I started updating on Saturdays, but I wanted to get this chapter out now as something as a Black Friday special. The site is still broken, so I can only thank my supposed readers for supporting this story.
Now, to the chapter.
Chapter 68: Frozen Base
After breakfast was redone by Genis, the group once again made their way to the pier, hopefully for the last time. They all settled into the EC as they made the half of day trip to the Renegades' base.
During the trip, Lloyd took the time to clean and sharpened his blades since they would be seeing a lot of heavy fighting today and it was something to do on the long boat trip. While doing so, he finally took notice of Regal and Presea's outfits.
"You two don't have much protection," Lloyd noted. Regal was easily the worst in that regard since he only wore a torn up prison outfit. The thing looked like it would fall apart just by washing it.
Presea was baffled by Lloyd's comment.
"If you mean why I don't wear armor, there is no need," Regal replied. "My current attire is more than fitting for me."
Somehow, Lloyd heavily doubted that. "But that's dangerous. One good hit can kill you." It's actually amazing that he wasn't more hurt during all their tough battles, especially with Sword Dancer and Volt. Was his skin made of steel or something? "At the very least, you can wear robes like Professor Raine and Genis. They don't offer much protection against physical attacks, but they do well against magic."
Regal smiled at Lloyd. "I am touched by your concern, but I will be fine. My training assures that I'm tougher than most."
Lloyd sighed since there was no changing Regal's mind. He turned his attention towards Presea. "What about you?"
"While my dress may look simple, it is reinforced," Presea stated. "It was provided to me by the Church. To get the sacred wood, I had to venture into the forest with many dangerous monsters."
"I see, so your clothing is similar to Colette's," Lloyd said in thought.
"From what I've been told, it's made from the same material as the Chosen's outfit," Presea replied.
That made sense. Zelos would have the same access as Colette, if not more so since the Chosen was treated like royalty in this world. He began to wonder if the Church's material in this world was better than the one in Sylvarant since everything else was more advance.
"What suddenly brought this on?" Regal asked.
"Just concern," Lloyd answered. "My dad made sure that I was well protected since he made my outfit." He pointed at his jacket for emphasizes.
"That would explain why your clothing is unfamiliar to me," Regal said in interest. "Your father's a dwarf, correct?"
"Yeah, he raised me since my mother was killed," Lloyd replied.
"Did your father know you would be going on the Journey of Regeneration?" Presea asked.
"No. He did it because it is dwarven's tradition to make heavy duty clothing once one come of age," Lloyd answered with a note of pride. "I also worked near a furnace, so I needed the heat and fire protection."
"So you can craft metal?" Presea asked further.
Lloyd grumbled. "I wish. Despite working near a furnace for most of my life, dad never let me use it. He said I was too impatient and reckless. That I would burn my hands off."
"I would have to agree with him," Regal replied.
"Not you too, Regal," Lloyd complained. The man barely knew him and was throwing him shade.
"I don't mean it as an insult," Regal quickly rebuked. "I just noticed that your nature doesn't lean itself well to being patient." Remembering how he chose to break opened the security door at the Toize Valley Mine and his liberal used of dynamite. "At the same time, you do know when to focus. Otherwise, you would not have been able to make Presea's key crest."
Lloyd sighed. "Still, I wish more and more that dad taught me how to make a key crest. That way, I could process the inhibitor ore myself and not just crave the charm. The key crests I made for Colette and Presea are far from ideal."
"Maybe he will teach you once you return home," Presea offered. "I am sure you've matured enough during this journey for your dad to show you." She touched her key crest. "After all, you helped save me."
"You think so?" Lloyd asked.
Regal smiled. "I believe so. While I have only known you for a short while, you have grown a lot in just these last couple of days. If your dad sees the man you have become, I am sure he would teach you how to make a key crest and help you save more lives."
Lloyd returned Regal's smile. "Yeah...I guess I can ask once we return to Sylvarant. The worse he can say is no."
He just hope that Sylvarant last long enough until he returned.
The rest of the trip was uneventful and steadily, the temper began to drop until it was near freezing.
Lloyd was shivering as land came into view over the horizon. "I've never felt this cold before."
Regal looked at Lloyd in surprise. "You have been across Sylvarant, correct? Have you not been to any ice regions?"
Lloyd shook his head. "The coldest places we've ever been to was the Asgard region and the desert at night. Even then, it never got this cold."
"Yeah, Sylvarant doesn't have any land covered in ice like this outside of some mountain's tops," Genis stated. He paused for a moment. "In fact, I have noticed that Tethe'alla is generally colder than Sylvarant."
"Really?" Regal asked in interest.
