Chapter One Hundred-Eight: A Rival. A Lover. A Friend
"Come at us, you bastards, you won't take us down!"
While the team of thirteen ventured into the Shadow Palace, the group that stayed back fought on against the ever-growing army of elves.
"Mirror Magic: Large Reflect Refrain!" Gauche just finished taking down two. "Damn it, I need to get you out of here, Marie,"
"But I want to stay and help," the little girl protested. "We can try doing Reflect Iris,"
"It's not going to work. We did that while we were possessed by Droit and Eclat, that's the whole reason you had enough power to pull it off. Without them, it won't even come close to working," he shot her idea down.
"Oh," she frowned.
Her brother sighed, kneeling down to her level. "It's sweet that you want to contribute, I'm your big brother, it's always been my job to keep you safe. If something happened to you, you know I could never forgive myself,"
"Okay then," the little girl relented.
Gauche smiled, ruffling her hair. "Finral!" he called to the spatial mage who was close by.
"Yeah, what is it?"
"I need you to bring Marie somewhere safe,"
"Sure, what place do you have in mind?" he asked.
"To be honest with you, I'm not exactly sure, I don't want her to be taken to a place where there are elves," he replied.
"Seeing that could be almost anywhere, I suggest a spot we know is secure," Finral pointed at the Raging Black Bull.
"Are you fucking insane?! The hideout is the biggest target, that's literally the least secure place to be!" he exclaimed. "Not to mention she'd have to stay wary of Henry's magic-draining curse!"
"Look out, you two!" Marie pointed at someone behind her brother, said someone was a possessed Golden Dawn, charging a spell in her hand.
"Take this, humans! Wind Magic-,"
"Not so fast!" Vanessa jumped in, wrapping the elf's arm in thread and pulled against her bundle, forcing her arm to shift direction, firing the attack at her comrades. "Finral, now!"
"On it!" he made a portal underneath her as she fell into it.
"Thanks for the help, Vanessa," Gauche said. "Now, back to berating Finral for being an idiot,"
"His idea may not be as bad as you think," she told him, calling her cat to her. "If Rouge stays on the base while Marie's in there, she'll be the safest person here,"
"But wouldn't that mean you wouldn't be able to use her to protect anyone else? After all, if you do, the worst could happen in the meantime," the mirror mage realized.
Vanessa just smiled. "She's worth it,"
"Thank you so much!" the little girl hugged her.
"You're welcome, sweetie," the witch returned the gesture as a portal formed, Marie and Rouge heading in.
All of a sudden, the three of them heard a bang behind them, jumping from the abruptness, but as they turned, they were relieved to see it caused by an elf's body slamming on the ground, Oliver being the one responsible as he approached them.
"Is that your base?"
"It indeed is," the woman replied.
"Could it always do that? Transform, I mean?"
"As far as we know, the guy responsible has been able to do it for a while," Gauche answered the second question.
"I see. I wish our base could do that, it would be so cool. The guy behind it must be a pretty special mage," the wood mage made his last comment before leaving to fight elsewhere.
Those last words made Finral rub his chin, a plan cooking up in his head. "A special mage, you say?" he made another portal and stuck his head in, his eyes falling on the recombination mage who was standing a good distance away.
"Hey, Henry,"
"Heellllooooo Finnnnrrraaalllll,"
"Do you want to help me with something? It's a job only you can do,"
"Suuurrrreeeee,"
Meanwhile, Kirsch found himself surrounded by elves, but the royal didn't portray even the slightest bit of worry. "Oh my, are all of you trying to gang up on me at once? Do you have no sense of pride?"
"Put a sandal in it, royal! You're a direct descendant of those criminals, your punishment will be the harshest!" one exclaimed as they all came rushing at him.
The cherry blossom mage smirked, taking out his fan as he soared up into the sky, gazing down upon them. "You'll need to be quicker than that!"
"We can be quicker, quicker than you can even comprehend!" they all prepared to attack with ranged spells, but before they could, some help came for the human from an unlikely source.
"Ash Magic: Cinder Bullets!" Zora blew with all his might, managing to injure a few, but the rest simply got out of range.
However, by diverting their attention to the peasant, they didn't notice the royal getting ready to attack them himself. "Cherry Blossom Magic: Torrent of Petals!" he fired it from above, taking down a few.
He then flew over and landed beside the trapster. "Your help is appreciated, but ultimately unneeded,"
The royal knight slung his arms behind his head. "I know. I didn't come here to assist you, I came here to see what you can do,"
Kirsch was confused. "What do you mean? We fought during the Royal Knights Entrance Exam, you already know what I can do,"
"I'm not talking about your normal stuff, you idiot. I'm talking about the product of my so-called 'inspiration'," he clarified, placing air quotes around the last word.
"Oh, I see, then prepare to be amazed," Kirsch grinned, but just then, the elves they were fighting got back up.
"It'll take more than that to beat us!"
The two knights stood back to back. "Did you hear that? They said we need to try harder to beat them," Zora repeated their words in a mocking tone.
"I did indeed hear that, so we should stop holding back," Kirsch said back with a playful tone.
"Enough of this! Attack!" the elves broke into two groups, each coming at the royal knights fast.
However, both men were faster, quickly drawing magic circles as they set them and stood still, waiting for their opponents to make them trigger, similar thoughts forming in their heads once they got close enough.
"Ash Trap Magic: Collision Minefield!"
"Cherry Blossom Trap Magic: Beautiful Updraft!"
In an instant, the elves were either blown up high into the air, or just blown up in general, but one thing was clear: the pair of trapsters were victorious.
"Cotton Creation Magic: Army of Striking Sheep!" Charmy exclaimed from where she was, summoning her trio of sheep to start engaging with the enemies. "Attention everyone, if you're starting to run low on mana, come over to me and I'll get you back up to full power!"
"I'm not going to lose to some furball!" Aerion exclaimed. "This will tear them apart! Ice Creation Magic: Shard Storm!" she fired the jagged pieces.
Not on Grey's watch though. "I won't let you! Transformation Magic: Magic Conversion - Cotton to Flame!"
The three ladies watched as the trio of sheep became set ablaze, simply melting the ice once contact was made, making Charmy grin smugly. "You were saying?"
"No way. What kind of magic is that?" the possessed golden dawn member backed up in shock, but then something stopped her from going further. Something sticky.
"Huh?" before she could react properly, she was grabbed and hoisted up by the Sticky Salamander.
Sally walked into view. "To answer your question, it's a very interesting magic, one I can't wait to learn more about," she rubbed her hands together, but then she noticed Grey's uncomfortable expression. "Ethically, of course,"
"Lightning Creation Magic: Calamity Fiend!" Luck transformed and leaped into action. That's when three elves leaped along with him, attempting to catch him off guard.
"We've got you now!" the trio each materialized a weapon in their hand, closing in to strike.
"Oh man, three of you against one of me? This is too exciting!" he exclaimed as well, blocking the initial strikes, using them to his advantage as the downward force produced made him descend quicker.
He then raised both hands at them. "Lightning Magic: Thunderbolt Destruction!" he shot the projectiles, but to his partial shock, they used their weapons to deflect them as they began landing too.
Realizing he was standing where they'd land, the blonde berserker did a backflip to form some distance, inadvertently bumping into someone. "My bad," he apologized without checking who it was.
"That's all you have to say? I was expecting something more witty," the person said back. Luck just shaking his hand with a small smile on his face.
"Alright then, Magna, let me try something else: you better move out of my way or you'll just slow me down. How's that?"
The flame mage chuckled. "Better, but I know that wasn't your best material," his grimoire flipped to a page. "Flame Creation Magic: Grand Slam!"
"There's still just two of them, we have both strength and numbers on our side!" the trio charged.
"Then why don't we change that!?" Gordon jumped up from behind his squadmates, both hands outstretched. "Poison Magic: Violett Schirm!" the liquid poison blasted from them, forcing the elves to halt and back up, not taking the chance of the spell hitting them directly.
The two troublemakers eyed as the man stood beside them. "Y'know, I'm still not entirely used to hearing your voice, but it's kinda growing on me," Magna commented.
"Thank you, I'm glad to know you think so. But tell me, my friends, is it alright if I assist you in this battle?"
