Chapter Ninety-Two: The Beginning of the End
If there was a single word to describe what was now transpiring, just a single word, beyond a shadow of a doubt, it would have to be: Pandemonium.
All around the kingdom, though mostly focused in the capital, screams erupted into the night as smoke and fire became prevalent sights. Save for a very few exceptions, members of the Eye of the Midnight Sun began to face the same fate as the quartet from earlier, and as that was happening, a numerous amount of people, magic knights and citizens alike, began sporting the strong yellow auras, attaining the strange red facial marks as well before, for some odd reason, beginning to lay waste all around them, destroying buildings and attacking people in various ways.
However, one thing they all shared in common was a declaration they made as they were doing so.
"Death to the humans!"
From atop Clover Castle, Yami was now on his knees, his hands together and his eyes closed, assuming the reverent stance in front of Julius' dead body.
"May you find honor in the next life. Thank you for everything,"
With a heavy sigh, he rose to his feet, but then he noticed his communication device by his feet, still open. Bending down, he picked it up and spoke.
"Marx, you there?" he asked, but was met with no answer.
He was about to ask again, but that's when his ears registered the sound of screaming. His entire body whipped around, shocked by the smoke and fire, completely catching him off guard as he could've sworn things were just fine a few minutes ago.
"Marx, can you see what's going on?! Are we under attack?!" silence was once again the answer, frustrating the dark mage, but then he paused, trying to figure out what the reason was.
"Hey…," he began, trailing off. "..I get that this is all hard to process, take however much time you need to grieve, I'll see what's going on,"
With that, he closed the device and put it away, now taking out his grimoire. "Dark Magic: Black Cocoon," darkness flowed out of his tome, encasing the time mage in a sphere. "Don't worry, after I take care of whatever commotion is going on down there, I'll come back and give you a good funeral. I know this burial sight a good number of miles from here, better make sure I have the map on me though,"
He checked the compartments in his satchel, pulling out a folded piece of paper. "Here it is," he shoved it back in there before giving his full attention to the capital below.
"Alright, I need to find a good place to start. Based on how it looks, it appears multiple attacks are going on," he deduced, but then he remembered something. "Hold on a damn minute, Marx told the knights to patrol their areas, there should be a squad here. Have they been overwhelmed? If so, we're not dealing with your run-of-the-mill goons, this might be-,"
He cut himself off, both his mana and ki senses kicking in simultaneously, in a swift two-step motion, he drew his katana and turned around, deflecting what looked like an arrow.
"What the hell?" he muttered, wondering who shot it, but he wouldn't have to wonder for long as the culprit, or rather, culprits, revealed themselves, leaving the captain utterly confused.
"Marx? Owen?" Yami raised a brow, looking up at the two men riding jellyfish.
"Hm, impressive, I didn't think they were fast enough to react to an attack of that speed," Marx said as he revealed a crossbow weapon attached to his arm and fired another arrow, the same outcome playing out as Yami parried it.
"Hey! If blowing off some steam is how you grieve, that's perfectly fine, but do me a favor and do it somewhere else, preferably somewhere I'm not!"
"Grieve? Grieve about what?" the memory mage nonchalantly asked.
"Grieve about what? Marx, stop playing around, you know what I'm talking about!" he yelled back, but then he paused, finally noticing it. Both men were glowing yellow and had red markings on their faces. "Huh?"
"My name isn't Marx, and whatever he was grieving over doesn't concern me, the only thing that does is making sure you're dead,"
Yami assumed a stance, an almost worried look now on his face. "I have a really bad feeling about this,"
And things weren't going much better at Gravitos Stones.
"So what you're saying is…you don't know how this happened?" Alice asked once again to the glowing Zuka.
"No, I didn't cast anything," she answered, inspecting herself.
"That's it," Kenos thought of an explanation. "What if it's not you who cast something, but an enemy?"
"That's a way more logical conclusion, but then why did it only affect me?"