"It's true. Sylvarant is a very warm world," Sheena confirmed. "It actually took me some time to readjust to Tethe'alla's weather."
"I have noticed that too," Raine said, jumping into the conversation. "Does Tethe'alla have a desert region?"
"No, we don't have anything like that here," Zelos answered. "I mean, I've read what a desert is, but one never existed in Tethe'alla as far as I know."
"That's interesting. You know what a desert is, yet one doesn't exist in this world. How is that possible?" Raine asked more to herself.
"Maybe a desert doesn't exist in this world because Efreet is in Sylvarant," Genis surmised.
Raine rubbed her chin. "That does appears to be a sound theory." She turned her attention back to Zelos. "Tell me, does Celsius exists in this world?"
"Yep. Her temple isn't that far from here, which is why the ice never melts here no matter the season," Zelos answered.
"So two opposite summon spirits between two different world, just like Volt and Undine," Raine muttered to herself. "What does it mean?"
"I also noticed that Tethe'alla seems to share the same season as Sylvarant," Genis spoke up in thought. "We started our journey at the very beginning of spring and it was around the middle of summer when we went to the Tower of Salvation. From what I've observe, Tethe'alla also appears to be in mid-summer."
"Yes we are," Zelos confirmed. "Strange, our worlds are opposites in many regards, but we share the same seasons, currency, and even the same main religion."
Raine was beginning to wonder, were Sylvarant and Tethe'alla really separate worlds?
"Well, we can worry about that later," Lloyd said, getting everyone back on task. Besides, his head was starting to hurt listening to them talk. "For now, we should only be concern about the Renegades' base."
"Yes, yes, of course," Raine agreed. For now, she would have to let this one mystery go.
After another hour of sailing, they made landfall on the edge of the ice continent. The temperature was unbearably cold and Lloyd wished he put on an extra shirt under his jacket. While his jacket was well adapted to handled the cold despite being made to withstand extreme heat, the cold wind still cut through him like a knife. He could even feel his toes being turned to ice.
"Geez, if I've known I was coming to the ice continent, I would have brought my fur coat from home," Zelos complained as he got off the EC. Truthfully, he hated being out here for other reasons. The steady fall of snow was making him feel ill.
Sheena felt the same. "I think I'm going to freeze."
"It's rare to hear you complain about the temperature," Genis said. Honestly, Sheena rarely complained at all. She was nothing like Lloyd.
"I like it when it's hot, but I can't stand the cold," Sheena replied, rubbing her arms. "It's one of the things I liked about Sylvarant. The only place unbearable cold was the desert at night."
"You should wear something warmer then," Genis advised, eyeing Sheena's outfit. He noticed for a while that Sheena dressed…lighter compared to the others in her village. Especially in the chest area.
"You're the one that looks like you should be freezing," Sheena countered with an air of annoyance. Seriously, Genis was wearing shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. How wasn't he freezing? She was cold looking at him.
Genis smiled smugly and puffed his chest. "I've gotten used to it."
"I guess kids are more adaptable," Sheena grumbled.
"I don't think you can adapt to this type of weather," Lloyd complained. By the spirits, he wished he brought an extra shirt or a pair of socks. He was starting to lose feeling in his feet. "It's just too cold."
Genis laughed at him. "You're such a wimp, Lloyd."
"It doesn't matter if I'm a wimp or not. It's still cold!" Lloyd exclaimed without a bit of shame.
"Finally someone gets it," Sheena proclaimed.
"Just don't think about it," Genis advised nonchalantly.
"And while I'm on the subject, how can you not be cold wearing short-sleeves and shorts?" Lloyd questioned, voicing what Sheena was previously thinking.
Genis was known to survive the winters in Iselia wearing shorts and no sleeves, but there was one key different. It never snowed in Iselia. The best they got were a few flakes that melted by the afternoon. Heck, he had never seen this much snow in his entire life. Normally, he would have enjoyed this if he wasn't so worried about Colette along with him freezing to death.
Genis said nothing as he took in Lloyd's words. Unlike with Sheena, Lloyd made him realized how vulnerable he was to the elements. "Now that you mention it... I'm starting to feel really cold."
"I see what you mean about thinking about it," Sheena said. The more she thought about being cold, the more cold she got.
"We better find the base before we start to suffer from hypothermia," Raine said with a note of worry. While Genis could handle the cold better than most thanks to his spirit symbol being Celsius, his small body was in real danger of shutting down.
They began the walk and Sheena led the group since she had the map that led to the base's location.
It took only a few minutes before they reached an opening in the mountains that led to a giant steel door. By the door stood Orochi and another person wearing a Desian uniform. What made them standout was that the uniform was green and silver.
