Chapter 89
"I will show you that naivety doesn't have a place in battle"
Oswald
(Odin Sphere)
Mountain Area, Group 4
A clashing sound of two metal bars resounds in one of the sides of the mountain area. Roughly based on what Mjolnir Mountain in Rune Midgard was like, the area provides limitless possibility for over a battle. And there is no exception for the two swordsman class fighters who are crossing swords at the moment.
Felicia takes three steps back and prepares her Sacred Mission by casting a Shield Chain on it, and then the female Paladin goes on to charge towards The Lord of Death using her empowered shield. The Ruler of Niffleheim anticipates her attempt by casting a Shield Charge on his giant silver shield before charging in high speed with the help of his undead horse. As the two clashes for the second time tonight, another loud resounding voice could be heard.
Both are evenly powerful given they used fairly same technique, so it results on yet another steps backwards for them. Alas, they don't feel like holding back or stopping at all. Felicia charges again, this time counting on her Saber. She throws three slashes from upfront which Lord of Death parries skillfully with his silver lance. The undead monster returns her effort by executing a Brandish Spear in very close range; fortunately Felicia manages to dodge it before it hits her and seals this chance by using the long silver lance as a stepping stone to get closer to its wielder and attack him with a Bash; yet again Lord of Death casually shields himself using his formidable shield, forcing both fighters to take several steps away from their respective foe to find a better chance of winning this battle.
Both fighters bear the same mind when they both charge toward each other at the same time again, engaging in another close range combat with their preferred weapons. Felicia parries carefully against the longer weapon which her foe uses to strike some simple thrusts. The paladin takes initiative to take the battle into a higher level by mauling the lance with her Bash, to no avail. The lance didn't get affected at all. After The Lord of Death takes one step back and casts the Spear quicken, he barrages Felicia with dozen lance thrusts in an unimaginable speed. Felicia, however, quickly anticipates her being beaten to pulp with her Sacred Mission on her front filled with Auto Guard magic.
The retaliation pays of because every strike Lord of Death throws is reflected back by the autopilot movements of the shield, of course this is possible because Sacred Mission isn't some low class shield either. It's a symbolic shield, rumored to have been given from God to his messenger. And it's also indestructible too. Felicia patiently wait for the series of barrage to stop before attacking again, and when it finally stops the paladin comes out from her sanctuary to maul the undead monster with another Bash. Skillfully, Lord of Death steps away from her reach to create some distance between them. Realizing she won't win this battle just by striking around carelessly, Felicia plans a formula for her next several steps. The Lord of Death apparently reads what she has in her mind, silently waiting without making a noise. He wants to know whether the brave lady in front of him is indeed a worthy opponent.
Well, Felicia isn't a head librarian's and general's daughter for nothing. Her brain is as good as her looks. Formulating the idea thoroughly, she proceeds with care when she throws her Sacred Mission using her Shield Boomerang. Lord of Death dispatches the shield attack by a simple smash with his silver shield and wastes no time to lift his lance and charge through his smaller opponent…and that's what Felicia has been expecting all the time. The blond haired lady hits her Saber on the ground and unleashes The Grand Cross magic, wide enough to cover the area where Lord of Death's horse is running.
The plan successfully caught The Lord of Death off guard and conceals him in the holy magic. Although he doesn't seem to be too bothered, his horse roaring of pain is an undeniable proof that the spell works. Felicia sees the opportunity as a sure win and rushes to the Grand Cross scales with her full speed before leaping six feet in the air with her Saber ready to thrust The Lord of Death's horse. That's what she has been aiming for, because she knew the horse is her opponent greatest mean of mobility simply because with his large sized body he couldn't move fast without a support for his own.
Unfortunately, Lord of Death is hardly a fool. Out of nowhere, he unleashes The Grand Cross of Darkness to erases Felicia's magic and hits the paladin in very close range. "Aaaaaaah!!!" Felicia is shocked to find her plan has been reversed and now she feels an instant pain on her entire body. With her attempt to take the horse down failed, Lord of Death throws another Brandish Spear to finish the paladin off. Yet, another surprise occurs when Lord of Death sees what he hit with his long lance isn't the flesh of her target, but rather her shield.
What shocks him even more is the shield flung his thrust over and nearly gets him off his balance. Felicia anticipated Lord of Death's possible counterattack by not only throwing her Sacred Mission using the Shield Boomerang so it could get back to her in a specific amount of time, but also by casting Shrink magic which deflects anything touches the magic's object. The paladin quickly regains his balance and steps away from her grand opponent again, trying to grasp some breath for herself. The Lord of Death apparently does so too, trying to regain his composure.
"Impressive, I should have expected no less from one of Alexandria's closest companions" Lord of Death voices a sincere yet somewhat challenging praise, "You are not one to be taken lightly, paladin. At least now I can feel enlightened, to learn that my vice leader wasn't removed by someone unworthy"
"What praise you just spoke of, but that wouldn't make me go easier on you" Felicia escapes a faint smile, knowing her opposition is sportive enough to praise her. But his words also made her curious about one thing, "You don't seem like someone who wander around killing people for some nonsensical reason like Beelzephir, Ifrit, or Satan Morroc. Tell me, what are you doing under the belt of Valdomir?"
The Lord of Death thoughtfully gazes at the lady; he didn't expect such question from someone he would gladly kill. But he tells her nonetheless, "If you may, you can call it fate. Something not only me, but all the lives in this universe cannot avoid"
"…so, what is your fate exactly?"
