A/N: I'll admit, I didn't really want to work on this bit, I just couldn't find the motivation for it. I was more motivated for the stuff next arc. Oh well, such is the writing process.
Edit (7/31): My lack of motivation had unfortunately shown, as mentioned by long time commentors Zackman2k12 and Bladist. Namely with the fight scenes I suppose. However, I zoned out at work, as you do, and came up with a few ways to fix up the chapter. So I'm doing that today instead of moving on to the next one. There were a few scenes I wanted to add too.
Disclaimer: I don't own Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs, nor The Eminence in Shadow. The only Beta reader here is the elf.
-Leon-
After taking off I immediately started to head towards the horde of monsters. I'll admit that my hands started to sweat a little bit the closer I got, especially since the crest that kept them in place was also starting to fade.
Afterall, even from within Arroganz, a mech the size of a three story building, I couldn't help but feel small in comparison to some of these guys.
I can't help but wonder how that makes all the students back on the ship feel. Afterall, they saw me beat the founding families' heirs. I can't imagine how good that makes their odds look, when I probably look like an ant before a mountain.
I take a deep breath.
In.
Out.
I take a good look at the cockpit I'm in. When I first started to pilot Arroganz I had no clue what I was doing. It was a good thing I practiced piloting on an empty island honestly. And that I had the best possible training wheels/teacher in Luxion.
I take another deep breath as I get within battle distance of the monsters.
In.
Out.
I don't have the time to doubt myself.
I take a good look at everything surrounding me. The giant monitor in front. The two off to the sides that show me what's behind me and what Luxion sees. The several holograms that float in front of me. The grip I have on the two… driving sticks that I use to move around. Honestly, I still have no idea what everything does. At some point it just started to feel like if I wanted to move, I would. Arroganz is almost a second body.
That's right.
I'm not a man in an armor.
I'm a man wearing armor.
No.
I'm a king in armor about to face an army of monsters.
I need to be strong.
"Tarukaja"
[Master's attack power has increased.]
I need to be focused.
"Concentrate."
[Master's magic potential has increased.]
I need to make sure all of my hits land.
"Sukukaja."
[Master's accuracy and evasion has increased. I recommend using "Electric Break" as well to ensure you can use your preferred element against monsters that may resist it.]
"Electric Break"
In.
Out.
I grip the controls as hard as I can. The emblems begin to blink. I take out the rifle from Arroganz's back and begin to summon magic circles. One behind the head to focus, others to prevent from me getting hit by my own spell.
I smile.
"This is the best way to take care of small fries like these." I state.
[Lighting Element, Buckshot Type Attack- "Lightning" ready when you are master.]
I point my gun at the first few monsters. A few shark looking ones, if sharks had tentacles and weird butterfly wing looking things anyway.
One last deep breath.
And Out I SCREAM, "BLOW THEM ALL AWAY! MAZIODYNE!"
-P2W/Cid-
As the students look at Leon with anticipation of what's to come. They hear his chant of "Maziodyne." The way that Leon had said it painted the picture of what had to be a wild grin perfectly to his friends and loved ones.
For a brief second nothing happens. But suddenly the sky is coated in a web of lightning coated lasers, nowhere that anyone is looking can avoid the barrage of attacks.
Everyone witnessing the attack can't help but be impressed. Nearly 1/6th of the entire monster horde was deleted in an instant. Or, in other words, should you compare the thousands of monsters present to a single entity, it just lost a limb.
All thanks to one man.
Who wasn't finished.
From atop the roof of the cruise ship, two figures in white witness the grandstanding of the current crown prince of Holfort.
"Master." Said Zeta as she turned to Cid, not expecting the smile upon his face.
"Zeta, let's see how this plays out." Ordered Cid. "Something tells me this place is too bright for there to be shadows."
Zeta bowed and the two went back to playing the roles of innocent mob and his cat therianthrope wife.
But man, thinks Cid, Leon's grown a lot stronger than before. I need to step up my game too. Maybe I should start with some mob stuff like him… hm… what about that tea stuff?
-Leon-
I couldn't help but cackle at the mass destruction I managed to cause. "You see that?! That's the power of Luxion and I! Together we can cast the craziest of magic spells! It's something I've learned how to do just recently!"
Thankfully no one but Luxion could hear me gloat. However, that means that Luxion heard me.
["Together"? Since most of the effort is on my end, "With Luxion's help," would be the more accurate statement.]
I laugh it off, "Don't screw with my vibe man. Come on, let's keep this going!"
[…You're scum, alright. Although for the record we aren't going to be able to do any attacks of that magnitude for a bit.]
"I figured." I say as I take out my sword. My actual sword, no the shovel from before. I charge towards the monsters, and unfortunately some of them were smart enough to avoid me and go straight for the ship. I glance back but.
