Clashing of blades, yelling of battle cries, and maniacal laughter filled the corridors around the halfway point of Sanctuary's central tower. Lafarga and Lantis were fighting side by side, while Caldina and Primera provided support from the back. But despite their team work, the four of them were being pushed back by a flurry of black spikes and horns.
With Nova and Hikaru disappearing before their very eyes, they had been left with but a single opponent to face. Unfortunately, this foe saw their battle as nothing but entertaining. With hundreds of attacks raining down on them per minute, Lantis and Lafarga could only stay on defense as their opponent ridiculed them.
"Hahaha-hahaha-haa! Go on! You got to do better than that!" Romeo laughed, whacking his opponents' swords away by his hand spikes. "I've heard of school girls with better fighting skills than you!"
"Shame you will never have the chance to face them!" Lantis quipped back, before grabbing hold of Lafarga's shoulder.
Seeing his four foes all disappear at once, Romeo only had time to click his tongue before they appeared some distance away from them. Not willing to give them another chance to escape, Romeo rushed at Lantis as quickly as his Silver Speed could get him. As he charged with both of his arm spikes pointed forward, Lantis brought his sword down, before summoning a circle of light before him.
But as soon as the circle appeared, Romeo quickly ran around it, before aiming his punch straight at Lantis's eye. With Romeo's arm spike only millimeters away from Lantis's head, his arm came to a sudden stop, as something grabbed hold of his elbow spike. Quickly facing behind him, Romeo saw Lafarga squeezing on his spike with his right hand and pulling his arm away from Lantis.
"You know, when focused on defense and speed," Lafarga grunted, tensing up his muscles, "you really aren't that strong."
"Let go, you one-trick pony!" Romeo grunted, before activating Steel Strength.
With a single twist of his upper-body, Romeo pulled Lafarga off the ground before hurling him across the corridor. Having held his weapon in his left arm, Lafarga's sword scraped across Romeo's upper-arm before being thrown away.
Darn! He disabled the wrong one!
"Lightning Bolt Onslaught!"
Firing his strongest lightning spell point blank at Romeo, Lantis electrocuted the demon, causing him to yell out in pain. But, being familiar with his brother, as soon as Lantis saw Romeo's angry expression, he knew this battle was long from being over. Teleporting again, Lantis managed to barely get out of the way, as Romeo's spikes carved their way through the wall behind him.
Reappearing next to Lafarga, both swordsmen raised their blades up into the air, before quickly bringing them down. Two bright wind cutters flew towards Romeo, carving up the corridor vertically, before the blades of pressurized air combined into a single blade. Struck harder than ever before in his life, Romeo was pushed back against the floor by the combined attack. As he finally came to a stop, several floors worth of debris fell on top of him, trapping Romeo underneath it.
"That won't hold him for long," Lafarga pointed out, refusing to lower his weapon.
"Right," Lantis nodded before turning to his side, "Primera!"
With a joyous smile, Primera flew above Lantis and spun in the air, "Magic Booster!"
Feeling his magical powers increasing, Lantis started focusing them onto his sword. The magic sword's pure white blade began to glow blue, as Lantis prepared to attack the moment the pile in front of him moved. However, the calm before the storm seemed to last longer than any of them anticipated.
"It's quiet… Too quiet," Caldina pointed out.
"Yeah…" Lantis agreed, before the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. "RUN!"
There was only a split-second delay between Lantis sensing a powerful surge of magic powers and a giant black spike piercing the outer wall of the tower. Although the spike didn't hit any of them directly, the four of them were all pushed over by the explosive pressure put out by the supersonic attack. As the giant, four-meter-thick spike was slowly pulled out of the tower, they could see a large purple eye looking through the hole it had created.
"Peekaboo!" Romeo chuckled amusedly.
With their foe now outside the Sanctuary, Lafarga gasped while sitting on the floor, "He must have burrowed outside while underneath the rubble!"
"Is he going to bring down the whole tower!?" Caldina asked, hiding behind Lafarga.
"Hmhmhmhmhm-hahahahaHAHAHAHA!" Romeo laughed in a devilish and pompous way, before suddenly stopping. "…On second thought I shouldn't do that."
If I bring down this tower, I run the chance of ruining everything! The Proof of the Pillar and Martin are right above us. We need both for our plan to succeed!
Shrinking back down to his normal size, Romeo flew back in through the hole he had created, before swapping his spells back to Silver Speed and Tungsten Defense. Looking around him, Romeo couldn't see a hair of his opponents, only piles of debris littering the brightly lit corridor.
"Tsk! Did they run away again— EH?"
In an instant, Lantis teleported in front of Romeo before firing a massive blue energy beam from his magic sword. This was an attack he had used on Hotaru about a week ago, for less than significant results. However, after training daily, getting boosted by Primera and focusing all of his magical powers into it, it was hardly the same beam.
A huge, ultra bright streak of blue energy shot out of the gaping hole on the side of the Sanctuary's central tower. The light was so bright it caused the crystal castle's natural glow to fade for a moment, and cast a shadow over the mountains on the opposite side of the castle. As the beam reached the clouds, it blew a small hole through the thick cloud cover perpetually surrounding Cephiro. The force of it was so great that it even pushed Lantis back and forced him to close his eyes, so as not to be blinded.
As the magic swordsman's powers exhausted, he finally stopped firing, panting tiredly. For a moment, all he could see before his eyes were black spots and smoke, before a stabbing pain shot through his abdomen. A spiked arm, clad in a leather sleeve, pierced his torso before lifting him off the ground. Coughing blood, Lantis was about to lose consciousness from the pain, before the smoke cleared.
