Chapter One Hundred-Four: Battle Between Brothers
"She…she actually did it,"
Even at that moment, Solid couldn't believe the words that had come out of his mouth. Here he was, kneeling next to his injured older siblings, their efforts not being enough to subdue merely a single enemy, staring in a mix of shock and awe at his little sister up in the air, having defeated the elf all by herself.
As for Noelle herself, she was very pleased by what she had done. Never in her life did she think that she could achieve such a feat as the one she had, and in such a manner too. "I can't wait for the others to see this armor, they're going to think it's so cool!" she internally squealed before she became composed.
"Let's bring you down and put you somewhere safe," she spoke to the unconscious Kivn as he dropped down slowly, setting her on the floor of the destroyed room, making sure she was in a comfortable position. "I know you're possessed right now, but Luck still wouldn't like it if I manhandled you,"
Upon doing what she needed to, she turned to where her siblings were. "Hold on, I'll take Nebra and Nozel to Mimosa, she'll be able to help them!" she exclaimed, about to run their way, but then her mana sense flared, making her back up just in time to avoid an attack.
"Huh?" she noticed the attack coming from above, so she looked up, spotting six possessed Golden Dawn members, each standing on magic constructs.
"Their mana signatures are undeniable, they're royals!" one of them bellowed to his comrades before his eyes fell on something behind the water mage. "And those fiends have defeated Kivn, they must've gotten Aerion too! Now you're going to pay!"
"I won't be paying for anything, you hear that?!" Noelle pointed her lance at them before reeling it back and swiping it horizontally, firing a hextet of waterballs.
To her surprise, however, rather than moving to evade it, they each met one of the projectiles head-on with a basic attack of their own, canceling them out before firing more.
The silver-haired girl weaved around them with amazing ease, to the point where even she was surprised. It felt like there was a pool of water beneath her feet, allowing her to gracefully dance across the surface of the ground. "So, not only does it give me the ability to fly, but I also get better reflexes and smoother motions on the floor? I think I could get used to this,"
The elves were gritting their teeth from their inability to land a hit, but that's when they noticed that she wasn't the only Silva present. "Those three already look injured, attack them!"
The eyes of all four royals widened. "No!" Noelle was about to fly their way, but she wouldn't have to as her ears registered a familiar voice declaring something.
"Ash Magic: Cinder Bullets!"
Out of what seemed like nowhere, Zora had come to the rescue, firing the spell at full strength, just managing to deter the elves and force them to assume even higher ground.
"It appears that even with new powers, you need me to save your asses," he spoke with his usual sassy tone.
"I could've gotten to them just fine on my own, but thanks anyway," she responded. "What are you doing here exactly?"
"I saw some weird green thing form around here while I was on ground level, so I decided to check it out,"
"Hold on, so you just left En and Alice to fight all those elves by themselves?! What the hell is wrong with you?!"
He was unfazed by the accusation. "Relax, don't get your twintails in a tizzy, some reinforcements arrived while you were gone, they won't even miss me,"
Noelle calmed down. "Fine then, sorry. But now that we have that out of the way, I have two questions,"
"Fire away,"
"First of all, what are you doing with your fingers?" she pointed.
Zora looked down at his right hand, more specifically, his thumb and pointer finger. He was using the longer phalange to draw a tiny air circle before using both fingers to perform a flicking motion, the action going on in an endless loop, not to mention it looked pointless.
"Oh, this? It's just an on-again, off-again habit. I started doing it when I was a kid, it would help me think,"
"Um…I see, for the second question," she now titled her head. "Who's that behind you?"
Zora twisted his head back. "Him?" he stepped over to the side, revealing the one hiding, it was a young male servant who didn't appear to be any older than fifteen. "I came across him on my way here. Once I told him who I was, he was practically clinging to me for protection,"
With his face in full sight, Noelle instantly recognized him. "Paplo?!"
"Noelle!" the boy ran to her, embracing her tightly. "I'm so glad you're safe!"
She embraced him back. "Me too. You aren't hurt, are you?"
"No, I was able to hide somewhere they couldn't find me," he answered before noting her changed appearance. "Wow, is this a spell you made? So cool,"
"Tell me about it, I think it really makes me look fierce and-..wait a minute, I can't get sidetracked now. Paplo, you have a recovery spell, Nozel and Nebra need you, they've been injured really badly,"
She pointed at where they were, the servant nodding. "Leave it to me," he started running to them.
The elves weren't going to allow that though. "Don't worry, I'll take him out!" the male elf from before exclaimed, commanding his construct to dive down so he could intercept him.
And that's when it happened.
After moving a few more inches, the air in front of the elf suddenly exploded, pushing him off his transport and launching him a few feet back, much to the surprise of everyone, well, everyone except Zora as he was currently laughing his butt off.
"Oh man, I can't believe you got hit by one so fast!"
"Were you responsible for that?" his squadmate asked.
"You betcha. I've been working on a small number of new traps recently, what you saw was one of my favorites, I call it Ash Trap Magic: Collision Minefield, it hardly costs any mana to make, but it packs a big punch, especially if it's point-blank,"
Noelle was a bit confused though, and for good reason. "Hold on, I thought traps had to be pre-set before they could be used, and you just got here. How could you have-," she paused, realizing almost instantly the method. She crossed her arms and raised a brow at the man in an accusatory manner. "So, just a habit, huh?"
He playfully shrugged. "What? If I told you the truth, those elves would know about it too. You can see the reasoning in it, right?"
"Yeah, I guess," she pouted.
"And look at what the shock did to them," the ash mage jerked a thumb at the possessed knights, seeing uneasy looks on their faces as they didn't move at all. "Now they're worried if they might hit it in an attempt to attack us. The low mana usage makes it harder to sense than my other traps, which is a great bonus if you ask me,"
"Ugh, how dare you, you wretched human!" one of them screamed, raising her fist at them with a look of anger. "I don't know what you did, but mark my words, we will not lose to your sinister magic!"
"You don't know what I did? Hm, I guess trap magic wasn't around in your day, but it's not sinister, not in the slightest, it's merely underhanded,"
In that time, Paplo reached the other Silvas. "Don't worry, I can heal all three of you just in case you've sustained injuries too, Lord Solid," he took his grimoire out. "Bubble Recovery Magic: Bubble Refresher!"
He fashioned his thumb and pointer finger into a circle as translucent mana entered the void in between, he then blew on it, shooting a multitude of bubbles that surrounded the royals.
Zora walked over to where the injured were, whistling as he did so, stopping once he arrived right next to them. "Look at the three of you, pathetic,"
Solid glared at him. "Excuse me. Do you know who you're talking to, Black Bull?"
"I know exactly who I'm talking to, a couple of cocky bastards who've finally been knocked down a peg. I can sense it y'know, your mana is still going strong, same deal with big sister of yours. You went down early, didn't you? You hardly did anything before you were rendered useless,"
The male water mage had no rebuttal, so he begrudgingly kept his mouth shut, allowing the trapster to focus his attention on Nozel. "And then there's you, not just a royal, but a captain too. I thought people like you were supposed to be better than people like me, but you were beaten in no time at all too. You're pathetic!"
Nozel said nothing back, simply meeting the man's gaze. However, that didn't mean Noelle didn't have some words to say. "Hey, that's enough! Believe me, I know they can be real jerks, but I won't let you-,"
"No, he's absolutely right," Nozel cut her off as began to stand up and out of the recovery field.
"Wait, you aren't fully healed yet," Paplo protested profusely.
