Damn you guys really out here making me wait almost the full week to hit our review goal! Don't make me withhold chapters like a little kid! I'm kidding, I don't do that. Anymore. I don't do it anymore. Regardless, this chapter is gonna be awesome!
And long. Longer than usual.
Enjoy!
"Hm?" Jellal asked as he turned back to look, Simon watching him from under his bangs. It was no lie to say that the loss of Nashi had hit everyone hard, but he could tell the rage that glowed from his sons eyes wasn't healthy.
"I'm coming with you," Simon repeated. "I want to work with you guys and get stronger. Is that a problem?"
"Did you ask your mother?" Jellal replied.
"Of course I did, she's fine with it." Part of Jellal was willing to think this was a lie, as Erza probably wouldn't have been very okay with it. That being said, Maybe she just wanted him out of the way. He was being pretty rude recently.
"It'll be tough," He said, attempting to sway Simon away from coming. "I won't let you goof off because you're my son."
"I have no intention of goofing off," Simon replied, eyes glowing brighter at this. "I'm going to get stronger. Stronger so that no one else has to hurt because of me again. I'll make sure we don't lose anyone else. Now, let's get a move on. We're burning daylight." Jellal just watched weakly as his son pushed past him, making for the guild hall door. Just as he suspected. Everyone was dealing with Nashi's deal in their own way, and this was Simon's. Becoming stronger was his way of finding his purpose again. Could he really deny his son that chance?
"I just hope he doesn't let himself down..." He muttered to himself, leaving the guild after Simon.
Simon could do no more than watch as Nami's severed hand fell to the ground, the thud it created sickeningly dull. He watched as Nami looked at her stump as it spurted blood, covering part of her face as it did so. Ares laughed loudly and kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying away from the force. Nami hit the ground and didn't get up, allowing Ares to turn to Simon.
"Now then," he said. "Shall we continue our play date, Simon Scarlet?" Despite still feeling woozy, Simon gritted his teeth and forced himself to his feet. He needed to end this, and he needed to end it now. Nami needed medical attention urgently, or she would lose too much blood and go into shock. He needed a way out, but what was he to do? He could barely see straight!
She got hurt because you fumbled in combat.
This thought invaded Simon's head as he struggled to stand, Ares content with just watching. He growled under his breath as this realisation hit him fully. Had he been able to recover from Ares' shield bash faster, this wouldn't have happened. If he'd been faster and dodged it, if he'd blocked it, if if if. All of these options meant Nami could keep her hand. That she wouldn't be hurt.
But all it did was prove he still wasn't strong enough.
No! Focus, don't get consumed. You can feel guilty later! What needs to be done right now more than anything else?
Nami, this was what he decided.
Donning his Flight Armour, Simon gritted his teeth and clenched his swords. Not giving Ares a chance, he drove his blades deep into the dirt and sprinted as fast as he could around the man, whipping up dirt and dust as he did so. Soon the already pluming smoke cloud had another layer of dust obscuring the area, giving Simon the opening he needed. He sprinted to Nami's side and cradled her gently, trying to see a response in her wide shocked eyes.
"Nami!" He hissed. "Nami! Are you okay?!"
"S-Simon?" She asked weakly, still looking at something far away. "I-I thought I...I should have...How did he...?" Just as he feared. Nami was entering shock. The near kill turned into a maiming slice had stunned her to her core. Ignoring his friends shocked look, he lifted up her right arm and inspected the stump, trying not to hurl as he did so. He praised Ares internally for such a clean cut, as it didn't do much damage outside the obvious.
"Nami," he said, looking back up at her. "Listen closely. I need to cauterise your wound, or else it'll only get worse. Do you understand?"
"I-I should've told Keita I loved him," Nami managed under her breath, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm supposed to be his big sister, b-but I don't think I've ever told him that...What kind of sister does that?"
"Nami!"
"I-I shouldn't have promised Mom we'd come home," she hissed. "We're so dead...How're we supposed to...?"
"NAMI!" Simon shouted, risking giving away their position as his anger boiled over. "Shut up and listen to me! Look at me!" He cupped the girls face with his free hand, wiping away the blood on her face. She stared up at him in surprise, eyes showing she was coming back down to earth. "Don't say that bullshit to me! We're going to beat this asshole, and we'll get out of here! You can tell Keita how much you love him once I've trounced this guy!"
"W-What?" She demanded, finally coming to her senses. "Alone?! Simon, he's an Olympian! You can't solo him, Ken told us not too!"