[Master, we can't possibly stop all of them from heading towards the ship, we should focus on the larger ones that the others couldn't possibly handle.]
I suck in air through my teeth. Luxion's right. I don't like it, but he's right.
-P2W/Chris-
From the deck of the ship, the students would see several orbs of light color the day's sky as Leon moved about.
For his part, as he witnessed said machinations, Chris felt humbled.
"…" hummed Chris as he got ready in his own armor, "Barfort… You're a formidable man."
I may be better than you in plain swordsmanship, thought Chris (for as true that may or may not be), But there's no actual meaning in simply swinging swords. Be it courage or resolve… I don't have anything that surpasses yours. To go on what would be a suicide attack for anyone else, but to then become the light of hope for everyone who serves you…
Chris tightly held the God of War Charm he had gotten from the vendor in the festival—different from what Leon had, as it was a sword and shield with Holfort's symbol on it and what appeared to be either wings or a representation of light from the sides.
Chris had his armor turn to all the other men who were gearing up. In between all of them stood Angelica, who despite wearing nothing but her normal school uniform compared to all their armors she looked the most imposing.
"Your objective is to protect this ship! Guard it with your lives!" Ordered Angelica.
""""YES MA'AM!""""
The boys then took off in a v formation, with Chris leading the charge.
Monsters began to approach the ship, and as some of the female students began to squeal in fear as their magic hadn't worked on them Chris would show off his skill by going through the monster in one fell swoop.
"Kyah…!" cried some of the girls, "Amazing he took it out in one hit!" "He's really strong!" "We're counting on you!"
Chris wouldn't acknowledge any of this praise, instead choosing to continue his fight with all of the monsters that approach the ship that can't be hit by magic.
"I made a promise with Barfort! I will not let this ship fall!" Said Chris, which technically he did with future Angelica Rapha Barfort, but he's too into his current actions to think back to how he slipped up.
-Leon-
I recall that in my previous life one of my biggest fantasies was to face an unending army, defending my loved ones.
[On your left!]
I bring my sword up and slash again, sending a wave that goes through a jellyfish looking creature that tried to grab and shock me.
I think the fantasy came from all the games I used to play that had you face tons of enemies at once.
[Now the right!]
I use the momentum from slashing through the jellyfish earlier to spin and bat away a shark that was charging towards me with the flat side of my sword and then shoot it with my rifle.
I mean all the warriors games, that one bit in Halo: Reach, basically all of Doom…
[Above!]
"Agilao!" I chant, catching the school of smaller monsters in a single blaze.
Oh and not to mention that battle against the thousand heartless in Kingdom Hearts 2, I don't think anything could top the hype I felt as a kid when I pulled it off for the first time.
[Below and to the left!]
I back up while sheathing my rifle and sword as a pufferfish comes up, I kick it with my foot to make it spit the poison at other monsters and then move my torso slightly to catch an eel that was attempting to bite my neck. I grab the eel from the end as it passes by and then swing it at the puffer fish, it bites down and I get a makeshift morning star that I start swinging around.
Though it kinda sucks that Kh3 couldn't live up to that. Like seriously, how do you give me 1000 heartless in the previous game and then have me fight like, 100 of a bunch of enemies while there's several more in the laggy as fuck background…
[They're surrounding us!]
A bunch of star fish looking fucks begin to circle around me, all with lights before their freaky looking eyes.
"Garu!" I shout, making the starfish spin around before they can hit me and instead hit all the surrounding monsters.
Like it would have been so cool to fight waves of each enemy before going into that roller coaster cutscene, like in a pre-rendered one, not the one we got.
[Behind you!]
I make myself quickly descend and see another shark looking thing tried to bite me in the ass. I watch it bite another monster, causing a few of them to start attacking each other.
At least it would have made the scene where terra-nort beat up everyone make more sense if the battle against the heartless took longer.
[Left!]
Without looking a fire my rifle and hear the familiar sound of a monster being killed.
Plus, that cutscene fucking sucked. I get that it'd probably cost too much to have everyone fight him for real, but like, couldn't it take at least two hits? I know some of them had to have second chance and once more.
[In front!]
I raise both my arms and ready myself as an orca looking fuck tries to ram me.
"IMPACT!" I shout, sending a strong force from my arms and probably crushing the freak's brain.
Then again when you get to play as everyone in ReMind they only have like, 3 Hi-potions, they probably weren't that well prepared.
[Up and to the right!]
I dash forward and roll so that I see some flying fish… as in the actual fish of that name, looking monsters try to ram me. I'm upside down as I shoot a "Zionga!" causing a bolt of lighting to hit them all at once.
Honestly thinking back that was pretty funny, the most important fight of their lives. Yeah, 3 of the second tier potions and maybe one either is good enough.
[They're surrounding us. Take a second to breathe Master.]