"It's alright, I can do the rest myself, thank you," he told the servant before removing the top half of his robe, summoning mercury and using it to seal his wounds. He now readdressed his youngest sister. "If I let myself be unable to fight after just one measly battle, I'd not only be disgracing the House of Silva, but the Silver Eagles as well!"
Noelle flew over and landed next to him with a look of concern. "Are you absolutely sure you'll be okay?"
In response, he gave her a confident smile. "Yes, I am, after all, it's important to set a good example,"
She smiled back at him. "Okay,"
Zora let out a short laugh as he inserted himself in between them. "Ha, that's what I like to see, now, I'll give you something you'd like to see. Ash Magic: Revelation of the Cowardly,"
He placed his hands on their shoulders as a cloud of ash emerged from them, traveling up to their eyes before tiny magic circles appeared soon after.
"What the?" the two siblings gasped, shocked by the number of set traps that littered the sky.
"Just how many of these did you make?" Noelle asked.
"Enough to put this fight firmly in our advantage. Let this be a lesson in how to fight like a peasant, you're outnumbered and outmatched, so you lean on your wits! Now, let's do this!"
"Mercury Creation Magic: Majestic Steel Eagle!" Nozel crafted the construct as he and the ash mage jumped on it and they took to the skies alongside Noelle.
"Ugh, we're not going to be able to beat those humans if we refuse to move. I say we take our chances, don't forget, we're stronger than them!" one of the elves said to the rest, the others responding with battle cries.
The royal knights quickly noticed their enemies going on the move. "I guess they're throwing caution to the wind, even though they saw what happened, a bad move if you ask me. Their cockiness will cost them,"
With that, the two split up, each being followed by a number of elves. The water mage has gotten lucky and only had to deal with two of the remaining five. She weaved around the invisible traps, coming to a standstill to begin her offensive. "Water Magic: Sea Dragon's Waterball!"
The pair had no trouble getting around it, but that wasn't it, they had a plan. Nodding to each other, one broke away while the other started casting a spell. "Die, human scum!"
"Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Cradle!" she formed the mid-air dome to protect herself, clicking her tongue in disappointment regarding another subject. "Damn it, she got lucky, she isn't near one of Zora's traps. However, for that guy who thinks he's slick…,"
She turned her head, and as she suspected, the other elf was zooming from behind, shocked that she caught on to his plan, but to the surprise of both possessed knights, she turned her head again, seemingly ignoring him.
"She saw me, and yet she does nothing? Is she a fool?" he mumbled to himself, but then a look of realization formed. "Wait, is she not doing anything because-,"
Alas, it was too little, too late as he was unable to slow down his advance enough to avoid the trap in front of him, blowing him back, but his misfortune continued as it caused him to collide with another bomb.
"There we go, just one more," Noelle said as she peered behind the elf, noticing an active trap about a few meters away. "Hm, use my wits, aye?" she held her chin and smirked, she had a plan, and it just might work.
Taking advantage of the remaining knight's shock, she flew past her, prompting the elf to give chase, but in a few seconds, the water mage stopped and stood in the air, pointing her lance at the enemy as it charged with mana.
"Whatever you're trying to do, I won't let you do it!" the elf exclaimed as she was almost there.
The royal gave a confident response. "Yes you will," the distance between them was just a few inches now, but at that moment, Noelle did an aerial frontflip, appearing behind her before kicking her off her construct and into the active trap she spotted, falling and hitting ground level with a thud.
"Nice. I wonder how the guys are doing?"
"Ash Magic: Cinder Screen!" Zora exclaimed, blowing the smokescreen in the face of an elf who was getting close.
"I can't see!"
"That's the idea, dipshit," he mocked him. "Hey, royal, how are things working on your end?"
"Fine enough," Nozel replied as he noticed the two elves in his line of sight were keeping their distance. "They're smart, choosing to not charge in recklessly and run the risk of getting caught in your trap,"
"Is that so?" he peered at the smoke cloud he created. "Too bad their buddy didn't choose to be as cautious," he crouched down, storing power in his legs before he took off.
Making the needed preparations, he entered his creation, spotting the elf as his fist lit up. "Hello…," he punched him dead in the face, sending him to the ground below.
"...And goodbye!" the ash mage then used both fingers to draw two traps, flicking them down next to the elf before firing two magic bullets, the bombs exploding on contact.
Unbeknownst to Zora, Nozel was discreetly watching him and was intrigued by the strategy he employed. His eyes focused back up front as he weaved around projectiles, he then focused on the area around his foes, and to his delight, it held a handsome amount of traps, but they were a good distance from them.
"I hope you don't mind if I borrow your move. Mercury Magic: Rain of Silver!" he declared, the liquid metal forming above the elves before it fell, the possessed knights noticing it right at that moment just to see…that it missed.
"Where was he aiming?!" they thought in unison, and they got their answer in a painful way as the spell dropped on the traps, making them detonate, however, they weren't close, so they only got hit by the shockwave, but that was all he needed as they momentarily stunned, allowing him to fly behind them and strike the back of their necks, knocking them out cold.
The two royal knights landed individually, regrouping with their teammate. "Nice work, everyone, especially you, Noelle, taking on two elves by yourself," Nozel patted his sister's head, but then he paused. "Um, you don't mind me doing that, do you?"
"Not at all, in fact, you have 15 years worth to make up for," she replied with crossed arms and rosy cheeks.
"I'll do my best," he smiled at her.
Zora then butted in. "Uh, I'd hate to ruin this touching family moment, but we have more company," they all stared up at the sky, being met with the sight of more elves.
The Silvas, however, didn't look worried in the slightest. "It doesn't matter how many show up, we'll beat all of them, for the sake of the kingdom!"
"I'm going to get you this time!"
While the fighting was going on in the Silva household, the same thing was occurring next door in the Vermillion residence. The titular siblings had just finished helping all the denizens evacuate a minute or two ago, and now they were currently engaged in combat.
Mimosa and Kirsch had just jumped out of the way of an attack, now standing across a large soldier construct and the one who cast it.
"Please, you have to fight the elves' control, Alecdora, I know you can do it!" the plant mage cried out to her squadmate.
"I'll tell you the same thing I said when you spouted that five minutes ago, royal, you're wasting your time and your breath. This Alecdora you speak of isn't coming back, it's only me in here, Gamailiel," he retorted. "And I'm the only one who's needed to take you criminals down!"
"You'd do well to not underestimate us, it's rather unsightly!" the older royal raised his fan. "Cherry Blossom Magic: Torrent of Petals!" he then declared, destroying the soldier with the powerful blast.
Mimosa was up next. "No, I won't allow that! Alecdora may not be my favorite person, but you can't have him, we'll bring him back even if we have to hurt you! Plant Magic: Magic Cannon Flower!"
"You? Hurt me? You couldn't do that if you tried! Sand Creation Magic: Sand-Armored Sentry!" he conjured another sand knight that held a large rectangular shield, using it to block the beam. "Do you see what I mean?"
Mimosa narrowed her eyes at him seriously. "No, no I don't," her grimoire flipped to a different page. "Plant Magic: Magic Control Grass!"
At her call, she revealed four fingers, showing three seeds in between them. She threw the seeds with blinding speed, the objects burying themselves in the sand soldier's chest, the girl then clenched her other hand as grass sprouted out seconds later.
"I've been training this ever since the exam, now I can make them sprout almost immediately," the plant mage thought to herself. "Attack him!"
