Chapter 68
What can you protect with feelings alone?
Kira Yamato (Gundam Seed)
Six hours after the event of the previous chapter…
Upon arriving at the Glast Heim area, Sagramore decided to split into four and surround the whole Glast Heim territory from four points at the same time. Fiorentin splits the lord knights, the hunters, the high priests, the paladins, and the champions in each point so the leaders in every point wouldn't have any lack of soldiers.
The north point is led by General Dorn, joined by Elraven, Frea, Clyde, and Sasha. The west point is under General Hagi, joined by George. Fiorentin leads the south point with the help of Felicia and Olivia. And the east point is under the direct supervision of Alphard.
At the west point of Glast Heim…
General Hagi is having the last briefing before attacking the Glast Heim area with George, Olivia, and some of his trusted underlings. "OK, I'll clarify the mission for one last time. I want you all to listen well and listen carefully" The champion notifies as the rest of the audience put their ears, "Elysion Guild's soldiers consist only of Abyssmal Knights, Raydrics, and Bloody Knights. There will be some Evil Druids, Khalitzburg, Executioners, raydric archers, and some dozens of high wizards but the three I mentioned earlier are the most numbered. Our main priority is to take down Glast Heim, not killing Valdomir's high rank warriors, so please take a note, if you happen to meet their high ranked warriors and you don't feel that you can defeat them, just ignore them and maintain to finish your very first priority, Glast Heim. The champions and the lord knights will serve directly at the battlefield; the hunters will support us from the woods, and the priests will focus only with the dark monsters. Now, do I make myself clear?!!!!".
"Yes, sir!!!" The soldiers answered as they prepared themselves to join the battle. When he sees his son wanting to join the other champions, General Hagi loudly calls his name, "George!!!".
The mentioned champion turns his head to see his father, who could be seen approaching him. Staring into his own blood, Hagi pats George's shoulder and says, "Son, I want you to return from this war….alive!!!". And with that, the older champion leaves his son on his own. "As the soldiers prepare their lines, George looks at his left hand, finally deciding for himself, "OK, if I have to, I'll unleash Fenrir's power!! This is not only for me, but also for my family and my comrades, because I want to live".
At the south point of Glast Heim…
Fiorentin has just finished the briefing, much like Hagi's. The former princess meets with her two siblings' friend who could be seen hugging each other. "Olivia, you must return alive. You promised me that, remember?" Felicia, who cannot stop worrying about her sister, wants to ensure herself one last time. "I will" Olivia nods with some tears on her eyes, "No matter what, I will return alive".
Seeing the two, Fiorentin cannot help but join the hug, much to the sisters' surprise. "I will not forgive any of you if you die. You have to return to me, alive!!! And that's an order!!!" The former princess said with a little choke as the other two answers, "Yes, mam!!!".
"Good, now prepare your selves. We will take the initiative to do the pre-emptive attack" The light pink haired girl orders her friends as she goes out and enters the battlefield.
At the north point of Glast Heim…
Elraven and General Dorn could be seen observing the frontline of Elysion Guild, with Frea, Clyde, and Sasha waiting from behind. "There's approximately fifty Abyssmal Knights they have in there" The paladin turns his back and states his observation to some of his soldiers, "I think a sudden attack would be proper to take all of them down".
"Wait, general, I have a better idea!!!!" Elraven barges in the 'discussion' as the other soldiers look at him, "Rather than making the soldiers waste their powers against that bunch of black losers, you can send me to take all of them down! I will handle the frontline!".
The suggestion makes General Dorn rolls his eyes, "Uh, I have heard a lot about you and your actions, although I never really seen it for myself…are you serious suggesting this? Abyssmal Knights are not to be taken lightly, Elraven".
"Who said I'm going to take them lightly?" Elraven pulls out his HAVOX, "OK, what about this…you give me one minute. If after a minute you still see one black ass standing on that frontline, you can tell your men to attack just like you briefed us earlier. What about it?".
The general stays quiet for a second before answering, "OK, one minute".
"Great!!" Elraven quickly prepares his weapon when Frea, Clyde, and Sasha approach him. "El, would it be okay? Are you sure you don't need help?" The soul linker worries the safety of her man. Thinking for a while, the pruple glassed gunslinger responds, "Well, I can really use some help, actually. Clyde, Sasha, would you mine lending me your Black Rose and Gate Keeper-DD?".
"No, of course not, vice captain. But why would you need these weapons?" Clyde gives Elraven the mentioned weapons. "For fun" Elraven pulls out his Inferno, "Watch it". Elraven pulls out a round mechanical looking grenade and loads it inside his Inferno. "This is the newest invention from Einbroch, Delay Grenade" The black haired man explains, "If you use this as mines, they would only explode after being hit by something heavy from above. And I will use this as the key to kick those black asses".
As Elraven done preparing, Kirigi and Wendy could be seen from behind, having another bet. "I bet 100,000 zenny he wouldn't make it in one minute" Kirigi states his bet. "I bet 100,000 zenny he would make it" His stalker friend replies.
Elraven, ready to attack, grab his HAVOX box and throws it to the sky, much to the surprise of the other soldiers. "What is he going to do by throwing his best weapon to the sky?" General Dorn mumbles beside Clyde. "Don't worry, sir" Clyde ensures him, "My vice captain knows what he is doing".
Wasting no time at all, Elraven dashes towards the Abyssmal Knights, who quickly spotted him and summons their Khalitzburgs. The gunslinger quickly pulls out his Inferno and shoots his mines, but not towards the Abyssmal Knights, he shoots all of the mines to the ground below the knights. Elraven jumps and lands right between the Abyssmal Knights while pulling out his Tristan and Lancelot at the same time. In a mere second, he proceeds to unloads his bullets right into the legs of the black horses while spinning around, knocking the Abysmall Knights down to the ground. The Khalitzburgs try to gang up on him, but meet his bullets instead. Preparing both his handguns as smashers, Elraven hits two Khalitzburg before hitting another two.