"This way!" Orochi shouted as he waved the group over.
Lloyd stared at the person next to Orochi. "Isn't he a Renegade?"
Orochi waved his hand. "Relax. He's one of our people who've infiltrated the Renegades. It's the easiest way to investigate the declining world of Sylvarant."
"Wow! So you guys even keep tabs on Sylvarant," Lloyd noted in awe. The Mizuho information network was indeed vast.
"I'm the guard on duty at the moment. Please go in through the entrance now," the spy ordered with a hint of urgency as he opened the door.
Zelos folded his arms. "Well then, it's time for us to get in there and get those Rheairds." Although, he did find it funny that double agent Yuan allowed a spy to sneak into one of his main bases and it was from one of his former allies to boot. The old man was slipping.
The group followed Orochi inside and quickly made their way out of the main entrance before anyone could see them.
Zelos was both surprised and not surprised to see that Yuan wasn't there to greet them. Since Yuan has apparently been reading the guidebook for supervillains lately, he suspected that Yuan would make his presence known wherever he hid the Rheairds.
They kept walking until they reached what appeared to be a maintenance room.
"There's no time. I'm going to make this quick," Orochi stated bluntly. "The Rheaird Hangar is in the deepest part of this facility. There's only one passage to the hangar."
"Sounds like a piece of cake," Zelos said. Of course Yuan would put the Rheairds in the deepest part of the base. He really was taking tips from a supervillain's guidebook.
"I'm not done," Orochi interrupted before Zelos could say anything else. "Even if you get to the hangar, the door will be shut."
"So it's locked. No surprise," Raine noted. Yuan would never let something as importance as the Rheairds be opened to just anyone.
Orochi nodded. "In order to open that lock, you must enter a passcode."
"Okay, tell us the passcode, then," Lloyd said with an edge of impatient. He was anxious to get the Rheairds and save Colette.
Orochi lowered his eyes. "I'm sorry. We did our best, but we weren't able to get the passcode. But we did find out that there are three passcodes, and each code is in the possession of a different Renegade."
Zelos nearly groaned. Yuan just couldn't make this easy, could he?
Lloyd didn't bothered to hide his frustration. "In other words, we need to catch those three and get them to tell us the passcodes?"
"And how are we supposed to make them talk?" Genis asked in worry.
There was a long, uncomfortable pause. There were 'ways', but none of them were pleasant and no one within the group had the stomach for it.
"You don't have to make them physically talk," Orochi said quickly, knowing what they must be thinking. "They should have the passcode somewhere on their person."
Lloyd sighed. "Well, that makes some things easier. Where can we find them?"
Orochi reached into his pocket and pulled out a map. "We have been able to mark the targets' location. Just follow these directions and you should be fine." He walked over and handed the map to Sheena.
"Thanks," Sheena said as she gave the map a quick glance.
"One last thing. Even if you acquire the Rheairds, it's highly unlikely they'll be able to make the travel to Sylvarant in their current condition," Orochi informed.
"Why?" Lloyd asked.
"The Rheaird dimensional transfer system functions by procuring energy from the Renegade's bases in the two worlds. Flying is not a problem as long as you have Volt, but without the energy charge from the base…" Orochi explained.
"….Then the reason we were able to go from Sylvarant to Tethe'alla was…" Sheena continued for Orochi.
"They must have already been charged with energy. We were lucky," Raine finished.
Lloyd rubbed his head. The bad news just kept piling up, even if he understood none of that. "There's no choice. Right now, we need the ability to fly." Besides, returning to Sylvarant was their lowest priority until they saved Colette.
Raine nodded as if reading Lloyd's thoughts. "Indeed, once we recover Colette, we can worry about returning to Sylvarant."
"Then let's get moving, but try to keep your eyes open," Lloyd said. "We want to make sure we can go as long as possible without the Renegades knowing that we're here."
With their mission set, the group began the slow track through the base. It was very similar to the one in Sylvarant, except it was far more advance.
Lloyd figured it was because of the increased mana within Tethe'alla along with the Renegades in general being stronger here. They, after all, had the ear of the royal family and even the Church, along with a village of ninja as their comrades. In comparison, the Renegades had to pretend to be Desians to do anything in Sylvarant.
"Watch yourself there, bud," Zelos warned as he kept Lloyd from walking within the line of sight of a Renegade patrolling the hallway.
"Too close," Lloyd muttered as he glanced at Zelos. "Thanks." He really needed to stop his mind from wondering.
"Just keep you wits about you," Zelos said. "It's too soon for the party to start."
Presea looked towards Sheena. "Where are we heading?"
"According to Orochi's map, the first Renegade should be stationed not too far from here," Sheena said.
