"Firebomb!" Molo began tossing Molotov cocktails in to crowds of black soldiers and either frying them or causing them to go berserk, which helped since he usually aimed at mages, but he would throw an occasional knife at a few black soldiers.
Meanwhile…
"Augh!" One of Adam's men got hit in the leg by an arrow that was flying at him and was about to be skewered when.
"Expert Guard!" Adam leaped in the way of a Mog Knight's sword and several other weapons that were flying towards them and deflected them all with little effort. "Rah!" Adam then instantly killed the Mog Knight and any close by ones with a bonecrucher attack. "Are you alright?" Adam asked his injured member.
"Yes… sir…" He said, inspired by Adam's selfless act.
"Now to rejoin the battle." Adam ran back in to the battle and held out one hand. "Ice Sword!" Adam formed another blade out of ice and started dual-wielding his regular sword with his ice sword and was slashing through black soldiers like crazy. "Tremor!" He slammed a fist in to the ground that caused a violent tremor around him that knocked away all the black soldiers surrounding him in to a few other black soldiers, making them easy pickings for his mages and archers.
"That guy is crazy strong!" One of the black soldiers shouted in a panicked fashion.
"Jump him!" A VERY large number of black soldiers attempted to jump Adam. Adam's ice sword disappeared, but he stood his ground and…
"Fire sword! Wild Swing!" Adam created a sword from flames and then spun around and around, either burning through black soldiers like they were butter or slashing them to ribbons depending on which sword struck them first.
Meanwhile…
"Wild Swing!" John spun around with his blade held tightly in his hands as he slashed black soldiers brutally as he spun. As a bunch tried to hit him, he ducked and held his blade over his head and the weapons all struck the blade instead of him. "Strikeback!" Adam then sent them flying with a swing of his blade. "Backdraft!" John thrust a flaming fist forward that punched right through the hearts of two black soldiers.
Meanwhile…
"Wow… for being so outnumbered they're doing very well." Hunter said as he observed the fronts through his binoculars.
"Of course… they're doing better than you would weakling." Laura said.
"Why you…" Hunter started. The group hadn't left, but all of their packs were on their backs and they were all on top of a central building in Sprohm where they could see all of the battlefronts.
"So why did you have us gather our stuff again?" Mendoza asked.
"So that we could leave if they didn't need our assistance." Harris told them. He then paused. "And it looks as though… they don't need it." Harris sighed.
"Perhaps we should wait a while longer though." Kyle suggested.
"The battle could still go either way at this point." Gilbert said.
"Harris…" Heidi started, almost begging him to stay without even having to finish her statement.
"Very well." Harris said.
Meanwhile…
"Hmmmm… as expected of the clanmaster of such a mighty clan… he is very powerful…" Shawn said from a cliff a little ways away from the battle. He observed Adam as he picked up a black soldier and threw him in to a crowd to then leap above the crown and crush it beneath him. "I can feel… my warrior's blood boiling… as I watch him…" Shawn said as his excitement increased.
"Bolt Sword!" Adam made a bolt sword that was a bit larger than Mendoza's and then swung it so that is passed through several black soldiers at once and caused them all to die from the shock before blocking an attack from behind without even turning around and then countering that attack.
"Yes… I must challenge him!" Shawn declared excitedly. He leaped an incredible distance and was making his way toward Adam.
"Hm? What is this? All of the soldiers are starting to disperse away from me." Adam said as he heard the footsteps get farther away from him. Adam then felt a presence getting closer and closer to him from the air. Adam's facial expression didn't seem to change, he simply sighed and jumped back in time to avoid Shawn's lance from piercing him in the head. "And who are you?"
"Adam the Liberator… I… Colonel Shawn, challenge you to a dual!" Shawn said as he pulled his lance out of the ground and pointed it at Adam.
Meanwhile…
"Grrrr… we're already too many men down." John cringed as the still very large black army kept charging. John decapitated one soldier and then used far fist to clear out a small number of black soldiers at once. "Augh!" One arrow pierced his shoulder fairly deeply, but he pulled it out and proceeded to charge.
"Heh. Time to take matters in to my own hands." A moogle gadgeteer smirked. He held out a medium sized coin and flipped it in to the air as it glowed. "Red Spring!" The coin flashed and the image of several springs that were somewhat red in color hovered over his men and caused them to move a whole lot faster.
"Oh damn it…" John cursed.
Meanwhile…
"Shining air!" Jade caused the air around numerous black soldiers to suddenly flash with intense light.
"Augh! I can't see!"
