Chapter 10: Renegade Assault II: Battle for the Rheairds
"I told you before Kratos, if Yggdrasill wants me, he would need to come after me himself." Riku states, trying to put on a brave face against the holy warrior standing before him as he keeps his sword held in place ready for a possible battle.
Kratos is barely fazed by the boy's words, and says with a gesture of his hand "His actions are not your decision to make, especially now that the situation has changed for you. I would also suggest you put your sword away, you do not wish to fight me this time around."
The man's words did not reek of arrogance, but rather he was subtly giving a warning to the teenage Overlord. Riku was curious to know what made Kratos act differently than he did before, especially with the way the last encounter ended, but before he could ask that Zelos pushed away from the wall and looked at Kratos, brushing his left arm out to hold Riku back while saying to the man "First you help us out and then try to kidnap one of our allies? What's up with that?"
"You are in no position to be asking such questions, Chosen of Tethe'alla." Kratos points out in a firm tone of voice, leading to Zelos responding with "Well sorry if your actions don't add up. I mean if you wanted to capture Riku for your leader, wouldn't it have made more sense to do it back at Ozette?"
"At the time I hadn't received the order to capture him, it was only when you made the effort to form a pact with Volt that Lord Yggdrassil told me to bring him to him." Kratos explains himself, leading to Regal raising his eyebrows curiously and whispering "Cruxis knows we're making pacts with Summon Spirits?"
"Yeah, no." Zelos brushes off Kratos' words and pulls out his sword and shield, saying to the man with a brimming smile on his face "I may not have known Riku for long, but that doesn't mean I am just going to let Cruxis get their hands on someone they want."
Presea and Regal step forward as well, with Riku glancing back and forth at them as Regal points out "If your master wants him so badly, then it's up to you to do everything in your power to bring him back. Are you prepared to fight all four of us, Kratos?"
Kratos closes his eyelids and quietly sighs to himself before leading into "I can't say that I'm surprised. Very well, if force shall be required…" The man wraps his fingers around the handle of his sword and begins to draw it out, and when it was only a couple inches out of the hilt Riku felt something odd in the atmosphere…A slight ripple in the fabric of space and time was what he could compare it to.
When the warrior of Cruxis draws his sword out all the way, what appears most prominently is the burning yellow metal around the crystalline crimson blade. Riku's eyes widen in worried shock as he sees Kratos draw this blade, and for reasons he can't explain a drop of sweat starts to trickle down the side of his face.
"The…The Eternal Sword…" Riku's mouth is agape with fright as he whispers out the name of the blade to no one but himself. Trying to compose himself, the teenage Overlord reminds himself that Kratos wasn't wielding the actual blade, but rather a fragment of the sword's power. But for that fragment to make him worry…
However, as Riku looks at Zelos, Presea and Regal, he realizes where his real concerns lie. Kratos was asked only to bring the Elemental Overlord to Yggdrassil…Anyone else who stands in his way will likely be cut down just like the Mizuho citizen just moments ago. "None of you need to fight for my sake! Just back off and let me handle him!" Riku tries to make his allies back off with these words, but they don't budge an inch.
"Don't try and dissuade us Riku. Even if he wasn't after you, he's still presenting himself to us as an enemy, right?" Zelos replies, glancing behind his shoulder before continuing on with "Don't you trust us to help you out?"
Riku knew why Zelos specifically mentioned trust, and as the Chosen of Tethe'alla moved his head back to face Kratos the teenage Overlord let out a troubled sigh before admitting "It's not that I don't trust you Zelos, but I don't want any of you to die fighting my battle."
"Pffft, none of us are going to die here. Not while we still have goals to accomplish." Zelos comments in his usually brash tone. Regal and Presea nod their heads in agreement, leading to Riku stepping forward beside Zelos and saying to him "You know, you don't have to go this far Zelos, the only girl around here to impress is way below your age."
Zelos chuckles, while Riku swings his sword out beside his body and says to everyone "If we're doing this though, let me take the lead. I'm the only one here with experience fighting Kratos."
