This chapter is slightly shorter than usual, but I hope that there is enough action to make up for the lack of length.
"Stupid Kamito, stupid blade dance." Claire grumbled as she cut down another swath of brush with her fire whip. "Who put him in charge anyway?"
"Meow?" Scarlett mewed questioningly.
"I know he divided the tasks logically, but that's not the point." Claire responded.
"Mew?"
"Why her? Why only spirits? Doesn't he know that there are others that care for him too? Other that want to be cared for?" The redhead mumbled to herself.
Suddenly a shadow blotted out the sun. Surprised, Claire turned quickly to see a large dragon descending on her. Jumping to her left to avoid a fireball, Claire called for Scarlett. "Greetings Claire Rouge, or should I say; Claire Elstein, sister of the Calamity Queen. I am Yuri El Cid and I am here for your magic stone." A young woman called from the back of the dragon.
Line Break
Velsaria was busy setting traps along the perimeter of their planned stronghold while Fianna worked on the ritual dance required to set up the magical barriers. Velsaria stiffened and prepared to call on her spirit when she heard a rustling in the brush. She relaxed slightly when she saw her sister emerge and start walking her way. "Ellis, is there something wrong?" Velsaria asked when she saw a perplexed look on her sister's face.
"I'm not sure. The wind spirits are restless, but I cannot find a reason." Ellis mentioned.
"Perhaps it is because of skirmishes taking place due to the blade dance." Velsaria pointed out.
"Maybe….I'm going to go see if Claire needs some help." Ellis said still bothered by the anxiety she felt from the wind spirits. A sudden explosion caught everyone's attention.
"That was from the direction Claire went!" Ellis exclaimed.
"Come on, let's go!" Velsaria directed as she summoned her spirit, Dreadnaught.
"You're not going anywhere." A voice called out from above them. From the brush, two ground dragons blocked their path while a flying dragon swooped in behind them. "Lady Leonora told us not to let you interfere."
Line Break
"Hello, Leonora. Good to see you again." Kamito stated cordially.
"Don't think you can talk your way out of this, Demon King of the Night. Ever since I first laid eyes on you, i have had the strangest feelings. What is this sensation? I could not discover the answer on my own, so I will discover it using my blade. Ready yourself, today I will have my answer." Leonora placed her hand on the Great Dragon, Nidhogg, transforming it into her sword, the Dragon Slayer.
"Est, you ready?" Kamito asked the demon slayer.
"Yes Kamito." Est answered. 'Let's see if you are deserving of being by Kamito's side.' Est left unsaid as she assumed her strongest form. In Kamito's hands was a hand and a half sword with a single edge that gleamed in the sun.
Leonora smiled ferociously. She held her blade at the ready as Kamito assumed a defensive stance. Time seemed to slow down in anticipation. The wind died off, it was as though even the whole of Astral Zero was holding its breath for the fight to come. Kamito smirked to match Leonora's look. In an instant, everything resumed its normal pace. The ground under Leonora's feet exploded as she launched herself at Kamito, her sword held above her head. Kamito was slightly taken aback by her speed and just managed to raise Est in time to block her heavy swing. Pushing hard, Kamito was able to create some space between himself and the dragon princess. Ducking low, he charged at her with a slash to the side which Leonora jumped over. Kamito rolled to the side to avoid the gravity enhanced swing that stuck where he was just standing creating a large crater. Kamito quickly regained his feet and held Est slightly above his head angled down so he could attack or defend equally. Leonora took her time pulling her Dragon Slayer from the ground.
"You're better than I expected, but can you keep it up I wonder." Leonora grinned. She was truly enjoying herself, it wasn't often she could find someone that could match her in a fight. Her body was tingling in anticipation, her eyes smoldering as her blood pumped adrenaline through her system. She could feel the dragon blood wanting to take over, but she resisted it. She wanted to be the one in control, to be able to claim this victory for herself. While she didn't lose herself mentally, she could feel the effect of the blood surging through her, multiplying her strength and her senses.
"I have to admit I am rather enjoying myself right now." Kamito responded. "I have not faced an opponent such as yourself in sometime."
Leonora readied herself and charged in again, swinging her sword to the side only to be blocked by Est. Kamito used Leonora's momentum to redirect her strike upward and threw a punch at her midsection. Leonora continued her swing upward and used the weight of her sword to do a backflip, kicking Kamito in the chest. Landing, she slashed at his legs. Kamito leapt over her blade and performed a front flip twisting in midair to land behind her facing her and scoring a shallow strike to her back. Leonora rolled forward avoiding most of the damage of the strike. Spinning while she was on the ground, Leonora was able to sweep Kamito's legs from under him.
"Yes! Make my blood boil! Show me my reason for existing!" Leonora shouted, finally losing herself to the effect of her blood. Kamito leapt back to avoid a wild slash.