"I'm fated to take the lives of your kind, paladin. And joining Valdomir is the easiest way to do it at the moment"
"Giving yourself in to fate…pardon my language, but that is foolish" Felicia, disappointed, slowly shakes her head, "We are entitled to live the life we wanted. You create your own fate; you control your own fate. Not the other way around"
"It seems to me that we are not on the same page, paladin" Lord of Death smoothly rebuts, "I'm aware that we control our own fate, paladin. What I implied by saying fate was the way our lives go according to its own direction. You for example, just by glancing at both your eyes, I could see courage. You are one of those kinds who fight for something you treasured. What is it, paladin? Is it your family? Your comrades? Your homeland? Either one of those is driving you accordingly. That's what I meant by fate"
"I see…thanks for clearing your point, but you were wrong about one thing. What drives me isn't one of those three things you mentioned. What drives me is all those things" Felicia advances to a stance again, readying to carry the battle on, "And if you stand in my road on which my fate set accordingly, then I shall smite you to bits"
"Indeed I will do the same" Lord of Death prepares his horse and lifts his lance again, apparently having the same intention with the paladin, "Then, I shall take this battle to a higher scale. Observe!"
Lord of Death lowers his head, staring to the ground, and the ground point right in front of him cracks open, assuring Felicia to not get caught off guard. And from the ground, a familiar figure comes out.
"Bacsojin…" The paladin slowly recalls the demon she eliminated almost a year ago in the desert, "You could raise the dead? You live up to your name"
"This is but her body, her soul has long been dead. But, she can recognize her opposition and be ordered to kill. And I will have her assist me killing you" Now, the real battle begins, "Prepare yourself, paladin!"
"Gladly" Felicia trades her saber with The Hellfire she carries on her back and prepares herself to finish this, "Let's go!"
****
Meadowland Area, Group 1
Fighting crowds of enemies, no matter how good you are, is never easy. Especially if you fight those with special armaments, like Rekenber gunslingers for example. Armed with bulletproof uniforms just like Ropera's black shirt, the assault rifles comply perfectly with them. Other than The Military of Einbroch, they are the only acknowledged means of war in Juno. And needless to say, with only two sides having what it takes to make a difference, an unspoken rivalry is going on.
But of course, there is something we called as difference in experience. And in terms of experience at marksmanship, no team can touch Ropera Squad…yet.
Passing through the opponents with great ease, Emilio takes aim and shoots out a large fire blast to waste six soldiers at the same time. The other green gunslingers fires at his position but Emilio quickly anticipate the bullets shower from the assault rifles by reloading his Hyperion with ice sphere and creating an ice wall, blocking all the bullets. Gaining the advantage for himself, Emilio uses the lightning sphere to create a lightning blast and hits six other targets on his sight from behind the wall.
A group of five attackers show up from his behind and send him five hand grenades when at the same time six attackers replace the previous six who got lightning blasted. An ambush, but Emilio is the captain not for nothing. Charging the Hyperion with another round of flame spheres Emilio unleashes the licking Bane Fire, exploding all the grenades in the air before, as if his Hyperion is now a giant fire whip, swaying the five attackers in one fine sweep. This, of course, surprises the six on his back, but it's too late for them to save their lives because Emilio creates the best of chances and gives them the taste of the giant fire whip. When you look at the fire whip closely, it resembles the form of a dragon.
Hikari is doing a good job, pretty much the same with her male counterpart. Wielding her treasured sword, she throws a perfect slash to cut a gunslinger's head and burst his blood out. Sneaking into behind the back of another one, Hikari slices his neck and proceeds to perfectly stab a gunslinger behind her right at his torso. Three gunslingers cats aim and fires at her, too bad for them Hikari is also good at defending.
And she proves it by smashing the front bullet using the Magnum Break and knocks the other bullets in one hit. The gunslingers cannot conceal their surprise and that costs them their lives, because the next thing they knew is Hikari cutting their necks altogether. The samurai lord knight spots four other gunslingers fire their bullets at her from beside her afterwards. Taking another quick anticipation, Hikari uses her agility to leap over the bullets and successively slashes all her four foes. Sword isn't of lower capability than guns after all.
Martina is also doing a fine attempt on stopping her enemies. Putting her Sweeper in its special mode, Althion, the female gunslinger blasts two targets at the same time before going wild with Shotgun Frenzy, hitting all the gunslingers behind the previous two. Reloading, Martina takes this chance to charge her special attack, Dragon Blade. Unknown to the Rekenber gunslingers, the only thing they see is a sitting duck, despite the truth being the other way around. Martina is throwing a bait for them so she can hook them once they get near her. Taking positions to fire their target, the Rekenber gunslingers prepare to fire at the Ropera Squad member. And Martina perfectly seizes the chance by launching The Dragon Blade, a ball of light coming out from her Sweeper and wipes the group out in one single blast. Now, the green gunslinger will learn to not take this lady lightly.
And Hugo…well, what do you expect of him? Jabbing relentlessly to one of the gunslingers, he knocked his target out cold with one blow. The assault rifles are being proven useless in front of him. His body has been upgraded with higher quality metal which won't be penetrated by normal bullets, and that allows him to casually attack his targets without the threat of being wounded at all. Hugo fires a laser burst from his lens and kills three targets at once before proceeding to make the better of his laser by spinning his head around, eliminating dozen targets in the process. The gunslingers surrounding him start to run cowardly for their lives, not wanting to get killed. Hugo subsequently chases them and smashes anyone on his reach, encouraging more and more of his targets to uncontrollably run.
