Finally, act finished!
With this we wrought up this part of the story.
Chapter 41
Ratatosk
The Centurions had merged back into him as he commanded. Now all that was left was to wait for the extermination of human race.
However, things took an unexpected turn when a familiar face showed up:
"What are you doing back in this world?"
"Can't you tell, Ratatosk?" Neran replied, although he looked vastly different than he did before.
The Professor's once neatly combed hair was now in wild strands and his glasses were abandoned (although as a spirit he wouldn't have sight problems anymore). His attire was also quite peculiar; an armor with Niflheim's runes all over it.
"I am the one leading this invasion. I am now known to the world as Nebilim," Nebilim spoke.
"So the 'Chaos Bender' becomes a true servant of demons. How ironic…"
"I could say the same about you," Nebilim turned and walked a little forward as he spoke. "Once the protector of the gate to Niflheim, you became the trigger of a new demonic invasion. How have the mighty fallen…"
"Spare me your word games, you lowly servant. Why is it that you're here?" he wasn't in the mood for this. Why was Nebilim here when he should be in the surface? Could the Grand Demon Lord have… "Did Apocalypse decided to go back on his word?"
Nebilim half-turned, his smile a malicious one as he spoke:
"You would know that better than me. After all, didn't you fight him in the past?"
He had. He knew this was a possibility. Apocalypse was the most vindictive and prideful out of all the Grand Lords. It would be just like him to turn back on his word just so he could spit on Ratatosk's face.
"So… it seems we have a problem then," he spoke calmly.
"I wouldn't call it a problem. More like an impasse," Nebilim put his hands on the back his head in a relaxed pose, like nothing that was being spoken concerned him in any way. "Well then… we can solve it two ways. One, you give yourself up, or two, I beat the shit out of you, as they say."
"You? You think you can actually beat me?"
"Let's face reality here. You signed yourself off the moment you entered Niflheim to make this deal with Apocalypse," Nebilim let his arms fall to the side of his body as he closed his eyes. He then opened them wide and looked at Ratatosk with his blood-colored orbs. "You Traitor of the World."
"What did you CALL ME?!"
How did that insect dare to accuse him like that?! Didn't he have any notion of danger at all?!
"That's what you are," Nebilim said, turning fully to him. Gone was his smile and previous mannerisms and now all that was left was a harsh, accusatory expression. "Giving in to your hatred, letting your anger rule your emotions… you don't care about anything anymore ever since your brethren left. All that you want is to watch this world, which was built by the humans, burn!"
"DIE!"
He charged at the mouthful, daring wraith, ready to make him swallow his words and choke to death on them…
- / - / - / - / - / -
Emil suddenly sat up, his eyes opening wide at the fresh memory. He then looked around and saw everybody looking at him with worried expressions. The most worried one was definitely Marta.
"Emil! Are you alright?!" the brunette asked.
"I… think I am…" he took a moment to look at everybody around.
He felt fine. In fact, he felt better than ever, which was strange as he could swear he had seen Ratatosk clutching his head and screaming not a moment ago. He didn't understand very well what happened, so Emil tried to reach Ratatosk… only he couldn't find any trace of the Summon Spirit in his soul.
Emil tried again, but he couldn't find it. He couldn't contact Ratatosk's consciousness.
"Something wrong my Lord?" Tenebrae asked.
"Ratatosk… I can't find him," Emil answered.
"What?!" Zelos let out in a loud voice.
"I can't feel any trace of him or hear him. It's like… he's not here anymore."
The group looked between themselves in concern and Marta had her eyes wide at hearing that. Raine stood on thought about it, but couldn't come to a conclusion as to why this was happening to Emil. She turned to the Centurions and asked:
"Another effect of the merging?"
"Possibly," Ventus said. "Though I didn't expect it to occur in such a manner."
"Maybe our Lord is just slumbering," Solum suggested.
"Either way, we should leave. This isn't the best place to discuss this."
The group nodded and got up to depart. Marta helped Emil up and the blonde asked her if she was feeling alright.
"Why are you asking me that? You were the one that clutched your head and screamed like you were being tortured," Marta spoke.
"I was?" he tilted his head to the side in inquiry as he and Marta joined the group and left for the exit of the temple.
"What? You don't rememb… oh right. It was Ratatosk at the time. Sorry, sometimes I forget you two are…"
"But, I should remember something like that. Ratatosk and I have been sharing impressions when one of us is in the control. Although… lately he's been keeping things from me."
Emil looked down as he thought on that. The behavior of his other half was quite strange lately. Although he seemed to act colder than before, Emil felt something in him, something he was trying to hide desperately.
"You too? He's been avoiding me lately."
"Yeah, I saw that. I wonder why. Even though I questioned him, he wouldn't tell me," Emil said.
"You think… it was because… of our kiss?" Marta asked, blushing at the thought.
"Huh? Oh! No, I'm sure it wasn't that!" Emil said, also blushing at the memory and shaking his arms. "He liked it… a lot… actually we both did. We were united when you kissed us, so… yeah."
