Episode Sixteen
The Giant and the Witch, Chandra's Plan Revealed?
A sound soul
dwells within a sound mind
and a sound body.
There were few things as satisfying than the sound of cracking bones under the weight of his Weapon. Nail was having a blast killing the kishin-spawn. What more, they all decided to come his way. Some of them would be on their way to go to the residential area of the city before they would catch sight of the commotion and have to get in on the action.
CRACK!
With a mighty horizontal swing, Nail took the head off of the nearest kishin-spawn. As they always did, its body unraveled in shadow, swirling ribbons leaving the red floating soul where it had just been. There was not time for even a moment's hesitation or he would be overwhelmed, but Nail could not help but to smile and laugh with the thrill of battle as they came and fell before him.
BOOM!
The hammer came down across the back of a fallen kishin-spawn. He wasted no time in swinging the axe out in a high, horizontal arc with as much force as he could muster. He sliced through the first two, snagged on the third and used the momentum to send the fourth and fifth flying into countless other enemies.
But he was not allowed a moment to rest or to celebrate victory. He turned Hammer in his hands and did an upward, vertical slash, creating a path within the horde of enemies. He used the momentum of the swing to propel himself forward. He pivoted at the end of his movement and performed another wide, horizontal arc bringing numerous foes down and sending the rest flying in various directions.
The sickly-sweet, coppery smell of blood was fresh in the air and it was intoxicating to him. He had heard the term 'bloodlust' before, but he had never given it much thought until this day. It was different when he was at the coven fighting L'stat and his minions. Now the enemy was on his turf, threatening his way of life and he would fight to the bitter end to protect himself and his own. The smell of the blood of his enemies was like perfume.
A kishin-spawn with an elongated jaw dove at him, open-mouthed, teeth bared, and took Hammer in both hands and caught the attacker between the teeth. He drove it to the back of his mouth like a bit, pressing it far back enough that the wraith's lips began to split. He turned and twisted Hammer with such force he broke the thing's neck and nearly twisted its head completely off. Using the momentum from the twist, he twirled Hammer around his body, swatting another diving attacker away like a fly, before pivoting and bring him crashing down onto the head of a nearby kishin-spawn, splitting his skull in twain.
"Nail, as much fun as this is, shouldn't we be defending the school like we were asked to?" Hammer asked.
"No way! Defending the school is for kids. Let Tsarevich, Vyse and that runt Ezra take care of that!" Nail said, as he was thought-speaking to Hammer he performed an upward, crescent-moon slice with his axe, catching a kishin-spawn between the legs, splitting him in half. There was a large collection of souls floating around them now. He could sense Hammer's desire to devour the souls. If they had even a moment to spare Nail would suggest it because it would only serve to make his Weapon stronger, but moments were in short supply when one was singlehandedly taking on an army of kishin-spawn.
"Here they come! Get ready!" Nail said.
"Right!" Hammer affirmed.
The army had finally wised up and stop sending groups to charge them and they attacked altogether. Nail just smiled. This is exactly what he was hoping for. He gave Hammer the nudge to resonate souls and he felt the flood of thoughts and emotions rush into his consciousness and the power of his wavelength start to increase.
"—Let's go! Soul resonance!"
"—Let's go! Soul resonance!"
The energy from Nail's wavelength looped through Hammer a thousand times as the Weapon added the strength of his own to the stream. The Weapon glowed with the prismatic light of two souls, the axe blade and hammer end extended to be far larger than the Weapon actually was. And now it was time to put the hurt on.
"Hammer of Ruin!"
Nail charged forward towards the onslaught that was coming his way. The adrenaline rushing through his system was causing his ears to burn, but he did not care. He leaped into the air high over the heads of the soldiers below. He held Hammer over his head, arching his back for the maximum swing. As he came down, smashing and killing several instantaneously, the energy from attack exploded in a radial shockwave, incinerating those unfortunate enough to be close to the blast, and sending countless others flying into buildings nearby.
"Divide Asunder!"
He and Hammer held fast to their resonance even though it was pushing their collective body, mind and soul to the very limits of their performance. He held Hammer from the very base of the handle and spun, allowing the axe end to slice easily through the next wave of the army. He spun again and felt the soul energy and the blade slide so easily through the soldiers—like a hot knife through butter. He spun one more time clearly a nine-foot circle around him before they finally release the resonance and took stance.
