Chapter 18: Torrential Downpour Warning
The mood at the campsite had been rather tense ever since the death of Cassandra. Luka hadn't looked Giorno in the eyes since much less entertained a conversation. Few words if any were spoken, mostly to do with setting up their arrangements.
Not that Giorno seemed to care, as he was far too busy experimenting with his new limits as a vampire.
He even opted to train by himself, allowing the power of Undine to fill his body.
The same irritating cycle repeated, just as he felt the intent of an attack his own stand would prioritize his safety over maintaining concentration. And once his stand manifested, his connection with the water ceased.
"I guess Goldie likes you too much to let you get hurt… He's too loyal for his own good." Sylph cooed as the humanoid spirit moved to block Gnome from striking him. "The yellow's growing on me too…"
Undine sighed as yet another attempt at using her power failed.
"Withdraw…" Giorno ordered, allowing his stand to vanish from sight.
"Maybe he doesn't know any better because he's never had the chance to think for himself. Or maybe you need to stop being so bossy!" Sylph not so helpfully exclaimed.
Her words while immature struck a chord in him. His stand was linked to him, an extension of his will given form… So why exactly had the spirits not affected his stand?
'I've been using you like a tool… Not like the spirits. How could I ever wish to understand them without letting them envelop my soul.'
He'd grown too comfortable allowing his stand to be a mere pawn, not the avatar of his soul it was. In retrospect, he should have realized this back at Grand Noah.
Perhaps fighting monsters for so long unchecked had dulled his stand knowledge. Most were uninspired with the way they fought, oftentimes coming at them frontally.
He allowed the flow of water to envelop his body and mind once more, before allowing that flow to encompass the missing link. His own soul joined it, no longer hiding away at his command.
Like a light switch, he could feel the flow of life… No, more than that.
Sylph hadn't been joking back in the spring; he could feel everything.
Including the flow of an approaching attack, which he sidestepped.
..?
Turning to his left, he could feel the flow of his stand beside him. A clear extension of his own flow in this strange visualization of water.
"Woah, he's doing it!"
Sylph's cheering brought him out of his state of concentration, dispelling Undine's power.
"Ah… I see you've finally learned the true power of my element. And now you can bring out Gold Experience too, fitting that the most serene spirit would allow such an advancement." Undine haughtily laughed, feeling a sense of superiority.
"I have your encouragement to thank… And your words earlier Sylph. Without you, I would have remained complacent with my abilities." He thanked them wholeheartedly, grateful to have such loyal allies in his journey.
Gnome slapped his leg, looking at him with a slight pout.
"You're included in that too, Gnome. Without you, there's no way I could have ever made it this far."
"Try me next!" Sylph pleaded, eager to use his new understanding in action.
"Wait… I know this might seem like an odd question, but your abilities include all facets of the wind?" He quickly put a hand up, halting her excitement.
"Eh? I'm the spirit of the wind, of course, I have complete power over my own element!" She bragged, puffing her cheeks out.
"Why do you ask?" Undine inquired, watching the gears inside his mind turn.
"Just like Gold Experience… I've been sorely underutilizing you all. That changes tonight, which is why I'm skipping what little sleep I would have gotten."
"Hmm, you seem to have picked that up quickly. It's similar to a skill you already know, after all. Slamming the weight of the earth itself onto your opponent from above. The axe skill called Earth Rumbling Decapitation." Alice commented.
"Axe skill? But I use a sword..." Luka questioned, shaking Angel Halo in front of her face.
"The one who developed this skill was a Minotauros who wielded an axe. But you should be able to use it with no issue with a sword. As the story goes, the legendary axe-wielding Minotauros rampaged across the battlefield decapitating all of her enemies..." Alice recounted.
"Another horrible monster backstory. Well, I won't use it like that, so it doesn't matter."
"...Stacking those heads into a set of stairs to scale the enemy's walls..." Alice continued unperturbed by his uncomfortable reaction.
"No, really you don't need to keep going with the story," Luka claimed.
"What are you saying, you idiot? As the new wielder of that skill, you should take pride in being a part of its history." Alice insisted on finishing her history lesson.
"Urhg..." Luka gave up on trying to tell her otherwise, listening to the rest of her lecture.
"The skill works more or less the same as Demon Skull Beheading. But now you don't need to climb anything to use addition, if you have Gnome summoned, the power will be much stronger... " Alice helpfully added.
"Oh? That's convenient." Luka commented, wanting to try an application of his skill with said spirit.
"You've mastered quite a lot of techniques so far. You've become a skilled Cursed Sword Skill user." Alice praised, uncharacteristically smiling.
"Ah, thanks... Wait! Cursed Sword!?"Luka questioned, growing concerned with his image as a hero.
"Better that than someone with no skills." Alice shrugged off his worries, sitting down on a log. "You two are tense. It shouldn't be this way for people who've fought together for months…"
"I'm just worried… about what happens from now on."
"Are you worried that he hates monsters? If so, you don't have much to stress over."
"I know that the monsters we face don't have the best intentions for us. But I can't sit idly by and watch him start killing them."