Two of the Abyssmal Knight swings their swords against Elraven, but the gunslinger proceeds to jump right between the two and shoot them right on their heads. Landed on the ground, Elraven quickly changes his weapons with double shotguns on both his hands, Black Rose and Gate Keeper-DD. With the same stance he uses with Tristan and Lancelot, the purple glassed gunslinger quickly spins around and shoots all the horses surrounding him, knocking the Abyssmal Knights to the ground again. As three Abyssmal Knights attack him from behind, Elraven quickly steps backwards while shooting the ground they stepped, making them fall again.
From the woods, General Dorn couldn't help but muttering, "Amazing…really amazing". "That's vice captain for you" Clyde comments back. Elraven continues his actions by pointing out to the sky, making both his comrades and the Abyssmal knights look at their above, to spot the HAVOX box he threw earlier quickly falls and lands right among the Abyssmal Knights, as a big explosion follows.
DUAAAAAAAAAAARRRR!!!!!
The sound of the explosion quickly spread to the whole frontline area as the smokes of the explosion could be spotted covering the sky. "Oh, this is why he threw the metal box!! So, he could use it to press the delay mines using the impact of its fall!!!" Clyde says to himself when the others are looking in awe. The explosion reduced the Abyssmal knights down to half, leaving around twenty five more. As the smokes are cleared, Elraven could be seen standing graciously with his HAVOX on his hand. Before the Abyssmal Knights could react to his attack, Elraven pulls the trigger of his HAVOX. As the soundless bullets thrust the Abyssmal knights numerous times and perhaps kill them before they even realize it, the sound of their swords and armors falling to the ground abruptly echoing in the frontline, signaling their defeats in the hand of one man.
When all is said and done, Elraven is the only one left in the frontline, standing victoriously with his HAVOX on his side. "One minute" Elraven mutters seeing his job and turns his back. Inside the woods, the other soldiers couldn't help but feeling amazed. "Yaaaay!!! That's our vice captain, alright!!!" Sasha loudly proclaims as Frea smiles, feeling grateful for Elraven's safety (but Kirigi wasn't really grateful, he had to pay 100,000 zenny). Glancing at General Dorn, Clyde slowly says, "See what I was talking about?".
"Hmm, I knew now" General Dorn admits, "Maybe instead of the frontline; I should let him handle this whole war". Too bad, his last comment resulting on the other soldiers look at him awkwardly. "What?!! I was just saying!!!" The paladin defends himself from the accused looks of his soldiers, who quickly nods and gives the returning gunslinger thunderous applauses.
"Thank you, thank you. That was nothing, really. It's a good decision from Alexandria to put me here, alright" The gunslinger doesn't really know how to reply the praises. But his statement makes Frea wonder, "Oh, yeah. Come to think of it, why would Princess Fiorentin put Elraven here instead of her side? I bet it's another problem with him. Oh, well, he being here is pretty much helpful anyway".
Several minutes after that, inside Glast Heim Church…
Albert Gahn, Ifrit, Naght Sieger, Thanatos Phantom, Great Demon Baphomet, Lord Knight Seyren, and Assassin Cross Eremes could be seen circling in the middle of the church. They are waiting for the reports from the battlefield from one of their underlings, who happens to be a high wizard, entering from the main door.
"My lords" He reported, "Sagramore have surround us from the four points. We are ready to take a pre-emptive attack, but the frontline soldiers on the north point…have been destroyed".
Eremes shrugs upon learning the fact, "What? That fast? What were you doing out there? Having a walk in the park? How many people attacked the north point?".
The high wizard rolls his eyes before his gaze fell to the floor, "It was…one…one man, Lord Eremes".
Hearing the number, Eremes lets out his surprise, "One man?!! Fifty Abyssmal Knights have been defeated by one man?!! Is this some kind of joke?!".
"Calm yourself down, Eremes" Albert Gahn tries to cool the atmosphere, "It's only normal for Sagramore to have a soldier of such capability. Do you happen to know who is the assaulter?".
The high wizard shrugs, "Uh, judging by his uniform…I think he's the one that people regard as The Angel of Darkness".
The name surprises the whole audience, who didn't say anything, not until Ifrit mutters, "ANGEL OF DARKNESS? NOW WE'RE TALKING". The gigantic fire monster rises and turns his attention to his 'comrades', "I WILL TAKE CARE OF THE NORTH POINT, IT'S BEST TO PICK YOUR CHOICES NOW RATHER THAN LATER, OR ELSE, YOU WOULD MISS THE WHOLE FUN".
"THEN I WILL GO TO THE WEST POINT" Great Demon Baphomet responds, followed by Thanatos Phantom, "I will go to the south point". Eremes answers after thinking for a second, "I'll go to the south point, too. That sounds like fun". "I will go to the east point. Nobody seems to really care for it" Seyren tells the other monsters.
"I will go to the north point later. It sounds pretty challenging there" Albert Gahn joins the other monsters, leaving Naght Sieger as the only person who hasn't picked his choice. "WHAT ABOUT YOU, LORD OF NIGHT? AREN'T YOU GOING TO PICK YOUR CHOICE TOO?" Ifrit asks the tall skeleton monster, but Naght Sieger answers by shaking his head. "NO" He said slowly, "I AM NOT TOO KEEN ON WANDERING OUT THERE. LORD BEELZEPHIR SUMMONED ME HERE TO TAKE ALEXANDRIA OUT, AND THAT'S THE ONLY THING I AM GOING TO DO. THAT'S WHY, I SHALL WAIT HERE".
Thinking for a while, the fire monster responds upon listening him, "SUIT YOURSELF, LORD OF NIGHT. BUT IT'S YOUR OWN LOSS". After deciding their respective destinations, the monsters slowly go out to the war field, leaving Naght Sieger alone inside the church.
****
War isn't a good thing, but also not the worst of things. Whenever humans happen to stumble upon a war, it's kill or to be killed. It's destroy or to be destroyed. It's squish or to be squished. And this war, the one currently happening on Glast Heim, is no different. The sound of the war cries let out by both sides resound on the sky, the voice of their running steps shaking the whole field, the dusts of their battles trembles even the thatch grasses. The sound of swords clashing with knuckles, swords clashing with swords, knuckles clashing with shields, and swords clashing with shields could be heard everywhere on the field. Bloods splattering, sweats falling, and sparks popping out are not the rarest of views on Glast Heim.