"What? You two were at control at the same time again?!" Marta gasped, blushing a crimson tone now. She had been quite guilty over the attention she had been giving Ratatosk ever since their kiss, but considering what had happened and the strange behavior of the Summon Spirit, the guilt faded.
The truth was, Marta was conflicted about which of the two she liked the most. But, the idea that her first kiss had essentially occurred with both Ratatosk and Emil made her get butterflies all over her stomach and feel very happy.
Maybe they can merge whenever I want to kiss them. It would be like having two in one. Marta caught herself thinking. She then sighed and chastised herself. Great… now I want to have them both. Man, I feel like a slut.
"Um… Marta, are you ok?" Emil asked as he saw she shaking her head.
"Huh? Oh. I'm… fine. It's just… Um… Emil… did you like it?" the blonde looked at her with a confused look."I mean, I never got the chance to ask with everything that's happened, but… you know… did you like the kiss?"
She put her hands behind her back and waved her hips to the sides like she did when she was feeling shy. Emil thought that made she look adorable until his brain caught on with what his self-proclaimed girlfriend just asked. He got red-beet as he tried to answer:
"Well… I… um… I mean, of course!" he didn't intend it to come out like that, but he couldn't help it.
"Really?" Marta asked. "Was it… good?" she looked even more embarrassed as she looked to the side.
"Well… it-it was… I…"
"Hey, you two," they heard Zelos calling as he approached "Look, I don't mean to interrupt your love life, or your sweet talks, but we've gotta hurry and get out of here. Leave the smooth talking for later, 'kay?" he asked that with a knowing smile that got the couple blushing.
"Ah, nothing like young love," Regal commented aloud, which just made Emil and Marta blush even redder as they picked up the pace.
They finally got to the lake, which Zelos froze completely and this time the ice didn't melt or thaw. However, as they were walking, the group suddenly felt something below them. Emil was the first to identify it as a spell.
"Everybody, spread!" he yelled just in time as something burst out in the middle of the frozen lake, breaking the ice and almost getting the group.
They sat down and turned to see what looked like a giant, sea-blue serpent dragon above them with two, white-bluish wings with yellow feathers extending on the sides of its head. The creature looked at them with its yellow, slit eyes and roared.
"Wait, isn't that… ?!" Colette let out, but was interrupted as they heard something falling nearby. Looking to the side they saw what looked like some kind of human-sized, living armor, but this one was vastly different from the armors most of the group knew. It had a horned helmet with the lower borders extending outwards and the metal skirt at the end of the chest plate was longer than most in other armors. "That's… !"
Before Colette could complete her thought, the armor drew a glowing, blue sword and charged at her. Darkness suddenly burst in front of Colette and Presea materialized in her adult-Spirit form. The rest of the group also transformed as they were attacked by the dragon, which let out a lightning breath on them.
Regal stood still and received the attack head on, absorbing it and pointing his hand back to the dragon, returning the electrical attack to the monster. However, the lightning seemed to only "slid" on the serpent-dragon's body.
So, it's lightning resistant. Regal thought.
Marta was about to fly after the beast, when she suddenly felt something behind her. She turned and saw what looked like a giant, flaming blade coming at her head. Emil tackled the brunette down, preventing the decapitation as the heated, fire blade swung above them. They looked on and saw a familiar face as the blade shrunk back to its normal size.
"Rahishi!" Emil and Marta spoke out loud.
Zelos turned and saw that, indeed, it was Genis' red haired aide. He then looked around and soon spotted the teenage-looking general on the ice bridge, his other aide besides him.
"You!" Zelos let out, making most of the combatants look at him and then at where his eyes were focused on. Raine exclaimed the name of her brother.
"Well, well. Looks like I arrived just in time," Genis said with that malicious smile coming to his face as he regarded the group. "But I don't see that Lloyd sap or his busty girlfriend here. Where are they?"
"They're not here, that's all you need to know," Emil said. C'mon Ratatosk. Where are you? He thought as he tried, in vain, search for Ratatosk in his soul once more.
"Really? Pity. I expected to be done with all of you today. Oh well…" Genis sighed.
"Done with us? Please, you couldn't kill us the last two times we've met," Zelos said, his expression set on a frown. "What makes you think it'll be different this time?"
"Because I already got everything I've wanted from you. You're knowledge of magic is too limited to be of any further use for me," Genis said, his malicious smile never leaving his face as the serpent dragon floated in circles above him. "Given enough time, you could show me something different. But I was given an assignment and I really hate to leave an assignment unfinished. So, sorry, but we all knew it was doomed to end like this.
"Reriki, Rahishi, unleash your true forms and eliminate them. It's time to wrap up this little game," he ordered the two.
"Yes, Master Genis/My General!" the two replied in unison.
Before any of the reincarnated Summon Spirits could do something, there was a violent pulse of chaos energy being unleashed from the two aides, their auras swirling like white and red vortexes around them. Raine and the others had to protect their eyes as the two aides revealed the true extension of their powers. When the chaos energy stopped its agitation the group could finally see the form the demonesses had taken.