"An ultimately futile attempt. But if it is any consolation to you; that hurt like Hell," Romeo's voice hissed from the heat.
While Romeo still stood before Lantis mostly unharmed, the same could not be said for his outfit. His black and gold duplet had been mostly burnt away, leaving Romeo's chest and upper abdomen bare. His chest had a crescent moon shaped burn mark, and the edges of his torn clothes glowed orange hot. His leather jacket had several scorch marks and tears, with its collar completely shredded into ribbons. In addition, the attack had burnt away Romeo's forelocks and eyebrows, leaving his demonic aspects fully visible.
"I'm going to enjoy telling Hikaru how you died," Romeo smiled with a mixture of anger and sadism. "Blowing your load too early with all the blood rushing out of you, before going limp!"
Laughing at his own dirty joke, Romeo closed his eyes for a moment, but this was enough of a distraction. Rushing out of hiding, Lafarga ran over to the pierced magic swordsman, before pulling him off of Romeo's spike. With him freed, Lafarga continued sprinting down the corridor, with Primera hanging onto his shoulder.
"Thank you Lafarga, I owe you one if we survive this," Lantis said with great difficulty, trying not to cough up blood. "…Why are you wearing—?"
"Stop talking, you will only lose more blood that way," Lafarga spoke through a navy-blue piece of cloth he used as a face mask. "We're just improving our chances of success."
As soon as he felt a sudden loss of weight on his arm, Romeo looked in the direction of the two running swordsmen. There was something amusing about the current captain of the guard having the former one in a princess carry. However, them running away only continued fouling his already quickly souring mood.
"Do they honestly think that they can run away from me?" Romeo raised an eyebrow, before activating Silver Speed. "Grown men shouldn't be trying to play tag like this!"
Just as Romeo was about to sprint forward with great speed, the floor underneath him began to shake. Instead of an earthquake or another collapse, it was more like the red floor beneath him had turned into a waterbed. Quickly rebalancing himself, Romeo was about to activate his flying spell, when he smelled something sweet. Noticing a faint pink mist around him, Romeo quickly put two and two together.
"Cal-Diii-NAAAAA!" Romeo roared angrily, before raising his arms. "Do you think this will be enough to keep your friends safe!?"
Knowing his chances of finding Caldina herself were low, he instead quickly took off after Lafarga and Lantis. He hoped that by moving faster than Caldina could follow him, she would be unable to create illusions to confuse him. Quickly catching up to Lafarga who was still carrying Lantis, Romeo tackled his shoulder horn into the sword master's back. But as soon as his horn connected, the image of Lafarga faded and disappeared, causing Romeo to hurl himself onto the floor.
With his horns scraping deep cuts into the red floor of the long corridor, Romeo quickly came to a halt before getting up in a flash. Looking around him, he saw dozens of Lafargas carrying bleeding Lantises, some of them running in different directions, some of them staying still. Humiliated, annoyed, and angry beyond belief, Romeo quickly flew to the opposite end of the corridor, before landing. Turning around, he activated Tungsten Defense and Steel Strength.
"I am done playing games!" Romeo bellowed, having fully given up on appearances. "DARK X!"
Bringing his arms up and swinging them down while crossing them, Romeo drew a large X in the air with his black spikes. This launched two black-as-night crescent waves of pressurized air from his hand spikes, which connected together into a large X. The dark double wind cutter flew across the corridor, shredding it to pieces while dispelling all the illusionary foes. The ceiling, floor, and the outer wall were completely destroyed, leaving the corridor open from several directions.
And yet, as Romeo looked around, he couldn't see anyone. His attack had destroyed all the versions of Lantis and Lafarga, and he couldn't see Caldina or Primera anywhere either. Little did Romeo know that thanks to his own actions and Caldina's illusions, his four foes had found refuge in the hole he had punched earlier.
As Lafarga was catching his breath and Primera was healing Lantis's gaping wound, Caldina peered around the corner carefully. Their demonic foe was cursing up a storm in languages she had never heard of before, while stomping on the ground. She was currently projecting an illusion of her and Lafarga attacking Romeo from different directions, but their foe wasn't taking the bait.
"That was close. How long do you think we have until he finds us?" Lafarga asked quietly, looking at Caldina before turning to Lantis.
"The illusion poison's effects last for around fifteen minutes," Caldina whispered back, leaning against a crushed wall. "Primera, do you think you can have Lantis up by then?"
"I don't know…" Primera admitted, trying not to cry while scattering fairy dust over Lantis. "I have never healed a wound this severe before."
Realizing he was getting nowhere by throwing his weight and power around, Romeo took a deep breath before thinking calmly. It took about fifteen seconds for his twisted and warped mind to come up with a plan so devious even Debonair would be proud of it.
"Alright then!" Romeo announced, making sure anyone present could hear him. "If you aren't going to come out and play, then perhaps the people downstairs will be more willing!"
Without waiting for a response, Romeo struck the spikes of his wrist swords to the floor, causing the ground beneath him to collapse. After falling into the floor below, he started repeatedly punching down, digging his way down the floors of the central tower one by one. Getting the hang of it, he started falling faster and faster.
"Did… Did he run away?" Primera asked, feeling slightly relieved.
"No!" Lafarga yelled before quickly rushing over to the hole. "He is going after the civilians in the residential quarters to draw us out!"
"He- He wouldn't!" Caldina gasped.
"I'm afraid he already has…" Lafarga gritted his teeth.