The solar mage held his chin. "I don't know, maybe it's only designed to go after one of us? Or maybe it goes after the person with the lowest amount of mana? Um, no offense,"
Zuka waved it off. "None taken, you two are nobles, having more mana is a given," she said before breaking into a sprint, stopping once she was five feet from the others.
"What'd you do that for?"
"Testing something out," she replied, jumping up and down. "Whatever this spell is, it doesn't appear to restrain my movement in any way. And it doesn't seem my mana has been interfered with either, in fact…I think it's growing stronger,"
"Growing stronger?" Kenos almost laughed. "I don't know what enemy cast it, but they're a certified idiot,"
Zuka nodded. "Couldn't have said better myself. Well, let's not stop moving, we still have a long way to-," she suddenly stopped talking out of nowhere, now standing perfectly still, a shadow over her eyes.
Alice tilted her head as the sparkle mage gave them her back. "What's up with her?"
Kenos shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine," he said back. "Hey, Zuka,"
She didn't say anything back, instead, she took out her grimoire, the action surprising her teammates as she didn't use the conventional mental call, but rather manually. She also took the manual approach to opening it and scrolling through their pages, spending time on each one as if it was the first time she was looking at them.
The girl silently commented on what she was reading. "Sparkle Magic, aye? That's the girliest attribute I've seen, but it's very offense-oriented. Hm, it's not Cloth Magic, but it'll have to do I suppose,"
"Zuka, is something the matter? Why are you ignoring me?" Kenos asked worryingly.
The female knight still said nothing, closing her tome quietly as she turned her head slowly around, revealing a red, star-like mark on her cheek and a pointy ear, but more importantly, the hostile, single-eyed glare she sent their way.
Alice grit her teeth. "I don't know about you, Kenos, but something feels off about her," she said, putting her guard up as she turned her whole body around.
"Zuka? So, that's what she's called? Hm, pretty name for a human," she began. "But let's get one thing straight, this Zuka isn't around anymore, I'm in charge now, and as such, you will refer to me by my name. I am Yoveen, and I will be the one to put an end to your miserable lives!"
"Yoveen? Put an end to our lives?" the wind mage repeated. "What's your deal all of a sudden?"
Kenos couldn't help but agree. "Yeah, the way you're talking, the way you're acting, it's like you're…," he paused, his eyes widening. "...You're another different person,"
Not wasting another second, he closed his eyes, opening them shortly after, being met by the familiar sight of mana beads. Zeroing in on the ones around Zuka, his suspicion was confirmed as the silver beads began changing into a dark pink color.
"Holy shit, it's just like what happened to Langris? There's even the same crazy feeling I'm getting from her mana. How did this happen? Was it because of that strange aura? It must've been" he thought before pointing at her. "That spell from earlier! Zuka's been possessed by someone!"
Yoveen clapped. "Oh my, you're a sharp one," she put a hand on her hip. "You speak the truth, human, her body is mine, and through it and many others like it, we elves will finally have our revenge!" she exclaimed.
Kenos narrowed his eyes. "Others? Does this mean we're dealing with more than one possessed person?" he finished his thought, but once he did, something else she said caught his attention.
"Hold on, elves?!" he exclaimed, and he wasn't the only one, his grimoire coming into view, Emmanuel joining him in the loud cry.
"W-What the?" Yoveen stuttered, suddenly backing up.
"So Yoveen is an elf? Weren't they the ones the Witch Queen told were killed by…humans," Kenos put his head down. "I understand where her anger is coming from, but we can't let her kill us, and no matter what, we absolutely cannot let her have Zuka, I won't allow it,"
"Agreed," the angel added.
"I am officially confused. One of you care to fill me in?" Alice asked them.
She didn't get an answer though as Yoveen was the one to speak up. "That grimoire, it has a white five-leaf clover. What on Earth is a Sacred One doing with your wretched kind?!"
The Rossiu raised a brow. "She calls them that too? Does that mean the elves and angels have some kind of history," he gave his grimoire a side-eye.
"Wait, I know how you did it," she said, her expression darkening with anger. "Deception is what you humans do best, you can trick anyone, after all, it worked on us. I can't even begin to imagine what lies you've told to get the angel on your side,"
"What are you talking about? I haven't told any lies, Emmanuel is my partner," the solar mage retorted.