Rahishi now looked like a picture out of elven books of old describing demons; a naked, red-skinned, feminine form with part of her body surrounded by fire with curved, straw-brown horns, blue pupiless eyes, claw-like nails at her fingers and feet and wilding her wicked-looking, fire blade. If it wasn't for the aura of chaos and sheer intimidation that radiate form her, Zelos would have felt blood rushing to a certain part of his anatomy while being entranced by the beauty of the curvaceous form of that demon.
Reriki's kimono and hair changed to a plain white without any decorations or ornaments of any kind and her face was now only a blank space. More worrying was that no one in the party could detect any trace of Reriki's aura. It was like after that explosion of power it had completely vanished. She now truly looked like her namesake; a mask of pure white, without any defining features. Only her body proportions remained the same.
This is not good. Raine realized. She did not know what Reriki was exactly, besides a spiritual demon. But Rahishi was clearly a demon of the "high" species. These demons are regarded as the most powerful of all three demon species, easily identified by their human-like features.
As the group was left gaping at the true form of the two demonesses, Rahishi suddenly charged, fire swirling around her as she rushed at incredible speed to Regal. The air around her seemed to ignite and its temperature raise to scorching levels. When the Thunder's Apprentice defended against the blow with his metal bracelets, he saw the enchanted metal slowly melting at contact with the demoness' blade.
He was saved by Raine, who conjured a water stream out of the frozen lake and hitting the demoness with a high-pressure, water jet that pushed her away while raising much steam as the water evaporated in contact with Rahishi.
Regal was about to thank her when he saw the floating, serpent-dragon coming and preparing to blast Raine. He warned her and she turned just in time to see the beast unleashing an electrical blast. Raine quickly summoned another water stream that received the entire attack and conducted it to the lake, dissipating the energy.
Ratatosk and Marta took it upon themselves to engage Rahishi in combat, but whenever they got close enough to attack they felt it difficult to breath as the heated air literally suffocated them. The demoness attacked and Marta put herself between Emil and the enemy.
"Don't try to defend with your sword!" Marta warned. "You saw what it did to Regal's bracelets!"
Emil nodded. If Rahishi's weapon had gotten strong enough to melt through enchanted weapons, then his normal sword would be just as good as a wooden one against that high demon of fire. While that was going on, Presea tried to destroy the samurai armor, just to find it was as fast as she was and see it draw a second sword.
Colette was about to help Presea when Reriki suddenly appeared in front of her. Looking at the blank mask that was Reriki's face Colette remembered about something she once read in a book in Mizuho. She knew she had seen those monsters somewhere.
"You've summoned them, didn't you?" Colette asked the demoness.
"Why, yes. After all, that's what I am; a demon summoner," Reriki answered.
"You're one of them, aren't you? One of the demons of the Mizuho folklore."
"Oh, you're from Mizuho? Those guys always sounded like our fans, although, they got some things wrong about us. Anyway…" she passed her sleeved hand over her face and suddenly her features and hair changed to that of Sheena's, startling Colette. Even the aura was identical to the ninja's, more than the Niurma could have ever mimicked. "You probably already know what I am, right?" Reriki said in Sheena's voice.
Colette only nodded, producing the chakras on her hands. She had read about what kind of demon Reriki was, so she knew she had to watch out or else the demoness could take a form that would confuse her and leave her guard open for an attack.
She threw her weapons at the demoness, who only batted them away, but that gave Colette enough time to produce two more and make them float near her hands, spinning at great speed as she threw them at Reriki. The demoness avoided the chakras and threw seal cards on the Keeper of Terra's Oath, Colette jumped, but in that moment the seals suddenly changed directions in mid-flight and adhered to her body.
The blonde looked back at Reriki and saw her features were back to their blank state. But when the demoness was about to cast a spell the two spinning chakras Colette had thrown before came back and started slicing at her back, breaking her concentration enough so Colette could peel the seals off and destroy them with a quick charge of her power.
Reriki suddenly seemed to shift on her place, like she was an image in a monitor suffering interference, which allowed the chakras to pass through her and fly back to Colette, who caught them effortlessly. However, Reriki suddenly teleported and reappeared near Colette, thrusting out her sleeved hand. A tire of seals came out as Colette narrowly dodged, being cut by the tire as Reriki manipulated it as if it was a whip. The reincarnated Gnome put her arms up in defense against the blows.
Meanwhile, Presea, Zelos, Raine and Regal were trying to fight Reriki's summons off, but were interrupted form time to time by Genis' spells, which they narrowly dodged. The dragon showed a great resistance to magic even when Regal redirected its attacks back. Raine tried to get the water to reach the dragon, but she still didn't have enough control over her magic, so it simply dodged in the air.
Presea was occupied by the armor as it seemed immune to any of her dark waves. She then turned to look at Colette and saw the girl being blow back by Reriki. At that, the pink haired woman abandoned her fight and zeroed on Reriki. Nobody would dare to hurt Colette in front of Presea and get away with it.