"I'm not alone," Simon replied. "You helped me, and so did Rocky. He really did a number on Ares, and if he was here I'd..." Simon felt his throat constrict at the thought of the tan boy fading into the wind, and he discarded the thought. No time for crying. "I can handle him the way he is, don't worry."
"Simon-!"
"NO!" Simon shouted. "I won't let anyone else get hurt because I can't do anything! Nashi died, and now you've lost your sword hand! I won't let anyone else get hurt for me!" He glared down at her as he requipped into his Flame Emperor Sword, and the weapon lit itself ablaze as he did so. "Now, give me your arm. I need to cauterise that or we're fucked." Nami watched the fiery blade weakly, before she nodded and raised her stump. Both of them stared at it weakly, before Nami laughed.
"There's magic that can regrow limbs right?" She asked weakly. Simon nodded.
"I'm sure there is," he said. "My Mom lost an eye as a kid, and she's got two now. You'll be fine, but we need to stop the bleeding."
Simon didn't have the heart to tell her that if the area received too much damage the odds the new limb worked correctly was low. After all, his own mothers eye was slightly different than the average eye.
"It's gonna hurt like hell, isn't it?" She asked. Simon nodded as he motioned the blade closer to the stump.
"Yeah," he replied, taking initiative and taking her remaining hand in his and giving it a squeeze. "I'll go fast, I promise. On the count of three, okay?"
"O-Okay."
"One, two-!"
Having lied to his friend for her own good, Simon drove the flat side of the blade into Nami's stump, causing it to glow and the sizzling of flesh to ring in his ears. He wasn't ever going to forget this sound. Nami cried out in surprise from his lie, nearly crushing his own hand in hers. Simon fought through the pain in his own hand, knowing hers was far worse. She squirmed as hard as she could, but Simon didn't relent at all. Not until he was sure he'd closed her wound. It felt like forever, but soon enough Simon forced himself to move the blade away. The wound had been closed, albeit quite violently. The stump had darkened and almost charred it certain areas, but the bleeding had stopped. Burns could be healed, but dying of blood loss could not.
"You okay?" He breathed. Nami nodded, tears streaming down her face.
"I'll live," she replied. "For now, anyway." Simon nodded and placed his blade back into his inventory, too sick to his stomach to look at it. "Now what?"
As if on cue, Ares decided to come back into the fold.
"Saying your final goodbyes?" He asked, lazily spinning his blade in one hand. It immediately became clear he had let them have this interaction, as he already seemed to know where they were as the dust faded away. Simon ignored the man as he watched Nami.
"I'm going to have to do this, you know." he said. Nami frowned at this, clearly not happy about it.
"I know," she said. "But can you?" Simon frowned back at her, both because he was insulted she wasn't faithful and also because he didn't know. He'd like to think that Rocky's sacrifice put Ares in a bad place physically, but who really knew? Even with Nami's help before, he hadn't been able to land a good blow.
"I don't have a choice," he finally replied. "If I don't, he kills us and moves on. If I do, we have a chance of beating him." Nami scoffed at this.
"Painfully simple way of putting it," she said. "Well, I can't stop you." Nodding at her acceptance, Simon moved to stand.
He was stopped, however, as Nami pulled him back down, using her good arm to wrap him in a hug. He made a face at her show of affection, but didn't say anything. After a moment, Nami laughed into his shoulder.
"Don't Nashi me," she said. "Last thing I need is you dying for me."
It was a bad joke with an underlying message. Simon nodded, relishing in the contact for a few seconds more before he stood, turning to face Ares.
"Get back," he said simply. He heard Nami moving away behind him, hopefully out of the scope of the upcoming battle. Requipping into his Black Wing Armour, Simon readied his blade at Ares, who almost looked bored.
"Ready?" He asked. "I'm getting quite tired playing with you."
"Then stop playing," Simon replied, anger reaching limit. "Because I don't intend to pause when I cut you down!"
And with this, the battle erupted.
Simon flew towards Ares, sword raised over his head. He saw the man aim to block it with his shield, but also keeping his sword wary in case Simon tried to trick him. Too bad he didn't think too far ahead. Changing into his Flight Armour mid-flight, Simon changed direction to behind the man, and Ares barely had time to turn in surprise. The block that came of the strike resounded throughout the wreckage of Magnolia, Ares blocking at an awkward angle due too his surprise. Taking advantage of this, Simon swept his other blade upwards towards the mans chest, aiming to slice him good. Ares allowed himself to stumble backwards to avoid the cut, but Simon wasn't finished. Using his enemy's momentum, he kept up his pressing attacks. The Flight Armour's speed enchant allowed him to far surpass Ares' ability to block when he wasn't rooted on two feet, letting him get more than enough good hits in. A lot of the time his swords bounced off of his armour, but he saw a few cut deeper into the man.