"If they have friends, we're going to need to take them out," Lloyd noted grimly.
"We have no choice if we want to stay under the radar for as long as possible," Raine said.
Within a few minutes, they entered a room that looked very similar to the room where Lloyd met Yuan for the first time. There was a single guard stationed, looking quite bored.
That boredom was shattered when he looked up. "Who are…."
He didn't have the chance to finished the question before Presea charged in and gutted the man with a single swing of her axe. The man was dead before he even hit the floor.
Lloyd was taken aback by the brutality of the kill. When Presea was a near zombie, her ruthless in battle didn't surprised him. Now, with Presea having her emotions back, it was more than a little unsettling to see a little girl cut a full-grown man nearly in half with no hesitation.
"You know, my little rose bud, we should of kept him alive in case we couldn't find the passcode," Zelos pointed out, looking just as disturbed as Lloyd. "Not to mentioned if he did have the passcode on him, you could have damaged it."
Presea paused when she heard this. "I'm sorry. I assumed you wanted no survivors."
Raine dispassionately checked the body and pulled out a sheet of paper. "This much be the passcode. Thankfully, it was undamaged in the attack. But we need to be more careful."
"What does it say?" Genis asked as Raine read the paper.
"The Life of…." Raine read.
"So, it isn't a single word password," Regal noted. "That does make sense. It makes guessing it far harder."
Lloyd turned towards Sheena. "Where to now?"
Sheena looked at her map. "This way."
She led the way and helped the group avoid the cameras that were hidden in the corners. Any Renegade that did managed to spot them was quickly taken down by either Lloyd or Sheena, although both made sure not to kill their attackers.
For Sheena, the Renegades were her former allies and she didn't feel comfortable killing them in cold blood.
As for Lloyd, while he didn't approved of the Renegades' method, they were technically fighting for the same cause and they did saved them at the Tower of Salvation. Although, it was hard to hold back since the Renegades even in Tethe'alla dressed as Desians and Lloyd had long trained himself to kill a Desian on sight.
After another ten minutes of walking the halls, Sheena opened the door to what appeared to be a storage room.
The Renegade in the room was checking boxes when he lifted his head up. "What…."
This time it was Regal who ran in and kicked the Renegade in the face, instantly knocking him out.
"Good job," Lloyd praised as Raine checked the unconscious Renegade.
"Found it," Raine said as she removed the sheet of paper. "Mana is…."
"Just one more then," Genis said.
Sheena glanced at her map and frowned. "The last one is nearly on the other side of the base."
"It's going to be hard to avoid so many people from that distance," Lloyd noted in concern.
"Yeah, but we don't have a choice," Sheena replied as she put up the map. "We can't afford to fight the entire base."
They made their way out of the storage room and began the tedious task to locate the last Renegade with the passcode.
Lloyd sighed. "Man, this place is just big for no apparent reason."
"It is big. This is true," Presea said.
"Why do all these bases have to be so dull? Everything looks the same and the air is so stale that it hurts to breath," Lloyd continued to complain.
"I would assumed that the bases are designed this way to make it hard to navigate for intruders," Regal surmised.
"Yeah, if it wasn't for Orochi's map, we would have be hopelessly lost," Sheena said.
Lloyd knew that from experience from the base near Triet. "Still, I can't imagine anyone who works here feeling comfortable. Not to mentioned, this place remains me too much of the Human Ranch."
"I have to agree," Presea spoke barely above a whisper. "This place….gives me bad memories of the research lab."
"Since Yuan works for Cruxis and by extensions the Desians, I would not be surprise that the Renegades' bases are based on the Ranches," Raine said.
"In either case, the sooner we find the Rheaird, the sooner we can leave this stuffy place and breath fresh air again, while also going somewhere warm" Zelos said, remembering that they were in an ice continent. As stuffy and dull as this place was, he take this over snow any day.
They walked until they entered a large computer room. Unlike the other rooms they've visited, this one was filled with Renegades. They quickly had to duck down behind some crates to keep from being caught.
Lloyd groaned. "Looks like we're going to have to take out the entire room."
Sheena looked up and spotted where every camera was at. "Just give me a moment to disable the security."
Without making a sound, Sheena broke away from the group and moved along the shadows of the walls. Quickly and quietly, she used her paper to cover the camera's lens. This way, she wouldn't set off any hidden alarms that the cameras may have in the event that they were damaged. It also reduced the risks of being caught since breaking stuff tended to make a lot of noise.
Once the last camera was disable, she gave the signal to Lloyd and the others.
Lloyd stepped forward into the opening, seeing no point of hiding himself now. "Demon Fang!" he yelled as he released a wave of mana that instantly disabled the nearest Renegade soldier.