Even they sky is covered by bows from the archers class and by thunders, ice storms, and meteors from the wizard class. After the wizards join the battle, the lord knights and the champions are forced to do a close range battle in order to avoid being hit by the magic spells. But the abysmal knight, raydrics, and the bloody knights protecting them proved the tasks to stop the wizards is harder than it seems.
Felicia, using Salvador as her ride and Hellfire as her weapon, is throwing her fire attacks as she rushes among a group of raydrics ganging up on her. But her spear quicken proved too fast for the raydrics to handle, as the only thing they got was the wrath of a Hellfire. Olivia was no different. As a priest, defeating dark and undead monsters is her cup of tea. Using her healing spell properly, the black haired priest managed to knock some of the raydrics down. Some raydrics archers shot their bows to her, but a rolling shield from her behind knocks down all the bows, as Felicia hits her fire balls to the raydric archers and kills them, saving her sister as they looked at each other and smiled. The two sisters quickly realize a gang of bloody knights is coming for them. Taking the initiative to attack, Felicia hits The Grand Cross at the moment Olivia unleashes her Magnus Exorcimus, destroying the whole gang of bloody knights in a single blow.
Amidst the sea of battles, one knight could be seen moving on her own actions. Had the Abyssmal knights and the bloody knights eyes' could be seen clearly from their faces, then you would spot their surprises. You would see their faltering as many and many shadows of swords, after images, surround them and hit them before they even know it. Fiorentin, moving as smooth as she could, is 'dancing' among the black colored knights.
Moving her two swords as if she is welcoming her enemies, two Abyssmal Knights fell to the ground without their heads, followed by one bloody knight, launched to the sky after receiving a hit from her double swordplay. And as the dance continues, the former princess of Prontera Kingdom dashes, in an unmatchable speed, towards dozen of bloody knights and in one single roll, slashes all of them into bits before they even realize their own deaths. When their bloods blossomed into the air, not only Elysion Guild soldiers, but even Sagramore soldiers themselves couldn't take their eyes off her.
Before her captivating figure goes out their minds, Fiorentin arrives among the high wizards providing Elysion Guild with spells, and in one single Magnum Break, send them flying to the sky before landed harshly to the ground. Realizing her threat, three dozens of Abyssmal knights, raydrics, and bloody knights gang up on her and surround her so she won't have a space to move. But their calculation proved wrong, as the next thing they witness is thousands of swords flying and thrusting them in mere blink of an eye, killing them without giving them the chance the swords were only the after images from Fiorentin's unseen attacks when the enemies are down and cleared, leaving the lord knight standing victoriously among the piles of dead bodies. As a wind blows, her long hair and knight's robe could be seen flourishing, uncovering her sharp golden eyes which are staring right into Glast Heim.
"Amazing" Felicia said in a disbelieve tone beside her speechless sister and among the speechless soldiers, "I live with her everyday, so sometimes I forgot, why people regard her as Queen of The Thousand Knights. But, she truly is…amazing". Even Thanatos Phantom and Assassin Cross Eremes, who could be seen observing the battle not far from the border of Glast Heim couldn't hide their amazement. "How captivating, so the name Alexandria isn't just a name after all" Thanatos Phantom admits while slowly nodding his head as Eremes shrugs, "Man, she gotta be the strongest woman on earth".
"We will see about that" Thanatos responds as Beelzebub, Garm, and Stormy Knight appear in front of them. "Do you see that lord knight with two swords?" Thanatos points out at Fiorentin, "Kill her". Without wasting any other time, the three ordered monster dashes quickly among the sea of battles towards Fiorentin. Spotting the three, Fiorentin looks at Felicia, signaling the paladin to help her. Felicia nods as they rush towards the three monsters.
Beelzebub stops and summons some Lord of Vermillion from the sky, but before the lightning spells hit her, Fiorentin dodges them all, even managing to make the spell hits the raydrics of abyssmal knights instead of her. The Stormy Knight, closing himself on the lord knight, quickly prepares his sword as Garm fires some ice bolts towards Felicia, who defended herself using the mirror shield. When Fiorentin and Stormy Knight finally come face to face, the lord knight strengthens the grip on both her swords, and in a mere one second, she moves her swords in an unsurpassed speed without even blinking, slashing the stormy knight more than a thousand times, voiceless, even the time and sound just for one moment seems stop, leaving not even a single trace of after images. Every blood vein on his body, every inch of his bones, and every piece of his hardened skin, none were missed by the invisible slashes. And as Fiorentin sheaths both her swords back to their scabbards, the sun directly shines on the paralyzed Stormy Knight. When his body crumbles to dust, his shadow, which could be seen from the sky above, formed something like a cross before vanishing into thin air, leaving no single trace of his existence. The Stormy Knight didn't even manage to let out a scream; he died still with his smile on his face.
Thanatos Phantom, Assassin Cross Eremes, Beelzebub, Garm, Felicia, Olivia, and the rest of the soldiers, both Sagramore and Elysion, couldn't help but widening their eyes in disbelieve after another showcase of talent from the lord knight. "Percival" Fiorentin slowly said while unsheathes her Claymore and Schweizersabel again, "The Silent Weapon, killing you before you have the chance to realize that you're dead". There's a moment of silence in Glast Heim, a very rare moment when one could silence the entire battlefield, even Thanatos Phantom was left speechless. "I can feel it" The former princess finally speaks to shatter the quietness, "There is someone, a very strong creature, waiting for me inside Glast Heim. I can feel his presence and intention to kill, make way or you will be destroyed".
Without being told for the second time, both Sagramore and Elysion soldiers clear the path for her to enter Glast Heim. Even Thanatos Phantom does exactly as she said. Fiorentin looks at Felicia and says, "I will leave this point to you and Olivia…would that be a problem?". "No" Felicia shakes her head, "Do what you have to do; we will try our best not to let you down".