Haven't you fired up!" Ares boasted, whipping his sword backwards and digging it into the ground. Using it to cease his backwards movement, he aimed his shield squarely for Simon's face, probably too knock him out cold. Dodging past it in time, Simon brought his left arm up, ready to bring it down across the mans face.
Before an irregularity struck him.
At first it looked as though he was going to make it, and cut the man down. Next thing he knew Ares had moved out of the way inhumanely fast, causing him to tumble and hit the ground with no target to strike.
"Sorry, did I make you miss?" Ares asked as Simon quickly jumped to his feet, coming to a stop across from the man again. "Or did you forget about my Warriors Vitality? I'm not going to lose to you, kid. I can't allow that."
"And I can't afford to lose either." Simon said, readying him. "So I guess that means we're at an impasse." For a moment Ares regarded him quietly, almost as if contemplating something. After a few seconds of this, he sighed.
"So be it," he replied as he raised his shield and sword. "But when I cut you down, remember; this was your own fault."
Like a blur, the man flew at Simon without any warning. Simon was forced onto the defensive as Ares' renewed strength and speed tore at him, barely giving him a moment to breathe before he had to move and block another attack. His moves were based solely on instinct, but it seemed to be getting the job done for the most part. He felt his skin tear open multiple times, but he ignored it as best he could and kept his ground. After all, giving it up wasn't an option at all.
"Get off of me!" Simon shouted, requipping. In a blink of an eye he swapped to his Adamantine Shield, bringing it together as Ares swung at him again. He felt the mans blow bounce harmlessly off of the wall of a shield, and heard the man stumbled back. Using this to his advantage, Simon broke the shield back into two and used it as a weapon, swinging the massive pieces at his enemy. Coupling the Flight Armour's speed and the shields heavy attack style, he forced the turn of the battle back in his favour. Putting one away and taking on a scimitar, he used the combination to deal out what he hoped was a good amount of damage to the man, as it seemed that even his own shield groaned under the weight of the Adamantine counterpart. Deciding he needed to use this opportunity to strike, he put away the scimitar and took out a rapier, intending this one to be a good strike. Using Meteor, he sped himself up and drove the blade past Ares' shield and into his arm, going clean through to the other side. His opponent didn't seem pleased by this, and began to glow red. Driving his shield into Simon's chest, the mans extra strength threw Simon back, sword and all. He hit the ground hard thanks to the Adamantine shield, and tried to get up as fast as he could. Thankfully he still had his Flight Armour on, or else the following strike would have killed him. Ares jumped from where he had been standing and drove his blade right into the dirt where Simon had just been a moment ago, kicking up dust and debris. Bits of rocks hit Simon in the face, but it was nothing compared to Ares' follow up strike, driving his elbow into Simon's chest while he was still airborne. This sent him higher up than before, but he used Meteor to stabilise himself in the air and give himself a chance to breathe.
"What's the matter?" Ares taunted from the ground, still glowing. "Did I spook the little kitty off?" Simon didn't give him the response he was looking for, obviously taunting him. Last thing he needed was to lose his temper.
I need an opening. If I don't find one he's going to outlast me with that technique of his, and I can't have that. Did Nami get away?
Quickly scanning the battlefield, he soon found Nami crawling farther away from the battlefield towards some destroyed buildings, obviously trying to keep out of the way. As he watched, his throat constricted.
Mami was watching from the buildings, clearly looking for an opening to either help Nami or him. She was supposed to have been their help, so it looked like Juno's spell had sent them close together after all. But with him up here, and Ares wanting to test him...
He was already flying to intercept the sword when he realised it was happening. It registered as he flew that Ares was flying towards the girls, sword raised. Nami looked frightened, but Mami didn't even see it, too busy trying to help Nami to her feet.
"MAMI!" Simon shouted, trying to fly faster with Meteor. He'd get there, but in time? Ares had such a big head start! Taking a sword out of his inventory and putting the shield away, it allowed Simon to speed up and intercept Ares' attack, getting in between the girls and him just in time to raise his blade.
The sickening crunch of bones and muscle being severed echoed around the destroyed street, all eyes widening in surprise.