Kratos glances at the group of four and says to Riku specifically "Are you done preparing yourself? It's now time for me to open your eyes to the truth, Elemental Overlord."
Zelos holds his shield arm in front of his body and summons forth a red glyphic seal below himself while saying, while Presea, Regal and Riku run straight at Kratos. Riku leaps at the Cruxis warrior and swings his sword at the fragment of the Eternal Sword that's lifted in defense, and the two clash with Kratos barely shifting his expression in response.
Back inside the Renegade Base, another battle was well underway. Yuan and Lloyd were currently locking blades, with Lloyd's two swords being just enough to keep the Renegade leader from breaking through his offense. Yuan swings his sword to the right with enough force to push Lloyd off of him, and he then leaps back and holds his weapon behind his body while stating "You've…improved" in frustrated surprise to himself.
Lloyd launches off a fanged projectile at Yuan, but the man cleaves his sword along the ground to carve up debris that is sent flying at the boy while also dealing with the attack. Lloyd puts up his right sword to block the debris, while Yuan leaps off the ground and grabs the handle of his sword with both hands, bring it down like a mighty spear against the ground in front of Lloyd to split apart the floor and summon forth a mighty lightning bolt down upon him.
Due to the nature of the attack Yuan is completely unharmed while he simultaneously sends out a field of electricity around his body that gets Lloyd by the feet while he was still defending, paralyzing him while putting his body through a few thousand volts of electricity. While Lloyd lets out a brief cry of pain, Yuan jumps up while still grabbing the center of his sword, swinging himself forward and kicking Lloyd square in the gut to send him flying before landing on the ground and pulling his sword back out.
Lloyd lands on his back and skids for a couple feet, but then he regains control of his body and uses his elbows to kick himself back onto his feet and plant his swords to stop his momentum entirely. Lloyd then runs back at Yuan while dragging his swords along the ground, picking them up to launch two fanged projectiles one after the other and then raise them both above his head as he leaps off the ground.
While he's in mid-air Lloyd uses his forward momentum to spin his body around, the rapid rotation of his blades as he descends forcing Yuan to plant his sword back into the ground to block the two projectiles and then leap back before Lloyd cuts him down. The swordsman spreads his arms out before he lands between Yuan and his sword, saying as he looks up at the defenseless Renegade "Got you now!"
This remark is followed up by Lloyd kicking into a charge at Yuan while crossing his swords, but the Renegade merely scowls while holding a hand in front of his body and proclaiming "Guardian!" His body is wrapped in a green field of energy that blocks Lloyd's slash at the center of both blades, but the boy drags his swords apart, grinding the metal together while pressing against Yuan's barrier with all of his might.
The Renegade leader actually has to exert a little more effort to keep his Guardian from breaking, which might not have been the best of plans even once Lloyd's swords break away from his barrier and clang against the ground on both sides of his body. The moment the barrier drops, Yuan pants a couple of times, but before Lloyd can attack him again he recovers and summons forth his angel wings to leap into the air and fly back over to his sword.
Once there Yuan picks it back up and swings one edge against the ground, fracturing the floor and sending out a heavy-looking fanged projectile that tears apart even more of the floor as it seeks out Lloyd. The swordsman turns around just in time to let out a surprised "Whoa!" and hold both of his swords in a cross to block against the projectile, which collides with his body and rapidly sends him grinding towards the wall behind him.
The collision with the wall creates a mild eruption of dirt and dust, while Yuan pulls his sword out of the ground and waits for Lloyd to come back out, knowing that he would be safe thanks to the Expshere. Sure enough, Lloyd peels out of the rocky exterior of the wall's indent with minor damage inflicted upon his body.
Lloyd then leaps into the air and points his sword forward, diving straight at Yuan with a drill-shaped field of air swirling around him for the brief second he charges. Yuan takes the brunt of the attack with one of his blades and lets Lloyd land as he is pushed back a couple of feet, but once he's got his bearings Yuan swings his sword down diagonally at the boy. Once more the blade connects with the ground and breaks it apart, sending the underground stone at Lloyd in the form of debris as he leaps back.