"Nighthawk!" Jade then thrust her rapier forward multiple times and sent out purple blasts of mana in the shape of diving hawks at black soldiers.
"Bolt breath!" Stro breathed out numerous lightning bolts at black soldiers and caused them all to get shocked quite badly.
"Hm hm hm hm hm… yes these elites aren't half-bad…" A beastmaster from the black army snickered. "But sadly for them… I doubt that they can defeat my pets." The beastmaster said as numerous vampires teleported behind him. "Go! Absorb their energy! Men! Resort to attack phase B!" The black soldiers stopped trying to charge in blindly, but instead they began to group together in to groups with varying abilities and charging in, turning the tide of the battle drastically in their favor, though some groups were killed more easily than others.
"No!" Jade saw what was happening, and then noticed the beastmaster. She ran for him full speed. "Heavy Dust!"
"Hm?" The dust in the air around the beastmaster started to collect and draw itself toward him in to noticeable clumps. "Oh no she doesn't." A vampire appeared behind him, grabbed him, and then teleported him out of the way.
"Blast!"
"You're challenging me? Major Tact? Very well then." The beastmaster said.
Meanwhile…
"Break!" Felix turned a soldier that was causing a lot of trouble in to stone instantly.
"Smile!" Molo tossed a beanbag with a smile on it at Felix.
"Alright here I go! Aero! Water!" Felix found himself invigorated enough to cast spell after spell after spell on black soldiers similar to how quicken works, but it quickly wore off.
"That does it…" A viera sniper pulled a bow string and aimed for Molo. "Take this!" She fired an arrow right toward Molo, but to her surprise, he caught it, spun around and threw it back at her as if it were a dart. But she dodged it. "Fine… they want to challenge me… then I'll do that." She said.
Meanwhile…
"Uh-oh… things are starting to look grim." Monty said.
"Clanmaster Harris! We need to help!" Mendoza begged.
"…" Harris seemed to hesitate for a moment. "Of course we'll help." He said.
"Alright. Let's go." Laura said.
"Not without a plan we aren't." Hunter said.
"Excuse me?" Laura asked indignantly.
"While we were watching them I began formulating a plan of approach whenever we jumped in." Hunter said.
"Let's hear it then." Syack said.
"Okay first…" Hunter stood up and looked toward Adam's position. "For the most part, Adam seems to have it covered, so for there we need to send Monty, Mendoza, and Gilbert."
"Hey… are you implying that we're weak?" Monty whined.
"I don't know what he's implying, but I think so." Laura said.
"Hmph…" Even Gilbert reacted indignantly to that comment.
"Well, that and the fact that you three seem to have the best teamwork I've seen so far, so if anything goes wrong, I'm sure you'll think of something." Hunter said. "John's having the hardest time, so Harris and Heidi should go there naturally since they're the strongest ones among us, and they would probably work best as a team as well." Hunter said.
"Well, he seems to be coming up with a good strategy. A great one at that since he's taking our teamwork skills in to consideration." Harris thought.
"Laura should go with Kyle to Felix and Molo's front since they're having the most difficulty besides John, and really I couldn't think of anyone else that could partner up with YOU." Hunter said to Laura putting emphasis on you.
"Certainly not you, weakling." Laura said.
"Find a happy place, find a happy place…" Hunter tried to tell himself.
"And that only leaves me with you." Syack almost whined.
"I've taken that in to account as well, I'll tell you our plan for us on the way." Hunter said to Syack.
"Hmph… fine." Syack said.
At John's front…
"Damn… who is that gadgeteer?" John asked frustrated as the gadgeteer just cast gold battery successfully on his side.
"Ha ha ha! Feel the might of Captain Flip!" The gadgeteer shouted as he used gold battery again, but this time it healed the Clan Liberation members. "Damn it."
"Ha!" John rushed forward to strike the gadgeteer, but much to his surprise he tossed a knife in to the air, jumped up and then hurled it at John. "Gah!"
"Time to die!" Flip attempted to finish off John when…
"Cover!" Harris got in the way of the knife and deflected.
"Who the heck are you?"
"Last Breath!" Heidi then appeared behind Flip and stabbed him through the neck with her wrist knife.
"Gah…" he gagged before dying.
"You guys are… still here?" John asked.
"Yes… Heidi, I'm going to treat the wounded for a moment, think you'll be okay?" Harris asked.
"Most definitely." Heidi answered.
Meanwhile…
"Ring!" Molo attempted to stop the sniper with a ring attack. "Dang she's fast!"
"Double Shot!" She hit Felix with one arrow and Molo with another arrow.
