Chapter One Hundred-Five: Dreams in the Mirror
"I had better go see how the progress on it is going,"
As Rhya walked down a secret narrow path hidden somewhere in the base, he said the statement to himself with a bit of excitement, so much so that he began whistling a happy tune. As he continued on his trek, the somewhat dark walkway became steadily illuminated by a green light, the light getting brighter and brighter as he entered a new room that led to a large set of gadgets. But at the center, there were two large cylindrical pods, a strange substance preventing its contents from being viewed from the outside.
Rhya walked over to these pods, placing a hand on each one. "I know I'm doing this earlier than we planned, but it's best if you two are here sooner rather than later, I just hope you'll be strong enough," he made his way over to a nearby counter that had an array of monitors, but the only thing his eyes were looking at was a lone button.
"I'm pretty sure she said this would open it, so here goes nothing," he pushed the button. That triggered a somewhat loud alarm to go off as the glass that covered the pods slid open, releasing a thick cloud of steam.
The elf then took out his grimoire, there was one last step. "I owe you one for the idea, William, and thanks for your help too, Marx. Copy Memory Magic: Mnemosyne's Charity!" two glowing orbs floated above his hands, one was beige, and the other was pinkish-red. With a swift extending motion, the orbs flew into the cloud of steam.
"If you two can hear me, come on out!" he plainly raised his voice, and before too much time passed, two figures walked out, the steam beginning to dissipate, allowing the figures in question to be somewhat more visible.
Vetto and Fana.
"It's good to see you guys again. You remember who I am, right?"
The flame mage held her chin. "Yes…you're Rhya the Disloyal, and the three of us make up the Third Eye. It's all starting to come back to me, our past, and our mission,"
The beast mage examined parts of his body. "I guess the plan worked out after all,"
Rhya nodded. "I couldn't have said it better myself. I've got to hand it to Sally though, making not only a clone of Licht's body with Patri, but using our hair and skin samples to make clones of us as well if need be, I'll give my props where it's due,"
"Hm," Vetto hummed, noticing that he had to partially look up at his friend. "Am I shorter than you now?"
"Oh yeah, I had to end the process earlier than expected, we need both of you," Rhya replied, making his way to the monitor. "According to this, your bodies are 15 years old, but Sally was able to modify them so that you're stronger than you were when you were reincarnated into those dead bodies Patri put us in, combine that with the magic boost from the reincarnation, and you two are just overall tougher mages,"
Fana was happy to hear that as she stretched. "Oh yeah, that means I don't have to go through puberty again! Now let's get out there and beat those humans senseless!"
"I'm with her, but first…," Vetto began, appearing flustered. "...Can we put some clothes on? I'm starting to feel uncomfortable being in the nude,"
The flame mage covered her bits and pieces upon hearing that. "Crap, I forgot I was naked! Sorry for almost flashing,"
"It's no biggie," Rhya shrugged, giving the girl a playful look.
She narrowed her eyes, hiding herself further. "What are you looking at?" she asked in an accusatory manner.
"You, obviously," he replied with no problem. "Back in your first body all those centuries ago, your curves were about as pronounced as a brick wall, but Sally did you a favor, you look a lot more developed from what I can see. Good for-,"
He immediately put his hand up to block the sudden slap she was about to give him. "Now now, it's not nice to hit your friends. You know I don't mean anything bad by it; look at it this way, you may have nearly been flat as all hell, but you were and still are very pretty,"
Fana retracted her hand, giving him a comedic death stare. "Whatever, I'll get you one of these days, just you watch,"
"I'm sure you will," he said back as he made a portal and stuck half his body through it, keeping it in there for about a minute as he pulled himself out, two sets of clothes in hand. "Patri brought these for us, suit up," he gave them each one as they retreated into the areas with thicker steam.
With the two no longer in sight, neither could see what looked like a guilty smile forming on Rhya's face, a thought entered his mind, but he pushed it aside as he prepared to turn around, but as he did, he jumped in surprise from someone standing behind him.
"Shit!" he blurted out.
"Is everything alright?!" the two called out.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered, observing the elf in front of him. He was dressed in a common civilian's attire, and his bangs completely hid his eyes from view. "It's just Ronne, he snuck up on me,"
"Okay,"
Ronne performed a nod as a greeting. "Hello," his voice was monotone.
"Hey there, it's great to see you again, it's been too long. How'd you find this place though? No one else here should know other than me and Patri,"
"I sensed your mana," was the response.
Rhya snapped multiple times, as if he was trying to recall something. "Oh yeah, you always were really good at that, and like always, I can hardly sense yours. Remember the old days when that would help you out when we played tag or hide and seek?"
"I do,"
"So, I see you found our base of operations. Did you come here alone?"
Ronne shook his head. "No, I brought Eleos and Den with me, we were able to get up here with my Switching Magic,"
"No way, you actually have a host with the same attribute as you? My friend, you hit the jackpot,"
"I'm aware of that. Now, I must take my leave," the switching mage said as he dug into his pockets, revealing a small rock. He then focused his magic into it before flicking it into the narrow path, waiting a few seconds before his body vanished in a flash, the rock dropping at the copy mage's feet.
Rhya was seen smiling again, but then his face contorted. "Crap, I forgot to ask him to let me touch his grimoire!" he realized, but after giving it some thought, he waved. "Eh, I'll be fine, I got Spatial Magic, it's practically the same thing,"
"Tada!" two voices exclaimed behind him, he turned and saw the two in their new wardrobe.
"Now you guys are looking like elves, it's a shame we couldn't find a way to get your grimoires back too, but it shouldn't be too much of an issue. Thanks to the reincarnation's boost, you should be able to replicate your simpler spells on your own. After this is all over, we'll locate a grimoire tower and see if it's possible to get you some new ones,"
"Works for me," Vetto cracked his knuckles.
"Same here, after all, I've still got an advantage over you two. Salamander, come to me!" Fana called, extending her hand, but nothing happened. "Huh? What's going on? My connection to Salamander, I think it's gone,"
Rhya held his chin and thought about it. "I mean, it's not impossible. Your second death was a decent while ago, and there are other strong flame mages in the world, but you should be powerful enough to fight regardless,"
Vetto crossed his arms. "Let's just hope none of these humans bonded to it. Now, let's go meet up with the others, I'm getting so excited, I feel like I might explode,"
"Alright, alright, we wouldn't want you exploding," Rhya joked as the Third Eye walked out of the room and along the path.
Fana crossed her hands behind her back. "Y'know, I can't wait to show this to Annalise, it's going to be so strange from now on since, technically, she could be considered older than me now. We're going to get such a good laugh out of this," she mused.
The copy mage's eyes were now on her as they walked, confused. "What are you even talking about? Annalise is dead. This was always our plan, to sacrifice the members of the Eye of the Midnight Sun so that we could be reborn, remember?"