"Liar! Now I'll really put an end to you," she commanded the grimoire to float in front of her, flipping to a page. "Let's try this out, Sparkle Creation Magic: Shimmering Bow!"
At her call, the weapon materialized and she pulled on the bowstring, aiming right at them, however, the arrow didn't fire. Yoveen stared at the finger holding the string, noticing it refused to let go, confusing the remaining two knights.
The elf, however, was not pleased. "Resistance is futile!" the finger eventually relented, letting the arrow fly, but they were able to dodge it, watching as it hit the side of a wall, blowing a large hole that made the outside visible.
Kenos couldn't believe what he was seeing. "That was way stronger than usual, she didn't even use Mana Charge. So this is what elves are capable of?"
Yoveen sucked her teeth. "Nice reflexes, let's see how you fare against this, Sparkle Creation Magic: Glittering Lance!" the bow vanished and her new weapon formed as she ran with great speed, managing to pin Kenos down effortlessly.
"Give hell my regards!" she was ready to bring the lance down and pierce his chest, but just before the tip could touch his robe, her hands froze, shaking incessantly.
"Get away from him! Wind Creation Magic: Ventus Hunter!" Alice summoned the creature, commanding it to come to the boy's rescue.
Yoveen noticed the beast approaching. "What a nuisance," she backed away, clutching her heart. "You keep trying to stop me and it's getting annoying. Let's see how you like this," her aura suddenly increased in intensity. "There, that should keep you under control. Now for the little mutt,"
She crouched her legs and leaped into the air, throwing her lance directly at it, forcing it to dissipate. A grin came to her face as she landed. "Do you see the difference in our magic power? You won't catch us off guard again,"
"She destroyed the spell with one hit," Alice gasped. "This bitch is on another level, I can feel it,"
The solar mage kipped up. "Perhaps, but we aren't going to quit,"
The older woman eyed the recently formed hole before looking at the possessed sparkle mage, she had no choice. "We're leaving,"
Kenos' head whipped in her direction. "Excuse me? We aren't leaving until we get Zuka back,"
"That's not a good idea. Think about what she said, there are others who've been taken over by these elves, meaning the other Royal Knights have to be considered. What do you think will happen if they come here to help her? We can't fight them at our full power, but they will at theirs. What we need to do is come up with a plan,"
The boy was still unconvinced. "What happened to you, Alice? Have you changed back without me noticing? I thought this part of you wanted to win?"
"It does, but there's a steadfast rule about winning: it means nothing if you don't live. I'm sorry about this, Wind Binding Magic: Cyclone Tangle!" a string of wind wrapped around his upper half, she then encased him in wind as she ran towards the hole, with him behind her.
"No, let me go! Let me go!" Kenos struggled, but to no avail. "Please, don't do this, I have to save Zuka! I…I have to! I can't lose her! Because she…she's the-," he didn't get in another word in as she was no longer in sight.
The elf put her grimoire away. "I'll get you next time," she said as…tears fell down her cheek, forcing her to wipe them away.
"Ugh, you're really hard to deal with, you know that?"
The sound of laughter.
Noelle and Kirsch were now confused as they witnessed Luck burst into a fit of laughter, the confusion only growing as they noticed that he wasn't just laughing, he was also crying.
"Is he okay?" the male royal asked.
"I'm…not sure," Noelle answered.
Luck's laughing began to die down as he caught sight of Rama, a powerful urge overwhelming him as he ran and embraced the fellow lightning mage. "We're back, we're actually back!"
The white tiger gave a small smile. "Yeah, it feels good,"
They ended the embrace as the blonde wiped the tears from his face. "Hey, you think the girls might be somewhere around here?"
"I sure hope so,"
"Um, hello?" they both turned to face Kirsch, who had gotten their attention. "Do you mind filling us in on what's going on with you two?"
In response to his question, Luck sent an unnerving nonchalant glare their way, while Rama's, on the other hand, was way angrier.