I put away my sword and take out a second gun.
In
Out
I begin to rapidly fire my guns, causing the hordes to go from their orderly lines that looked like some kind of horror version of a coral reef picture into the weird states of disarray they were in before.
[You're running low on ammo, sheathe the guns so I can reload.]
I put the guns back and take out a sword. Before I can draw it a pirahnna looking fuck manages to get my arm.
"Fuck!" I yell as I shake it off and then slash it. "Dia!"
[Master, I appreciate it, but you'd need to use Diarahan to do anything]
Oh right.
I dash backwards, hitting some stuff with the back while I dodge a school of turtle monsters… or was it a floatilla? Whatever. Hard outsides, weak insides.
"Bufula!" I shout, freezing the turtles and causing them to plummet to the sea below.
[…I find it quite surprising]
Although it can't really be said that I'm necessarily listening, I respond to Luxion's remark.
"What is?" I asked.
I slash at another monster approaching from the right, then shock one approaching from the left. I feel my stats starting to return to normal so I apply "Tarukaja" (atk) and "Rakukaja"(def) again. I think Sukukaja still has a bit though.
[The students of the academy, particularly the males. They are fighting on equal grounds with the monsters. I had predicted they would be overpowered instantly.]
I laugh as I head for an opening and start 'training' the monsters. It'll be easier on me to kill a bunch all at once after all.
"Aah. The nobles of the kingdom are strong since they're descendants of adventurers to begin with." I said while dodging a few stray attacks from the monsters, "Despite what I said earlier, a lot of the boys within the lower class actually have experience going in dungeons. They have to, after all. By delving into dungeons they'll earn money. They'll use that money to give offerings to girls in order to get married. You have to go really deep into a dungeon to make good money, so by the time they graduate most of them will end up fully fledged warriors."
[…Do you have any plans to change the need for such a heartbreaking accomplishment?]
"Honestly I think that the current situation could be better, but it's actually pretty funny what's going on." I said.
I start heading upwards, and from what I can see from Luxion's monitor I appear to be making some kind of monstrous Christmas tree out of the monsters following me. And I'm the star. Since there's nothing above me I decide to take a sip of some tea, master's tea. No idea how it rejuvenates me so much, but then again it's master's recipe so that's really all I needed to know.
[Ah, that's right. Milaine had some surprising insight to the machinations of the palace.]
"Right, but we can work on that later." I said.
I then let go of the two levers so I start falling backwards. I'm headed straight towards the spiral of monsters that were chasing after me.
I need strength.
"Charge."
[Master's physical strength has doubled.]
I need to focus.
"Concentrate."
[Master's magic potential has increased.]
I should cover myself.
"Makarakarn. Tetrakarn."
[Magic and Physical repelling barriers deployed.]
I raise my arms, probably looking like Superman, and deploy some of my favorite midgame attacks.
"Myriad Arrows, Megido!"
Like the barrage of beams that Partner can unleash arrows shoot out from magic circles surrounding me, and a large orb of raw destructive power emerges in front. Every monster I hit is eradicated, not even ashes remain.
-Olivia-
I watch as monsters begin to approach the deck of the ship and the boys that hadn't gone onto the mechs fend off whichever manage to get through the barrier that the girls are maintaining.
"Leave the small fry to me!" Declares one blood covered boy.
Another boy in a similar state shouts, "Just protect the girls at all costs!"
The ship slowly moves in the bath being carved by the efforts of Leon and several mages. Emphasis on slowly. Because of that, the girls need to maintain the barrier at all costs. However, as they aren't used to covering such a large area for so long it's only natural that several of them wane and let a few monsters in.
I get worried, as I'm too far back and to do anything, but before I can take my hands off of the man, I was healing I hear a familiar boisterous voice.
"Begone!" shouts Deidre as she leaps through the air and casts a unique spell, "ROSE HURRICANE!"
A large tunnel of air sucks in all of the nearby monsters and rips them to shreds, then tossing those shreds away and making them hit other monsters. Whatever is left turns into rose petals that when falling on Deirdre's fellow students, seemingly giving them a slight boost in energy with the rose petal's refreshing scent.
Deirdre merely gives her best "Ohohoho!" as everyone marvels at her abilities. After all a unique spell is something you can only get through either inheritance, like that spell Angie told me her brother could do, 'flame lance,' or it's something completely unique to the user. Like Shadow's 'IAMATOMIC.'
"Olivia," said Alice as she shook my shoulder, "It looks like he's fine now."
I look back to the man I was healing. He practically was seconds away from having his guts about to fall out thanks to a swipe from a manta ray, but luckily, I managed to go to him in time.
"Are you alright?" I asked the male staff member.
The staff member could only nod dumbly as he looked at his once grievous wound closed, "Y…Yeah… This is my first time seeing healing magic."