The flame mage rubbed her arm with a frown. "Oh yeah. I…I know we weren't supposed to truly care for any of them, but…Annalise, she was different, she was like a little sister to me. I'm supposed to be the one among us who opposes love, but…I never once hated her,"
The beast mage scratched the back of his head. "I mean, I don't necessarily disagree with that, I liked her vibe, she could look despair in the eye and keep going,"
Rhya appeared to be the least bothered. "I'll be honest, she was cool in my book, much more so than those weirdos she hung with. In a way, she is to us what William is to Patri," he then stopped, prompting them to stop as he fully turned around. "If it will make you feel better, let me put it like this, we were like Annalise's family, all she ever wanted was for us to be happy, and now we are. We all make sacrifices for those we care about, and if she knew what the result would be, I'm sure she'd do so gladly,"
Fana sighed and smiled melancholically. "Yeah, I suppose this is for the best, and at least she's now at peace, I wouldn't want her to become a further casualty of our crusade, nor would I want her soul to suffer by becoming a host,"
"That's the spirit, we had better get back on the move," the oldest elf said as they resumed their short journey, arriving in the large area some minutes later where the others were, all in their new attire.
"Hey there, everybody, look who I brought with me! I know they're younger, but I hope you can still recognize them!" he declared.
"Fana! Vetto!" the copy mage hurried away as the two elves were swarmed.
"It's so good to see you again!" Lira hugged the woman, being the closest to her.
"Same to you," she returned the gesture before ruffling his head. "Your host's hair is so peculiar, but it kind of suits you,"
"Really? I was thinking about cutting it," he told her before his eyes glued on her rack. "Hey, you've changed too, these aren't as small as I remember," he said with an innocent smile.
In response to that, she pinched his cheeks and smiled, her expression juxtaposing the intimidating aura radiating from her. "Lira, you're young, so as the older elf, it's my responsibility to impart wisdom to you, so listen up. If you want to make a nice elven girl really happy in the future…never ever tell her that. Do you understand?"
"Ok, thanks," he replied, completely unphased.
"Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when you'd be shorter than me," Den greeted the beast mage as they shared a fistbump.
"It'll take some getting used to, but you better not forget to respect your elders, or it won't end well for you," Vetto joked before noticing that the younger elf was holding the dog from before around his other arm. "And who is this?"
"Meet George, I found him on the streets, the poor thing was starving," he explained.
"Good work, I'm proud," Vetto placed his hand on his shoulder before bending down to pat the dog's head.
As more reunions were happening, Rhya stood in the distance, and that's when he noticed one elf not joining most of the others. It was the elf who was possessing Kaiser, and he too was standing by himself. "Eleos, there you are!"
The possessed captain perked up at the calling of his name. "Oh, Rhya, hello there. How are you?"
"I'm doing great, I heard that Ronne brought you and Den here, welcome to our base," he said before chuckling and poking the man's belly. "And a warm welcome to you as well. Vulutz and Lavani don't appear to be the only ones to get the short end of the host stick,"
Despite the comment, Eleos shrugged. "I admit, it's not the ideal body, but it works for me," he then began stroking his mustache. "And I'm especially fond of this,"
Rhya shrugged as well. "If you say so,"
"I know that everyone is saying their greetings, but I need your attention!" Patri's voice echoed, the others hearing it and falling silent. "Vetto, Fana, it's good to have you both back with us, our efforts have finally rewarded us with what we fought so hard to achieve!"
This prompted the elves to cheer before Patri raised a hand and silenced them once more. "But the job isn't done yet, we still have one more thing important step to perfect our reincarnations, so I'll need a special group of people,"
He then pointed at the small crowd. "Apostles, assemble!"
The rest were audibly shocked, not expecting to hear that word, regardless, eight elves stepped forward, the mages consisting of Rhya, Fana, Vetto, Reve, Eleos, Lira, Droit, and Ronne.
"Hey, Patri," the possessed mirror mage raised his hand. "Is it alright if Eclat accompanies me for this? I'd prefer to not have her out of my sight,"
"If it's fine with her, I have no issue with it," the light mage answered.
The little girl wasted no time rushing over to her big brother. Vetto then raised his hand afterward. "Also, even if we include you, that's only nine Apostles, we're down one. Where's-,"
His question was cut off by the sound of footsteps, all eyes turning to the path that led to the room. Once the figure came into view, they all smiled, seeing that it was Licht,"
The two newest comers gasped. "It's really him. But why do his eyes look so blank?" Fana said before asking.
"Has he not fully awakened yet or something?" Vetto assumed.
Rhya nodded. "That's the reason, he can talk a bit, but for now, we need to be patient for when he fully regains his consciousness,"
The chieftain walked past the crowd and the Apostles, standing beside Patri, but he remained silent, so the light mage continued. "As for the rest of you, stay close. What we're planning to do will undoubtedly draw attention to us, we'll need protection. Once we're done, feel free to go where you wish,"
"You can count on us!"
The elf grinned. "Good. Now, what are we waiting for?"
With the aid of those with flight capabilities, the ten elves flew to the flat top of the floating base, revealing a smooth floor with a strange design. It almost resembled a tree of some kind with ten circles, and around it were markings that appeared to be in a foreign language.
"I take it you all know where to go?" Patri asked the group.
"What kind of idiots do you take us for?" Droit playfully replied with another question. "The ten of us aren't Apostles for no reason, we were destined for this after all,"
They all landed on the new ground level, and from there, they all started walking in certain directions, each of them standing in a circle as their glowing auras flared to life. Once each of them arrived, the markings began to glow as well.
It had begun.
The light mage triumphantly raised a fist as he spoke to his brethren. "Let us do this, we shall open the door that lays underneath, one that has not opened for centuries! Let us open it and finally be rid of the scourge that is humanity!"
"Let us open…The Shadow Palace!"
"Stupid bear, just go down already!"
Kirsch waved his fan with all the force he could muster as he made the statement. While the elves were preparing their endgame, the Vermillion siblings were still in battle, and it wasn't looking good for them.
The bear in question was hardly phased by the strong blast of petal-coated wind, the attack only succeeding in making it slow down ever so slightly. The older royal was pissed if his face said anything, not only by the ultimate futility of his attempts, but by the fact that Baval was just standing in the background as the fight went on.
"What's wrong, elf?! You aren't getting in on the action. Could it be that you're actually afraid of us?" he accused him.