Some of the debris flies into Lloyd's eyes, blinding him temporarily with the trickle of water out of his eyes as he lands on the ground. Yuan holds his left hand out and sends out a small fireball after conjuring up a spell seal around his wrist. Lloyd's hit by the fire ball in the chest and sent back, his coat singing slightly in a ring of smoke as the blindness subsides.
But when the smoke subsides Lloyd waits for Yuan to attack him again, leading to them clashing swords for a good few seconds before the boy performs one hard vertical slash that applies enough pressure on Yuan's grip to make him pause for a couple moments while Lloyd draws his other sword back and thrusts it forward immediately afterwards, forcing Yuan to swing his head to the left with a worried flinch of his eyes. The hairs on his bang were cut off, but he wasn't thankful at all that his skin was missed just by the sheer implication of this attack.
"Impossible…How is he doing this well?" Yuan comments in his head as he waits for Lloyd to pull his blade back so he can stand upright and step a couple feet back. "Have I really lost my touch…No, that can't be used as an excuse…My skills should always be retained by my Cruxis Crystal. Could it be that Lloyd's Exsphere…"
Yuan distracted himself far too much with his inner thoughts, allowing Lloyd to swing his swords from the right side of his body and force Yuan to raise his own weapon upon. But the delay made it so that Lloyd's swords collide with the back of his hand, and the sharpness of his weapons cuts through the gauntlet and draws blood from Yuan's skin. The pain makes Yuan drop his sword onto the ground and jump back a foot while simultaneously gripping his wrist with his other hand and grimacing in shock.
Lloyd stands up and swings one sword at Yuan, smiling while saying "Haha, looks like you aren't all that after all!" Yuan matches Lloyd's moment of overconfidence by extending his right hand out and exclaiming "Don't think you've won yet, Lloyd!" A bolt of lightning is shot out from his palm after he summons a seal, and Lloyd's right shoulder is struck right through by the attack even after he swerves slightly out of the way.
The burning sensation through the shoulder makes Lloyd drop one of his swords, while Yuan pants a couple of times and shakes the pain off of his right hand before picking his weapon back up. The numbness in his grip made it a little harder to keep a hold of the weapon, but because of his own inability to heal himself he briefly glanced over his shoulder as Lloyd was distracted with his own affairs to proclaim "Botta! Heal me now!"
The half-elf swordsman heard his boss' demand for help as he finishes casting an erupting blast on Raine and Genis to stop their own spell-casting for a little bit of time, but in order to help Yuan out Botta swung his right arm up and activated his Exsphere's Over Limit to summon a black field around his body as he sees Sheena charge straight at him with seals at the ready. Botta plants his sword into the ground and keeps his palm atop the handle while waving his other hand at Yuan and summoning a white glyphic circle.
"First Aid!" Botta proclaims as Sheena swipes two seals onto his body that explode as she leaps back. But the effects of Over Limit prevent him from flinching by absorbing the damage, and his spell successfully heals up Yuan's hand so he can continue his battle with Lloyd unimpeded. Botta pulls his sword out of the ground as Sheena tries to go for another attack, lifting it up with enough force to thrust a wave of debris at the ninja and force her on the defensive.
Sheena flips back after taking the brunt of the debris, landing behind Raine and Genis as Botta lifts his left hand up and says to them "It is not too late. You can abandon the boy's idealistic journey and join the Renegades. You can be with your kind, as it should be."
Genis flips his kendama off to the side of his face while replying to Botta's offer with "Lloyd's my friend, and he doesn't care that I'm a half-elf! So here's my answer!" Casting a spell, the half-elf boy sends a few fireballs flying at Botta, but the man cleaves them down with his sword with little effort.
But then Raine uses her magic to send several rays of golden light towards Botta's body, and all of them converge to bind him in place before releasing in a singular burst that leaves the man stunned in place after he's sent back a few feet. Sheena runs past her half-elf allies and throws a seal at Botta's chest that explodes and knocks him onto his back, where the ninja then leaps into the air and delivers a powerful kick onto his chest that takes the wind out of the man as she kicks back onto the ground.