The four heroes look at each other, attempting to end this battle against these cowards as soon as possible because they have to save energy to fight Valdes later. Emilio and Martina quickly closing their distance, and forms a group attack. The captain charges an ice sphere and unleashes The Ice Fang, twelve ice spheres, which he spread to anywhere his targets could be. Martina uses the chance to shoot another Dragon Blade to the sky and blows it off, successfully blinding her target below for a moment. That's when the ice spheres explodes into hundreds ice spikes and penetrates the targets' fleshes in less than ten second, effectively killing lots of them.
Hikari subdues a group of gunslingers with her Sakura Break after Hugo stomps the ground and shake the gunslingers off their balance. The Amatsu Princess returns the favor by hitting the ground with her Magnum Break, allowing Hugo to bursts yet another laser attack from his lens and finishes their targets. Now with the number of their enemies are a lot fewer, Hikari and Emilio throw a quick glance at each other, signaling to combine their power to finish this battle quick. Hikari swirls her sword on her right while accumulating the energy for another Sakura Break when Hugo protects her from any kind of attack done by whoever is gutsy enough to do so. Martina, too, is covering Emilio who waves his fire whip to the air as if he's waiting for something.
The wait ends by the time Hikari unloads her Sakura Break to the air, creating enormous wind movements on the meadowland…and that's what The Sphere of Death has been waiting for. Not throwing away this eloquent chance, with perfect excellence, Emilio blasts right through the winds and bursts the fire whip to every direction there is. The hot scorching flame spits like a jab to any target standing in the area, giving them a little taste of hell. They scream uncontrollably to express their suffering, but fire is but a thing. Fire is merciless and heartless. The green gunslingers didn't do themselves any favor by screaming like whiners. Smokes are starting to tower the land, reaching the dark night sky with the ashes of the damned. The fact that they are standing in a meadowland helps the fire to spread quicker, engulfing all the morons with the combined technique, The Fire Break.
As for the four heroes, Emilio used the Ice Fangs to conceal them in a safe ice dome for everyone, ensuring the safety of himself and his three other comrades.
Fairly, this scene irritates Valdes, who now remains by himself, "Stupid bastards! So much money for their project but Ropera toyed with them like they're a bunch of cesspool fighters! They're all but useless!"
Emilio notices that Valdes is slowly rising from the ground and staring at him and the other three. "Looks like your lackeys are lamer than you thought, eh?! Now, what are you going to do Valdes?!" Emilio yells loud enough for the Pythons number I to hear, "You're still going to take us four against you?!"
Valdes looks unhappy about the mockery, anyone can tell that just by looking at his face. Eerily, he slowly puts a smile on his face. Not a happy smile, more like a smile when you feel pleased. He is pleased. And right around five seconds after the smile, the three heroes but Hugo heard a loud crashing sound right beside their ears. The sole reason why only Hugo didn't hear the crashing sound is because it was him who got crashed into pieces after one elbow strike from Valdes, using his left mechanical arm. Hugo, with his censor, didn't even see that. "Hugo!!" Emilio and Martina yell to escape their surprise at the same time but it costs them a lot more, because by turning their attention to what now is the pieces of their comrades they are greeted by a single flash of red light.
Emilio and Martina were quick enough to cover their eyes but Martina wasn't. Valdes pulls out a needle gun from behind his gunslinger coat and fires at Martina without fail, three times, and all the needles hit her torso. Bloods spray out of her body before she falls down to the cold meadowland, leaving Hikari and Emilio alone by themselves. "Martina!!" The captain, as soon as the light fades out, rushes to his underling and find her unconscious. Hikari prepares a stance to cover her, but Valdes doesn't seem to move at all.
"My goodness, his speed was unbelievable!! And I didn't even hear the sound of his needle gun shooting!!" Sweating, Hikari tells herself to not underestimate this one, "He wears the first emblem not for nothing!! Emilio told me about The Pythons, but I never knew their number one is this good!! He is different from the four in the Amatsu!!"
Whereas Emilio, he couldn't believe just how easy Valdes defeated two of his members, and he did it without even sweating, "The Vampire of Einbroch…I thought the moniker of him being second only to father as a gunslinger was a mere joke, but it's not! He isn't to be taken lightly…"
"Surprised?" Valdes gleefully fills in and proceeds to take another aim with his needle gun, this time to the remaining two, "I told you, didn't I? I can take out your entire squad single-handedly, all by myself. I did against two of your pigs. And now, it's your turn"
****
Forest Area, Group 2
"It can't be wrong….enemies are going to attack us from the forest!" El withdraws his HAVOX and aims it to the direction where the forest is. The other three ladies follow him by readying themselves if something does come out. And something indeed does.
A meteor like rock is thrown right to their direction complete with its engulfing flame. The four spreads and dodges the meteor casually but three other meteors follow. El fires the meteors and destroys them into pieces, only to find more meteors descending from the sky. And this one is definitely too much to handle for HAVOX alone. The four quickly dispatches themselves from their current positions to avoid themselves turned into four roast ducks, right before the meteors crushing the ground and the forest numerous times. When the raid finally ends, they find themselves separated.
"Ukh…" Frea slowly rises from the ground. Smokes are still covering the forest and dozens of trees are burned, "I cannot feel anyone's presence near me…are we separated?"
Finally regains her footing, the soul linker reaches for her Mighty Staff and carefully tries to rejoin her group, "It's weird, I can feel hundred of presences here…but most of it doesn't belong to human. What is going on in here?"
"Nothing is actually going on in here, Lady Freyja. This is simply our plan at work" An answer she's been waiting for, but the answer also sets her in her defensive mode.