Alice immediately steps in hands him a canteen with tea inside and says, "Drink this then get back into the fight. We aren't clear just yet."
The man nods and begins to chug.
I smile at Alice and she returns it as she helps me get up so we can go help the next person.
"Livia, Alice!" shouts Angelica as she runs up to us.
I give her a big hug and she rubs my hair a little before letting go and gives a shorter hug to Alice.
"How are things with you all?" asked Angie.
"Good, given the circumstances," answered Alice, "…apologies for Cid… not being out here."
I shake my head, "No it's completely understandable, he almost died the last time we were attacked after all. Besides, he's the one who came up with the idea of starting to brew the tea, right?"
Angie nodded in agreement, "The ability to continuously cast spells is paramount right now, therefore his effort behind the scenes is one of the important cogs in this machine of our combined efforts. Better than him being out here and fearing for his life… please feel free to join him should the need arise, Alice."
*SLAM!*
The ship shakes in tandem with the loud sound.
*SLAM!* *SLAM!* *SLAM!*
"What's going on!?" demanded Angie as we tried to hold onto another.
Zetan rushes over with some more of the filled canteens. Somehow, she has perfect balance. "Hey! I think that came from the back of the ship!"
*SLAM!*
"The monsters," shouted Alice as she helped Olivia and Angelica not fall, "They must be attacking the ship's blind spots! They must have been able to figure out that if the ship falls so do we!"
What!?
No… At this rate… Angie, Deirdre, everyone… Even though Leon is fighting so hard. Even though we were doing so well. We'll lose it all at this rate…! I… I can't let all of our efforts go to waste! I don't want to see everyone die!
I know I'm nowhere as strong as Claire, courageous as Leon, confident as Deidre, or as awesome as Angie…! But…! But!
I've studied so hard for a reason! I'm not the princess in a castle from my fairy tales! I know I might like being doted on by everyone, but I want to help them too! I'm an adventurer!
I hold the charm I got from the shrine.
Please, if there's any strength to be gained from this, give me it now.
I take a deep breath and shout at the top of my lungs-
-P2W/Olivia-
"NOOOOOOO!" Yells Olivia at the top of her lungs, a white glow emanating from her body and lifting her a few feet into the air, the light grows and encompasses the ship entirely, immediately eradicating several monsters and covering the first 50 feet of the ship in a barrier.
"Livia…" gasped Angeilca.
Olivia slowly floats back down to her place on the deck, a much more determined look appearing on her face. Her arms raised, her body glowing, and her will renewed, Olivia opens her eyes.
"Right now…" said Olivia with a stomp on the deck, "THERE'S SOMETHING I CAN DO!"
Several magic circles immediately surround the cruise ship, many of which are bigger than the ship, and hundreds of tendrils of light emerge eradicating thousands of monsters faster than anyone expects.
The students on the deck marvel at the brilliant sight.
"Th…The monsters are getting… pierced by the light…"
"Did the scholarship student do that…?"
Olivia's friends marvel as well.
"I can't believe it…" said Alice, "A unique spell... and one of this magnitude as well."
Olivia smiles, then redirects her attention towards the front, as now almost more than half of the horde of monsters has been eradicated.
Keep going Leon, thinks Olivia, I'll… protect everyone here!
-P2W/Leon-
As many of the monsters near Leon have also been eradicated by Olivia's awakening, he is given the chance to breathe and witness his lover's strength.
[So this is the power of the Saintess… I am at a loss for words.]
Leon also finds himself unable to say much and takes a second to take his jaw off of the floor.
"Yeah, that surprised me too." Said Leon as he continued to watch Olivia, "To think she could use so much power without the saint items…"
[It's the fruit of her efforts. She has been sparing no effort in the academy. A benefit she acquired from her encounter with you, master. As a result of being protected by you, training alongside her friends, and over all stress free at the academy, Olivia had much more time to focus on her studies. Or did you assume she was just waiting for you back on the ship whenever you weren't with her?]
Leon doesn't believe Luxion in the slightest, but nods after rolling his eyes.
"I think it's time to deploy Partner." Suggested Leon. "The ship might be protected by Livia for now, but I think everyone would fare a lot better on a ship that was actually made to do more than look nice."
[Well said.]
Leon then has Arroganz take out its sword and rifle again.
"Clean up duty it is then." Said Leon.
Leon cracks his fingers by stretching them in front of him. But before he can lock back in, Luxion chimes in again.
[Master. It would appear that a unit of five is fast approaching.]
"Five?" asked Leon.
[Yes they're in all black.]
That's strange… thinks Leon, I know of a black armor. In Alto Liebe the strongest foe to appear was the "Black Knight." He was stronger than Chris in close combat, and Jilk was no match for him in long distance either. I remember getting many game overs having to fight him. He was definitely the skill check character.