He huffed for air and he felt the familiar tickle of sweat bead trickling down his face. It was a big attack and it winded him, but he was far from dealing out heavy doses of pain. There was not even a moment's rest. The path he had cleared was filled with kishin-spawn flooding towards him like a horde of zombies in a scary movie.
Don't back out now. You have people counting on you. Every minute you hold these wraiths at bay is a minute that someone else can use to escape.
With wide and mighty swings Nail continued to hold the onslaught as best he could. He was fortunate enough to walk away with injury through the first couple of waves, but slowly, surely, they began to avoid his attacks and sneak past his defenses. He suffered bites, slashes, stabs, kicks, punches and all matter of injuries, but he would not quit. He would not let the pain cripple him. This was his moment. This was Hammer's moment. They would fight to the bitter end. And who could tell how this day would end up? Even with all of their lackeys fighting their battles for them, Nail could not see how the coven planned to beat the DWMA in an all-out assault. He wanted to live to see the outcome.
With newfound determination he gripped his Weapon in his hand and felt a smile creep across his face. He rushed headlong into the battle with a cry of bloodlust bellowing from his lips.
"Why is he here?" Merios asked, looking at Stein but pointing at Ezra. The kid's cheeks glowed red with embarrassment as he stood several paces away and hung his head.
"He doesn't have a Meister partner and he cannot effectively fight on his own," Stein said, "I have Marie. Your wavelength is pretty flexible. I thought it might be worth it to try to arm yourself," Stein explained.
Merios looked at the scrawny, blonde runt. There was something about Ezra that made Merios at uneasy. It took him a while to put his finger on it, but he had figured it out a few days ago. He could not see anything concerning the boy's future. There were only a few people who that didn't work for. Lord Death and Death the Kid were among them, but it probably had something to do with the fact that they were Reapers. Unless Lord Death had an illegitimate son that he didn't know about, there was something about this kid that prevent Merios from using his 'gift.'
All the same, Stein was probably right; in a time like this, it was no time to be show-boating and fighting without a Weapon. If the Witches got past Rain's team, Tsarevich, and Nail, Merios would want to hit the Witches with everything he had. He motioned for the boy to come over.
"What form do you take when you transform?" Merios asked.
"A cutlass," the boy replied. Merios smiled. He had been a sword-Meister for a while when he was still a student. He did fairly well handling single-edged blades.
"Well then, let's transform and give this a whirl," Merios said. The boy nodded and stepped forward and when he did Merios found himself frozen, unable to move. His peripheral allowed him to see Stein and Marie and he noticed that the situation was similar for them.
It didn't take too long realize what had happened. Merios should have trusted his gut instinct, but he had been deceived by the boy's supposed shyness and innocence. Never in a million years did he expect this.
"Shadow stitch."
The boy's form began to blur and distort and then it slowly came into focus again. When the swirling mirage materialized, Ezra had disappeared and Liir the Witchblade was standing in his place.
"Professors, Marie—it's good to see you again. I was hoping to keep this ruse up for longer than I was able to, but I was counting on not having to transform. While I have figured out a spell that changes my physical appearance, I have not been able to figure one out that will change my Weapon form.
"Right about now I'm sure you're starting to regret the decision that you made when you decided to let me go. I bet you didn't think in a million years that I would come back, did you?
"Surprise! Oh, Marie! Don't cry. It's not worth getting yourself worked up. I'm not going to hurt you unless I have to. You see all of this is a big diversion for the real plan. I don't plan on destroying the city or killing its inhabitants. After all, they're going to need subjects for whenever the Witches start to run the show around here. There is only one person I am here to kill: the Grim Reaper. It will be unfortunate for anyone who gets in my way, but it appears that you have sense enough to evacuate your people. I applaud that. Bravo! Bravo!
"I just hope that whoever replaces him isn't a tyrant. It would be unfortunate to have go through this whole mess again, you know," he said with a smile of satisfaction on his face that Merios had come to know all too well. It was no use to try to say anything at all. He was just frozen there in perfect suspension from Liir's spell.
