In Aleora…
"Akari!" Marachii called out. "You made it!"
Dachii pushed himself to his feet. "Akari, don't fight her! She's not who she says she is! She's like Ravos! Inhuman!"
Akari closed her eyes. "I know. Just stay behind me."
Dachii watched as she took a deep breath, while Runea gave her a curious but menacing look. Akari clenched her fists.
"So all that saving me? Helping Dachii? Was that just a lie? You came here for blood, not peace?"
"You poor creature," Runea remarked. "You're too young to understand that some things require conflict. Just like I told that little cultist."
"Well then," Akari replied. "Enlighten me."
Runea took a few steps forward, her aura nearly making Akari suffocate and drop to the ground. Akari's head felt foggy as Runea formed a blade in her hand.
"So this is an Elite…" Akari thought. "That book didn't do them justice! She's like a maelstrom of power!"
Runea stopped a few feet away from Akari. "Since you're not so bad, I'll give you one chance. Run, Princess."
Akari chuckled before a serious expression emerged on her face. "No."
"Okay."
Runea immediately lunged at Akari, nearly slashing her arm off, but Akari formed a forcefield, blocking the attack.
"A forcefield of energy…" Runea noted. "How cute."
With a few well-placed slashes, she tore the forcefield to shreds. Akari jumped back, firing a barrage of energy bolts at Runea, who effortlessly side-stepped them all, moving in a blur. Runea formed an assault rifle and started firing bullets at Akari, who blocked them all while still in mid-air.
"So it's not just melee weapons, she can form ranged weapons too?"
Before she could react, Runea appeared next to her and sent her flying into the ground with one punch. Dachii went over to check on her.
"Akari! You alright?" he asked.
As he helped her up she patted him on the head, a newfound look of determination in her eyes. "Just fine. She won't get away with this, I promise—-!"
BOOM.
Akari got slammed so hard that she flew down the street. Once she landed, Runea used a chain to send her flying into building after building, but Akari snapped the chain with her bare hands. "Enough."
With a powerful slam of her hands, the entire area exploded with a shockwave of energy, coming for Runea, who jumped into the air and landed on a roof.
"Impressive," Runea complimented. "Seems you're not a royal for nothing."
She evaded an energy blast without even moving. And another. "But I'm tired of this. It's time I kill your pitiful leader, and how many of you have to fall before that task is accomplished is up to you!"
Akari launched a powerful wave of energy at Runea. "General Fujii? What do you want with him? Leave him alone!"
Runea appeared behind Akari again, slashing off her left arm. "Poor Akari. So naive."
Many years ago, in Titan's castle…
"Ritsuka, you gotta focus!"
A much younger Runea was busy training in her room, with various training dummies and cannons that fired rapidly. As she deflected them all, one grazed her shoulder, causing her to lose focus and get blasted in the face.
"Damn it! Screw this!"
She lashed out, cutting every object in the room to pieces. Melodar approached her, a sympathetic smile plastered on his face. "Come on, Ritsuka! You can't be so careless and emotional! You've gotta flow like a harmony, or you'll lose yourself."
She stabbed her sword into the ground. "What do you know of harmony? Those people—-Kenshii Fujii, he and his people stole my family from me! My home! Don't tell me how to train, bard! You don't know the pain I feel!"
Melodar placed a hand on her cheek, causing her to temporarily calm down. "Come on! Everyone in the Obsidian Order has an icky backstory. We don't come from noble homes or blessed situations, you know?"
"You…don't?" Runea questioned. "But Rikuna…she said…"
"That's because she was an idealistic woman!" Melodar clapped. "She had so much faith! Truly the purest one of us all. No tragic past, no regrets, no overwhelming guilt to speak of! Maybe that's what got her killed."
Runea clenched her fists. "You take that back!"
"It's not a bad thing!" Melodar threw up his hands in surrender. "But once you've earned a role as high as ours, you realize to fight monsters, you've gotta do some monstrous things."
Runea tilted her head. "Hmm?"
Melodar summoned a guitar in his hands, strumming a sad tune. "Let me tell you a bit of the history of the past!"