[They have been avoiding Partner's bombarding and destroying Arroganz's drones. At this rate they may become a problem.]
Leon smiles, "Alright. Then it's up to me to stop them."
Gotta hope that I don't get skill checked here though.
-Angelica-
I help get everyone to file on to Partner, but in truth I'm distracted by Leon. He's fighting 5 different armors at once…
I hold my hand over my heart, and I can feel it beating rapidly as I watch.
"That… that doesn't look good." Remarks Cid.
Alice immediately swats Cid over the head for his comment, but I can't help but agree.
I have full faith in Leon of course, but…
"HA!" laughed the princess trapped underneath Zetan's arm, "I suppose with Sherry here it was only a matter of time before Vandel were to show up!"
"Vandel?" asked Livia.
"The Black Knight? He really appeared?" I said astonished.
Livia turned to me, confused, "U-uhm… who is this black knight?"
Sherry, who had been led by Alice very gently by the hand pipes up to explain, "He…he's my adoptive father. Er, but most people might know him for what he did during his time as a knight before any of us were born… I've heard that just by himself he had sunken several dozens of Holfort's airships, maybe even a hundred… He used to tell me that his armor used to be white, it just turned black from he dried blood of thousands."
Everyone stays silent.
I decide to continue the explanation, "In Holfort his name hasn't been brought up in decades. The kingdom thought he had possibly retired due to his old age."
"Can His highness win against such a powerful knight?" asked Zetan.
I open my mouth to try and convince her, or even myself, but I find myself cut off by Hertrude.
"VANDEL WILL NOT LOSE!" Yelled Hertrude, "THE PRINCIPALITY'S STRONGEST KNIGHT WOULD NEVER LOSE TO A DESPICABLE CHILD FROM THE KINGDOM!"
"Leon is not despicable!" shouted Livia.
Undeterred Hertrude continues her tirade, "DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH! Did you forget what you did to the principality twenty years ago!?"
Cid raised his hand, "Uh, I'm from Midgar. Could you explain what Holfort could have possibly done to warrant an attack from some freaky whale ship and a knight as deadly as Vandel… or like anything you've done today?"
Hertrude turns to Cid and shouts back, "What do you mean freaky!? Anyone could tell that it was one of the cutest things in the world!"
Sweat drops from everyone else's head.
I sigh and begins to explain, "It happened before we were born. The kingdom invaded the principality. It wasn't just once or twice. They invaded many times and they drove the principality into a corner. Each time the principality drove back the kingdom."
"No way," gasped Livia, "I never heard anything about the kingdom invading."
Cid, however, rubs his chin.
"Really? That's what happened?" he asked.
Hertrude scoffs, "Of course it is, what do you not read your history books? Or is the kingdom of Holfort selling a false image?"
Cid shakes his head, "No. Holfort's classes don't. But Midgar's do."
"What…?" said Hertrude. She turns to Sherry who shrugs.
"Sherry was part of the science division, on official business with Midgar's Crimson Knights too, so it's likely she wouldn't have been given Midgar's version of events since she was so busy. But from what I remember by skimming through it, Midgar remembers that The Principality had struck first." Recalled Cid.
Hertrude begins to struggle in Zetan's arms, "LIAR!"
Zetan winds up her free arm to hit Hertrude but Cid holds up his hand to stop her.
Cid continued, "No, I'm telling you the truth. From what I recall Midgar's version of events recalls that the King and Queen had been killed in a coup-"
Hertrude flies into a rage, "SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOU-"
"Dormina."
Hertrude slumps over. Everyone looks to Livia who cast the spell.
"Sorry," said Livia, "I just thought she wasn't going to listen."
"But I will." Said Sherry, forcing everyone to focus on her. "Cid. Could you show me a copy of Midgar's history book?"
Cid nods, "Sure. I think I left my copy here last time I had a study session with Leon."
Sherry, Cid, Alice, Zetan, and Hertrude all leave to the inside of Partner. Leaving Livia and I to watch over Leon.
"Is there any way we can help him?" asked Livia.
I shake my head, "Not from here…" However, as I say this, I recall what I have on my person and look down to my necklace and bracelet. Or rather, the Saintess' necklace and bracelet. "…Unless…"
I separate myself from Livia and put my hands together and pray. Although my eyes are closed as tightly as my hands are joined, the soft clap I hear beside me shows me that Livia mirrored my action.
-P2W/Angelica-
Please… if there's anything I can do, for the kingdom… For Leon… prays Angelica.
Suddenly the Saintess' necklace, bracelet, and the charm from the shrine all begin to glow. Angelica is stunned as she finds herself surrounded by flames, which only grow stronger as Olivia's own holy aura reacts and turns the beautiful crimson fire into a radiant white pyre. Both girls nod and join hands, one pair behind them and the other outstretched to the direction of Leon and the squad of black knights.