"You can't expect me to hold back anymore, Luka," Giorno answered back as he arrived at camp. "I see you've taken up some sword training in my absence…"
"Holding back and going for the kill are different things. You're telling me when you let loose, you torture them? Break their fingers? Blow holes through their chests?" Luka stood up, striding towards the blonde.
"I do whatever is necessary to end their resistance. Better than the alternative of death or slavery. Unless those options are preferable to you?" Giorno crossed his arms, unphased by the questions.
"Obviously I don't want to be a slave! I don't want to die either! But I can't agree with your brutality. I want you to stop!"
"I make no such promises. We must do whatever it takes to ensure our victory."
"There we go again… Whatever it takes? You say that too easily. Too easily for someone who's just killed for the first time!"
"Cassandra was the first monster I killed. If I made such an activity a habit, I would have been dealt with long ago."
The implication of what he said was not lost on Luka.
"First monster? Was this even the first time you killed someone...?"
"…" Somehow, Giorno's silence was even worse than a tangible answer.
"You… actually did?" Luka's hands made for his sheath.
"I'm hardly the first person here who can say that they were responsible for the death of a human. And it's not as if the people I killed were innocent, they chose to oppose my goals. They understood the risk of fighting me." Giorno clenched his fists, warily staring him down.
Alice quickly squeezed between them before things got ugly, pushing them away from each other. "You idiots, calm down!"
"I can't believe this… You're justifying your killings? Because they opposed your goals, that means they deserved to die?"
"I make no excuses. It was a fight for survival."
"… And if I oppose you? What are you going to do about it?"
"Nothing… I'll do nothing about it because you are not my enemy. You're a good person, Luka… You just need to grow up." Giorno stepped back out of the light flickering from their campfire. "You'll have to realize that some people cannot be negotiated with, no matter how good your intentions are."
"Where are you going?" Alice questioned.
"Taking my leave..." His form vanished into the darkness beyond along with the sound of his footsteps. "Even if we disagree on how to do things... I still consider us allies. I hope that in time, you may yet see that."
"Don't leave! Get back here! I'm not done with you!" Luka shouted into the darkness.
He did not return that night… And any of his remaining items at camp had mysteriously disappeared in the morning.
With no other options available to them, Luka and Alice departed for their destination.
It was a silent few hours, right until they had hit the true entrance to the Fire Spirit's domain.
"Salamander's really in this volcano? It's so hot…" Luka panted as he walked up the incline, mindful of his step.
It was boiling hot, which was accurate considering this was an accurate volcano.
"Salamander is a powerful spirit, known among monsters who attempt to further their prowess with the Cursed Skills. Few actually make it to her; most turn away upon reaching this place." Alice explained, unbothered by the heat.
"Powerful?" Luka looked around the place, not seeing any obvious way to the spirit.
"Deeper! You gotta go further in! Just go straight and you'll be able to meet her." Sylph helpfully pointed out.
"Thanks… But where's Undine?" Luka confusedly asked, not seeing the spirit of water.
"Oh…she melted, but she's fine." The spirit of wind explained.
The path up was peaceful, much too peaceful for his liking.
"… About last night." Alice softly opened up during the walk.
"There's nothing to talk about. He left…" Luka stiffened at the touch of her gloved hand on his shoulder.
Up ahead an odd-looking rock drew their attention away from the difficult topic.
The figure of a monster had somehow been trapped in a layer of ice and stone, her expression that of unbridled fear.
"What the hell?" Luka walked up to the now-identified Lava Girl, touching her body.
It felt worse than the night he had spent in that snowstorm back at Yamatai, magnitudes worse than anything he'd felt before.
"Giorno…" He frowned, taking a look at Alice.
"She's dead… he must be pushing temperatures that dwarf the likes of Yuki-Onnas. It must have been near instant…" Alice observed the still icy remains of her lava, having been crystallized over her organic body.
"He's here… Of course, he'd be here." Luka ran up ahead, hoping that no other monsters had been unfortunate enough to meet his former travel companion.
'He wouldn't just leave to give everything up... He wanted to be rid of me. To do more of this!'
'I wonder how he managed to freeze lava?' Alice curiously thought, slithering after him.
"Have mercy!" The Basilisk shouted as he went deeper into the volcano.
"Wrry…" He sighed as loud gulping could be heard from his fingers. "You thought I, Giorno Giovanna would be food? You were ill-prepared to face an opponent who could simply remove their own vision from the picture."
"Please… I'm sorry!" Her struggles became weaker and weaker as her body began shriveling up.
A shove from behind knocked the woman out of his grasp, giving her the chance to weakly stumble away from him.
"I won't do it again! Please…" She fell over on the ground, unable to keep her breathing steady.
"Damn it, Giorno!" Luka shouted, stepping between them. "You're not killing another monster! Let her go, she's given up!"
Rumbling from yet deeper within disturbed their confrontation.
"Another monster?!" Luka wisely turned his attention towards the approaching footsteps.
"You're lucky… Get out while you can." Giorno mirrored his actions, preparing himself to battle one more troublesome opponent.
The Basilisk did what she was told, thanking her sudden good fortune as she quickly left the scene.
"A large life presence… I feel a dragon approaching us."
"A dragon?!" Luka quickly drew his sword as the scaled beast approached them.