Runea could almost visualize what Melodar was singing.
"♪ Once upon a time life was fair, then the Voltians came and turned it to despair, and there was blood and tears everywhere!♪"
And then his tune shifted into a more upbeat one. "♪ But we keep up the fight! ♪"
"♪ Your pain, I cannot imagine, but you're not so cold! You, have suffered so much! Your dream, I know what you dream, you can take the world! ♪"
"♪ You can do what's right! ♪"
Runea's eyes widened.
"♪Runea, hold onto your pain, fight your what you hold, fight for every SOUL, don't you ever fold, even if the world turns! ♪"
Melodar laughed. "♪Make them all burn! ♪"
Runea cleared her throat. "Okay, I think that's enough. What are you saying?"
"I'm saying, act with purpose, but don't lose yourself in the process!" Melodar suggested. "We're not saints, but we're not the villains either. Keep yourself grounded, and we'll back you up with your goals!"
"Really?" Runea asked.
Melodar nodded. "Though we also have to find that Deity power. So if you want revenge, the goals align! After all, Master has talked with the orcs, dwarves, and monsters, and none of them have it! That just leaves the Voltians!"
"Deity…" Runea muttered. "What is that? Why does the Master covet it so?"
"It's like a SUPER powerful Element!" Melodar described. "The strongest in the world! It can restore the Master to his former greatness! He wants to use it to wipe out the Voltian scourge once and for all!"
"Can't he do that on his own?" Runea wondered. "The way my sister described him, the Master is nearly all-powerful!"
Melodar chuckled. "Close! But there's still some currently beyond his reach. Don't worry though! I don't think they'll be getting in our way anytime soon."
"I see," Runea said. "Well, I do appreciate the Master for saving me from that raid. I'll help him whatever it takes, but I'll never forget, and I'll never forgive what was done to me!"
Melodar wrapped his arm around her. "You need a friend! How about me?"
Runea glared at him. "Why would I ever choose you?"
"Because I'm so cool! And funny! And stronger than you!"
With a strum of his guitar, Runea went flying toward the ceiling, but Melodar caught her and landed perfectly back on the ground before she could collide. He set her down. "See?"
Runea got up, rolling her eyes. "Whatever. You're not..so bad. What was it again? Melodar?"
Melodar smirked. "Yeah, that's my Order name. You can call me Uta Otokura!"
"Otokura?" Runea realized. "Like that old musical family? But I thought they were all wiped out!"
Melodar shrugged. "Like I said, tragic! But don't worry, don't let it define you!"
She smiled, offering her hand. "Fine, I'll let you around me, Uta. But don't tempt me or I'll kill you."
"I wouldn't dream," Melodar confirmed. "Now let's make a song for the occasion!"
Present Day…
"Thanks for that, Melodar…" Runea whispered to herself, as she prepared to slash Akari, but to her shock, Akari was no longer in front of her. "What the—?"
"Don't look so surprised, dumbass."
Runea looked up to find Akari several feet away, with Aoki standing next to her. "You thought you could attack the Capital and no one would notice?"
Runea narrowed her eyes as she heard a voice behind her.
"Dachii, Marachii! What happened?"
She turned around and saw Hikari running up to the two boys, Luca and Saori right behind her. "Damn it, I took too long. The others are here."
Dachii grabbed Hikari by the shoulders, nearly collapsing onto her. "Hikari! Ayana, she's an Elite! Her name is Runea, she's the tenth rank of the Obsidian Order!"
"She's WHAT?"
Luca stepped forward. "I knew something was off about her scent. Still, the fact she could mask it so well for so long…that's not normal."
"The nice girl is EVIL?" Saori exclaimed. "No way! That's unforgivable!"
Runea gripped her blade tightly. "You all have a twisted view of evil."
Akari side-eyed Aoki. "I didn't need your help."
"And I didn't want to help," Aoki shot back. "But we don't always get what we want, do we?"
Akari waved her off. "Where's Fujii?"
"Passed out," Aoki said, almost annoyed. "The old guy's got himself drunk to all hell, so of course we've got to clean up this mess ourselves."
