Rean was with Elliot, both holding a pair of headphones each close to their ears while Alisa carefully adjusted a knob connected to orbal circuit boards set up on top of their engineering bench. Both winced at every miniscule turn that Alisa made, which according to Elliot was a good sign. They would have continued on the experiment when Towa called out from the speakers that the objective of their current mission was in sight.
"Just what is happening over in Crossbell?"
Sara succinctly put into words what everyone was thinking.
The Azure Tree was what it was called according to what Toval heard from Crossbell's Guild Branch and Prince Olivert had requested them to investigate it. The mere description of a tree so big that it could be seen from across the border was already fantastical enough but to actually witness it in all its azure, translucent glory enveloping an entire city, from up in the skies no less, was another thing altogether.
The majority of the Courageous' crew had crowded at the deck to see it. Rosine and Gaius offered prayers to the people of Crossbell, Rex took photos, Beryl consulted her crystal ball, and nobody paid attention to Thomas Lysander wordlessly walking back to the ship with a thoughtful look on his face.
It was a strange sight, almost beautiful in a way but the scale made it haunting. If something like that were to happen in the middle of Erebonia, in Heimdallr, it could probably be seen from every corner of the Empire. No place to run from whatever it was doing to the people of Crossbell.
Looking at the phenomenon, Rean couldn't help but feel like there were people out there fighting just like him and his friends were.
Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do about the tree. The Crimson Wings had a civil war to deal with and besides taking photos and gathering some data to send back to Prince Olivert, Crossbell's problems had to stay Crossbell's problems, at least for the moment.
With that diversion out of the way, the Courageous was en route to Roer as a call from George had informed them that Valimar's zemurian ore tachi was almost completed. Taking advantage of the airship's destination, Captain Claire and other five RMP officers were accompanying them to meet with General Zechs Vander because now, with both Kreuzen and Nortia's armies standing down, the Imperial Army would be gathering for a push towards taking back Heimdallr. Even with the province of Lamarre under the control of the Noble Alliance, it wouldn't matter if they managed to secure the capital and the Royal Family.
But that would have to wait, because an unexpected visitor had arrived while they headed to the industrial capital of Erebonia.
"Cheeky bird, ain't it?" Angelica snicked from her seat at the helm, pointing towards the front window of the Courageous, at the hawk that had been following them for the past 20 minutes. "Check it out, Towa, now it's doing flips. Give us a show, will ya!"
"Hmm, I feel like that bird reminds me of something…" the ship's captain said, propping her head on her hand and tapping a finger against her cheek. Thinking, thinking, thinking… "Oh, oh! The field exercise reports! Nord! Gaius!"
"Zeo!" Gaius' voice filled with joy at seeing his old friend soaring above the Courageous' deck before coming down and landing on his outstretched arm. The mighty hawk screeched loudly and proudly, also glad at the reunion.
Everyone else seemed just as happy at the reunion, well, almost everyone. "It's the evil chicken!" Millium screamed out loud while covering the top of her head and hiding behind Jusis, who rolled his eyes.
"Stop that. The only reason he attacked you was because we thought you were an enemy back then, I'm sure Zeo harbors no ill intent towards you."
Reluctantly, Millium peeked from behind Jusis and risked a timid "Hi" with a wave of her hand that Zeo replied back with a loud squawk that absolutely spooked the girl.
"Heh heh, I like him," said Celine.
"For Zeo to find you all the way here is amazing, Gaius! The connection between you two is truly impressive," said Emma.
"He always knows where to find me," the Nord said and the bird beamed proudly. "But what are you doing here, Zeo? You should be protecting our tribe."
To that question, Zeo let out a low squawk, almost like a growl, and even those who couldn't communicate with him, realized that the raptor had brought bad news.
"A terrible wind is blowing over Nord," Gaius translated to them. "Monsters."
After hearing that, it didn't take long for everyone to head to the conference room from where they contacted General Zechs Vander about the situation over at the Highlands. The general, however, had no idea what they were talking about.
"Earlier today our troops routed two of those magic knights, tough bastards but nothing some shelling from our tanks can't solve. Aside from that, we haven't seen any unusual movement from those creatures," the General told them.
"While that may be the case, General, we can't discard the possibility that those were just the beginning. Zeo knows that land like no-one else, he wouldn't have come to me if it wasn't an emergency."
"I owe you my life, Gaius, and I trust your judgment and that of your friend, you know that. But with the state of the war right now, I have to center our forces in the upcoming operation to retake Heimdallr. I'll leave a detachment here watching the border, of course but… What is it? Can't you see I'm in the middle of a-"
Something had caught the General's attention and they heard the sound of someone scrambling into his office. His face went out of frame as he leaned to the side for someone to whisper something into his ear but they still caught how his remaining eye widened in surprise.