Baval just smirked. "Me? Afraid of you? If only you could've seen what I did when the rest of the gang and I got here, I can guarantee you wouldn't be talking with so much confidence,"
"That's where you're wrong," Kirsch passed a hand through his hair. "Confidence and I go hand-in-hand, perhaps not on a similar level as me and beauty, but you get my point,"
"Really? You don't say?" Baval seemed unimpressed by his antics. "Anyways, I want you royals to live a little longer than the rest, and that won't happen if I get involved,"
Kirsch flew out of the beast's range, the bear growling as it was subjected to a barrage of beams from another direction, courtesy of Mimosa, but like her brother's attempt, the effects were minimal.
"Damn it," the girl cursed under her breath.
"Is there anything else you can do?" the cherry blossom mage asked her. "What about those seeds you used on that other elf's spell?"
"It's no use," she answered. "The seeds that sprout into my Magic Control Grass need to penetrate whatever it enters first, and the bear's skin is too tough, they'll just bounce off,"
"Well, he's possessing your squadmate, you must know some weakness we can exploit to rid ourselves of that accursed Ursidae!"
"There's no longer a weakness to exploit. The Gambler's Beast spell lets David summon a different animal based on what number his die reveals, but there's a hierarchy, higher numbers are stronger than the lower ones, but thanks to Baval's elven powerup, even a 2 is enough to give us trouble,"
Baval clapped. "You heard it from her, she explained it better than I could, you two had better come up with something if you don't wanna die in the next minute or so," he said as the bear charged at the older royal.
In response, he prepared another spell. "Cherry Blossom Magic: Raging Magic Cherry Blossom Storm of Petals!" in no time, the entire room was bathed in pink-colored flowers, each side now being unable to see the other.
The possessed dice mage clicked his tongue. "Hm, this can complicate things," he turned to another page in his grimoire. "Let's get rid of it. Dice Magic: Gambler's Fallacy!"
He threw the pair of dice, watching as they both landed on a three, grinning as the result conjured a powerful burst of wind that blew all the petals away, making it look like they were never there in the first place.
Kirsch gasped. "No way,"
"On the contrary, yes way," his attention then shifted to Mimosa. "I can't forget about you," the bear was now charging at her.
"Plant Magic: Magic Cannon Flower!" she exclaimed as the construct formed and fired with everything it had. At first, it didn't appear to be doing anything substantial, but then…
"We're not going to lose to you, you hear me!" the girl yelled with passion and fury. "Humanity won't lose! You may be stronger and have more mana, but that doesn't decide everything, we can still come out on top! That's what he showed us!"
As if her spell had resonated with her resolve, it fired with even more power, managing to push the bear back a number of feet before it eventually died out. When it came to the beast though, it was still intact, having suffered decent damage if the small handful of cracks on its body said anything.
"Oh yeah, finally!" she jumped for joy.
Baval, however, had a little more of his attention focused on something. "That's what he showed you, you say? So, you're keeping information from me too. I don't know who this guy is, but he must be fascinating if he's not only spouting words like that, but putting it into practice,"
Kirsch ran to his little sister. "What you did back there was incredible. If you can pull it off again, the bear shouldn't survive," however, as soon as he said that, she dropped to her knees and began panting. "Mimosa!"
"I'm…okay, that thing I did…it took more mana than usual. I just need a minute or two," she put his worries to rest.
He sighed in relief. "Take three minutes if you want, leave the rest to your big brother. That bear may have endured against most of my attacks, but…," he revealed his right pointer finger as the tip began to glow. "...I still have a trick I can count on,"
"Alright then, just be careful. I may…detest you, but not enough to want to see you bite the dust,"
"Worry not, sister, I won't be getting any dust in my mouth, such a thing would be incredibly unsightly, not to mention unsanitary,"
Mimosa sighed. "Just get going,"
"Off I go," he separated himself from her, running to the far east section of the room. "Come at me, you vile creature!"
Baval almost felt like chuckling. "Are you trying to use yourself as bait to protect your sister? And here I was thinking humans didn't do that. How sweet, tell you what, I'll entertain this little act of yours," he directed his attention to his creation. "After him,"
The bear obeyed and began its charge, but that's when Kirsch made his move, recasting his most recent spell. The possessed knight groaned at the familiar sight of petals. "Not this thing again, I guess these humans aren't familiar with the definition of insanity,"
He repeated his last spell as well, getting the result he wanted as the same thing happened, Kirsch being once again in his line of vision, but strangely, he seemed unworried. Baval, however, shrugged it off as his creature continued moving.
The cherry blossom mage entered a stance, the focus being on the fact that his fan was reeled back, ready to go once needed. The bear kept going though, getting closer and closer; thirty meters…fifteen meters…ten meters…five meters.
Then it happened.
The second after it took its most recent step, the floor beneath glowed as a familiar circle appeared, that section of the floor then emptying out as the beast fell into the pitfall.
"And just like that," Kirsch hurried over and sealed the opening. "I'm two for two,"
"I see now, you used that spell again to give yourself cover, clever," Baval said. "That's the same trick you used on Gamailiel. Speaking of him," he turned and peered into the distance where the possessed sand mage was. "How are you holding up there?!"
"Fine, I guess, but I'd like to be out of here!"
"Well, that's too bad, you'll be in there for a while," Kirsch said confidently, but in his mind, it was a different story. "That seal over him will only hold out for another half hour or so. I may have neutralized the bear, but if this Baval is as powerful as he claims, he may be able to stall until the other elf is free, then we'll be in big trouble,"
"Don't worry, I bet he's just bluffing or something, besides, he should be more worried about my grizzly friend!" the possessed dice mage spoke words of both reassurance and mystery.
The older vermillion focused on his latter statement. "What about that accursed savage? Didn't you see me trap it?"
"I did, but you are aware of the fact that the animals summoned by Gambler's Beast are physically stronger than human bodies, right?"
"I assumed that'd be the case. What's your point?"
"I won't have to tell you, you'll be shown it instead,"
And he was right, all of a sudden, sounds began coming from the second pitfall, sounds of something hitting a hard material. The noise only grew until it reached its zenith…said zenith being reached by the bear emerging from the floor.
"What?!" Kirsch and Mimosa were shocked beyond belief.
"So, you never considered that it was possible to burrow out of your trap? Then again, I can't really blame you, your usual victims wouldn't be capable of feats like that, sucks to be you then,"
Now free and angrier than before, the bear set its sights on Kirsch again. While the creature's mission stayed the same, the vice-captain's confidence vanished. That was it, everything he tried came up short. He tried to stay calm, but it wasn't easy, he backed up as fast as he could, attempting to draw another pitfall trap.
"I have to try something!" the circle's base was complete and he was halfway done with the interior inscriptions, but that's when a problem emerged. All of a sudden, the bear's speed increased and the distance between them became a small five feet, the abrupt change in proximity making the knight's hand move in the wrong direction, causing him to botch the trap.
"Oh no!" he thought frantically, but with the predicament he was in, he had to take a chance, so he threw the circle on the ground and hoped for the best.