"I strengthened the power of the spell. The first version of that spell lasted only a few minutes. This one will last until I release it, so make yourselves comfortable," he said, transforming back into Ezra, "I'm going to make my grand entrance. Sorry I can't stay and chat."
Merios was powerless as he watched the Witchblade, disguised as an innocent little Weapon student walk right past them towards Tsarevich and Vyse. He could only hope that the others would be able to see through his disguise before it was too late.
Kid looked into his father's mirror and watched the onslaught on the city. He had never in his life seen something so chaotic. The kishin-spawn that seemed to be under some sort of spell from the Witches flying above flooded into the city like cockroaches with no pattern or reason. It was a symmetry nightmare. He needed something else to focus on—a distraction—and he found it.
"It seems that there's a foolhardy student who is standing his ground against the entire army of kishin, Father," Kid said, keeping his gazed fixed on the mirror.
"That's Hammer and Nail, part of Merios's class," Liz added.
"One Weapon-Meister pair against an entire army of kishin-spawn. I supposed that's not good odds, is it?" his father asked, tilting his head to the side as he does.
"It seems that all of his students have the same foolhardy tendencies that he does—they're going to get themselves killed," Kid noted.
"They're just trying to be stars, and by the looks of things it's their time to shine," Black Star chimed in, stepping in close to the mirror, so close that he bumped Kid to the side a little.
"Please tell me you're not supporting this insanity," Kid asked, irked, as always at Black Star.
"They can try but they'll never be as big as star as me. Still, I applaud their efforts," Black Star said haughtily.
"Black Star…" Tsubaki whined.
"Hammer and Nail are one of the strongest pairs I've ever seen. Their souls resonate at such a high level. I'm glad it's them and not one of the other students out there," his father said.
"It's a hopeless situation. They're going to get themselves killed all for the sake of trying to be a star," Kid complained, mocking Black Star. At this, Patty starting giggling hilariously. Kid shot her a look to cool it but, as usual, once she was caught in the middle of a fit of laughter, there was little that could deter her.
"That's not what they're doing at all," Soul said, silent until then. They all turned to see what he had to say.
"What are they doing, then?" Black Star asked, obviously unable to wait patiently enough for Soul to finish.
"They're buying time for the citizens of the city and academy to escape. They're probably going to die, just like Kid said, but they will save countless lives in the process. Look at how their fighting; their number one priority is making sure that the kishin-spawn don't get past them. The Witches were kind enough to march the entire army into the main entrance. If they hold them there long enough the army won't claim a single life—except for maybe theirs. They just became the coolest pair in the academy."
Kid looked again at the mirror after Soul was finished. He was right. Foolish as the approach was, the pair was gaining time they would not have normally had to evacuate people. Kid would rather have been there than guarding the magic tools in the Death Room. Which reminded him…
"Father, enough with the secrecy. We are at the midnight hour of this conflict and we deserve to know why the magic tools are the highest priority and not fighting the coven," Kid said.
Focus. Don't lose sight of your mission. We're not letting a single Witch past these gates, understood?
Her team replied and acknowledged her with thoughts instead of words. Their souls were resonated—all of them. It was an incredible rush of energy to feel their thoughts, emotions, experiences, fears, strengths…everything about them, the very fabric of their souls coursing through her consciousness like water cascading over rocks as a waterfall.
Sky. Takashi. Ayame. Kimiko. Mei. Misato. And me…who am I again?
It was easy to lose the identity of one in the soul flow of many. It was not important to Rain who she was as an individual. She was the leader of this team. The best team of one-star Meisters and Demon Weapons. And now was finally her time to shine.
"Here they come. Do not back down and do not hesitate. We stick with the plan: Kimiko will engage first, try to limit their movements. I will strike head-on with Sky as a diversion for Takashi to strike the finishing blow. Understood?" she asked. Her team gave their various replies, some with words, and others with thoughts.
And the first Witch flew towards them.
"Out of my way insects!" the Witch said, summoning fluttering orbs of shadowy Witch energy around her that resembled bats. They did not reply to her, but held their ground and stared her down. She hurled the fluttering orbs at them and Kimiko countered as instructed.