"Then, I'm off" Fiorentin says as she runs into Glast Heim, passed Thanatos Phantom and Assassin Cross Eremes on her way. "Alexandria against Naght Sieger, it's tempting to watch it and finds out who wins" Eremes mutters as he prepares his bloody katar. "Then, the battle continues!!!" Thanatos orders his soldiers when Sagramore and Elysion soldiers start colliding again. When Felicia faces off with Garm, Eremes quickly appears in front of Olivia. "Hello, lady. I've been longing to meet you" The assassin cross politely greets the shocked high priest, "This is not a nice place to talk, right? How about going to the woods where the battle has less…participants? I need to speak with you".
"Why would I do that?!" Olivia throws an attack with her hardcover book but Eremes dodges it, "Whoa, whoa!!! Calm down, lady!! I only want a conversation, that's all!!". But Olivia didn't listen; instead, she keeps giving Eremes her hardcover book attacks, forcing him to enter the woods.
Inside Glast Heim, Fiorentin stops right in the street in front of the Glast Heim church. She spots a tall skeletal figure standing in front of the church's main door. "His presence is overwhelming, just like Ifrit's" Fiorentin says to herself when she stares at him, "I can tell, he must possess some kind of godlike power. This one is extremely powerful".
"I'm Fiorentin Adler, daughter of Tristan, the rightful heir to the throne of Prontera Kingdom" The lord knight loudly introduces herself, "May I know the name of thee, who is standing graciously in front of me?".
"GREETINGS, PRINCESS FIORENTIN" Naght Sieger politely replies, "MY NAME IS NAGHT SIEGER, KNOWN AS THE LORD OF NIGHT, THE RULER OF THE ENDLESS TOWER, ONE OF THE LEADERS FROM THE TERTIUM OF VALDOMIR KINGDOM. I BELIEVE THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE MEET".
Seeing how polite her adversary is, Fiorentin couldn't help but stating, "How polite of you, I'm quite surprised. But I can also feel your enormous power; you're not an ordinary warrior".
"THANK YOU FOR THE PRAISE, PRINCESS FIORENTIN. I CAN SAY THE SAME ABOUT YOU. A MORTAL YOU MAY BE, BUT TO SILENT THE WHOLE BATTLEFIELD ALL BY YOURSELF WAS AMAZING. NOW, SHALL WE BEGIN?".
"Gladly" The former princess advances to a stance, as Naght Sieger prepares his Twin Edge. The two warriors lock eyes at each other, until finally, the two dashes and swing their respective swords.
GRAAAAAAAAAAAAANKKKK!!!!!
The very moment Claymore meets with Blue Twin Edge, the sound of the clashing resounding throughout the city and splits the calm thin air into two as the impact trembles the whole street, showing how strong the power of both sides were.
Meanwhile, at the east point of Glast Heim…
Alphard Pendragon is an adversary not to be taken lightly. Amidst his own warriors and his enemies' soldiers, he stood up. Collecting the winds on his Tegron, one single slash from his sword is more than enough to swipe dozens of armies. "Wind Sword" The young lord knight collects another gust of wind on his Tegron when more and more Abyssmal Knights gang up on him. "Hurricane Slash" He throws another slash as a wind tornado appears and directly hits dozens of enemies, clearing his path in one single blow when the winds gusting everywhere on the battlefield, sending dozens of abysmal knights into the sky and left his soldiers in awe.
Not stopping there, he collects another wind and again, throws a Hurricane Slash, clearing the path of his soldiers from the Elysion Guild soldiers as more and more abysmal knights being launched to the sky. Then, he rushes deeper into the battlefield, leaving his soldiers who were watching from his behind couldn't help but wondering,
"Oh my god, Sir Alphard is monstrous!!!"
"Is he even human?"
"Does he even need us?"
"This is not a war, this is a massacre"
"He makes it look easy"
The young lord knight, with his spirited soul, continues bombarding the enemies using his Hurricane Slash. Tornadoes after tornadoes appear on the east point of Glast Heim, causing not only more and more Elysion guild flying to the sky, but also destroying the ground, the grasses, the trees, and above all others, he didn't give a chance for his soldiers to work their weapons. That was like one against thousands, but the one prevails. After ten minutes of hurricane attacks, the abyssmal knights start showing signs of afraid, as whenever Alphard closing to them, they choose to run backwards instead of fighting. It's not often something would scare the hell out of abyssmal knight, who is known for their atrocity and ability. But the thing is, the man they face isn't an ordinary man.
"Pathetic" Alphard slowly states seeing the cowardice of the Elysion Guild soldiers, "I expected a lot of challenge from one of Valdomir Guilds, and look what I got. I have overestimated your powers and I'm disappointed". The head of the Pendragon family raises his Tegron again, showing it clearly to both his soldiers and his enemies. "El Nino" He slowly mutters as a gigantic green sphere could be seen forming on his sword. "Cowards should just die instead of hindering my victory" Alphard exclaims as he throws the green sphere among thousands of Abyssmal knights.
GUAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!!!!
The sound of the giant tornado exploding on the Glast Heim field crushed the whole battlefield. The tornado swiftly hits most of its targets in a single blow, sending many abyssmal knights to their demises. The attack destroyed them into bits and covered the whole area with dusts, causing many of the Sagramore soldiers to coughs and finds a fresher air instead of concentrating on their attack (which is…not really necessary). As the dusts are cleared, Alphard could be seen as the only one standing on the battlefield, shining as gold. There are still thousands of soldiers on Elysion Guild's side, but almost all of them have lost their spirits to fight back, all just because of one man.
Seeing Alphard, one of his soldiers mumbles, "Now, I know why he's regarded as The Stream Lord. He's godlike, indeed". Sheathing his Tegron, Alphard slowly walks deeper on the field to observe his doing. Much to his surprise, he could see the shadow of a man standing quietly among the dusts. "So, this is the power of The Stream Lord? As expected from one of Sagramore leaders, although you're so young" The man, who happens to be Lord Knight Seyren, slowly says.
"And who might you be?" Alphard calmly replies seeing Seyren. "Oh, my apologies, I forgot to introduce myself" The white haired lord knight slowly replies, "My name is Seyren, Seyren Pendragon. Nice to meet you, Sir Alphard Pendragon".