Giorno hadn't a clue how this was supposed to be Monster Girl, up until the relatively normal monster had opened its jaw.
The scaly body of a woman was inside, sizing them up.
"…Strange for a dragon. Must be an odd mutation."
"What rare prey… Human and a male monster? I'm going to enjoy this." The woman-tongue hybrid licked her lips.
Luka took a step back from the intimidating monster, grimacing at the thought of fighting such a legendary opponent.
"We cannot falter now…" Giorno looked over at him. "I know you, Luka. Your resolve isn't so weak to back down now."
"No need to be so scared… I won't tear you apart with these claws, nor incinerate you with my flames. There's no need to fight you seriously." The Dragon Girl smiled upon seeing his fear.
"Together… just this once. While our goals of obtaining the fire spirit are in alignment?" Giorno suggested, waiting for an answer.
"But you'll just kill her! How can I ever work with you?!" Luka grumbled, not exactly happy at the circumstances.
"Do or die…" Giorno disclaimed, drawing his temporary ally's ire.
"I better not regret this..."
"Ha! Kill me? You're amusing, blondie!" Their foe laughed rambunctiously.
It was a race against time then, if he couldn't deal with her non-lethally then she would face death.
'If I can seal her quickly enough…' Luka called for the power of Gnome, jumping up and smashing down on the Dragon's head.
His Earth-rumbling decapitation hardly managed to scratch her scales. But it was good enough to damage her as is.
"So that's what you learned… Why don't I show you my progress too." Giorno pointed at the monster, creating a large bubble of wind from a crude application of both Sylph and Undine.
'Undine and Sylph?!' Luka watched the bubble solidify right next to the monster, before exploding in a burst of high pressure.
Ice shards almost as cold as absolute zero pierced her scales and body.
"Wh-what the hell are you two doing with those spirits…?" The Dragon Girl grimaced, clawing the spikes of ice from her scales as quickly as she could.
Despite her best efforts, she could not get all of them out before they froze into her natural armor.
"If I take my time freezing things, then those little pockets of air become faux bombs made of ice. It's a difficult balance of air pressure interacting with such a thin layer of water… but one that I managed to come up with last night."
"Tch…" Luka had to give credit where it was due, no way could he have ever come up with something like that.
He rushed forward, using a burst of speed to deliver a Lightning Sword Flash right across the cracked scales Giorno had just targeted.
His blade easily exploited the cracks, tearing clean through and cutting her vulnerable flesh.
The monster retaliated by snapping her jaws shut on him, her tongue body taking Luka into a bind.
"Ha! I've got you now! Struggling is useless, little Hero!"
Despite being between a rock and a hard place, Luka effectively used his small size to leverage his body weight in an awkward position of her mouth.
This provided his ally with a precious few seconds to unveil another of his latest discoveries.
"Utterly useless…"
Two clouds formed over his shoulders. An application of Undine further enhanced the strange technique causing the two clouds to merge into a rain cloud.
Freezing his left hand and applying a small vibrating force on his right using the wind, he punched it as hard as he could in the direction of the enemy.
The cloud he punched blew open and soared above, disrupting the air pressure in the area and blowing the dragon into the air.
However, the sudden introduction of air droplets, freezing cold ice, and humidity of the volcano generated the perfect conditions for this technique.
Namely, the bolt of lightning that fired upon the tallest point in the vicinity.
The Dragon Girl was struck with the power of 300 million volts of electricity, charring her outer armor and destroying any semblance of fine motor control she had.
Her jaws unhooked, providing Luka the perfect escape upon breaking free of her now non-existent strength.
Capitalizing on the situation, he unleashed a Death Sword Chaos Star on her significantly damaged body.
His absurd strength and speed with the multiple slashes cleaved through the last of her resistance.
Luka landed on his feet with incredible grace, watching their foe crater the ground upon impact.
"Lightning too?" He grunted, taking a moment to meditate.
Giorno walked right next to him, giving him a quick glance to check if no lasting injuries were present.
"Sword techniques are indeed useful… But the spirits can be so much more than that if you have the knowledge." He simply explained as the last of the rain clouds dissipated.
The Dragon Girl shakily stood back, most of her outer shell having been melted off by the ridiculous heat of being struck by lightning.
"I don't want your pathetic semen anymore! I just want you dead! I will crush and incinerate you!" She roared, throwing her massive front legs down and creating two large holes in the ground.
"Those words should be left unsaid until the deed is already done," Giorno commented, completely unintimidated by her frustration.
"Gah… She's too powerful." Luka grimaced, frightened at the way she was holding herself.
"At times like this… One must stay calm. Imagine yourself in the flow, Luka. Feel the currents of life and the world attune to your mind. Use Undine to feel the calamities we'll face… and avoid them as best you can." Giorno pointed out, demonstrating his serene state.
'Feel the flow…? The calamities we'll face together…'
Closing his eyes, he finally let go of his physical body. As if he was lying in a river, he trusted that the water holding him would continue to do so.
His body began swaying along to an unknown sensation, fully in tune with the world.
"I don't care what kind of dance you two are performing, die!" The Dragon leaped into the air, baring her clawed feet and slashing at the two of them.