"Gah! Grrrr… Aero!" Felix attempted to hit her with a small cyclone of slicing wind, but to no avail as she rolled toward him and was now pointing her bow and arrow at Felix at point blank.
"Die." She said. That's when she felt the ground tremble a bit beneath her. "Hm?" Suddenly a stalagmite burst from the ground and sent her high in to the air. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!"
"Jump!" Next thing the sniper knew, Kyle was above her dive-bombing at her with his lance pointed down. Finally, she felt the lance penetrate her stomach and kill her.
"They killed Captain Sinis!" A black soldier shouted.
"What are you doing here?" Felix asked rudely as Laura came up behind him.
"Hmph… you're welcome." She said indignantly.
"Felix, they saved us, and now we could really use their help." Molo reasoned.
"No time for chitchat! To battle!" Kyle shouted.
Meanwhile…
"Augh!" Jade got knocked to the ground by a vampire that had suddenly teleported in front of her.
"Now finish her!" Tact commanded as a vampire attempted to use a miasma spell on her. She quickly sprang up and avoided it, as another vampire appeared behind her and grabbed her around the arms.
"No!" Jade cried.
"Drain her!" Tact commanded.
"Burial!" Suddenly an arrow pierced the vampire in the head.
"Uwaaaooooooooooooo!" It moaned as it vanished in a white light.
"What!"
"Hey… you didn't think I'd be missing all the fun now did you?" Hunter asked.
"Hunter…" Jade said a tad surprised.
"No time for pleasantries." Hunter then grabbed Jade and pulled her out of the way of another vampire attack as they headed back toward the rest of the fight.
"Why is he running?" Tact asked.
"Why are you running?" Jade asked.
"Because, a friend of mine will be taking care of the enemies behind us."
"Prominence!" Suddenly the earth opened up and flames leaped from the fissures in the ground and incinerated the vampires that were chasing Hunter and Jade before closing back up.
"Bolt breath!" Stro breathed out more lightning bolts to wipe out a few more black soldiers when…
"Heh… Star Cross!" Syack cast a spell that caused four white, holy lights to join together, soon after that, an eight-pointed star made out of holy light appeared and cast holy magic on a tremendous amount of black soldiers. "Beat that old windbag!" Syack taunted.
"Why you old gargoyle…"
Meanwhile…
Adam and Shawn clashed their respective weapons together before jumping back from each other. "Yes… you are a powerful opponent." Shawn complimented.
"Hmph… I do not need praise from one who would destroy Ivalice." Adam said.
"Very well then." Shawn charged forward and began thrusting his lance rapidly.
"Expert Guard!" Adam easily blocked each lance thrust as Shawn continued his assault until finally Adam spun around one thrust and thrust his elbow in to Shawn's chest.
"Gwah!" Shawn staggered.
"Bonecrusher!" Adam took a mighty swing with his sword.
"GAH!!!" Shawn cried out in agony as Adam's sword struck him across the torso. Adam used the momentum from his swing to spin around and attempt another slash, however Shawn regained his footing and flipped over Adam. Shawn spun around and thrust his lance forward and managed to pierce Adam's right shoulder blade.
"Argh! Tremor!" Adam then stomped the ground and sent Shawn skidding across the ground.
"Ice Breath!" Shawn breathed out a blast of freezing air at Adam. Adam Shielded his face to prevent the worst of it, however he couldn't stop the cold air from penetrating him to the bone, causing tremendous pain.
"Rrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" Adam leaped at Shawn with his sword ready to strike him down.
"Bangaa CRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!" Shawn then shouted really loudly, sending out sonic waves in front of him that stopped Adam in mid-air.
"Rrrrrrrrr... AUUUUGGGHHH!!!" Adam was sent sprawling backwards by the blast of sound as Shawn once again prepared his lance.
"Jump attack!" Shawn leaped in to the air high above Adam toward one of the cliff walls, he jumped off of the cliff wall and was now rocketing towards Adam, ready to run him through with one last attack.
"Here he comes..." Adam thought. Adam took a stance and... "Wild Swing!" As Shawn drew closer, Adam spun around and around swinging his sword. Adam's sword struck Shawn's lance and deflected the lance to the side. Adam then slammed his fist in to the side of Shawn's helmet and sent him sprawling across the ground.
"Gaaaaahhhhh!" Shawn cried as he went sprawling. He didn't managed to land on his feet and was now stuck on his back. Shawn looked at the cliff wall and inhaled. "Bolt Breath!" Shawn sent a single lightning bolt from his mouth at the cliff wall and caused several boulders to fall toward Adam. Adam sheathed his sword, took a stance and waited for the largest boulder to approach him.