Jellal watched as Simon dashed around the impromptu training grounds, slashing and blasting his target dummies at every single chance he got. It was a whirlwind of strength and power, one Jellal knew that only Simon was capable off. Several of the dummies fell apart in succession, and Simon slid to a halt in front of him.
"Damn!" He shouted. "I thought I asked Richard to get me tougher dummies! What the hell was that?!"
"What good is a dummy if it's harder to cut down than the average bad guy?" Jellal asked. Simon just scowled in his direction as he readied his blades again, clearly not done. "You've been at this for the past few months, are you done yet? You've gotten so strong already."
"It's not enough," he replied in a low voice. "I need more power, more strength. Enough to make sure that I can stop any threat. Strong enough to use your best spell. And I'm nowhere near that strength yet." Jellal just frowned as his son continued his aimless blasting and slashing, treating in more like aggressive therapy than anything else. Honestly, it was both confusing and admirable that he consistently bettered his overall clearance time of his own course.
"Hows the demon doing?" A voice asked. Jellal turned to see Sorano leaning up against the doorway, looking both unimpressed and snarky at the same time.
"Fine," he replied. "I thought you were leaving to see your sister today."
"I'm on my way out," Sorano replied as walked closer to him. "You know, when they let me join the guild I thought I'd never have to travel with you morons again. Yet I ended up here anyway."
"Couldn't abandon Erik and the others huh?" Jellal asked with a smirk on his face. This was met with a fist lightly tapping his head.
"Shut up, asshole." She muttered. "That's got nothing to do with it."
"Uh huh." The two adults grew quiet, both watching Simon destroy a few more of his test dummies.
"He's gotten faster," Sorano noted.
"Mm hm," Jellal replied simply. Silence fell on them again as Simon stabbed a dummy clean through, causing feathers to fly everywhere as he ripped it out. "He's getting stronger all right."
"Strong enough for your trump card?" She asked curiously. This made Jellal wince.
"No," he replied. "Even if he was, I'd be scared to teach him how to use it."
"Why's that?" she asked. Jellal just frowned at this.
"Because I'm worried about how much he'll willingly fire it off unprovoked. He's a wild card these days, who knows what he'd do with it. Either way he's not strong enough yet, not unless he's at full power. Even then it'll drain him." Sorano made a face at him.
"What if he needs it? You know he's been tracking The Olympians under your nose, right? He might need it." Jellal frowned at this. He knew Sorano was right, but it still worried him.
After all, this wasn't a game.
Simon gritted his teeth as he did his best to ignore the blade digging into his shoulder, grinding against his bones painfully. One the other end, this own blade had driven itself into Ares' shoulder was well, locking both men in a tango of pain.
"S-Simon?" Mami asked weakly. Simon didn't open his mouth to reply right away, fearful he'd cry out in pain.
"What are you doing?" He finally croaked. "This is a battlefield, be aware of your surroundings!"
"I-I know, but Nami..."
"But nothing! What would have happened had I not gotten down here?! Huh?!"
"I could have stopped him!"
"How?! You weren't even paying attention!" Mami just frowned at him, making Ares laugh.
"It was my ploy to get you down here anyway," he said. "After all, what do I have to gain from striking down a girl like her? No challenge in it."
"Then leave them out of it," Simon hissed. "I'm the one you're fighting, not them. Got it?"
"Simon, don't even." Mami said. "I can help!"
"Help by getting Nami out of here!" Simon shouted, growing irritated as his bones ached from the stabbing he was enduring. "This guy isn't a joke, okay?! And Nami is hurt, so she needs you more than I do!"
"You just got stabbed!" Nami interjected. Simon growled and exerted some force on his blade, forcing Ares away from him and both blades to dislodge from their body's.
"And you lost a hand," he replied. "Leave it to me, okay? I can handle it."
"B-But..." Mami tried.
"No one else is getting hurt!" Simon shouted, his pain making his anger boil over. "Now get the hell out of here!" He knew his voice was crass, but he hoped the girls could sense the determination and desperation in his eyes. After a moment or two of staring at each other, Nami's gaze hardened.
"Let's go, Mami." She said. Mami looked surprised at this.
"B-But..."
"He won't give in, you know." Nami said. "So we go. That's the only way out of this for him." Mami made a face at this, but finally she sighed.
"Fine," she said, resigned to her fate as she grabbed Nami princess style, hoisting her up. "But I swear to God, Simon Scarlet. If you die on us."