"That voice….couldn't it be…Dracula?!" Frea guessed just right. The count shows himself up from behind one of the trees, "You…but I killed you at Geffen!!"
"No, I was simply retreating that time. I didn't feel the need to continue battling you, that is all" Dracula displays a pleasured smile remembering that night, "But, your action and beauty are too much, I cannot contain the urge to taste your blood inside my mouth any longer. So, I volunteered to come to this island simply so I can meet you. And looks like my wish is granted"
"No" Frea casts two esmas on both her hands, "This time, you are going to die for real"
"Ah, you only make me want to taste you even more" Dracula pleasantly replies, "Hehehe…"
Somewhere in the forest…
"The meteors…it wasn't Ifrit's doing was it?" El asks to himself while trying to contact Sasha with her talkie, "Tsk! It's not working! Something jammed its signal again!"
Being separated in a strange place will surely make you aware of the dangers around you. And now, El is turning his senses on. He doesn't know when someone will attack him. And he hears it just right, just ten feet from the tree right behind him there is someone standing…or more, there are two. The black haired gunslinger withdraws his Tristan and prepares to ambush the two. Not wasting anymore breath, El rushes and quickly takes aim. But one of the two is quick enough to put a sword right beside his neck. Now, they can have a good look at each other.
"El?!"
"Alexandria?!"
"Vice-captain?!"
Both Fio and El lower their respective weapons, completely ignoring Sasha who was standing by behind Fio. Apparently, not long after the meteors raid Sasha and Fio met and walked together until they found someone hiding not far from them. The rest is history.
But, the weird tension between Fio and El isn't a history…yet. "Thanks god, you both are fine" El tries to turn the atmosphere into a better one, "Guess you haven't find Frea, huh?"
"Seems so" Fio awkwardly replies much to Sasha's notice, "The meteors…it wasn't Ifrit's doing was it?"
"Seems it wasn't, if it was then we would have heard dozen other explosions now"
"Well…so…uh…" The tension raises again, much to Sasha's annoyance, "What should we do…now?"
"I…I don't know" El looks at his subordinate, "Sasha, what do you think we should do now?"
"I think we should find Frea before finding who's behind the attack" The sniper quickly replies, "Is that good enough?"
"Yeah, let's…" Before El can finish, another row of attack cuts him off. This time it's a line of esmas. But unlike last time, now the three are quick enough to react and fend the sudden attack off with their weapons easily.
"Come out, cowards!!" El provokes the opponents, "Is attacking from somewhere far suddenly the only thing you could do?!"
"There is no need to mock us, gunslinger" A dusky skinned soul linker, average height with blue hair and blue eyes, shows up not long after El called him out. Behind him, another group of soul linkers are visible, "Here we are, finally get a better of sight of Sieger's dogs"
"A soul linker…could it be, you're Matthew?" Fio quickly recognizes the soul linker from Isabel's story, "So, you rebelled against Lord Sieger for real! Do you know what you are doing is stupid?! You are endangering you and your family!!"
"Oh-ho, that 'know it all' mouth. You must be the famous Princess Fiorentin Adler?" Same, Matthew quickly recognizes the lord knight, "You shouldn't have stick your nose
To someone else's business, Princess. Don't you have something else to do?"
"This is what I have to do"
"Helping an old washed up who is too greedy to leave his throne? That doesn't sound like helping at all"
"Mocking someone who has been taking care, raising, feeding, and protecting you? That sounds like a brainless animal would do" Never, and I mean NEVER, rebuts Fio especially in terms of real life problem.
"Tche…it's useless talking to an Adler just like him" Matthew signals the soul linkers behind him with a whistle, "Guys, prepare to finish them off!!"
Before the heroes could reply, a huge number of oppositions appear to have surrounded the three firmly from every direction there is. A large number of ancient mummies, Isis, ants, Minotaur, Majorous, and Dark Illusions; combined with the dozens soul linkers supporting Matthew, there are hundreds of them.
"Look, preys" Maya crawls from inside the woods with her ants around her.
"Amon Ra was right…we would find entertainment here" Osiris, with his four Isis by his side, follows.
"They look delicious" Pharaoh is the third to come.
"Hihihihihihihi!!!" And the last, Phreeoni, with his unclear laughs.
"Wow, the whole Morroc strong monsters are here…minus Amon Ra" Sasha quietly prepares her Daedeye, "Plus another hundred Dark Illusions too"
"Fine, bring it on" El gladly readies his HAVOX, but before he could fire it he sees Fio's hand on his shoulder. Taking a good look at the lord knight, the purple glassed gunslinger witnesses how the younger girl slowly shakes her head. And he understands it just right: "Please, don't kill them".
Well, it's been quite a long time ever since El and Fio have this debate about each of their own justice. "Alexandria, I know we didn't always agree on everything but you knew how I see this matter" El slowly responds. Without the two knowing, Sasha is paying attention to them too, "You know I cannot do that"
"I know but please just this once, do me a favor. I know what you are capable of, and you are capable of subduing them without having to kill them" Fio said a true thing, but that thing is also hard to do, "We are here to help them, not slaughtering them. I'm not going to go against your beliefs in the battlefield, but this isn't a battlefield. This island and this tower are home for many. Please, just this once"
There is a long stare down between the two. El can tell Fio won't stop so easily if he simply says no. This can go on forever. But, we all changed. El too, he has changed. What he experienced in the last one year in his life have turned him into much better man, and more mature too.
"Fine, just this once" A relieving answer, the proof is the smile from the certain lord knight, "I will not kill the soul linkers, but the Dark Illusions and the lackeys will I devour"
"Then, I shall take care of the four Morroc monsters!" Fio dashes to battlefield and the fight starts. El nods at Sasha, indirectly telling her to do the same. The sniper grins and joins the fight.