"Please," pray the two girls, "Burn all of our… Leon's enemies to ash!"
The world once again finds the skies brightened by a magical light, as a dozen lasers shoot from Partner, storming through nearby monsters and heading towards the black knight squad.
As they approach Arroganz, Leon puts his guard up, only for the Lasers to heal him and Arroganz upon impact, but when hitting the foreign armors, they all find themselves immediately burning as though made of paper. This makes all the pilots plummet to the sea below.
Save for one.
The last black knight, or rather, THE Black Knight manages to dodge the lasers by tackling Arroganz and forcing him absorb any that would hit him. Leon just barely manages to push him off by the time Angelica and Olivia's spell ends.
-Leon-
I shove the last bastard alive off of me once the combined spell Angelica and Olivia made ends, just barely avoiding crashing into the sea as he tackled me straight down.
We hover roughly 30 feet away from the sea, the sun beginning to set behind Vandel as we stare each other down.
[Master, warning. That sword he wields has the potential to damage Arroganz.]
"What!?" I shout, "I thought nothing could rival Old humanity's engineering."
[It would appear that the sword your foe carries is made of a metal peculiar to this world. 'Adamtius.' A fantasy-esque metal.]
"Says the fantasy-like lump of metal" I snark back, "I want to hurry and get out of here. What's with this guy, he seems too strong."
[This is the result of your grand standing Master. You have painted a rather large target on your back.]
Ugh. How dare you say something completely true.
Vandel begins to speak. "You… you're young. Too young. Are you even a knight of the kingdom?"
I probably shouldn't let him know that I'm the current crown prince if he doesn't know already.
"Your invasion has left me with no choice…" I say while preparing myself mentally, "but to fight, don't you think?"
Vandel chuckles. "Is that so? It was the same back in my day. I was a youngster. Resentful of the kingdom I had been born in."
Vandel readies himself.
I put away my sword and rifle. After all the monsters they cut through they're both dull and low on ammo. I better handle this bare handed… you know, with a mech.
"One question before I end your life young one." Said Vandel. "How did you know of our planned attack beforehand?"
…
What?
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"I may be young but I'm not foolish. Your armor is that of a lost item, it stands to reason that ship is yours as well. And your ship is the only one I can think of that could have shot down the rest of our fleet this morning. So how? Moreover why? Did your new crown prince order it?" said Vandel.
Ah, I guess it does make sense that the crown prince wouldn't be the one fighting on the front line. Hertrude actually saw me, which is why she recognized me, but since I'm in my armor right now Vandel wouldn't know.
"First off, I didn't do shit. Second, what do you mean why? If I did know about your plans wouldn't that be reason enough to attack first?" I said.
Vandel scoffs. "You know that is not what I am talking about. I mean why did you taunt us so? Why go to the lengths of upping our stats, lowering them, healing us, and then finally attacking us? Was it to mess with our heads? A bypass of our magical defenses? What was it?"
What…? What is he even…
Upping an enemy's stats.
Lowering them.
Healing them.
Then finally managing to finish them off.
…
There's…
There's no way…
I take a look at the monitor for the rear view.
I see the path I was walking on this morning.
The one towards the shrine.
The one where…
There's no way.
"Your silence speaks volumes." Poins out Vandel.
I shake my head, "I was just trying to grasp the ridiculousness of the statement you just gave. There's no way something like that happened. I bet you're just looking for a reason to fight," I laugh mockingly, "Heck maybe this entire thing is just a long series of you trying to pick fights with Holfort."
Vandel falls silent.
"You son of a bitch." I utter incredulously. The black knight was just some insane man looking to harm Holfort?
I look at the monitor pointed towards the ship.
I think of everyone still on there.
That sword. If it can hurt Arroganz, it can cut through Partner.
…
It can hurt the people I care about.
I grasp my war charm, kiss it as I'd seen the five idiots do in the in battle cutscenes, and think about Livia, Angie, Deirdre, and Claire.
I won't let anyone touch them!
Vandel charges in and I shift Arroganz to do the same.
[Master, I request permission to utilize my main body.]
I shake my head, "If you use it, you're probably going to kill the Black Knight. I can't let you do that. He's got some information we need to beat out of him."
[Very well, but if things get too dire I will request permission from Mistress Olivia and tell her that you declined me first.]
"Guess I better not lose then!" I shout.
Vandel raises his sword.
I can't block it, so I wind Arroganz' right arm and then swat it as Vandel swings his sword at me. I manage to parry the attack, but Vandel doesn't let up, forcing me to keep flying backwards.
Here we go.
Vandel slashes at me again, I swat at the sword with one hand and try to use my impact skill, however
"Naïve!" shouts Vandel and he kicks the hand charging with the skill away, this forces me to stumble in the air as I'm not used to being moved so quickly when I didn't choose to, and Arroganz' weight just makes that worse.