She hurled Mei and Misato in their chakram forms through the air, slicing easily through the shadowy energy and returning to her hand. She used her soul wavelength to control the path of the chakrams and always return them to her hands. The smoke from the energy explosions gave Rain the opening that she needed to attack.
"You ready, Sky?" she asked her Weapon.
"Ready," Sky confirmed.
She dashed forward, holding Sky with one hand behind her back so that she could lean forward and run faster. She kept her eyes fixed forward, not watching the smoke that clouded her target, but the glowing purple soul behind it.
When she was in the right range she jumped in the air flipping forward, somersaulting several times in the air before bringing Sky down, tearing through the brick pavement with ease. Unfortunately, she did not hit her target; the Witch had strafed to the left at just the right second.
On cue, Kimiko hurled Mei and Misato through the air, curving from two different directions. This closed the Witch's path of escape even though she easily slithered away from the path of the chakrams. Rain didn't allow her a moment of recover before she continued her assault.
Left slash. Right slash. Forward thrust. Thrust again. Again. AGAIN!
The second wave of chakrams came just in time, one of them slicing into the Witch's exposed arm. She was forced to ignore the wound as she used her magic to manifest some sort of shadowy shield to stop Rain's halberd from lopping her head off. But there was something that she didn't prepare for.
"Sinister Strike!"
Takashi had, as they had practiced, worked his way behind the target and disappeared from sight until the proper moment. Rain watched as his blade, Ayame, passed through the neck of the attacking Witch with ease. Her arms fell to her side and she fell to her knees. Before her head fell, her entire body disintegrated into a wisp of black smoke leaving a floating purple Witch soul in its place.
"We did it!" Takashi exclaimed.
"We killed a Witch!" Kimiko added.
"Don't celebrate just yet," Rain warned, looking to the sky, "Here they come!"
Two more, a Witch and a Warlock on brooms, descended down upon them. Rain gripped Sky in her hands and prepared herself. Now they were the ones caught off guard. Their plan wouldn't work again twice.
"That just means its time to improvise," Rain thought to herself with a smile. She could feel Sky smiling with her as she brandished her Weapon and met her opponents head-on.
"Someone's coming. I can see their soul," Tsarevich said, holding his eyes tightly shut. Vyse was in his katar mode and was readily amplifying Tsarevich's wavelength, adding strength of his own to the mix. They had been working on a new strategy that had proven extremely effective so far. It was nothing new, Meisters and Weapons had been doing it for as long as the partnership had existed. They kept their souls resonated every moment that Tsarevich was wielding Vyse. This afforded them all kinds of advantages, but one of the ones Tsarevich found most delightful was that he acquired Vyse's assassin instincts while they were in soul resonance. It was like fighting with two lifetime's of training instead of one.
Tsarevich opened his eyes as the soul came into view before him. Standing at the end of the hall was a tall, beautiful woman dressed in a red and black dress that had a hood. The plunging neckline of the dress reveal perfect, creamy skin, and a flawless, curvy body. Her lips and fingernails, and toenails were painted fiery red. She was barefoot but it in no way took from the regal, deadly presence the woman carried.
"Do not give her a chance to speak, Tsarevich," Vyse said through his thoughts, "attack as soon as the opportunity presents itself and go for the kill."
"Got it," he confirmed, keeping his eyes fixed on the Witch. Her soul was daunting and huge. It looked like an orb of purple flames engulfing her entire body. He had learned a little about fighting someone with a Witch soul in his battles with Liir, but he could take one look at this Witch's soul and tell that she was leagues more powerful than Liir. There was only one person that this could be.
"Stand aside, boy or I will burn you alive," she said simply, a macabre smile crossing her lips revealing pearly white teeth. Tsarevich said nothing; he kept his stance and his gaze fixed upon the Witch. Her smile turned to a sneer as her irises began to glow with magical fire.
"No? Alright then; I gave you a fair warning," she said as fire flashed into existence in the palm of her upturned hand. This flash of flames blocked her vision for just a moment, disconnecting her sight from Tsarevich and he saw his opportunity. Normally, he would have hesitated but Vyse's assassin instincts kicked in and he was already moving to strike. He was sprinting straight towards her for a head-on attack, ready to jump aside at a moment's notice if she unleashed the magical flames on him.