"Did you even need to ask? Of course," Luck nodded. "It's like what Kenos says, we're a family, and family fights together,"
Still being wary of Gordon, the elves opted to try a ranged approach, but that didn't do them any more favors as the one they were trying to keep watch of acted.
"Poison Magic: Forbidden Chrysalis!" he formed a barrier to protect them, dropping it once the attack ended.
Magna was up next. "Flame Magic: Annihilation Seeker Shot!" he let loose the fireballs, watching in delight as the elves appeared confident at first, but perplexed a second later as they suspended themselves in mid-air.
"I'd start running if I were you!" he called out to them as the fireballs began coming at them one by one.
They decided to take his advice and make a break for it, just to notice the projectiles following their every move, and with their attention sufficiently occupied, Luck was ready to finish things off. "Lightning Magic: Thunder Fiend!"
At his call, he transformed into electricity and traveled in front of the elves before zooming above them, reforming as he was the only one in the air this time.
"Lightning Magic: Electric Conquest!" he formed the huge orb and kicked it down, hitting directly as they were subjected to harsh electrocution.
The blonde berserker landed as the three of them neared one another and high-fived. "Nice work!"
"You may have taken them down, but you'll find us a tougher match!" they now turned to see five elves.
"Tough is exactly what I'm looking for. Come on!" Luck beckoned them with a gesture.
They were about to charge forward, but while they were in mid-movement, they began to slow down, as if they were feeling out of breath, and then, they just collapsed. But in doing that, the bulls were able to spot the culprit who was standing behind them.
"Henry?!"
The recombination mage waved at them with a smile. "Hiiii!"
"I knew he was cursed, but those guys just fainted, and they were elves too," Magna pointed out the absurdness of the feat.
In response, Henry pulled out his notebook and wrote something before throwing it over to them, Luck being the one to catch it as they read its contents.
"Just in case you're curious, I was cursed from birth, so I've had my entire life to figure out how my curse works. Similarly to how I learned I can safely leech mana from people as long as they were in a certain vicinity, I learned that I can increase the rate of draining, although, I haven't learned how to decrease it yet,"
"Damn, that's impressive, maybe he should've gone with the others. A few seconds near him, and they'd be history," Magna said. "But how did he get behind them so fast?"
"That would be my doing," Finral emerged from a portal, keeping his distance. "I figured that if his curse works around how close he is to someone, I can use my spatial magic to get him closer and let him do the rest,"
"Wow, that's really smart," Gordon praised him.
Finral just gave him a look. "Yup, it's going to take some time to get used to that,"
"You better stay away from her!" Joshua was currently engaging an elf, his water sword in hand as he went for a slash, but it was parried.
"Forgive me if I can't help myself, but that human is vulnerable and ripe for the killing," he eyed the unconscious Shauna who was behind the noble.
"Well that's too bad, she means a lot to me, so her dying isn't an option! Water Creation Magic: Damona's Safespace!" he backed up and formed the cubical barrier around himself and the aqua deer.
The elf just closed the distance, knocking on the barrier. "How adorable, you think this can actually protect you. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, not really, but that thing won't hold against me!" he struck it once, already putting a sizable crack in it.
"Oh no!" Joshua thought. He had to do something, but what? Damona's Tears and Damona's Flash Flood were viable options, but the elf was too close, he'd surely get stopped midway while casting them. Gáe Bolg wouldn't do much in this situation either, all it was was just another weapon.
"No more hiding! Face me like a man!" the elf came in with another strike, breaking the barrier apart, grinning like a madman. "End of the line for you both! Mud Magic-,"
He was cut off right then and there as a knight came in at high speeds, dropkicking the elf with both legs, sending him flying. "Are you okay?"
The water mage took a second to calm down. "I am now. Thank you,"
"No problem," he said back, eyeing the teen. "Say, what squad are you a part of? You don't have your robe on,"
"Oh, I'm actually not part of any squad. I'm just your average citizen with a little training under his belt," he answered with a bit of timidity.
"You're not a Magic Knight, but you're here fighting regardless? You're very brave. You should consider joining our ranks, we could use someone like you,"
"You…you really think so?"
"I know so," the knight extended a hand. "It's nice to meet you, my name's Dante,"
The teen did the same as they shook. "I'm Joshua,"
They broke the handshake as the silver eagle stood beside him. "It's best if I stay with you to provide support,"
"That would be very much appreciated," the water mage accepted the help without hesitation.
Dante nodded, but as some seconds of silence passed, he spoke. "Um, cool sword, by the way,"
"Oh, this? Thank you," Joshua saw the Rossiu holding a similar weapon as well. "Yours is cool too,"
"Yes, thanks. I call it 'Vergil's Great Blade',"
"Awesome name. Mine is called 'Caladbolg, the Ultimate Sword of Damona',"
"That's pretty cool too," Dante said back before both boys were alerted by the sounds of groaning. It came from behind them, so they turned, seeing Shauna's eyes finally open.
"You're awake!" her former fiance was ecstatic.
The illusion mage sat up, but then her eyes widened. "It's Sena, I don't feel her around anymore,"
"You can thank Asta for that one," the steel mage told her. "He can undo the reincarnations,"
Shauna helped herself up and stretched. "That Asta is full of surprises. Okay, I'm ready to fight,"
"That's awesome. Once you use Distorted World again, this battle is as good as ours,"
"It's not going to be that easy," the red-haired girl frowned. "Before I use that spell, I have to imprint my signature onto a person so they can be affected by it. Trying to make contact with every enemy while they're not just moving, but fighting other people here just isn't possible,"
"I see,"
"You're up!" a voice from afar exclaimed, the voice belonging to Oliver as he flew by them.
"Yup, I'm up. Even if I can't effectively use Distorted World, I've still got some tricks up my sleeve," she said.
"And I don't doubt those tricks for a millisecond, but why don't I give you a little more to work with?" her friend created a hammer akin to his ace weapon, handing it to her.
"Phantom Magic: Ghoul Chaser!"
While her brother was fighting somewhere, Oxanna was teamed up with Erika and Leopold, their battle bringing them further away from the unified group, but they were fine for the most part.
The brown-haired girl cheered for herself upon seeing her spell hit her opponent, sending her flying. "There we go!"
"Flame Magic: Spiral Flame!" the royal was engaged in a blast struggle with a snow magic user from the Golden Dawn. It was tough, but he had the advantage, eventually winning out.
"So, Leo, how are you feeling now that your brother is awake?" the noble asked him.
"How else would I be feeling? I feel amazing!" he answered passionately, not noticing the elf that was sneaking up on him.
"Lava Magic: Magma Uppercut!" Erika intercepted the possessed knight, punching her chin cleanly. "I can understand your excitement, but try not to make yourself vulnerable,"
"You're right, my bad. I just hope that he and my sister are going to be fine, her robe looked pretty banged up when I got a look at it, she must've gotten into a pretty tough fight beforehand,"
"Maybe. And hold on, if Fuegoleon is back, doesn't that mean Mereoleona isn't our captain anymore?" the lava mage realized.
"Oh yeah, Mera was just a substitute captain after all. I'm actually going to miss having her in charge, she could be really really tough, but she also cared about making us stronger,"
Leopold could agree with her sentiment. "True, but I'm her brother, she's always going to be around as far as I'm concerned," he said, but that made him wonder about something else important. "Speaking of being around, have any of you spotted Rama? He wasn't with the others,"
Oxanna tapped her cheek. "If I know my boyfriend, he's probably around helping people. Or maybe he could be at home to make sure his family is safe?"
They thought about some other possibilities, but a definitive answer was about to make itself known as their mana senses flared in unison, the eyes of the crimson trio turning east as they backed up just in time as a weapon had been launched at them.
Leopold was the first to approach it, seeing it lodged in the ground, but as he got a closer look, he gasped. "No way in hell!"
The girls got closer too, and when they saw it, their reactions were the same. "There's no doubt about it," Erika began as she pointed at the weapon that cracked with electricity. "That's the Voltage Polearm,"
"But something's wrong," Oxanna noticed. "It's a melee weapon. The polearm isn't supposed to be thrown, Tiger Cub told me that himself once,"
"Damn it, I missed them!" the lightning mage's voice bellowed loudly, the three staring up to see him standing on a roof some meters away.