I see Vandel kick off of a magic circle and try to chase me as I right myself, so instead I decide to spin so I kick him as he passes by me.
Vandel merely uses the momentum to wind up for a big slash.
Shit I can't block-
*CRACK*
Vandel's sword manages to hit Arroganz' arm at an angle and cracks it. It's bad. It's bad but that's what I need.
The sword gets caught for but a moment and I use that opportunity to grab Vandel's armor and toss him upwards. Before he can realign himself I start charging towards him full throttle. As he turns back so that his feet are pointed correctly I close the distance so that he can't swing the sword again.
"TAKE THIS!" I roar as Arroganz lands a clean hit on Vandel's armor. Cracking it, but not breaking it.
Tch.
"Just how much of a difference in armor performance is there between this broken bastard and me!" I yell.
I reach for Vandel's side and use my impact move, I manage to shatter some of the armor.
"Tch!" Vandel clicks his tongue, has his armor knee Arroganz so that I stagger and he backs away, however as he does I grab onto his armor's arm, tearing it off.
"Kuh…" said Vandel. Likely not expecting that to happen. He turns to me again, yelling "BRAT!"
We charge towards one another again, and I return his shout with a roar of "BLACK KNIGHT!"
This time I chase him down as he tries to avoid me. And despite him missing an arm he still manages to block every attempt I have to try and land an impact on him.
I reach, he bats it away with sword slash. He tries to slash at me and I bat it away.
We keep exchanging blows, and despite the fact we're in giant mecha I can't help but feel like we're dragon ball characters in the middle of one of those close quarter combat things, where their limbs blur as the do their best to land any kind of blow on one another as we soar through the air.
I need an opening.
Vandel tries a kick, I dodge.
I try to punch him, he kicks it and then tries to slash at me.
I don't have enough mana to cast anything that would hit him hard enough.
What was his weakness in the game again?
More slashes, I decide to just dodge. I need to try and catch my breath.
"Running away!?" shouted Vandel.
That's right, you usually had to taunt him… I don't have anything to sacrifice though… Hm. I got an idea so crazy it might work.
I coat my armor in my magic and try to dash straight through Vandel, he dodges with what I can only describe as a front flip, but as he tries to kick me from behind, I use the lightning porperites to quickly turn around, so fast that I hit the side of the cockpit hard, but manage to hold on to the controls and rip off Vandel's leg.
Vandel backs off.
I take a second to try and catch my breath.
"…" Vandel readies himself once more, "There is no way I'd lose to a knight of the kingdom! I'm coming!"
Vandel charges at me once more, his appearance hidden by the setting sun. In normal circumstance I'd complain about the use of such an old trick, however.
*BOOM!*
He wasn't the only thing in the light.
An armored angel moved quickly, so quickly that it broke the sound barrier, had traveled straight through Vandel's armor, getting his other arm.
"WHAT!?" shouted Vandel.
I smile and move Arroganz to catch Vandel's sword, but before I can use it to try and break the rest of the armor.
*FWOOM*
A large magic circle appears on the ocean floor. I glance down and see the other four men that had fallen out of their armors, or rather their corpses.
"This won't be the last you've seen of me!" shouts Vandel, "I'll remember this boy! Know that you have made an enemy of a knight of the round table!"
The circle disappears, with what's left of Vandel's armor with it.
Ah, right. I forgot he did this a couple of times in the campaign before the final boss.
…
I look to my armored angel armor floating besides me.
"Nice shot Luxion." I say as I turn Arroganz towards Partner.
[Thank you. Although I'd prefer if you piloted this set and let me use Arroganz.]
I roll my eyes. Something tells me I wouldn't be able to safely fly it that fast.
I'm exhausted and can't think…
…
I land on Partner.
I disengage from Arroganz.
I collapse into my lovers' waiting arms.
Heh.
I hope Lindwurm is a whole lot better.
.
.
.
A/N: Okay. Wrapping things up here. Admittedly this chapter is shorter than others, but it's not because of the promised short chapters. I just figured it was good to end here for now.
Light on the EiS side this time, but this really was Holfort's fight, not Shadow Garden's. In any case there will be tons of Shadow Garden stuff coming up next anyway…
So here's the plan coming up. Brief original chapter, essentially all the stuff about traveling to Lindwurm and the first couple of days there. It should be about equal on Leon and Cid's side. Then the stuff with the memories, then the sanctuary.
Oh and technically in Mobuseka canon I skipped over the scene where Angie and Livia waited for Leon in his bed, but like, I kinda figure there's no reason to include that here unless I wanted to write another lemon. But I felt it didn't go with this chapter. Maybe next time though.