"Not a fucking chance," Simon replied, readying himself in a fighting stance. "Now on." He could sense that they paused, but he heard them retreat down the street soon enough, leaving him alone with Ares.
"Done?" Ares asked. Simon nodded, tensing up.
"Yeah, I can continue pummelling you now." He said. Ares just laughed at this.
"Your suicidal bomb friend did more to me than you have," he said. "What was his name? Rocko?" Simon didn't bite, but he took this information in. So Ares was hurt, and that stab he'd just gotten wasn't doing him any favours either. This battle didn't have to keep going, it could end in another few moves. But with his own body so close to caving in, what was he to do?
"Simon, listen to me for God sake"
Simon's eyes widened as his fathers voice came to back to him, nearly causing him to get stabbed again as Ares rushed in.
"I know you want me to teach you this spell. But I won't teach it to someone who just wants to use it because he isn't patient. This spell can't just be used because you're angry or want to finish up. It requires a set up, and patience. Do you understand?"
Blocking an oncoming shield bash, Simon grinned. Of course, he'd nearly forgotten. But, there was also a problem. He wasn't strong enough. His father told him about this giving him the knowledge ahead of time that he wasn't strong enough unless he was at full power. At he clearly wasn't right now.
But then again, that was why he'd made himself that armour.
Simon forced himself away from Ares and put some distance between them, firing off blasts of Heavenly Magic as he did so. Ares kept his distance and blocked the attacks, which gave them the distance he needed.
"Requip!" Simon shouted. "Heaven's Emperor Armour!"
"Sema?" Simon demanded, making Jellal nod.
"Yes," he replied. "A True Heavenly Body Magic spell, and one of the strongest I know. I beat the whole Oracion Seis with it."
"Yeah just skip over the fight we put up," Erik said, irritated by the lack of details Jellal gave.
"Teach me," Simon replied. Jellal just frowned at the look in his sons eye. It was the same angry gleam he'd been seeing for so long.
"No," Jellal replied. This only seemed to anger Simon, as he expected.
"Why not?" He demanded, clearly irritated by his voice.
"I know you want me to teach you this spell. But I won't teach it to someone who just wants to use it because he isn't patient. This spell can't just be used because you're angry or want to finish up. It requires a set up, and patience. Do you understand?"
"Of course I do!" Simon replied. "Now teach me! I might need it!"
"Even if I did, you're not strong enough to wield it in a fight without opening with it," Jellal replied. "And even that you'd collapse."
"Tch...So I still need to get stronger huh?" Jellal made a face and turned back to his son, who's angry gleam was mixed with determination now. "Fine, I'll train even harder. And once you say I'm strong enough to wield Sema, teach me how to use it. Got it?" Jellal just watched Simon for a moment, testing his sons patience for everyone to see.
"Fine," he replied. "Get stronger, and I'll teach you to wield Sema."
Once the glow from his requip had faded, Simon stood tall in his newest creation. A thick golden set of armour now covered him head to toe, a small pair of golden wings jutting out from his head. He wielded a doubled ended spear in one hand, and the other glowed with the power he could wield with it.
His Heaven's Emperor Armour. After learning he still lacked the power to use Sema mid battle, Simon had decided to craft himself this piece with his fathers help. An armour set that enhanced his Heavenly Body Magic power to levels he hadn't reached himself. With this, he could end this. He could cast Sema.
He could save them.
"A new toy of yours?" Ares asked, mocking but clearly ready to battle.
"You could say that," Simon replied as he too readied himself. "With this, I'm going to end this, and go help my friends."
"Are you now?" Ares asked. "Well, I suppose I'll need to end it before you can!" Ares glowed red again, and disappeared in a blur as he came for Simon, but he was ready this time. He dodged away from the strike and flew around the street, cautiously planting his hands on the ground as he did so.
"With the way you fight, I wouldn't be surprised if you used it out of anger. But if you can help it, don't. Trick your enemy into letting you use it once you get an opening. Do you think you can handle that?"
Of course I can, Dad.
Simon did his best to dodge Ares' attacks as he flew around the street, doing his best to set up his final strike. The places on the ground he touched lit up only momentarily, but Ares was too focused on him to really look at that. The man got faster, and Simon grimaced as he felt the man grab his leg.
"Not going to get away, kid!" He shouted with a laugh. He drove Simon into the dirt, driving his blade into his leg as he did so. Growling, Simon activated his magic throughout the armour, causing it to erupt out the back and tossing Ares away. He boosted forwards with an enhanced Meteor, continuing his setup as Ares blasted behind him. Sometimes the other man careened into a building or tree trunk, but Simon was careful to avoid it. He needed to be.