They both felt it…
The flow of an approaching calamity, like a stone being tossed into a calm lake. The distortion coming their way was easily avoided with supernatural speed and precision.
"What?!" The Dragon attempted to bite down on Luka, who was closer to her.
Just like before, he quickly moved to the side as gracefully as a dancer and slashed his blade along the side of her body.
His cut dealt a critical blow to her now barely functioning body, instilling fear into her being.
"Impossible! H-how are you doing this?!" She stammered backward, wisely making some distance and bursting a jet of flames at Giorno.
"Pointless…" Giorno pointed at the rapidly approaching flames, just as an unseen force blew a concussive hole through them.
Her flames instantly sputtered and died out before they ever had a chance at harming him.
"No way!" She did the same towards Luka, who sliced her flames in half and jumped through unharmed.
"You cannot just cut flames!" She roared in disbelief.
"Eh?! That was fire?!" Luka opened his eyes, breaking concentration at a key moment.
The moment he did, he was met with the sight of the Dragon Girl's massive jaws right in front of his body, about to take a bite.
Giorno moved with both wind and water greatly enhancing his speed, positioning his own body between the two.
*Smash*
*Crack*
Her jaws broke upon impact with an otherwise invisible bubble, both teeth and pieces of skin violently removing themselves from her defunct exterior.
"AAAH!" She screamed, her body overcome with unnatural pain.
Giorno instantly exploited this, grabbing the remnants of her body and flash-freezing it without any mercy.
"Gold Experience!"
He summoned his stand right above the frozen shell his enemy had become.
His significantly stronger stand pierced into her chest effortlessly, blowing the once mighty monster into chunks of broken ice and bloody gore.
"NO!" Luka screamed, feeling his stomach drop.
"Utterly useless… Thank you for the atmospheric bubble, Sylph." The blonde coldly said after the last bits of the monster finally hit the ground.
"She's… dead…" Luka stared at the frozen head of his fallen enemy lying just a few meters away from him. "You killed her!"
In an instant, his sword had been pointed at the blonde.
Giorno merely looked over his shoulder, unimpressed with the hostile action.
"That was self-defence… You saw it. She was a split second away from tearing you to bits." Giorno argued, not seeing the sense of showing mercy to someone who had proclaimed their intent to kill them. "She wanted to eat us. And when she realized she couldn't, she wanted to rip us apart."
"…" Luka didn't have an argument against that, he had heard it himself.
Still, witnessing Cassandra's death had been easier… Less gore and no body left to look at, unlike the Dragon Girl.
"My heart and actions are utterly unclouded. As far as I'm concerned, she got what was coming to her." Giorno walked forward, prompting him to hastily follow afterward with renewed vigor.
"Hold on! You can't just leave after that…" Luka pressed him further, running up to get to his side.
"I might have considered sparing her life had she not lost her mind. In the end, her anger cost her everything."
Luka was about to argue back, only to be stunned into silence as they entered a central chamber.
"You two… I saw everything." A woman covered in flames said as she sized them up.
"That's… Salamander!" Luka stepped back in awe.
"That's right… I am the spirit of flames. I see you've both contracted with those three." She glanced at each of them individually, sizing them up.
She held a particular interest in Giorno, whose eyes shone with a resolve she hadn't seen in years. Not since…
"I Giorno Giovanna have a dream! A dream which I believe is just! I wish for a world of equality. Where all are equal in the eyes of society, whether they be man, woman or monster…" The blonde man quickly exclaimed, putting a hand on his chest. "That is why I came seeking your power. To seek your assistance in attaining my dreams, no matter the cost!"
"…" Salamander liked this one, that was for certain.
"I came for that too… I want to contract with you to achieve coexistence!" Luka piped up, not willing to get left behind.
Such lofty goals… and impressive displays of power from them. The purple-haired boy was incredibly talented with a blade, almost as good as her former apprentice. Maybe even better if she took him under her tutelage.
The one known as Giorno was much more adept with the spirits, utilizing techniques few others could pull off. Even having the genius idea to generate lightning amid battle.
"Luka…was it? I'll give you my answer the same as the others. Show me your power." She replied after a great deal of thought. "Giorno… I've seen enough of you."
She pointed at him, engulfing his body in light.
For some reason, he grunted in pain upon receiving her power.
"Wrry…" The light faded, revealing his burnt skin after the fact.
"What the-" Salamander reeled back, completely taken aback by what she had just witnessed.
"Light hurts him…" Luka explained.
"I'm fine..." Giorno grumbled, turning back to the exit.
"You're leaving…?" Luka looked back at him, preparing himself to accept Salamander's trial.
He hated the idea of letting him go, but he couldn't pursue both Giorno and Salamander.
"Of course… My goal here has been achieved. Our continued cooperation is no longer necessary, and is no longer tolerated on your end."
He left him to his own devices, strolling back out from where he came.
"You saw everything?" He questioned his newest and final addition to the spirits.
"Everything," Salamander replied rather quickly, observing him skeptically.
"Like I said… Those monsters attacked first."
"I know… It's just that if you go around doing that, all sorts of people will get very interested in you." She warned, conversing with him inside of his mind.
