~Chapter 90: The Battle's Just Beginning~
As Chung launched himself into the air with his Destroyer, he dodged a flying knife that came out of nowhere. He growled softly as he turned his head to his mysterious attacker. Honey colored hair with tints of dark walnut highlights tied in two pig tails with a beanie over her head and delicate fingers holding several knives.
"Luichel~ Nice to meet you, Prince of Hamel. I never expected to meet my Princess's boyfriend. Lucky! I wish she was here to witness your death..."
"... Luichel? Eve is alive, isn't she? Where is she?"
Landing on his feet, he slipped his armored mask on, holding his Destroyer upward, positioning himself in Seige mode. Luichel giggled, sitting on a fallen piece of the ceiling with her legs crossed. Her amber eyes glowed as she hummed softly before answering Chung's answer before he snapped.
"That's right, she's alive. From what I heard, Oberon and Ophelia rescued her before the ruins fell on her. Thus, she was brought back to Altera and stayed there for a while until... She requested to come to Hamel. Luckily, she left before we launched an attack. Did you have fun with her?"
A heavy blush crawled on his face when the memories resurfaced at Luichel's last words, but luckily his mask covered it. Luichel smirked at his silence and threw knives as his guard was down for a split second. Fortunately, Chung deflected the knives with his Destroyer.
"I'll take that as a yes. Although, I'm not sure what kind of fun you had. Oh yes.. I heard that one of you have gone missing. By any chance.. Is her name... Aisha?"
"...! What have you done to her?!"
"Nothing~ It was her fault to begin with. All by herself, she-"
"Luichel. You shouldn't let out information to the enemy so carelessly. What would you do if the enemy get the upper hand on you and decide to counterattack?"
A voice came from behind Chung as an incoming blade came flying towards his head. Evading the blade, he did a quick somersault, retreating away from the mysterious person. As the person stepped out with a hand running through their sky blue hair, their serious royal blue eyes left no words to be said.
"Vanessa!"
"I knew you would be running your mouth off again."
"You're mean! I was just being generous! It would be mean of me to keep such information to the Prince of Hamel, the boyfriend of our Princess!"
"That's why you're naive."
Chung stared at Vanessa with wide eyes and many questions were formed in his head. On Vanessa's armored clothes was the sign of Velder.
'Vanessa, "Iron Lady" of Velder. Why is she on Altera's side? From what I remember, Velder still hasn't recovered from the previous battle with Hamel.. At the end of the battle, Velder signed the Treaty of Peace, going into an alliance with Hamel. Altera is Hamel's enemy, then... Why is one of the generals working for Altera?'
"Prince of Hamel. Please forgive me for my ignorance. As you already know, I'm Vanessa, one of the generals of Velder's army. From our previous battle, I am unsatisfied with the outcome. I was disappointed in my kingdom's decision on making the alliance. However, Velder is my one and only home. I could never bear leaving Velder while it's in its current weakened state."
"So, in public, you serve under Velder while you work under Altera in secret."
"That's right. This time, I shall crush Hamel. Hamel will cease to exist, leaving behind no one of its heritage."
"Hey! Don't ignore me!"
Chung's head turned to the side, his eyes widening at the sight of Luichel kicking him to a wall. The ceiling soon fell on him as Vanessa approached him. A spear was thrust towards Vanessa, stopping her from getting closer to Chung. Ara jabbed her elbow into Luichel's stomach before grabbing her spear, standing in a defensive position.
"Chung, are you alright?"
"Y-Yeah.. I have my Freiturnier protecting me."
Chung pushed himself from the rubble, proving himself to be fine despite being crushed by the heavy pieces of the ceiling. Vanessa cursed silently under her breath as she pulled Luichel up. Luichel wiped the corners of her mouth, glaring at the newcomer. Ara smiled as she dig her heels into the ground, ready to attack as Chung prepared an attack while being in Seige mode.
"Seige Shelling."
"Tempest Dance."
Bending down as Noel pressed down on his hands before violently spinning with his legs outstretched, kicking Elsword and Raven away from him. Before his feet could reach her, Rena quickly stopped her attack, and let out a strong spin kick before doing a somersault into the air, shooting twigs of condensed energy towards Noel.