Gamailiel was partially surprised at the sight of his own spell turning against him, but that was it, he was partially surprised. He extended his hand, commanding the spell to crumble away before anything could happen. "Hm, a spell that lets her control my constructs, aye? Then I'll have to use something else, luckily, I was able to find something during practice,"
"And what might that be?"
"I think you may want to see it instead. Sand Magic: Mister Sandman!" he exclaimed as his body began to morph and change color, resembling sand.
Mimosa raised a brow. "I've never seen that spell before, let's see how good it is," she ordered the sunflower to shoot another beam, but to her shock, he made no motion to dodge or block, he was fully ready to take it head-on. And as it turned out, it was for a good reason as his chest morphed, opening a hole that the beam went through, leaving him unscathed.
The possessed golden dawn laughed. "Do you like it?! It doesn't last for long, but with Mister Sandman, I'm virtually untouchable, while you're not!" he explained before charging ahead, transforming his hands into blades.
"Watch out!" Kirsch waved his fan with force, summoning a blustering mix of wind and petals, blinding Gamailiel momentarily so they could make distance.
"Thanks, but what do we do?" Mimosa asked her brother. "Any attack we send can't affect him, and we don't know how long the spell lasts to try and wait it out,"
He held his chin, coming up with something. "I have a beautiful idea, but you'll need to buy me a few seconds, and whatever you do, make sure he isn't paying attention to me,"
"Alright, but you better not mess up," his sister nodded, running at a curve going southwest, passing by her possessed squadmate as his vision cleared up.
"Hey, Gamailiel, I wanna talk to you!"
He turned around, ignoring Kirsch just as she planned. "I'm not here to talk, I'm here to kill,"
"Well, you'll listen anyway," she pointed at him. "You're not the first elf I've encountered, and like the others, you hate me because of my lineage,"
"What's your point?"
"I want to know if there's a way we can stop all of this, all the killing. Even though none of the royals of this time period are to blame, I'm fully ready to help make amends, we don't have to be enemies,"
"Are you some kind of fool?!" he yelled back. "Your sentiment is touching, but it's too late for all of that. I and the rest of elfkind have made our decision, and that is to personally see to it that all humans are dead!"
Mimosa frowned a bit upon hearing that, but it was relieved slightly upon seeing Kirsch behind the elf in the distance, giving her a thumbs-up. "Fine then, if fighting is what you want, then fighting is what you'll get!" she infused mana into her legs, running past him again.
"Now you're talking!" it took a few seconds before he gave chase.
Mimosa reached her brother. "So, what did you do?"
"You'll see soon, just start blasting him!" the cherry blossom mage began firing magic bullets, none of them making contact.
"What are you doing?! You know his body can move around it!"
"Just trust me," was all he responded with, so she sighed and reluctantly joined him in the fool's errand.
"My my, getting desperate, are we?!" Gamailiel exclaimed, his tone growing insane as he got closer. "But that's good, it feels so much better to kill you while you're doing whatever you can to survive! Now you'll know how we felt, and you'll feel-,"
He didn't get another word in as he took another step, and when he did, a circle lit up under him before he fell into a hole.
"And that's not it!" Kirsch hurried to the hole, slamming the air above with his hand, forming a circular seal over the opening.
"What the?" Gamailiel tried to boost himself out, but it was no use. "Let me out of here!"
"No, I don't think I will, you can stay in there for a while," he said back, striking a pose. He then turned to Mimosa, whose jaw dropped significantly. "What's the deal with you? I told you to trust me, didn't I?"
"No, i-it's not that," she still couldn't believe it. "Y-You…you just used…trap magic,"
He grinned, confirming the fact even further as he revealed a glowing finger. "But of course I did, dear sister. After my loss to Zora at the exam, I decided to start learning how to use it, it may be a little underhanded, but my beauty can turn anything else beautiful, so that problem solved itself,"
"You don't say?" the plant mage deadpanned.
"However," he continued, staring at his finger. "Learning this type of magic is trickier than I thought. The pitfall and seal traps I used on your friend over there are the only ones I figured out how to do, I suppose I'll just need to practice more on it,"
Mimosa was now surprised for the second time. "You? Practice on something other than your obnoxious antics?"
"I'm just as shocked as you, but I guess you can say I've been inspired," he replied, but then he quickly closed the distance between their faces. "But you better not let Zora hear anything about this, or I'll never hear the end of it. Do you hear me?"
"Relax, I won't tell him a single word," she answered as he removed himself from her personal space, allowing her to turn around and reveal a rare devious smile. "I'll just go and tell him every word,"
"Hey, that was pretty impressive," a voice spoke right next to her. Mimosa perked up, recognizing the voice, but as she turned to the person, she jumped back, startled.
"Shit!"
Kirsch turned at the sound of her scream and was equally startled. "What the?" he muttered, the two standing across from the possessed dice mage.
"Damn it, not you too," Mimosa said. "What's your name, elf?"
Based on the look on his face, he was actually a little stunned, but it only lasted a few seconds before he smiled. "Wow, a human who isn't misnaming me? Color me impressed, I'm Baval, pleased to meet you,"
Kirsch put his guard up. "Be careful, we need to attack him fast,"
"Hold on, hold on," he put up his hands. "I'm not here to fight you just yet, right now, I'd like to talk to you, or rather, brag about our success,"
Mimosa wasn't sure how to react to that, if he wanted to kill them, he could've when he sneaked up on them. "Okay, what do you want to talk, or brag about?"
"Well, why don't I start with an explanation about all of this so we can be on the same page? You know that we elves have taken over the bodies of humans and with the oh-so-creative words of my brethren, you probably know why we want you dead. But, do you know how we managed to pull this all off?"
"No," they both replied.
"It's all thanks to the Magic Stones!" he answered with outstretched arms.
"The things the Eye of the Midnight Sun was searching for?" Mimosa recalled. "But how?"
"Those stones are actually elven artifacts, with it, we were given a second chance at life, the life your ancestors took because of their greed, but I suppose I can somewhat understand their point of view, if I were them, I'd be envious of me too," he began, but then his tone got more serious. "Granted, there is still one issue left unsolved,"
"And what's that?" the older royal asked.
Baval pointed his thumb at his heart. "These pesky human souls that try to fight back against the reincarnation. My host personally hasn't given me trouble, but I can't speak for the others, and I don't know when my host will give me problems in the future,"
He then looked up at the ceiling, raising a hand high before he clenched it tightly. "Luckily for us though, those concerns will soon be a thing of the past, once THEY come and open IT, all will be made perfect!" he declared, deliberately putting great emphasis on two of the words.
The younger royal easily picked up on what he was doing. "Who's they, and what will they open?"
"Patience, miss, I'll tell you in good time, but first…," he began. "Dice Creation Magic: Gambler's Beast!" he created the singular die and threw it into the air again. This time, it revealed two pips, the object growing and morphing into a black and white grizzly bear that landed beside him, growling menacingly.
"...Try and entertain me a bit, and do try not to die too early,"
"Severing Magic: Death Scythe!"
Going back a few minutes earlier, the fights outside the royal houses raged on, and upon Jack's arrival, the first elf he had his sights set on was Johanis, so he took the initiative and launched the first strike.
"You won't fare any better than the rest!" the possessed corundum mage brought his arms together in front of his face, protecting himself. "Thanks to my boost, this spell is invincible against all of your attacks!"
"Invincible, you say?" Jack licked his lips, a crazed grin forming soon after as he rubbed his blades against each other, generating small sparks. "That just makes things more exciting for me! I'll thoroughly enjoy cutting you down!"