"Intruders!" a Renegade yelled in alert. He ran to a nearly corner to pressed a button, but he was headed off by Zelos.
"I think not, Light Spear!" Zelos shouted as he lifted the Renegade into the air and slammed him back down with the tip of his sword.
One of the Renegades managed to activate several robot-like flying saucers and send them towards Lloyd.
They didn't get far before Presea charged in and slammed her axe into one of the machines, crushing it instantly.
Regal followed her lead. "Crescent Moon!" he shouted as he back-flip kicked the robot into the air and finished it with an Eagle Dive, smashing it to pieces on the floor.
"What are these people?" one Renegade asked in disbelief from the display of power.
"Stalagmite!"
Before the Renegade could move, he was hit several times by sharp rocks coming out of the floor.
Within less than a minute, every Renegade in the area was disabled. The battle was so one-sided that Raine didn't even have to heal anyone.
"Well, that was easy," Lloyd said as he sheathed his swords.
He was actually shocked by how effortlessly they dispatched the Renegades. These guys gave him a lot of trouble back in Sylvarant and that big guy back in Iselia nearly killed him along with Colette and Genis. Then again, after fighting two Grand Cardinals, an angel, Kratos, Sword Dancer, and two summoning spirits, the rank-and-file Renegade felt like easy mode.
With the room cleared, Raine took her time checking each Renegade for the passcode.
"Here it is," Raine said after checking half the room. "The Foundation of the World."
Lloyd nodded his head. "So the entire passcode is: 'The Life of Mana is the Foundation of the World', right?"
"That seems to be the case," Raine said as she wrote this down in her notebook.
Zelos scoffed. "How needlessly longwinded."
"Well, it's definitely not a passcode one would guess," Genis teased.
"Well, whatever. We finally have it and that's all that matters," Zelos said as he brushed some hair from his face.
Lloyd turned towards Sheena. "Okay Sheena, lead us to the hanger."
"You got it," Sheena said. She took the map back out and led them to the furthest side of the base and up several elevators. Thankfully, the security seemed lesser in this area.
"The roots of the technology possessed by the Renegades are the same as the Cruxis, right?" Genis asked Sheena.
He found the entire base to be fascinating. He wished they could stop for a little awhile so he could explore the computers. At the same time, he also found this place disturbing by how cold and distracted everything felt.
"I guess they are," Sheena answered with a small shrug.
Genis' eyes became downcast as a thought occurred to him. "Then, I wonder if these guys make exspheres too."
He didn't want to believe that the Renegades could do something so cruel. They may dressed as Desians, but they were completely against Cruxis. They also didn't seem to hold any human prisoners to awakening the exspheres.
At the same time, the Renegades would be fools not to make the exspheres. As much as he loathed them, exspheres were the reason they could fight. They were the reason why he learned mid-level spells so fast. Because of his exsphere he went from casting Fire Ball to casting Spiral Flare and Explosion in just a few months, something that he didn't think he could do until he was at least a teenager.
It was a cruel and twisted sense of irony, especially since he personally knew the life he carried.
At the thought of Marble, he unconsciously touched his exsphere, which pulsed against his pale skin. Marble died to protect him, and now her very life gave him the strength to fight her murderers so others wouldn't suffer. It was a responsibility he didn't take lightly.
"Yeah...they may be," Sheena answered after a long paused. Like Genis, she unconsciously touched her exsphere.
Unlike him, she had no clue whose life this was. She wished with every fiber of her being that she did. She wanted to know whose life she was indebted to. Were they a male or female? Did they have a family? What were they like? How much did they suffered during their final days? Sadly, these were questions that not even Mizuho could answer.
Whoever this person was, she swore that their death would have some meaning, by ending the system that killed them. It maybe a cold comfort for this poor soul, but it was the only thing she could do for them.
After several minutes, they finally reached the top of the base. There, they saw a large door with a keypad on the side.
"This is it," Sheena informed as she put the map up.
Raine looked concerned.
"What's wrong?" Lloyd asked his teacher.
"This seems too easy," Raine replied.
Regal frowned. "I have to agree. It's odd we haven't met with more resistance."
"But I thought it was because we made sure no one could sound the alarm," Genis said.
"Even sure, the security is too lacks," Regal said.
Lloyd folded his arms. "There's no way they could have known we were coming, right?"
"It is….unlikely," Raine answered slowly. What she didn't want to say was if they did know that they were here, that would mean someone told them. In other words, they had a spy.
She loathed to think that anyone among them could be the traitor, but after Kratos, that was definitely a possibility.
She did a quick glanced of the group.