"Pendragon?!" Alphard quickly unsheathes his sword, "Impossible!! As far as I know, I'm the only sole survivor from the Pendragon family".
"As far as you know" Seyren corrects him, "But it's only normal to be surprised, I've been long exiled from the Pendragon family myself. And that was more than fifteen years ago, before you were even born. So, we never met each other before. Let's say, I'm like your…uncle. Your father was my distant cousin, if I can recall correctly".
Upon listening him, Alphard sighs, "Well, whatever. You're on Valdomir's side, and I'm not. I don't care whether you're a Pendragon like me, but I will have to destroy you".
"Nice, but too spirited won't do you any good" Seyren responds with a smile as he unsheathes his Fireblend. Without wasting any other chance, Alphard quickly appears behind him and hits him fiercely using his Tegron. Seyren tries to dodge although the attack hits and cuts off his left arm, completely rendering him in a handicap. But much to Alphard's surprise, the white haired lord knight didn't scream, instead, he was smiling as he hits his Fireblend to the ground.
In a second, something invincible hits Alphard and knocks him down to the ground. "Akh, what is this?!!" Alphard screams and touches his left ear to find out his left ear is bleeding. As he tries to stand, he quickly falls again to the ground. "The Wave" Seyren slowly says, "The Adlers have their Lionhearts technique as their secret skills, while The Pendragons controls variety of abilities. Your ability is The Stream, mine's called The Wave. It allows me to attack my enemies using anything with waves inside it, especially sound".
"That means…you hit my left ear drum? That explains why it's hard for me to stand" Alphard slowly tries to rise, questioning the other lord knight at the same time. "Correct" Seyren replies with a smile as his left arm start regenerating and forming back, surprising Alphard, "Is that…The Spell of Dionysus? The regenerating spell?".
"I believe there's no need for me to answer it" The white haired lord knight calmly replies, "Didn't your ally from Einbroch defeat two of The Quarter Kings? His victories should explain this ability, right?".
"He's not my ally!!!" Alphard shouts to his uncle and prepares a stance, "And if he did kill two of your kind, that means I would be able to do the same!!!".
Upon listening him, Seyren shakes his head and slowly mumbles as he prepares a stance too, "Well, getting too spirited won't do you any good. Didn't I tell you that already?".
At the exact same time, on the west point of Glast Heim…
The champions are trying their best to get through the barricade of bloody knights protecting lines of wizards. Triple attacks continued by quadruple attacks hit the bloody knights many times, but their numbers seem to be unlimited as more and more bloody knights quickly replace the dead ones. George, currently in high spirit, is trying his best to fend off the bloody knights.
As he encounters a gang of bloody knights, the green haired champion quickly throws his spirits before continuing the attack using his triple attack, knocking half of them down. Calling another spirits, George quickly throws them as bombs towards the bloody knights and sends them flying to the air. Wasting no chance, he sneaks among another gang of bloody knights and greets them with Quadruple attacks, defeating all of them in a single strike.
"Phew, there's no end to this!" The champion pants and tries to get some breath, "In case like this, finding their bosses would make my job easier. But…where are the bosses?". Just after he voices his grunt, meteors could be seen appearing from the sky and hit the Sagramore soldiers on the field, killing many of them. Quickly searches the source of the attack, George spots Dark Lord, being protected by four Dark Illusions, are chanting the Meteor Strike spells, "There they are!!!".
George quickly rushes among the other soldiers after he spots the Dark Lord and his four minions. "Take this!!" George jumps and directly hits one Dark Illusions, knocking him to the ground much to the Dark Lord surprise, "Insolent mortal not knowing his place, you will be damned!!!". The Dark Lord and the Dark Illusions quickly attacks him using their fire bolts spell, only to witness George evades all the fire bolts and hits another Dark Illusions with his Triple attack. Not wanting to waste his breath, the champion quickly throws his spirits to all of the Dark Illusions before hitting all four of them using the Quadruple Attack, leaving the Dark Lord alone by himself.
"Now, it's your turn!!!" George, preparing another spirits, quickly rushes towards the Dark Lord, who remains calm. As the champion throws his Tiger Fist, Dark Lord quickly summons a meteor right in front of him to protect himself, resulting in George's Tiger Fist hitting the meteor.
GRUAK!!!
"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!" George wails as the meteor explodes and shatters into hundreds of pieces, hitting him numerous times with the shattered rocks and badly wounds him as he falls to the ground, bloodied and battered. Seeing his work, the Dark Lord couldn't help but feeling proud, "Now, you should learn about your place, mortal!!! Fighting me means your death!!!".
"Not so fast!!" George rises and prepares a stance, "You will have to do better than that to kill me!!!". Staring at him defiantly, Dark Lord prepares another spell, "Very well, then I shall teach you another lesson".
At literally the same time, on the north point of Glast Heim…
Much like the south point, the north point is also staging a fierce war, sword clashes after sword clashes resounding throughout the area, plus the sound of bullets being shot. The gunslingers are pretty much helpful. Using his HAVOX, Elraven does nothing but clearing the path out of the abysmal knights and bloody knights in a soundless speed. Appearing among the enemies, one spinning shot destroys a dozen of abysmal knights. Whenever he pulls his trigger, Elraven is doing what he do best, destroying. Just like what Sasha does, using her Gate Keepers-DD, The Silver Sniper silently (and quickly) destroys the raydrics from afar, the woods. Using her gap advantage, the female gunslinger knocks down dozens of raydrics without giving the raydrics any chance to counter or evade. And the last but not the least, Clyde, using his double soldier handguns, is proving the worthiness of his nickname, The Throttle. Sneaking among the party of raydrics archers, the brown haired gunslinger quickly shoots his targets without being noticed by them, at least until they realize their own deaths, literally throttling them.