Johanis scoffed. "I tire of your delusions. Not a single person here has managed to even scratch my armor, you'll be no different!" his grimoire flipped to a page. "So I'll do you a favor and kill you before you waste your power! Corundum Creation Magic: Ideal Further!"
He placed his hands on the ground, the mineral taking on a liquid state as he oozed from him, forming two puddles on each of his sides, the puddles then rose, creating smaller duplicates that were entirely a dull silver color.
"Great, just when he couldn't get more annoying," Yami rolled his eyes.
"Don't worry, my gruff bastard, with me here, things will get easier," Jack crossed his arms. "The rest of you can handle those goons he just made, they're bound to be weaker, leave the big guy to me,"
"Are you crazy? You wanna take him on yourself?" the dark mage with an almost comically serious tone.
"Yup. You and I have known each other for some time if I'm not mistaken, but that doesn't mean I tell you everything about how my magic works, let's just say I have a trick under my sleeve,"
The fellow captain shrugged. "Okay then, it better be a pretty good trick,"
"Attack!" Johanis ordered his duplicate soldiers as they charged.
"Okay everyone, you heard the beanpole, leave him to his fight. The rest of you, let's take down these things!" Yami called to the others as the three scattered, leaving Jack and Johanis alone.
The elf slammed his fists together. "I'm going to make you regret this," he advanced, coupling his hands together for a vertical slam.
"Good luck with that, I don't regret many things, and this will be one of them!" he backflipped away, quickly lunging forward. "Severing Magic: Death Scythe!" he winded his blade for a point-blank strike, but there was still no damage.
"Forgive me if I don't believe you. You probably would've had a little more luck if you worked with those other humans,"
Speaking of the others, they regrouped together to stare down their inanimate opponents, with Alice being the first one to move. "Finral, help me out!"
"On it! Spatial Magic: Fallen Angel's Twin Gates!" he made an interesting move as of the four portals made, two were high up in the air, as for the pair on the ground, one appeared in front of Alice while the other one appeared right below one of the corundum constructs. As both of them went through the portals, they were above ground.
"Thanks, and smart thinking, this will make things easier!" she attacked quickly with her sword, already making a sizable dent in it before it crash-landed, becoming completely destroyed.
"Hm, he was right, these things are weaker. It's my turn then! Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Dance of the Eclipse!" Yami commented before he cast his spell and disappeared, reappearing behind the last one.
To his surprise though, it turned around right before he could complete his combo. It then clenched its fist, ready to attack.
"Oh no you don't! Wind Binding Magic: Cyclone Tangle!" Alice intervened, wrapping it up in her wind threads. "Now!"
"Thanks a bunch there, remind me to give you a nickname later as a reward! Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Gloomy Dusk!" he finished it off. "Nice work, gang, we finished that in no time. I wonder how the beanpole's doing?"
Jack and Johanis stood about ten meters from one another. In the roughly two-minute duration of their fight, the severing mage had landed an astounding ten strikes on the elf, but the Ideal Closer had shown no sign of damage in the slightest, putting a look of undistilled confidence on his face.
"Are you ready to call it quits yet? You can't win," he taunted, but to his bewilderment, the captain wasn't paying attention, instead, he was looking intently at his arm blades.
"I think they're ready," he muttered to himself.
Johanis was enraged. "What are you yapping about?!" he demanded, but he got no answer, rather, Jack began running at him. "Surely you must be tired of this?! You can't hurt me! Because I am-,"
He was cut off by his enemy closing the distance and landing a vertical strike from a downward starting point, cutting deep into his armor, and that wasn't it, the entire spell became undone as the elf dropped at the knight's feet.
"H-How did you-," Johanis tried to ask, but couldn't as he fell unconscious.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Jack laughed.
Yami and the others approached him. "Well, I'd like to know, so spill it, beanpole,"
Jack commanded his blades to undo themselves. "What you saw was an inherent trait of my magic, if I keep slashing at something I can't cut, my magic will continually adapt until I can,"
Finral and Alice gasped at his explanation. "Does something like that apply to things that aren't physical too?" the former inquired.
"I've never tried, but I'm guessing it wouldn't make much difference,"
"Impressive, you have my respect," Alice commented before looking back at the bloated battlefield. "I had better go help En out. I noticed Zora heading to House Silva earlier too, you three should head into House Kira. Let's hope the king isn't dead,"
Yami nodded. "Good luck then. Jack, Finral, I hope you're ready, what we may face in there could be tougher than what we did out here,"
"Maybe it is, but we can't get cold feet, the kingdom is counting on us," the spatial mage said back.
The dark mage couldn't help but grin at the rare occurrence of his subordinate speaking such words of bravery. "That's what I like to hear. Move out!"
You no-good, incompetent ingrates!"
Perspective shifted to the deepest, most secure room in the Kira Household, that being the king's throne room, and currently, the king was using said throne as he looked down at a pair of nobles who kneeled at the bottom of the steps, and those nobles were none other than Langris' parents.
"Your majesty, please, allow us to explain," the man pleaded.
"Shut your mouth!" Augustus' voice cracked as he demanded silence and was promptly given it.
The king then calmed down, leaning back on his throne as he flattened his hands in front of his face, making the fingertips meet in sequential order. "Ledior and Liliane Vaude, members of a house I thought I could trust, so much so that I planned to have the next head of your family marry a member of my own," his eyes briefly moved towards Finesse who stood at his left side before bringing back down to them. "But then that son of yours goes and makes a mockery of my Royal Knights Exam by trying to kill someone and getting himself detained! Explain yourselves!"
"W-We don't know how this happened, Langris has always been such a well-behaved boy. The two of us are just as lost as you, but I know for certain this must be some kind of misunderstanding," Liliane spoke, trembling.
"I doubt that. He looked so bloodthirsty, ready to kill with no hesitation, I was scared he'd come after me next-," he began speaking, but then he paused, waiting a few seconds before he jumped off his throne. "That's what he was trying to do, wasn't it?! He was trying to kill me!"
Every other person present adopted a weird look, confused by his conclusion. "What?"
"Yes, it's all so clear now! He did what he did at the exam as practice, and I was his true target the whole time!" his eyes twitched crazily. "A desire to assassinate the king is treason, and if he's a traitor, you two must be as well! Yes, I caught on to your plan! You were going to have him kill me, then he marries Finesse and becomes a royal by wedlock so he can assume the throne!"
"Your majesty, forgive my next words, but what you're saying is absolutely insane!" Ledior exclaimed.
"Admit it, I'm right!" he screamed back.
"Um, your majesty," Finesse decided to intercede politely. "I think what they're saying is true, you shouldn't be too harsh on them,"
Augustus now gave his undivided attention to her, an unreadable expression now on his face, but that changed as he extended his hands…and pinched her cheeks with a blissful smile.
"Oh Finesse, you've always been so trusting of others, it's absolutely adorable. Don't you worry, leave everything here to your Gruncle Gus. Once I'm done executing these traitors, I'll find you a new man to marry,"
The woman blushed with embarrassment. "Your majesty, you don't have to keep doing that, I'm a grown adult,"
"Perhaps, but to me, you'll always be my little great niece. Now, are you sure you want to keep standing? I can have the servants bring you a chair,"
"No, that won't be necessary, I'm feeling quite fine today," she answered.
He promptly removed his hands from her. "Okay then, but don't hesitate to tell me if you change your mind," his demeanor then did a 180 as he faced the Vaudes once more. "As for your conspirators, I shall enjoy watching you die!"