"What on Earth is up with them? And why does their mana feel so weird?" the water mage wondered under breath. "Luck!"
The lightning mage said nothing back, prompting her to repeat herself. "Luck, talk to me!"
"Stop calling him that, human!" Rama yelled, startling her. "His name is Rufel, and I am Romit, you'd do well to remember that,"
"Rufel? Romit? I must say, those are strange names," the cherry blossom mage remarked. "I like Luck and Rama more,"
Romit growled, but Rufel got his attention. "Hey, we have grimoires,"
"We do? Alright, let's check it out," he did the same thing as Yoveen. "Looks like I got Lightning Magic. You?"
"Same here, lucky us,"
Kirsch neared Noelle's ear. "What's happened to them? First, they call themselves by different names, and now they don't even know the attributes of their own magic?"
"I'm just as lost," she whispered back. "I'm guessing it has something to do with that weird aura, there are even weird things on their faces, not to mention those strange ears. It's like they're possessed,"
"Hey!" Rufel's voice got their attention.
"What is it?"
"The mana coming from you two is pretty high. By any chance, do you happen to be royals?"
Kirsch raised a brow. "And what if we are?"
In response, he adopted the cheery berserker's crazed grin. "Then I'm going to enjoy turning each of your bones into dust! Lightning Creation Magic: Holy Lightning Armaments!"
Both royals assumed a stance at the sight. "Luck, what are you doing?" Noelle asked, now a lot more worried.
"I thought Romit told you not to call me that, as for your other question, I thought you heard me…I'm going to kill you," he replied. "Lightning Magic: Thunderbolt Destruction!"
A look of sadistic glee came to his face as the orb of electricity charged in his hand, he raised it at the two humans before he fired it, however, something strange occurred as his arm suddenly moved, the attack instead hitting a wall instead of the stunned royals, the orb going so far, it passed by Cob…who had also been taken over.
"It…missed?" Noelle managed to say.
Rufel, on the other hand, stared down at his arm. "Aw, that's sweet, you don't want me to hurt your friends. Well, guess what? I don't care! These humans are going to die, and you'll be a good little scumbag and not cause any more trouble,"
"They mean business. Noelle, prepare for battle," the vermillion stood ready, but the water mage did no such thing, instead, her face still had a stunned look.
"I…I can't fight him, Luck is my friend,"
"That's neither Luck nor Rama, it's like you said, they've been possessed somehow, we need to handle them and continue the mission," he tried to reason with her.
"But…it's still his body, I don't want to hurt him," she told him.
"Very well then, we will retreat!" he summoned petals, using his fan to blow them in the direction of the elves, he then took hold of her hand as they ran out the hole, enveloping them both in wind and petals. A sigh of relief came from his mouth, but he couldn't help but notice the distressed look on the girl's face.
"Hey, don't worry, whatever happened to them, we'll find a way to turn them back to normal, I promise,"
Her distressed look slowly faded, replaced with a melancholic smile. "Thanks for that. Y'know, it's kind of weird to see you caring for other people,"
"I've always cared for other people, nowadays I just care for more people, that's all,"
"Noelle! Kirsch! What happened?!" a voice called out to them from below, looking down, they saw En and Nozel.
The two groups promptly landed by a nearby patch of land before any explanations were given out. "Everything was going fine for us, we were easily taking down whatever mages got in our way, then, out of nowhere, Luck and Rama started glowing, afterwards, Luck tried to attack us," the vermillion retold the event. "And for some weird reason, they wanted to be called by different names,"
Nozel held his chin. "The exact same thing happened to Nils and Shiren, this is beyond perplexing, the spell that's responsible must be a very powerful one,"
"You can say that again!" a new voice called from above, said voice coming from Alice with the bound Kenos, landing next to them.
Noelle was taken aback by the situation her squadmate was in. "What happened to you? And where's Zuka?"
"She's suffered the same fate as the others, and Kenos wanted to do something about it," she replied as she removed the restraints.
The solar mage immediately rose to his feet. "And I still plan on doing something,"
"Kenos, please," Alice tried to make him see reason.