"Well, she's after him," Akari explained. "It's up to us to make sure she doesn't reach him."
"I recognize her," Aoki scoffed. "Don't worry, she won't even get close. Now, Princess…"
She turned to Akari. "Let's kick her ass."
Akari nodded. "Finally, we agree."
BOOM.
Both of them rushed at Runea, who barely even flinched as she raised her blade. Aoki began clashing swords with her, while Runea deflected all her attacks.
"Aoki," Runea mocked. "Grown dull, have we?"
"Dull this, you sick bastard!"
Aoki went for her neck, but Runea effortlessly caught the blade and flung her aside as Akari came in with energy-infused punches and kicks of her own, which Runea still kept ahead of.
"Cute."
Akari began charging up more and more energy inside her body, preparing to release it all. "KINETIC BURST!"
A large mass of energy was released from her body, shaking the entire district, but yet again, Runea kept ahead of it. While Akari and her continued going blow for blow, Aoki jumped into the fray, her arm and blade corrupted.
"That's it, Akari!" Aoki shouted. "Keep this witch on the offense!"
Akari and Aoki continued applying pressure as Runea countered them, moving so fast they went down street after street, causing massive winds to ripple throughout the district.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
They crashed through buildings, leveled streets, and made loud sounds that caused everyone nearby to quickly evacuate.
"Can't keep up…" Aoki thought. "Does she ever run out of energy?"
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
"I need to stop limiting myself!" Akari thought. "She's not gonna be an easy out, if I don't she'll kill us all!"
As Runea deflected their attacks over and over again, her eyes began to glow gray. "Both of you know nothing about the truth! I'll rip you APART!"
As she prepared to attack, she noticed Dachii trying to keep up with them from above, flying with Hikari, Saori, Marachii, and Luca on his back.
"Hey!" Hikari called down. "Don't keep us out of the fight!"
Saori aimed her hands at Runea and fired her Magic at her. "Take this, you evil woman!"
"No, don't!" Aoki shouted.
Runea caught the magic with her blade and redirected it back at the group, knocking them all out of the air. To her surprise, Dachii recovered in mid-air and slammed into the ground, causing Runea to fly in the air.
"Dachii!" both Akari and Aoki blurted out.
"You're not killing them, you psychopathic freak!" Dachii lashed out.
Dachii jumped in the air after her and with an unimpressed look from her, he and her started clashing in the air, moving so fast that sonic booms could be heard.
"NOW," Dachii declared. "DIE!"
He made his entire arm as heavy as he could, forming his gauntlet around it. "DENSITY PUNCH!"
BOOM.
Runea blocked it with one arm, but the wave of buildings behind her shattered. She kicked Dachii into one of the buildings.
"Pathetic."
To her mild surprise, the entire building began to rise in the air as Dachii lifted it, tossing the whole building at her. Without so much as a blink, she sliced it into pieces, before forming a large chain that crushed Dachii into the ground.
"Damn," Dachii groaned. "What will it take?"
As more chains headed for Dachii, Aoki carved them all up, before landing beside Dachii. "Dachii, she's not someone to take lightly. Don't rush in there like that again."
"But I can take her!"
"No," Aoki rebuffed. "This has to be a group effort. She's no slouch, and you're still not ready."
Luca launched an axe at Runea and Marachii fired his plasma cannon at her, but she casually blocked their attacks. As she prepared to throw a spear at Aoki, Akari caught her arm and flung her down the block.
"Listen," Akari ordered. "Aoki and I can do the heavy lifting, you guys just need to find a way to keep her immobile long enough so we can destroy her heart!"
"Yes," Aoki agreed. "She might be strong, but she still has her limits—-!"
WHOOSH.
In the blink of an eye, both Akari and Aoki noticed themselves being slashed repeatedly, and as their bodies collapsed, Runea delivered one more powerful slash to both of them, causing them both to go flying into the distance.
"No! Guys!" Hikari shouted.
Runea shook the blood off her blade, her eyes now glowing and hostile.
"I wonder…what will you do?"
A legion of chains formed from her back. "Now that your two strongest…have been taken down."
—-