"Oh no, not him too," Leopold muttered. "Rama!"
The elf's face curled in disgust. "Ugh, don't call me that! We haven't met before, so you wouldn't be aware, but my name's Romit, and you should get used to it, because when the Apostles finish what they need to, you're never going to see him again,"
"No, we won't let that happen! We as a collective will stop your grand plan from coming to fruition, and the three of us will save Rama!"
"Just you wait, we're going to stop you and save this idiot, yada yada yada," the possessed royal knight mocked, making a yapping gesture with his hand.
The crimson trio tensed up, it was true. If the teen's change in both wardrobe and appearance wasn't enough to tell them something was off, his new behavior certainly did.
As Romit stared at them, he could feel a sensation in his chest, grasping it with his hand. "Hm, this feeling. Seeing that you know his name, I'm guessing you must be my host's 'friends'?" he assumed, saying the last word with air quotes.
Oxanna put a hand on her hip. "Well, he and I are more than that, but as far as you need to know, yes,"
"Hold on!" Leopold pointed at him, an angry look on his face. "What's with the air quotes?! Are you trying to be funny or something?!"
"Quite the opposite, I'm just trying to be accurate. You may say that you are all friends, but the truth of the matter is that you humans don't actually understand the concept of friendship," he replied.
"So what, you think we've just been misusing the word our entire lives?!" the flame mage was even more enraged by the ridiculous notion.
"Exactly, it's nice to know I don't have to spell it out for you," Romit nodded in a smug manner, crossing his arms. "The idea of true friendship is lost on your kind,"
"And what exactly do you know about this so-called 'true friendship'?" Erika retorted, her voice calmer than her squadmate's, but the fury could still be felt.
"I know plenty. You see, back when I was still alive, I had two friends, a pair of sisters, Yoveen and Yurim. Yoveen could be feisty and silly, but she was a hard worker, while Yurim was the ultimate ray of sunshine, you'd hardly ever see her without a smile, but she did have a temper deep down. The three of us were so happy together…and then the massacre happened. I saw it y'know, even while bodies were dropping like insects, Yurim used herself as a shield, ready to give her life for her little sister, and so was I; I ignored the fear of death and ran to them, ready to put it all on the line as long as they'd be okay. That's true friendship, that's something you could never grasp!" he lost his cool at the end.
The knights remained silent as Romit caught his breath, calming down before he continued speaking. "We didn't make it out that day, but we're here now. The human that was responsible, he had friends too, three of them, and when he met us elves, he called us his friends too, he said we should try to live together in harmony, and we believed it, but we were wrong. He was envious of our power, I know he was, and he stabbed us in the back to take it for himself and for the rest of his wretched kind, even though he called us friends, we were anything but. In fact, I'm fully under the impression that if he had enough to gain, he'd do the same to his human friends,"
"What does that last part have to do with us?" Oxanna raised a brow curiously.
"That's the situation you three and this Rama are in, a false friendship forged for the sake of self-gratification. The very second whatever use you found being with him outlives itself, you'll throw him away, and you'll do the same to one another,"
"That isn't true!" Leopold protested profusely. "I know that not all friendships out there are good, that there are people who are only out to exploit others, but that's not the case with us! Our friendship is real!"
Despite the passionate statement the royal made, Romit appeared unmoved. "Sure, keep telling yourselves that," he said as he jumped down the roof. "However, I don't intend on staying to give a lecture, I want to fight, I want to kill. You three seem to be the closest to him, taking your lives with his hands will be most satisfying,"
"Bring it on!" the three assumed various stances.
"Not yet. First of all, would one of you be so kind as to hand me back that polearm?" the elf pointed at the weapon lodged next to them. He saw the understandable looks of declination on their faces, but was unbothered. "C'mon. Since you know how my host's magic works, you also know that I can just make another one, keeping it from me won't do you any favors,"
"Fine," Oxanna pulled it out and tossed it to him.
"Thank you. Now, follow me, I want to find a place for us to fight where there won't be interference,"
"And why should we listen to you?" Erika asked the obvious question. "It would be best that we stay where our allies are nearby,"
"You raise a fair point, you certainly don't have to do it. So why don't I provide a little bit of incentive," Romit put the weapon down momentarily and extended both hands, making sure they were in plain view, he then held his left thumb with his right hand. "Either you follow me, or I break this finger,"
Those words formed expressions of utter shock to come to the surface. "Are you insane?! You're seriously going to hurt yourself?!" the vermillion shouted.
"In my past life, I was impaled twenty times and bled to death, all the while, my body felt like it was being baked alive. I can handle a broken thumb, but your so-called friend may be a different story,"
"You fucking bastard!" the phantom mage yelled at him. "How could you do such a dishonorable thing?!"
The elf chuckled. "Ah yes, honor. From what I can see in Rama's memories, he seems to cherish that concept a great deal, but I'm not Rama. Honor be damned. So, what do you three have to say to my offer?"
With the stakes that were on the line, they couldn't refuse. "Okay then, we'll follow you," Leopold answered for them.
"Wise decision," was the last thing he said before he grabbed his polearm and sprinted north.
The trio wasted no time sprinting after him, remaining about ten or so meters in the back, and they would need to distance. "What's our plan? He says he just wants to take us somewhere we can fight uninterrupted, so we shouldn't have to worry about him trying to assume some kind of field advantage. After all, the capital is our turf," the royal said to the girls.
"I'm not really sure," Erika replied. "If Romit is anything like Lifu, caution should be our first concern, we're not fighting with as many people this time,"
"Too bad Asta isn't here, then we could've done just enough for him to remove the spell off of Tiger Cub," Oxanna added. "For now, we should aim to weaken and detain him,"
"Are you sure you're ready for this, girl?" Erika posed the question to her bestie. "You're going to be fighting your boyfriend in a serious match. Even if Romit is in charge for the time being, can you promise me you won't hesitate?"
"You don't need to worry about me, we're magic knights, we always do what needs to be done,"
Four more minutes of sprinting passed before they finally came to a stop. Taking a short break to catch their breaths, the crimson-clad mages observed the area around them, noticing that they were in the portion of the capital that the merchants often occupied during the daytime, but with the sun having set, the vast space was no longer loud and bustling, now quiet and empty.
"This seems like a fine place to do battle, don't you think?" Romit tried engaging in small talk.
"Whatever, let's do this already!" Leopold retorted as the three stood side-by-side, the royal standing in the middle.
"My my, someone seems eager to die, let me grant your wish then," he took out his grimoire, flipping it to a certain page. "I have yet to use this spell, but it's the most fascinating one here, so I'm itching to give it a test run! Lightning Magic: Wrath of the Thunder Tiger!"
The humans watched as electricity danced across his body, tattoos taking shape on his face as his eyes grew bestial. "Yes, I can feel the power! I like it!"
"If he's going to go all-out from the start, I will too," Leopold's grimoire turned to the page of his respective transformation. "Flame Creation Magic: Leo Battleheart!" in a flurry of motions, the armor appeared one by one, his eyes also taking on a bestial look as the soft flame-like aura enveloped him.
While neither of the female knights had a transformation to access, both were just as ready, calling upon a pair of their trustiest spells.
"Phantom Creation Magic: Reaper's Scythe!"
"Lava Creation Magic: Magma Golems!"
With the addition of the lava mage's spell, the numbers increased greatly in their favor, now being eight against one. "Now there's something you don't see every day. That was smart, you're going to need all the help you can get after all!" Romit punched his palm. "No more talk, it's time for action!"
"We're the ones waiting for you, buster, you're the one who's spending his time-," the flame mage was saying, but he was stopped at the tail end as the elf blitzed him, getting him dead in the chest with a two-legged dropkick, launching dozens of yards away.
"Shit, he's fast, much faster than before!" the youngest vermillion thought as his feet finally made contact with the ground, allowing him to gradually slow down his movement until he came to a standstill.
"Leo!" the girls exclaimed, but they were going to be next as the possessed lightning mage moved onto Erika.
"Not so fast! Flame Magic: Leo Linea!" he fired the beam with deadly accuracy, the shot going cleanly through Romit's right shin.
"Damn it!" he exclaimed in discomfort, backing up, ignoring the blood that was trickling down.