The creature took one more step before it was close enough at last, but before it could open its mouth to sink its sharp teeth into his flesh, the circle he set glowed, and as he feared, a pitfall didn't form.
Because something much better happened instead.
Rather than being forced under the cherry blossom mage, the bear was forced above him as the trap summoned a combination of wind and petals that shot upwards, taking the beast with it as it was blasted up into the ceiling, shattering to pieces upon impact, but the force was enough to create a hole.
Not a single face present remained composed, everyone was thoroughly surprised by the outcome they just witnessed.
"Well…that happened," Baval stated.
"Yeah…I guess so," Mimosa couldn't help but agree.
Of all the mages present, Kirsch was the first to regain his composure. "Am I amazing or what?!" he struck a trio of poses. "There I was, in imminent danger, my demise seemed guaranteed, and then, the goddess of fate stepped in and bestowed me with what I needed! Did I say trap-making was tricky? It appears I was mistaken, I must be the greatest trap forger in all of Clover's history! After all, I'm already the most handsome one, so why not?"
Mimosa comedically deadpanned as she stood from where she was, quickly approached her brother, and smacked the back of his head. "Cut it out,"
"Right, my apologies, however, it's only appropriate that this move has a name. From this day onwards, it shall be known as Cherry Blossom Trap Magic: Beautiful Updraft!"
The possessed dice mage let out an impressed whistle. "You seem to be quite the lucky one, I guess I may have to get involved after all," he was about to make a move, but that's when a sensation washed over him and his eyes narrowed. He then turned to the royals, giving them a smug grin as he gathered mana in his legs and leaped through the recently formed hole.
"We can't let him get away," Kirsch enveloped them both as they gave a short chase, landing on the roof where the elf was waiting for them. "Trying to run, aye?"
"No, if I was, I would still be moving. I just came here so you can get a better view," he replied.
Mimosa was confused. "A better view? Of what-," she cut herself off as she and her brother registered something.
And it wasn't just them. Around the various battlefields near Clover Castle, knights and elves alike focused their attention on the floating base in the distance, spotting the glow that was coming from the top.
"What's going on there?" Kirsch wondered aloud, in a mix of shock and awe. "The amount of mana in that area, it's unlike anything I've ever felt before,"
"I'd imagine that'd be the case," Baval said before outstretching his arms. "The time is almost here! THEY are here, and soon, IT will open!"
The plant mage pointed at him. "There you go with that again. Start talking!"
"Alright, alright, I did promise and you two aren't dead yet," the elf gave them his back and continued. "THEY are the ones who are up there on that floating rock as we speak, the ones giving off the mana you're currently feeling. The ones up there are no ordinary elves, they are a part of a special group, we call them…The Apostles of Sephira,"
"The Apostles of Sephira?" the siblings repeated in unison.
"Yes, they're a group of ten elves who are capable of receiving divine revelations and whatnot, but they aren't the first to hold that title. The tradition began a very long time ago with ten elves of the ancient past, and similar to the ones now, they weren't ordinary elves either, but their uniqueness was due to a different fact,"
"And that is?" Kirsch posed the question.
Baval turned to face them. "These ten elves were each aligned with a Sacred One, or as you might know them…angels,"
"Angels?!" they gasped.
"You mean like the one Kenos has?" Mimosa said to no one in particular.
However, that didn't mean Baval wasn't surprised by it. "Kenos? A Sacred One has aligned with a human?" he paused for a second, holding his chin. "I see. I digress though," he seemingly ignored the revelation. "These ten elves became the first Apostles of Sephira, from then, their descendants would inherit the title upon their death, and the tradition kept going and going until we have the Apostles of today,"
"I see. And what exactly are these guys trying to open?" Mimosa then asked.
He met her question by pressing a finger against his lips, telling her to be quiet, much to her annoyance, but that annoyance turned into bewilderment as he revealed his other hand, stretched out proudly as he began counting down with his fingers.
5
.
.
4
.
.
3
.
.
2
.
.
1
At that very moment, multiple areas began rumbling. "Now what's going on?!" the siblings exclaimed.
"You're going to see what you asked for," Baval answered.
The rumbling got more and more intense, forcing fights and movements to pause as a dark mass began erupting from the ground. The flow of it went on without stopping for two whole minutes, but things were just getting started. Once the ground was left barren of the foreign substance, the dark mass joined together and expanded, taking on the shape of a two-dimensional black castle, and right in the center was a circle that was pale white.
"What the hell is that?!" was the obvious question to go through the mind of every human.
The possessed dice mage rested his hands on his hips. "I take it you're curious as to what that is? But surely you should've pieced the answer together. That's your IT, say hello to the Shadow Palace,"
The vermillion siblings couldn't repeat what he said like before, all that came from their mouths were stutters about what just occurred in front of them.
"It's pretty abnormal, isn't it? I can understand your shock. The Shadow Palace is a special creation after all, the space within acts as the halfway point between the land of the living and the land of the dead; it was made by the efforts of the first ten Apostles, their angel partners, other angels in general, along with humans of the ancient past. As a sign of friendship, it was decided that the magic used to form the palace would be placed under the entire territory of the Royal Houses,"
"B-But, why would such a thing be made in the first place?" Kirsch asked as, once more, he was the first to find his voice.
Baval shrugged. "I'm going to be honest with you, I don't really know, no one does, the reason has been lost to time, but that's not important, what is important is what the Apostles plan to do with it. Since the Shadow Palace is connected to the land of the dead, and by extension, the underworld, we're going to send these pesky human souls there in our place while we assume total control of their bodies. Soon, our reincarnations will be perfect at last!"
"Not if we have anything to say about it!" the siblings prepared a pair of attacks.
"Cherry Blossom Magic: Torrent of Petals!"
"Plant Magic: Magic Cannon Flower!"
The elf leaped high into the air, evading the two attacks as he launched a counter. "Dice Magic: Gambler's Fallacy!" he threw the pair, watching as they landed on a three and a five, the objects exploding and emitting a bright light, forcing his enemies to shut their eyes.
"I wasn't expecting that," the younger royal voiced as the light faded seconds later, but once they opened their eyes again, Baval was nowhere to be seen.
They couldn't worry about him for long though, right now, their eyes were glued to the ethereal construct that stood in front of them.
Things were just going to get more complicated from here.
"I can see it, the Shadow Palace is open!" Lira cheered as the Apostles were all staring at the thing they summoned into view.
Rhya held his chin with a look of intrigue. "Hm, y'know, it looks different than I thought it would," he mused. "I always assumed it would look a little more detailed,"
"It shouldn't be a concern what it looks like, after all, we're more interested in entering it rather than admiring it," the possessed captain of the orcas countered. "Patri, will we be moving in now?"