At the same moment, Vivi called the conference room, informing them that there was an urgent call from Prince Olivert.
"Greetings, my friends. I wish we had more time to chat but…" The prince looked to the corner of his screen, at the window with the grave face of the man who taught him everything he knew about combat. "Ah, Uncle Zechs, from the look on your face I imagine you know why I'm calling."
"Yes, yes, unfortunately, that might be the case," the General rubbed his forehead while turning back to face the screen. "Crimson Wings, it seems we have a monster problem."
It wasn't just in the Nord Highlands, according to Prince Olivert, cryptids and magic knights had been manifesting and gathering over certain points of Erebonia, specifically around the Isthmia and Vestia forests. The creatures had been a problem that plagued both sides of the war but thus far had been manageable, specially with the help of the Crimson Wings, but now their behavior had become erratic and even more violent, as they rampaged over the surroundings of the biggest forests of Erebonia and the Nord Highlands.
Even Marquis Hyarms, who initially pledged neutrality, had contacted Prince Olivert, offering support for the remainder of the war in return for assistance on the matter.
"What a coincidence that this would happen just as our forces were about to stage an attack to take the capital back, wouldn't you all agree?" Olivert said in his usual carefree tone.
"You can say that again, Your Highness," said Rean, rubbing his eyes as he had quickly arrived at the same conclusion that this was part of the Noble Alliance's plans, probably related to Crossbell's tree. "Emma, have you managed to contact your grandmother yet?"
"I've been trying to- Ah, wait, she's here!" The witch said as she gazed into the bowl of water at the table. The liquid started to shimmer and glow, indicating that finally someone had picked up on the other side and Emma started to hastily speak, thinking it was her grandmother on the other side, but when the image on the water cleared it wasn't Roselia on the other side.
"Aura? Where's grandmother?"
"Oh Emma, dear, I was just about to call you. The entire village is surrounded by cryptids. Everyone is safe, nobody got hurt!" The woman hastily added, although that did little to fully calm Emma upon hearing the news. "Elder Roselia is taking care of it, she's been repelling the creatures for the past few hours but that also means she can't talk to you right now. Sorry, Emma."
The mention that the elder of the Hexen Clan had been single handedly fighting off cryptids and magic knights by herself and successfully protecting the village was quite the revelation of her power.
Emma's shoulders sagged as she sat back down on her chair. "But does she have a clue about what is going on? Cryptids and magic knights are behaving strangely all over Erebonia and the highlands. Is it related to Crossbell?"
"We felt a surge of mana coming from the east recently but…" She shrugged. "Honestly, everyone is just as clueless about this whole thing. The elder did say she noticed a higher concentration of mana in a singular point of the forest before going to fight them and we're about to organize a party to investigate it."
"Mana concentrating on a single point?"
"A spell?"
"Or a device?"
"Something that attracts cryptids?"
"Vita and the society could certainly conjure something like that."
"Are they trying to delay the army from getting to Heimdallr?"
Suggestions and theories were quickly thrown around but they didn't have much to go on and no time to keep pondering the why of things, all that mattered was that monsters were rampaging and they needed to put a stop to it.
Prince Olivert and General Vander quickly devised a plan: the Courageous would continue on their course to assist the 3rd Armored Division in the Nord Highlands. Meanwhile, Prince Olivert would be getting in contact with Toval and other bracers for them to assist the 4th Division at the Vestia Forest, and Viscount Arseid would head to the Sutherland province.
The Courageous landed at the Erebonian side of the Zender Gate where they were quickly greeted by General Zechs without much ceremony as he quickly briefed them on the ongoing situation. The 3rd Armored Division was managing to handle the monsters, not allowing any to cross their defensive lines and reach the fortress itself, but for every cryptid or magic knight that was killed, another showed up to take its place.
In the distance, they could hear the sounds of tank fire.
"For the moment we can handle the situation, however, we have to deal with whatever is bringing these creatures to the plains," explained the General as he walked their group through the military facility. "If we take into consideration this is coincidentally happening in two other specific locations in Erebonia and that thing that… witch," Zechs had a bit of a hard time getting the word out. "Friend of yours said about something attracting these monsters."
"A suspicious concentration of mana, yes," Emma specified for the General.
"Right, that. This is likely being caused by human interference, a device perhaps. I already have some of my men scoping out the highlands for anything suspicious. We also lost contact with the watchtower which is something we are looking into as well."
"General, I know dealing with the monsters takes precedence but-" Gaius started to say, the anxiety on him clear for everyone to see and it had been that way since when they had learned of the situation, but the general stopped him with an affable hand on his shoulder.