"And there we go, if you're moving too fast for us, the solution is to simply slow you down!"
"Impressive aim, but it isn't going to save you at the end of the day,"
"We'll see about that!" Oxanna rushed in, beginning with a quick vertical swing, the elf blocking it with his polearm, just then, two golems came from behind, reeling their fists back.
"I can't stay here, or else I'll definitely get hit!" he ended the clash and quickly cartwheeled out of the way, ignoring the ever-growing throb coming from his shin.
"Flame Reinforcement Magic: Nimble Fire!" Leopold came rushing in himself, the rivals now being the ones locked in a bout. Romit took the initiative, coming at him, performing wide and strong swings with his polearm, but while they had speed behind, the royal found himself evading each strike with ease.
"You're doing quite well, human, but can you get around this?" Romit backed up a foot or two, spinning with his weapon, making it seem like he was going for the head, making the royal protect the spot, but at the last second, he spun again, sweeping the polearm under his opponent's feet.
"Now I got you!" he attempted to impale him.
"Lava Magic: Igneous Rock Blast!" his idea was cut short as he instead had to use the polearm to cut the superheated object racing his way, giving Leo a chance to stand and try to attack him from behind.
However, Wrath of the Thunder Tiger didn't just boost speed, reflexes also went up, and the elf used that to limbo just in the nick of time to avoid injury. "Nice try!" he performed a wide horizontal swing, forcing some distance between them.
"Let's see how good those reflexes of yours really are!" Erika prepared a second attack. "Lava Creation Magic: Meteorite Shower!"
Romit searched his grimoire for another spell. "That won't be necessary, I'd prefer to stand still for this one. Lightning Magic: Electro Barrier!" he employed his defensive spell, the barrier protecting him from whatever fell in his vicinity. "And I'm perfectly fine,"
"Not for long!" his eyes traveled up to see his host's rival in the air. "Flame Magic: Igni Impact!" he came crashing down, his hands ablaze as contact was made, forming a crack that grew bigger and bigger until it became undone.
The resulting force from the barrier breaking pushed Romit back a few feet, right into the punching range of four of the golems. "Oh no you don't," he crouched down and jumped up a few inches as he dodged the first punch that came down, the elf landing on its fist, using it as leverage to boost himself high above them.
"Lightning Magic: Voltage Polearm - Slash of the White Tiger!" he came down with a tremendous amount of power, striking only one of them, but the immense force managed to destroy the other three as well. "There we go, four obstacles down, just four more to-,"
He said nothing further as he suddenly found himself surrounded by a thick smokescreen, courtesy of Erika. Despite being unable to see, he could sense a mana signature closing in, and it was none other than Leopold.
"Take this!" he reeled back his armored fist, but the elf crossed his palms in front of him to catch it, releasing it seconds later.
"That wasn't too bad of a plan you cooked up, human, but we elves are loved by mana, I saw you coming a mile-," he stopped as he suddenly began coughing, his throat starting to burn like crazy. "Crap, I must've inhaled too much. I need to get out of here!" he channeled mana into his legs, leaping up out of the smokescreen.
But that was a mistake, because once he could see what was in front of him again, the first thing he saw was Oxanna, up in the air with him, her scythe reeled back horizontally. "Now I've got you!"
"Or do you?" Romit dropped his polearm, clapping his hands in between the curved blade to stop it. From there, he used his increased strength to move it to the side, grinning. "Just like I was able to sense that guy, I was on the lookout for you too, I thought you might try something like this, and I was right," he then got closer, whispering something. "You can't beat me…Violet,"
The girl's eyes widened as she freed one hand from gripping her scythe, using it to punch the elf dead in the face as he descended, landing roughly on his feet as she landed soon after, charging at the now unarmed opponent.
"DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT WORD!" she closed the distance and attacked, her strikes notably sloppier, but she didn't care, she just needed to hit him once.
"Oh, did that hit a nerve?" he mocked her as he dodged each one, but at the corner of his eye, he noticed the last remaining golem coming his way, so he quickly sidestepped, making a dash for his polearm.
"Get back here!" Oxanna screamed, about to charge again, but that's when her friends came in, both holding her back.
"Hey, I'm not sure what he told you and I'm sure you have every right to be mad, but you need to chill," Leopold told her. "Remember what my brother always says, we shouldn't lose our cool. We want him back just as much as you do, but that won't happen if we can't win,"
The phantom mage's current breathing was heavy and fast, but second after second, it began to slow down, and after a minute, it was back to normal. "You're…you're right, I'm sorry,"
"It's alright, but it looks like this plan of ours is getting more difficult," Erika said. "We can't detain him if we don't weaken him, and doing so hasn't been easy,"
"Then we keep trying, we already managed to hinder his speed a bit with Leo's contribution," her best friend said back. "We can also assume he can't harness the maximum benefits of Tiger Cub's body. I haven't seen him do anything even remotely similar to martial arts,"
"Yeah, I've noticed that too," Leopold recalled in one of their exchanges. "He wasn't using his polearm very well either, not to mention he threw it at us earlier,"
"See, these are weaknesses we can use, if we keep going, we can do it," the phantom mage was optimistic, staring at the possessed lightning mage who just stared back.
"Now let's go and get my man back,"
"Joshua, watch your back!" Dante called out to the teen, the water mage turning to see an elf coming at him.
"Woah!" he was about to meet it, but then someone came to his aid.
"Get away from him!" Shauna slammed the elf with her hammer, spinning around a bit from the additional force.
"Are you okay?" the steel mage asked.
"Yeah, I'm just not using this at all, but I can see why Oliver gave it to me, it's the weapon he has the most confidence in," she replied.
"U-Um, thanks for that. You saved me," Joshua gave his gratitude.
"It's no problem, after all, I owe you,"
"You do?"
"Yeah. I wasn't in control, but I could see it, how you put your life on the line for me, despite having virtually no experience in combat. I…," she paused, appearing a little shy as she got closer to him, giving the boy a quick peck on his cheek. "...I think that was really cool,"
Joshua's face exploded into a huge blush. "U-Uh, u-um, u-uh, y-you're welcome,"
"Steel Binding Magic: Scattering Chains!" their attention was diverted to Dante as he used his spell to restrain two possessed knights, turning back to his allies. "Hey, not that I don't think your little moment is really adorable, but I could use some help,"
As soon as he said that, a trio of elves appeared. Shauna extended a hand. "Don't worry, help is on the way! Illusion Magic: Pestilence Swarm!" she let the various insects loose, unleashing their buzz to disorient them.
With them more or less stunned, Joshua came to do his part. "Water Magic: Damona's Flash Flood!" the goddess appeared to aid him in his motion, water going out on all sides, pushing them back considerably.
"Nice work," Dante nodded.
"So, this is where you humans are at the moment? I hope you don't mind if we crash your little party!" multiple eyes shifted up to the sky, spotting the remaining possessed royal knights, all airborne thanks to Lavani, who had made the statement.
"Oh man, not them again," Magna sucked his teeth.
"We should be fine. Even with Rouge occupied, they shouldn't provide too much of a problem," Vanessa tried to reassure the ones close to her.
However, things were about to get worse. "It looks like you can use a bit of support! Allow me to lift you up!" Lavani exclaimed. "Wing Magic: Angel Wing Gift!"
In an instant, the night grew whiter with the addition of multiple pairs of wings and the sight of every single elf taking to the skies. "Okay, now they can all fly. Maybe this won't be too good after all," the thread mage said with a sense of underlying dread.
Oliver came in beside her. "They're not the only ones. Let me be the vanguard, my transformation's abilities allow for decent crowd control, support me however you can,"
"You got it. Don't disappoint us out there," the woman said back.
The wood mage nodded as he flew up to the enemy group's level. "If you think that's enough to take us down easily, you've got another thing coming!"
"You've got a lot of nerve saying that to us, human, you're beneath us!" Vulutz spat.
"Oh really? Do you think we're inferior to you? The last elf who told me that lost in a humiliating manner, and it seems you all will be no different!" Oliver spread out his arms, bringing them up at a moderate speed, clapping them together above his head as bodiless hands of wood formed behind him. "Allow me to demonstrate!" he sent them out.
"Don't let yourselves get caught in his trap!" Wylon said to his brethren as they all scattered, but to their surprise, the hands began following each of them.