"No, please, we're innocent!"
"That's what all the other criminals I executed said too!" he took out a communication device. "Guards, enter my throne room, I have people for you to escort to the dungeon!"
He waited for the guard's usual confirmation of his command, but this time, there was nothing but silence. "Hello? Did you hear me?" there was still no answer.
And then, at that moment, footsteps could be heard from the outside, bringing a look of joy to the older royal's face. "Ah, that's better,"
The figure on the other side kept walking and then suddenly stopped, but rather than opening the door slowly and cordially, they did so with a violent kick, revealing not a group of capital mages, but a lone Latri.
"Langris!" his parents called out to him.
"Ah, the would-be assassin appears!" Augustus exclaimed.
The elf ignored both remarks and he simply kept on walking. "Greetings. And who might you all be?"
"What? Don't you recognize me? I'm your mother," Liliane answered.
"Forget you! We should be talking about me!" the pathetic light mage pointed. "How can you not recognize your own king!"
That made Latri stop momentarily. "Wait, you're the king of Clover?" he asked rhetorically before bursting into laughter. "Am I lucky or what?! That means I get to have the honor of killing you!"
"I knew it!" the king turned to the Vaude parents. "So, I'm insane for thinking such a thing, you say?"
"Hold on, we swear that we never made any plans on your life, we are loyal!"
"Loyal my ass!"
Latri looked at them strangely. "If you're done talking, I can start killing all of you!" he swiped his hand up, sending out a wave of spatial magic.
"Be careful, everyone!" Ledior responded by making a spatial barrier, but it was useless as the attack cut right through it and the surrounding area, injuring him.
"Dear!" his wife yelled.
"That was pathetic, I think I'll deal with you all later, I'd better kill his majesty first before he runs," the elf set his sights on the ruler.
"Finesse, move away from here, it's me he's after," he told her as she obeyed. "You wish to fight me, aye? Finish the job from before? Well, I won't let you, and I will watch as you fail,"
He took his grimoire out, flipping to the only page with a spell. "Here I come! Light Creation Magic…,"
Latri narrowed his eyes. "He has Light Magic, just like Patri? This may actually be a tough battle," he thought as the opponent's spell took shape.
"...Absolute Monarch of Divine Brilliance!"
In an instant, all the worry he had evaporated, and all that was left was a deadpan.
Augustus, however, read the expression differently. "Hahaha! You're stunned by my impressive display of magical prowess, aren't you?! You chose the wrong king to conspire against! Now surrender or else-,"
It was gone. The light construct along with everything behind it was cut apart with a single swipe of the hand. "You can't be serious, that can't be all you can do. I had a harder time with those guards of yours,"
"Y-You fought my personal guards?"
"I did, and in a few seconds, I'll send you where we sent them, but I should make you suffer first. I can start by removing your legs!"
Just as he raised his hand, ready to do the deed, Finesse came up to him, holding back his arm. "Langris, I don't know what's wrong with you, but you have to stop. This isn't you, you don't like to make people suffer!" she tried to plead with him, but then she broke into a coughing fit.
The possessed spatial mage gave her an unenthused look as he used his hand to shove her aside. "What are you talking about? Of course I like it, allow me to demonstrate," he said, making her his new target.
"You fiend, stay away from her!" the pathetic light mage yelled, but didn't dare move.
The royal was still confused, not sure what to think, her life was going to end at her fiancé's hand and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
Or was there?
"Stop!" a voice full of passion and energy cried out as a portal formed under Finesse, the woman falling into it, avoiding the lethal strike. Another portal now spawned some feet in the air as she was now on a collision course with the ground, but before she could land roughly, the older spatial mage brother emerged, holding her in his arms as he slid across the floor.
"You aren't hurt, are you, Miss Finesse?"
"You're…you're here," she said back, resting her head on his chest. "Yes, I'm okay now,"
Ledior looked at his eldest son with a mix of surprise and contempt. "You,"
The black bull turned slightly. "Thank you for such a warm greeting, Father,"
Latri narrowed his eyes at the interloper, but then he detected two strong mana signatures, turning to see Yami and Jack.
"Well damn, that was quite the entrance you made, but I guess I can understand why," Yami began, giving his subordinate a knowing grin. "You gotta protect your woman,"
He blushed slightly. "She's not my woman,"
The dark mage chuckled, facing Jack. "Do you hear that, beanpole? It seems you're not the only one in denial around here,"
"S-Shut up!"
"Alright, alright, I'll stop the teasing,"
"How did you three manage to beat Charev?" Latri demanded.
"Charev? You mean that elf girl you came with? Yeah, she's enjoying a nice nap right now," Yami replied.
The elf turned his head again. "Seeing that you were able to react so quickly to my attack, I'm guessing you contributed a fair share. You're a little stronger now, aren't you…Finral?"
The one he spoke to found nothing wrong with his statement, but his captain was a different story. "What did he just say?!"
"Excuse me?"
"He didn't hear any of us say your name, so how does he know it?" the man answered. "When I fought the elf who was controlling the Prickly Queen, she didn't recognize me or her own squad members,"
Latri smirked. "Your friend is correct, this isn't the first time I've seen you,"
"Who cares about all that?! Get me out of here!" the king screamed, his voice cracking a second time.
"Let's help with evacuation," Yami said to his fellow captain as they jumped over to the weaker combatants.
Jack landed next to the king. "It's about time! Get me as far away from this place as possible! And make sure my great niece is unharmed!"
The severing mage deadpanned. "Okay," he grabbed the back of his robe and threw him out of the newly made hole.
"YOU BASTARD!"
"Jack, what are you doing?! He's the king for crying out loud!"
"Eh, he'll survive. And if he doesn't, did we really lose anybody important?" he posed the question, making the two bulls ponder it.
"Fair point,"
Finral then made a portal. "Father, Liliane, head into my portal, it'll bring you somewhere safe. Leave Langris to me,"
"Are you joking?" Ledior asked. "Langris was already better than you, but now his power has risen to new heights, you don't stand a chance! You've been weak and useless for so many years, you're a member of the Black Bulls for Pete's sake, don't start acting like you're strong all of a sudden!"
Just then, Yami grabbed the man by his collar, making their eyes meet as he exuded his intimidating aura, but this time, the look was even more frightening. "You better watch how to talk to members of my crew. Finral is not weak and he is not useless, he may have started as a bit of a coward, but he's changed. He may not want to hurt people, but he's strong nonetheless; you don't just have one talented son, you have two, it's just a shame you've had your head too far up your ass to notice,"
Ledior said nothing back, just showing his horrified face. The dark mage then changed his grip on his shirt. "Now off you go," he harshly threw him, grabbing the woman next. "Can't forget about you either,"
He then dusted his hands. "There we go, almost done with the evacuation, the only person left is-," he began moving his head toward Finesse, but his attention was instead captured by the look on Finral's face, a look filled with surprise and awe.
"What?"
"... Thanks for that,"
"Don't mention it. Now for your lady friend,"
Finral nodded. "Don't worry about me, I'll bring Langris back to his senses, Miss Finesse," he told her as he set her down.
"I'm counting on you," she said, blowing him a kiss before entering the portal as it promptly closed.
"It's just the four of us now, once I'm done, that king is next," the elf said. "And before I forget, stop calling me Langris, my name is Latri,"
Jack cracked his knuckles. "Tell you what, if you last more than ten minutes, we'll promise to remember it," he said as he and Yami crouched and blitzed straight at him.