"With all of that in mind, I need the Crimson Wings and the Ashen Knight to help secure the civilians."
Valimar cut through another cryptid while a convoy composed of armored cars, trucks and tanks followed behind, making their way through the highlands to escort the people of Nord's nomadic tribe back to Zender Gate. Rean and Valimar were in charge of opening the way while above in the skies, Zeo guided them to where Gaius' tribe was located.
"How are things on your front, Claire?" Sara called on the radio from her car.
"So far so good, nothing-" A tank fired off a shell that blew an arm off a magic knight that was closing in on her vehicle, then the monster was finished off by Rean. "Nothing to report."
From the car she was in, Laura watched with keen eyes how Valimar steadily kept up with them, leaping from one side of the convoy to the other to keep the creatures at bay. It was almost indistinguishable from watching Rean himself fight. "Every time Rean fights with Valimar he gets better and better."
Sitting next to her, Emma added energetically, although with a bit of relief too. "And hopefully once Valimar's tachi is done, he'll be at full power. Honestly, I can't say I didn't have my doubts initially considering how things went but Rean has been adapting really well."
Laura agreed with a nod while adding mentally that that was expected of someone who was on their way to master the Eight Leaves One Blade. Undoubtedly the road to enlightenment, as she had heard from the Sword Hermit himself, was still far away for Rean, but for someone who fought like him, despite all the weight he carried, the mastery of the style was only a matter of time.
"Coast's clear farther ahead," Rean's voice called from the vehicle's radio and the convoy picked up their speed.
A couple of hours later, they arrived at where the nomad tribe had set up their camp, hidden in a canyon and far away from their usual spots but where the presence of cryptids or magic knights was nil.
The reunion of the Worzel family was a heartfelt one and Gaius' younger siblings piled on top of each other to hug their older brother, followed by his parents with a more restrained but no less tender approach.
"Is everyone else okay, father?"
"Yes, Gaius, we felt the change of the wind and started preparations quickly while sending Zeo on his way to find you. By the time the monsters started to make their way into our settlement, we already had the horses ready to travel," Lacan explained.
"We attempted to go to Zender Gate at first but the situation around the base is even worse, so instead we came here," Fatma said. "It's one of the locations that we elected to flee to in the event of a war between Erebonia and Calvard. No monster has appeared here yet."
"And if they do, daddy is going to turn them to dust like he did that big one!" Lily, Gaius' youngest sister said, pumping her fist up.
Apparently, a magic knight had appeared right as the tribe was about to flee and it fell to Lacan to fend it off, which he did all by himself with no issues, which was truly impressive. There was a lot of strength hidden behind the tribal chief's usual calm and collected demeanor. Like father, like son.
"Mr. Worzel, I'm Captain Rieveldt," with the reunion over, the police officer quickly approached Lacan, saluting and shaking his hand. "My apologies for cutting things short but there are matters to discuss regarding the safety of your tribe and, if the need arises, taking everyone to Zender Gate. If it comes to that, we have enough space to fit all of your people and some of your belongings as well. But as for the animals…" Claire looked at the horses and sheep.
"In case that happens some of our men will stay here to care for them," the tribal chief responded.
While that was being taken care of, Sara called back to Zender Gate to inform them that they had arrived and that the civilians were safe. "Things are pretty safe here, all things considered. No monsters have shown up but why… Hmm, I see."
Something that was said on the other side of the line made Sara tense up and despite her taking a few steps away from the rest of the group, they could tell she was arguing with whoever was on the other side of the line. With a frustrated sigh and holding in a curse, the bracer turned to Rean, who was still inside Valimar.
"I'm transferring the call to you. It's the General."
Rean picked up his ARCUS and quickly, General Zechs told him the same he had told Sara: soldiers that were stationed at the watchtower had just arrived. According to them, before the monster rampage had started, jaegers had invaded the base, although nobody saw how they got in, and after some fighting the enemy forces forced the Imperial soldiers to surrender.
It wasn't long after that the cryptids and magic knights started to appear and the soldiers were freed by their captors. "See if you get to Zender Gate in one piece!" They were taunted.
"And some of the soldiers said they heard the jaegers talking about 'getting it set up.' I'm sure you know what that means."
"Yeah, I do." If their hypothesis that something was attracting the monsters was correct, then it meant that the jaegers had installed some kind of device on the watchtower. If that was the case, then it was simple, Rean would fly there, destroy it and the cryptids would either disappear and make the travel back to Zender Gate completely safe for the Nord people or even forgo the need to displace them altogether. At worst, destroying the device would simply stop new monsters from showing up, in which case they could take care of the remaining ones and secure the highlands.
Either way, the answer was clear.