And Matthew rings the bell to open the round, "Attaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!"
****
Desert Area, Group 3
Baphomet swings his giant scythe with great power and great speed but Marcus skillfully avoids it. However, the hurling sands between him and the demon is a good proof how dangerous it would be if the scythe hits him. After he and the other four encountered the four demons, they spread so they could handle their respective target one on one. It would be better and easier like that, although Baphomet isn't a foe you can stare down so easily.
Marcus shoots his arrow using the Arrow Shower, not forgetting to use the oridecon arrows, from the Baphomet's left side. The demon easily knocks them all with one swing from his scythe, but is quickly welcomed by another arrow shower, this time from both his back and front at the same time. The goat demon slashes the point where he stood and circles it with his scythe, creating a sand wall and making the arrows miss their target by hitting the sand walls.
Quickly dispatching the sands, Baphomet delivers another three slashes. This time he uses the pressure of the wind and creates some kind of wind cutter to attack Marcus. The sniper retaliates by sending Gregory using the Falcon Assault to neutralize all the cutters, just in one hit. Gregory aims at Baphomet as he progresses to fly with his wings; however Baphomet anticipates his effort by creating other sand walls knowing Gregory probably isn't strong enough to penetrate it. But that is what Marcus has been aiming for the whole time. When he created the sand walls, the point above Baphomet is left unprotected. That's where Marcus unleashes another series of Arrow Shower right from the above. Yet, it's not like Baphomet didn't realize this trick. The goat demon swings his scythe again and blows the arrows with one swing….as Marcus has expected. Because the next thing the demon knows is Marcus aiming right to his back after his previous attack when the sand walls has now returned to become another pile of sands.
Marcus doesn't waste any chance releasing his Oridecon arrows with Double Strafe. Baphomet readies himself to knock down the arrows again but much to his surprise the arrows don't go to his direction. Instead, they spread into four different directions. The directions, however, are which that surround the goat demon. When Baphomet was busy with the arrow shower from above earlier, Gregory quickly planted four different traps unseen thanks to Baphomet's very own sand walls: the Blast Mine, the Freezing Trap, the Flasher, and the Shockwave Trap.
Trapped and surrounded, Baphomet is left at Marcus' mercy when all four traps explode at the same time. The Shockwave trap paralyzed him, the Flasher blinded him, the Freezing Trap rendered him immobile, and the Blast Mine inflicted a lot of damage on him. Down to his knee and gazing right to the earthly sand, Baphomet could feel something cold touching his neck. He tilts his head to see Marcus, victoriously smiling, aims his Refined Ballista with half dozen Emeprium Arrows ready on it.
The leader of Archer guild blasts all the arrows using Sharp Shooting technique, perfectly planting all the six arrows inside Baphomet's head and killing him in an instant. The goat demon flung away for several fleet before landing on a mountain of sands, a pool of blood is visibly seen coming out from his head, turning his whole body red in the process.
Not too far from where Baphomet lies, a green pack is visible. "All right!!!" Marcus happily grabs the pack and shows it to Gregory, "Yeaaaaaaah!! Green pack is mine!! Green pack is mine!! No one else's!! I'm the first to get the green pack!! Yeah, wasn't that cool or what?! My plan went perfectly!! One step closer to the goal!!"
"Yeah, yeah. You're awesome when it counts. Just don't get too carried away" Gregory reluctantly admits, "Defeating Baphomet in a short amount of time with simply what he got on his hands; he's truly a master tactician. It's always like this. He's the biggest idiot in everyday's life but at the battlefield he's a very formidable opponent. Somehow, I think Sagramore are lucky to have him sided with them. That part I can be proud of Marcus"
Don't judge the book by just its cover. Or rather, NEVER judge the book by just its cover. Well, as clearly stated by Gregory, Marcus is the biggest idiot in Rune Midgard. But when it counts, on the battlefield, you can count on him to get the job done!! Now, the heroes only need two more packs to enter the last stage!!
****
Mountain Area, Group 4
Tirfing, a sword with a golden hilt that would never miss a stroke, would never rust and would cut through stone and iron as easily as through clothes. It shone and gleamed like fire. However, in revenge it cursed its wielder so that it would kill a man every time it was drawn and that it would be the cause of three great evils. Somehow, it ended up in the possession of Thanatos Phantom, the once great hero who sealed Satan Morroc long ago. Now, the look of Tirfing is different. It has saw-toothed patterned blades, resembling a shark's saw-like teeth. It has blue as its color. The sheer size of the sword is quite enough to overwhelm an ordinary opponent. Also, the multiple blades means one or two broken teeth won't render the sword completely useless. For short, it's not a wise idea to make its wielder as your opposition in the battlefield.
But, that's not what exactly is going inside Ty's mind. Right now, he's concentrating to defeat Thanatos Phantom without caring of how scary Tirfing is. He doesn't have time for that.
Swinging his Xilphas with great agility and accuracy, he hits the joint between two of Tirfing's many saw patterned blades. Ty hits the joints repeatedly in a rapid pace to not letting his foe getting any chance to strike back. Thanatos masterfully blocks all the strike Ty gives him while searching for an opening to strike back. The chance shows itself when he notices after each blow Ty needs to pull his Xilphas back before delivering another blow. It only takes Ty 3 seconds to do that, but 3 seconds is more than enough for Thanatos.