"I must ask for patience, Eleos, we can't enter it just yet," the light mage responded as he pointed at it. "Observe the circle in the center, according to the ancient texts, that's how we'll enter the Shadow Palace, but it's not supposed to be that color, it's supposed to be purple,"
"I'm confused though. If that's the case, why is it even different?" Eclat asked what they were all thinking.
"If I had to guess, it's probably because no one has opened it in so long, it must need time to become fully active, sort of like it's waking up from a long slumber," Droit attempted to deduce the reason.
"It's the best explanation we got so far. The only question is how long will it take?" the inquiry came from Vetto.
The other Apostles were now crossing their arms, thinking of a solution, but then, an unexpected person raised their hand.
Patri addressed them. "Do you have a suggestion, Ronne?"
All eyes turned to the switching mage. "What if we pour more of our mana into the seal? Doing so could jump-start the palace's gate and make it open faster,"
"Wouldn't doing that weaken us?" Fana challenged the idea. "Besides, I don't think that's what will fix our issue,"
Patri held his chin. "Hold on. Let's put this into an analogy, a cup is being filled with water, in our case, when the cup is full, the Shadow Palace becomes fully active. At the moment, the mana we're currently directing to open are like tiny drips that may take a long time, and using more mana is like strengthening the output of water which will in turn fill the cup faster. If that is indeed the situation we're in, Ronne's logic is sound,"
Rhya gave the man standing across from him an approving nod. "Nice plan you made there, it seems your ancestors weren't the Apostles of Wisdom for nothing,"
In response, Ronne showed a rare smile. "...Just happy to help,"
With a determined expression, Patri rallied them all together. "Alright everyone, let's give it a shot!"
"I know this might seem like a dumb question, but are the rest of you seeing this, or am I just going crazy?" Noelle asked her teammates, their eyes glued to the striking image looming above them.
"Nope, I see it too," Zora replied.
"From what it looks like, whatever that is came from underneath us, meaning it was underneath the Royal Houses," Nozel added. "I would like to say someone on our side is the one responsible, but it doesn't seem likely,"
The elves the trio were fighting stopped their assault momentarily to marvel at the construct as well. "I don't believe it! Is that the Shadow Palace? I've only ever heard stories, I didn't think I'd ever get to see it in person," one of them was in awe.
"The Shadow Palace?" the royal knights repeated.
"Okay, that means the elves did this, most likely the ones we sensed on their base," the water mage pieced it together. "I wish we could know what it does though,"
"What it does isn't important as long as we can stop them from using it, and to do that, we have to stop these elves in front of us," the older royal stated as he took advantage of the distraction to strike and incapacitate four elves by striking the back of their necks with mercury at frightening speeds.
The remaining bunch all were stunned by the attack, but readied themselves. "Damn it, take them out!" they all fired an array of projectiles.
"Everyone, stay close to me!" Noelle ordered as the two did as she said. "Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Lair!" she exclaimed, conjuring the large dome.
As she had hoped, the protective spell was successfully neutralizing all the attacks sent their way, but the possessed knights wouldn't give up that easily. "More power, we won't lose to a human's spell!" one of them shouted as they began using stronger moves.
Still, the dome held firm. "This is good, we can wait in here until they tire themselves out," the girl smiled.
"It won't be that easy, Noelle," her brother retorted. "They aren't stupid, they won't keep attacking aimlessly. They'll either wait until you drop the spell, or launch something they're confident can break through the guard,"
And the mercury mage's assumption was correct as the elves ceased. "This isn't working, that dome can handle multiple individual spells, but it shouldn't be able to withstand a single large one! Everyone, join for a compound move!"
"Okay!"
With that, all of them raised their hands as a shapeless mass began growing above them, something the royal knights picked up on immediately.
"It looks like you were right, Nozel, but it's not impossible to get around, we can simply move out of the way when they send it,"
Zora shook his head, staring at his glowing finger before extinguishing it. "We could do that, but I have a better idea. Twintails, on my signal, drop your spell,"
Noelle turned to meet his gaze almost immediately. "That's not my name!"
He rolled his eyes in return. "Deal with it, I give nicknames to almost everybody. Back to what's actually important, will you drop it when I say?"
She nodded reluctantly. "Fine,"
It didn't take long for the mass to nearly triple in size. "It's ready! Time to die, humans!" the elves declared as they launched it at its target.
"Now!" Zora gave the signal as the water dome fell.
"Okay, it's your turn, you better have a good-," Noelle was saying, but was cut off as the ash mage ran past her and jumped in between the royals and the compound spell.
"Is he crazy?" the siblings thought, but their concern was proven wrong as contact was made and Zora's body began glowing, revealing a circle inscribed on his person.
"Take this!" he screamed, absorbing the attack before sending it back.
"Defense!" the elf in charge exclaimed as they cast the appropriate spells, but it was futile as more than half of them fell victim.
As Zora's feet touched the ground, he smirked. "If I had a yul for every time I used my reflector trap that way against a knight from the Golden Dawn, I'd have two yul, which isn't much, but is just enough to buy an apple,"
The elves who were left rallied together, and they were pissed. "You bastards!"
Noelle stepped up next, pointing her lance at them. "My turn, let's see how many I can take out in one hit as well,"
"That's the last hit you get on us, mark my words!" the elf in charge let loose his best spell, sending a massive flame attack at the youngest royal.
The water mage was patient though, opting to dodge at the most opportune moment rather than obliterate it with an advantageous counterattack.
But as it turned out, she wouldn't need to. In an instant, a portal of a familiar color appeared in between them, the attack going fully into it as it exited from another portal that was right behind the elf, the originator becoming the new target.
Noelle's eyes widened at what she just saw. "I-It…it can't be,"
"Hello, and good evening," everyone's eyes shifted over to see Finral walking their way, a look of total confidence on his face that complimented his confident stride. "I couldn't help but notice that you seem a bit outnumbered. I hope you don't mind if I join in and make things a little more even-!"
He didn't get to finish as his female squadmate rushed at him with open arms, the speed actually making them trip, but luckily, Finral made a portal beneath that brought them back on their feet. "Ah man, I didn't get to finish, I've kinda been on a bit of a roll with these dramatic entrances," he chuckled, but stopped once their eyes met, revealing hers to be on the verge of tears.
"I can't believe this is happening. Somebody pinch me," she said as her squadmate did just that, making her look at him with a comedic deadpan. "I didn't mean it literally,"
"Oh, that makes more sense, my bad," he apologized as she hugged him tighter, shaking her head.