"You'll be doing recognizance at first, Rean," said Sara sternly, drawing a curious look from him. "Just scope out the tower and then come back to tell us what's the situation. But just in case…" And by that she meant in case Rean didn't follow her orders. "Laura, Elliot, Fie are going with you."
"Oh, understood then. Hop on, guys. Laura gets the seat of honor."
"Don't call it that and don't even think about doing that again, Rean," said Laura with a slight blush, turning her face to hide the smile she was forcing herself to hide from her friends, who, by their looks, had a pretty good idea what "seat of honor" meant. Honestly, what a thing to say in that situation, she thought to herself. But as she passed by their instructor, Sara put a hand over her shoulder.
"Don't let him do anything stupid, Laura."
Those were sobering words and the swordswoman took heed of them. They were going into enemy territory again, if they were to get separated once again and Rean was isolated from them…
I'm not going to allow that to happen again.
Packed with four people inside his cockpit, the shorter members squeezed on the sides of the pilot's seat while Laura stood behind it, Valimar flew above the Nord plains as his tripulants observed the scenery, with the high point of view painting a real picture of the problem they were facing. Cryptids and magic knights were spread out everywhere, some wandering aimlessly, others going in the direction of Zender Gate and some even fighting amongst themselves. It seemed whatever was causing this couldn't control and direct the creatures, it simply called them there, and thankfully none of them seemed to be heading towards the direction of the nomad shelter.
As Valimar got closer to the location of the watchtower more of them appeared, leading credence to the theory that some device had been placed there to attract them. It wasn't a pretty sight, especially considering this was also happening within Erebonia's borders.
The watchtower itself was no worse for wear and much better considering the destruction it had suffered by the Dropbear jaegers months ago, even the monsters seemed to be uninterested about it. Valimar approached the structure and flew around it and Rean and the others couldn't see anything out of ordinary at first, until Fie spoke up.
"There's nobody there. No-one is watching the windows, there's no look-out at the roof, nobody at the front door. Nothing."
"But why would they do that?" Elliot asked.
"So anyone can just waltz there and turn it off?" Rean said, which drew an apprehensive look from Laura.
"Rean, the instructor only asked us to observe and report back," she said, already aware of what he was thinking.
"We'll go back and Instructor Sara is going to say we need to come back here and take out whatever is bringing the cryptids to the highlands," Rean said with an uncaring tone like it was obvious. "The longer that thing is active the riskier it gets for Gaius' tribe and the army, so going back is just a waste of time."
Valimar closed in on the watchtower enough that they could clearly see through some of the windows and Rean even gave the building a light lovetap on its walls, not enough to cause any damage but enough to provoke some response from anyone inside, but after a few minutes nothing happened.
"See? It's deserted."
"Nevertheless, Rean, there could be traps lying in wait for us," Laura rebuked him.
"Sure but we can deal with them. Look, if I need to go alone I'll-"
"Absolutely not!"
Laura's shout caused an awkward silence to befall between them. Fie and Elliot exchanged looks between each other, wondering what to say, if they should say anything, while Rean turned on the pilot's seat to face Laura and both looked equally surprised.
"I-I'm sorry for shouting," Laura said remorsefully, a hand going over her face. "That is not how we solve things."
Rean exhaled and mimicked his girlfriend, rubbing his forehead. "And I'm sorry if I sounded dismissive of your concerns, Laura. After Aurochs Fort, I get that me going in alone is stupid, I shouldn't have suggested that. But you understand that we can't miss this opportunity, right? Getting this done as soon as possible doesn't mean just securing the highlands, we could end up acquiring information to help in the other locations as well."
She couldn't deny there was some merit to that logic but just the four of them going in alone was still risky. "What do you think?" Laura asked, looking at Elliot and Fie.
"O-oh, I-I guess Rean is right?" Elliot said timidly. "I mean, we don't know how much worse the situation could get. What if even more monsters show up and not even the army and Valimar together can contain them?"
"The jaegers could've really just placed the device and left, like arming a bomb and leaving because you don't wanna get caught in the blast," said Fie thoughtfully. "But they wouldn't leave it completely defenseless either, so there could be traps or someone waiting to ambush us inside."
The swordswoman mulled over what they said, uncharacteristically undecided, and Rean looked at her expectantly. Fie and Elliot clearly wanted to go with Rean's idea, they trusted him, and so did she, of course. In fact, Laura wanted to trust Rean more than she already did to prove to herself that her worries were unfounded. So in the end, she conceded.
"Don't let him do anything stupid, Laura."
If I'm here with him, it should be fine, right? If I'm here he won't go off by himself and take unnecessary risks. In case we meet an enemy, we can fight them together, like we did before. If we hadn't gotten separated back in Aurochs Fort, then we could've handled Scarlet together.