Speaking of, I added an image to the Leon, Deidre, and Claire threesome. Check it out on Ao3 or QQ.
Now let's answer some comments.
There actually was one from SB this time:
MWKillKenny84: Thanks for commenting.
Yeah, Fanoss' entire war seemed like a suicide operation to begin with, so they would be the type to double down.
Fanfic:
Golden Nova: Well I mean, I could, but also since he already has another black haired red eyed tsundere in his harem I figure I'll just leave Hertrude and Hertrauda out of both harems.
RedRat8: thanks for the comment. But actually you were right that I did originally plan on having Shadow Garden show up. There's even a small scene, if you noticed, of Shadow and Zeta in their white suits watching Leon use his spell. But Cid, you, and I all came to the same conclusion that it would steal Leon's spotlight if Shadow Garden were to show up here. So, this chapter became a little shorter than originally planned and Leon played the roll of a hero. I was going to get into it a bit with Cid's pov at the end, but realistically since he's on Partner right now he can't explain his reasoning yet.
Fangs of death: thank you!
EDG1999: No worries, I do write a lot of words anyway.
Yeah, I want to follow canon if only to have stuff to reference, but it could get boring fast if I deviate from it in the way you mentioned or just do nothing with it.
Ao3:
DragonBlaze10: thanks!
Wolfpaladin: I did do a bad job of explaining it but I assume that the locations are close enough so that it would only take Hertrude about an hour or so in her ships to go from Sherry to Leon's location. Hertrude was originally going to attack with a fleet in the morning, but then got hit by Cid, so she went to get Sherry first, then resumed her attack. Your comment reminded me that Leon gets arrested twice in the series, lmao.
Marie is a mom, or was I guess, so yeah.
Yup, looking forward to writing those shenanigans too.
Anisomeone: Lmao yeah the teamwork one would work there, huh.
Efthee: I don't mind I guess, but I don't think Ao3 has an option for creating an index. Or is there something else you wanted me to do, like create a quick legend/key in the notes section?
DivineDemonDragon: Yeah, I know what you mean.
Do you mean in denial? Or were you trying to say the phrase like the Nile is not just a river?
I actually thought there was going to be a second summer event with those two precisely because of that actually.
I liked writing that scene too.
Thanks for pointing it out, I added the 'with' after I read your comment.
Deathfang1920: I mean, that's from the actual manga, so… thanks, but uh, that wasn't on me. I did alter the beginning slightly but that's it.
Shadowy_guy(Guest): I mean if you think about it, him recruiting the possessed girls is basically that.
Totntotbt: thanks! I'm glad to hear that, I actually wondered why most people didn't play with her character, but I guess having an easy scape goat is necessary sometimes to have fun.
I hope you like how it came back in the story this chapter, lol.
I don't know what the issue is, some other people could see it. Maybe it's a browser issue?
BOY4_GOW:
Yup.
Lmao, yeah they both tease each other when they can.
Yeah Delta's the one who knows the most so far, but she doesn't know that she knows, lmao.
Yes, Cid's fault.
There was a missing with, it should have read "Sherry was with one of the meanest little bitches that the academy had to offer, Marie something something."
I mean, is it being a wingwoman to Mylene, or is it revenge against Julius? Who knows? Besides me.
Rdjdmrn (Guest): Oh well Claire has her soft moments in the game, it's just every now and then. And when Cid doesn't try and make her angry on purpose.
But a lot of the reason Claire treats Cid like that is because she views him as her pathetic little brother, she views Leon as something of an equal if not her better thanks to what she's seen during their adventure and after.
QQ (we're on page 8 now!):
Alternativefuturefan27:
That is definitely how history is going to remember him lol
28th00:
That's a really good reading on how Alexia's quest is going to work. Thanks, I was looking for ideas.
Lmao, yeah. I think Marie died before her daughter became a teen, so she probably wanted to have that talk at least once. She was ready for it.
Cid's days are numbered. Honestly I think writing him with a kid could be fun, if it was maybe a little older anyway. Like that one fanfic where he had a drunken one night stand with Elizabeth.
The possession thing technically happens in its own way in Mobuseka if I remember correctly. Hertruada is basically absorbed by the monster she summons.
Sherry has a lot to worry about, like being a prisoner of war and almost seeing her adoptive dad be murdered… and seeing her friend get knocked out in front of her.
Someone ani: No worries, I really like the discussion about the slime suit. I actually planned on talking about it more if I write that alternate route too.
Dragon_cloud16: You know, it wasn't until you pointed it out that I noticed those had the same author.
Lmao, "like Gollum with the ring" that's hilarious.
Leon has been upfront with the game stuff, it just doesn't always come up, if anything he tries to move on from it since he doesn't want to still think he's Hiro playing the game.
Yeah, like I said with someone earlier, Fanoss is very stubborn and basically running on spite.