"No, I have to save, and I'll do it, with or without your help. Heaven Magic: Angel's-,"
"Stop," Nozel entered the discussion, his voice soft, yet stern and commanding. "You say you want to save her, but how exactly do you plan on doing that?"
"H-How?" his voice faltered slightly. "I'll…find Yoveen, and I'll make her tell me how to reverse what's been done,"
Nozel was still calm. "And what makes you think she'll tell you? From what I experienced, they seemed very vengeful, and vengeful people are the hardest ones to reason with or convince. If you go up there, you'll only be wasting your time, that much I can assure you,"
All eyes were now on the Rossiu to see what he would do next, and in the end, he dropped to one knee, furiously punching the grass beneath him.
The mercury mage still had something to say. "You're not a fool, Kenos, that much is certain beyond a shadow of a doubt, but you're letting whatever you feel for this girl cloud your judgment. Take Fuegoleon's words to heart, don't lose your cool,"
Rising back up, Kenos took a series of deep breaths before he turned to face the rest of them, his eyes on the Silver Eagles' captain. "Fine, I won't go. So what do we do next?"
"I'm not sure," he replied. "Going back in there together to see who hasn't gone mad could be risky, if they're all affected, we'll be outnumbered and outmatched. For now, the best we can do is wait and think of another plan of action,"
"Okay then," the solar mage accepted the answer, but in his peripherals, he noticed his grimoire was out and opened, but no words were coming from his angelic partner.
Stepping aside from the others, he vocalized his minor concern. "Emmanuel, is there something on your mind?"
"Yes, there's something that worries me about these series of events, especially with these elves. I don't know why…but I have a bad feeling about this,"
"So, I'm guessing we can't just talk things out?"
Returning back to Yami's perspective, neither side had yet to make a move since he had prepared himself, but that was going to change very soon.
"I have nothing to say to a wretched human such as yourself!" Marx exclaimed.
Yami raised a brow at what he said. "Human? Uh, you're a human too, jackass!"
The man growled furiously. "Be quiet! Memory Creation Magic: Scramble Crossbow!" he created an identical copy of the weapon on his other arm, firing both at the same time.
Instead of parrying them like he did before, the dark mage leaped into the air to avoid them, as he descended, his eyes narrowed. "Scramble Crossbow? Hold on, I remember that spell, if it hits me, it'll screw around with my short-term memory, I can't let that happen,"
The possessed Owen opened his mouth to speak. "Gairu, how can I assist you?"
"Distracting him or keeping him still for me to land a hit would be of great help. Yungel, how many attack spells are in that man's repertoire?"
"From what I read, only one, he seems to be more focused on recovery spells," Yungel replied.
Gairu shrugged. "One is better than nothing, give him everything you got,"
"I don't know what the hell is going on with you two, but I'll bring you back to your senses, even if I have to beat the sense into you! Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Slash!" Yami went on the offensive, but they maneuvered around it easily.
"My turn, Water Magic: Whirlpool Spheres!" Yungel fired an attack of his own in the form of eight large, spiraling balls of water.
The Black Bulls' captain fearlessly strode forward, jumping up to close the distance between him and the projectiles by a few feet. "So Owen actually has a combat spell in that grimoire of his? Who would've thought? Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Blade Storm!" the multitude of dark slashes cut through all the spheres.
Well…almost all of them.
While seven were destroyed, the last one managed to slip past him, and was on its way to the cocooned Julius.
"No!" the man screamed. From where he was and how fast the sphere was moving, there was only one thing he could do. Taking a big risk, he changed up the grip on his katana and turned his whole body, and then, he threw it with all his might, luckily managing to pierce the waterball before it could touch anything, the weapon lodging itself right next to the cocoon.
Upon landing, Yami immediately dashed for the katana, reassuming his prior stance.
Gairu held his chin. "He seems to be protecting whatever is inside that thing of his. You think it could be another human?"
