The rain was still heavy. Hubert pointed his pistol at the downed Kagura's forehead. The Mermaid had a deep wound in her stomach from the stabbing, and a brutal wound along her midsection from the following slash; all while lying in a small puddle of her own blood within the heavy rain. Hubert didn't seem to mind however, he just stood over her with a slight grin. "Goodbye." Clicking the trigger, a Scarlet Salvo bullet flying from the barrel towards Kagura, the loud BANG echoing throughout the entire island; just before the bullet could hit, a wind arrow intercepted and destroyed it. "What?" Turning around, the Empryean was immediately met with a fist covered in black wind, causing him to stagger backwards before regaining his footing. "Oh?"
"Are we good!?" Raven questioned while standing in front of Kagura's injured body.
"We're okay!" Chelia nodded while sliding across the muddy ground, giving Hubert the death glare. "Is she conscious?! Is she breathing!?"
"No! And that's a little hard to tell…" Raven responded while kneeling to examine Kagura. "We have to give her first aid as soon as possible!"
"Children on the battlefield?" Hubert questioned while adjusting his glasses; they were askew after Chelia's blow to his face. "You don't belong here, least of all not on this island. Go back home and play with your toys, children. Leave the grown up business to the adults."
"We aren't children!" Chelia exclaimed with an angered visage. "I'm 16! And you shouldn't underestimate what we can do!" In order to protect and save Kagura, Chelia was more than willing to take on Hubert with Raven at her side. She sped across the wet ground, black wind swirling around her leg. With a front flip, Chelia extended her leg forward, aiming to slam it into Hubert's midsection. "HA!"
"Determined children, nonetheless…" Hubert sighed as Chelia neared him. Without putting much effort into it, he crossed his arms to defend against Chelia's kick. As it turns out, he slightly underestimated the Sky Goddess and slid across the ground a few feet. Chelia then flipped away to prepare for another attack, that's when Hubert aimed a single pistol at the pinkette….however, just before he could hit the trigger, an arrow of wind flew past his arm, causing him to withdraw. "Tch…A sniper?" He glanced at Raven who had his bow at the ready, pointing his pistol over to him. "Very well, I'll take you out first."
"I think not!" Chelia yelled while appearing in Hubert's face again, black wind wrapped around her fist. "I'm your opponent! Sky God's Iron Knuckle!" Chelia swung her fist towards Hubert's face; however he blocked it with his shifted swords in an X formation. The two were in a stalemate for a few seconds before Hubert's physical strength was more than enough to push Chelia away, sending her skidding across the ground. Chelia placed one palm on the ground to slow her momentum while drawing her free hand back, a spiral of black wind appearing around her palm. "Sky God's Whirlwind!" As soon as she came to a halt, the pinkette threw her arm forward, releasing a widespread black whirlwind towards Hubert that destroyed some of the trees nearby.
Hubert was unfazed, though secretly impressed by the magical power such a little body possessed. Clicking his swords back into the dual sided lance, Hubert began to spin the lance in a rapid counterclockwise motion. "Gale Fang!" The rotation of his lance was more than enough to defend against the Whirlwind, forcing it to disperse. Immediately after this Hubert took a step forward to dash at Chelia, but was halted by another wind arrow that grazed his chest. It wasn't that he forgot about Raven…it was just he couldn't take his eyes off either of them. Chelia attacked and as soon as she was done, Raven covered her with perfect timing; as a result, whenever Hubert attempted to remove Raven from the equation, Chelia followed up with an attack to cover him, thus the pattern continued. "Intriguing…" Hubert's tone was slightly annoyed but impressed at the same time. "Such a tactic could not be employed unless there is strong mutual trust involved…" The way he spoke, it was as if he'd seen this tactic before and that it was nothing new. Perhaps that was why he was only slightly annoyed?
"You don't need to tell us what we already know." Raven replied with a slight grin, because Hubert looked too into his theory to be paying attention to the battle.
Chelia took to the air, a spiral of black wind appearing within her very palm as she closed the distance between herself and Huber yet again. "You've let your guard down!" Once she was close enough, she twisted her body while throwing her palm forward, unleashing a gigantic twister of black wind that tore apart everything within a mile radius. "Sky God's Boreas!" The widespread destruction of one move left its mark on the forest, cutting down trees and leaving a large crevasse in the soaked ground, all while creating a cloud of smoke lingering in the area. The Sky God landed on her feet, staring intently into the smoke…all was come for what seemed like minutes, so she relaxed slightly before looking at Raven. "I think I got him…let's start carrying her back."