As expected he watched as she turned her palm outward and launched a ball of fire at him. It seemed that everything was going so slowly and that he more time to react than he was normally used to. He allowed the projectile to continue its path towards him as he studied the Witch's soul. It was large, powerful and its motion was like that of burning flames. He could see that she was ferocious, full of murderous bloodlust, rage and desired above all else to be free. That was only the surface though. He would need to look deeper to see beyond.
With only a hair's breadth to spare, he ducked, dove and rolled forward, the fireball sailing harmless past him. He gripped Vyse in his hands and prepared to maintain his head-on attack. He punched forward hoping to plunge the katar blade deep into the Witch's abdomen. But as soon as the blade would make contact she evaporated in a pillar of flame and reappeared some ten feet away from him, further down the hall.
She was preparing to launch another ball of fire, but she should have transported herself further away for ten feet was a span of distance he could close in less than a second. He was on his feet and was ready to leap forward. He saw the fireball coming and knew that he had to evade her attack while still continuing his own assault. He jumped and did an aerial spin-flip and was satisfied to once again avoid her projectile spell by the narrowest of margin. The searing heat from the passing fireball was overwhelming. It felt like a gust of hot wind sailing past him.
He landed on his feet and punched his fist foreword, aiming for her heart. She side-stepped so he followed up by spinning his body, arm held out to slash at her neck with the katar blade. She ducked beneath swipe and prepared for a counterattack of her own. He was gazing at her soul again. She was precise and skilled and took pride it what she did. Despite the rage that burned deep inside of her heart, she maintained a level head in combat making her that much more dangerous of a foe. Deeper still he could see there was something in her soul that she was hiding.
Her fist was trailing fire as it came towards him. He did not want to risk using his Weapon to deflect the blow less the magical fire would curse him. Tsarevich had dealt with Witch curses from personal experience and would not wish that on anyone. This left him with the option of evasion, or to deflect the blow well below the wrist to avoid the fire. He could already see that she was preparing another fireball in the other hand so he decided on deflection.
He used his left forearm to deflect the punch and when she tried to deal him an uppercut with another flaming fist he twirled beneath her outstretch arm and turned to deal her a stab in the side of the neck. When the katar blade would have hit her flesh she disappeared again in a pillar of flame and reappeared roughly ten feet away.
What the!
She launched the fireball directly at him and instead of following its course, she ignited it to blow up in his face just a few feet away. Momentarily, distracted by the flash of fire, he listened and heard her bare feet slap against the marble floor and new that she was advancing for an attack. Even with his eyes closes to shield them from the flames he could see her soul. She jumped and was going for an attack from above. He twirled and pivoted to avoid another fireball and thrust Vyse straight upward. Once again, when the blade would have made contact with the Witch she puffed away in a pillar of fire and reappeared behind him, some ten feet away. He rolled and turned to avoid another attack and then took stance to face her, waiting to see what she would do next.
"Having a hard time landing a single blow, little Meister?" she taunted him with the question before an after letting out some cackling laughter. He peered deeply in his soul and started looking for vulnerabilities and suddenly realized something. There were swirling, circular ribbons wrapped around her soul that were crimson in color. They were hard to see because of the overwhelming purple flames that enveloped her soul, but they were there nonetheless. It did not take Tsarevich long realize what they were: wards. She must have had a dozen of them swirling around her.
He did not realize that Witch magic worked like that: altering or enhancing one's soul. It was a genius concept really, using the power of one's own wavelength to power the spell that would only be detectable to those who could see souls. Now he would have to find a way to understand the wards so that he could break them.
"So she's got some sort of anti-Weapon magic on her," Vyse said. He absorbed a lot of this information because he and Tsarevich were sharing thoughts, but had deduced some of it on his own.
"She does, and we're not going to let on that we know. I'm going to hit her with an anti-magic wavelength and hopefully it's enough to break the wards. She won't be expecting something like that," Tsarevich said. All of this conversation happened over the span of nanoseconds as they were thought-speaking to each other.
When they looked again, Tsarevich was horrified to see not one, but seven Witch souls standing at the end of the hall. It was a hodgepodge of Witches and Warlocks all looking at him with sneers of gloating victory on their faces.
