The end of the Devil-Believers
"Huh?!" Alyssa said in a stunned tone of voice before looking up in the direction that the attacks came from and saw four people heading towards the battle.
"Yeah! Time to get those Holy Swords back!" Slash exclaimed before jumping off his broom before he even landed on the ground and charged straight towards the Devil Believers members who are holding Hayate and Nagare.
However, numerous Shimis block his path, stopping Slash's charge.
"You want to party? Then come on!" The swordsman of sound exclaimed as he transformed Sezume into it's sword form just as his Grimoire opened.
"Music Magic: Sonic Echo!" Slash announced, creating a sound wave that started to bounce off the Shimis before the swordsman of sound himself swing Sezume before the Shimis can recover from his spell.
However, the Shimis that have been struck by the weakened sound wave quickly recovered before Slash could reach them.
"This sucks." Slash thought as he hopped back just as the Shimis started to perform sword swings, releasing slashes of Mana.
Slash's Grimoire began to turn just as the swordsman of sound transformed Sezume back into it's gun form.
"Music Magic: Rhythmic Distortion." Slash announced, creating low frequency sound waves and when they struck the Shimis, they started to become dizzy and Slash started to fire Mana-Bullets before the Shimis can recover.
"Watch out!" Coratana shouted as she prepared to fire an arrow, she being the second of the four to come.
Alyssa, who has been using her sword to hold back both heads of Koueihei Orthus, glanced over should and saw the bows-woman(s) of the forest and saw the prepared attack.
The merchant shoved Koueihei Orthus back before jumping to the side, allowing Cortana easy view the two-headed dog Megid.
Koueihei Orthus stumbled back when the arrow struck them in the chest, causing both heads to make pained growling sounds.
Before Koueihei Orthus could get the chance to recover, Cortana dashed forwards and started to use the bladed-pieces of Eien no Midori to attack Koueihei Orthus, dealing some good damage.
The snaked-tail of Koueihei Orthus suddenly moved, and the bows-woman(s) of the forest widened her eyes underneath her helmet.
Luckily, Alyssa's blade struck the snaked tail, causing the snake hair to make pained hissing sounds.
"That's for the time you managed bite me." Alyssa commented in a calm tone of voice.
In response, Koueihei Orthus swiped one of their claws towards the "two" females.
Luckily, Alyssa and Cortana managed to dodge the attack.
"Thanks." the bows-woman(s) of the forest said whilst giving a quick glance towards the merchant.
"You're welcome." Alyssa responded as she kept her gaze locked onto the two-headed dog Megid.
"Just stop getting in our way." The voice of Dazu spoke as she and Bow slowly recover from the attacks that the two have been receiving.
"Why are you trying to stop us?" Dazu questioned as her head of Koueihei Orthus glared at the two.
"….Is this really the path you want to walk and lead others on?" Cortana asked back, causing Bow's head to growl in anger.
"You sound like her." Bow commented whilst glancing towards Joyeues.
"Well, both of us have the same desire for peace." Cortana responded, causing Bow this time to scoff.
"Those are just false words for you Magic Knights, you just protect the upper-class who live their lives in comfort." Bow said with a sneer on her dog face.
"But I/She's not a Magic Knight of the Clover Kingdom." Alyssa said, cutting off Cortana's thoughts.
"Huh?!" Bow and Dazu said at the same time.
"Why?" The bows-woman(s) of the forest asked whilst giving the merchant a questioning look.
Alyssa simply shrugged her shoulders in response.
"If you're not from the Clover Kingdom, then why-!" Bow began to say, but suddenly stop when Koueihei Orthus's body swayed dangerously.
"What's wrong with them?" Cortana and Alyssa thought, becoming on guard.
"Man. Your Mana and Ki reeks." Yami commented as he blocked an attack from Spatha, he and Fuegoleon are the other two who have joined the battle.
"Thanks for the compliment." Spatha commented with a smirk underneath his helmet.
"That wasn't a compliment." Yami responded as he push Spatha away from him.
"Dark Magic: Lighless Slash!" Yami announced as his Grimoire glowed, causing darkness to cover the blade of his Katana and swing it at Spatha who, unfortunately blocked the attack with Golden Shield.
"Is that all you got, captain of the Black Bulls?" Spatha questioned, causing a frown to appear on Yami's face.
Spatha was about to do something, but was prevented as movement caught his attention, causing the swordsman of gold to raised Golden Sword and blocked Argent-Coronne.
"Tch." Joyeues said in annoyance.
"You need to do better, girl." Spatha commented, chuckling darkly.
This cause Joyeues to gain an annoyed expression underneath her helmet.
"Joyeues! Yami! Get out of the way!" Fuegoleon's voice called, causing the two named and Spatha to look towards the captain of the Crimson Lions and saw that Salamander is preparing to launch an attack.