Making his way down the floors of the Sanctuary, Romeo started to wonder if the castle even had a bottom. However, after around 150 floors, Romeo's hand spikes struck something else than crystal flooring; the reddish-brown carapace of a crab-like monster. Stopping his descent, Romeo could see a swarm of Debonair's cycloptic monsters around him, as well as people wielding weapons and wearing blue armor. Recognizing these as the guards of the Sanctuary, Romeo figured this was close enough.
As the monsters withdrew from Romeo out of fear and respect, he could take a better look at the soldiers. Some young and bright-eyed, some old and scarred, each of them giving him familiar frightened and dismayed looks, to which he was already used to. Looking behind the soldiers, he could see wounded guards being tended to by what seemed like ordinary women and maybe one or two healers. As they heard the sounds of battle pause and turned around, they looked at the demon standing in the middle of it all in abject horror.
"Well… all things considered," Romeo smiled cruelly, revealing his sharp incisors and canines, "these really are mercy-killings."
With a spring in his step, Romeo pounced on the two guards nearest to him, before impaling them on his spikes. Piercing their bodies from sternum to spine, Romeo lifted the blue-armored men before spreading his arms quickly. The two paralyzed, blood coughing soldiers were thrown and embedded into the walls of the corridor, painting the walls with red flowers. The civilian medics screamed in horror and the remaining guards raised their spears, hoping to keep this demon at bay.
Impressed by their bravery, Romeo smiled before charging forth at full speed. If these men would face him head on unlike their superiors, then he would grant them swift and painless deaths. With all of his horns and spikes aimed at the Sanctuary's guards, they braced for death, when a white circle appeared between them.
Impacting the circle with the force of a locomotive at full speed, Romeo almost broke through with his forward charge. Failing at the very last second, his own momentum was reflected at full force, sending him flying back into the monsters behind him. With Tungsten Defense active, he crashed his way through four hard-shelled monsters before finally coming to a halt. Getting back up, Romeo grinned amusedly, seeing his plan had worked.
Lantis, Lafarga, Caldina, and Primera were all standing in a row before the remaining guards, who looked at them as their saviors. However, as their backs were turned towards the people, the four defenders of Cephiro were openly showing their nervousness. Though Lantis had managed to time his reflection spell and teleportation correctly, he still had a gaping hole on his chest plate. Lafarga and Caldina were still bruised up from earlier bouts with Romeo, and Primera was shivering from fright, only masked by the fluttering of her wings.
"Primera! Help the wounded but try not to get too far from us!" Lafarga commanded authoritatively. "The guards who are wounded must escort the civilians further back! The rest of you, hold the line so as not to let monsters through!"
"As you command, Captain!" the guards yelled in unison.
"Ri-Right away-way!" Primera stuttered, too scared of Romeo to object to being commanded by someone else than Lantis.
Slowly walking towards the line, Romeo chuckled while staring at them with his purple eyes, "So, are you ready for the final act?"
Gripping his sword in his hand, Lafarga asked, "Before we do, tell me, are you the one responsible for people disappearing in the residential quarters?"
This question had bothered Lafarga ever since Romeo made a comment about having eaten people before. The idea was sickening to him, however he needed to know if this was truly the case.
Before answering, Romeo gave off a relaxed chuckle, "Hmhmhmhm, no… I'm afraid that another beast is responsible for that…"
Finding himself with Umi at a swimming pool, surrounded by: tropical plants, opulent architecture, friends, and beautiful women in skimpy outfits; Ascot could think he was dreaming. But instead, he found himself in the middle of a nightmare. The Bravada's royal quarters, which usually resembled a paradise straight from the Arabian Nights, had transformed into a battlefield.
Monsters under Ascot's command made their way in through a hole in the wall of the royal quarters. These included two giant wyverns, one green and horned, the other burgundy and beaked, that flew around to opposite sides of the round room. Ascot and Umi themselves were riding atop a huge brown gryphon, which remained at the hole, blocking the way out.
"My, those are some big monsters," Tatra gasped, retracting her whip from around one of the pillars.
Standing next to her older sister, Tarta asked the man dressed in white. "You there! Who're ya?"
"O-Ore wa Ascot, the Summoner," he introduced himself, trying to sound more manly. "I am here to rescue Umi."
"Ascot, it is fine," Umi smiled awkwardly, still dressed in her Chizetan outfit. "They are not our enemies anymore, she is!"
Looking in the direction Umi pointed, Ascot saw a mesmerizing figure. Swirling waves of water hovering in the air surrounded a beautiful young woman with a grayish blue fish tail with a metallic sheen. With fair skin, deep blue eyes and long, pastel blue, wavy hair cascading down her back, shoulders, and chest, she very well could have been the prettiest girl in the room. Her outfit consisted of white scarves wrapped around her body, creating a toga-like swimsuit. Around her neck hung a necklace of red, different sized pearls that reached her abdomen.
Keeping his mind clear, Ascot raised his arms forward, "Yeah, I figured that was the case. Beast Summon!"
Two golden hexagonal magic circles appeared in the air, spawning two monsters at once. The first looked like a man wearing a full body suit made out of dark purple beetle chitin, with spiked elbows, antennae, and slanted green eyes. The second resembled a bald eagle, but had a humanoid body and an extra pair of taloned limbs that it used as arms.
With a total of five monsters surrounding her from all sides, Luna asked, "I like an audience for my performance, but isn't it getting a bit crowded?"
"All the more reason for you to get out of here," Ascot said sternly, hoping to scare off the enemy.
Before he could continue however, Umi placed her hand on his shoulder and whispered, "Ascot, she is my shadow. I must try and reconnect with her, so try not to scare her off."