"I realize that all too well. Only a matter of time until I'm deemed too dangerous to live. I fully expect a Heavenly Knight to have an issue with my operations."
"I have… reservations working with someone who wants to establish a criminal empire. But if you can manage to get those three to stick with you, you have to be doing something right." The spirit of flame confessed, just as her three friends manifested in the physical world.
"He's trustworthy, you brute. He's not a violent criminal looking to kill for money." Undine huffed.
"It's good to have you back, Mandy!" Sylph cheered, dancing about in the air.
The sudden manifestation of his stand without his command somewhat scared him, successfully making pause his next footstep.
"Ohh! This is Goldie!" Sylph introduced a much larger yellow humanoid to Salamander.
'I don't understand. You've changed dramatically…' He stared into the golden eye sockets of his stand. What was once a slim but lean figure had gained incredible muscle mass, specifically jumping to a height of at least 190 centimeters.
"Pleased to meet you." The spirit of fire extended a hand.
Gold Experience reached out with his own, shaking hers as a sign of greeting.
"Wait… just how are you not melting away?" Salamander quickly spotted the inconsistency of the water spirit being able to manifest without any issues.
"I can create a small area of intense cold if I combine the usage of my freezing technique and a light application of Sylph. A ten-meter radius if my estimation is correct. How cold it becomes is dependent on the temperature my body falls to or how fast I allow the winds to run."
"That's right! I'm just the best!" Sylph bragged as more air blew around them, bringing the immediate temperature to a much more comfortable level.
"I'll have you know his serene state is the best technique he has. Not to mention my water droplets being used to generate lightning and rain clouds." Undine scoffed.
"Nuh-uh! My wind made those clouds. And for the record, his atmospheric bubbles are the best."
While they argued, Salamander had grown distracted with something else.
"Your friend has passed… His ability to control the water has finally been realized." Salamander reported, the news not being very surprising.
"As expected… Now to-"
The entire volcano shook with the force of an earthquake beyond anything he had felt before in his life.
"What was that? That can't have been natural…" Giorno put his hands on the ground and used his newfound understanding of Gnome to feel the tectonic plates underneath the volcano.
"It originated from where Luka was…"
"It was Granberia, my former student has an interest in you two." Salamander identified the issue for them.
"Granberia? He's facing her alone…" Giorno immediately turned back around, sprinting back towards the central chamber.
"I've been waiting for this!" Granberia slashed at Luka, who demonstrated the ability to easily dodge her attack.
He countered by slicing her outstretched joint and piercing the tip of his blade through her chest plate in one swift motion.
"P-Powerful! You can attack with such force?! My wait-and-see attitude won't be necessary after all. I shall fight without holding back!" She declared, putting real effort into her stance and somehow using a better version of Luka's Serene State.
"No way! You can use it too?! I thought you were the Swordswoman of Fire?" Luka yelled in disbelief, feeling his back was against the wall.
Giorno would have said something here, probably how assuming things only made one appear useless.
"Having a Serene Mind is natural for a warrior! The element associated with it is meaningless!"
Granberia swung her blade at him with incredible speed. Even with his speed and awareness boosted Luka just barely managed to duck his head in time.
A few of his hairs weren't so lucky, having been cleanly removed.
Luka chose to make some spacing between them, backing off to a more controllable distance from her.
"I didn't think you could use that skill…" Luka took a breath to meditate, recovering from a few slashes present on his body.
"Heh… I could say the same to you. To think a human could master it as well. In fact, I only managed it 20 years ago."
"20 Years ago…? Just how old are you?"
"I'll be 25 this year."
"You mastered it at 5 years old?!"
"No more speaking! Our blades will do the ones doing the talking!"
Luka followed the flow of the water, managing to cleave into the Heavenly Knight's face.
Despite his successful hit, his foe retaliated with a downward slash.
Once more, Luka just about avoided the attack. Unlike last time, it was able to graze his body and do unthinkable damage.
"Argh!" Luka was thrown back gushing blood from a fresh wound in his chest.
If Granberia had actually hit that dead-on, he'd have been finished…
"I couldn't avoid that… How long has it been since I was wounded in battle?" She smirked,
"...It's time to settle this battle. Look upon my ultimate move!" Granberia finally declared, focusing her magical power and raw skill into one final attack.
"Gah! Granberia's ultimate move!?" Luka said fearfully, almost having his Serene Mind break from her declaration alone.
'There's no blocking or evading this! Your only chance is to hit her back with your best technique!' Salamander advised in a panic. 'This is going to hurt like hell… Are you ready?'
'Only those with resolve can clear a path through the darkness...' The familiar words of someone he'd rather not think of repeated in his mind.
Still… if anyone could speak of resolve it was him. There was no other choice but to fight on, even if it all seemed hopeless.
Luka gripped his sword resolutely, preparing his own strongest technique in return.
"Death Sword Chaos Star!" He yelled, unleashing his move.
"Ultimate move... Vaporizing Rebellion Sword!" Granberia called out before they clashed swords in a violent exchange of strikes.
"Uwaaa!" Luka yelled in pain, being flung into the air.
Multiple deep cuts had been sliced into his body, accompanied by some light burns courtesy of Granberia's aura.
In return, she had been cut up across her arms and face.