"Nice one…!" Raven pumped his fist at Chelia's direct hit. He then glanced at Kagura, leaning down to begin lifting her up. "G-Geez…she's heavy…"
"Careful…!" Chelia chided Raven in his technique of lifting up the fatally injured Kagura. "Her injuries are without a doubt mortal…you have to move her slowly otherwise…" She trailed off, knowing Raven caught the gist.
"Right…right…" Raven nodded slowly. He attempted to lift Kagura once again, slowly this time. Unfortunately, a blood red bullet pierced right through his side once he was open. The male's eyes widened before he dropped Kagura, falling to his knees with his hand over his injured side. "G-GAAAH!"
Chelia's eyes widened upon seeing Raven hit. "R-RAVEN!" She had no time to worry about her the wind mage, for Hubert's heel slammed directly into her temple, the physical strength of the Empyrean sending her tumbling roughly across the ground before coming to a halt on her stomach. "Ack…"
"You let your guard down." Hubert said whilst using his middle and index fingers to adjust his glasses; his outfit had some tears and his skin showed bruising, but otherwise he was fine after taking a direct hit from Chelia. "Because your high level of trust left you vulnerable." With a shrug, he raised the dual lance into the air, slowly beginning to twirl it. "You are strong children, I must admit…but children are children, and you should be in school instead of risking your lives for this woman. And as such, I will be your teacher. Today, we have a science lesson. We're going to see how impure this rain is." As he spoke, the darkened clouds above began to spark with lightning, much more than usual.
"N-No…!" Oh, Chelia knew exactly where this was going. She was dizzy but attempted to scramble up to her feet to stop Hubert, but it was far too late.
"Thunder Bringer." With his lance twirling around, the clouds above dropped several bolts of lightning down on the surrounding area. Two of them landed directly onto the soaked Raven and Chelia, the damage amplified. The two let out screams of pain before falling onto the ground once again. "Very impure. Congratulations, you both passed with flying colors."
"W-Who is this guy…" Raven winced while using his good arm to push himself up.
"He's…strong…" Chelia panted while pushing herself up to a knee. A soft light began to appear around her body as her Sky God's Healing Spell took effect.
"No no, we can't have that." Hubert shook his head while pulling the blades apart, shifting them into pistols again, only this time he merged the two together to form a large cannon.
"Chelia, look out!" Raven shouted…but Hubert wasn't aiming at Chelia. He was aiming at him and Kagura. "…ACK!"
"Colonel Cannon!" Hubert clicked the trigger, unleashing a massive beam of raw magic towards Raven and Kagura; the beam sped through the air at an incredible speed while utterly annihilating the ground it traveled over. Something that huge would no doubt spell the end for the both of them.
"NO!" Chelia sprang forward, sliding to a halt a few yards between both parties; her cheeks inflated and she quickly threw her head forward, unleashing a tornado of black wind from her mouth. It clashed with the Colonel Cannon and it looked like Chelia was not going to win, but mustering all the strength she could she forced her head to the side, slowly diverting the blast from Raven and Kagura. She only lasted seconds before the Cannon broke through her Bellow and completely consumed her; where she could only let out a pained scream.
"CHELIA!" Raven shouted in worry, but the pain running through his body was far too much for him to even move. "D-Damn it…"
"I-….I'm okay…" Chelia mumbled into the ground. Her body shook as she attempted to bring herself to her hands and knees, but she was exhausted. "I can…still move…we have to…save Kagura…"
"S-Stop pushing yourself…you know your body can't handle it…!" Raven's concern was warranted considering Chelia's condition was far beyond normal due to prior events.
"Now, now, children…" Hubert shook his head while aiming his separate pistols at Chelia and Raven. "You both look tired…let me tuck you in." Two bullets were fired, one for both wind mages. Though just before they hit, two more bullets intercepted those, resulting in a clash. "Oh?"
"Reckless brats…" There was Mii, wearing a disapproving expression with Purple Pot in her hands. "What the hell were you thinking going off on your own like that!?"
"M-Mii…!?" Raven and Chelia exclaimed in unison.
"Can we wrap this up? This rain is starting to ruin my hair…" She stared at the two kids before glancing at Hubert. "Mind letting us go? We're kind of in a hurry."