"O-Oh… I got it," Ascot sighed, hanging his head low.
Ignoring Umi's and Ascot's whispering, Luna raised her black trident, "It is not a problem for a performer as great as I. I will just clear the house myself!"
Conjuring five, blue, larger than normal glowing orbs above her head, Luna aimed at all five of the giant monsters around her. As the five high-pressure beams of water shot out at his monsters, Ascot acted quickly.
"Defend yourselves! Beast Barrier!"
By spreading his arms, Ascot created green hexagonal barriers in front of his monsters. However, as he was only able to conjure two, he chose his beetle and green wyvern. For the remaining beasts, the humanoid eagle thrusted its wings and arms forward, creating a barrier of red wind. His brown wyvern opened its mouth, before spewing an intense breath of air, heat, and light, that resembled a blowtorch. As for the gryphon he had borrowed from Clef, it quickly rose up, dodging the pressurized water.
The barriers conjured by Ascot and his monster bore the brunt of the water jets, but were ultimately punctured. His monsters were hit, but the wounds weren't so severe to require being called back. As for his wyvern, its breath completely cancelled the water jet, forcing Luna to dodge out of the way of the attack. Using currents of water, she swam gracefully up into the air
"Tsk! I didn't think you would be so quick on your feet," Luna griped while soaring through the air, before something grabbed hold of her tail.
Looking down, she could see a white strand of light wrapped around the base of her tailfin, which led to the older of the Chizetan princesses.
"Look what I snared today, Tarta," Tatra smiled, before grunting as she pulled down. "They won't believe this back in Chizeta!"
Brought down by the immense strength of the bikini clad princess, Luna almost slammed against the lower platform like a wet fish. Rolling onto her side in order to summon water currents to hold her up, she could hear sandal clad running steps.
"Stay focused, big sister Tatra!" Tarta yelled, rushing towards Luna with her sword and shield.
Seeing the red-head princess swing her sword down at her, Luna blocked her with the prongs of her trident. Swinging her weapon to the side, Luna pulled the sword away from her, its wielder following suit. With Tarta out of the way, Luna aimed two shots of high-pressure water at Tatra, forcing the older princess to evade and let go of her.
Seeing how intense the battle was getting, Ascot asked, "Uhhh… do they know you are trying to reconnect with her?"
"They have… a score to settle with her," Umi admitted, remembering the casualties of this battle. "But as long as we just beat her unconscious, I am sure it will be fine!"
Trying her best to push all doubts aside, Umi switched her outfit for her fully evolved Magic Knight armor. Feeling more confident with her outfit now, Umi jumped down to join Tarta and Tatra. Seeing her approach, Luna fired another water jet at her, but Umi's Escudo rapier was able to split the stream.
With Umi getting closer, Luna rose up into the air with her water currents, while shooting at Tatra to keep her whip at bay. The eagle-like monster and the green, horned wyvern charged at her while up in the air, not allowing her a moment of respite. Using her trident and waves, Luna slammed the humanoid eagle in the path of the much larger wyvern.
As the two monsters collided, Luna's brow furrowed, "There is no end to their annoying assault! …I must turn the tide to my advantage."
With Luna out of her reach, Tarta turned for the beetle-like monster for help, "Oy, you! Boost me up!"
The beetle monster nodded its head, bringing its large hands together close to its abdomen. As soon as Tarta jumped onto its chitin covered hands, the beetle threw her up in the air with great force towards Luna. Seeing her trajectory was on point, Tarta grabbed her sword with both hands and brought it down on the siren.
Without missing a beat, Luna blocked the sword with her trident, before taking a page out of Tatra's book. Wrapping her currents around Tarta's ankle and pushing her over, Luna managed to hang the princess upside down in the air. Trying to hold onto her weapons, Tarta was too busy to prevent her yellow half skirt from falling up, causing Ascot to cover his eyes.
Seeing her sister captured and in such a compromised position, Tatra raised her whip-turned-sword, "Let go of my sister at once, Luna!"
For a moment, there was no response, before Luna tossed Tarta away like a discarded toy. With Tarta's body falling limply to the ground, Tatra rushed to grab hold of her, until Tarta's body suddenly regained its rigidity. Tatra only had a split second to react, before Tarta swung her scimitar down at her older sister, breaking her fall with her own strength. As Tarta jumped back to take some distance from her sister, she left Tatra in a state of shock and confusion.
"Tarta… What's gotten into you?" Tatra asked worriedly, seeing the glassed over eyes of her little sister.
For a moment, Umi was just confused as Tatra was, until she remembered, "Luna must have used her singing voice! But how could she have when…"
Umi's trail of thought was interrupted and her ears perked up, as she heard quiet singing echoing in the room. The voice was gradually getting louder and as she looked up, she could see Luna's mouth slowly open.
"Cover your ears, Tatra!"
But as Tatra turned towards her, Umi realized her warning came too late, for even some of Ascot's monsters seemed to be falling under Luna's control. The two sisters charged at her with their weapons, with Tatra taking the lead. The older princess lashed her whip at Umi, catching hold of her rapier. As Umi tried to pull her weapon free while Tatra tried to pull it away, Tarta jumped on top of the taut strand of light. Like a professional tightrope walker, Tarta ran on top of the whip towards Umi. She was about to unsummon her sword and to run away, when her mind grew too cloudy to concentrate.
With all three women under the influence of Luna's song, Tarta prepared to decapitate Umi. But just as the tale of the blue Magic Knight was about to meet a bloody end, a loud screech echoed throughout the royal quarters.