Don't be angry, be smart about it. Anger can't solve everything.
"Get back here!" Simon's eyes widened as a pressure hit his back, forcing him into the ground. Ares didn't give him any room to breathe, driving his blade into his arm and using it to destroy a part of his armour. He gritted his teeth and tried to endure it, but the pain was pretty intense.
"Why do you have to make everything so god damn difficult?" Ares hissed, pulling his blade out of Simon's arm. "Why couldn't we just have the girl damn it?"
"I'll never let you take her," Simon growled, looking over his shoulder as he carefully placed another rune on the ground, hoping Ares didn't see it. "She isn't yours."
"I'd never expect a kid to understand," Ares replied. "To know what needs to be done isn't always pretty."
"Magnolia needed to go?" Simon asked, his anger rearing it's head again. "All these people needed to suffer? My friends need to fight for their lives?! Nami needed to lose her hand?!"
"If you hadn't fought this wouldn't have happened!" Ares shouted back, sounding desperate. "We don't have time to play democracy with you idiots! It's already started, and streamlining the process is the only way!"
"Than I guess we have nothing less to talk about," Simon demanded. Ares' face grew cold at this as he raised his blade.
"Guess you're right," he said. "There isn't." With this he drove his blade through Simon's stomach, making him wince in pain. After a moment of deliberation, Simon realised something.
Ares had avoided all his vitals.
Even in that strike, he'd struck right where it'd hurt, but it wasn't a fatal cut. Not even close. What was he playing at?
I've had enough of you," Ares said. "I caught you, I suppose I should just cut you down." Ares grabbed Simon by the back of the head, and hoisted him up into the air. Using his Warrior's Vitality, Ares punched Simon straight in the face.
As he flew backwards and into a nearby building, Simon could swear he saw stars flying around in his vision. But was that a bad thing?
"All we need is her," Ares hissed. "All we need to her and we can solve all our problems. Why does it have to be so damn hard?" Despite the fact that blood was pooling in his mouth, Simon laughed at this.
"Join the fucking club," he said with a smirk as he spat the blood out. Had he lost a tooth. "Life sucks, get used to it. But hey, it must suck being oblivious."
"What?"
Simon continued to laugh as he struggled to his feet, grinning like a mad man.
"I gotta give you credit, Ares." He said. "For a long time I've been fighting angrily and without a brain in my head. But you made me think. And well, I suppose that was the end of you wasn't it?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Simon just laughed again.
"I suppose you didn't notice I was setting you up the whole time, huh?" At this, the markers Simon had thrown down on the ground lit up, in the shape of a constellation Simon knew well. Ares looked down in surprise, realising he was dead in the center of it. "I spent that whole spat making sure you thought I was just avoiding you, and now it's time for the grand finale!" Ares growled at this, readying his weapons.
"You damn brat!" He shouted. "I should have known that you were-!"
"Grand Chariot!" At these words, the markers on the ground grew even brighter as stars began to rain down from the sky, right on top of Ares. Countless barrages exploded against the man. His shield fell from his hands, and his sword did as well. Ares was forced to his knees from the relentless onslaught.
By the time he was given any time to recover, Simon had already readied his body in the correct position.
"Let me tell you something," Simon said, one hand pointing at the ground with two fingers while the other arced towards the sky. The ground around them began to shake, and the sky darkened. "I don't give a single fuck whatever you need Luna for. Not one. But, there's also this thing. If whatever you're so scared about does come to pass, we'll be ready. We don't need you, and neither does she!"
"You god damn moron!"
"I don't care if God himself descends from heaven to fight us! We'll beat him, just like all the enemies before him! I'll fight him myself if I have too!"
"Than you'll die a fool!"
"I'd rather die a fool than live by someone else's rules!"
The spell had finally gathered enough magic power, all in Simon's body and then some. He felt himself radiating with power, and all that was left was to speak it's name. He wouldn't be able to move after this, not by a long shot.
But neither would he.
Grinning at this, Simon looked back up at Ares as the man glared back angrily.
"SEMA!"
It was clear to all in the vicinity that the meteor that was dropping from the sky had responded to Simon's cry.
I just gave y'all a two for one special here, what with a near six thousand word chapter. Regardless, I think this might be one of my favorite chapters so far. I really pushed my ability to write a good fight scene with some moves and pacing, what did yoy guys think? Did I do good?
I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get five!
Chapter 322: Another Arrival