I just have to trust Rean and quit being hung up about my worries.
"But we flee at the first sign of something we can't handle, agreed?"
"Agreed."
Valimar landed close to the front entrance of the watchtower and they moved inside with caution, with Fie taking the lead to watch out for any traps. A sweep of the ground floor confirmed the lack of hostiles in it and the former jaeger could tell that the invaders hadn't stayed for long, and while that was a good sign, their work was far from over. For starters, the watchtower was composed of the tower itself and an auxiliary building that functioned as a warehouse and garage and searching both would take time, unless they got separated.
The four of them came to that realization practically at the same time, and Laura clenched her jaw and took a deep breath to contain her reluctance, before agreeing that she and Rean would take care of investigating the watchtower while Elliot and Fie handled the garage.
The watchtower was quiet and the steel steps of the staircase groaned under the boots of the swordsmen as the duo ascended to another floor.
"I don't need a combat-link to know you're nervous, Laura," Rean said, stopping halfway through. "We're not going to get separated this time, I doubt they had time to install moving walls and other traps in here."
Laura's shoulders rose up and sagged as she took in air and slowly released it, her hands adjusting their grip on her sword as she recentered herself. "I still disapprove of you even suggesting coming in here alone."
Rean flinched at the withering glare he received. Yeah, he shouldn't have blurted that out, it was by far his dumbest idea and he regretted it the moment he had said it. Investigating the watchtower by themselves was already reckless enough but all the signs pointed that it was relatively safe and they had to fix this before the monsters became a bigger problem to the people of Nord (he had half a mind to just bring down the entire tower but that wouldn't fly with the army, he imagined).
Besides, Rean was feeling confident. All of their operations had been a success so far, taking their toll for sure but still, things were looking up. After this, they would be reclaiming Heimdallr and if his idea to deal with Crow worked, things could go back to normal or as much as it was possible, he just had to finish this. Race to the finish line and put everything back where it was.
"I deserve that," he scratched his cheek timidly. "Let's keep going. Instructor Sara and Alisa said we'd be staying over at Gwyn's cabin if it's safe and you don't want to miss seeing Lake Lacrima during sundown, trust me."
He offered her a confident smile that Laura accepted and reciprocated with her own, albeit a bit forced.
They continued on their way up the tower and although it seemed deserted, both could feel a sense of foreboding as they approached the last floor. If any device had been placed in the building, that was where it would be kept since they hadn't seen anything on the roof when they were with Valimar, and if there were any threats waiting for them, they would be there as well.
The top floor of the watchtower was composed of rooms mainly used for storage. The swordsmen walked in measured, silent steps, with more care than they had previously as they felt a change in the air that made the hair in the back of their necks stand. This was it, whatever was bringing the cryptids and magic knights to the highlands was there and someone or something was guarding it.
Entering the first room, they found it a complete mess of things thrown about haphazardly, a sign that they were thrown to the side to make way for something. They didn't need much effort to find what they were looking for: a large device in the back of the room with a crystal globe in its center, glowing a pale blue light.
There was only one problem.
"Took you kiddies long enough to get here, I almost bailed."
McBurn, The Almighty Conflagration, walked out from behind the device, in his usual uninterested demeanor, bored eyes looking straight at Rean and Laura from behind his glasses.
Out of every enemy they could've imagined, they came across the most dangerous one. Quickly recovering from their surprise, both swordsmen tensed in their respective battle stances, carefully closing in on McBurn.
"So you're the one assigned to protect this thing," said Rean.
"Protect? Nah, just keeping watch in case it goes on a fritz, this was all a test to see if it even worked. In fact..." To their shock, the Enforcer punched through the machine's crystal globe, causing a burst of light that quickly faded. When he pulled out his fist, McBurn held what seemed to be a blue plant, almost like a bundle of grass, before it turned to ash in his hand. "Test's over now. It made that annoying as fuck noise too, pissed me off," McBurn illustrated his point by scratching the inside of his ear with a finger and shaking his head.
Curiously, Rean and Laura had heard no sound coming from the machine. But that wasn't important, their target had been destroyed and now they were faced with an incredibly powerful foe and they weren't exactly sure what to do. With his mental link with the Divine Knight, Rean ordered Valimar to call out Fie and Elliot's attention and tell them what was happening.
"Now, with that out of the way…" McBurn's fists lit up as he hurled to balls of flames behind the teens, towards the only exit of the room. The resulting explosion collapsed part of the ceiling and created a fiery barrier. "I'd have preferred fighting Arseid or Ka-fai themselves, maybe both at the same time, but I guess I'm gonna have to make do with the baby versions of them instead."