"Spirit Magic: Salamander's Breath!" Fuegoleon announced before the spirit of fire released a stream of fire.
The swords-woman of steel and the captain of the Black Bulls jumped out of the way and the swordsman of gold got consumed by the flames.
"Did…..we managed to defeat him?" Joyeues thought as she and Yami regrouped with Fuegoleon and Salamander, attempting to feel hopeful, but a part of her have a feeling that something will go wrong.
Her thoughts are confirmed, although not expecting for the flames to start getting absorbed into Golden Shield.
"What?!" Fuegoleon exclaimed in a shock tone of voice as he and the other three saw what just happened.
"Surprise? My shield is capable of absorbing magic-based attacks whilst my Holy Sword is able of releasing the stored Mana if I wanted to." The swordsman of gold explained, finding the expressions of the captain of the Crimson Lions and spirit amusing.
"I hardly call that a Holy Sword." Joyeues commented with a disgusted expression underneath her helmet.
This cause Spatha to hum slightly.
"True. My weapons are forged differently than the methods that the Daishinji family used to create the normal Holy Swords." Spatha explained before snorting slightly.
"Its a good thing then that I'm not fighting Slash, otherwise he will go on a rampage when fighting me." Spatha commented in amusement.
"How are we supposed to defeat this person? For now, I should let Joyeues and Yami fight Spatha until they manage to knock his weapons out of his hands." Fuegoleon thought, a frown appearing on his face.
It was at that moment that Spatha swing his sword, releasing an slashes of Mana.
Joyeues ducked under the attack, Yami jumped over the attack whilst Fuegoleon let Salamander fly into the air, avoid getting hit.
Rolling across the ground before kicking off the ground, Joyeues quickly reached Spatha and started to make jabbing motions with Argent-Coronne.
Spatha raised Golden Sword to block the sword attacks.
"Is that all you're going to do, throwing poor jabs towards me?" Spatha questioned, causing a tick-mark to appear on Joyeues's forehead before taking a step forwards so that she's positioned more closer to the swordsman of gold.
"Hm?" Spatha said, gaining a confused expression underneath his helmet.
The swords-woman of steel then jab her arm to the side, which cause Golden Sword to be knocked to the side as well.
"Wait! You're…" Spatha began to say before trailing off, having a good idea on what is Joyeues is trying to achieve just as her Grimoire began to glow.
"Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Vortex!" Joyeues announced, jumping back just as water started to swirl Spatha before trapping the swordsman of gold.
"She's just staling for time, I can easily…..?" Spatha began to thought before sensing a build up of Mana on the other side of the water.
"Dark Magic: Dimension Slash!" Yami announced before swinging his Katana, striking the swordsman of gold without cutting through the water.
"Ghe." Spatha grunted as he protect himself as much as possible through Mana-Skin.
"Your turn!" Yami called over his shoulder just as Fuegoleon's Grimoire began to glow.
"Fire Magic: Sol Linea." The captain of the Crimson Lion announced, creating a small sun-like sphere which then shot a small beam of intense heat, shooting straight through Joyeues's water spell and striking…..Golden Shield.
Somehow, the swordsman of gold managed to place Golden Shield in front of and when Fuegoleon's attack struck it, the Mana got absorbed into it instead.
"Darn! I thought that we could have deal some serious damage at him." Joyeues thought in annoyed tone of voice just as the water was cut in two.
"That was a good attempt, but better luck next time." Spatha commented, yet having a slight discomfort expression underneath his helmet due the intense heat of Fuegoleon's spell.
"Now then. What should I do/YES! I got them!" A voice suddenly shouted, cutting off Spatha, causing him and everyone else to turn towards the source of the voice to see Slash hugging Hayate and Nagare tightly.
"Shuuush. It's okay now, Slash has you now." The swordsman of sound said in a comforting tone of voice.
This cause everyone to sweat-drop.
"I hope that he didn't down right wrenched them out of the Devil Believer's hands." Fuegoleon thought whilst turning his attention towards the other members of the Devil Believers and saw how their bodies are shaking.
"Yes, yes he did." Fuegoleon thought in a blank tone of voice.
"Hey! Give those back to us!" Dazu's voice spoke and Koueihei Orthus dashed forwards towards the swordsman of sound.
Cortana prepared to fire an arrow and was about to fire it, but Koueihei Orthus stumbled dangerously.
"Dazu! Are you okay?!" Bow asked in alarm as she and Dazu are seemingly floating in a shared subconsciousness.
"I….I don't know…. How about you?" Dazu questioned in a pained tone of voice.
"I feel….?" Bow began to say, she being on the same position as Dazu, but stop when she and Dazu felt a presence behind them.