With Claire
Claire's uniform was slightly singed and torn in several places from dodging blasts of dragonfire from Yuri's dragon spirit, Lyndwurm. Claire had quickly discovered that the dragon was impervious to her fire magic, which put her at a serious disadvantage. She noticed though that the Dracunian knight was keeping her from heading in the direction that Kamito had gone, but was not stopping her from working her way back towards the location of her team's stronghold. She figured that the other members of the dragon knights must be in that direction, but if she could meet back up with her team, they might be able to formulate a plan to counter the dragons.
Claire knew that currently her highest priority was to get Yuri on the ground some how. As long as the dragon was airborne, there was nothing Claire could do. A sudden explosion behind her caught Claire off guard. Knocked forward and stumbling to the ground, Claire had to quickly roll out of the way of another breath of dragonfire. Spitting out the short list of expletives that she knew, Claire realized why Yuri had allowed her to move towards her camp; they had placed traps in the ground to catch her unaware. Feeling rage overwhelm her, Claire didn't notice the shift in color of the flames on her waffe, or the aura of flames starting to surround her.
Yuri paused momentarily at the color shift, but not knowing what it meant, continued with her attack. She smirked as the wave of dragonfire engulfed the redheaded elementalist. 'Too easy.' Yuri thought as she descended to claim Claire's magic stone as her prize. She didn't see the arc of vermilion flames coming towards her until it was too late.
Claire couldn't understand it, but the instant she saw the incoming inferno, she stood her ground. Holding out her hand, she summoned forth a wall of vermilion flames which consumed the dragon's attack. Still in a state of shock from what she had just done, Claire looked at her hand and marveled at the beautiful red hue of the flames she helf there. Seeing a shadow descending, Claire snapped back to reality, this was the moment she had been waiting on. A quick snap of her arm sent Flametongue arcing towards its target. Feeling the whip wrap around the dragon's neck, Claire sent a wave of her new flames eliciting a scream of pain from the spirit.
Yuri tumbled to the ground as her contracted spirit fell from the sky. Slightly dazed from the fall, yuri saw something that she didn't think was possible; a severe burn around her spirit's neck. Placing her hand on the dragon's flank, Yuri whispered. "You did good, Lyndwurm. Please, lend me your strength for just a little longer. I'll make that bitch pay for causing you pain." Lyndwurm started to glow and when the light faded, Yuri was holding a long shaft in her hands with a large intricately designed blade at one end and a small dragon's head at the other.
"You surprised me, Claire Elstein. But that will not happen again. Meet Lyndwurm's waffe, Flamecleaver." Yuri spun her halberd expertly around to hold it in a ready stance, heat emanating from the blade creating a shimmer as it moved.
Claire could feel her divine power draining quickly, her new form taxing her greatly. She knew she had to end this soon or she would be done for.
With Velsaria, Ellis, and Fianna
"Tsch." Velsaria considered their position. Fianna was not much of a combatant, leaving her and Ellis to hold off the three dragons. By catching them in a pincer move, the Knights of the Dragon Emperor held the advantage. "Ellis! Use your waffe to hold off those ground dragons. Fianna, can you persuade the wind spirits to assist us with this flying dragon?" Velsaria took command as she landed Dreadnaught on the ground.
"Got it!" Ellis confirmed summoning Ray Hawk.
"I'll see what I can do." Fianna answered as she retrieved a ceremonial fan from her waistband.
"Go forth and rampage!" Ellis shouted, launching a myriad of wind blades at the two dragons on the ground. She knew that she would not be able to hold them off for long by herself, she just had to hope she could last long enough for help to arrive.
Velsaria kept up a constant volley of blasts at the airborne dragon to keep it off balance until Fianna was able to complete her dance. Looking at her sister, Velsaria could tell Ellis was struggling to keep the other two dragons at bay. "Ellis! Switch with me!"
"Got it aneue!" Ellis slid under the hulking form of Velsaria's Dreadnaught, using her Ray Hawk to vault into the air. "Oh Wind, sweep away mine enemies: Wind Bombs!" Ellis incanted, gathering a mass of wind one the tip of her spear and launching it at the airborne dragon and its rider. The large ball of air split into many smaller, fist sized balls as it approached its target. The Dragon rider smirked confidently, how could these small spheres do anything if the myriad of cannon blasts from Velsaria were ineffective. The Dracunian knight was taken off guard when the blasts from the scattered spheres blew her clean off her mount. She landed hard on the ground, her vision swimming from having the wind knocked out of her lungs by the impact. Her dragon fell nearby, disoriented by the overpressure of the wind bombs.
Velsaria barely noticed the damage done by her sister as she engaged the two dragons on the ground. The right arm of her spirit had morphed into a lance and she was able to hold her ground while Fianna performed her ritual.