The reincarnated Shadow jumped and delivered a powerful kick at the demoness, but it was caught in the last instant by the sleeved arm of the blank mask demon. Presea then used the arm as leverage to jump in the air and threw her ax, this time managing to hit Reriki's arm and embedding the weapon on it.
The demoness backed away, but Presea followed and attacked, leaving trails of darkness with the intent to suck the energies of that spiritual demon dry. However, she stopped when Reriki's face suddenly became that of Alicia. Presea widened her eyes and was about to ask what her sister was doing here when she was attacked from behind by the samurai armor, which left a cut made of light on the back of the Warrior of the Deep Abyss.
Turning, Presea saw the armor was about to behead her, but a spinning chakra took the living armor's helmet off first. Although it still lived, it couldn't see where its target was anymore, giving Presea the chance to sidestep the attack. Another chakra flew and pierced through the armor followed by a cry of "Shrapnel". The chakra inside the armor exploded in several small, metal kunai with the strength of a cannon shot, piercing the summon inside out. The armor disintegrated before even falling to the floor.
Presea was about to thank Colette for the help, but Reriki attacked her while she was distracted, using a variant of Sheena's Demon Seal. A Spread spell was also casted and the Warrior of the Dark Abyss was thrown in the air. Colette tried to go and help her, but Reriki quickly made hand sings and suddenly a glowing character appeared under Colette's feet releasing chaos energy on her and a pulse wave that threw the Keeper of Terra's Oath away.
Meanwhile, Zelos was avoiding Rahishi's attacks, heated sword beams that she launched at him, but the red head soon found out he was quite good at flying. However, his ice magic was proving to be useless, as the ice he summoned was sublimated in contact with the air around the demoness.
As long as she can't reach me, I'll be good to… Zelos though, until Rahishi crouched, putting a hand in the ground, and the air around her ignited.
"Flare Shot!" the demoness then jumped, turning her whole body into a flaming projectile, her sword aiming for Zelos.
Oh, c'mon! You've gotta be kidding me!
Zelos tried to dodge, but suddenly Rahishi's speed increased to that of an arrow, reaching Zelos and slashing at him. The air around the Knight of the Frigid Glory also burned his body, making him scream out in pain. Rahishi then dropped to the floor and that was when Zelos saw a chance to attack:
"Absolute!" when Rahishi landed, she was immediately encased in an iceberg, but even that soon started melting. The demoness broke out of the ice formation by igniting the air around her again. "No effect huh?" Zelos then summoned an ice lance and hurled it at the demoness, The lance glowed with the reincarnated Celsius' power, but Rahishi dissolved it into vapor with one of her Heat Blades.
Zelos was about to attack again, but sensed something coming at him from his left and quickly flew back, just in time to avoid an Air Blade spell. He turned and saw Genis there, his wind orb held by his right hand as he smiled.
Deciding to take out the Desian General first, Zelos flew to him, only to have his path blocked by Reriki, who made several hand signals and murmured something in demonic that the Knight of Frigid Glory didn't understand. It was then he suddenly reverted back to human form.
"What th… WHOA!" Zelos let out seconds before gravity took control and he dropped to the frozen lake. He was saved from being smashed onto the ice by Regal, who saw the whole thing and jumped, grabbing Zelos in the air as he fell. "Thanks pal."
"Don't mention it," Regal said putting the reincarnated Celsius on the ground. "Why did you turn off your Spirit form?"
"I would like to know that too."
It hadn't been Zelos' intention and he felt like his powers weren't sealed as in the first time they battled against Genis' aides, this was something different. He could also feel the agitation from Seles, although his sister tried to stay quiet for him to concentrate on the battle.
Meanwhile, Marta used Typhoon Saw on the dragon, but the cuts didn't seem to make much of an effect, except by angering the summon. Emil tried to launch Dark Fangs at it, but the attacks were also ineffective. Genis also threw spells at the two, showing that he wouldn't let things go as easily as before.
Summoning any monsters won't do us any good. Genis already showed he can pretty much destroy anything we throw at him in one spell. Emil thought. And with Ratatosk suddenly missing…
Genis then snapped his fingers and his two aides immediately abandoned their fights to jump/teleport to his side. The Desian General looked down on the party as the serpent-dragon Reriki summoned floated behind him. With a quick wave of his hand, the fire orb came forth and he grabbed it as it glowed a ruby-red.
"Explosion!" the group looked up and at seeing the great fireball of concentrated power, they dispersed, leaving it to hit the ice. However, that was what the young-looking Desian wanted. "Tidal Wave!" the water orb shone as Genis brought it forth, his open palm inches away from it.
A torrential flood came from the ice bridge below, catching Colette, Zelos and even Raine, who couldn't counter the spell in time off guard. Marta put her hands out and produced two strong gales that managed to hold back the magical tsunami. Even so, the strain to stand up against Genis' spell was taking everything she had. Emil summoned two frog monsters that dived into the wave and took the three that had been caught by it out. They cough as they tried to take huge breaths of air.