"Now what?" Tsarevich asked aloud.
"Hammer of Ruin!"
A thunderous blow to the ground beneath the city gates sent literal tons of broken rock raining down on the kishin-spawn that had clustered in the doorway. Many of them were smashed at once, others were pinned beneath the rubble. The goal was to block entrance to the city and it had worked perfectly. The army would have to push tons of rock away before they could get in or learn to scale twenty-foot stone walls.
"Whew!" Nail said, wiping his brow and letting Hammer transform back into his human form.
"You're tell me! Man that was a rush!" he added. Nail watched as Hammer began grabbing stray souls and swallowing them whole.
"Don't eat too many. You'll make yourself sick like last time," Nail warned. Hammer nodded and stopped eating them, but still bundled them together. Nail had lost count as to how many that Hammer had, but after today they would not be far from ninety-nine. If they lived through they day they would have more than enough. They could even share with Vyse if he decided to be nice to them. Nail was not his biggest fan after their last altercation, but they only needed ninety-nine. He liked the idea of wasting souls even less than sharing with someone he wasn't happy with.
"Now what are we gonna do?" Hammer asked.
"We need to get on top of that wall. They're going to either climb up or burrow under the city so we need to…
CRASH!
"—what the hell?"
They watched as a massive hammer smashed through the wall adjacent to the gate. When the dust settled it revealed a giant kishin-spawn with bulging muscles and spike armor. His face was deformed so that he had no lips and all of his teeth were filed into wicked points like some sort of demonic piranha. Beneath him the smaller kishin-spawn began to pour into the city, jumping and bouncing like insects as they crawled their way through.
"Leave them to me!" the giant kishin-spawn bellowed. His voice was deep and booming with authority. Nail could tell that they would obey his commands. He and Hammer stood there facing the giant as he stepped into the city from the hole he had created with his hammer. He was eight feet tall and as wide as three men. Chains and spikes adorned his black attire. The other kishin-spawn continued to race past Hammer and Nail, but they created a clear path in the middle where only the three of them stood.
"I am Gilgamesh, the Steel Titan and I—,"
"We don't give a damn who you are, or how big you are; you hear me? We're going to crush you and eat your soul," Nail said. He looked at Hammer who nodded and transformed.
"Who are you that you think you can defeat the mighty Gilgamesh?" the creature hissed through his filed teeth, forked tongue flickering out after he spoke.
"My name is Nail, one-star Meister and this is my Weapon, Hammer," Nail replied, brandishing his Weapon. Gilgamesh laughed haughtily and gripped his own hammer before taking a mighty, downward swing at Nail. Anticipating the attack he rushed forward to avoid the blow. He heard the thunderous crash as the bricks he had been standing on crumbled to dust. He swung Hammer into Gilgamesh's knee, axe-end first. He intended to lop it off with a single swing, but instead found his arms jarred from the blow.
…the hell?
SMACK!
Nail found himself bouncing off of the pavement holding tightly to Hammer so as not to lose him. Gilgamesh had not even flinched from the blow and had kicked them across the courtyard entrance of the city. He came skidding to a stop scuffed up and bleeding. He looked up to see the giant taking slow, bounding steps towards them to come in for another attack.
"That guy doesn't even have a scratch!" Nail observed, looking at the knee where he had hit him with Hammer's axe-end.
"We're just gonna have to hit him harder," Hammer suggested.
"Right!"
Nail rushed forward holding Hammer in one hand behind his back to allow for swift movement. He easily avoided another blow from Gilgamesh's hammer, leaped into the air and brought the axe-end crashing down on the fleshy part between his neck and shoulder. It didn't give way. It was like hitting polished steel. Gilgamesh dealt Nail a mid-air backhand and sent him flying into a nearby house. He groaned as he pulled himself back onto his feet. The giant packed a punch, and not surprisingly so. One would hope with all that bulk that he could deal out heavy hits.
"What is that?" Nail asked. He looked around and saw scary-looking shifting shadows. When one tried to jump at him and grab him he was surprised to see that it went right through him as if it was not actually able to touch him. When he realized the shadowy images weren't real they faded away as quickly as they had come on.