"Hmmm, I think we've made our point…" Raine quietly comments as she folds her arms and taps her staff against the side of her left one. The professor then glances over her shoulder and sees that Lloyd is holding up well against Yuan, which leads to her saying to her brother as she turns back and notices him ready to assist his friend "Genis, let Lloyd handle this on his own. So long as Yuan wants him alive, he's not in any danger." Genis then hesitantly stops casting magic and leaves Lloyd to Yuan despite his worried expression…
Back outside the Renegade Base, Kratos stands before the group of four that stood against him. Presea, Regal and Zelos were on their knees trying their hardest to maintain consciousness, while Riku limply hangs forward on his feet with his sword still barely drawn. Kratos was relatively unharmed, save for a couple minor cuts on his armor. "This was about all I expected from you. At least you made it easier for me to bring you back to Lord Yggdrassil." Kratos comments in a stoic tone towards Riku.
As the teenage Overlord breathes in and out in a tired manner, he looks at Kratos' fragment of the Eternal Sword and thinks to himself "Something isn't right…Even with the knowledge that he wasn't using the Eternal Sword, I was never worried about fighting Kratos before…But now he's beating me like I'm some sort of novice."
These thoughts made Riku grit his teeth together, his mind wrought with concern over this sudden shift in power between him and the Cruxis warrior. Kratos notices the shift in demeanor in the boy and tilts his head to the side while lifting an eyebrow up and saying "Are you finally starting to realize your folly, Elemental Overlord? The moment you came to this world, your fate was sealed."
"The moment…I came to this world…?" Riku repeats these words in a slowly puzzled tone, his voice stretching out into one of realization as he nears the end of his sentence as his eyes widen and he begins to review the facts present throughout his life.
"…I always assumed that the only change that happened to me across multiple worlds was that my elemental powers were robbed from me and I would need to go to great lengths to get them back, but now that I compare my journey across the other four planets there is one major inconsistency…How can a man like Ganondorf give me trouble when he's just a somewhat powerful dark mage but later I end up holding my own against world-destroying abominations like Dark Samus and Dark Matter?"
"…Kratos is powerful, but only by the standards of his world…Considering my past encounters, I should be able to handle him easily, even when he has part of the Eternal Sword…Which can only mean one thing…It's not just my elements that have been taken from me, but my combat strength has been weakened immensely as well." When the realization has fully hit his mind, Riku's eyes widen and he looks up at Kratos, whose current expression suggest that he somehow knew the details the teenage Overlord had pieced together.
"How could you know that…Kratos Aurion?" Riku firmly asks the man, his mind tiring of the vagueness in the Cruxis' warriors words.
"So you did figure out the truth, or rather, you realized what has happened to your body." Kratos says in response, and then he goes on to mention after a momentary sigh "Very well, I will try and tell you what I recall."
"By now you should have realized that the original Elemental Overlord made a visit to this world when he was still alive. During his time here, he threatened Lord Yggdrassil with death for the sake of preserving a 'balance' in the universe. But at the same time, Lord Yggdrassil received information regarding how the Elemental Overlord's powers worked from the 'higher-ups', info which was also divulged to myself at the time."
"Simply put, by nature the Elemental Overlord and his antithesis are designed to preserve the balance between light and darkness in the universe, but to deal with threats on a higher caliber the deterrents need to be as strong if not stronger than the threats they need to neutralize. This means that should the two ever need to deal with weaker worlds, a way to weaken the two needed to be implemented."
"Thus, the 'higher-ups' manipulated the atmospheres of thousands of worlds, making it so that the moment either the Elemental Overlord or his antithesis entered a world, they would be weakened to the point that they could only accomplish the tasks necessary to preserve balance. There are ways of surmounting the atmospheric effects, but I can tell just by looking that you have no such methods at your disposable."
When Kratos' explanation is at an end, Riku could barely believe a single word he was hearing. The fact that he struggled on a couple worlds made a bit of sense now, but at the same time this meant that the entire disaster that unfolded on the first world he ever went happened not just because he was inexperienced, but because a force that could not be named or seen by his very eyes was working against him.