In less than a second, the distance was nearly closed, both captains had their respective blades ready, but neither of them was expecting two oval-shaped walls of space to obstruct their path, forcing them back.
"What the hell is that, and how did you cast it so fast?!" Yami pointed at him with his weapon.
"These things are the result of a special spell, I activated it when I entered the building, it creates an automatic pair of shields that exist until I manually undo it at hardly any cost to my mana reserves. Say hello to my Spatial Magic: Archangel's Intervention!"
"That's impossible, I would've known if Langris had a spell like that," the opposing spatial mage pointed out.
"On the contrary, no you wouldn't, because I unlocked this spell,"
That revelation made the human trio tilt their heads. "What?!"
"It's true. When I awakened, I found myself in some kind of prison. My anger against the humans was already strong, but the situation made my hate rise to new heights, and lo and behold, the spell appeared. I didn't know such a thing was possible, but I'm not complaining," he explained before his grimoire flipped to a page. "Now it's my turn to go on the offense,"
Finral knew what attack he was going to use and commanded his grimoire to flip to a page as well as they both cast their spells simultaneously.
"Spatial Magic: Archangel's Shootdown!"
"Spatial Magic: Fallen Angel's Wingbeat!"
The area became littered with purple and green orbs, but the former greatly outnumbered the latter, and Finral knew it. "This isn't good, I can only cover about half of them," he thought. "Try and avoid them however you can!"
Yami and Jack nodded as they jumped back, avoiding the initial ones sent their way. The black bull's captain coated his katana in dark mana as he sliced an orb that got close in half. "Ah yeah," he congratulated himself, but it was short-lived as he noticed the coating was partially gone.
"Shit, that was close, if I didn't do what I did, my katana would be as good as gone," he thought to himself. "If I can't use offense, I'll just use defense! Dark Magic: Black Hole!" he summoned the hole of darkness and began to suck some orbs in. "Beanpole, be careful!"
"Relax, I'm not affected by the same risks you are!" Jack exclaimed back as he cut one of the projectiles with his blade before proudly showing it off, revealing it to be greatly damaged by the orb's property, but that's when he let green mana surround it, making it good as new.
"I can keep going for as long as I need to! Severing Magic: Death Scythe!" he launched a slash of magic.
Latri wasn't worried as he stood perfectly still, letting his shield move to defend him, making the captain grit his teeth as he went back on the defense.
Yami gripped his katana tighter as he let more mana surge through it before he sent a discreet look to Finral, one the spatial mage returned with a nod. "Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Slash!" he launched a slash of his own.
"Do you humans have trouble seeing? That last attack didn't work, and this one won't work either," the elf said with confidence as the shield moved in, ready to protect, but inches before they clashed, one of Finral's portals spawned in front of the purple wall, the slash entering it and coming out behind him.
The knights were grinning, it looked like this one was going to be the one to make it, but before it could hit, the second shield quickly came in to defend him.
"Shit!" they all sucked their teeth.
Jack, however, recovered from his disappointment quickly. "Hey, guy named Finral, help me out next!" his grimoire flipped to another page. "Severing Magic: Death Sickle Storm!"
Finral gasped at the number of mana slashes. "Holy crap, that's a lot! But don't worry, you'll be fine, you did this before against Vetto!" he opened and closed his hands in rapid succession, spawning fifty portals; the portals then surrounded Latri as slashes came in every conceivable direction.
The possessed spatial mage appeared a bit concerned by the set of attacks coming his way, but it didn't remain for long. "Nice try. Spatial Magic: Archangel's Destruction!" he countered each of them with the ginormous purple orb, canceling each one out.
Yami and Finral grit their teeth as they witnessed yet another attack fail, but Jack was different, his eyes were narrowed as he observed something interesting, but he pushed it to the back of his mind as he prepared for the elf's offensive.
However, there was no offensive, instead, Latri just turned, placing all of his attention on his host's half-brother. "I wasn't expecting you to make so many portals back there. I'll give it to you, you're pretty talented for a human, Finral,"
It was the older spatial mage's turn to narrow his eyes, there was still something he wanted to know. "No more stalling, start talking! When and where exactly did we meet?!"
Latri sneered in a smug manner. "You don't remember? I'm hurt. Joking aside, you should remember me, after all…I'm the one who put you in that coma,"
"I beg your pardon!" the exclamation came from Yami, and by the sound of his tone, he was pissed.
Finral, however, was shocked as he shook his head. "Y-You're lying, it couldn't have been you, the elf problem didn't occur until now,"
"And yet, I know what happened to you back at the exam," he said back.
The black bull couldn't deny it, he was telling the truth. "How did you do it?"
"You see, I have a cousin, his name's Patri. Now Patri wanted to test something, and he needed a little guinea pig, in comes Langris, the perfect subject. The experiment was a success, he achieved something he called an 'Imperfect Reincarnation'. Langris was still Langris, but he was now under the influence of my soul. Didn't you notice that during your fight, his mana underwent a drastic shift?"
"Yeah," Finral recalled. "That was because of you?"
"Indeed. While I wasn't conscious to make it happen, I indirectly caused it, then, after I awakened tonight, I was able to see what occurred back then in my memories," he clarified.
"Hold on a damn minute! How the hell did this Patri guy manage to pull it off in the first place?!" Yami wanted to know.
"And how did he even manage to get his hands on Langris? He's too strong to be kidnapped," Finral added.
Latri turned to Yami first. "He was able to do it using the current amount of Magic Stones in his possession, it wasn't hard for him to get his hands on…seeing that he's the leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun," he began, already earning gasps, but he wasn't done as he turned to the other spatial mage. "As for your question, it wasn't hard to do that either, after all, Patri shares a body with the one human our kind can call an ally. I was told he was famous around here, so you may know him, he goes by the name…William Vangeance,"
By the end of his revelations, the other two were in shock at what they heard. "No way, the captain of the Golden Dawn…he's a traitor,"
Jack was up next. "But, the leader of that organization, his name is Licht, not Patri or whatever," his eyes fixed onto Yami, trying to see what his reaction was as he remained silent, but instead of shock, he saw a saddened look, one that was rare for his bickering rival.
"What's up with you?" he asked in an almost carefree manner, but when he was met with no answer, his expression changed as he realized something. "You…you knew all along, didn't you?"
"Only the second part?"
"When did you find out though? And how?"
"I…I don't want to talk about it, okay? I'm sorry,"
Even though it was the first time he had seen the dark mage behave in such a way, he handled it maturely. "Alright, you don't have to tell me. Why don't we find a good way to get your mind off of it? We could try going on the super offensive and teach this bastard a lesson?"
Yami's expression began brightening almost immediately. "Beanpole, you know just what to say to make a guy feel better. Did Glynda teach you that one?"
"Maybe, or maybe I learned it on my own,"
"Either way works for me. Finral, get ready, things are about to get crazy!"
With his eyes still meeting Latri's, the man gave him the same defiant and determined gaze he had given Langris weeks ago. "I'm ready when you are!"
With that, they were on the move, Yami coated his katana with as much mana as he could, ready for what was in store, and Latri was going to bring it alright. Turning around, the familiar orbs of the Archangel's Shootdown spell emerged as they were launched at them, but before anything could happen, Finral created two portals in front of them while they were still moving, preventing a loss in momentum as they found themselves at a higher vantage point.
"Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Blade Storm!" one fired a multitude of strengthened attacks.
"Severing Magic: Death Scythe - Lunatic Slash!" the other launched two slashes that crossed in an X fashion.