The two turned around and saw a shadowy version of Koueihei Orthus, its eyes glowing dangerously red.
"Gah!" Both Dazu and Bow exclaimed at the same time just as Koueihei Orthus fell onto it's knees.
"What just happened?" Joyeues questioned, becoming worried just as Cortana lowered Eien no Midori slightly.
"It would seem that you two have reached your limits." Spatha commented, relaxing his stance slightly.
"Wha….what do you…...mean…..?" Bow questioned as she started to feel like hers and Dazu's subconsciousness are being eaten away.
This cause Spatha to chuckle darkly.
"Did you really think that the Alter-Ride book you've been using wouldn't have it's side-effects?" Spatha questioned, a smirk appearing underneath his helmet.
"Huh?" Everyone said at the time whilst Dazu and Bow became confuse.
"I'd made alterations, but ultimately, the Alter-Ride book will consume both your life-force and Mana. Your body will be taking over by the subconsciousness of the Megid." Spatha explained, causing both Dazu and Bow to become stunned.
"So the Alter-Ride book still acts as a normal Alter-Ride book, despite the hosts having full control over the form…." Joyeues thought, before glancing towards other members of the Devil Believers who have a stunned aura around them.
"Then why…..did you…...decided to help…..us?" Bow asked whilst attempting to keep consciousness and not let the Megid's subconsciousness take over.
This cause Spatha to chuckle again, but louder.
"Humans are such easy creatures to play with. Give them the means to reach their goals, and yet watch as they let their greed and desires consume them." Spatha explained darkly.
"What sort of twisted person are you?" Yami commented whilst the other Magic Knights, Cortana and Alyssa gained disturbed expressions on their faces.
"What's so wrong? Greed is a part of everyone's nature, all desired something to fulfil their lives. It's just that their desire would just lead them, and their followers, to ruin. The Devils may appreciate the Holy Swords as gifts, but I hardly doubt that they would even give you the power that you desire. Your bodies will become corrupted and end up as husks." Spatha explained in an uncaring tone of voice, causing the gathered people to gain frightened expressions on their faces.
"You…..You…..Damn you!" Both Dazu and Bow shouted as they lunged towards Spatha.
However, the swordsman of gold retain a calm aura around him as his sheath Golden Sword into Golden Shield and pressed the trigger.
Gold Charging!
The voice announced and Mana started to gather around the two weapons before unsheathing Golden Sword.
Tyrant Smite!
The voice announced again just as Spatha swing his sword in an arc, releasing golden coloured Mana which spin through the air.
Spatha's finishing attack collided with Koueihei Orthus, causing an explosion to occur.
When the raising smoke disappeared, both Dazu and Bow lay on the ground before starting to disintegrate and then disappeared.
"Why did you killed them?!" Fuegoleon shouted in anger just as Salamander growled aggressively and everyone got into a battle stance.
"What? Their life-forces were on the brink of being extinguished, so I decided to stuff them out. What would you all do? You would end up slaying the Megid regardless of what I do." The swordsman of gold explained whilst pointing Golden Sword at Fuegoleon.
The explanation caused the captain of the Crimson Lions and everyone else to gain discomforting expressions on their faces.
"Anyway. Time for me to take my leave." Spatha said before preparing to disappear.
"You're leaving?" Slash asked in a tone of disbelief, yet feeling relieved that it would seem that Spatha isn't planning on stealing Hayate and Nagare again.
"Yep, the fun's over. But we would be meeting up again soon, the war against the Devils is approaching after all." Spatha explained before fully disappearing.
Silence filled the air for a few seconds until Yami spoke.
"You guys certainly have a tough guy to fight." Yami commented to the Sword of Logos Magic Knights, and possibly towards the bows-woman(s) of the forest.
"Indeed…..especially destroying Golden Sword." Slash said in a firm tone tone.
"That's just like you." The Magic Knights thought whilst sweat-dropping before Fuegoleon turned his attention towards the other members of the Devil Believers, making them flinch.
"Despite being fooled by Spatha in the hopes of a better life, all of you need to be punished for your actions." Fuegoleon explained in a firm tone of voice, causing the Devil Believers to become tense.
"As for the rest of you…" The captain of the Crimson Lions began to say whilst turning his attention towards the people that the Devil Believers managed to gather.
"I know that many, if not all, of you are dissatisfied with the current behaviour of the Magic Knights, but even we are facing internal conflicts that originated from the after-effects of the attacks a few months back." Fuegoleon explained, hoping that his words would be able to convince the dissatisfied people to turn back.
"What about the beast that is supposedly created by the Magic Parliament?" Someone questioned in a bitter tone of voice and few others nod their heads in agreement.
This cause the Sword of Logos Magic Knights to become tense whilst Cortana gained a worried expression underneath "her" helmet.