Rossa turned around while in mid-flight, glaring at the hand zooming at him. "Sandstone Binding Magic: Variable Hardness Prison!" he fired the coarse sandstone, watching as it coalesced into a sphere around the wooden appendage.
"There we go, that should hold it off for a while," he then turned back around, setting his eyes on the closest adversaries, which happened to be Zora and Kirsch, the elf focusing intently on the former. "I remember you, you were with that thief!"
"And I remember you, you were the one who couldn't beat one gal despite having four buddies help you out," the ash mage said back snarkily.
"Shut up! Sandstone Magic: Stone Riser!" he descended with one foot stretched further as he landed, forming a crack in the ground before the large attack came for the two trapsters.
"Tch. Is that all you've got?!" Zora quickly drew a circle and threw it on the ground, watching as the opposing spell got close enough to activate it, the rising stone being absorbed and sent back to its origin.
"Not this wretched move again," the elf murmured, about to simply fly out of the way, but the need was eliminated as Vulutz landed right beside him.
"I couldn't help but notice your predicament. Would you like some assistance?"
"I mean, we can fly now, but why not," Rossa shrugged.
"That's what I like to hear! Glass Creation Magic: Mur de Verre!" he summoned the glass wall, protecting them.
"Say, how did you escape the hand chasing you?" the possessed sandstone asked curiously.
"I didn't," he jerked a thumb behind him, revealing not one hand, but two, the second having broken out of the sphere restraining it.
The two elves flapped their wings and took flight once more. "I've just been outflying it so far, it may be relentless, but we're still faster,"
"We need to find a way to get rid of them permanently, we'll never be able to fight efficiently," Rossa said.
"I agree. From your example, it appears trying to obstruct it will only provide a temporary solution, as for attempting a head-on confrontation," Vulutz began as he formed a shard of glass and launched it, watching as it shattered against the hand's exterior. "Those things are surprisingly tough,"
Rossa held his chin in thought. "Hm, before you came, that human did something that he did before, he turned my spell against me. So why don't we try doing the same?"
A large wicked grin graced the elf's features. "Now there's an idea, I like it!" with a plan in place, the pair just kept flying, waiting until they could curve their bodies back around, coming at Zora and Kirsch at top speed, their hands in hot pursuit.
"They never learn, do they?" the cherry blossom mage spoke confidently.
"I don't know about that," the ash mage was a little more wary, narrowing his eyes. "Something seems wrong, I had better give us some cover. Ash Magic: Cinder-,"
He didn't get to finish as the elves reached them, curving away quickly as the hands latched onto the two royal knights, squeezing them tightly.
"This is rather uncomfortable," the royal commented.
"Hey, Woody, what's the big idea?!"
Oliver heard him and gave them his attention, eyes widening as he saw what happened. "My bad, this is taking more concentration than I thought, and having to split my attention is making this a bit tough," he focused his command on those two hands, releasing the mages.
The aqua deer now brought his attention back to what he was before, but that's when another problem reared its head. The aura around him began to flicker, his eyes and hair transitioning from transformed to normal. "No, this isn't good, I've been using the spell for too long. I need to keep it active, I told the others they can count on me!" he exerted more mana to stabilize it.
"Thanks," Zora said to himself as he and the royal stretched their arms in a windmill fashion, but that left them momentarily vulnerable.
"Sandstone Magic: Rock Storm!"
"Glass Magic: Verre Shards!"
"AH!" they exclaimed as they were hit head-on and sent to the ground.
"Snow Magic: Sleet Shoot!" the elf in the hat targeted her attack at Shauna, the girl using her hammer to deflect it.
"Fragil, can you hear me?!" she called out to her squadmate. "I know it's hard, but you have to fight it!"
The possessed snow mage scoffed at the attempt. "Stop your yapping, and don't call me that, I'm Gehnora!"
Joshua joined the exchange. "Alright then, Gehnora, face us! If you've taken the body of a friend's squadmate, we'll fight bravely until she can be returned to us!"
"Now we're getting somewhere, I like your style, boy! Snow Magic: Eternal Blizzard!" the elf spun around and conjured the snowstorm.
The three mages covered their eyes and planted their feet firmly to keep themselves from getting blown away, but while they remained still, the hand Oliver sent wasn't as lucky.
"We need to get out of its range!" Shauna relayed to the guys as they did so, finally being able to open their eyes.
"If we want to take her down, we need the advantage," Dante said. "She uses snow magic, so we need fire,"
"Did someone say fire?" a voice asked aloud, Magna approached them, grinning. "Worry not, I'm here to bring the heat! Flame Magic: Gargantuan Exploding Fireball!"
He threw the projectile at the elf just as she stopped spinning, the attack seemingly about to land, but before it could, a gate appeared in the air, opening to reveal a portal that the fireball entered.
"What?!" the mage in shades was shocked, wondering where it came from. Luckily for them, the culprit had no problem revealing him next to Gehnora.
"Yello hello," Ado greeted them before pointing up in the sky. "Would you like this back?"
The four looked up as well to see another gate appear and open, Magna's spell descending their way.
Dante stepped up. "No, we'd like to send it where it was intended. Steel Creation Magic: Cylinder Backdraw!" the cylinder appeared, but the shape was slightly changed, resembling an L more than a U. The fireball entered the top part, about to come out from the bottom.
In response, Ado's face adopted a smug expression. "Are you sure? Perhaps you'd like it behind you?" he created a gate a few feet in front of the other end, the fireball entering it and coming out of another gate behind them, hitting them point-blank.
"C'mon, just hold on a little longer," Oliver was silently telling his body as he observed the battlefield, his hands had succeeded in capturing ten elves, but that was hardly a cause for celebration. "On the bright side, I know what to practice on when this is all over,"
"When? That's a silly thing to say," he turned to the right to find Lavani, crossing her arms. "You said you'd take us down too, but it seems you went a bit over your head. Wing Magic: Angel Flapping!" she shot the multitude of feathers at him, the move disturbing his concentration, causing all the hands he deployed to stand in place.
"No, hold on!" he thought as he crossed his arms, choosing to fly away.
"My, are you trying to run? It's hopeless, you know," she was on his tail, elevating herself above him. "Wing Magic: Peregrine Dropkick!" she zoomed down, striking him in the back, sending him on a one-way trip to the ground, the transformation finally undoing itself as all of his constructs disappeared.
Despite the pain he was in, Oliver stood up. "This isn't good,"
"I couldn't have said it better myself. You humans may have been holding on longer than we initially anticipated, but this is the end of the line!" she exclaimed, about to finish him off.
But then…something incredible happened.
"Neutralize their mobility and attack them at once!" a commanding male voice exclaimed calmly.
Upon hearing that, Lavani found herself enveloped in a purple glow, but it wasn't just her, every elf found themselves targeted by the mysterious effect, but it didn't take long for them to realize something else.
"What the? I can't move!" Wylon was beyond perplexed. His limbs could move freely, but the rest of his body remained in stasis.
It then got weirder as everyone was lifted into the air, the ones already airborne being higher up, they were then subjected to a barrage of various magic attacks, only relenting when the glow disappeared and they plummeted, landing with a thud, down but not out.
From there, the obvious question formed in the minds of the humans. "Where did that come from?!"
"Look!" Charmy's voice was loud in the subsequent silence as she pointed east, the others following the direction, their eyes widening in a mix of surprise and relief as they saw an assortment of magic knights land close to House Vermillion, with the one who made the command landing in the center. He was different from the others, because the robe he had on hailed from no squad. The one in the lead was none other than…
"Yuno!" the cotton mage dashed over and embraced him. "I was wondering where you were in all of this,"
He smiled at her. "I was helping around, now I'm here, and it looks like we came just in time,"
Vanessa zeroed in on a mage with him. "Glynda! What happened to you?!"
The older witch just smiled as she approached her. "You aren't the only one who's getting stronger,"
She wasn't alone in recognizing a friend as Dante did the same. "Kuro!"
His fellow silver eagle teleported by him, helping him up. "Are you okay, dude?"