Presea used her transformation technique and made dark wings grow on her back again, going after Genis. Rahihsi tried to stop her, extending the reach of her fire blade and swinging the weapon at her. The reincarnated Shadow avoided it and threw her ax at the Desian General, who jumped to the dragon's head as it let out a lightning blast, but the weapon cut through it.
Suddenly, the Warrior of the Deep Abyss flew in high-speed at them, taking her ax back and slashing at the dragon's jaw, cutting the left side of its mouth off. The summon roared in pain and rage and Reriki had to teleport Genis out of there as the beast went berserk, blinded by the pain.
Regal took that chance to call the summon's attention by throwing lightning spheres at it. It didn't hurt it, but, as he predicted, the monster turned to him and flew at the Thunder's Apprentice. Pulling his fist back, Regal calculated his timing and threw a punch right when the dragon was upon him, hitting the summon's head and making the skull cave in. The reincarnated Volt didn't even need to charge his fist due to his natural strength being enhanced in Spirit form. The dragon hit the floor and skidded on the ice while dissolving into light.
Meanwhile, Zelos and Raine combined their magic to raise a water column from the lake and drop it on Rahishi, who was busy with Marta and defending from Colette's long-ranged attacks. The demoness looked up in time to see the water column being solidified and land with a "CRASH" on her. Presea charged her hand axes with darkness and approached the ice column as it was cracking and evaporating under Rahishi's infernal aura.
"Beast's Maw!" Presea unleashed her attack right when Rahishi freed herself, the air around her axes being coated with darkness that took the shape of two monstrous rows of teeth that closed on the demoness.
Colette followed up, throwing her Spinning Wheel on the demoness, but the metal soon melted away under the incredible heat that emanated from Rahishi's aura. Even so, she didn't let that stop her from throwing a Triple Ray Satellite on Rahishi with all her strength, hitting the aide on the stomach, head and right leg, making her kneel.
Suddenly, Colette, Marta and Raine felt as if they were being suspended from the floor. Looking down they saw strange characters under them. Another then appeared floating over the middle of the lake, where the ice had being broken before. The three then felt something pulling them to it with incredible strength. They could hear Reriki speaking the name of a spell:
"Gravity Mark!" when the three collided with each other on the mark, they were immediately pulled downwards, like gravity on them had increased a thousand fold, making them dive into the freezing waters.
Presea saw that and ran, jumping in the water to save the three, not seeming even bothered by the freezing temperatures, while the rest of the group turned to Genis and Reriki. The silver haired Desian only smiled as he spoke:
"Reriki, Unison Spell 3!"
"Yes, Master Genis!" the mask demoness complied.
Regal and the others tried to shoot elemental blasts against Genis, but he simply brought his dark orb up and several of Reriki's seal cards surrounded it. The symbols shone with a purple light and dark energy seemed to expand from the orb and reach the cards flying around it. That happened in a matter of seconds as the blasts were absorbed by the dark mass that shot to the air and the group suddenly felt themselves being pulled to it, even the ice shards, the air itself and light seemed to be sucked by the sphere of darkness.
"Dark Vortex!" Genis and Reriki empowered it more and the reincarnated Summon Spirits on the ground were pulled to the dark hole. Thankfully, their powers negated any fatal effects from the spell, but it still attacked them with powerful charges of darkness. R
ahishi, which like her General and Reriki, wasn't affected by the spell, passed her fingers on her blade, extending it with fire and jumped, grabbing the hilt of her sword with both hands as its blade was now long enough to reach the group without her touching the dark mass.
"Flare Edge!" Rahishi swung her blade and it passed through the dark mass as if it were made of water. Once it made contact with the reincarnated Summon Spirits, all the accumulated energy quickly gathered at the point where the edge entered in contact with their bodies and released a great, flaring explosion right when the Dark Vortex was dispelled. Rahishi landed on one knee and with one hand on the ground as Emil and the others crashed on the ice with a heavy "THUD".
Water then exploded upwards as Presea was back, shadows carrying the other girls to the edge of the frozen surface as the Warrior of the Dark Abyss "dived" on the ground, going for Genis.
"Oh no. I won't fall for that!" the Desian General timed it and brought his light orb forth, grabbing it with his right hand. He then thrust his arm into the black hole, adjusting his aura to allow his body access to it in a blink of an eye. "Shimmering Lights!" several flashes of light emanated from the black hole as explosions could be heard.
Colette looked up and her eyes widened when she saw Genis taking his hand out of the black hole and signal Reriki, who threw her card-whip into it and fished Presea out. The woman seemed stunned as she was thrown on the ground and Reriki teleported near her. The blank-faced demoness hit Presea's body several times with her sleeved hands in blinking speeds. When she was done, she turned and raised her hand:
"Demon King's Cry!" several symbols appeared over Presea's body where Reriki`s hits connected, an impact wave emanating from each and everyone of them, Presea feeling like she had been hit by Yggdrasil in several different parts of her body at the same time. She didn't even had the time to scream before she was rocketed backwards and slammed on the rock wall of the temple, leaving an impact crater on it and raising dust.