Using his magic, Ascot amplified the voice of the gryphon he had borrowed from Clef. Having listened to Umi's words, Ascot had realized Hotaru's singing yesterday had been for this specific reason. As the four women held onto their ears, Luna's influence over the rest seemed to dissipate, causing Tarta to fall over as the whip slackened. Ascot's monsters, who were about to turn on their summoner, were also freed.
"Why you…!" Luna gripped her trident angrily.
"Su-Such a ruckus in Bravada's central command is unheard of!" Tarta griped, trying to deflect her embarrassment.
"Your boyfriend has quite the habit of saving you, Umi," Tatra giggled respectfully. "Thank you very much, Ascot."
"Bo-Boyfriend…?" Ascot blushed, scratching his cheek nervously.
"W-Wrong!" Umi stuttered while blushing. "He isn't my boyfriend! He is just a really close friend!"
Trying to hold back her increasing anger so as not to twist her face, Luna's facial muscles loosened upon hearing this. With her curiosity peaked and her lips curling upwards, Luna realized she had gone after the wrong targets all this time.
"We'll see about that," Luna smiled, before diving down from great heights.
With grace and precision, the siren dived into one of the swimming pools around the lower platform. Using the connections between the pools, she quickly swam to the one nearest to Ascot, before jumping out of the water. As others watched closely to the siren's beautiful emergence from the water, Luna began to sing at full gusto. The gryphon Ascot stood on tried to swat her away, but Luna's waves deflected the magical beast.
"Cover your ears, everyone!" Umi instructed.
Tatra and Tarta followed Umi's instructions quickly, not wanting to be taken over again. But before Ascot could reach for his ears, Luna's waves held his arms in place. With both the monsters and gryphon paralyzed by the song, Umi and the princesses watched in horror as Luna closed in on Ascot.
"Ascot! Run away!" Umi yelled, but the summoner didn't respond. "Don't let her—!"
Umi's words were interrupted by her own gasp, as Luna leaned in close and kissed Ascot on the lips. Seeing her own shadow kissing Ascot made her blush and want to tell her to stop, as her heart pounded in her chest. Realizing the siren had stopped singing, the three women prepared their weapons, before a sudden bright light took them by surprise.
"W-What is going on?!" Tarta yelled, barely able to look forward.
Starting from his torso, Ascot's body began to glow bright red, before his almost six-foot-tall body hovered off the ground. The red glow continued intensifying and radiating off of Ascot's body, until it reached his extremities. By the time Ascot was solid red, the light condensed into a single point, creating a deep crimson red pearl.
As Luna caught the floating pearl into her hand, she could hear three gasps echo in the room. However, none of this mattered to her, for she was more focused on the pearl. About the size of a fully grown orange, the red pearl had an impeccable luster and finish, reflecting Luna's image on its surface perfectly.
"Such size and luster… and this deep color," Luna admired the pearl, enchanted by its beauty, before turning to her foes. "How could you let such a catch slip through your fingers, little Umi?"
Raising her sword once more, Umi asked angrily, "What are you talking about—!"
As she tried to rush towards Luna to recover Ascot's pearl, she was blocked as the eagle and beetle-like monsters got in her way. Realizing they were still under Luna's control, she was able to dodge out of the way of their attacks, but unwilling to harm them. As the wyverns also got in the way of Umi, Tarta and Tatra, Luna just laughed in a high-pitched and cruel tone.
"You truly are as blind as you are naïve, little Umi!" Luna taunted her, before attaching Ascot's pearl into her necklace.
As she saw it hanging among the others, a cold chill ran down Umi's back, "Are-! Are all of those pearls…!"
"That is right, little Umi~," Luna smiled, looking down at her like a cute little flower. "They were all people who loved you~."
"N-Nani? L-Loved?!" Umi asked, her jaw agape.
"Yes, such precious little souls~!" Luna's body wriggled as she stroked her cheeks. "Not all of them knew you well but they still loved you deep down in their hearts~. And the more they loved you, the bigger and more beautiful the pearls they made were~!"
Creeped and weirded out by Luna's words, Umi couldn't help but look at the string of different sized pearls. Their coloration and size varied slightly from one another, from the size of grapes to golf-balls. Not a single one of them came close to the size of Ascot's which seemed too heavy to be carried around a neck. But as she counted the number of pearls, a horrifying realization took her over, as she began to realize the true number of Luna's victims.
Seeing Umi's expression and feeling the sensations in her heart, Luna looked down at her disappointedly, "…You clearly need some time to process all this, so I will just take my leave now. Saquada!"
The lighting of the royal quarters flickered, as a massive black sphere appeared behind the gryphon and the hole behind it. As the giant black and blue Mashin with a monstrous fish-head torso and a large shark-like tail appeared, the entire fortress seemed to tremble at its presence. The tentacle-haired, tiara wearing Mashin looked down at the people with its blank white eyes, before a purple light shone from its chest. As the light absorbed Luna into the Mashin, she waved down at the peons below her.
"I hope you don't mind watching over these poor orphaned babies, little Umi~," Luna chuckled before laughing.
At Luna's command, Ascot's monsters and the gryphon all growled angrily at Umi and the princesses, as they prepared to attack. Just as Umi was about to call forth Selece to chase after Luna, Saquada disappeared in front of their eyes like a ship into the fog.
With Luna's laughter still echoing around them, Umi yelled out in frustration, "ASCOT!"