When Ty pulls back his Xilphas, Thanatos executes a fierce Bash from Ty's side with great speed. The gunslinger blocks the nearly landed attack by pulling out his Ecclesia and using it to stop the saw-bladed sword. Thanatos withdraws his Tirfing but returns fast with another strike of fierce Bash. It seems that he has casted a quick Two Hand Quicken on himself in a short amount of time. The undead monster tries to maim the western graced gunslinger with a strike from his right side but is stopped by Ecclesia. Thanatos goes for the second try but Ty, this time using his Ecclesia just like El commonly did, smashes Tirfing from Thanatos' left before he could perform another Bash.
Too bad Thanatos saw through this and blocked the attack using Tirfing itself. But at least there's leverage now. Ty pulls his long railed cannon in great speed before delivering another blow; Thantos blocks it and attacks back with another Bash. Ty skillfully stops the saw-toothed blade, using his knife he withdrew from behind his pocket, by hitting one of Tirfing's joints with full power. The next to come out is Ty's Ixidor from his left sleeve; Ty quickly aims his handgun to Thanatos and shoots the undead's torso with Rapid Shower. But much to his disappointment, the armor protecting Thanatos is too hard to be penetrated by normal bullets. The smiling Thanatos proved that fact even further. The undead monster grabs Ty's collar and throws him to a boulder behind them. Ty crashes into the hard rock but quickly rises back, only to see a slash coming right to his head. Fortunately the eye patched gunslinger dodged it in the last second; a second late and he would have lost his head. Regardless, Ty finds his back aching and this would certainly hinder his movement temporarily; perhaps because of the earlier throwing by his opposition.
Thanatos sees through this and assault from Ty's above after lifting his sword high enough to strike. Ty quickly replaces his weapons with Xilphas again and has the powered pair of Tonfas shielded him from the buzz-saw sword. The gunslinger finds a chance to retaliate when Thanatos pulls his sword back. Whenever he pulls his word back, he leaves his guard open. And that is the only thing Ty needs to make an impact; he dashes through to the unguarded target and hits Thanatos' armor using Xilphas six consecutive times. Each hit causes an explosion to the armor. Nonetheless, the armor is still in one piece and Thanatos still looks unharmed.
To a greater good, Ty is a great learner. He didn't expect Thanatos to be defeated by such simple attack so he already prepared another trick behind his sleeve: his grenades. Thanatos attempts to take Ty down using a Pierce Attack but Ty throws his 3 Ice spheres to the undead monster, completely tricking Thanatos because the undead swordsman hits all three spheres and freezes his own sword. With the Tirfing disabled, Ty perfectly claims this chance by delivering another six consecutive attacks using his Xilphas. This time, not to Thanatos but to the Tirfing itself! The explosion destroyed the ice encasing Tirfind all right, but to Thanatos' shock Ty isn't just trying to defeat him in one way but more than one way. If he cannot do it by breaking the armor, then Ty would settle with the sword. And even Thanatos himself cannot hide the fact that the explosions damaged Tirfing.
"Impressive, Tyrael. I have never thought you would pull that one out" Even when he's at a disadvantage, Thanatos still cannot hide his amusement, "You parried with my attacks quite well, I was entertained"
"Thanks, but there's no need to flatter me like that" Ty replies with style, "And you said you were entertained? Wrong place, dude. If you're looking for an entertainment then you might as well go to an amusement park. This is a battlefield, not an amusement park. If you're not insane then you would not be entertained…oh, wait! I forgot you're insane!!"
"Another useless mockery? You don't seem to be very wise with your mouth, do you?" Thanatos is rather calm, so what do you expect? "I guess mocking your oppositions is just your way to ease your tense, am I right?"
"Well, whatever" Ty plays his Xilphas by swinging it, "I'm not here to have a chat with you. I'm here to end you and take your pack. If you want to have a conversation training then do it in the pre-school, not here. I had a conversation training in pre-school, maybe you could enlist in one too. Pre-school teach a lot of things"
"Really? Do they also teach you how to avoid these?" Thanatos suddenly casts an Abyss Break on his free hand and throws it too Ty. The gunslinger, learning the weakness of the spell in Glast Heim, quickly throws one of his grenades to the Abyss Break. And he was right. The Abyss Break consumes the grenade and stops speeding. This is the weakness of Abyss Break, when it touches anything, even a small piece of paper, it stops to consume that certain thing before it disappears. So, it's not really an unstoppable spell. Unfortunately, Ty isn't the only one with tricks behind his sleeve. Unnoticed by the western graced gunslinger, Thanatos is already appearing behind him. His Tirfing looks ready to kill. Thanatos slashes Ty from behind; and although Ty managed to dodge the attack, he didn't do it completely this time.
Some of the saw-toothed blades tore the upper skin on his back and pierce his flesh, despite him dodging the attack to find safer place. "Aaaaah!!" Ty wails and quickly tries to grab his back, although it's not much of a success. Blood is running from his back and start wetting the ground below him, "Damn, that hurt like hell!!"
"Hm? I guess pre-school didn't teach you to avoid those pattern" Thanatos gazes to the blood stain on his Tifring with a grin on his dead face, "I think you should go back to pre-school and learn one or two more things? What do you say, Tyrael?"
"Shut up!!" Ty shouts. His face indicates that he's in pain. Well, anyone would be in pain receiving an attack like that, "That's not even funny!"
"Still unwise with your mouth, but I guess that cannot be changed" A smooth respond, "Well, I hope you won't fall down with just one attack, Tyrael. I arrived here with big expectations of you, so please don't disappoint me"
"You're…not one to talk…" Ty, amidst his pain, smiles with full content, "You underestimated me, Phantom. Don't you realize it at all?"