"I can do no such thing. Since you all wish to interfere and save the fallen Mermaid, I'll give all who oppose me the same treatment." Hubert replied, though he was immediately forced to leap back due to a large bullet Mii sent his way. "Ah…Purple Pot…that gun is unique…just how did you acquire such a rarity?"
"That doesn't matter!" Mii said with a growing smirk, keeping the pressure on Hubert by clicking the trigger of the rare pistol repeatedly, unleashing large emerald bullets in his direction. Each one had extremely powerful explosive capabilities and she had the magic to spare when it came to using them.
"Radial Arc!" This was where Hubert found the time to spray concussive bullets everywhere, colliding with Mii's Purple Pot shots. The multiple explosions created a large smoke cloud while shaking the area.
"Ah…" Mii wasn't sure if she got him or not.
"The smoke is cover…!" Chelia cried out.
"Huh!?" Mii wasn't sure where Hubert was going to strike, but that was made clear the minute a Scarlet Salvo bullet pierced right through her left shoulder; blood began running down Mii's arm and her eyes widened. "G-GAH…?!" And then she smiled. "Just kidding!"
"Mii, your arm…" Raven stared as the female's skin was literally soaked with the crimson liquid.
"Ha…this is nothing…! I don't feel a thing!" Mii grunted with a sly grin stretching along her lips. She dropped Purple Pot, allowing it to fade to golden fuzz while replacing the pistol with her large shotgun: Dragon Hadlar. "Now, watch me work!" Knees bent before taking off to the sky, gripping the shotgun by its handle. With a small cry Mii brought the barrel of the dual shotgun down on Hubert. The Empyrean leapt away just as the large explosion occurred from impact.
"You missed." Hubert stated, though he quickly saw Mii's goal. The trees that didn't get destroyed in the previous battle collapsed in front of him, blocking him off from the others. "Ah…"
"Hurry…!" Mii said while lifting Kagura up slowly, having a little difficultly because she didn't expect the female to be as heavy as she was. "Oof…she's pretty heavy for someone so slim…how does she do it…?" Shaking her head, she stared at Chelia and Raven. "Hurry up, before he breaks down those trees! Grab her sword too!"
"O-On it…" Chelia grabbed Archenemy from the ground; she and Raven used each other for supports to walk as they all hurried back to the cave where the others were.
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"The Sacred Gem…" Lucius snapped his fingers, activating some sort of lacrima to give the other remaining Commandants a holographic image of the gem. "This Gem is important for more reasons than one. For starters, this is the Gem that was said to keep this island afloat in the sky…but due to the powers of a certain someone, this island has fallen. That certain someone happens to be The Chosen, the one said to control the fate of this island."
Upon hearing that, Hisui's eyes widened. She knew exactly who The Chosen was. "Mii…" She mumbled under her breath. Laura was keeping an eye on her and saw her mumble, but thankfully the blonde didn't opt to say anything just yet.
"This Chosen…" Brax folded his arms. "Do we know who they are?"
"Mii. I believe she lies at the center of this." Lucius commented. "She is The Chosen of this island, meaning her decisions will ultimately decide the fate of this area today. Whether she is aware of this or not is unknown…however, based on what you've told us, Lucius…she seems to be aware that the dragons are on the winning side."
"Gotta wonder if she's planning on leading the war by the dragon's side…" Brax shrugged.
"Who knows what that woman is thinking…" Hisui muttered once again under her breath, though this time Laura wasn't letting her slide.
"What was that, Princess?" Laura sneered at the Jade Princess. "Is there something you want to share with the rest of the class?"
"W-Well…N-Not exactly…uhm…" Hisui stammered before coughing a few times. "I-I just know Mii…she's not as…noble a person as you might think…considering her role…"
"Oh?" Xen was going to probe Hisui for whatever information she had on Mii. "Go on."
"A-Ah…" Talk about being put on the spot…not like she had a choice. She began coughing profusely, feeling the pressure affecting her sickness.
"You can't cough your way out of every question!" Laura glared at the princess.
"My apologies…" Hisui was aware of this, but it was worth a try. "She's incredibly nonchalant about everything…quite, em…perverted…and she doesn't seem to take anything very seriously. She flops sides a lot…"
"Is that so?" Lucius quipped. "Now that I think about it…that female was rather…interesting. She doesn't seem like anyone who has the right to play a large factor in an island's fate…but we've no say in that. How strange, though. I laid eyes upon her, yet she did not seem to react to me in the manner I expected."
"Are we sure that's the same girl that?" Laura asked.
"Positive." Lucius replied. "I would recognize her anywhere."