But the most pressing question on Riku's mind was muttered out quietly towards the Cruxis' warrior "…Why? Why was I not told any of this before but you were allowed to know instead?"
"Who knows?" Kratos replies honestly, following up by stating "Had you not shown up, such information would have been inconsequential to myself, but now that the situation has been presented to me I need to do as Lord Yggdrassil asked. Know now that I hold nothing against you as I carry out my given task."
Kratos holds his sword up and swiftly swings it down, but Riku lifts his own blade up and blocks Kratos' attack with all of his remaining strength. The teenage Overlord looks up at Kratos' puzzled glance and says "Do you have no free will of your own, Kratos? Does Yggdrassil have you so chained to the leash that you can't even bark once at him in defiance?"
"Hmph, if you're trying to rile me up with a psychological taunt, you have chosen the wrong words. I follow Lord Yggdrassil because I believe his way is right." Kratos calmly responds as he pushes down on Riku's sword, forcing the teenage Overlord to start collapsing onto his knees as he struggles to keep Kratos at bay.
"I see things differently than you do Kratos. I think for myself, follow my own path, and help those who need assistance. I don't care about this 'balance' in the universe that those 'higher-ups' wish to keep. Especially when it means lending a hand in the devastation of a world or allowing this world to suffer. If you think that Lord Yggdrassil's way is right, then it is only natural that I will continue to defy Cruxis." Riku says with the utmost confidence in himself.
"You say that, and yet you follow the Chosen's group instead of pursuing your own agenda." Kratos retorts, leading to Riku saying boldly in response "We may be on the same journey, but our reasons for going on it are all different. I have no reason to give up on this world like you have, Kratos!"
The last sentence makes Kratos' demeanor break for a moment, which Riku takes full advantage of to summon forth a burst of wind from in front of his body to knock Kratos away from him. The man falls on his back and lets out a slightly pained grunt, but it doesn't take him long to get back onto his feet as Riku points his sword at him and says "I know you don't have what it takes to incapacitate me. Even in my current state, only Yggdrassil has it in him to go all-out to capture me. Prove me wrong Kratos, and show me that you have what it takes to demand this of your Lord."
Kratos looks at Riku and chuckles slightly at his bravado before he says calmly "That will not be necessary, so long as you are incapable of fending me off." The Cruxis warrior summons forth his wings and holds his sword out to the side, commenting in a quiet tone "Now, shall we resume?"
Back inside the Tethe'alla Base, Lloyd and Yuan were still in the middle of their battle. Yuan was using a lot more magic than he did before, since that was the only way to keep Lloyd from approaching him. The Rheairds Hangar was being torn apart piece by piece, but the Rheiards themselves were thankfully unharmed. With the smoke flying up from the fireballs and lightning bolts that Yuan fired off, it was hard to keep track of Lloyd's quickened movements.
Lloyd runs through the smoke as Yuan angrily fires a lightning bolt at the boy's head and raising his sword up to defend himself for a forward strike. But Lloyd finally does something different and falls into a forward slide along the little bit of even ground in front of him while swinging his swords at Yuan's legs. The armor thankfully prevents the legs from being completely cut down, but Lloyd manages to get deep enough to strike the tendons and force Yuan onto his knees in an instant.
Lloyd kicks back onto his feet and turns around to look at Yuan, who can no longer get onto his feet thanks to the damage to his legs. And with Botta unconscious this wound won't be healed up any time soon. Yuan lets go of his sword and punches the ground beside him, cursing out in a disbelieving tone "…Impossible! How could I lose?!"
The man then glances back behind himself, glaring at Lloyd's right hand and commenting as he notices a particular gleam coming from the Exsphere "Lloyd, your Exsphere…to think that it's really evolving." The defeated words of the man puzzle Lloyd, who sheathes his blades and raises his hand up while commenting "My Exsphere?"