Having most of the advantage resulting in the other soldiers feel more spirited. The lord knights, the paladins, and the champions combined effort to destroy their enemies gain Sagramore soldiers the upper hand. "This war is going smoother than I predicted" General Dorn mumbling with a smile seeing the current condition, after that he proceeds to join the battle by smashing a dozen raydrics with a Grand Cross. Frea is also on a high spirit, as more and more estun-esma combinations knock the hell out of the abysmal knights and the bloody knights. As she kicks her way into the bloody knights, she throws half a dozen esma to swipe the path from a bunch of raydrics before finishing her touch using a holy esma.
"We're doing well so far, aren't we, Clyde?" Elraven, seeing the current condition, asks his underling when he prepares other loads of bullets for HAVOX. "Cannot agree more, sir" The younger gunslinger answers, until he notices something on the sky, "But…vice captain…what is that thing coming from the sky?". Elraven looks up to the sky to spot a group of meteors are coming from the sky, right towards their area, "It's a meteor strike!!! Fire in the hole!!!".
The sound of the flaming rocks launching from the sky echoing throughout the whole field, making the battling soldiers try to hide for their own safeties. And finally, the meteors hit the ground mercilessly when they explode, killing many Sagramore soldiers and also Elysion Guild soldiers in the process, destroying the grounds and some part of the woods when the spell is done. Elraven managed to warn Clyde, so both are alive. General Dorn and Frea also managed to escape from the wrath of the meteors. Sasha is still alive because the trees on the woods saved her.
As the smokes are cleared, a dozen of the surviving lord knights try to rise on their feet. After seeing the impact of the spell, one of them mumbling, "What's with those meteors? They also killed the Elysion Guild soldiers!! Who summoned it?". "I DID" An intimidating voice comes from their behind, when a gigantic fire figure could be spotted with a red sphere on his right hand, "PURGATORIO".
DUAAAAAAAAAR!!!!
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!" The screams of the soldiers craved in the air as a large fire maelstrom swallowed the survivors and turns them into piles of dusts when the red sphere explodes, and not only that, the attack also swallow a group of abyssmal knights and raydrics, incarcerating them to their deaths and destroys some part of the fields, creating a loud sound which captivate the attention of the other soldiers, and also resulting in a large crater on the ground. "A GOOD WARM UP FROM SOME OF THE WORMS" Ifrit mutters as he spots more and more Sagramore soldiers trying to surround him although they are badly afraid, "NOW, WHO'S NEXT?".
The lord knights and the paladins lift their weapons and rushes to Ifrit, only to meet another fire maelstrom which consumes them to their dusts without giving them the chance to scream. A group of champions jump and hit Ifrit with Ashura Strike on the same time, only to witness their hands went through him. The Fire God of Midgard unleashes another Purgatorio to waste all the champions. Before the smokes are even cleared, Ifrit grabs the head of one of the lord knights and mutters, "WAIL". He quickly throws the lord knight to a group of paladin, and perfectly hit them, knocking all of them to the ground. But before the group had the chance to stand back, the lord knight explodes into pieces, taking the paladins with him. "THIS IS FUN. THIS IS WHAT I CAME HERE FOR" The Embodiment of Hell gathers a dozen fire balls around him and teleports himself to the center of the soldiers, and in mere blink of an eye he explodes himself, "PYRO BLAST!!!!".
Another sound of gigantic explosion could be heard thrusting the sky, the moment the Pyro Blast with its red merciless fire eats all the remaining soldiers, both Sagramore soldiers and Elysion Guild soldiers, the fire god of Midgard didn't care whom he hits, what's important for him is his victory. After the smokes are cleared, Ifrit could be seen victoriously standing on the battlefield, which has turned into waste of ground, full of craters everywhere your eyes could see, not leaving any sign of humans' lives. The weapons of The Abyssmal Knights and The Bloody Knights are scattering everywhere, showing the merciless impact of the Pyro Blast.
Seeing the massacre, Elraven, with fire on his eyes, quickly realizes, "Great, there he is". The purple glassed gunslinger wasting no time preparing his weapons as Frea, realizing what he is going to do, approach him, "Elraven, are you really going to fight him? Please, think about it again!!".
"I have to, Frea" Elraven pulls out his HAVOX, "I have a score to settle with him. Someone needs to stop his red ass before he kills more, you wait here with Clyde".
"No!! I'm not going to wait here!!!" Frea loudly refuses, "How would I let others, you of all people, to put your life on the line for me while I wait?!! If you are really going to go, then at least take me with you!!!".
"That's out of the question!!! Don't you get it at all?!!" Elraven, in a rare occasion, harshly replies, "He wants to kill you, for god sake!!! And you know what he is capable of doing!!! Don't you remember I swore to protect you?!! Bringing you there would be the same as suicide, Frea!!!".
"Then, what about you, Elraven?!!" The soul linker also replied in quite a harsh tone, "Are you sure you're really going to stop him?!! Fighting him without the chance of winning is no different with suicide, right?!!".
The two stare at each other with emotions on their eyes. Clyde, not knowing what to say or do, could do nothing but observing the couple. Meanwhile, General Dorn, with Flamberge on his right hand and shield on his left, is facing Ifrit eye to eye. The old paladin observes the dusts and the burned bodies of his soldiers lying on the ground with a sad look. "This many in a matter of seconds, and he doesn't seem to be serious at all. He also killed his own men without even thinking" The tall paladin says to himself, "Rest in peace, comrades".
"I KNOW YOU, WORM" Ifrit suddenly says, pointing at the general, "YOU ARE DONALD HAMMOND, ONE OF THE THREE GUARDIANS OF PRONTERA. BUT YOU ARE A LOT MORE PATHETIC THAN I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE".
Narrowing his eyes, the general responds, "Pathetic? I don't understand your saying. Clarify, please".
"LOOK AT YOURSELF" The fire god of Midgard answers, "YOU'RE OLD, WITH THAT WRINKLES AND SOME GRAY HAIRS. WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, WORM? STILL WANTING TO MAKE NAME FOR YOURSELF? SHOULDN'T YOU LIVE QUIETLY INSTEAD OF PUTTING YOUR LIFE ON THE LINE IN THE BATTLEFIELD? DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU COULD DEFEAT ME WITH THAT CONDITION?".
"How thoughtful of you, but you're wrong" General Dorn sharply replies, "I may not be able to stop you, but I fight not for names. I fight for my loved ones, and it would be a great honor to put my life on the line for them".