Like before, his shields came to his rescue, but he didn't have time to gloat as his other opponent decided to get tricky, placing a portal right below his feet. "He's trying to alter my placement and put me in a vulnerable position," he deduced, using his magic to cancel it out before redirecting his attention to the captains, but in only a few seconds they were just a few inches from him, nearly closing the distance with the aid of a portal.
Despite it being fully within his defensive spell's capability to deter them, the elf's instinctive reflexes kicked in, causing him to back up a number of meters, but that left him vulnerable to yet another well-placed portal, this time it was placed behind him with the expectation of him backing into it.
Alas, things couldn't be that easy as he canceled that one too, but another problem would come in the form of Jack as he landed and immediately rushed at him. He reeled his left arm blade horizontally, hitting the shield head-on, the blade was partially erased, but that didn't deter him as he did the same thing with the other one, and the same result occurred.
"What in blazes are you doing?" the elf was perplexed by what looked to be an insane action.
"Oh, don't you worry about me, you should be worrying more about yourself," the severing mage retorted as he jumped back.
Latri was still confused, but he had no time to ponder it further as his mana sense flared and he turned his head, seeing Yami who had been teleported behind him, his Black Blade spell ready to strike. "Hello there,"
Instinct took over again as he backed up suddenly a second time. This was beginning to get on his nerves, so instead of paying further attention to the captains, he blitzed his way over to Finral, who jumped in surprise.
"Speaking of doing, you're doing too much and making this harder for me than it should've been, and now you're going to pay dearly for it. Once you're out of the way, their mobility will take a dive, and they'll be done for,"
Finral did his best to jump backward, using the hand behind his back to create a portal to bring him to safety, but before he could enter it, Latri canceled it out. "You think I'd let you run? Think again,"
With his only other option gone, the spatial mage had no choice. Balling up his hand into a fist, he threw the strongest punch he could, but it was pointless as the possessed spatial caught it with ease.
"You probably…no, you definitely shouldn't have done that," he riposted as he readied his other hand to carve him in half and do the job his host never could.
"Are you sure about that?" Finral's face became that of confidence as his body began to glow green and eventually disappear, dodging the lethal strike.
"How in the hell?" he muttered, seeing the man now reappear beside the captains.
"You didn't notice it, did you? When you took down my portal, I still had a hand behind my back, so I used it to create a Wingbeat to get out of danger," he explained.
"Hm, clever," Latri gave his compliments before he searched for a particular spell in his grimoire, nodding to himself once he found it. "But do you think you can get out of this? Spatial Magic: Archangel's Summit!"
With a vertical uprise from his hands, the wave of magic was sent out, but this wasn't like the last time it was used, because in just a second, it was already a mere yard from the knights.
Finral couldn't believe it. "No way, the speed, it's so much faster, it didn't even need time to build up," the surprise made him react slower, but thankfully, the other two were as sharp as ever.
"Everyone, stay behind me!" Yami exclaimed. "Dark Magic: Black Cocoon!"
Inside the defensive spell, Jack now stood in the front. "That might not be enough! Severing Magic: Crossguard Blades!" he added another layer of protection.
In just another second, contact was made. As Jack suspected, the cocoon was entirely destroyed, but thankfully, his forcefield managed to just barely hold up, though it was riddled with holes.
"What?!" Latri exclaimed.
"Nice work," Yami and Finral congratulated the man.
"What can I say? I'm just good, and he's just not,"
"Shut up! You hear me, just shut up! Spatial Magic: Archangel's Destruction!"
"It looks like he's starting to lose it," Finral said in his head. "Don't worry, I can get us out of its range,"
"No," Jack grinned crazily. "This one's mine!" he charged directly at it, elongating the blade on his right arm until it was a foot and a half longer, he then jumped and rotated his whole body, slicing the huge orb in half, his blade completely unharmed.
"It looks like a second set of kudos is in order, Beanpole, that adaptation trait is one hell of an advantage," Yami whistled, impressed.
After pulling off his feat, the severing mage backflipped back to them. "Yami, we need to move quickly and finish this. Let's get him on both sides, you go right, I go left,"
The other captain raised a brow. "You got a plan,"
Jack nodded. "I noticed something earlier. When Finral helped me out with my Death Sickle Storm, he used an attack to cancel it out rather than letting his shields try to contend with them all. It's just a hypothesis, but I think they become weaker when dealing with attacks from vastly different directions,"
"You don't say? Well, I guess there's only one way to find out," the dark mage said as they both broke into a dash, arriving on opposite sides of the possessed spatial mage.
Latri noticed this, but couldn't catch on to their plan. "Now what are they trying to do? Regardless, whatever it is, they're not the ones I need to keep my eye on, it's you," his eyes locked onto Finral. "He could be planning something tricky again and is merely using whatever these guys are doing as a distraction,"
"It doesn't seem that he's paying much attention to us, how rude," Yami quipped as he raised his katana up, slowly gripping finger by finger as darkness enveloped it.
Meanwhile, Jack crossed his arms behind his head, the blades growing in length again as they became covered in a bright green hue of mana. With his preparation complete, he looked ahead at his rival, noticing something interesting. "Hey, I recognize that form. That's the spell you were going to use during our last fight in the cave,"
"Yup, and the same seems to be true for you," he responded in kind. "Show me what you got,"
As the attacks charged, Latri's attention fell away from his host's half-brother and to the captains standing at his utmost east and west. "What the hell? The mana coming from them, it's powerful, they might actually…no, don't forget, you're an elf, and they're human, you're better than them, superior in every way. I'll be fine,"
And with those last three words, he sealed his fate. The attacks were ready to go as their respective mage cried it out triumphantly.
"Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Dimension Slash!"
"Severing Magic: Gargantua Punisher!"
Both strikes were massive, carving the ground as they raced to their target. Even at that moment, Latri remained confident, but that would soon end as the spells cut cleanly through the two shields, Archangel's Intervention was no more.
However, that wasn't it, the shields took the brunt, but there was still force left over, tons of it, and it turned the elf into a rocket as he flew upwards at high speeds, going right through the ceiling.
"We got him now, let's hurry!" Finral made a portal for each of them, bringing them to the roof where Latri wasn't too far away. "With his shields gone, we can finally get up close and personal,"
Yami chuckled. "Just the words I've been waiting to hear, a good blunt strike should do the trick," he was about to move in, but that's when the elf stood up.
"This wasn't supposed to happen, I'm better than you, stronger than you. So how did this happen?" he began talking loudly to himself in an absentminded manner before breathing in.
"YOU DON'T DESERVE TO WIN! YOU HEAR ME?! YOU DON'T!" he yelled at the top of his lungs as a red aura enveloped him and he floated into the air, mindlessly sending out waves of empty destruction.
"Holy crap, he's going to destroy the whole building if he keeps this up," Yami noted.
"You humans are nothing but trash! You're all despicable, cruel, greedy, and vain! All this chaos, this anarchy, you deserve it all! You scum are the worst things in all of creation!"
Jack retracted his blades. "Well, he's officially lost it. But how are we going to get close to him with his magic going crazy like that,"
"Yeah, I'm actually stumped on this one," Yami added.
"I'll handle it,"
They both turned to Finral. "Are you sure?" his captain inquired.
"I am. You two have done your part and more, leave this one to me. Latri is possessing my little brother after all, he's made this personal," he gave his answer as he created a singular green orb. "He didn't notice it during the fight, so I doubt he would now,"
The black bull then made a small portal, sending the orb through it as one opened behind Latri, the orb coming out and cleanly landing on him, teleporting the mad elf right in front of him.