"I'm in some pain, but I'll live,"
"Are we glad to see some reinforcements show up," Kirsch said as he rose as well. "Last we saw, you and Asta went to go help your village,"
The wind mage nodded. "We did, then we split up. I did some more fighting and ran into more people along the way," he explained, but then his eyes took note of the dark castle that stuck out like a sore thumb. "Okay, time for you guys to explain something. What exactly is that?"
However, it was Bell who answered as she flew into view. "The Shadow Palace?!"
"Wait, you know what that is?" multiple people asked the question.
She crossed her arms. "I'm one of the Four Great Spirits, of course I know what that is. I might be small, but I'm still incredibly old. But who opened it?"
"The elves," Vanessa answered. "Some went inside, so we sent some of our own after them, but now it's closed and no one can get in,"
Just as she finished saying that, Yuno's shirt began to glow, or rather, something under it, the light being quite bright. "What the?" the teen reached into his shirt and pulled out a necklace that now hung in plain sight.
Charmy shielded her eyes from the light, but still took time to note the features of the necklace, more specifically, the gem on it. It was circular and smooth, and was a primarily blue color. The only contrast was in the form of a gold cross with four stars at each corner. "That's really pretty. When did you buy it?"
"I never bought it, it's been with me since I was a baby, but it was almost stolen when I was a kid, so I made a habit of keeping it out of sight," he replied as the light from his stone condensed into a beam that shot out toward the Shadow Palace, opening it back up.
"Damn, whoever gave you that necklace really went all out," Zora joked. "If it's open again, should we all go?"
"No," Glynda quickly shot the idea down. "Look around you, the elves have just been momentarily discombobulated by our combo, they'll be up soon," but just then, everyone's mana sense flared as the group dodged an attack, seeing that they were already up. "Scratch that, they're up now,"
"You guys stay and help out, I'll head into the Shadow Palace," Yuno said.
"Let me go with you!" Charmy blurted out, surprising even herself as she slapped her hand over her mouth.
"You want to come with me?"
"U-Um, yeah," she removed her hand and pulled out a pastry. "Y'know, in case you or anyone else in there needs to recharge,"
As she said that, Oliver moved into her space. "Yeah, speaking of recharge, I hope you don't mind if I just take this off your hands quick, thanks," he comedically snatched it and helped himself.
Yuno held his chin. "You bring up a fair point. Alright, I don't see why not,"
The girl was beyond happy, having to resist the urge to jump for joy. "Vanessa, I'm leaving things in your hands,"
"Don't worry, I'll handle it, and as for you…," she knelt down and whispered something in her ear. "...Have fun with your crush,"
The teen blushed. "Do you ever stop with the teasing?" she whispered back.
"It depends," she replied as she stood back up.
"Wind Creation Magic: Celestial Wind Ark!" he created the trusty mode of transportation as the two mounted it and took off.
"So, I'm guessing that Asta was one of the people who went in?" he inquired.
The cotton mage nodded. "Yup, as well as twelve other people," she pulled out another pastry and handed it to him. "We don't know if we'll be fighting the second we get there, so it's best that you recharge now,"
"Good idea," he gratefully bit into it, becoming enveloped in a green glow. "That tastes amazing, I haven't had anything since breakfast,"
"It's no biggie," she said back as they entered the door.
Yuno clenched his fist and excitedly grinned. "Hold on, everyone, I'm on my way,"
"Phantom Creation Magic: Eidolon Paladin + Galloping Nightmare!"
Oxanna started off the second half of their offensive strong, casting her usual double spell, but instead of having the ghastly knight ride the steed, the two spells stood independently from each other as they charged, joining the last lava golem.
Romit stood still as the three creations had him flanked on three sides, walking in a circle at moderate speed. "So, which of you is going to make the first strike?"
The second the last word left his mouth, the paladin charged, coming in a strong vertical strike, the elf using his polearm to block it, backing up to make a counterattack, but then the golem came in hot.
Once the engagement began, the crimson trio charged forward. "Let's see how this new plan goes!"
The possessed lightning mage was unworried by the attack as he backed up, but as he did, Oxanna came in from behind at a curve going southeast, channeling as much mana she could into her legs to boost her speed. "Take this, asshole!"
He was a bit surprised by how fast she was, unable to just dodge and make distance, now having to parry her equally fast attacks. "You're moving quicker than before. Did what I said to you earlier still hurt?"
"Yes, but I'm calm now. What you're seeing now is just my skill!" she said back without hesitation, her expression serious, but her inner expression happy as she noted his defensive movements getting sloppier as time went on.
With that in mind, she decided to ask her own question. "You've never used a polearm before, have you?"
"Not at all. These things didn't exist 500 years ago, or maybe they did and we never got a chance to learn about them. If they were a part of elven weaponry, I can guarantee you I'd be a master at it,"
"A master, aye? Well, then it's a good thing they weren't around!" she positioned her scythe underneath the polearm, swiping up, disarming him. She then spun around, using her to add power to a kick to his chest.
While that happened, Leopold ran up the back of the lava golem, jumping off of it and high into the air. "Flame Magic: Leo Vulnus!" he launched the slashes with both gauntlets in a diagonal manner.
Romit was able to see it coming just in time, jumping to avoid it, but his movement was a little slow as the throbbing in his leg finally started to get to him, three slashes managing to hit him directly.
"Don't let up now! Phantom Magic: Galloping Nightmare - Ghostly Wail!" Oxanna exclaimed as her steed let out a devastating shrek, launching him into the air.
"My turn!" Erika ran to build up speed as she boosted her legs before using them to boost herself up to the elf's level. "Lava Magic: Magma Uppercut!"
Her fist heated up as she threw the successful punch, Romit landing with a notable thud. The three knights quickly regrouped. "We did it, that teamwork was on point!" the royal cheered for them.
"I'll say, that actually was a pretty good set of moves," the possessed royal knight got up, wiping off the blood that leaked from his mouth. "Tell me, Violet, did you come up with it?"
The two quickly picked up on the emphasis he put on the third word. "What the hell? Is that what you said to her earlier? No wonder she got so mad, that's fucking low, even for you," Erika admonished him.
He shrugged. "Remember what I said earlier? Honor be damned, I meant it as you can see,"
However, unlike last time, Oxanna didn't let it rile her up, instead, she silently glared at him before asking a question. "I already know that you had friends, but tell me, Romit, did you ever have a girl you cared for more than the rest? One you had feelings for?"
He was a little skeptical about the reason behind the inquiry, but answered anyway. "No, not really. I mean, it's not like the girls in my village were ugly, they were all very pretty, but I never found myself gravitating towards one. Maybe I would've if I got to grow older, but you all know how that went,"
In response, the phantom mage just sucked her teeth. "Figures. You can see into Rama's memories, you know that Violet isn't just a nickname to me, it's a symbol of the affection he has for me, just like how his nickname symbolizes my affection for him. You have no problem trying to use it against me because you can't comprehend what love is. I almost feel sorry for you,"
"You? Feel sorry for me? Give me a break!"
"Flame Creation Magic: Inferno Lion!" the vermillion created the fiery beast. "Get him, but don't hurt him too badly," the lion obeyed as it was on the move.
Romit didn't plan on waiting for it to get closer as he noticed the ghastly horse was also trying to get him from the other side. "I need to finish this now. Lightning Creation Magic: Voltage Polearm!" he made another weapon and ran toward the lion.
Seeing its chance, the fiery beast leaped into the air, ready to pounce on him, but he crouched down and jumped even higher up into a mid-air frontflip, transitioning into a roll upon landing to break his fall, transitioning once more from the roll to a janky stance.
Even though it was different from the stance Rama took, it was close enough for the others to realize what he was trying to pull. "He wouldn't!"
"You all are as good as dead now!" his grimoire flipped to a page. "Lightning Magic: Voltage Polearm - Peaceful Sorrow!" he tried to dash forward, but noticed the boost of speed wasn't present. "What?"
Seeing that made Leopold breathe a sigh of relief. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say you're surprised it didn't work?" he asked rhetorically. "Peaceful Sorrow is strong, but it's special. If you want to use it, your mind needs to be clear, and yours isn't. You're no martial artist like my rival, he's trained to have the mental discipline needed to pull it off, but with you, you're too consumed by your anger and hatred!"
Romit glared at the flame mage. "Fine then, I can't use it. But who cares? I still have other ways to kill you!" he exclaimed as the four creations rushed his way.