"INTERESTING" Ifrit crosses his hands, "THAT'S WHAT ENTERTAIN ME THE MOST FROM WORMS. SO WEAK, BUT YOUR WISH TO LIVE IS AMAZING. I HAVE SEEN A FAMILY ONCE, THEY WERE PRETTY MUCH LIKE YOU, WEAK BUT WANTING TO LIVE. I TORCHED THEM SLOWLY, BUT WHEN I DID SO, THEY STILL CRAWL FOR THEIR LIVES. THEY ENTERTAINED ME WITH THEIR DOINGS, WITH THEIR CRIES AND SCREAMS. YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN HOW THEY TRIED TO PROTECT EACH OTHER UNTIL THE END OF THEIR PATHETIC LIVES".
"You…you are a heartless god!!!" General Dorn curses the fire creature and advances to a stance, "I have never seen a creature so detesting like you!!! You need to be taught a lesson on treating humans' lives!!!".
"HEARTLESS? NO" Ifrit shakes his head and calmly replies to the curses, "HEARTLESS IS A TERM USED FOR AN ENTITY WITH NO HEART. IF I DON'T HAVE A HEART, HOW WOULD I FEEL HAPPY WHENEVER I KILL WORMS? CAN YOU EXPLAIN THAT?".
"That's enough!!!" General Dorn lets out his anger and rushes towards the still calm Ifrit. With all his power, the paladin smash the fire creature using his Bash, only to see the Bash went through Ifrit. His widened eyes showing how surprise he is. "STILL NOT FEELING PATHETIC, WORM?" Ifrit clenches his right fist and prepares to throw a punch, "THEN, DIE!!!!". Wasting no time at all, The Embodiment of Hell punches the general right on his armor, destroying it and send him flying before crushing to the ground, defeated. The impact was so quick; General Dorn didn't even manage to scream. Both his sword and shield fell to the ground, following him.
Seeing even the general has been defeated, Elraven couldn't wait anymore and quickly dashes towards Ifrit, "I cannot wait anymore!!! He needs to be stopped!!!". "Elraven, no!!!" Frea shouts his name and quickly follows him, when Frea realizes, ""There are too many soul presences here, and it's hard for me to find Elraven or Ifrit!! This is not good!!".
Knowing her disadvantage, Frea decides to continue chasing Elraven. Clyde realizes he also needs to chase the couple. But a sword slashing almost cut his head off had he didn't quickly retreat. "Who's that?!!"The gunslinger questions the attacker, who happened to be a swordsman looking guy. "A swordsman?!" Clyde prepares a stance as the swordsman, who is widely known as Doppelganger, slyly smiles.
Clyde prepares to shoot a Bulls Eye, but suddenly he feels a scratch on his right shoulder, when the Doppelganger quickly appears behind him. "What was that?! He quickly slashed me from behind?!" Clyde turns his back only to get his left shoulder stabbed. "Aaaaakh!!!" The gunslinger shouts as the Doppelganger pulls back and smirks. Clyde grabs his bleeding shoulder and gazes upon the Doppelganger with anger, "He's damn fast!! Is he really a swordsman?!! Wait…could he happen to be…Doppelganger?! I've heard about him, a swordsman looking monster!!! I gotta be careful".
At the moment, Elraven quickly rushes towards Ifrit with HAVOX on his hand, "Ifriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!!". The shouting makes Ifrit turn his attention on the running gunslinger, "AH, FINALLY!!!". The fire god of Midgard quickly unleashes his fire balls, but Elraven has prepared himself to welcome the spell by shooting his ice spheres using the Scatter Mines, although he aims it higher so the attack would hit the fire balls in the air. His gambling turns out to be a good one, because the ice spheres perfectly hit the fire balls and stop them before hitting him.
Not wanting to throw away this chance, the purple glassed gunslinger quickly hits Ifrit using his HAVOX as a smasher, only to watch the attack went through the fire creature. "YOU NEVER LEARN FROM YOUR OLD MISTAKES, WORM!!" Ifrit counters by smashing him back using his punch, sending him crashing to the ground. Although his head is bleeding badly, Elraven quickly rises and aims HAVOX directly right in front of Ifrit and pulls its trigger, bombarding the fire creatures with thousands of bullets in a matter of seconds. The bullets managed to hit Ifrit and send him stepping backwards, "WHAT?! THE BULLETS ACTUALLY HIT ME?!! BUT, THIS SHOULDN'T BE A PROBLEM…".
Elraven keeps pulling the trigger on, does not want to give The Fire God of Midgard any opportunity to counter his attack by continuously sending him stepping backwards. But after a second, Ifrit stops moving backwards and lets the bullets simply went through him, angering Elraven, "Damn!!! He knows how to make the bullets useless!! He's good at adapting, he must have known how to make his body and the bullets used to each other so he can simply let it through!". "NICE TRY, BUT YOU WILL HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN THAT!!!" Ifrit suddenly appears in front of him and smash him again to the ground. The fire creature quickly forms legs on his lower body and stomps on Elraven, pinning him to the ground. "YOUR HEAD WOUND HAS HEALED? IS THAT THE SPELL OF DIONYSUS? IT'S A SURPRISE YOU HAVE THE SPELL" Ifrit realizes the wound on Elraven's head has healed, commenting. Elraven harshly replies, "Why would I tell you if you had known?!".