"No, it's alright, that just means you're really here, you're okay, and you're awake,"
"Yup, I'm the real deal," Finral joked. "I have to say though, this is the first time I've seen you so visually emotional,"
That ended up being a slight mistake as she pinched both of his cheeks and began stretching them. "You listen and you listen good, if you even think about worrying me like that again, you're going to regret it,"
"Ow! Okay, I promise!" he yelped and was subsequently released, Noelle turning around and crossing her arms as Finral rubbed his red cheeks. "Cool armor by the way. I'm guessing it's new?"
"That it is," she answered in a more dignified manner, but upon finishing her statement, the water dress began to rupture before coming entirely undone.
"And I'm also guessing that means it doesn't last long," the spatial mage continued before he noticed the royal looking a little tipsy, so he rushed to her side. "Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm just feeling a little winded, now I know how Kenos and Asta feel," she replied, a few seconds passing before standing up straight. "Thanks, but we're not out of the clear yet,"
Finral gave his hands a quick glance. "Maybe we can be, and pretty soon too," he assumed a stance. "All of you, I need you to put your faith in me, and attack using multi-projectile spells!"
The trio nodded, all deciding to go for it.
"Water Magic: Sea Dragon's Waterball!"
"Ash Magic: Cinder Bullets!"
"Mercury Magic: Rain of Silver!"
In an instant, the attacks in question littered the battlefield. The elves watched carefully, attempting to evade them all with swift movements, but it was futile as Finral opened and closed his hands at rapid speeds, utilizing the tactic from his prior fight as they were surrounded and subjected to the onslaught.
"That's how it's done!" the spatial mage jumped for joy.
Nozel crossed his arms. "That was a fairly impressive thing you pulled off,"
"Oh, um, thank you, but I couldn't have done it without you all,"
Zora walked over to him. "Speaking of you all, do you know what way Captain Yami went?"
Noelle reconvened with them as well. "The captain's here?" she asked, but then she remembered something crucial. "Oh, that's right. Finral, I know this may come as a shock, but this guy is-,"
The trapster put up a hand. "I already explained it to him,"
"I see, then back to my first question. The captain's here?"
Finral nodded. "Yeah, I was with him and Captain Jack, but then we split up. I don't know where he is right now, but he can't be too far. I'm sure he's fine,"
"Well, this isn't looking good,"
Going back to Alice and En, the two royal knights were standing back-to-back as the remaining elven knights surrounded them.
"These guys are pretty good at battles of attrition, they were able to eventually wear down and beat all of my mushrooms," the fungus mage told his teammate. "What about you?"
The former said nothing initially, just cursing under her breath as she undid her armor spell, putting both fists up. "Things weren't going much better on my end either. I have to call off my Battlefield Dancer so I can conserve more mana,"
En stared at the royal houses. "I wish the others were here. If they don't come here soon, we're going to lose,"
"No!"
The man's head snapped in her direction at the sound of her sudden declaration, but that wasn't it. On his peer's face was a look that he was almost afraid of from how ravenous it looked.
"We're not going to lose, you hear?! We're not going to fucking lose! It doesn't matter how tough they are, even if we run out of magic and have to fight with nothing but our bare fists, we'll survive, we'll make it out alive!"
"Alice…are you…okay?"
"What kind of question is that? Of course I'm okay, these assholes are going down,"
"You're not wrong there, Windsail, especially since we're here!" a voice exclaimed as two figures jumped into their circle, those people being Yami and Jack.
The noble rested a hand on her hip. "Hmph, took you long enough," she scoffed before giving her attention to the dark mage. "And…Windsail?"
He shrugged. "What? I said I'd give you a nickname, not to mention it's a pretty cool play on words. You use Wind Magic and have the foul mouth of a sailor mage, it's some of my best work yet, but if you don't like it, I can think of a new one,"
"We can worry about that later, now that you two are here, the four of us will take them down," Alice punched her palm.
Jack raised a brow. "Four of us? I think you mean the two of us?"
"What?"
"Don't think I can't sense how low your mana reserves are, you two need to rest or you'll burn yourselves out," the severing mage said. "I may not be your captain like I am En's, but that doesn't mean I can't look out for you,"
Despite his words, the wind mage was still stubborn. "Thanks for your concern, but I don't need it. There are still too many of them, fighting them on your own is crazy talk. Are you two insane?!"
Jack gave a cryptic look before grinning like a madman. "As a matter of fact, we are. There's a saying I know, 'Sometimes you gotta go insane to outsane the sane',"
It was Alice's turn to give him a cryptic look. "What does that even mean?"
"I read it from a book, it means that sometimes, you gotta do something crazy to get the best results,"
En was a little intrigued. "That sounds interesting. What's the book called?"
"It was a book my dad showed me before he…he," the captain paused. "My bad, it was about the adventures of a talking blue jay and a talking raccoon. Um, um," he began snapping his fingers, trying to recall the name. "Regular Tales, that's what it was called. A good read, I recommend it,"
Alice rested a hand on her hip. "As much as I'd love to continue this riveting conversation, you two have a fight to apparently win,"
Yami coated his katana in darkness. "You heard the lady, beanpole, let's get to it!"
"I'm right behind you!"
"Don't falter, we have to win this, for the kingdom!"
The perspective shifted a fair distance away, still within the general territory of the Royal Houses, but far enough that it would take some time to reach it.
While the fights were going on there, more capital mages rushed here to contend with the possessed royal knights, all sporting a pair of angelic wings, courtesy of Lavani
"This isn't good, there are too many of them, and they're too powerful!" one of them exclaimed before he was dealt a lethal blow courtesy of a jagged piece of glass piercing his throat.
"Alright, a direct hit!" Vulutz cheered for himself as he turned to the elf beside him. "I bet I can kill more of these humans, than you can, Wylon,"
The possessed steel mage propped his glasses up and smirked. "Do you now? Well, let's not forget our main objective," he spun around and stared up at the floating base that was close behind him. "We have to make sure the Apostles can do what they need to do without interruption,"
"And we're doing just that," the elf said back. "Now, as I was saying-,"
Wylon put a hand up. "Yes, I heard you, and I'm the one who will kill more humans," he flipped to a page. "Steel Creation Magic-,"
"Look out below!"
Both elves turned their heads up and gasped as they quickly flew to the sides, allowing Romit to pass through as he dove down at high speeds.
"Time to show you what I can do! Lightning Creation Magic: Voltage Polearm!" he formed his host's signature weapon. "Holy crap, this thing is actually kinda cool!" he was in awe as he examined it. "Hm, how do you use this thing? There's a blade on both sides, so I can't hold it like a sword," he gripped the middle of the weapon with a single hand. "Okay, that feels right,"
He then flew toward the capital mages, hacking and slashing through them. His strikes were notably sloppy, but thanks to his speed, it was a negligible con. "Take this, you no-good bastards!"
"The rest of us had better hurry, or Romit will have all the kills for himself," Gehnora said as she, Rossa, and Lavani advanced.