A lull fell between the fighters and in those final moments of reprieve before all hell broke loose, Rean searched for strength in the combat-link between him and Laura. Confidence and trust in his skills emanated from his partner and he sent back those same feelings to her, like a tug in a cord that connected both and signaled that he was ready.
And then they were off.
Rean didn't waste any time, immediately he called forth the power of the ogre. He leapt forward with a swiping move of his tachi that McBurn dodged easily but as soon as his feet touched the ground, Rean pivoted around as followed up with another strike, a Helix move. All the while, Laura had been following behind Rean and struck at the same time as him.
McBurn stepped back just enough to be out of range of the blades and studied their fighting styles as they continued to attack him. Both worked in perfect sync, covering for each other like no duo he had ever seen before, a perfect combination of the Arseid and Eight Leaves styles that left him with almost no space to strike back.
Fucking power couple, that's a laugh alright.
That said, McBurn had almost no space to strike back.
"My turn."
The Enforcer ducked under an attack from Rean and before Laura could follow up with her own, the Enforcer hit her in the stomach with a right hook then followed it up with an elbow strike that hit Rean in the nose. Both sword fighters reeled back but immediately recovered, with Rean narrowly avoiding a roundhouse kick from McBurn aimed at his head.
Now the pyromancer went on the offensive with punches and kicks and hurling crimson flames that his opponents narrowly avoided. In the times they couldn't dodge, if it hadn't been for the use of protective Arts, Rean and Laura weren't sure they'd have survived for even the orbal energy field of Adamantine Shield had problems holding off the searing heat of the fire.
Between a series of attacks from Rean, Laura pulled back and used her ARCUS to create a blade of water around her sword that she flung at McBurn with a sharp movement reminiscent of what she had learned from Rean use of the Scarlet Sky form of the Eight Leaves. Rean stepped away at the last second, letting the projectile pass him by and hit the Enforcer with full force from his face down to his hip and cut the concrete floor between his legs.
Caught by surprise by the attack, McBurn reeled back and both swordsmen took the opportunity to attack. Rean striked first with a helmbreaker aimed at his right shoulder while Laura came in with a swiping move directed at his torso, and any normal person would have been split in half in an impressively gory spectacle if they were to be hit by such an attack.
But McBurn instead stopped both blades with the palms of his hands. No, not his palms, Rean noticed that their swords weren't touching his skin and what was stopping them was a red, fiery glow on the Enforcer's hands. And that was all he had time to piece together before a burst of energy flung both him and Laura back, flying across the room.
Rean and Laura collided against the wall before falling onto the ground, gasping for air and slightly disoriented. Hastily, both reached for the ARCUS units and used the remainder of their EP reserves to recover some stamina before getting up. In the short period of time they exchanged blows with their adversary, Rean and Laura were bruised, bleeding and exhausted as the heat of the room, now on fire, sapped their strength.
Meanwhile, McBurn didn't seem worse for wear, outside of some damage to his clothes and only the right half of his glasses hanging off his face. "Nice move with the water," he said, picking the remaining piece of eyewear and throwing it to the side. "If I was the Purple Lightning I'd give you an A for effort. Speaking of which, you should've brought her here."
Loath that Rean was to admit, McBurn was right. They should've brought Instructor Sara, and also Fie and Elliot and… Truth was that they shouldn't have been there to begin with, they should've doubled back and reported their findings like Sara had told them to, instead Rean brought them there and now they were dealing with an opponent he wasn't sure they could win against.
But Rean still believed they could still make it, they just had to hold on until Instructor Sara and Captain Claire and the army arrived. He knew that McBurn was playing with them, taking his time, they just had to keep him busy and hey, maybe they could get lucky. And if all else failed, Valimar could bail them out and damn whatever happened to that tower.
He looked to Laura on his right, already poised for battle with her sword firm in her hands, eyes on their adversary, heart beating steadily despite her worn out state.
"I'll get you an opening, Laura. Don't hesitate," and their combat-link sent the signal of what he meant. "Bait," it said and he saw her eyes widen.
Rean had half of an understanding of what his partner's gripe was. After the way Laura found him fighting Scarlet, it made sense for her to worry about him but he still figured it was just a normal concern about him putting himself in dangerous situations, like she had said back in Legram. But if they wanted a chance in this fight they had to take risks and he was the best one suited for that, his power lent him enough resistance to survive being hit by a panzer soldat after all.
Besides, it was fine if it was just him getting hurt.