The loud echo of a cataclysmic bang had just rocked a parallel version of Cephiro. The dark world of black stone, dark clouds, and a crimson glow in the horizon, had been momentarily lit up by a blinding light. Despite the blast wave of an overcharged spell combination having caused massive damage throughout the dimension, it hadn't disturbed the heavy clouds above. And yet the ground had been scorched, kicking up a cloud of soot while turning some parts of the terrain into volcanic glass.
As the dust from the explosion settled, Hikaru slowly regained consciousness, as her body ached fiercely despite her protective barrier. Knowing Nova could be preparing to strike at any moment, or worse, be injured, she quickly got up. Her still untreated wounds from her short encounter with Romeo ached worse than ever, but she wasn't going to give up. The words of her self-proclaimed fourth brother still ringing in her ears.
Not yet… I cannot give up yet… I must protect Cephiro!
Standing tall as she could, Hikaru spotted Nova up as well, standing good ways away from her. Her armor and skin were scratched and banged up, showing she had struck and slid against the ground when blown away. But despite being even worse hurt by her own attack than Hikaru was, Nova didn't show any signs of stopping.
With Nova bringing her hands together again, Hikaru yelled, "Stop it Nova! You will only end up hurting yourself with it!"
"Not from this distance!" Nova roared, her arms sparking with energy. "If this is what it takes for me to kill you, then so be it!"
A twinge of pain ran through Hikaru's heart, as she realized Nova wasn't going to stop. Just like her, as long as Nova thought she had a chance of winning, it would be impossible to convince her otherwise. With Nova thinking that Plasma Collider was her one and only trump card, Hikaru could only think of one way to change her mind. She had to overpower her.
"…Then so be it," Hikaru mimicked her shadow with a sigh.
Hotaru, Fuu, Umi, please, give me strength.
Raising her arm up and pointing it quickly towards Nova, Hikaru yelled. "Flame Arrow!"
A massive burst of fire shot out of her open palm, swirling towards Nova. The blast of fire lasted longer than usual, as Hikaru had poured more of her power into it than normally.
"Hikaru!" she yelled her own name.
As soon as the spell had left her hand, she brought both of her hands to her side, grabbing tightly hold of the handle of her sword. Swinging sideways as hard as she could, she sent out a blindingly bright, sideways wind cutter in a wide arch.
"Hotaru!"
As the wind cutter flew forward, it pushed air around it, creating a powerful gust of wind. With her second attack reaching her Flame Arrow, it fanned the flames, making them even larger. Though she had shrugged Hikaru's spell off earlier, Nova started getting nervous.
"Fuu!"
As the wind cutter and Flame Arrow merged, the mass of fire spread out sideways, before starting to burn hotter. The flames turned bright blue and as they approached Nova, formed a giant, blue, winged dragon made out of fire.
"Umi!"
Awestruck by Hikaru's combination attack, the energy Nova had been generating in her hands disappeared. There was no hope of trying to finish charging it at this point. Her only option was to run.
"Help! Mother! Brother! Save me!" Nova screamed, running for her life as she felt the flames getting closer.
As the blue wall of fire chased after her, Nova could've sworn she heard the dragon roar behind her. With the attack too large and powerful to evade, she could only desperately run away from it, but knew the flames would soon catch her. Knowing no one would come for her, she dived into a ditch before activating her own barrier. As the flaming blue dragon swept over her, she screamed in pain from the heat, until it had passed her completely.
Though the damage done to her body by the attack wasn't too severe, her mental state was another story. Nova could only cower in fear inside the ditch, holding onto her golden ruby encrusted hair ornaments. She had dreamt of playing with Hikaru for so long, but never before had the thought of the little girl being so frightening crossed her mind.
Why… Why is this so difficult? Where is my sweet little frightened Hikaru-chan? Where is the Hikaru who hated herself and just wanted me to make the pain go away? Why is all of this going so wrong! Why is her heart… Why is her heart so full!? Why is there no hole in it for me!
Walking resolutely across the dark battlefield covered in waning blue flames, Hikaru could spot Nova crouching down in her hidey-hole. Although she felt sorry for frightening her this way, Hikaru knew that she couldn't let her guard down around her shadow.
Calming herself down and steeling her heart, Hikaru spoke in a clear and adamant voice, "Nova, the playtime is over. Please, surrender and let us talk things out."
Hearing Hikaru's voice right behind her, Nova quickly stood up before backing away. Her crimson eyes were filled with tears as she gritted her teeth, her face twisted by sadness. Trembling as she sobbed, Nova's brow quickly lowered, before she was back to looking like an angry child.
"Hikaru!" Nova spat through her teeth as she squeezed her eyes shut. "You love so many people, without any care for how much it hurts me! Don't you realize I hate everyone you love!"
Despite her sympathy making her pity her own shadow, Hikaru remained rigid while looking directly at Nova, "Sorry, but I cannot stop myself from loving the people I do. Whether it is my friends, the people of Cephiro, of Lantis, I cannot stop my heart from loving those near me."
"Then why…" Nova sobbed, before looking at Hikaru with a pained expression, "Why is there no love in your heart for ME!?"
Shocked and taken aback by Nova's outcry and question, she was momentarily paralyzed as her shadow lifted her arm. Raising her hand into the air, Nova dispelled the dimension around them, making Hikaru think they would be transported to yet another world. But to her further shock and surprise, they were instead transported to some unknown location inside the Sanctuary. It was a corridor right next to a crystal stairwell that, telling by the intactness of it, hadn't yet been assaulted by monsters.
Before Hikaru could react, Nova took off running, sprinting and jumping down the staircase.
"Nova!" Hikaru yelled in shock, before jumping after her.