"Velsaria, Ellis! Find something to anchor to!" Fianna called out as she finished her spell. Quickly grabbing onto a clump of trees, Fianna secured herself with her sash. Feeling the wind starting to pick up, Ellis stabbed her spear into the ground, managing to strike a root and used wind magic to bind herself to her spear. Velsaria used her natural earth affinity to anchor herself to the ground, a task made easier by the fact that Dreadnaught was a fortress type spirit. The dragon riders were not as fortunate, the fallen flying dragon and rider being blown away by the sudden gale and her team mates struggling to keep hold of their mounts. As the wind died down, the dragon knights knew that they were in a bad position.
"Fall back and regroup!" The rider of the flying dragon ordered as she climbed to her perch on her dragon. Taking to the air, she tried to assess the situation. Using hand signals she directed the other two to try and circle around to attack Team Dark Tides' flanks.
Velsaria saw the two ground dragons splitting up and knew they were going to try a three pronged attack. "Ellis, watch your right! One is trying to circle around that way!" Velsaria warned as she tracked the one circling towards Fianna. Fianna, we're going to have to use that."
"Are you sure, it's still just the first day and besides, Kamito isn't around to see it." Fianna whined.
"Would you rather explain to him why you lost your magic stone?" Velsaria snapped.
"Fine, I got it." Fianna huffed. Closing her eyes and holding her arms out, Fianna started. ""Thou, servant of the king of the child of man, knight and master swordsman, Thou shalt be my sword, thou shalt be my shield, with unlimited towering light, purify and exorcise those belonging to darkness. Its appellation reads thus, Save the Queen!" An ethereal silver glow emanated from the princess, a swirl of wind taking shape in her right hand and a tiara appearing on her head. As the glow died down, Fianna was holding an intricately detailed rapier in a ready stance.
'The Fallen Queen has a waffe? What powers does it have?" The knight on the flying dragon paused in her attack, hesitating at the new development.
"You have a sword?" Ellis asked incredulously.
"I may not be able to use a sword in combat, but this is the power of my waffe." Fianna said as she thrust the rapier into the ground. A glowing circle radiated from the point where she had stabbed the ground to encompass Ellis and Velsaria. Both girls could immediately feel a surge of divine power as Fianna's influence extended to them.
The leader of the attack party felt the surge in diving power coming from their targets and knew that continuing would be futile, so she ordered a hasty retreat. "You have the field this time, but we'll be the ones standing at the end of the day!" she called out as she flew in the direction of their camp.
As soon as the two ground dragons were out of sight, Fianna released her waffe and immediately collapsed on the ground breathing heavily. Ellis and Velsaria rushed to her side.
"Ellis, Kamito can handle himself, go assist Claire." Velsaria directed, assisting Fianna to her feet.
"Yes, Aneue." Ellis bowed quickly and took to the air using her flight magic in the direction Claire had been fighting.
With Claire
Yuri charged at Claire, her halberd extended in front of her aimed to pierce Claire's chest. Claire rolled to the side and snapped her whip in an attempt to snare Yuri's feet. Yuri jumped over the whip and jammed the end her halberd in the ground, allowing the whip to encircle its shaft. Using the shaft as a springboard, Yuri launched herself at Claire, trying to take the redhead's head off with a spinning kick. Claire gave her whip a tug and attempted to skewer Yuri with her own weapon. Yuri, expecting the move, ducked low, allowing her halberd to pass over her toward a slightly surprised Claire. Claire ducked as well, but didn't see the left hook that Yuri threw until it was too late. Yuri's punch connected just under Claire's ribcage, knocking the wind out of her and doubling her over. Yuri went to drop her elbow down on Claire's neck, but Claire was able to barely avoid the strike by slipping to the side.
Claire took several ragged gasps trying to catch her breath as Yuri retrieved her weapon and resumed her attack. Holding her whip bundled up, Claire waited till the last second before striking the blade of the polearm away from her and formed a fireball in her free hand, placing against Yuri's side and searing the other girl's uniform and the skin beneath. Yuri continued her swing, wincing at the pain from the burn, in a wide arc and striking Claire's back, sending the small girl sprawling on the ground
Claire rolled to the side to avoid the quickly descending axe head of the halberd and jumped back to her feet putting some distance between her and the dragon knight.
"You're better than I expected, Claire Elstein." Yuri complimented.
Claire was in trouble and she knew it. Her breathing was labored and her abdominal muscles still hurt from that divine power charged punch. Yuri charged once more just to stop in mid stride as several blades of wind crashed into the ground in front of her. Ellis landed near Claire, and after a quick check on her teammate, assumed a ready stance against Yuri.
'Tsk, looks like those three failed to defeat their targets.' Yuri grumbled in her mind.
Ellis positioned herself next to Claire. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah. Any word from Kamito?" Claire asked breathing heavy.
"Not since we split up earlier." Ellis responded.