"Do...they know Mii!?" Hisui thought to herself.
"The Chosen also reacts to the Sacred Gem. I suppose that's how this island fell in the first place. But I believe there's one more important piece of this puzzle that benefits us greatly…" Xen said as a growing smile appeared on his lips. "Is it true that the life of the Black Dragon King is tied to this very Gem?"
"Correct." Lucius nodded. "The Sacred Gem is what binds Dhegensea to this life. That was binding trust between Dhegensea and Yggdrasil. The Eternal Sword is a vow of friendship, and the Scared Gem is the vow of trust. It was made with Yggdrasil's own power. Should it be broken…he will lose all his power and die. That would be a great boon for those who came on the island to stop him…but for us; this presents us with…another opportunity. Once we grab a hold of the Scared Gem, we can use this to threaten Dhegensea and gain control of the dragons! So then…we can overthrow King Ashnard." These words brought grins to the faces of Xen, Lucius, Brax, and Laura.
Hisui, on the other hand, was frozen in shock. They planned to overthrow their own King!? She heard stories of the tyrant that was Ashnard…how he ruled over Pergrande with an iron fist with the 13 Commandants and the 4 generals who were much stronger than them. Why would they turn on him?! "…" For once, her silence was a good thing…for she could not even say a word.
"What about the other 7?" Brax questioned.
"If they know what's good for them, they'll join us in our attempt to overthrow the King and rule Pergrande." Xen nodded.
"Hahaha!" Brax laughed softly. "My old man, Rubicante, is going to have a heart attack when he sees what we're up to. I don't intend to live in the Shadows of the Four Generals forever."
"Oh, I can't wait until we snag that Gem!" Laura's eyes lit up with excitement. "Then I can finally pay 'Lady' Nercon back for putting me in that horrid business…maybe I'll take over and show her what it's like to be thrown around between men like a sexdoll…" Her hand clenched into a fist just thinking about it. She was glad to be out of that business for now, but Nercon's words still lingered in her head…if she failed it was back to business.
"Now, I wouldn't let the Lady hear you say that," Brax warned. "After all, I heard she treats the gals well! …As long as they listen, anyway. You do listen, right?"
"….." Laura huffed before turning her head away. "We're going to overthrow the King and those stuck up Generals! It may be treason to the highest degree but we've earned this! And what about that traitor!? That blonde is still on this island!"
"Ah yes, mustn't forget about her. Least of all we come and finish out actual mission…" Lucius nodded. "Xen, Laura, why don't you two take care of that? I'm sure the both of you will get some enjoyment out of the encounter."
"Fine with me." Laura said while waving a hand. "If we use that power she has, I can actually see us getting an upperhand on Ashnard anyway."
"I will continue escorting this lovely princess to the castle to meet with the King. He may be down…but he isn't out. Nothing can kill Dhegensea unless it attacks the Scared Gem itself…there may be other exceptions, such as that rumored Eternal Sword…but there isn't a person alive who is capable of wielding it." Lucius said while gesturing for Hisui to stand, which she did. Again, she had no choice while around so many foes.
"I suppose I'll just spice things up a bit…" Brax chuckled. "Boy man, this rain is really putting a damper on things…and we're on a time limit, aren't we? Only a few hours until that cannon fires?"
"Yes, we'll need to act quickly." Lucius responded. "Commandants, fall out."
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"I think it's starting to crack…" Venoma said while poking the shell of light around Dhegensea; however she received a massive shock in the process and staggered back while rubbing her hand. "Ouch…! Damn it…"
"He will not die." Eizen spoke calmly. "There are only two things capable of truly killing our King, if you've forgotten."
"Don't talk to me as if I don't know!" Venoma huffed. "The Eternal Sword and the Sacred Gem…though the latter is more effective considering no one can wield that blasted sword. I would've thrown it out a long time ago if a dragon could touch it…"
"Precisely…though it's worrisome he's been encapsulated within that shell for a long time now…" Eizen sighed. "This rain isn't helping the mood either…" In the distance in the sky, he saw various shockwaves occurring and that only meant one thing to him. "And the heirs to the throne are duking it out, just as we predicted. It's troublesome not knowing which events are scripted and which are not…"
"Wake up, You Majesty!" Venoma threw her foot at the shell of light, but just as before she was shocked and hobbled backwards, holding her ankle in agony, comical tears stinging the purple haired woman's eyes. "O-Ow…why does that hurt so much!?"
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Next Time: Singing In The Rain