"Why don't I start by getting rid of these things?! Lightning Binding Magic: Zig-Zag Stun!" he rushed to meet them, the trail of electricity forming as it advanced went through them, holding them in place.
"I missed this earlier, but I've got a feeling that I'll do better this time!" he reeled back the polearm and let it fly, piercing all four of them before it lodged itself at the other side.
"No way!"
"I take it that by the looks on your faces, you weren't expecting that. I may not have his skills, but I don't need them, all I need is my own overwhelming power,"
"We'll see about that!" Leopold came rushing in on his own. "Flame Magic: Leo Vulnus!" he fired two vertical slashes.
Romit charged as well, building up speed before performing a high jump, evading them completely this time before going into a dive roll. "Y'know, I see you in his memories as well, he thinks very highly of you. Though I can't understand why anyone would think such things about royal scum,"
"I don't see what's so hard to understand, he respects me, so I respect him, that's how a rivalry works," he retorted. "Believe me, I know that some other royals can be a serious pain in the ass, but you'll find that I'm a different story,"
The two reached each other at last, each throwing a rapid punch, their blows colliding, resulting in a moderate shockwave. "Everyone likes to think they're different from the rest, but more often than not, the opposite tends to be true,"
"No way you didn't just see the irony in that," the royal spun, trying to get a hit in with his claws.
Romit backed up. "What irony?"
"You and the other elves like to think you're different from humans, that you're better than us, but the truth is, we're the same,"
The possessed lightning mage snarled at those words. "I take great offense to that!" he came in again, but instead of attacking directly, he rotated his body around while in close proximity to the transformed flame mage, sliding as his left hand glided across the ground, he then balled it up and used his other hand to quickly turn Leo around and punch him in the nose.
"Damn it!" blood leaked from his nose as he tended to it, but not even a second later, Romit closed the distance, opening his balled-up fist as he blew its contents into his face. "Shit! What kind of spell was that?!"
"That was no spell. I just thought I'd put a little dirt in your eyes," he simply answered.
"Phantom Magic: Malevolent Duppy!"
"Lava Magic: Igneous Rock Blast!"
Romit's ears perked up in the direction where he heard two spells being cast. Looking to his right, there were indeed two attacks coming his way, so he charged up a fist with mana, punching the rock first as it shattered. He ignored the burning sensation on his hand as the deformed ghost was next; he blitzed toward the spot his polearm was lodged, reeling it back and throwing it once more, doing to the duppy what he did to its allies.
"Nice try, ladies, but you can't save your so-called friend like that!" he rushed as Leopold. "I think I'm going to take a little time with you!"
"Well, think again! I might not be able to see you, but I can still hear you! Flame Magic: Flame Tempest!" he closed his hands before opening them directly in front of him.
However, it was ultimately a useless attempt as the elf leaped into a frontflip, landing behind him as he turned around and launched a kick…right in the royal's groin.
"EHHHH!" Leopold let out a loud, high-pitched shriek, grasping his area, leaving him even more vulnerable to the elf's second kick, a devastating one that hit the flame mage right in the chest, sending him flying into a nearby wall.
"Another one down, just two more to go," he set his sights on the girls.
"You'll pay for that! Lava Magic: Lava Wave!" Erika exclaimed, slamming her hands on the ground as the molten rock formed, creating a divide between them.
"Hm, trying to distance me from you, aye? Not a great plan, observe," Romit sprinted, not straight ahead, but to the right, jumping onto the roof of a nearby building, running across it until he was on the other side of the magma pool. He then hopped softly off the roof before quickly planting his feet on the building's side, using it as leverage to boost himself toward Oxanna, moving incredibly fast.
"You're next, Violet!" he reeled a fist back.
"Get out of the way!" before he could get her, Erika pushed her best friend out of the line of fire, becoming his new victim as the punch went right into her gut. The lava mage could feel the air rushing out of her lungs as she slowly sank to her knees.
The phantom mage was still on the ground just some feet away, looking at what happened with shock and horror. "W-What did you do that for? That hit was meant for me, I could've taken it,"
"I…couldn't take the risk. Leo is out of commission for now, and you're…stronger than me. You have…the best chance of winning,"
Oxanna's eyes shifted from her squadmate to her possessed boyfriend, but found that Romit's gaze was currently where hers had been just a second ago. Her whole body tensed as he squatted to her level. "Get away from her!"
"Relax, I wish to ask her something first," he reassured her before addressing the peach-haired girl, his tone more hostile. "Are you trying to mock me?"
"What?" both girls thought.
"Before our fight began, you tried and failed to convince me that your friendship is genuine. So was that little display of yours supposed to be some kind of clever ploy? You heard what I said about me and my friends, so you thought copying it would make me change my mind?!" by that point, he was pulling her hair, demanding an answer, but none came, so he let her go. "Just so you know, it didn't work,"
The Rossiu glared at him as she stood up. "You…you're more than just sad, you're delusional. You're so caught up in your own idea of friendship that others seem fake to you. Erika did that because she knew I could finish this, and she was right," her grimoire flipped to its strongest page. "Don't worry, this won't kill you, but it's going to hurt!" she exclaimed as her ghostly dragon took form behind her.
"Phantom Creation Magic: Wyvern Spectre!"
The wyvern then took off, Romit backing up as the creature encircled him, generating a ghostly wind that brought him miles into the sky. From there, it flew in from below, ready to crash into him.
The elf made another weapon as his expression grew serious. "I'll give it to you, this spell is powerful, but nothing you make can overpower my rage! Lightning Magic: Voltage Polearm - Slash of the White Tiger!" he met the attack head-on.
However, it initially appeared as if he wasn't going to win as the wyvern was pushing him further and further up, the power so great Romit could've sworn he heard one side of his polearm cracking.
"No! I'm not going to lose!" the elf poured all of his available mana into the blade, his luck beginning to turn around as the force made the wyvern descend a number of miles before it returned to a stalemate.
Romit didn't intend on calling it quits though. His grip on the weapon was tighter than ever, sweat was dripping down his face; he was actually trying. "C'mon, just a little more, c'mon!"
And with that, he succeeded, cutting it in half through the middle, but as he was descended, a large portion of his polearm broke off, leaving only one bladed side.
"That's not possible!"
"It is for me!" he retorted proudly as he landed roughly, but that didn't stop him as he rushed over and elbowed the teen in the stomach, putting her on the ground. He wasn't done yet though, he got on top of her, his breath erratic as he raised what was left of his weapon.
"You, you will be the first victim among you three, and I couldn't think of a more appropriate candidate. There's no need for any last words or crap of the sort, the quicker you die, the better, so say goodnight!" he brought it down.
Oxanna shut her eyes, bracing herself for what was to come, but that wasn't the only reason she blinded herself. If she truly was going to die, the last thing she wanted to see was her precious lover in such a state as this. However, the sting of the blade piercing flesh never came, so she took a chance and opened her eyes once more, and that's when she saw it, the blade was only brought halfway down, Romit struggling to bring it down all the way, but something was stopping him.
Or rather, someone.
"T-Tiger Cub! Rama!" the girl called out, ignoring the amount of pain she was in.
"No, why are you fighting back now?! I was so close!"
"That's why he's fighting back so much!" she told him, raising her hands up, cupping them around his face. "I know you're in there, Tiger Cub, and I know you won't let him kill me or anyone else. Fight back, fight with everything you got! I'm here for you!"
She then brought his head closer to hers, giving him an affectionate kiss on the forehead. Once she let him go, he stumbled back, dropping the remains of the polearm as he grasped his head, just the sound of painful grunts escaping.
There was a new battle beginning, and it took place somewhere a lot more…private.
"No! Why are you giving me so much trouble?!" Romit screamed from within the commoner's headspace.
He was entirely by himself in the sea of umbra, but that would change soon as he found himself walking in a direction, remaining silent, the fury on his face still present. Three minutes elapsed when he finally halted, his eyes falling on the original owner of the body who stood in the distance, both males staring at one another.
"So, now you decide to be a pain in the ass?" Romit accused. "I thought you were a perfect host, you had a decent amount of power, and more importantly, you didn't fight back. I knew I should've put you in a cage, but I suppose it's too late for that,"
"Yes, it appears so," Rama returned briefly, pausing for a bit before he continued. "But do forgive me for fighting so hard when the lives of my friends are on the line!"