"Wonderful... Inflicting a wound upon me even while taking my attack... Now then... What to do with the loser... What?" Granberia stopped upon noticing a new arrival.
Cradling the barely conscious body of Luka, Giorno glared at the Heavenly Knight with barely restrained fury.
"Giorno Giovanna! You've decided to join us, after all?" She easily recognized him, smiling at the thought of testing his abilities.
"Is this some sort of game to you?"
"…Game?"
"Our lives are not meant to be your entertainment… We do not exist to bring you satisfaction." He laid Luka down, placing a broach down on his chest.
"G-Giorno…" The fallen hero struggled out.
"Luka... your resolve shines with a radiance that eclipses even the sun... Your efforts will not go to waste." His body ignited in flames, his fury awakening the abilities of Salamander on the spot.
"Already?! The power of Salamander…" Granberia's heart pumped even faster, salivating at the raw potential he showed.
Sudden rain showers engulfed the vicinity, despite them being indoors.
The flow warned her of severe danger not even a moment later, leading to the Heavenly Knight dodging multiple bolts of lightning aimed right at her position.
'Incredible! His ability with Sylph has already become this destructive…'
"Not so fast, Giorno Giovanna!" She leaped at him, readying a devastating attack.
Her sword slammed into his abdomen, or what was supposed to be his abdomen.
The sound of metal straining alerted her to the mistake she had made. The tip of her blade had only collided with a piece of cloud, which had stopped her dead in her tracks.
"Muda!" He punched her in the jaw with his flaming fist, igniting a piece of the cloud that strayed away from her blade.
The combination of pure oxygen and flame created a massive explosion, blowing her into a nearby wall.
"I've never seen this kind of application before…" Granberia got back on her feet and rushed back in for one final test.
"Vaporizing Rebellion Sword!"
"I don't have time for this! You're useless!" Giorno breathed in the ability of Gnome as well, covering himself in particles of rock and dust which superheated into a solid shell.
'There's no avoiding it… Only absolute aggression will allow me to come out victorious at the end of it all!'
Defying all conventional thinking, he powered through the multiple slices using his layers of protection.
The first to go was his atmospheric shields, having soaked up most of the damage before being broken through.
His superheated armor shell had been much more resilient, buying him just enough time to drive both his fists into her chest and knock the wind out of her.
Small bursts of cloud pierced clean through her armor and stomach, blowing two small holes into her body and severely wounding the monster.
In his desperation, his body had responded by firing off his last resort.
High pressurized liquid from his eyes accompanied his attack, shearing through her shoulder and disabling her sword arm.
Those 'beams' did not stop at her body, continuing through the floor and ceiling of the chamber they were in.
To the rest of the region, it looked as if a beam of light had been fired from out of that volcano, blowing apart the cloud cover and smog far in the sky.
With that final clash, the battle was effectively over…
Lying in a crater he had been propelled into after her final attack, he allowed his legs some time to regenerate.
Even with all that preparation and cunning, his body had been ripped to shreds. Had it not been for the fact he was inhuman; he would have surely joined the likes of his former ally.
His grasp with the spirits faded away, dispelling his weather phenomenon from the battlefield.
His foe had clearly suffered just as much as him, even if she didn't realize it at the moment.
Multiple holes in her body, along with her shoulder having a large chunk taken out of it.
"Y-You're something else, Giorno Giovanna. If this-" Granberia felt her stomach bloat, the feeling of intense fullness assaulted her body and dissuaded her from speaking any further.
'What the hell? I feel sick?!'
Hunching over, the Heavenly violently ejected the contents of her stomach.
Instead of what food she had eaten a few hours ago, it was nothing but a combination of blood and excessive amounts of water.
"That last strike… I pierced your body with a vaporous gust. You're not moving or breathing properly for a long time." Giorno stepped towards her menacingly.
Just as described, her lungs were being filled with water constantly.
Enough so to break her Serene Mind and keep her down as long as possible.
'He's actually serious about killing me!?'
He stopped just within a ten-meter radius of her, not wishing to get within her ideal range for the swift and fatal counterattack he knew she was capable of.
"I need to end this… Once and for all."
He had thought about this before, the idea of actually killing a Heavenly Knight was fraught with danger.
Alice was somewhere in the immediate vicinity; how exactly would she take the death of an immediate subordinate? How would the remaining Knights take the news that one of their own had been cut down?
But if she were to escape once more, she would grow stronger. There was no way to guarantee that he would win the next time this happened.
'No going back now.'
'What are you doing?! She is beaten!' Salamander exclaimed, realizing his intent.
'He didn't use eye magic… Just what were those projectiles?!'
Alice had enough of this, the deaths of two more monsters had been tough to swallow for sure. But they had only themselves to blame for making an attempt on Giorno's life and freedom.
She could hardly blame him for killing that Dragon Girl, what she had done was not within her orders of self-defense.
But even she could not stand by and allow one of her most trusted subordinates to be killed by a human she had assisted before. The fact that he had somehow bested the best swordswoman in monster kind was bad enough on its own, taking her life would force a reaction.
If not hers, then by the rest of her Knights who would surely take revenge.
That was why she reappeared right next to him and pushed him some meters away from the barely breathing Dragon-kin.