"I heard about this in class. Anyone who strays onto the path of evil by consuming human souls runs the risk of becoming a kishin. As the kishin egg in their soul grows, they will start to emit a certain kind of wavelength that messes with people's mind and awakens the evil that's inside of them. The goal of course, is to use it as a system of control or to create other kishins," Hammer explained.
"I'm glad that one of us was paying attention in class," Nail said sourly.
"It's probably a good thing that your soul perception isn't the greatest. Most Meisters wouldn't be able to get near him without succumbing to the Madness," Hammer said.
"The Madness?" Nail inquired.
"Yeah. That's what they call it. The Madness Wavelength," Hammer reiterated.
"It's probably a good thing that Tsarevich isn't here then, isn't it?" Nail asked.
"Actually he'd be really helpful. He could hit this guy with his soul wavelength. Since you can't do that yet we're gonna have to find a way to take this guy out. Something tells me that swinging me into him over and over isn't going to work," Hammer said. That was the last thing that Nail wanted to hear. He didn't want to hear that someone else would be better to defeat his foe and it made him all the more determined to win.
"Well, let's quit laying around in debris and hit him with a couple of soul resonance attacks—see if he can withstand that," Nail suggested.
"Let's do it!"
"Mistress Chandra, would you like us to take care of these meddlers for you?" one of the Warlocks asked. Tsarevich held his ground. He was not going to turn tail and run, no matter what the odds, but he knew that he could not take on seven Witches at once.
"No. Proceed with the plan; infiltrate the Death Room and engage the Reaper. I will join you when I'm done with my new plaything," she replied.
"Yes, Milady," the same Warlock replied. The group walked past him and Tsarevich had to make a decision. It was not his alone to make so he inquired of Vyse.
"Do we just let them pass? We both know we can't contend with seven Witches at once. I don't know if you can see their souls through my eyes, but all of them are powerful," Tsarevich said to his Weapon with his mind.
"Damn it! I wish we had some way to warn the others," Vyse said. He didn't answer the question, but the answer was implied. They would barely fair versus one Witch. Seven would be too much. Then again, to let six of them pass to face Stein and Merios was not a prospect that Tsarevich cared for either.
"I can see the dilemma playing out on your face, little Meister," their leader said. She kept grinning with her pearly sneer. He scowled and looked at her, keeping stance as the Witches walked harmlessly past him, continuing down the hall towards the entrance to the Death Room. He decided not to let them know about the other guards.
"It sure is noble of you to consider standing against seven Witches from our coven to protect your friends. I know that there are guards standing at the entrance. I can see souls too, you know," she said, resting a hand seductively on her hip. Tsarevich gripped the handle of the katar and kept his gaze fixed on her. He felt completely vulnerable allowing the enemy to surround him on both sides, but he had a hunch that they would do as she instructed and leave him alone.
"What is your name, little Meister?" Chandra asked him. Tsarevich did not respond; he attacked. He sprinted forward and slashed at her with the katar and she vanished in a pillar of fire only to appear beside him. He stayed on her, jumping, dashing, slashing and every time the katar blade touched her, her ward protected her.
"Tsarevich, what are you doing? Stop! We know that's not going to work!" Vyse complained from inside his head.
"Yeah, but she doesn't know that we know that," Tsarevich replied slyly.
"You foolish little boy! Do you really think that you can contend with the leader of the Southern Witch Coven? Give up this fruitless battle and stand aside. I am feeling merciful today. I might just let you go about your merry way," she taunted him at every turn. Good. He wanted her to think that he had the upper hand. He wanted to see the look in her eye when he finally hit her with his wavelength.
While he was continuing the ruse of cat and mouse, he studied her soul. He peered past the burning anger, the discipline in precision and skill, and he saw something. It was fear. Inside off all of that power, anger, and confidence was fear. She feared death. She feared captivity. She feared oppression. She feared trusting other people. This was a vulnerability that he could work with.
With a better understanding of her soul wavelength, he began to shape his own. He summoned any thoughts and feelings that he could think to counteract what was at the core of her being. What could counteract fear?
Bravery.
The ability to overcome fear in the face of certain death: that was what he was going to hit her with—mingled with an anti-magic wavelength to counteract the wards that she had guarding her soul. Everything about him seemed to change as the very rhythm of his soul began to forge itself into a weapon to defeat his foe.