The most obvious person was Regal, but he was sent by the Pope. As far as she knew, the Renegades and the Pope had no relationship since their goals didn't aligned outside of stopping Sylvarant's regeneration. Regal also seemed too….honest to be a spy despite holding secrets from them.
Presea was a near zombie until recently and was a child. There was no way it could be her.
It could be Sheena since she alongside Mizuho were allies to the Renegades. They could have pretended to have terminated their alliance with the Renegades to lead them into a trap. Overall, they were the most likely culprits.
Still…after everything that has happened, she couldn't believe that Sheena was a traitor. Perhaps she was being sentimental and too much of Lloyd was rubbing off on her, but she couldn't see Sheena betraying them even if it was by order of her village.
Most likely, someone else from Mizuho gave them away. The question was, was it a single individual or the wishes of the entire village.
Maybe she was getting ahead of herself.
She glanced at Zelos. Could he…?
"Even still, we need to get to the Rheairds. Colette's life hangs in the balance," Lloyd said as he turned toward Raine, knocking her out of her thoughts. "Professor. Please enter the passcode."
Raine nodded, putting the idea of a possible traitor in the back of her mind. If this was a trap, it was too late to turn back now.
She walked to the keypad and carefully entered the passcode.
There was a loud beep. "Disengaging lock," an electric voice spoke and the door opened.
The group filed in and saw the Rheairds lined up perfectly along the hanger.
"So you've come, like moths to the flame," a voice mocked.
They turned to see Yuan standing patiently by a wall. On the other side of the room was Botta with his weapon drawn.
Raine narrowed her eyes. So, it was indeed a trap. Now she was almost certain that there was a traitor among them.
While Raine was musing to herself, Yuan walked towards Lloyd with a satisfied smirk.
"Do you ever say anything original?" Lloyd asked the half-elf, showing no fear of the man.
Zelos chuckled at Lloyd's assessment. "You gotta admit, that line is seriously clichéd."
Yuan narrowed his eyes. "I see your attitudes haven't changed. But your impudence ends here!" He took out his Shollow and charged Lloyd, trying to take him out first.
Lloyd was ready and deflected the Shollow with ease his swords. He unsheathed them so fast that Yuan didn't even catch the movement.
Yuan's eyes widened in shock. "He saw through my movements!? Has his power really grown that much since they fought Pronyma!?"
Botta ran over to help his master, but he was intercepted by Zelos who used his shield to push him aside.
"Stay out of this, Chosen of Tethe'alla," Botta warned.
Zelos smirked at him. "You know I can't do that."
Botta narrowed his eyes. "Then, I will show you no quarter."
While he was distracted, Genis finished chanting his spell. "Ice Tornado!"
Botta quickly retreated before the tornado of ice hit him.
"Pyre Seal!" Sheena shouted as he paper cut into Botta's skin, but did only minimum to the half-elf.
While this was happening, Lloyd was still holding off Yuan by himself. While he was able to deflect and block the Renegades leader's attacks, he was unable to score any hits on him. They were in a deadlock.
"To think you have already become this power," Yuan complimented. "But this ends here!" He backed away from Lloyd and began to chant.
Regal ran in to stop the spell, but he was surprised to see that Yuan was able to dodged his attacks while still chanting. "Nice try, Lightning Havoc!" he shouted as Regal was knocked aside by a chain of lightning.
Lloyd winced when he saw the lightning, but quickly suppressed his fear. He refused to let anyone else die on his watch!
With Regal taking care of Yuan quickly followed up his attack with a Thunder Blade right at Lloyd.
Lloyd quickly put up a Guardian to lessened the damage, but he was still blown back. However, after fighting Volt, Yuan's lightning attacks were like a tickle in comparison. That said, Lloyd was surprised that Yuan could do two powerful spells so close together. He suppose the shouldn't expect anything less from one of the Four Seraphim. After all, he was by all accounts Kratos' equal.
Raine finished her own spell. "Acuteness!"
Everyone's weapon's glowered as Raine's magic washed over them.
Presea used this opportunity to attack Botta. "Fiery Destruction!"
She struck the ground before her, causing rocks to blast toward the Botta. He easily deflected them, but was nearly cut in half when Presea took advantage of his blindspot and jumped into the air and did an upward cut to his midsection.
Presea still wasn't done as she ready her axe again. "Finality Punishment!" She swung the axe in the air like a stick in an attempt to slice Botta into pieces.
Botta quickly countered with a Stalagmite, forcing Presea to jump back.
"That girl is dangerous," Botta muttered to himself. Unlike the others, she aimed to kill.
On the other side of the room, Lloyd attempted to disarm Yuan with a Demonic Chaos, but the half-elf was able to deflect each of the three blows with his own Guardian. He was surprised, however, to see his shield crack from the sheer power of the technique.