"Realize what?"
"That"
Right after Ty answered, one of Tirfing's saw toothed blades cracks and crumbles into pieces. Thanatos frowns in disbelieve. When and How are written all over his face.
"Didn't you realize the blades you used to attack me were in the line of blades I froze earlier? I knew to be hit from my back was inevitable when you appeared behind me, so I shifted a bit and let one of the damaged blades to hit me" Ty chuckles, "The rest is history"
"I see…" Thanatos' face changes from asking to smiling, "I apologize for underestimating you. Now, let's take this battle to another level"
By another level, Thanatos means with dozen other Abyss Break spheres appearing right beside him. And trust me, they are not meant for networking, "Are you ready?"
Ty rises and swirls his Xilphas again, with a confident smile still on his face, "Bring it on!"
****
Meadowland Area, Group 1
Emilio couldn't believe what he just witness yet again. The blue spheres in his white dilated eyes widened inch by inch as the time clocks. Hikari, with her mouth forming an O, gasps when blood starts spilling out from her mouth; slowly falling to her lips and jaws. Dropping her Katana to the ground, she succumbs to her defeat. Not far from her, Valdes could be seen smiling while slowly lowering his needle gun. In his left robotic hand, some stains from her blood are visible. Valdes stares at it with full admiration before starts to lick it. He seems to enjoy the whole thing. Emilio prepares his Hyperion, not daring to attack the Pythons number I. Valdes looks calm; he doesn't seem to bother the possibility of Emilio attacking him while he's enjoying the blood at all. For the first time in any mission he has ever had, never before Emilio could feel so intimidated.
Just a minute ago, Hikari tried to attack Valdes after casting the two handed quicken on herself. She attempted to hit the Sakura Break at him but Valdes easily dodged it before landed a blow on her back using his left arm. She fell to the ground after letting out a scream. Emilio intended to help her by unleashing a Lightning Blast, but Valdes stopped the attack just by touching it using his left hand. Maybe a higher powered ARMAS nullifier was planted on his robotic arm. The samurai, for the second time tried to hit him again after quickly raised from the ground. But she was met by four needles going straight through her lower torso, and the rest is history.
"Hey, you look scared" Valdes finally regards the captain of Ropera Squad again, but in a certain meaning of course, "Didn't I tell you I could defeat your entire squad with great ease? How many times I have to repeat myself?"
Before Emilio could react, he feels something warm comes out from his stomach. And he also sees the smiling Valdes right in front of him; Valdes' needle gun has just been lowered from in front of his stomach. "Akh…ah…" The Sphere of Death drops his Hyperion and slowly grabs his wound, falling to the ground following his three other comrades. All Group 1 has been defeated by one man alone.
"That samurai's face…her face was gorgeous when she widened her eyes and grabbed her wound, just like what you did. But, a beauty of such level can only be found in women. Yours are disgusting. And no disrespect to the samurai, but until now the most beautiful face I've ever seen was Princess Fiorentin's face after I shot her mother" Valdes proudly recalls when he picks the yellow pack from Emilio, who is about to fall unconscious, "Thanks to you, now I can travel to her place with two Ashes of Darkness. Good bye, loser"
As his vision goes blur, Emilio could recall one thing before everything went blank, "…his movement…I couldn't…see…him…"
Then, everything goes blank. The only thing resounding in the meadowland is Valdes' laughter.
****
4th Story: The Rune Knight
This story takes place two hours after Seyren took Alphard to Thanatos Tower…
Grim, that was the first impression Alphard had when he entered Thanatos Tower. He has heard unpleasant stories about this tower. Ranging from death and torture, but that was not the problem at the moment. Carefully, he watched his step when he followed Seyren from behind. He didn't fully trust the sly lord knight; Alphard knew Seyren is planning something. Secretly, he is ready to unsheathe his Tegron if anything goes wrong.
The only thing lighting the tower is torches, which were placed in the wall per 5 meters. Interestingly, Alphard saw no one guarding the inside of the tower. Honestly he imagined the place would be filled with monsters and guardians all over it; but he's been wrong before. Seyren brought him into a grand hall, a room filled with majestic decorations with someone in white waiting in the center of the room. It was Beelzephir.
"Beelzephir The Chaos…" Alphard quickly recognized the white high wizard; mainly because of his unique dresses. Unlike Fio, Alphard didn't have a personal vendetta against Beelzephir. But still, the fact that he led the destruction of Prontera somewhat made Alphard despise him. Regardless, Alphard knew if he were to attack Beelzephir know he would also have to face Seyren and two against one surely wouldn't benefit him. So, he chose to be wise for once and stay still.
"Sir Alphard" Beelzephir politely greeted the Prontera royalty, not forgetting his smile of course, "It's an honor to have you here"
"I'm impressed by your politeness, wizard. But, I'm sure we don't have much time to waste" Alphard responded in a strict tone, "I'm here because words in the street has it that you want to speak to me. So, speak"
"Ah, maintaining your pride? That's understandable" Beelzephir gleefully smirked and glanced at Seyren, who returns the smirk, "Well, I requested for your audience here because of this"
Beelzephir showed Alphard some black fragments on his hand, "These fragments came from the replica of Dark Lord Helmet I created"
"Dark Lord Helmet?"