Without turning around, Nova yelled while racing down a corridor, "If you cannot stop loving them, I will make sure you will have no one else to love except me!"
"Nova, wait!" Hikaru yelled, trying to catch up to her.
It would be a major understatement to say that the private apartments of Sanctuary's central tower were a mess. The walls, the floors, the ceiling and what remained of the doorframes were either cracked, shattered, covered in scorch marks or frost. If one were to look at the battle being waged from the outside perspective, they would see a literal clash of elements, followed by two wolves and a small child.
While Clef and his wolves, Amarok and Lupo, were teleporting and dashing back and forth, their foe remained mostly still. Stella, the grey-skinned vampiric shadow of Alcyone, was still dutifully guarding the bedroom where her beloved was sleeping. She knew that if she left the door unattended, Clef and his wolves would quickly break through her ice barrier. Her only options were to either kill Master Mage Clef and his wolves from a distance or run out the clock.
"Frozen Finale!" Stella spread her arms, trying to hit all of her targets at once.
As an intense and cold wind blew over the battlefield, covering everything in ice, Clef waved his staff above him in circles. As he did, a grey cyclone of wind appeared above him, before he pointed his staff forward.
"Typhon!"
A large, roaring, sideways typhoon blew back against Stella's Frozen Finale, causing all the snow and rubble in the area to be swept aside. The clashing air currents blew throughout the corridors and stairways of the Sanctuary, spreading the mess and cold air everywhere. Using the strong air currents of their master's spell, Lupoe and Amarok rode the winds through Stella's spell. As the wolves charged at the vampire with the help of the tailwinds, she was forced to swap tactics.
"Arile!" Stella pointed her scythe staff forward.
Firing off a bright blue cone of lightning, the wolves managed to dodge out of the way of the attack, but this left Clef open. As the blue light approached him, Clef quickly changed spells.
"Apollo!"
A near-perfectly round, flaming sphere giving off bright light short out of Clef's staff tip. The miniature sun pushed back against the cone of lightning, slowly making its way towards Stella. As the cone was being pushed back, Stella fed more of her magical power into Arile, pushing harder back on the flaming sphere. Sensing that the clashing spells would soon reach critical mass, Lupo and Amarok took off galloping away from the blast zone.
As Apollo exploded, a large blast wave rocked the half-destroyed apartment. To protect themselves, both magic users conjured up walls to defend themselves.
"Crystal Lance!" Clef yelled, summoning a wave of crystal spikes from the floor.
"Ice Blade Avalanche!"
The explosion blasted away the spiky pillars of ice and crystal, but the physical obstacles managed to break down the blast wave. With the explosion over, the forward pointing blades of crystal and ice continued to crash into one another in ever larger waves, tearing up the floor beneath. Eventually the spike walls crew so high that they reached the ceiling, walling off the master bedroom guarded by Stella. At first Stella smiled smugly for having increased her defenses by yet another layer, until a sudden realization struck her, followed by a scent of magic.
As quickly as she could, she teleported into the bedroom she was guarding, finding Master Mage Clef right next to the sleeping Hotaru. As the goblin-sized mage tried to grab the shrunken Hotaru, Stella swung her scythe, almost cutting off the fingers of her progenitor's ex-teacher. With his wolves trapped outside and Stella right in front of him in close quarters, Clef knew his gamble had failed.
With two quick movements, Stella grabbed hold of Clef's white robe at its collar and lifted him up, while pushing him against the wall of the bedroom. Feeling the pressure against his chest, Clef could barely look up to face the vampiric woman. Her grey skin seemed to shine under the glimmer of her crimson eyes which, for the first time during their battle, showed open hostility and anger.
"I will not let you touch him!" Stella snarled, lifting the blade of her scythe to Clef's neck.
Trying to figure out a quick way to get himself and Hotaru out of here, Clef's eyes suddenly widened. A frightening sensation crawled up his spine, as before his eyes he saw visions of the antechamber of the Proof of the Pillar. He could see a dark shadow approaching the room Princess Emeraude's tiara was being held at, which made his heart sink.
Speaking through gritted teeth, Clef squeezed his eyes shut, "I am sorry, Hotaru, but this takes priority!"
Before Stella could comprehend Clef's words, the short mage teleported again, leaving her and Hotaru alone.
Unbeknownst to Stella, Clef had teleported to a hidden section of the Sanctuary. It was a dimly lit corridor with smooth dark green walls and a purple floor. The walls were framed by dark golden decorative struts that reached around the entire room in several tiers and directions. The floor had a grandiose looking red carpet with golden edges that led to a metallic door. The door had a heavy, ornate golden frame, with the door itself made out of several, coffin shaped metal plates. At the top center of the door, there was a round black gem.
For a moment, Clef thought that he had just been paranoid, as he saw no signs of Debonair in the antechamber. But just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the muscles in his body all tensed up at once, as his fight or flight responses kicked in. Looking at the door again, he could see a dark shadow rise up from the ground, towering over him by two meters. The shadow brightened into a transparent figure, taking the image of a monstrous woman with pale blue skin and black and gold dress.
"You're… Debonair!" Clef gasped, feeling her dark presence overwhelm him.
Not wasting her breath, Debonair simply chuckled while floating backwards, slipping right through the magically sealed door like a ghost. Seeing the monstrous woman pass the Proof of the Pillar's defenses like they weren't even there, Clef's heart sunk in his chest.
"Wait!" he gasped, rushing to the door.
Inside the round stone chamber, Debonair could see a stone plinth surrounded by water, with a golden tiara on top of it. As she hovered over the pool of water meant to protect those unworthy of touching it, it began to swirl turbulently.