Finral balled up his fist again. "You won't be able to stop me this time. Langris, do me a huge favor…," he reeled it back before slamming it into his face.
"...AND WAKE THE HELL UP!"
"Damn it, this sucks,"
Similar to Zuka and Yuno, perspective shifted into a dark space, the space of one's mind, and this time, it belonged to Langris. However, instead of seeing him confused or trying to escape, the knight sat up in a fetal position.
Upon finding himself in his headspace, the vice-captain's immediate priority was trying to find a way out, or at least to get back control. He tried using his magic, screaming, and concentrating, but nothing worked, so he gave up. "I thought I was stronger than this, I can't even beat some elf in my own head,"
He clenched his fist tightly. "How could I have let this happen? When did I become so…pathetic?"
Just then, in the darkness of his mind, a beacon of light appeared in the form of a familiar portal spawning beside him, and the head of a familiar guy popping out. "Hey there,"
"Huh?!" Langris jumped, startled by who he saw. "Finral?! B-But, that's impossible, you can't be here,"
Although he was surprised, it didn't take long for him to come up with a logical explanation for the current circumstance. "Oh, I get it now, you're not really Finral. You're just my subconscious, aren't you? Granted, I'm perturbed by the fact that you've taken his form,"
"Is that what you think? Maybe you're right, or maybe you're not," he riposted in a cryptic manner, extending his hand. "Sorry for being late, let's get you out of here,"
Langris raised a brow suspiciously. "Okay, if we entertain the idea that you're really him, why are you here for me? After everything I've said and done to you?"
"Are you seriously asking me that?" Finral sighed. "Do you remember what I told you during the latter portion of our battle at the exam?"
"To be honest with you, no,"
"Ouch. I told you that even though we're not fully related, even if you aren't as nice to me as I can be to you, and even though I pray fervently for the day you receive your comeuppance, you're still my little brother, and I care for you," he answered.
"Oh yeah, now I remember, and the feeling's still not mutual," he fired an insult.
The older spatial mage didn't appear to be bothered by it. "I know, but maybe it doesn't have to stay that way. Y'know, I've changed throughout these past few months, I'm not the person I used to be, there are still parts of me that are the same, but I'm a better version of myself, and the same can be true for you. You can become a better version of yourself too, if you're willing to try,"
Langris said nothing in response to that, but even though he didn't speak, his actions spoke for him as he began slowly inching his hand toward his half brother's, and that was all Finral needed as he reached out further and grabbed it.
"Thank you,"
"Well, that was pretty strange," Jack now said as he behold the sight in front of him and Yami, and that sight was of Latri, unconscious, grasping onto Finral's hand with his own as the black bull was kneeling in front of him, a smile on his face.
"Yeah, super strange. Why the hell was he reaching his hand out to you like that? I thought your punch knocked him out," he asked his subordinate, but it went unanswered as Finral let go and stood back up.
The dark mage was about to ask again, but he decided against it, simply placing a hand on his shoulder. "You did a good job,"
"Thanks, captain,"
The captain in green slung his arms behind his back. "And that ends this fight," he then observed the damage. "But I pity the sucker who has to pay for all of this out of pocket, as long as it's not me, of course,"
"Same here, the last thing I need is to suddenly go into debt after all the shit I do for this kingdom," Yami nodded in agreement. "Alright team, this fight may be over, but others might not be, let's spread out and help whoever needs it!"
With that, they split up. The night was still young, and before it rose, they would be victorious.
"I can finally see it. I wonder how they got it moving though?"
Those were thoughts going through Patri's head as flew toward the floating base with a large sack in his hand, his bright aura contrasting the surrounding dark colors. He came in through the top right entrance, but before he could even raise his voice to speak up, he was met by the sight of three people.
The two that caught his attention first were a possessed Gauche, with a possessed Marie standing behind him. "No way, Licht?" the older elf gasped.
Patri wagged a finger. "Correction, Droit, it's me, Patri,"
"Really?" the possessed mirror mage asked back, bewildered, but then he shrugged it off. "Well, it's not completely impossible, you did look up to Licht a lot,"
"Hey, I just awakened like this,"
"Maybe, but you're not opposed to it, are you?" Droit remarked in a playful manner.
"You're certainly not wrong about that," Patri nodded before noticing the younger elf. "And hello to you as well, Eclat,"
"Hello, Patri, how do you do?"
"I'm doing fine. Ah, you're just as well-mannered as I remember," he said softly as his eyes finally transitioned to the third person.
The person in question, however, made no effort to say hello…because she was asleep. The possessed Dorothy was napping against a wall, but she appeared to be comfortable.
Patri sighed. "That's our Reve for you, nowhere is too uncomfortable for her. I do find it funny though, Dorothy makes the perfect host, if only William could see this,"
"Who's William?" Droit inquired.
"I'll tell you later," he replied as one of Valtos' portals opened in the air and Rhya dropped out of it. "Greetings all,"
The possessed mirror mage looked at him strangely. "What happened to you?"
"Long story," he answered, walking up to him as they exchanged a high-five.
"Rhya," Eclat extended her arms as the copy mage lifted her up. "How do you do?"
"As fine as I can be," he replied as Droit's hand suddenly grabbed onto his wrist. "Is something wrong?"
"Sorry, it appears to be a protective reflex, I can tell since it's similar to my own. From what I know, Eclat's host and my host are siblings as well,"
"Really? What a coincidence," he remarked.
"Is Licht awake yet?" Patri then asked.
"He was for a little while, he then fought Asta and that other guy who was with him and mopped the floor with them, you should've seen it. Right now though, he's in some kind of hibernation-like state, it must be taking him longer to fully awaken since he cast the reincarnation spell," he responded before finally noticing what the light mage was holding. "What's that?"
"Oh, that's right, I came bearing gifts," Patri opened the sack and pulled out a folded set of clothes. "Some of our Midnight Sun allies were skilled in sewing, so I tasked them with making garments that were similar to what we wore 500 years ago. There are multiple sets in every reasonable size you can think of,"
"That must've taken a lot of time and work,"
"Indeed it did, in fact, when I arrived at the place I stationed them at, I found what was left of their remains right in front of this sack. They were dedicated, I'll give them that,"
Rhya yawned. "Cool, the base will be within good range of the royal houses in a few minutes, so we'll have time to suit up,"
"How did you get the place moving anyway?"
"Thank Ulyssin, his host's magic came in clutch," the copy mage replied as he made a portal for himself. "I have something I need to check on, feel free to check up on the others,"
The three watched as he disappeared through it. Patri spread his arms out in front of him. "Ah, how I've been waiting for this day, it's almost happening, we're almost going to win, we just need to kill all the humans and obtain the last stone, and then it will all be over and we can live out our days in peace,"
"Um, did you say there was another stone?" Eclat shyly asked.
"I indeed did, my dear. The magic stones I currently had in my possession were used to awaken us in these bodies, but there's another stone separate from them that Licht must've enchanted, that's the stone that will remove the imperfections of the reincarnation,"
Droit spoke up next. "You said you had to obtain it though. Does that mean we have to go on some scavenger hunt for it?"
"On the contrary, we do not. Since I was the first to reincarnate, I have a special bond with the stones, it lets me sense the magic they give off. The last stone we need is with someone, and that someone is bound to be on their way here,"
The light mage walked to the entrance and stared at the night sky. "Isn't that right…Yuno?"