Smirking widely, Noel took out his mandolin, his right hand's fingers plucked on the strings while his left hand's fingers gracefully placed on the fingerboards. A beautiful melody came out, letting out powerful sound waves, however behind that melody and sound waves were the moving blades of wind. The blades of wind blend within the melody as it began to the create many cuts on Rena. While holding onto Erendil, Rena's hands rose, trying to block out the melody, however, she failed to do so.
'Damn it! The wind blades.. They're camouflaging within the melody. As long as I continue listening to the melody, the blades can freely cut me up, but... Something feels strange.'
Noel smiled as he continued his playing, torturing Rena, however he let his guard down. Raven pushed on his heels, slashing his blade across the mandolin. Noel showed a portion of surprise on his face before regaining his composure, and continued to play. Raven's eyes widened as the blades of wind began to cut his body up. However, a magic circle was formed below their feet. By the time Noel realized the circle, Elsword stabbed a Cornwell into the ground.
"Rage Cutter!"
The smaller version of his Cornwell spurt from the circle, damaging Noel's precious mandolin and slashed his leg, letting the blood stain the ruby metallic blade. Luckily, because of the Cornwells interfering with the sound, Rena quickly evaded the Cornwells, running up to the silver haired man with her bow and twig in hand. She smiled as she muttered a few soft words under her breath.
"Trapping Arrow."
Letting out a loud curse, the arrow pierced through his flesh, letting the blood splatter against the ground and his broken mandolin. The fallen leaves scattered across the bloodied ground, exploding a they let out a light shockwave. Noel's hand covered the small hole left behind from Rena's arrow, bringing the blood stained hand in front of him as he widely smirked.
"Blood... It's been a while since I've seen my own blood. I almost forgot how it tastes, how it looks.."
A crazed look appeared on his face, his hands reaching out for the two blades strapped to his back. The moment he unsheathed his blades, Rena could only see crimson color of blood in front of her. Elsword closed his eyes, concentrating on his other four senses. Raven dragged Rena away as he ripped a piece of his clothes, tying it around her eyes before doing so for himself. Noel launched himself towards the silent Elsword who deflected his attack, doing a spin kick to his face.
"You... Those blades have been stained with the blood of so many innocent lives... You can never wash off the blood that's stained your blades. One look at those blood stained blades and you'll be blinded by the blood's color. Using that chance, you cut them down without sparing a second thought. And those instruments.. They've been enchanted with magic, allowing you to attack with sound waves, cutting us up."
"Oh? You sure know a lot, That's right. I cannot erase my past nor can I wash away the blood that's already stained my blades, but I can erase the people that's polluting this world, preventing them from doing so any further. However, you are mistaken about one thing. My instruments.. They allow me to attack with sound waves, however it's merely blocking your five senses temporarily. It doesn't necessarily harm you, but as that girl know, there were blades behind it. However, among those blades, I only control one. In other words, you guys have been harmed by only one blade while the rest are mere illusions."
"... You're making it more complicated."
"To put it in more simpler terms, we've been allowing ourselves to be cut up by one blade while our five senses were blocked temporarily. By the time we realize the cuts on ourselves, the blade is already hiding behind the sound waves. The blade is actually moving at an insane rate where we can't catch it with just a normal glance."
Noel smiled, clapping his hands at Rena's explanation. Raven could feel a cold, eerie aura appearing in front of him. He rose his blade up, clashing with the two blades of Noel's. Noel's voice was deeper and he could feel his skin crawling at the mere sound of it.
"As expected of those from the Night Savers. Those outcasts."
His hands reached out for the cloth covering their eyes, however a certain red head tried to stop him. Noel tightened his fist, letting out his voice as it created vibrations across the walls. Elsword, Raven, and Rena had to block the loud voice from bursting their eardrums, however before they realize it, they found themselves staring into glowing red eyes.
"Those from Night Savers and allies of them shall be eliminated."
~Author's Note~
And... Once again, I've left you guys with a cliffhanger and another twist. :x However, I can see the ending coming near... OAO Anyways, I'm currently stuck on a problem, and I wonder if you guys can help me.. Should I watch Tegami Bachi? It looks interesting, but at the same time it looks boring!