Vyse.
He let his thoughts and emotions flow freely into his Weapon who took them and magnified them a thousand times at the speed of thought itself, adding into his own bravery and determination.
"You really think this is going to work?" Vyse asked.
"Only one way to find out," Tsarevich said.
"I'm growing tired of this game of cat and mouse, little Meister. You're starting to get on my nerves," Chandra protested. This was his chance. Here she was taunting him again, standing with no guard and no spell to defend. He dashed forward as he had dozens of times already. He brought the katar back like he was preparing for another thrust. She stood there, having all the confidence she could in her protective spells and at the last second he switch his attack to an open palm attack. It connected with her solar plexus—a direct hit.
"Soul Pulsar!"
He turned the frequency his hit as high as he could manage without causing damage to him or Vyse. He was all too satisfied to see the look of shock on Chandra's face when she got hit with the attack. She was airborne now and completely open for another attack. Tsarevich did a front flip-kick and connected his heel with the back of her head. This sent her bouncing off of the marble floor and he was fairly certain he heard it crack under her.
"Soul Pulsar!"
Airborne again he hit her again with his wavelength, studying her soul. As he had hoped, several of the circular ribbons around her soul snapped when he hit her. He changes his wavelength again to mimic the anti-magic wavelength that Professor Aurion had taught him. This would not do nearly the damage the Soul Pulsar would, but he hoped that it would finish off the rest of the protective spells around her to make her vulnerable.
"Anti-Magic Pulsar!"
He put his hand on her face and unleashed the attack with a higher frequency than was wise. It was starting to wear on them—Vyse especially. He was not used to having his wavelength bent and stretched like that. As Chandra flew through the hallway, Tsarevich expected her to smash into the wall and crumple in frailty on the floor, but that's not what happened. She turned and twisted mid-air, in an awesome display of acrobatics and landed on her hands and feet like a cat, coming sliding to stop on the marble floor.
"How talented you are! Able to project your own wavelength at such a young age! And you were even able to break the protective barriers that I spent hours putting over myself. That's impressive and it's such a shame that talent like yours is wasted under the leadership of a murderous tyrant like the Reaper," she said. She stood to her feet and dusted herself off.
"Don't talk about Lord Death that way! He fights to maintain balance in the world. He protects the innocent from those that would kill for personal gain," Tsarevich shot back.
"Don't get into an arguing match with her, Tsarevich. Strike! Keep striking until she's dead!" Vyse complained. Tsarevich ignored him.
"Kind of like the way that Meisters hunt the souls of Witches to feed to their Weapons to make them powerful. That sounds an awful lot like the same thing to me," Chandra countered.
"It's not the same! Witches like you are evil!" Tsarevich said. He tried his best to sound more convincing, but it didn't come out that way. Since his encounter with Liir, he had inexplicably been sympathetic to the Witches. It was easier to bypass those feelings when in the middle of a life-and-death struggle with one, but impossible to ignore entirely.
"If that is really how you believe then it is far too late for your redemption. You will fall into darkness like the Reaper and all those foolish enough to stay behind and protect him," Chandra said.
"What are you planning to do?" Tsarevich demanded.
"Wouldn't you love to know! I suppose there is no harm in telling you; you're about to die anyway. None of us—not even me—could contend with the might of the Grim Reaper himself. Facing him in combat was not the way so we decided to dream a little bigger. With the right spell, the magic tool that we have acquired will create a magical black hole large enough to swallow the Reaper's soul," Chandra said.
"That will destroy the entire city! Maybe more than that! Are you crazy?" Tsarevich asked.
"No, little Meister. I've never thought clearer in my life. That tyrant must be stopped! Anyone who gets in my way can go down with him!" Chandra exclaimed.
"You keep forgetting that you have to get through me first," Tsarevich replied.
"Little Meister, I've been toying with you this entire time. If I had wanted you dead, you would have been dead a long time ago. Since you refuse to see reason, I have no qualms about snuffing you out!"
With that, her entire being, body and soul, burst into magical flame and she came roaring down the hallway like a fiery banshee. Tsarevich braced himself for impact as his entire world disappeared in an inferno.