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"Look, I know things are a little messed up between us with what we just did… But let's discuss about that later alright? We have a much more important issue here and we gotta beat this traitorous bastard! Is that good, Angel?!" I urge her.
She sighes and nods slowly, a rather sad look on her face. "Yeah, that's fine with me."
Velderoth grins evilly again. "Well if it isn't everybody's favourite Idol of the Battleground, the famous Angelic Buster! Shouldn't you be at some show singing to those hopeless soldiers? Whatever, so now it's a two-on-one eh? Heh, doesn't make it any more difficult, I could enjoy this fight!" He points his sword at the both of us. "Come at me with whatever you've got!" he sneers.
"Veldie… why are you doing this?" Angelic Buster whispers, only loud enough for me to hear.
Kaiser's PoV
Veldie? That's odd, only Tear and I used to call him that. How would Angel know anything about it? Damn it Kyle, now's not the time to be thinking about stuff like this! "Let's go Angel!" I shout. Together, we throw ourselves at Velderoth. We send a barrage of attacks at him. With the added firepower, Velderoth seems to be more strained and has more trouble parrying our attacks and launching his own counter-attack. Nevertheless, he still looks smug and cocky.
"Is that all you got? Come on, show me what you've got, Kyle and Miss Pink Princess!" Velderoth sneers.
"Come to your senses, Velderoth!" I yell at him. "You don't have to walk down this path! It's not too late to see the light and change your horrible ways!"
Velderoth laughs cruelly as he lashes at me. "See the light? I've made my decision, Kyle. Lord Magnus has offered me this power which I seek. I always wanted to be powerful and get credit as a great warrior. I couldn't get any of it because somebody got the title of Kaiser, sacred protector and all that! No matter how hard I worked and trained I was never good enough. All everybody talked about was Kaiser this and Kaiser that! Here I was training and training but you always stole the limelight without even working or lifting a finger!"
"You're talking absolute bullshit!" I shout at him as I slash multiple times. "Since when was it ever a competition? Did you honestly think I got where I am without my share of hardship? I've been through so much more than you have ever thought of going through, Velderoth! You don't know what it's like being me! Don't talk about things you have no clue about!"
In my fury, I raise my sword. "Inferno Breath!" I bring the sword down, unleashing a sea of flames on Velderoth. At the same time, Angelic Buster yells "Trinity!", sending the spirit of the dragon Eskalade to attack Velderoth. The combined attack seems to have worked in our favour, sending Velderoth flying backwards onto the ground. Good, I think. That surely caused some significant damage to him.
"Argh, damn it. That one caught me out…" he curses as he picks himself up "But I won't be beaten! Are you intending to halt me and my master? We're going to destroy all of you!" he says with a psychotic grin on his face.
"Veldie!" Angelic Buster shouts over the noise of the battle. Velderoth and I both turn to her. "Why are you doing this? You were our friend, it was you who was all intent on reclaiming Heliseum, becoming the greatest knight in Nova and defeating Magnus. Don't you remember the times the three of us spent together? W-why go against your own words and join him…?"
Wait, what's she talking about? 'times three of us spent together'? 'reclaiming Heliseum?' All those words sound vaguely familiar… Like a certain fond childhood memory of…
"Focus on the battle, Kaiser. No distractions!" I remind myself. I prepare my sword for another strike.
Angelic Buster's PoV
"Idiot!" Eskalade scolds me. "Are you trying to reveal your identity on purpose!"
"Well, that does seem vaguely familiar, Pinkie. You've done your research it seems. But, don't you dare bring up something like that. It was a past where I was weak. I'm way past that now! Weakness is something I won't tolerate, much less from myself." Velderoth sneers, pointing his sword at me.
Crap, I shouldn't have said that. I regretted those words as soon as they leave my mouth. That could well have exposed my identity straight away! Why did I even bring up something from our childhood! Even in this battleground, I cannot be found out to be the poor, helpless girl they call Tear. And most definitely not by Kyle or Velderoth, that's just suicide! Stupid, stupid! I scold myself. Well, I better save some face and put up a good fight now. Hopefully Kaiser doesn't find out…
"Uh, Angel, about what you just said…" Kaiser says to me.
Damn it.
"So... what were you talking about? What did you mean the times the three of us spent together? Reclaiming Heliseum? I have vague memories of that but no offence, they don't concern you at all. It involves myself, Velderoth and my friend Tear so what…"
"Uh, i-it's n-nothing! I-I just, uh, y-you know, it's u-um…" I stutter and struggle for words as I try to cook up an explanation. In my embarrassment my face flares up and is now a bright shade of red.