Yungel also held his chin, additionally stroking his beard. "It's possible," he agreed before his expression shifted, an uncharacteristically twisted smirk now present. "But if it will make the human suffer, we should give it some more of our attention,"
Yami grit his teeth upon hearing this. "Damn it, I have to finish this quickly, I need to get Julius out of here," he commanded his grimoire to flip to the next page. "Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Dance of the Eclipse!"
The two elves gasped in shock as he vanished. "Where'd he go?" they wondered, not noticing him appear above them.
"Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Blunt Strike!" darkness coated his katana as he struck them both in the head, knocking them out cold, their auras also dying down. Yami took hold of both of them as they descended on the roof.
Placing them both down, he sheathed his weapon. "Alright, before I go, I need to figure this out. Let's see, you called me a human, meaning whoever you two are, it's not human, you also got those marks on your faces," he checked off the peculiar traits they were showing, but then he noticed another one. "What the hell is up with your ears though? They're all pointy, they kinda remind me of…an elf. But, aren't they supposed to be gone? This is confusing as hell, but I'll have to deal with it later,"
He quickly headed over to his black cocoon, mentally commanding it to float beside him before he hurried to his broom and mounted it, flying down to ground level, breaking into a mad dash through a now empty street.
Even though the place was now deserted, it was easy to see from the desolation that things were really bad. Buildings were burning, and those that weren't were crumbling, dropping debris onto the street, the sight was reminiscent of the attack on the capital that had occurred months ago.
"Holy crap, this is worse than I thought," he mused, but then he stopped abruptly, he could feel something, something…under him. "Nope," he wasted no time getting off the ground, landing on one of the few buildings that miraculously escaped damage, and he was right to do so as the street floor burst asunder and ginormous vines and roses shot out.
"That magic looks familiar," Yami remarked.
And that wouldn't be the only familiar thing he registered as a voice called out to him. "You sensed my attack coming before it even rose to surface level, impressive," his gaze shifted to the building across from him, focusing less on it and more on the figure standing there, one he recognized.
"Prickly Queen?!"
Yes, the figure was none other than the azure-clad captain, Charlotte, or rather, it was her body. Like the other two from before, she was displaying the same traits, she had been taken over.
The possessed woman raised a brow at what he called her. "Prickly Queen? I take it you know this body's previous owner? It is of no concern to me, I'm more impressed with your skills. You defeated Yungel and Gairu with little struggle, but I think you'll find me harder to defeat,"
"Shit, an elf has gotten her too, Owen and Marx weren't the only ones. Could it be that they're the ones who did all this? That means there are a ton more of them," he thought, directing his full attention back to her. "Bring it on!"
"Gladly! Red Rose Magic: Crimson Massacre!" she exclaimed as the roses around her released a flurry of pollen, that pollen then enlarging before it zoomed straight for their target.
"Red Rose Magic?!" the dark mage jumped back a far distance, landing on the other side of the street, which contrasted the prior one as it was quite full of panicked citizens.
"It's Yami Sukehiro!" one of them cried.
"All of you, get the hell out of here, it's not safe!" Yami loudly bellowed to them. "Find whatever shelter you can and hide there! If any of you die here, I'll raise you from the dead and murder you again myself!"
They needed no further reminder to get out of sight, and it was a good thing they did as Charlotte emerged, the man giving her his attention a second time. "Now that they're out of the way, I can address a more pressing matter, as in what in the name of the great shit is Red Rose Magic? If I remember correctly, Prickly Queen was cursed back when she was a kid, and it made her magic eventually go out of control, but that must've not been all it did, it must've changed her attribute as well. From what it looks like, an elf isn't affected by whatever curse their host is afflicted by, that certainly explains why Licht didn't have William's scar, that also means that Red Rose Magic is her original magic type,"
"You told me to bring it on, yet you run instead of fight. It appears that even strong humans are still cowards, I wasn't expecting anything different though," she taunted.
To her surprise, he merely grinned. "Well then you won't have to worry, I won't do any more running. Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Blade Storm!"
"Red Rose Magic: Briar Guard!" she summoned vines that weaved together into a powerful dome, blocking each of the slashes. She undid the spell and jumped down to his level, casting another spell. "Red Rose Magic: Floral Utopia!"