So, Rean went forth, drawing more power from the ogre as he launched into a frantic series of attacks, each one as fast and deadly as the other, and when McBurn striked back with a straight punch, Rean took it. He took it right in the face, rolling with it to disperse some of the force although it still felt like his entire world was being rocked, and with a spin Rean delivered a slash that went from the Enforcer's right side and traveled across his chest
With the Enforcer's attention now focused on him, Rean continued relentlessly on his assault, pushing past the pain and the heat, faster and stronger than he ever fought in his life. From Helix to Morning Moon then back to Helix followed by Autumn Leaf, Rean threw his entire arsenal at McBurn, cursing himself for not having mastered the Void yet, to keep his enemy distracted until he found what would be their opening, even if that would also leave Rean himself open as well.
Rean had raised his sword above his head ready for a helmbreaker and McBurn met it with no hesitation and when the blade came down, the Enforcer caught it with his right hand then immediately followed with a left hook to the gut that sent Rean flying back. But the moment he struck, McBurn went down to one knee as the might of Laura's sword came crashing down on him and lodged itself in his collarbone.
Laura's breathing was ragged and her heart thundered in her ears after watching Rean being struck like that, his scream stopping with a thud as he hit the back of the room. But at least it worked, she had gotten a decisive-
"Hehe, good one. Looks like I have to step up my game too."
The Arseid girl's heart sank as McBurn clasped the blade of her greatsword and pulled it from his shoulder despite Laura's attempt to fight him. As the man slowly raised himself straight up again the bloody wound closed itself shut with a flash of fire and he shot an amused smirk at Laura, looking down on her with those inhuman fiery eyes of his. It was one of the few instances when Laura was paralyzed by fear.
And then he raised his fist.
Rean attempted to get himself up after that punch, barely managing to keep a firm grasp on his sword while trying to make the world stop from spinning around him. Disoriented, Rean looked around in search of Laura and he barely managed to make the shapes he saw, mixed with the fire that now danced all around them.
There was a loud crack, then another one followed by a thud that brought his attention to the ghastly sight of Laura down on the floor, groaning and attempting to get up before McBurn stomped her back into the ground. And she screamed.
No. Stop it.
With weak legs, Rean propped himself up with his tachi, trying to summon more energy just to realize his power had been turned off.
Leave her alone.
"You're still holding out on me, Schwarzer!" McBurn yelled over the cracking of fire. "Or maybe I expected too much out of a half-mixed kid like you. Whatever the case, it looks like if I want a real fight I gotta go for bigger prey."
Laura still tried to move, tried to get away from him, her sword still in her grasp.
"Hey…" McBurn's voice grew dark, so dark it was like it sucked the light out of the room, blackening everything around him. The man lowered himself down and grabbed the sword fighter by her hair, lifting her up and displaying her bloodied and half conscious face to Rean.
She's fine, she's alive. I can still hear her heartbeat. We'll get out of here, I can save her. This is my fault, I have to make it right, I just-
"Maybe if I deliver the Blademaster his daughter burned to a crisp I'll get his attention. What do you think?"
Time slowed down to a crawl as Rean's heart sank deeper into despair than it had done before, gripped by the dark claws of his darkest thoughts as memories of a life that didn't belong to him intermingled with his own reality and fears. His own traumas and those belonging to a man long dead conjured images of Laura clad in an once beautiful set of armor, indigo blue with turquoise embellishments, but now dented, broken and covered in scorch marks and blood while her sword laid down on ground. Standing above her was a demon made up of one thousand claws and fangs wrapped in incandescent flames that burned crimson, wielding a fiery spear about to be plunged into her chest.
The haunting vision pulsated with a life of its own, taunting the deepest recess of his mind, and Rean's heart skipped a beat before pumping dark energy back into his veins. At that moment, all the training Rean had gone through and all concepts he had developed over the years on how to properly deal with his power were thrown out the window.
The ogre.
It was a name Master Yun Ka-fai came up with to describe Rean's power, explaining that it was the western equivalent of the legends of creatures called oni back in the east.
Among other lessons, part of his training had consisted of what the Sword Hermit called image training: a mental exercise that helped Rean visualize himself taking the reins. That was how the mental image of the ogre being let out of its cell and corralled was born. Master Ka-fai always told Rean he would graduate from that but he never did, it was a comfortable concept for him, this idea of the ogre being something else, someone else, a thing that was apart from him he could wrestle into compliance.
His teenage imagination had even run wild for a couple of years, dreaming up scenarios about possession by ancient spirits, ghosts or devils, or some kind of sickness he caught from a tourist visiting Ymir. Anything that said that it wasn't part of him and that it could be removed one day, that meant he wasn't just inherently broken and instead made him that way.
But the truth was that there was no monster in a cell being let out and leashed at the last second. His power was simply the manifestation of his worst impulses, his darkest thoughts, waiting to come out, amplified by whatever was wrong with him to be sure but the base ingredients were still part of him. There was no foreign being, no outside entity puppeteering Rean and making him do things beyond his control.