The captain of the Crimson Lions became silent, thinking of the right words to use.
"I can't denial that the Magic Parliament did have a hand in the "creation" of the beast, but after some trial and error, the Magic Knights have managed to calm the beast down." Fuegoleon said, making everyone become shock.
"The've managed to deal with the issue?!" Everyone thought with widened eyes.
"But wouldn't the Magic Knights have been ordered by the Magic Parliament to slay the beast since one of their members got attacked?" Someone asked, them having read the newspaper
"Whilst that would be the case, but that member of the Magic Parliament was acting alone, so it's mostly their fault for taking the situation into their own hands and entering the battle as well. So to avoid any futher interference with the Magic Parliament, the Magic Knight have decided to relocate Primitive Dragon/the host to a location outside of the Clover Kingdom."" Fuegoleon explained, causing people to glance at each other.
"So the Magic Knights and the Magic Parliament aren't fully synced with each other." Some thought, becoming hopeful.
However, many still have looks of uncertainty on thei faces.
Alyssa released a sigh before speaking.
"How many of you Forsaken and Common folk decided to stay behind?" The merchant questioned bluntly, causing the gathered people to gain unsure expressions on their faces, mainly due to the question.
"There would be at least some of the lower-class folk who decided to stay behind, feeling satisfied with their current lives. They may face the discrimination of the upper-class, but I think that they would prefer that life-style rather than marching towards the lair of a Devil." Alyssa explained, causing the gathered people to start glancing each other.
"Is it working? Are they listening to her?" Fuegoleon questioned himself, starting to feel hopeful.
"My folks are too stubborn to listen." A voice commented, sounding frustrated.
Aylssa managed to locate the speaker and stared at them for a few seconds, making them nervous.
The merchant then sighed before taking off a bracelet that she's been wearing.
Everyone's eyes widened when they sensed nothing coming off Alyssa.
"As you can see, I was born with no Mana. Yes, I did face discrimination when growing up. But did I decided to summon a Devil to gain power? No, I decided stand firm and carrying on with life as a merchant. So why can't you do the same?" Alyssa explained, saying the last part with a serious expression on her face.
This cause the gathered people to start gaining discomforting expressions on their faces and after a while of further encouraging words, the gathered people started to head back with the Magic Knights protecting them.
"You certainly know your words." Yami commented as he got closer to Alyssa.
"I'm a merchant, I'm good with words and negotiations." Alyssa responded simply.
"Then how come you're able to wield a sword?" Yami questioned, glancing towards Alyssa's sword.
"…..That's something that you do not need to know." The merchant responded, causing Yami to sigh in disappointment.
And there we have it, the end of the Devil-Believers arc with Spatha releaving to Bow and Dazu that the Alter-Ride book is consuming their life-force before brutally killing the both of them. It is also revealed that Aylssa doesn't possess any Mana and use a bracelet-shaped Magic-Item to mimic possessing Mana of her own.
In Gotchard:
1) Whilst Gotchard and Majade attempted to rescue Hijiri, they failed as Clotho and the Jungle Malgam took Hijiri to Gaelijah who plans on transforming her back into the Battery Malgam. With Kyoka, Lachesis and Spanner, they managed to awaken the model's memory with that model being a singer.
2) Back with Gotchard, Gaelijah was able to extract the Battery Malgam rather than letting Hijiri transforming into the Malgam and when Gotchard, with the aid of Steam-Hopper, managed to destroy the Battery Malgam it immediately reapperaing with Gaelijah commenting that malice isn't so easy to destroy. Whilst the battle continues, Ryo attempted to encourage Hijiri, he is constantly getting attacked by the Battery Malgam before managing to get through to Hijiri, causing the Battery Malgam to stop attacking. Whilst Ryo and Hijiri fixed their friendship, Gaelijah is starting to gather the malice from the defeated Malgams which she then used to recover people's lost memories about the Chemies.
And there we have it, Gaelijah is making big moves with her memory recovery technique which will hopefully lead to the Alchemy Association making moves of their own to deal with the chaos that is about to unfold. We also learn that Lachesis is based on a singer, so it will likely be soon that we get to learn who Geryon, Atropos and Clotho are modeled after.
Please review and until next time.
Warmachine375: Yep, Dazu and Bow certainly learned the hard way with them quickly loosing their life-force and Spatha swiftly cutting them down.
Howard576:
1) Good news, Noelle didn't got her Holy Sword stolen, thus avoiding getting yelled at by Tetsuo.
2) From the looks of things, it seems likely that Geryon's and Clotho's models are that of father and daughter whilst Gaelijah is starting her plan of gathering malice as people started to remember the Malgams.
brave kid: I did mentioned that Cupiditas is an OC character that someone gave me, this also includes his Ride form.