"PRESEA!" Colette got up and tried to run to her crush, but her path was blocked by Rahishi. Colette tried to punch her out of the way with all her strength, but the demoness caught her fist, not even budging an inch.
Rahishi then kicked Colette upwards, sending her airborne. The demoness then inverted the grip on her sword and charged it with her infernal flames:
"Salamander's Roulette!" she jumped and swung her blade, letting it go when Colette was falling. The blade became a wheel of flames and it rammed on Colette, pushing her back as it ate away her defenses. The wheel ended up exploding and throwing the blonde back, reverting to her human form as Rahishi reformed her sword.
Lighting and ice hit the demoness' back. She turned to see Regal and Zelos had got up, though they were panting in exhaustion. That was when a Cyclone spell hit them both, followed by being frozen in two Absolute spells in mid air.
"Reriki! Rahishi!" at his call, the demonesses ran to Genis' side again. "Attack formation Incinera, now!"
Both demonesses nodded at their General's command and Rahishi jumped back while Reriki made several hand sings and seal cards came out of her back, forming the card halo she had on her normal form, the characters glowing with soft colors. Rahishi then ran forward, the air around her igniting as her blade became involved in a crimson light.
Reriki then pointed her palm forward to Rahishi. The seal cards shot out from around her and joined around the fire demoness. The paper seals were incinerated, but their glowing symbols remained, seeming to ignite in the presence of the fire demon.
"Fire King's Charge!" both demonesses proclaimed as replicas of Rahishi's flame blade came out of the symbols, when she held her blade with her two hands and pointed it forward. Her target was Marta, who could only look in horror as Genis and his aides systematically defeated all of her friends and now came to finish her off.
She tried summoning a fierce gale and sent her wind spinners on Rahishi, but even those seemed to burn up before reaching the demoness. Her aura simply burned everything that stood in the way of her charge.
"NO!" Emil finally managed to stand and tried to run to brunette, desiring above everything to be there to defend Marta.
He felt time slowing around him as the space seemed to constrict and spit him back right in front of Marta. He didn't care if he got killed. He would use all of his power to save her. Unnoticed to the blonde, his sword ignited in bright, multicolored flames as he brought it up. Marta yelled his name, trying to get him out of there, but Emil had already decided.
"DESTROYER'S SONG!" he brought his blade down right when he could feel the heat intensifying. The blade of multicolored flames met with the crimson ones that had all extended, their tips joining in an arrow formation as they pointed right at the blonde, ready to pierce him.
To everybody's surprise, Emil's blade stopped Rahishi's charge, releasing a show of multicolored sparks and wind as the two powers tried to overcome one another. Rahishi's fiery aura tried to devour Emil, but his own aura was pushing it back. The members of the party that had reverted back to their human form got up and looked at Emil they could see some kind of colorful light emanating from his body.
When the clash between the two attacks finally reached its peak, a giant explosion took place. Rahishi came out of the flames with a great backflip that made her land near Genis and Reriki. The fighting had completely stopped as all combatants only looked at the smoke cloud resultant of the violent reaction between the two powers.
Then, when the smoke cleared, they all gasped at seeing Emil standing there, completely unscathed. However, his body was surrounded by a multicolored hue. The blonde panted as he glared at Genis.
The expression of the young-looking Desian then morphed from shock to one of fascination and comprehension as he chuckled, his malicious smile coming back in place. Genis mumbled:
"I see…"
Suddenly, Emil disappeared again and, in a second, Genis shouted for Reriki and Rahishi to get back as he ran in front of them, bringing one of his orbs up and stopped Emil's blade as it came down when the reincarnated Lord of the Monsters appeared out of thin air near the trio.
The entire party gasped at seeing that. Genis grunted, but soon a grin came to his face and his eyes gleamed in wonderment as he looked at Emil:
"I knew it!" a second later, the other orbs arranged themselves in a circle, with the one defending Genis on the center. "Elementum Cannon!" the beam of high-powered, elemental power roared, engulfing Emil's figure as it shot across the temple and hit the opposite wall, exploding and shaking the entire cave.
"EMIL!" Marta cried as she and the others turned to where the beam had hit. She had tears in her eyes as she couldn't see a trace of him.
"Look!" Presea spoke.
The entire group turned to her and looked at the direction she was pointing. They turned and saw Emil in the middle of the lake, still with that multicolored aura involving his entire body. Marta didn't know if she should be shocked or relieved.
Genis laughed at that development. Even his aides looked at him in confusion, for the two were sure the Lord of Monsters had been undone by that attack. The silver haired Desian only said:
"That clever bastard… teleported right when I shot. And this! There is only one explanation for this!" Genis' tone was disturbing most of the group, even Raine was starting to get uneasy with the way her brother spoke.
Emil positioned himself in a familiar stance; a stance that his other self used. His aura slowly started to converge to his sword as it seemed to gather power, wind picking up around Emil.
"That's…" Raine let out.
"But, wasn't it Ratatosk's… ?" Colette let out.
"It's… stronger… stronger than before…" was all Marta could say as she felt the power Emil was gathering.