"Don't say that word! You aren't friends, what you have is nothing more than a sham! You're humans after all!"
"Open your eyes and stop being ignorant!" the white tiger yelled back. "You said it with your own words, I'm giving you a lot of trouble, all for their sake. Do you seriously think a false bond of friendship could result in that?!"
The elf shrugged. "Maybe it could, maybe it couldn't. It all depends on what you believe at the end of the day,"
"And I believe…no, I know for a fact that they care for me, and because of that, I won't let you take them from me!"
"You mean like how your kind took everything I loved from me?!" he asked angrily, but then he stopped and took a few deep breaths, now calm as he crossed his arms. "Let me ask you a question, Rama. If someone killed your family, your friends, and made you watch every second of it, how would you feel?"
The lightning mage let himself calm down as well as he matched the elf's gesture. "I'd feel sad for losing them, I'd feel guilty for being unable to do anything, and I'd be mad, so, so mad," his grip tightened during the last part.
"See?! You understand then! This is simply what you deserve!"
Rama raised a brow. "Deserve? What do you mean, deserve? Last I checked, none of us were there, and I can at least speak for the ones I know to say that none of us would do it even if we were there. People shouldn't be punished for a crime they didn't commit, that would be dishonorable,"
Romit didn't give a response to that, so his host continued. "Look at me and my friends, I'm a commoner, one's a royal, and two are nobles. Do you know the history between people like them and people like me? I'll tell you, it isn't very good at all, but when I met them, none of that history mattered to me, I saw them for who they were, and they did the same with me. From there, we all grew closer, heck, one of them is my girlfriend,"
"What is your point?" the elf asked with annoyance.
"My point is to not search for the guilty among the innocent. You got to ask me a question, so let me tell you a story," Rama began as he uncrossed his arms and walked in a circle, Romit deciding to do the same. "When I was a kid, around six years old, there was a boy who lived near my house, his name was Douglas, and he would bully me from time to time,"
"Sounds like a joy to be around," the elf said sarcastically.
The teen ignored him and went on. "He was five years older than me, so you could imagine fighting back wasn't easy. I wanted to get back on him, but I didn't want to get my parents directly involved, so I asked them to begin my martial arts training,"
"They had no problem training a six-year-old?"
"You must've not seen that memory yet. In the Asterius family, training begins when the child turns seven. They were a little surprised I wanted my training to start a year early, but they saw my determination and agreed. After two weeks of learning the basics, I felt different, and powerful, like I could do anything, so I went and challenged Douglas. Can you guess what happened?"
"Let me guess, you lost?"
For the first time since their exchange, Rama chuckled. "You got that right. I hardly stood a chance. Simple technique can only bring you so far against an opponent who's nearly twice your age, so you can imagine my walk home wasn't a happy one, I was angry beyond all belief. That's when it happened,"
"What happened?"
"On my way back, I ran into another boy who looked to be my age. Even to this day, I don't know his name, but when I passed by him, he made a comment about how tattered up I looked after losing. From how he spoke, I knew he was just joking around, but regardless, I was just so mad…I punched him right in the face,"
"It felt good, didn't it?"
"...Yeah, it did, until it didn't. When I checked on him, he wasn't crying or anything, he just looked stunned. The satisfaction was fleeting fast and all I felt was guilt, so I ran away, and I told my parents what happened, I needed someone to talk to about it. Needless to say, they weren't happy, they told me to apologize if I ever saw him again, but I never did. That wasn't all they told me though, they told me that using the innocent as an outlet for my anger was never the right thing to do, especially since martial arts would make me more dangerous as time went on,"
The elf raised a brow. "And how does that story relate to this?"
"The way you and the rest of your kind are acting the same way I did. You want revenge, but the ones who killed you are dead, so now you want to make others suffer in their place, but you should know that it'll never provide true satisfaction and peace, because in the back of your mind, you'll always know what you're doing isn't right," Rama answered.
"So what do you expect us to do then?!" Romit yelled, pointing at the human. "Do you expect us to just stay in hell after what happened?!"
"In all honesty, I don't know the perfect answer, your situation is indeed an unfair one. However, what I can tell you is that what you elves are doing now isn't the way,"
"That's all you have to say?! That you don't know?! Well, if you don't, we'll just stick to our old plan, and for that to run smoothly, I'm going to need to take back control!" Romit rushed at his host, tackling him to the ground. "So hand it over!"
"In your dreams!" Rama raised his leg before bringing his foot down, striking him on the back of his head. He then used that chance to push the elf off as he stood up and assumed a defensive stance, keeping his hands close to his chest region with the palms open. "Come at me!"
"As you wish!" Romit did just that, closing the distance and throwing a fast punch, but the lightning mage was faster, lowering himself to dodge it, not missing the chance to grab his arm and toss his body over himself, putting him on the ground before Rama shifted his grip into a joint lock.
"You won't beat me!"
"That's what you think!" Romit used the proximity of their legs to his advantage, performing a janky sweep kick that managed to land. Now the elf was the one standing with Rama on the ground, he tried to step on him, but the white tiger rolled away, getting back on his feet with the help of a starfish kip-up.
"You say that this crusade of ours won't bring me true satisfaction?! You don't know how wrong you are!" he came in again, repeating his strike with another punch, but this time, Rama caught it with a hand before twisting it around so that it was behind Romit, the crimson knight also wrapping his other arm around the elf's neck, forcing the elf to use his available hand to try to remove it.
Rama currently had the advantage, so he closed his eyes and focused. "This has to end, and I'll be the one to end it!"
"Tiger Cub?" Oxanna muttered as he gathered the strength to stand, the others doing the same as they limped over to her, still looking worse for wear.
"What's happening to him?" Leopold asked.
"It's Rama, he's fighting back,"
"That's great, but will it be enough?" Erika asked the million-yul question.
Just as she finished saying that, the lightning mage finally stood up, initially worrying the three, but their worries were partially put to rest as he dropped his weapon and spread his arms out, leaving himself completely vulnerable.
"G-Guys!"
Their eyes widened. "Rama, is that really you?!" his rival called out to him.
"Y-Yeah, it's me," he replied, but then his body began twitching. "You need to hurry, I can't hold Romit back forever! You gotta finish me off!"
"But what can we use that can do it?" the lava mage wondered aloud. "Oxanna, can you use your wyvern spell again?"
"No, I don't have enough mana to cast another Wyvern Spectre…but there is one other spell I can use,"
"That's good, use it," the flame mage told her immediately.
Her expression grew uneasy. "It's easier said than done. I've never used this spell on someone I really care about, and making it enough to affect an elven-powered body would require more power, those could cause risks I can't take,"
Rama began sweating as his internal struggle went on. "Violet, you know I trust you, so I need you to trust me. If this can end the fight…then do it!"
The phantom mage clenched her fists tightly. "...Fine then, I'll do it. But promise me, Tiger Cub, promise that after this is all over, you'll come back to me!"
Rama's eyes relaxed for a bit before they softened, and he gave her an affectionate smile. "I promise,"
"Okay then," her grimoire flipped to the page. "I'm giving this everything I've got! Phantom Curse Magic: Draining Shade!" she sent out the spectral hands, each of them grasping his body repeatedly, the process going on and on until it ceased.
Rama's arms fell to his sides as his eyes blanked out before clamping shut, dropping to one knee before the other one followed suit, and now, his body was on a course with the ground.
"Oh no you don't!" Oxanna sprinted over and slid on her knees, catching his head before it could hit the cold earth.
From where they stood, Erika and Leo spoke amongst themselves. "That was the spell she was worried about? I can see why," the girl said. "From what we've seen during missions where she's used it, it isn't advised to use more than one on a person, but she used seven on him,"
"Yeah, we'd better go make sure he's really okay," the boy added as they both began running with a limp to their squadmates. When they got close enough, they could see the Rossiu warmly caressing her boyfriend's face. "How's he doing?"
"He's…He's doing just fine," she replied with a sense of relief. "Take a look for yourselves," she said as they kneeled to take a peek, the sight relieving them as well.
Because on the face of the white tiger was a small, grateful smile.