The moment Yuan dropped his Guardian, he gave a battle cry and thrusted his Shollow at Lloyd. "Lightning Thrust!"
Lloyd barely had time to dodged as the bolt of lightning stuck at him. "Demonic Thrust!" He sent several waves of mana at Yuan who easily parried them. While he was distracted, Lloyd ran in for a thrust, but Yuan saw that coming and side-stepped it.
"Thunder Explosion!" Yuan shouted as he jumped into the air and thrusted his Shollow downwards, Lloyd was knocked off his feet from the sheer force of the lightning blast.
Before Yuan could take advantage of Lloyd's helplessness, Regal charged in and kicked the Renegade leader in the stomach, forcing him back.
Yuan was left breathless for a moment as he examined the damage. He didn't think a mere human was capable of such raw force even with an exsphere. It actually dented his armor. No, more than that. If he wasn't wearing armor, Regal would have shattered his ribcage.
"Spin Kick!" Regal yelled as he attempted to knock Yuan upside his head with a spinning kick.
Yuan ducked the attack at the very last second and knocked Regal aside with his Shollow. "This is getting old," he complained as he charged another spell.
Lloyd's eyes widened in horror. That aura was just like Volt's when he did that Indignation spell. His trembling body also told him it was a very powerful lightning attack.
"Everyone, brace yourselves!" Lloyd called in warning.
"Field Barrier!" Raine shouted just before Yuan unleashed Indignation on them.
While it wasn't as powerful as Volt's, it still knocked everyone off their feet.
"Sheesh, I had enough lightning for one week," Zelos complained as he quickly chanted. "Healing Wind!"
Regal also helped with a Healer to Lloyd since he took the blunt end of the attack.
"Thanks…" Lloyd groaned.
"Be on guard, the fight isn't over," Regal warned as he faced Yuan.
Sheena growled as she picked herself up and was nearly beheaded by Botta. She quickly fought back, but Botta dodged most of her attacks with ease. To make matters more annoying, the attacks that did hit did little damage to the half-elf. The guy was a stone wall.
"Pathetic. No wonder you failed to kill the Chosen," Botta sneered as he viciously kicked Sheena, sending her flying into the floor.
Before he could follow up, Presea stopped him and nearly took Botta's hand off with a single axe swing.
Sheena rubbed her sore stomach and stared at the floor in helplessness. She wanted to used one of her summons, but Volt and Undine were an ill-match here. Yuan's element was obviously lightning, so he wouldn't be as effected by Volt and he would have the advantage over Undine. She could summoned either against Botta since his element appeared to be earth, but Yuan could easily interfere. She wished Corrine was here as a distraction.
Her eyes became downcast at the thought of her falling friend.
"Keep it together, Sheena!" Zelos called as he blocked a strike from Botta that was aimed right at her. "This isn't the time for your mind to wonder!"
Sheena quickly got out of her stupor. "Ri….right!" Even without Corrine, she must carry on. For both of their sakes. "Mirage Seal Absolute!"
The card hit, lowering Botta's accuracy.
That didn't stop the half-elf from preparing a spell. "Ground Dasher!"
A charm opened up under Sheena and Zelos' feet. Before the sharp rocks of stalagmite could impale them, Zelos pushed both himself and Sheena out of harm's way.
"May the merciless embrace of frost take you. Absolute!" Genis shouted as several jagged ice nearly skewered Botta who just barely jumped out of the way.
"Earth Bite!" Botta yelled.
Genis didn't have time to react as a sphere of electricity surrounded him. While he was being shocked, the floor under him erupted and he was tossed into the air like a rag doll.
"Genis!" Raine screamed as quickly prepared a healing spell.
Yuan saw what she was doing. "I don't think so!" He attempted to cast Thunder Blade, but was interrupted by Lloyd.
"You're fighting me!" Lloyd growled as he brought his swords down on Yuan's head, forcing the older man to block him.
Yuan realized that for some reason, Lloyd's swords were on fire. "Did he set his swords ablaze using fiction from the steel floor?"
This gave Raine the time needed to finished casting Cure on Genis.
Genis groaned as he regained consciousness. "What happened?"
Zelos jumped in front of the young mage and cast Guardian to protect him from another one of Botta's spells. "This guy is a real pain in the ass."
"None of you shall escape!" Botta shouted as he ran in to take out Zelos and Genis.
Before he could reached them, an axe come down on him. He instinctually put his sword up to block, but was shocked when the axe slammed so hard that it actually cracked his sword.
"What the…." Botta started.
Sheena used this opportunity while he was flustered to attack. "Force Seal!"