"Dark Lord Helmet is an ancient headgear made by Gods, before Ragnarok, to maintain the control of this world. It is said that whoever uses the helmet would gain an enormous power even among the gods. I created the replica of the helmet in hope that I could contribute more to this kingdom. I chose Seyren as its user, but even someone on his caliber couldn't bear its replica power and the helmet ended up messing his head. It was a mistake from my side, actually" Beelzephir patiently explained to the suspicious lord knight, "So, I separated the replica into pieces and these are the pieces. I want you to have it, Sir Alphard"
Alphard glanced at the fragments; the fragments are dark colored with some black aura surrounding it. Nonetheless, he didn't take the bait so easily, "That is rather an interesting offer, wizard. But do you mind to tell me why?"
"Because…I want to see if Eisenheim prophesied the truth, Sir Alphard" The white high wizard replied by putting a bits of ambition inside his voice, "Eisenheim prophesied 'Three wielders of the chosen swords shall be the new leaders of the land and lead the world to its fate' in his the fourth page of his prophecy. The three leaders of the chosen swords referred to the wielders of three legendary swords, Tegron, Balmung, and Tae Go Lyeon. You're the wielder of Tegron, that means if the prophecy goes right, you along with the other two wielders will lead the land, which referred to Rune Midgard, and this world to its destined fate. I would like to see if the prophecy becomes true, that's why I add some…let's say, handicap for my personal side to make this war to be more challenging. And it would also benefit you, Sir Alphard. I think you're already know one of the other two leaders is a certain genius from Prontera"
"Fiorentin, huh?" The young lord knight casted his blue eyes into the fragments again after the high wizard done explaining. He slowly picked the fragments…before tossed them away much to Beelzephir's and Seyren's shock, "The reason you just spoke of is utter nonsense, wizard. You must have considered me as a fool for offering me these fragments. Do you really believe I would take these fragments after listening to your nonsensical reason? I don't think we share the same view on how I view this war. You view this war as nothing more than just a game, but I view this war for something I have to achieve on my own. And I have no intention on sharing the leadership of Rune Midgard with the other two wielders, regardless of who they are. I will lead this land to its deserved glory by my own. And I will do it by my own power. I don't need your fragments or your magic!!"
The lord knight quickly withdrew his Tegron and slashed the high wizard. But Beelzephir, in a calm manner, pulled out his Wizardry Staff and blocked the slash. Seyren unsheathed his sword but Beelzephir looked at him with a grin, secretly telling Seyren to leave Alphard to him, "You're hot blooded just like Princess Fiorentin, Sir Alphard. I'm starting to wonder if the Prontera's Royalties suffer the same illness"
Alphard didn't take the joke very kindly and attacked the high wizard with his Tornado Slash, destroying the floor and the decorations in the process. Beelzephir, however, simply swung his hand on the wind the send the attack into nothingness. The lord knight didn't feel like giving up because he rapidly closing into the high wizard and threw a powerful wind slash when he spotted an opening. The white high wizard stopped the attack easily with his staff, much to Alphard's annoyance.
"I suggest you to reconsider my offer, Sir Alphard" Beelzephir said when Alphard retreated to create another attacking plan, "You have no chance against me"
"We'll see about that" The brown haired lord knight appeared behind the high wizard all of a sudden and sliced his neck, however it didn't affect the high wizard although he was sure his hit indeed landed on his neck. Beelzephir created a water ball and fires it at the lord knight, sending him crashing to the wall.
"Ukh!!" Alphard winched, expressing the pain of being crashed, "Why couldn't I hit him?! I was sure I sliced his neck"
"It's because we are on a different level of race, Sir Alphard" As it were Beelzephir reading his mind, the high wizard explained much to his own amusement, "Humans are below God and Godlike. Lower race means lower rating chance of attacking. I'm a god, you're a human. You're two level below me, Sir Alphard. You cannot even make me drip a single blood…so couldn't Princess Fiorentin"
"I see…so I need to become the level of Godlike to at least hit you, correct?" Alphard regained his stance and closed his eyes, "Then, how about this?"
Suddenly an explosion came out from Alphard's side and created a large smoke screen, disturbing Beelzephir's and Seyren's vision. But the two maintained their calm, regardless. They were so sure there was nothing Alphard could do against Beelzephir…until Beelzephir felt his left shoulder dripping some blood. "What?!" Beelzephir and Seyren both expressed their shock, "What was that? I didn't feel anything"
Beelzephir prepared a defensive stance but he was too late, someone inside the smoke screen hit his forehead with the hilt of a sword before slicing his left arm off, this time successfully. The high wizard wanted to retaliate but he was bested again, because he could feel a sword thrusting his stomach. And there was a certain energy inside the sword.
Before he could decipher what energy it was, the sword blew his inside and sent him flying to the decorations. His blood was scattered everywhere on the room. Thanks to the spell of Dionysus, Beelzephir quickly got back to his feet. He widened his eyes at the same time Seyren did, because when the smoke screen finally vanished they could see what has been attacking him.
"It is true, wizard. Fiorentin is a genius, but apparently she isn't the only genius from Prontera" It was Alphard, now cladding in The Rune Knight attire. The combined color between silver and red match his hard padded armor. And inside both his eyes, Beelzephir could see flair and courage. Something inside the high wizard told him that he was wrong to underestimate Alphard Pendragon. In a short amount of time, Alphard transcended his level to much higher degree, now reaching the Godlike level. The Rune Knight lifted his precious Tegron and prepared an offensive stance before proceeding to exclaim, "Now, prepare to die!"
****
So, what about this chapter? This chapter doesn't have too much comedy, right? Tell me which one is (so far) your favorite fight. I hope I can update in a stable tempo like last year. And omake will return in the next chapter, this time it's about the most perverted character in the series…TY!!!! You know what to do if you want to ask him a question!!
C u next chappy!! (^^)