Slamming a hand on the ground, spikes of vines and roses emerged in all directions, forcing Yami to weave his way around them, but he didn't get out of it unscathed, one of them had managed to land a hit, forming a cut on his arm.
"Hm, I got you,"
Yami decided to ignore both her comment and the leaking blood from his injury. "Floral Utopia? I've never heard of that spell, nor have I heard of the one with the pollen. They must be newer ones, I don't know how to approach them, and it doesn't help that I can't go all out unless I want to seriously damage her body. Right now, I have to knock her out, it's the safest option,"
Charlotte repeated the spell, sending another wave of the attack, however, the dark mage changed up his response. "Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Dance of the Eclipse!"
A sense of deja vu washed over the man as he now found himself above the possessed red rose mage. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it, let's finish this up,"
It was his turn to be surprised though as she turned around and looked right at him, unfazed by his tactic. "I saw you use this on Yungel and Gairu, I won't fall victim to it as well, human. Red Rose Creation Magic: Battlefield Rose Sword!" she raised her hand into the air as vines weaved into a well-sized sword, the blade glowing a bright blue. She grabbed the handle and readied herself to strike the opponent as soon as he touched the ground.
"So much for finishing this up. Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Black Blade!" he exclaimed as their swords clashed with immense force, a minor shockwave rippling throughout. "I gotta say, of all the new spells you've been using from Prickly Queen, this one has got to be the weirdest,"
They broke the clash as Yami properly landed, the two now exchanging quick blows which led to another blade struggle. "She usually uses that whip of hers, I wonder why she even made it. Do you think she's copying me? I mean, I'm the only one she really knows who uses this kind of weapon,"
"Why are you asking me like I either know or care?!" they broke the clash yet again, Yami performing a backflip to establish some distance, but the elf quickly closed that gap, letting loose a barrage of strikes that he parried before vanishing again, now appearing some feet behind her.
"I thought that, what with you being in her body and all, you could see what's going on in her head,"
"I can't do that just yet, I'll need more time before I can freely access her memories, but I don't think I'll need to do so to see that this woman must value you highly as a swordsman. You are very impressive in that regard as well,"
"Aw shucks, you sure do praise me more than the Prickly Queen does, but it helps that reading your Ki isn't too hard,"
"Ki?"
"Oh, how would I describe it? It's just a little thing that helps me know about people, and sometimes it lets me know things they don't want me to know,"
"Hm, it sounds needlessly complicated,"
"It's not, I can promise you that much," he smirked. "This is good, whether by fighting or by chatting, I should've bought enough time for anyone around here to scram, all that's left to do is find a way to take her down carefully, but that's easier said than-,"
"Char!" he was cut off by a new voice, turning around, he saw Sol, kneeling by a building next to an alleyway, and she wasn't looking too good.
"That's one of her subordinates. Hey, what are you doing here?!" he thought before calling to her.
Sol limped over to them. "I'm so glad I found you, but please, you have to tell me. Why did you attack us?"
Yami was shocked by the revelation, now facing the elf. "You attacked your squad?"
"My squad? Is that who those people were? All I saw were enemies," she responded.
Sol slowly shook her head. "N-No, you don't mean that, I know you don't. The Blue Rose Knights all look up to you, and you care for each and every one of us! Char!"
The possessed red rose mage put a hand on her hip. "I don't recall telling you my name, but I suggest you complete it, my name is Charla, not Char,"
"It's no use trying to get through to her, her body had been taken over," Yami informed her. "You need to get out here,"
"Taken over? If that's what happened, then I'll save her," she said with determination.
"You? Are you crazy? Look at yourself, you're too beat up, you can't even walk right," he tried to dissuade her, but it was no use as she kept advancing.
"Shut up, you damn man, you're the one who goes on and on about surpassing limits, I'll do just that, even if it costs me my life!" she charged forward the best she could, taking out her grimoire. "Earth Creation Magic: Raging Mother Goddess!" the golem emerged from the ground, reeling a fist back.