According to Romeo's reports, the water is meant to crush anyone not fit to be the pillar. This confirms it; either I am worthy of being the pillar, or the water is too afraid to touch me! In the end, it is all the same to me.
The emerald crusted tiara began to glow brightly at her approach. Reaching out her delicate pale blue hands, Debonair couldn't wait any longer to have the tiara in her long purple claws. The end of Cephiro would now be upon them several days ahead of schedule.
Hovering right over to the tiara, Debonair declared victoriously, "Cephiro is mine!"
Right as Debonair was about to touch the tiara, Clef opened the door to the chamber with his magic ring. He was about to cast a spell in the hopes of driving off Debonair, when a delicate yet stern voice echoed in his ears.
"No."
Having heard the voice as well, Debonair came to a halt, her eyes narrowing into dots from the surprise as she recognized the voice. What she didn't know at the moment, was that the voice had been heard by every person and monster within the Sanctuary.
"No, that is not true," a quivering voice spoke out from the glowing tiara. "Cephiro needs…"
Unamused by the Proof of the Pillar's defiance, Debonair looked down on it, waiting for it to finish its sniveling. But instead of an answer, the tiara began to glow ever brighter, before practically exploding with light. At first Debonair stood her ground and gritted her teeth, but as the light began to burn, she could sense the destruction of her monsters throughout the sanctuary.
"BWAAAAAAaaaaarrghhhiiiiiiieeeEEEYYYY!" Debonair's scream echoed throughout the castle, as she was being pushed away by the light.
Outside the Sanctuary, Fuu, Ferio, and Terra were all flying back to the castle on top of Ferio's bird companion. They were on their way to warn others, when the Sanctuary suddenly started glowing brightly. The five main towers all gave off so much light that they looked like a single unified pillar of light, erupting from the flower-like crystal base.
"W-What is going on?" Ferio asked in shock
"What is happening in there, Terra?" Fuu asked, trying to get a better look.
"I don't know!" Terra asked, covering her eyes from the bright light. "Maybe we are too late?"
Back at the Bravada, Umi, Tatra and Tarta could see a pillar of light in the distance through the hole in the wall. As the light shone in through the gap, Ascot's monsters and Clef's gryphon stopped attacking them. Instead, they collapsed onto the floor in a pile, apparently exhausted.
Chasing Nova down the corridors of the Sanctuary, Hikaru came to a halt as the walls of the castle began to glow blindingly bright. Nova also came to a halt, as with the walls and floors all turning white, it became almost impossible for her to see where to go. But as they heard Debonair's scream, Nova quickly gasped in fear.
"Mother! Where are you!?" she screamed in panic.
"Nova! Retreat at once!" Debonair's order rang loud.
"But Mother!"
"There will be another time! Listen to what I say!" Debonair yelled in pain.
"Nova! Don't go!" Hikaru tried to stop her, before Nova disappeared into the light, with her losing consciousness soon after.
Several floors below, Lantis, Lafarga, Primera and Caldina were all in shock, seeing the bright light purge away all the monsters. The light was blinding and despite feeling victorious, the guards they fought with had to cover their eyes. But as the defenders of the Sanctuary had been fighting against Romeo all this time, they knew they couldn't put their guard down.
Even as the monsters around him were being wiped out, the tall spiky demon dressed in black, stood perfectly still before them. As Lantis squinted his eyes, he saw Romeo smiling widely and sinisterly, despite the light covering the top half of his face. The smile eventually turned into a grin, as Romeo started laughing from his gut.
"Hmhmhmhmhm-hahahahaHAHAHAHA! The final act approaches! It seems you all get to live a little longer! Sayonara for now!" Romeo took a bow, before quickly flying up through the hole in the roof he had created.
"Wait!" Lantis yelled, trying to run after him, but the light was too bright.
Blinded by the light radiating from the tiara, Clef fell to his knees on the floor of the chamber, right next to the water's edge. As he stared at the Proof of the Pillar and let out a sigh of relief, a feeling of mournfulness took over him. For in the light of the tiara, he could see a sad yet enchanting, familiar sight. A young girl with fair skin, sad eyes, dressed in a white and red dress, with blonde hair that was three times as long as she was tall.
"P-Princess Emeraude…" Clef gasped, realizing he was seeing a ghost. "...I'm so sorry."
As the light of the tiara flashed in quick succession and slowly faded, Emeraude's words echoed throughout the Sanctuary, "Cephiro needs… Cephiro needs…"
But even as the light finally faded, there was no end to Emeraude's message.
Author's Afterword: That… was a lot of writing and balancing of scenes. I feel like I am writing this afterword at the last of my strength. It is hard to even say at which point in season 2 this would take place at. All I can say I hope you all managed to follow the events of this two-parter without issue.
As you can see, Debonair's invasion was hastened by Romeo to start before Umi and Fuu returned from their trips to Dome and Bravada. Usually this all would have happened during Autozam's full-scale invasion, but because of Hotaru, our tech boys are a little late to the party. More on them next chapter.
These chapters have mainly two purposes; to give payout to long-teased events, as well as foreshadow and tease future events. I hope at least some of you managed to catch onto Luna's pearl necklace growing longer each time her appearance was described.
This chapter marks a turning point in the season 2 events of Saving the Villainess. As the events have gotten darker throughout the season, Hotaru has found himself in ever deeper pits of despair. But now, things have been set in motion that will truly either make or break him.
As always, reviews and speculations are welcomed and appreciated. I am slightly miffed that there were no new reviews since the last chapter, but such is the case sometimes.