The entire area then starts trembling without any explanation, puzzling everyone involved minus Yuan, who looks at Lloyd while thinking "Don't tell me that you…"
"Lloyd! We need to take the Rheairds, now!" Sheena expresses urgency in their departure, and because of Lloyd still focusing on the matter of his Exsphere he says hesitantly "A…All right."
The four run past Yuan and head for the Rheairds. Jumping on them, Lloyd tries to figure out how to get eight of them out at the same time. After some brief assistance from Raine, the group launches off the ground and line up in a straight row. In a matter of seconds, the eight Rheairds are launched right out of the Renegade Base via the tunnel.
After the group departs, the tremors awaken Botta, who gets back onto his feet upon noticing Yuan's weakened state. The half-elf quickly casts First Aid to heal the man's wounds, and as Yuan slowly rises upward Botta expresses urgently "Sir! This earthquake! Could a mana link have been broken?"
Yuan groans in pain and comments in a calm tone "Possibly. Investigate the cause of this earthquake immediately! …But do not worry about the Rheairds. So long as our little friend tells us where they are at, we can retrieve them at any time."
Back outside the base, Riku breaks away from a clash of swords with Kratos, and though he had exhausted himself a little more he managed to deal a little bit of damage to the warrior's body. But then the tremor hits the area, and Kratos looks around in a puzzled manner while commenting "This sensation…No, it's already beginning."
Riku brushes off Kratos' comments and dispels his sword while smiling, saying on a completely different subject than what the Cruxis warrior was currently on "Looks like we'll have to continue this another time Kratos!"
The teenage Overlord swings his hands out behind his body and summons forth three spheres of air around Zelos, Presea and Regal's bodies as Kratos turns to look at him. "Hang on guys, this might be a bumpy ride!"
Riku launches up into the air while carrying his three allies behind him. Zelos lets out a surprised exclamation while Presea and Regal remain relatively calm in spite of how rapidly their hearts beat. Kratos glances up at the teenage Overlord's movements, noticing the presence of the Rheairds in the sky just a moment later and commenting quietly to himself "…So they're off to rescue the Chosen. Hmmm…I suppose my work is done here for now." Turning away from the sky, Kratos takes a few steps before flying off with the help of his wings.
In the air, Riku catches up with Lloyd and the others on the Rheairds and carefully drops Zelos, Presea and Regal off on the empty machines, using a little bit of wind to keep them stable until they are back to normal. "Well, seems grabbing the Rheiards went off without a hitch!" Riku exclaims to Lloyd as he flies by him.
The swordsman glances off to the left and says loudly "We ran into Yuan, but that didn't distract us for long! …Say, why do you look kind of beat up?" Lloyd notices Riku's weakened state, but the teenage Overlord quickly dodges the matter of Kratos' appearance by saying "Never mind me, Zelos, Presea and Regal need a quick heal. Raine! Can you use some of your magic on them real quick?!"
The professor hears Riku from behind her Rheaird, and after pulling her staff out with one hand she breaks away from the front and goes for the injured three. Zelos is happy to receive a hand from the lovely half-elf, and he says in a suave tone "Heheh, thank you for the help my lovely Raine…After our run-in with Kratos, I could use it."
Riku flinches in shock in spite of prior experiences telling him that the one thing that could never be stopped is Zelos' big mouth, while Lloyd glances back at Zelos and asks "What?! Kratos was at the Renegade Base?!"
The teenage Overlord quickly tries to run damage control on the situation by reassuring Lloyd "Don't worry about it, he wasn't out to stop us. Zelos tried to pick a fight with him and got us involved."
"What? That's not-" Before Zelos finishes his sentence, Riku casually flicks his right hand towards his body and slaps Zelos aside the face with a hand made of wind, which is enough to quiet him for the time being.
Lloyd looks back on ahead and says in a puzzled tone "Kratos…What are you up to?" Riku says in response "Don't worry about it. Right now, we need to find Colette." Lloyd nods his head in agreement, and with the Renegade Base far behind them the group begins to scour the skies in search of the missing Chosen…
Next Time: Rodyle's Scheme