"Wing Magic: Angel Flapping!"
"Snow Magic: Eternal Blizzard!"
"Sandstone Magic: Rock Storm!"
The trio launched their attacks, tearing through the small army, luckily for them though, the attacks weren't lethal, leaving many of them gravely injured, but ultimately alive. However, despite the injuries, one of them bravely rose to her feet.
"Hey, looks like we got a stubborn one over here," Romit pointed his weapon at her. "Leave it to me,"
She watched as the possessed lightning mage was coming straight at her, even if she had no hope of winning, she at least had to accomplish something. So she started running, creating a portal under which she stepped into, appearing up in the air above the flying elf.
"Hey!" she yelled to get his attention.
And get it she did as Romit grinned. "Were you trying to sneak up on me? If so, it wasn't smart to yell, but it's no problem, they can be your last words!" he changed the grip on his polearm, and in a strange act, he threw it at her.
But that was one of the reactions she was hoping for as she made a portal in front of herself, falling into it, reappearing a foot or two below his waist, catching him off guard as she grabbed ahold of his leg.
"Sayonara!" she made a third portal before pulling him down into it with all her might, closing it soon after.
The capital mage then focused mana into her feet, ready to use it to aid in her descent, but while she was falling, she was happy. "I did it, I can't believe I actually-,"
She was cut off by the sound of a spear whistling through the air…one that pierced her dead in the heart. "No…way," she muttered, hitting the ground with a thud as she died.
"Nice shot, Wylon, you even got her while she was dropping," Ulyssin congratulated him.
"Thank you,"
Vulutz rubbed his chin. "What about Romit?"
The possessed steel mage shrugged. "He's a smart guy, he'll find his way back here. Right now, let's focus on seeing if any of these humans are still alive, I have some moves I'd like to try out,"
However, just as he said that, everyone's eyes widened, the group detecting a large mana signature, and just seconds later, a huge version of Valtos' portal spawned as the Raging Black Bull emerged.
"And we're here!" they all exclaimed.
"Hm, a pack of interlopers, no issue, that means we're guaranteed more people to kill," Den said.
Asta looked out of an opening to observe the battlefield. "Holy crap, it looks like a massacre happened here!"
Wylon pointed at the contraption, but more specifically, the one inside. "Oh yes, it's you, the boy from earlier. This is good, I'm itching for some payback,"
"As am I! You won't catch us off guard this time, brat!" Vulutz added.
"Yeah, no! I have no time for your revenge!" the swordsman retorted as he now addressed the united group. "Here's the plan. Magna, Luck, Gordon, Sally, and Annalise, you stay here and help Henry with his long range attacks, then you can come outside. The rest of us will get out there to battle up close and personal,"
"Are you two going to be alright with these guys?" Rades asked the girls.
"We'll be fine, but soon, Licht won't be," Annalise answered.
"What she said," Sally nodded.
"Okay then. Valtos, you know what to do,"
"Right," he made another portal that the rest went in through, appearing at ground level.
"Myyyyyy tuuurrrrnnnnn!" Henry exclaimed slowly. "Recombination Magic: The Raging Black Bull - Fighting Style!" it transformed into its bipedal state.
"My, what is the contraption?" Lavani wondered aloud.
"It doesn't matter, all that does matter is destroying it," Rossa told her. "And do it we shall!"
With that, the elves launched every attack they could, but in her mind, Vanessa could only laugh at their efforts. "Good luck with that," perspective shifted to Rouge, standing on the giant's shoulder as she glowed and purred. "Thread Magic: Red Thread of Fate - Absolute Evasion!"
The multitude of attacks quickly neared the transformed hideout, but instead of hitting, they all clashed against one another, canceling out the whole strike, much to their foe's shock.
"How did they do that?!"
"You can worry about that later!" Rades screamed. "Tell me where Licht is!"
"He's busy at the moment, and has no time to waste on trash like you!" Wylon exclaimed back as he readied an attack. "Steel Creation Magic: Spiral Lance!" he now aimed it at the ground team.
"Not happening!" Asta jumped up to meet it, cutting it in half.
Cutting back to the base team, Henry was preparing an offensive of his own. "Recombination Magic: Mana Torpedo!" five openings shot from its chest. "Noooowwwww!"
The group wasted no time firing their attacks, the spell amplifying them as they were shot out at high speeds, hitting five of them directly.
"AHHH!" they cried out in pain as they dropped to the ground.
"Another one!" they repeated, taking out who remained.
Den held his shoulder as he got up. "Damn, that thing is more powerful than we gave them credit for,"
"Eat up, you two!" Charmy gave Valtos and Vanessa a muffin, putting them back to full power.
From inside the base, Annalise spoke up. "Let's not wait, attack their base too,"
"Sounds like a plan to me," Magna and Luck agreed as they fired at it, getting multiple direct hits in. "Now, let's head down there and kick some ass the old-fashioned way!"
Atop said base, the Apostles were in the middle of increasing their output, but they were interrupted by a sudden shaking.
"What's going on?" Rhya wondered, taking some deep breaths.
Patri was doing the same. "I don't know, but we should check it out,"
"Hold on you guys, take a look!" Lira pointed at the Shadow Palace, the others followed his finger, and were pleased at what they saw.
"The circle is changing color, that means our plan is working," the light mage couldn't help but smile. "Now, to check that emergency, the rest of you can stay here,"
He left his spot and ran over to the edge, peering down, but as he did, his eyes widened. "What in the world?!"
"Is everything alright?"
Patri jumped from being startled, seeing Droit and Eclat behind him. "How did you get here so fast?"
"Mirror Shift," he explained plainly before looking down as well. "Oh, I remember that building, it must be those people I fought when I awakened. They weren't much of a challenge earlier, I wonder what's changed,"
"The Black Bulls, you probably weren't facing all of them, more must've showed up,"
Even though they were high up, the glow of their auras made their presence undeniable, and one person picked up on it before the rest.
"LICHT!" Rades screamed at the top of his lungs upon spotting his former leader.
The light mage was shocked. "He survived? That's not possible," he then thought it over. "Or maybe it is, his magic does give him command over the dead to a degree, that means the rest must still be alive too,"
"Everyone!" Droit now raised his voice to his brethren. "Head inside and rest, we'll take care of these humans. Once you've recovered, you're free to scatter!"
"Okay!" they all obeyed, flying in through the entrances.
"Um, if those guys were beaten, would we do better?" Eclat inquired from the two.
"She raises a fair point. Those humans must have something that let them win, we have to remove that first,"
"You can leave them all to me,"
The eyes of the three elves shifted to the side as Reve walked over to them, yawning, her eyes still closed.
"You're awake, that's good. But how are you going to handle all of them?" Patri asked her.