"Please..." Adam said. He held his hands above his head and caught the largest boulder that was about to crush him, and it at least as big as he was.
"What!"
"This pebble is nothing to me." Adam said. Adam then raised the boulder high over his head and hurled it straight at Shawn. Shawn stood up and picked up his lance.
"Bangaa CRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!" Shawn shattered the boulder with a sonic wave, only to see Adam charging right at him.
SHING
Too late for Shawn, Adam had thrust his sword through his heart. "You were... a worthy opponent. But one who fights for pleasure... only deserves this end." Adam drew his sword from Shawn's heart and let his body collapse. Adam turned and looked at the rest of the battle behind him, he found his men doing surprisingly well. "I still must help them." Adam ran back toward the battlefield, sword drawn, when he stopped cold. "Wait... why is... that Colonel's heart still... beating?"
"Lancet!"
"What?" Adam turned around only to receive a lance in his shoulder. "Augh!" The lance then became covered in red energy that was flowing toward Shawn and healing his wounds. Adam grabbed the lance, pulled it out and then rammed Shawn in the chest to send him skidding backwards. "How?" Shawn asked.
"Heh heh heh... Not even death will stop my attacks from coming, not so long as I have the heart of a dragon!" Shawn proudly declared.
"You mean... you have..."
"That's right... I have mastered the Dragon Heart ability. I'm done holding back on you now that I know your fighting style. Prepare to die!" Shawn raised his lance and dashed toward Adam to finish him off.
"Expert Guard." Adam took a defensive stance.
"Heh…" Shawn was expecting this and he jumped up to the top of the cliff to Adam's right in one leap. "Cura." Shawn cast a holy aura around himself that healed what was left of his wounds.
"He knows prayer as well?" Adam asked, surprised.
"I know the weakness of that Expert Guard move, and now I'll exploit it!" Shawn then leaped towards the wall of the opposite cliff, then jumped off of that wall and proceeded to do this in rapid succession. Soon Shawn was a mere blur that was bouncing back and forth between the cliff walls.
"He does know the weakness!" Adam gasped. "He's realized that I can only maintain the focus necessary for Expert Guard for so long, I have to use something else." Adam dropped his stance and took a different defensive stance. "Defense!"
"That won't stop this!" Shawn rocketed towards Adam with his lance pointed forward, spinning like a drill.
BOOM
Shawn stuck the area Adam was standing in with a tremendous enough force to send rock and dust flying from the ground. Shawn landed outside the dust cloud just fine and waited for the dust to clear. Adam was kneeling on the ground in the middle of a torn crater, bleeding heavily at his left waist. Adam was clutching the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
"Ha ha ha ha… how will you stop me now that you know every strike you make against me I'll only come back to life from it?" Shawn asked. "I am invincible!" Shawn shouted as he dashed toward Adam to deal the finishing blow.
"May the day of Ivalice's liberation… come soon." Adam thought as he waited for the death blow.
CLANG
"What!" Shawn shouted, a gladiator had leaped in front of him and struck the lance down with his blade.
"Rush!" Shawn was sent skidding backwards by the attack before the gladiator took his stance again.
"Mendoza!" Adam gasped.
"You didn't really think we'd leave you did you?" Mendoza asked.
"Mendoza, listen to me. As much as your skills have improved since I last saw you, you can't beat him by yourself." Adam warned him.
"Back away gladiator! This man is my prey!" Shawn shouted as he ran forward again.
"Stop Shot!"
"Hm?" Shawn leaped to the side to the cliff wall away from where Monty was standing firing bullets at him. Shawn jumped off of the cliff wall and was drilling toward Monty.
"Get out of my way!" Shawn shouted angrily.
"Blizzaga!" Icicles erupted around Monty in spikes toward Shawn. Shawn drilled through them nonetheless but he still received a few severe cuts and he missed Monty.
"GrrrrrrrrrrrAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!" Shawn angrily shattered all the ice around him and looked down to find Gilbert standing on a nearby ledge.
"Maybe not alone, but we'll see how he handles us as a team." Monty said with a confident smirk.
"The elites of Clan Falcon, are your new opponents." Gilbert said to Shawn threateningly.
"Fine then… I'LL DESTROY YOU ALL!!!" Shawn shouted.
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Can the party truly stave off the invasion of the black army? Can the trio of Gilbert, Mendoza, and Monty truly defeat Colonel Shawn? Find out next chapter.