"Enough! You've bested her!" She exclaimed.
"And now you finally choose to intervene… Only after everything is all said and done. How strange for it to happen after your Knight has been incapacitated." He landed on his feet, sliding off the ground until he came to a stop.
"I would have stopped this either way. Luka hasn't even mastered Salamander's power! Of course I would make the case for her to let him go just a bit longer."
"…Hmph. Fat chance of him doing anything after what happened to his body." He looked over his shoulder to see Luka trying to get back on his own two feet. "I should deal with this permanently."
"Killing the Dragon Girl was far enough! I cannot have you kill Granberia!" Alice declared, crossing her arms and standing firm in his path.
His eyes once again glowed, aiming directly at the head of the heaving Dragon-kin.
The volcano had other plans, beginning to violently shake and discharge excess lava around them.
"It's going to erupt! Your eye beams have caused a natural disaster…" Alice rushed towards Luka and wrapped him in her tail.
Granberia finally expunged the last of the liquid in her lungs, getting up and vanishing with the use of some magic.
Not before sharing one last glance at him, an expression of acknowledgment set on her face.
The acknowledgment of being her enemy… Hardly something he liked.
Alice quickly evacuated the area, leaving him behind by his lonesome as she leaped through the opening Granberia had created.
He followed suit, covering his hands in a layer of rock and crust. He clawed his way upwards, away from the rapidly rising lava with his increased grip strength.
Elsewhere…
"It is as I said, Master Tamamo… Cassandra Nereneid has been killed. Monsters who escaped after the battle described a pair of men accompanied by the Monster Lord." The 4 tailed kitsune reiterated, nervous to be standing in front of three of the Heavenly Knights.
"I take it our Lord finally dealt with her, then… It is of no consequence to us." Erubetie shrugged off the news. She had no idea why Tamamo had decided to closely follow the happenings of that hero and his ally.
"I… it wasn't our Lord. Cassandra's maid said the one to do it was um… Giorno Giovanna. He reportedly… drank her blood. And then she turned into dust."
Now she really had their attention, given how each of the three dropped what they were doing.
"I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" Tamamo did a double-take after hearing that line.
"I thought this might happen… So, I visited Succubus Village, the place they went to before Lady's Village. Somehow, those legendary Succubi sisters had been revived because of the Purple Sabbath. And now human men go there to be… you know."
"Really? Guess that place is worth a visit…" Alma put a finger on her chin, already making plans to take a nice break.
"Indulge in your desires later, continue your story." Erubetie insisted, giving the Succubus a funny look.
"Succubus Witch confirmed Ran's observations, the blonde one had monster blood. The ritual to create more Succubi accidentally targeted him as well, causing his monster blood to awaken."
"This is not good. Of all the people in the world to have monster blood, it just had to be that one." Tamamo fanned herself, feeling the beginnings of a headache.
The sudden arrival of a grievously wounded Graberia disrupted the rest of the report.
The bloody mess of a Dragon-kin crashed onto the floor.
"Granberia?!" Everyone present in the meeting attended to their injured comrade.
"What has happened to you?" Erubetie began treating the gaping shoulder wound first, showing an emotion akin to worry.
"It was him… wasn't it?" Tamamo guessed, setting her down on a chair.
"I confronted those two at Salamander's volcano… I wanted to see their growth." The Dragon-kin explained, coughing up some leftover water from her lungs. "Giorno Giovanna fired some kind of eye magic into my shoulder, even set off a volcanic eruption."
"Hold up! He set off a volcano in your fight?" Alma Elma questioned, not believing what she was hearing.
"His abilities with the spirits are just as destructive as your storms too. Firing off lightning at me, creating small pockets of atmospheric bubbles… I'm impressed, even if the circumstances aren't exactly desirable." The wounded monster claimed.
"Luka-boy wouldn't allow this sort of behavior…" Alma pointed out.
"As far as he alluded to, they had a falling out… He wouldn't speak much of it."
"Master Tamamo… Should I redouble my efforts to keep an eye on this male monster?" The four-tailed kitsune asked, somewhat fearful of a positive answer.
"No! Stay far away from him… Spread the word amongst my Kitsune, he is not to be followed or bothered in any way." Tamamo shut down the question immediately.
Giorno Giovanna would kill any and every monster in his path, there was no point in sending anyone to keep an eye on him. All that would accomplish was unnecessary bloodshed.
If he ever showed his face, he would have to be dealt with by the likes of them.
Gold Port, in the middle of the night...
"Boss…?" Drustan looked up from his drink as a familiar blonde barged into the tavern.
All eyes were on him in a few seconds, assessing his very unique appearance.
The very first thing he noticed was the golden hue of his eyes, not the vibrant green first witnessed weeks before.
"Who's this guy?"
"The hell is up with his skin. He looks like a corpse."
Whispers and gossiping filled the tavern, not that the subject of such attention ever cared.
"Report, Drustan. Or do you mean to tell me this is all you've accomplished?" He coldly ordered, standing before the man.
"F-follow me, Boss!" The older man quickly shot up from his seat, ushering the blonde away from the suspicious glances of those around them.