"A HARSH REPLY FROM A WORTHLESS WORM" Ifrit pins him deeper to the ground, "I WILL BE BRIEF, WHERE IS FREYJA?". "You wanna know?!! Cross over my dead body!!!" Elraven pulls out his Inferno and unloads his ice spheres on the fire creature, only to see another of his effort is a vain, as the ice spheres didn't affect Ifrit at all. "FINISHED ALREADY? IS THAT ALL YOU COULD DO? HOW PATHETIC" Seeing his adversary effort, Ifrit couldn't help but mock, just the moment he realizes dozens of the surviving paladins and lord knights have surrounded him and ready to attack him. "Attaaaaack!!!" One of the paladin commands as they rush toward the fire creature, which quickly clenches his left fist and tells Elraven, "SAY GOOD BYE TO THIS CRUEL WORLD…ONCE. EARTHQUAKE!!!!". Using his left fist, Ifrit punches Elraven's torso and blows him off, creating a large earthquake with a behemoth impact. The attack sends the whole attackers flying to the sky as their screams shatters the thin air, followed by the abysmal knights, raydrics, and the bloody knights around them. The earthquake also breaks a large area of the field, making many rocks and boulders flying everywhere on the field, destroying the north point even more. The earthquake also makes Frea realize where she should go, "So many soul presences lost from that point, they must be there!!". When the earthquake is done, Ifrit is the only one standing victoriously, observing the result of his 'work'. "IT'S BEEN LONG SINCE I LAST USED THE EARTHQUAKE. I ALMOST FORGOT THE IMPACT COULD BE THIS BIG" The Embodiment of Hell quickly spots Elraven is regenerating while crawling on the broken ground. "ONE LIVE GOES, THIRTHY FOUR MORE TO GO. THE SPELL OF DIONYSUS SURE HELP YOU A LOT" Ifrit regards the protection of The Spell of Dionysus.
Ifrit quickly prepares a fire ball, but before he could unleash anything, three bullets when through his body from behind. "WHAT? WHAT IS THIS?!" The fire creature turns his head to spot someone is shooting at him from the woods, as three other more bullets went through his head. "WHO'S SHOOTING AT THERE? PERHAPS ANOTHER WORM, WORM?" Ifrit said while looking at Elraven, who realizes the shooter was Sasha, "That's gotta be Sasha!!! Damn, she's putting herself in a big danger!!! I need to stop her before Ifrit finds her!! But my legs…" the gunslinger looks at his incomplete legs, "My legs are still not fully healed. If I shouted, Ifrit would spot her and she will be torched!!! What should I do?!".
"JUDGING BY YOUR FACE, IT'S ANOTHER WORM. THIS WOULD BE A GOOD HUNT" Ifrit, still with his fire ball on his hand, concludes and turns his attention on the woods, where Sasha could be seen reloading her Daedeye inside, "Crud, six shots from Daedeye and that monster is still standing unscathed!! No wonder Captain Emilio told us a defeat would be normal against him!! But, this is no time for retreating, or else vice captain would be killed!!".
Suddenly, her talkie sounds, signaling someone is on the line. Answering it, the man on the line turns out to be Elraven,
El: Sasha, do you read me?! Sasha, do you read me?!
S: Come in, vice captain!!
El: Sasha, stop the shooting!!! Ifrit is coming for you!!! I repeat, stop the shooting, there's no way you would win against him!!!
S: But, I cannot leave you to be killed!!! I know there's no way I would defeat him, but still…
El: Just do what I said!!! Stop the shooting, this is an order!!!! This is for your own good!! Running outside would only give him a chance to spot you; right now he doesn't realize I am talking to you!!! Run inside the woods as deep as you can!!! This is an order!!!
S: But, I…
GUAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!!!!
The line was cut off after Ifrit throws a Hortus Deliciarum, swallowing some points of the woods inside the gigantic fire blast and turning the trees into dusts. Elraven widened his eyes seeing the flaming woods as Ifrit turns his head on him, "COME TO THINK OF IT, SEARCHING THE WORM SLOWLY WOULD ONLY TIRE ME. DESTROYING EVERYTHING IS MORE PRACTICAL, RIGHT?". Ifrit doesn't have a facial figure, but the time he looks proudly at the gunslinger, Elraven sees him as if he is smiling, with a long circumcising line in what supposed to be his lips…among his flaming face.
"You bastard!!!" The moment the regeneration process is over; Elraven quickly pulls out his Inferno, and shoots the Delay Grenades inside the broken and destroyed ground. Seeing Elraven's 'weird' effort, Ifrit slowly comments, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING DESPERATELY LIKE THAT? YOU SHOULD WATCH WHERE YOU SHOOT, WORM". "And you should watch what you are saying!!" Elraven replies when he throws his long metal box near Ifrit, resulting in the explosion of the delay grenades, making the whole area covered by ice smokes. "SAME OLD TRICKS…KEEP REPEATING THE SAME USELESS OLD TRICKS. THIS SMOKE WOULDN'T AFFECT ME AT ALL, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY…YOU ARE EITHER A FOOL OR A RETARD" The fire creature, though cannot see because of the smokes, slowly says. But from inside the smokes, suddenly he could hear someone slowly chanting,
"Like holy due with lights from heaven"
"HM? WHAT WAS THAT CHANT?" The fire creature wonders, as a winged figure could be seen emerging from the fading smokes. A bright warm light could be seen glimmering, slowly erasing the smokes from the air, revealing Elraven with his light wings and HAVOX on his right hand, ready to resume the battle. His eyes sharply stare to the fire god of Midgard.
"Torched the hand that disappeared"
"SO, THIS IS THE CHANGELING POWER PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT?" Ifrit prepares a red sphere on his right hand, "BUT, YOU DON'T SCARE ME AT ALL. COMPARED TO ME, YOU'RE STILL A WORTHLESS WORM". Preparing a stance, Elraven replies, "I'm not trying to scare you, I'm trying to stop you". "THEN, PREPARE TO FAIL!!!" Ifrit explodes the Purgatorio the moment he shouts back….
****
Well, that's it for the first part of the war. Damn, this is one of the longest chapters in this series!!!
I hope the war and the battles didn't bore the hell out of you, because I predict there are still one or maybe even two more chapters to go. My brother told me Fiorentin's actions and Ifrit's killings own the whole damn show so far, but well, we will still have Fenrir vs Ifrit on the next chapter, so get prepared.
I was planning to release the war chapters at the same time, so, sorry for the late update. And actually this war chapter has surpassed my predictions. At first I predicted this war would only take one chapter, than two chapter, and finally three chapters!!!!
I hope in the future installments I would pay better attention to the reviewers. If…in any way this chapter disappoint you, I apologize, that's because I still have a lot more to learn.
Thank u for reading and c u next chapter!!! (^^)