"Let's end this quickly, he may need some help." Claire stated.
"Right." Ellis nodded with determination. "Oh Wind, Sweep away mine enemies: Wind Bombs!" Ellis swung Ray Hawk in a wide arc, dispersing several spheres of wind energy at Yuri.
"You're going to have to do better than that!" The dragon knight said confidently.
"Dance, oh crimson flame that calls upon destruction: Hell Blaze!" Claire cast the strongest spell she could, which when impacting with Ellis's wind bombs, detonated, causing a ripple effect. Yuri was slammed on all sides by the flames and overpressure, her body obscured by smoke and dust.
"Think we got her?" Ellis asked.
"I hope so, I'm almost on empty." Claire admitted.
As the dust cleared, they could see Yuri still standing, albeit with the help of her waffe. Her uniform was in tatters, bare skin visible in the absence of undergarments. Breathing heavily, Yuri stood tall and started spinning her halberd over her head. "I had hope to save this for the finals, but your two have forced my hand."
With Kamito
Leonora charged at Kamito bringing her sword down in an overhead swing. Kamito stepped in closer and blocked the swing with Est and was almost taken off guard when a narrow beam of energy shot at him from the pummel of her waffe. The beam seared through the sleeve of his uniform, just grazing the skin leaving a burn. Pouring divine energy into her Dragon Slayer, Leonora attempted to overpower the young demon king. Kamito could actually fee his arm tremble from exertion trying to hold her off. If the situation were not so intense, he would have admired her strength. He could feel himself being overwhelmed by the dark powers of the sixth elemental lord as they reacted to Leonora's spiritual pressure. Kamito shook his head a few times to try and maintain control and pivoted out of the way of Leonora's blade as it crashed into the ground causing her to overbalance slightly.
Darkness was clouding Kamito's vision and he could feel his control slipping when a small hand cupped his cheek. Looking down, Est had taken her human form and was staring at him, concern in her eyes. Seeing her looking at him like that made him pause.
At that same moment the seal over his heart glowed and kamito could hear Iseria's voice. "Take control over the power, don't let it control you. Just as you are the new Demon King, make this power your own."
Kamito smiled. "Thank you Iseria." Opening his eyes, he smiled at Est. "Thank you Est, for everything. Now what do you say we end this?"
"Yes Kamito." Est responded in her monotone, but he could see a light dusting of pink on her cheeks.
"Twin fangs!" Est took the form of the twin swords. "Hado 11: Tsuzuri Raiden!" Electricity arced along both blades as Kamito sprang toward Leonora. She was able to dodge the first couple of slashes, but a lucky graze was enough to stun her long enough for Kamito to strike the back of her neck with the flat of his blade, knocking her temporarily unconscious. As soon as kamito confirmed that Leonora was incapacitated and that she was not seriously injured from the attack, Est resumed her human form as Kamito gently lifted Leonora's body off the hard battle worn ground and carried her to the tree line where he propped her against the trunk of a tree. A few moments later, the dragon princess opened her eyes and was shocked to find Kamito and Est standing guard over her a few feet away.
"Why?" Leonora asked.
"Why what?" Kamito asked in return.
"Why didn't you take my magic stone and eliminate me from the competition?"
"Because I enjoyed our fight, and out of respect for your abilities, would like a rematch. Let us continue this another time, I want to battle you at your best, not under the influence of your dragon blood." Kamito offered a hand to Leonora, who accepted after a moment's hesitation. The moment their hands touched, Kamito had a vision of Leonora in ceremonial garb standing in front of a shrine that he didn't recognize. Shaking his head, he decided that consider what that meant later.
"I will retreat for now, but remember, you owe me a fight so don't go getting eliminated before then." Leonora picked up her Dragon Slayer which morphed back into the dragon, Nidhogg.
"I'll be sure to remember that." Kamito assured as she took flight and retreated.
With Claire and Ellis
Yuri stopped preparing her attack, standing stunned for a moment. "Lady Leonora….lost?" Knowing that she stood no chance against the combined might of Team Dark Tides alone, she decided to retreat and regroup with her team. Tossing Flamecleaver into the air, the halberd changed back into Lyndwurm and swooped down to pick up its master. Yuri leapt into the air and landed on her perch at the base of the dragon's neck as it took to the skies in the direction of their base.
"It's over." Claire sighed as she collapsed to the ground. The fight had taken a serious toll on her, but she held her head proud. She had used the true flames of the Elstein's, the End of Vermilion.
"We should head back to the stronghold, I'm sure Kamito will join us there soon." Ellis insisted, assisting Claire to her feet.
"Yes, let's go." Claire agreed, looking forward to getting some rest.
That's the end of Chapter 14. This was actually an interesting chapter to write, I hope it was just as enjoyable to read. Next chapter will involve battles between several more teams as well as having a few unforeseen turns. Thank you for reading and have a good day.