"Bloody fools, keep your little chat for another time! I'm not here to listen to your nonsense!" Velderoth shouts angrily.
I almost feel grateful to him for ending this awkward moment until...
Velderoth raises his sword and summons a sphere of darkness at its tip. "Time for a taste of my true powers." He launches the sphere of darkness straight at us. It hurtles towards us at incredible speed.
"No, Kyle!" I scream, pushing him out of the way. No, I won't let him get hurt.
However, my noble act has left me with no time to defend myself. I am unable to dodge or block….
"Angel! No!" Kaiser shouts out in anguish.
I am hit with full force. It is pain as I have never felt before. It feels as if every bone in my body was being broken simultaneously. I writhe on the ground and cry out in pain. Oh my GOD this is horrible. Am I dying? It certainly feels like it. Over the sounds of my agonized screams I can hear Velderoth laughing and Kaiser crying out in anguish. Well at least Kyle's safe, I tell myself.
Slowly, I feel my power draining. It's as if my Soul Battery was being sucked out completely. "Crap, I'm losing you, sweetheart! I won't be able to hold out much longer either!" Eskalade says in my head. I feel my breathing slowing down. Eskalade's power has almost completely left my body. Am I dying? This feels rather strange for dying. I once heard that it was peaceful and soothing, much like falling into an eternal sleep. Well, this was anything but.
With my Soul Battery and Eskalade's power drained, I feel my body becoming lighter. The Angelic Buster outfit slowly fades away to my normal, plain clothing. The pink hair fades to brown and…
Oh no.
And everything went black.
Kaiser's PoV
"T...Tear?" I whisper quietly.
Velderoth takes a step back, or rather stumbles. His mouth falls open and he drops his sword to the floor. "T-Tear? W-what in the world? B-But how? What's the meaning of this!"
To say I was shocked myself would be a great understatement. Nothing could accurately describe my feelings to seeing Angelic Buster change into Tear. A mixture of shock, disbelief and oddly, melancholy. I have the same thought as Velderoth running through my head. "What's the meaning of this?" I question myself.
A glance at Velderoth tells me he's just as shocked as I am. His sword has dropped to the floor and he seems to be in a trance. His guard is down… wait.
Hey! Now's my chance!
"You're wide open!" I yell as I charge at Velderoth. "Gigas Wave! Blade Burst!" I send a whole barrage of attacks at Velderoth.
"Aaaaaargh! Shit!" I hear Velderoth cry out over the noise from the attacks. HIs howls of pain and anguish continue for a while. When the impact of my attacks has died down, Velderoth is lying there, bruised, battered and bloody. He struggles to pick himself up. However, his injuries are more severe and he falls onto the ground, breathing heavily.
I point my sword at him. "It's over, Veldie." I say, with venom in my voice. "Your game is up. I'm making sure they lock you up. You can't go running back looking for your master now. It's time to face justice for your crimes!"
Velderoth seems to pay no attention to my words. "Congratulations, Kyle. It seems your Kaiser position isn't just for show." He coughs and wheezes. "So, tell me… What's the deal with Tear, huh? So she's actually gotten some magical power, even though she was born with none? It was a major shock finding out she WAS the Angelic Buster… but I must say I'm happy for her…" Velderoth has a thoughtful look on his face.
"My guess is as good is your's. Even I have no idea, she never said anything. Anyway, we're taking you away to prison." I signal to two soldiers who tie up his arms and help him up onto his feet. He makes no attempt at a struggle.
Before the soldiers leave, I grab his shoulders and look him in the eye.
"Think through what I said, Velderoth. I don't want to believe that you're completely gone. There's still good in you, the you from all those years ago who wanted to fight for justice, for the freedom of Heliseum. As much as you're a traitorous bastard, I believe you can come to your senses. I have requested to Edea not to execute you just yet. I believe in that small chance, as small as it is, that you can change and be an asset to us."
Velderoth snickers. "We'll see… about that." With that, I order the soldiers to take him away.
I turn back to where Tear is lying unconscious. I pick her up and carry her bridal style to the medical tent.
"Stay with me, Tear." I whisper.
Aha, so as some of you did guess, Tear did get found out.
Anyway, I actually intended to make this chapter longer by writing what happened afterwards. However, I thought it'd be more practical to split it into two chapters. It might get a little fluffy in the next chapter, just to let you all know.
Apologies if you think the wait was too long, I have plenty of free time now, am just kind of lazy to update sometimes (SORRY DON'T KILL ME XD) Been caught up watching anime and reading more fics, so yeah.
Once again, if you enjoyed, favourite or follow or leave a review! Thanks :3