"This power is…" Rahishi let out, her mouth hanging open. She had heard the stories, but she never thought she would get the chance to witness it first-hand.
"That's right," Genis said, his grin and eyes as wide as they could be. "This is the true power of the legendary Arte that is said to be capable to destroy entire legions of demons. This is it!" Genis' tone was one of utter joy, like this was the single most expected moment in his life.
"Ain… Soph… AUR!" Emil swung his sword and what it unleashed was unlike the lesser versions of the Mystic Arte. A wide wave of multicolored flames came out, devouring everything on its path. Even the ice and the water seemed to be consumed by it as they simply disappeared.
Genis, however, wasn't intimidated by it in the least as he simply put up his orbs and they stopped the attack. However, the sheer pressure of the wave of all-encompassing, spiritual energy made wind blow at his face and push him back. His aides felt fear for their General as the orbs seemed to start to cry in protest as they tried to hold back the giant wave of destructive energy that easily blocked the view of the trio from the group on the other side.
Even though he had to struggle to keep it back, his mind worked in overload. Genis couldn't help, but laugh. Because his theories had been confirmed.
"There isn't two beings with such similar auras, it's completely impossible!" he said in a joyful tone while his mind quickly worked on gathering all of his power and his orbs shined like eight, tiny suns. He never had to channel so much power through them, but if he was expected to come out alive from this, it had to be done. "The answer is only one!"
Emil and the others could hear the magic fanatic and they found his words disturbing in how convinced he sounded. Genis then spoke:
"There was never an Emil! You are… and always were… Ratatosk! ETERNAL RECURRENCE!"
To everybody's shock, good part of the wave of multicolored flames had the eight orbs sliding around it as it reverted direction and colors. The rest, however, hit Genis full on, his clothes were burned from the flames and his power completely drained. The Desian General still had a wide grin on his face even as he fell backwards and his aides rushed to stop him from hitting the floor.
Emil could only look in shock as the giant wave of spiritual energy approached, but his mind was elsewhere, digesting what Genis had just told him.
"EMIIIILLLL!" Marta called, trying to get to him, but she wouldn't reach him in time.
Then, time stopped for the reincarnated Ratatosk…
- / - / - / - / - / - / -
He couldn't believe it.
How could he have lost?
"Urgh! How?! Even with mana in this state… my powers should…"
He looked around as he was lying on the ground. When defeated, his Centurions were forced out of his body. They appeared to be unconscious for the moment. He then looked up to the being responsible for that and saw the reproachful expression on Nebilim's face as he pointed his fire blade at his face.
"You forfeited your powers and any right you had to your control over mana the moment you entered in this deal with Apocalypse," the crimson haired, former elf said in a tone of finality. He then sighed as he brought his free hand to his face and closed his eyes, turning his head. "But I suppose that's only natural. So, who am I to lecture you?" Nebilim then opened his eyes and looked at him with a smile. "After all… spirits, humans, elves… what's the difference? In the end, we all are slaves to our feelings… my dear Traitor to the World."
With that he plunged his sword on Ratatosk's head.
"AAAAGGGHHHH! AAUGH!"
The Lord of the Monsters fell and could feel his powers leaving him, his body reverting back to its primal form, its essence; his core.
The crimson core with a butterfly-like emblem floating in the middle fell to the ground near Nebilim's feet in the exact moment the other Centurions woke up. They turned and could only look in shock at their Lord's core as Nebilim picked it up after dismissing his fire weapon.
"Lord… Ratatosk…" Ignis said in horror.
"No! Boss!" Lumen cried out while Nebilim seemed to examine the core with interest, as if he was deciding what to do with it.
"Get your filthy hands off our Lord!" Tornitrus said, seeming to dismiss his weak state and lack of powers and rammed into Nebilim when the Head of the Demonic Invasion Forces looked up and got a surprised look on his face at seeing the Centurion attacking him barehanded.
Nebilim let the core drop on his surprise and that was all it took for all of the Centurions to enter in action and quickly chant a spell. Their respective emblems appeared on their bodies as they stood and circles of light expanded from under them and Ratatosk's core.
Then came a blinding, white flash that forced Nebilim to protect his eyes. When it faded away and the former elf could look again, there was no sign of the Centurions or Ratatosk's core…
- / - / - / - / - / - / - / -
He appeared in the air and dropped to the grassy ground, staying there.
He knew he was in his core state, however his consciousness was slipping away from time to time, so he couldn't get an accurate guess as to what time it was, or how many days had it been. He couldn't even contact his Centurions or feel their presences anymore.
No doubt they had returned to their altars, reverting to their core states.
And it was all because of him…
He forced them on this. He made the pact with the Grand Demon Lord, very aware that treason was a possibility. He made them suffer…
He… betrayed them…
His servants… his Centurions…
His family…
He didn't know how long he stayed like that, only with those thoughts and feelings to keep him company. However, one day it all changed:
"Hey Lana, look. I found something."
Hands carefully picked him up from the ground…
- / - / - / - / - / - / - / -
He was brought to the House of Salvation by the couple (Lana and Reyson he had learned through their travels).