The truth, the real truth that frightened him more than anything else, the truth that he denied and ran away from since that day in the forest years ago, was that he was capable of those horrible acts and bloody rage all by himself.
The truth was that there was no ogre.
It was all him.
.
.
.
.
.
"Ȉ̶̺͍̽̋ͅ'̴̳̱̅̚L̸̮̘͚̬̣͋́̎̀͂L̴͕͌̈́ ̴͉̹͔̞͗͂́͒K̵̜̬̇͝Ȋ̶̭͖͛͛L̵̜̿̏̌̅Ļ̴̡̱͉̜͛̀̈́̋̚ ̶̭̓̓Ỳ̷̯̳͚̙Ơ̶̖͙͑͐̚U̶̥̗̳͕͒̚!"
For the first time in a long while, McBurn was truly surprised as the black, white and red bullet known as Rean Schwarzer shot up to him in the blink of an eye.
Rean's tachi skewered McBurn's right shoulder and the Enforcer let go of Laura, letting the unconscious girl fall back on the floor, while he was dragged across the room. And they didn't stop once they hit the wall as Rean ram both of them through it, through concrete and steel, then again through another wall before stopping at a third one.
Pinning the Enforcer against the wall, the swordsman didn't waste a second. He pulled back his blade and delivered a horizontal slash that cut through the concrete and almost took McBurn's head off had he not rolled out of the way.
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" The Enforcer simply laughed in ecstasy as he immediately went for the offensive and hurled a fireball at Rean.
I have to protect her.
The swordsman dodged out of the way of the projectile and initiated a lightning fast sequence of attacks that pushed McBurn back, some even hitting their target until his blade was caught between McBurn's palms. Undeterred, Rean launched a forward kick right into McBurn's chest to try to push him away but his opponent remained unmoved.
"Put more strength into it, kid. Like this!"
McBurn raised his right foot and stomped on the ground with an explosion of energy that cracked the floor and made it give away from under them. Rean was caught by surprise but still managed to land on both feet on top of the rubble, promptly dispensing an Arc Slash against the Enforcer standing in front of him before leaping into the melee again.
I have to fix this.
The dark aura that surrounded Rean grew bigger, pouring out of him like a dense fog as he increased his assaults. With a scream of fury, he met McBurn's attacks head on and the Enforcer cackled in delight as his flames started to take over the new floor they were on as well.
I got them here.
An explosion under his feet launched Rean in the air and a kick sent him flying, but before he could hit the floor, Rean managed to reorient his body, spun in the air and landed on his feet and he rushed at McBurn once again.
It's all my fault.
Seeing the swordsman recklessly coming straight at him, McBurn readied himself to pummel the kid into a coma with his next punch. Or straight up kill him, whatever, his fault for running into his fist. But then from behind McBurn, came the sounds of complete destruction.
Valimar's sword came ramming through the watchtower's outer wall and aimed straight at the Enforcer. Now that, that was the good stuff, McBurn decided as he blocked Rean's tachi and the gigantic soldat sword with each hand and actually strained himself between them.
I have to make things right.
Rean pulled back and followed with swift attacks that McBurn couldn't easily deflect with his one free hand and the swordsman landed hit after hit.
Whatever it takes.
But as that happened, the Enforcer's right hand, the one holding off Valimar's sword, began to glow brightly. From red to orange until it reaches an incandescent white before a lance of fire burst from his palm, melting the massive blade, and if Rean had been his usual self, he'd have felt the burning heat on his own arm as it passed through Valimar.
If I need to…
McBurn snickered and the battle between the two resumed, raging on heedless of the destruction that spread throughout the tower.
I'll take him with me.
Need to keep everyone safe
Nothing else matters.
Never stop fighting.
Kill him.
Protect everyone.
Keep going.
All my fault.
Fix everything.
Nothing else matters.
It doesn't matter if I die!
Author's notes: So, the ogre. There have been occasions where the ogre "spoke" to Rean and some people theorized that it had a will of its own and while I never denied it, and honestly kinda pushed more into that direction, it was never supposed to be that. That is why Rean never acknowledged it, not during the incident with Elise at the old schoolhouse or after Heimdallr when he was trying to meditate. Meanwhile the "conversation" with the ogre in the first chapter of Part 2 was basically a nightmare.
It was a way I found to convey how his power (the curse) instigates his most negative emotions that I thought was more interesting than simply describing them.
As for McBurn, I decided to make him more of a melee focused fighter because, well, how exactly do you write a guy who is a living flamethrower fighting with normal people and have it make sense? It's all well and good in a JRPG with health bars and stuff but in a "real" fight things get complicated, so that's where I'm going with him.