A whirlwind of paper encircled Botta, nearly knocked him off his feet. Presea saw it as her chance.
"Rising Punishment!" she shouted. She spun around vertically several times in the air and hit Botta's sword, shattering it.
While this was happening, Zelos moved in for the finishing blow. "Lightning Blade!" He stabbed Botta in the midsection and lightning raced through his body.
Genis was sure not to be left behind. "Thunder Blade!" Adding to Zelos' lighting attack.
Botta gave a cry of pain before he collapsed.
Yuan saw what happened to Botta from the side of his eye and sneered. He needed to end this fast. He prepared another Indignation.
"I won't let you!" Lloyd yelled as he used Demonic Tiger Blade.
Yuan avoided the attack, but was knocked down by Regal's Eagle Fall.
"Demonic Circle!" Lloyd shouted. He swung his two swords in a circle and slammed them down into Yuan, who recovered just enough from Regal's assault to block it.
The floor buckled and was torn apart from under Yuan's feet as the sheer force of the attack pushed him into the floor. He felt his Shollow shake violently and his arms tremble.
"What the hell is this power? And this attack….this is Crimson's technique! The strongest attack of the Aurion's two-hand style!" Yuan thought in shock. From the corner of his eye, he could see Lloyd's exsphere glowing. Not just that…..Lloyd himself was also dimly glowing with it.
After a few seconds, Yuan managed to break away, but Lloyd followed him, once again scrapping his swords against the floor to set them on fire.
"Hunting Beast!" Lloyd yelled, slamming his shoulder into Yuan and causing his mana to explode into a flaming beast's head. While Yuan was staggered, Lloyd flipped into the air and dropped down, creating a powerful, fiery shockwave with his swords that sent Yuan skidding across the metal floor like it was made of ice.
Despite the ferocity of all the attacks, Yuan managed to regain his bearings and stared at Lloyd with awe. "That exsphere…to think that it's really evolving…"
Lloyd froze when he heard Yuan's words. "My exsphere?"
Yuan chose not to answer him. Between the boy's rapidly awakening power and now his exsphere evolving, he was put in a dire situation. Not only that, but the boy's allies were all formable with several healers.
He sneered. He had no choice. He had to unleashed the power of his Cruxis Crystal. He risked Cruxis sensing him, but he couldn't win at the rate he was going.
Before he could do it, however, the entire base began to shake.
"What is this shaking!?" Yuan asked in shocked.
Regal quickly walked up to Lloyd. "Now's our chance! Let's take the Rheairds while Yuan is distracted!"
Lloyd nodded in agreement as he sheathed his swords.
The group rushed to the Rheairds that were somehow undamaged from the fierce battle and quickly paired up, except Lloyd who drove his own Rheaird, and flew out of the base. Yuan made no move to stop them as he stared blankly at the open hanger.
A minute after they left, Botta managed to peel himself off the floor and limped over to Yuan. The earthquake had lessened, but the room was still trembling.
Despite being somewhat out of it, Botta knew what must had happened. "Sir! This earthquake! Could a mana link have been broken?"
"Possibly," Yuan whispered before he finally clear his head. "Investigate the cause of this earthquake immediately!"
"What shall we do about the Rheairds?" Botta asked. He felt a deep shame losing to Lloyd's group twice. This time, he didn't have Kratos as an excuse for his failure.
"It doesn't matter. Let them go," Yuan replied in a dismissive tone. "Our little friend can tell us where they are at any time."
"You really trust the Chosen?" Botta asked in disbelief.
"Hell no, but right now he is our only eyes we have on Lloyd's group," Yuan stated bluntly before he crossed his arms. "Besides, if this little fiasco has taught us anything, it is that we can no longer approach the Angelus casually. He actually matches me in combat and he is protected by several powerful allies. And….he will only become much stronger."
Botta was quiet for a moment. "But you can still beat him with the Cruxis Crystal, correct?"
"And risk exposing myself to Yggdrasill," Yuan mocked. "No, if we do engage the Angelus again more…..underhanded tactics will be needed."
"I see," Botta replied softly.
"But we will cross that bridge when we get there," Yuan said, rubbing his chin. "If it is true that a mana link has been broken, we may no longer need the Angelus. In fact, he may even become a willing ally."
Unlike in the game where Yuan suffered a complete defeat from Lloyd's group, I changed it to more of a draw. I personally found it odd that Yuan and Kratos should be about equal power-wise, but Yuan loses hard by only the mid-point, even if he wasn't fighting as an angel.
In other news, next chapter we will finally rescue Colette. Hopefully, it won't be next year.
Until next time, take care and enjoy the Thanksgiving weekend for those who celebrate this holiday.