They moved away from the prying eyes of the public around them, moving into a dilapidated building where the rest of his assigned squads had taken refuge.
"Ahem... We've um, got some news for you." One of the men started, handing him a written report on the situation.
"…Go ahead." Giorno began taking a cursory glance at the information.
"Ilias Kreuz is nothing but a shell of its former self, boss. They've got some manpower and lines of production considering their bombing sprees though." His agent started, shifting through some documents.
"…Disappointing. But that would coincide with their lack of presence."
"As far as we can tell, the current leader of Ilias Kreuz wasn't the original one. Former members of their crew spoke about someone called Marcellus."
Luka's father, he said as much in Sabasa. How strange for his son to end up the way he was.
"Right… he was supposedly killed by a vengeful monster. This is information I already know."
"Not just that. When Marcellus died, a bunch of em up and left the organization! Lazarus' new methods weren't popular with these guys at all. As such…"
"There are a number of individuals we could absorb into our own gang… Good work, you did not disappoint." Giorno placed the report down, taking a moment to think this information through.
"And with regards to Lady's- I mean Florence… It now functions as a proper village and base of operations. I'm still shocked you managed to just take it, but I won't question your methods." Drustan added.
"The previous inhabitants were monsters, using the village as some sort of hunting ground to prey on any man who approached them." He explained, awing the members of his gang present.
"Damn… and they've been dealt with permanently?"
"Nice going, boss."
"I mean… we managed to get a couple of people who immigrated in. Rich types of people willing to pay a pretty hefty sum for our 'protection'. Seems more and more people are writing off those nasty rumors now that the problem is dealt with." Drustan smirked, throwing bags of gold on the table.
"Good… Although irrelevant to the matter at hand. What of the Holy Wings I had asked you about?"
"Amira has this!" The Lamia popped out from a trash can in the corner of the room, amusing all the men.
"…You do realize that you're a part of this gang, right? There's no need to hide." Giorno deadpanned.
"Sorry, boss! I managed to find this Holy Wings beast; it was supposedly used as a means of transportation between Hellgondo and Gold Port. It was said that this legendary bird could make days worth of travel in mere hours. But ever since the slaughter of Remina, no one's seen it." She fully popped out from her hiding spot.
"So it's likely been killed 30 years ago…"
"Likely so, but there's still an egg. Just west of here, there exists a shrine with the last egg of the species! But to get it to hatch, one must acquire the six orbs!"
"That will be difficult… Hmm. A legendary bird that could facilitate intercontinental travel? That kind of power would be of incredible benefit to our cause." Giorno began thinking of a way to bypass that limitation. "If I could get my hands on that egg..."
"Amira can be your guide!" The Lamia declared.
"Good… hopefully this next gambit of mine pays off. First the Holy Wings, then Ilias Kreuz."
"Boss? What exactly are you planning on doing with this thing?" One of his men asked.
"Amira's information is always accurate, which means that this bird could be the key to accelerating our development."
"A bird? I get this thing can carry cargo and people between continents, but how exactly is one bird gonna change our lives?"
"Time will tell... We move in the morning. I need you all at your best, we cannot afford to waste this chance." Giorno ordered.
AN:
This is it; the inevitable breakup of the gang has finally happened.
The deaths of the Lava Girl and Dragon Girl have pretty much killed off any hopes of Luka ever wanting to work with him again. His taking a shot at Granberia has iced out Alice, who can't just let one of her top people get killed.
And obviously, the rest of the Heavenly Knights have been alerted.
Giorno's body count will only increase from here on out, he's committed to the spread of his gang and establishing equality.
Also:
The power of the spirits has immense potential, which I think is sorely looked over in favor of sword skills. This has mostly to do with Alma Elma creating storms over an entire ocean which blockaded Ilias Continent. And that was only with the wind and her magical ability.
So now imagine a very intelligent character applying the powers of the spirits like they were a stand ability? Sounds a lot like Weather Report now.
Known abilities thus far:
'Against the wind': Sylph allows Giorno to create atmospheric bubbles which allow him to deflect and tank most attacks.
'Cold as Ice': Freezing his body to around -196 degrees Celsius and applying the wind, Giorno can now create a small area of effect ice attack which can flash freeze those in its wake.
'Ice Breaker': Creating small bubbles using Undine and Sylph, he can freeze these bubbles at the last moment to create deadly explosives that make use of extreme air pressure and ludicrously cold ice fragments.
The same can be done using normal air bubbles, think of Stray Cat from Part 4.
'Greased Lightning': Utilising wind, water, and ice, he can also generate the exact conditions to create raging storm clouds. As a thunderstorm cloud grows, precipitation forms within the cloud. Air movements and collisions between the various types of precipitation in the middle of the cloud cause the precipitation particles to become charged. The lighter ice crystals become positively charged and are carried upward into the upper part of the storm by rising air. When that buildup is too much, it has to be discharged in the form of lightning, sorry for the yap here.
'Stone Heart': Gnome gives him the ability to command any nearby debris and graft them onto his body. Superheating it with Salamander creates a durable shell of armor, much like what Kars did in Part 2.
'Space Ripper Stingy Eyes': Finally makes a return, used as a last-ditch attack against Granberia, and sets off an eruption.