"A futile attempt. Red Rose Magic: Corpse Hunting Briar Tree!" with a wave of her hand, vines erupted from below, entangling the golem, constricting it until it eventually broke apart into chunks of dirt.
Sol gasped at how fast her most powerful spell was subdued, but she wasn't going to give up just yet. "I'm not going to stop, I'll just change up my tactics! Earth Creation Magic-," she was stopped as Yami grabbed a hold of her shoulder.
"Stop, you won't be able to do anything to her, you're not strong enough, you're not even at your best,"
"That doesn't matter, I have to rescue her! I owe her that much, she's the reason I'm the person I am today!" she screamed, thinking back to when she was just a scared little girl, at the world's mercy, unable to save herself, then transitioning to Charlotte coming to her aid. "If I run away, I'll be turning my back on her, and I won't do that!"
"Stop being a dumbass!" Yami yelled over her, managing to silence her. "Running away isn't turning your back on her, it's making sure you survive. If she comes back to her senses and learns you died trying to save her, do you think she'll ever forgive herself? You need to live for her sake too. You won't be able to do anything here, recognizing your limits is just as important as surpassing them. Do you understand?"
Clenching her fists tightly and biting her lip, Sol answered him. "...I understand,"
"Good, now I need you to do me a favor," he pulled out his map, handing it to her, pointing to his cocoon. "On this map is a destination, I need you to take this to that destination, leave it right where the X is,"
"Um, okay, but what's in there?" she inquired.
Yami's expression softened. "A hero,"
She nodded, summoning another golem that took hold of the black sphere, bringing its other hand down for the earth mage, but before she mounted it, she had one more thing to say. "Since I'm doing this for you, can…you do…something for me?" she requested, her head obscured by darkness.
"Sure. What?"
She put her head up, revealing tears that flowed down her face uncontrollably. "Please save her! Please save my captain!"
Yami gave her a serious look. "Will do," he told her as she climbed on the golem and departed. He maintained the same expression as he faced Charla. "Thanks for not attacking,"
"I'm not like you humans, I don't strike when your guard is down, if only you could do the same thing,"
The dark mage didn't utter another word as he blitzed forward, shocking the elf with how fast he moved, just managing to block his attack with her sword. "He's much quicker. Where did this speed come from?"
"You saw all of that, didn't you, Prickly Queen?!"
"Don't call me that, my name is-,"
"I'm not talking to you!" Yami cut her off. "Your subordinate was crying, she was crying for you! You mean everything to her! Are you just going to sit around and let some elf do what she wants with your body?! Answer me…Charlotte!"
Charla felt a sudden sensation, causing her to back away and kneel. "Ugh, the human is trying to resist, I need to maintain control," she said under her breath, strengthening her aura, the sensation subsiding as she stood back up. "That is it, I've wasted enough time on you! This is the end!"
Her grimoire flipped to a page, and as it did, the surrounding vines and roses all converged together, weaving itself into a singular mass that came to resemble a spearhead, but that wasn't it, the amalgam began to surge with magic. For the first time since their encounter, Yami was in a nervous sweat.
"Holy crap, the amount of mana radiating from that spell is off the charts. I have no doubt in my mind I can dodge it, but if I do, the amount of collateral damage will be equally off the charts, I gotta face it head on," he thought as his own grimoire flipped to a page and he raised his katana, letting it surge with darkness.
"You aren't going to try to avoid my attack?" the elf questioned with a tone that somewhat expressed confusion.
"Nope, I thought I already told you, I won't be doing any more running. Contrary to what you think of humans, we actually keep our promises more often than not,"
"You must take me for a fool if you expect me to believe that," she retorted.
"Believe whatever the hell you want, I'm staying right here,"
"So be it! You will die here!" she exclaimed as they both declared their spells, both of them ready to give it all they had to come out on top.
"Red Rose Magic: Crimson Vine Spear!"
"Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Dimension Slash!"
The amount of force and magic that came from their clash was massive, both spells were evenly matched.
The grip on Yami's katana tightened. "I'm not going to lose, mark my words, I will save her…"
"...I WILL SAVE CHARLOTTE ROSELEI!"