They were good people. Good simple people, who didn't have any great aspirations or desires. Simply a couple trying to get by in a world that suddenly became plagued by death and chaos.
They made he remember Martel, Mithos and Yuan.
Did the three survive?
He could at least still feel them, since he never dropped their contract with him. Knowing they were alive make him feel… relieved.
But as much as he wanted to simply stay there and spend the rest of his existence wallowing on his guilt, he couldn't. There was still something he should do. A last thing that maybe could set all of this right…
He felt a commotion.
Apparently, Lana was waiting and bearing a child and today was its birth.
However, he heard when people shook their heads as they brought the infant in the room and felt the heavy feelings on their souls. The child was born dead, even though it had a completely formed body. It simply wasn't breathing…
The doctor and nurses left the room to give the news to the couple.
Maybe he could change that…
It might be a little cruel, but… what else could he do? This was the perfect chance and besides…
He united all of what was left of his powers and made a connection with the soulless shell. He started floating and approaching it as he could feel all the bounds necessary being formed. This body would become a nice vessel.
"I will take this body as my own… but to protect myself I cannot be Ratatosk... and the world still needs a protector, a guardian for the Ginnungagap… so, from now on, I shall be someone else… I shall become… human…
"Maybe… he can become a better person… than I ever was…"
He then felt himself merging with the body. His consciousness, memories, experiences, everything was escaping him, only to come back once he was ready…
A baby's cry echoed in the room and in a matter of seconds, the medical crew was back, with Reyson right behind them.
They found a baby crying in the room. A baby with a butterfly-like mark on his chest…
- / - / - / - / - / - / -
Emil fell to his knees, his eyes wide.
He remembered…he remembered everything…
"I… then I was never…" Emil mumbled. Suddenly there was a heartbeat-like pulse and Ratatosk's voice came from him. "All of this because I…" another pulse of power and Emil spoke. "I just… wanted to…"
The group could only look astonished as Marta finally reached Emil, but the young-man had collapse from the sheer shock of his last, lost memories. Genis, meanwhile, was lying on Reriki's lap, observing. He couldn't move due to the extreme pain and the burns in multiple parts of his body, but he could see everything.
"Brilliant…" Genis said, his voice struggling a bit with the pain. Reriki and Rahishi looked at him. "He used his own aura as a shield to cancel the spell… even when I inverted the wavelength of the magic, he still cancelled it."
Raine finally got over her stupor and healed them, but that wasn't enough to wake Emil up or give them back their forces. Even so they ran to their unconscious friend.
"My General, what should we do?" Rahishi asked, looking at Genis.
He cough, but soon smiled as he looked at her:
"We still have our orders… don't we?
The reincarnated Summon Spirits seemed to hear that for they looked up in time to see the demoness known as the Sun's Blade nod and raise her sword. They would all be killed if she attacked.
It was then that the entire cave started to shake, startling all of them. Rahishi looked around and Genis wondered why that earthquake seemed strangely… he looked and saw Colette standing, her body seeming to glow with a yellow aura.
In the other side of the lake, the party tried to get a footing as the entire temple was shaking. Marta looked at Colette when she realized the blonde was the one doing that.
"Colette?" Marta let out.
"Quick! Get out of here! I don't know how long I can keep this up!" she said as she was touching one of the rocks jutting out of the lake.
The group decided to simply comply and ran, but Presea stayed behind, decided to stay with Colette. Regal saw that and told the others to continue on, going back for the two girls. In that moment, Colette sent out all of her power into the earth and made the earthquake intensify, so much that Rahishi fell, not being accustomed to fight with such an environmental disadvantage.
"You did enough. Let's go!" Regal said while grabbed the two girl's hands and using his remaining powers to make a high jump to the exit of the cave. The three then left running.
Still with Genis on her lap, Reriki quickly made a chant as the ceiling collapsed and came down on them…
- / - / - / - / - / - / - / -
Outside of the temple, large clouds of dust rose as an entire section of the mountains near the Temple of Ice seemed to collapse.
Then a great rumble sounded and earth and dirt exploded upwards as a giant, eight-headed dragon came out from the debris. It stopped, hovering in the skies, on its back was Genis and his two aides. The Desian General was being carried in Reriki's back, looking like he would collapse at any minute.
"Where are they?!" Rahishi practically roared. She would make those Summon Spirits pay for hurting her General like that.
"I can't see them on this storm," Reriki said. "But why?"
The snow storm seemed to have reached the temple and even amplified. You could barely see your own hand amidst the winds and the whiteness in the air. Genis mumbled in pain and spoke:
"It's… magical in nature… they are covering… their tracks…"
"My General," Rahishi said, looking at him, but taking care not to touch him. In this form, the air around her was still hot even with this snow storm raging around them and her touch could easily give any mortal serious burns.
"Let's go back…" he said, although his command sounded weak. "At least… we now know… why Ratatosk… took that disguise…"
Reriki and Rahishi could only wonder what their general meant by that…
End of Act IV