"With my host's magic,"
"Are you sure?" Droit questioned. "You've been asleep for a while, past life included, you may be a bit rusty,"
"Good point, I guess that means I should instead focus on the most crucial opponents and deal with them under my terms," she said as her eyes opened at last, revealing them to be beautifully dual-colored.
Her gaze shifted to the Raging Black Bull. "Hm, there's no way our side would lose before attacking, but their biggest target doesn't have a single scratch on it, a type of magic must've been used," she then noticed the cat. "Yes, that thing must be responsible somehow, and I can feel the mana coming from it,"
Reve then pointed down at Vanessa. "It's similar to her signature," moving her gaze a few inches, they fell on Charmy in the middle of giving her another treat. "And that little girl appears to be capable of replenishing their reserves. Defense and stamina, those two are the ones who need to be handled first,"
The base team landed, waiting for the enemies above to come down, but Sally quickly deviated from that as she carefully ran over to Charmy and Vanessa, making sure not to trip. "My mana has dropped a bit, can I get a treat too?"
"Sure. What do you like?"
"Anything works,"
"Then here you go," Charmy handed her a drumstick.
"Thanks," she scarfed it down. "Y'know, you both have such interesting magic. One can alter fate, one can replenish mana, I can already see the experiments now!"
Annalise wasn't focused on what her friend was doing, she was looking up where Patri was standing, having not seen her yet. "Just you wait, asshole, once I get up there, you're done for!" she thought, but while her gaze was where it was, she noticed someone coming down, and they were moving fast.
"Who the hell is that?" she pointed, Magna and Luck staring up, but it wasn't just them, Valtos and Rades were nearby, hearing her as they did the same, seeing Reve coming straight for the trio of girls.
"Now I have them!" Reve stretched a hand out.
Not on their watch, Annalise was the first to start moving, but the difference in speed became apparent as the flame and lightning mages, despite being right next to her, blitzed far ahead of her. Meanwhile, Valtos used a portal to help him and Rades close the distance. All four were just trying to make it in time.
"Look out!"
That was all they could do as Reve arrived at the same time they did, the eight of them vanishing instantly.
"What just happened?" that was all Annalise could say.
"Well, looks like she got rid of more of them after all," Droit said. "You can leave the rest to us, Patri, go continue the ritual,"
"Very well, but first, I'll assist in destroying that giant monstrosity. Shall we?"
"We shall," he replied as they both put up a hand.
"Light Magic…,"
"Mirror Magic…,"
At their command, various mirrors spawned out of thin air, surrounding the transformed base, surprising its controller. "Huh?"
"Combo Move: Light Sword Storm of Imperial Conviction!" an array of light swords hit at once, causing the Raging Black Bull to collapse.
Asta turned back. "Oh no, with all of us out of range, Henry must not be able to keep the spell going strong enough to withstand attacks," he deduced. "Henry!"
The recombination mage stood up from the rubble. "I'mmmmm oookkkkkaaayyyy,"
Patri placed a hand on both of their soldiers. "And now I must take my leave," he left them.
"And we must do the same, Eclat. Mirror Magic: Mirror Shift!" they too left where they were standing, reappearing atop the roof of the tallest building, the remaining knights shifting their gaze northwest.
"Gauche! Marie!" Asta exclaimed. "If you two can hear in there, hang tight, we're going to free you!"
"You're wasting your breath, human! These bodies are ours now, and tonight will be the last time you ever see them!" Droit yelled back before addressing his little sister. "Are you ready?"
"I think so,"
"Good, then let's put an end to them,"
"Mirror Magic…,"
"Eye Magic…,"
Like before, mirrors began spawning everywhere, but this time, they appeared directly in the faces of the five mages, revealing Eclat's face on the other side, her eyes glowing.
"Combo Move: Reflect Iris!"
Suddenly, the group found themselves paralyzed. "What the hell? Why can't I move?" Asta grunted.
But it wasn't just them…
"So, Finral, do the others beside Captain Yami know you're awake yet?" Noelle asked him.
"They don't," he replied.
This made her smile. "Nice, that means we have two surprises to show them. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces,"
Speaking of faces, mirrors appeared in front of the three bulls, showing the little girl's face.
"What the? Marie?" the water mage was perplexed, but that was nothing as they too were paralyzed.
"How is this possible?" Mimosa and Kirsch had also fallen victim to it.
"See, what did we tell you? We had it perfectly under control," Jack and Yami smirked, defeating all of the elven foes.
"Okay, okay, I'll admit it, you did good," Alice begrudgingly gave them their kudos.
"Now we can see who else needs-," Yami was saying as mirrors came after them as well.
"Huh?" the four blinked, but the reflexes of the captains were quick, already on their way to cutting their respective mirrors in half, but the spell got to them faster, their blades only reaching three or so inches in, just needing a second more.
"What is this shit?" Yami tried to move, but couldn't, only able to stare at the one responsible for it. "Gauche's little sister? Damn it, I didn't know those two got possessed as well. This isn't good,"
"AHHH!" the seven exclaimed as they reappeared somewhere different, falling onto something soft.
Sally was the first one up, clutching her head. "That certainly wasn't comfortable. I still can't see very well, can someone tell me where we are?"
The others got up afterward, and they gasped. "I would like to, if I wasn't as confused as you are?" Magna said back.
Before them lay a vast space. The sky was a bright pink, and it was full of wonders such as fantastical creatures, large and whimsical houses in the distance, and objects that were either longer or shorter than they should've been. Granted, some real things were around too, but they mostly seemed to consist of various pieces of debris, said debris was floating around.
The group got curious, looking down to see what they currently standing on, and finding a solid cloud of sorts. "I'm lost, a place like this can't possibly be real, but we can't be dreaming this all up," Rades commented.
"Maybe not you lot,"
The group followed the sound of an unfamiliar voice, finding Reve floating some meters away from them. Luck was the first to say something. "Hey, you're possessing the Captain of the Coral Peacocks, I've never seen her awake before. I'm guessing this is the doing of her magic,"
"Indeed. Welcome to Dream Magic: Glamour World, a place where I hold the ultimate advantage. You've been giving us some trouble, haven't you? But your meddling will end here, because…,"
"How do you all like that?!" Droit exclaimed with a smug tone. "You're stuck,"
"Just for now, you bastard, we'll find a way out, and then you'll see!" Annalise riposted angrily.
"Forgive me if I don't believe that. Even though she's young and without a grimoire, Eclat is a strong elf, you can't overpower her gaze," he patted her head. "So, now that you're paralyzed, we can take two actions: either keep you like this until our objective is complete, or kill you now while you're vulnerable. Either one works for me, but that second option is feeling quite poetic all things considered,"
His expression then grew dark. "There will be no escaping from death tonight, so…," both elves then finished their sentence.
"...It's over for you,"