By the way... I spent half of my day looking up instruments. :x The instrument you see Noel hold in his hands. I knew what it was, but I forgot the darn name. And finally.. I came to a Banjo, Fiddle, and a Mandolin. After comparing the images, Mandolin was the closest one, so.. It became his instrument. XD
Here are my replies to my generous reviewers~
sOdAPopgrl133: Hmm.. Maybe I should try it out~ After deciding on whether or not I should watch Tegami Bachi... XD I like female characters who are.. Independent. XD The dialogue between them was realistic?! O: Yay~! Well, actually Noel will be using blades and instruments. Noel likes music, so I thought "Why not make him fight with instruments?" XD Not only that, he was a former mercenary, so... It's sort of reasonable?
The Cynical Asian: *cough cough* For now... Let's forget Glaive, Eve, and Aisha. XP They won't be appearing until I say so. ;D Plan B... ;) *use Asian as a sacrifice* XD Your powers... Eh, I don't know if I should trust them or just prepare a strong security for Ignotum. XD You hate me? :P *orders the Epic NPC to assassinate The Cynical Asian* ;) Aye! 100+ chapters!
KWolf909: XD Glad to hear that. And.. There's still a war going on. Noel... Eh, let's find out more about him. :D I'm not level 60 yet. XD I'm just 2 levels away. I almost gave up at the Velder quests. Velder... To me, it's harder than Hamel. XD Don't worry~ I'm inside most of the time. XP You don't fail at life.
Awakened Hades: XD Aye! Time for the war to start now!
o0Nyu0o: XD You never knew? If you go back to the Tournaments, you can see him using BM's skills. XD Well, you could say he's working for Altera, but his heart and mind belongs to Ara. XD I'm not sure if I'll make her pregnant.. I almost never die when doing solo runs. XD Yesh, I know who you're talking about. I guess it's true about her and Chi. XD Aisha won't be appearing for a while. XP And I'm happy to hear that!
SerapicEve: He has his reasons. :3 Anyways, Glaive is definitely one of my ace. XD
Orithia WindBell: Yesh. You could say that he's one. XD Elsword has bad instincts from the start? XD Noel.. He's actually an NPC in Velder. XD I only stick him in there for reasons. Well, let's hold on to the hope that he's not going to do that. XD Temari? XD *gives you another metal fan* XD That's for Elsword. He won't be able to do anything for a bit.
Konjiki No Yami: Oh my god! I know! :3 But I love Tsuna more.. By a small, small, small margin. :x Aisha, Eve, and Glaive... They're the ones going to be in Altera. By the way... Congratulations! You're the... 1,250th reviewer! :3
kazurug21: XD Well, he has two blades strapped to his back, so.. He's bound to be able to use them. Glaive is boss. XD Rena... Let's wait and see. ;3 I'll try to surprise everyone! And thanks! I shall try my best! Good luck to you leveling!
Helringo: Aye. Ignotum have many strong people helping him. XP I see.. Well, good luck on leveling. XD You're playing the Otome game? XD Shocking! Gimme your ID or something. I'll add you. XD I'll check it out someday. XD
An0n Author: XD 4-6 hours of sleep before waking up and prepare for other stuff.. And then you get a nap? XD Just kidding. Well.. I've missed my meals too. No worries~ XD
xXHakuraXx: OAO *pokes you with Chung's Destroyer*
Spirify: XD That's alright! You reviewed this time, so it's no problem. XD Review anytime! No need to apologize. Noel seems carefree, but behind that.. Is completely different. XP Elsword is just missing his beloved.
KoraDora: I'm not sure about the Aisha's, but... They'll probably be OP. :x I don't want it to happen either. Forgetfulness.. Hmm, great idea. XD I'll try watching it someday... XP
KiyoKu: XD Yesh. Expect the unexpected. Noel's a bit... Different though.
TimeSplice: Hullo! ^o^ You finally wrote your first story! Congratulations! I still remember you. XD You whispered to me out of nowhere, but I gained a new friend~ :P Thank you for your support! And I didn't do much to inspire you, it all depends on you. :P
DerpyKanshii: :3 Thank you for your compliment! I'll try my best for the later chapters!
Thanks for reading!
(=^o^=)