So I say...
Live by the Spirit...
And you will not gratify the desires...
of the flesh...
Peter stared at me with great caution, his entire body crawling with the sense of anticipation. He backed away toward his friend, holding his hand out to receive his spear once again. The woman placed his spear in his hand then went off to protect the younger man.
I gestured of Luciel and Fleur to stand by, the two girls making their way toward the sidelines as well with high concern. I met Peter's gaze with great interest, something about his energy seeming beyond this world. Neither of us said a word, silently sizing each other up.
"Papa— I mean, Mr. Leonidas...now I know you're doing this on purpose to Nox! Why are you making him fight Peter's group? What Will does this even show?" Effie asked, watching from the sky upon Looni's back.
Leonidas chuckled softly as he watched upon the back of his snow white Coatyl, crossing his arms and keeping a close eye upon me and Peter. "Simple. We know he's the Messiah, but will everyone else know? How will he exactly make them see he's Ascea?"
"Well, I think there are easier ways to show Nox's Will," Effie huffed, laying down on her stomach upon Looni's back as she watched.
"From which way do you come, intruder?" Peter asked, pointing his spear at me in a defensive manner, keeping his distance from me.
I exhaled softly at his question then placed my hand upon the handle of my Steel Buster, my amber hue eyes glowing with a sense of readiness. "I am the Prince of Exzodia, Nox Exzodia. Am I still an intruder?"
"Tch, liar. The Prince of Exzodia has no name, but is known as Ascea alone. Unless you wish to reveal your true identity, prepare yourself to be discarded from this sacred institution!" Peter declared with impulsive protectiveness, blessed energy encasing his spear.
'What? What does he mean the Prince of Exzodia has no name other than Ascea? I am the Prince of Exzodia,' I thought to myself, subtly glancing down at Leona.
"Remember, Merin heavily altered the world. The world mourns the loss of the precious Messianic Force, August Eyica. If you want to prove that you are who you say you are, show him the truth," Leona responded mentally, looking up at me with her tail swaying from side to side.
I hummed thoughtfully at her words then released the handle of my sword then crossed my arms. I closed my eyes and began to think about the Genesian Chronicles, thinking over the history of my entire Genealogy and their abilities.
Looking down my own tree, I noticed my genealogy was a lot greater than what Dahlia mentioned before. After the fall of the Garden, but before August, there were others like me, others who struggled just as greatly, yet never lost their light.
Opening my eyes, I uncrossed my arms then exhaled softly, rolling my shoulder. 'I can't think of anything right now...I'll just have to show him with what I've already got..'
Peter watched me closely, his eyes widening slightly as he watched my body become a blur before his eyes, my figure appearing below him with a sweeping grab. I spun him around by his ankle then threw him across the training grounds, my body becoming a light blue silhouette and appearing above him.
Peter opened his eyes and grunted as I was now above him, his reflexes working overtime to avoid my axe kick. He leaped backwards to create space, pointing his spear at me and launching rays of light at me.
I held my hand out, my butterflies quickly flying in front of me and allowing the rays to hit them so they would warp the very rays out of the training ground. Peter's eyes widened in slight surprise as he watched his projectiles become useless, goosebumps slowly crawling upon his skin.
"Surprising isn't it? The power creatures like butterflies can bring," I began, lowering my hand and my butterflies calming down and landing upon my body.
Peter lowered his spear for a moment, a verse from the Chronicles showing in his head. He stared at my butterflies, noticing them looking back at him, all 36 eyes peering at him, taking interest. 'The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch of the wicked and the good...'
"Peter! You should fall back and assess the situation! We don't know what we are going against! ...or at least who Dean Leonidas set in front of us," The woman said, guarding the younger man near the fence.
Peter grinned at his companion's concern, a bead of sweat slowly rolling down his face, his eyes locked onto mine. "Fall back..? Not when there's literal blasphemy in front of me! This impersonator comes saying he is the Prince of Exzodia? The Son of God?!"
The younger man watched Peter's bravery, his eyes lighting up with a spark of courage as he watched the pause between Peter and I. Staying behind the woman before him, he held onto her fine linen and peered onto the battle.
"Alright, I do know that it will take more than words to prove anything nowadays. So come, face me and I shall reveal to you the truth," I challenged, placing my hand upon my sword and got into my stance.
Peter's smirk grew at my challenge, a fiery determination growing inside of his Spirit. He readied his spear with a flourish then got into his stance. "Come at me, Blasphemer!"
I took a step forward, my body becoming a light blue silhouette and reappearing behind him with a swift downward slice, but Peter sensed my attack, setting his spear behind himself to block my attack. He pushed me back with his weight then slashed backwards, but I quickly took on my Avenger Stance to parry his attack.
Knocking Peter off balance, I began rushing him with a series of slashes, each successful slice pushing him back. I prepared my final attack then sliced down, but my body became a light blue silhouette before my blade could reach him, causing Peter to flinch.
Peter slowly opened his eyes, looking around and noticing I was nowhere to be seen. His gaze began darting around, in hopes of finding me nearby. "Where is he..? What is this trickery?!"
Suddenly, my butterflies began flying at him like speeding bullets from around him, slamming into his body and sapping his energy to become Nature Seeds. I appeared in front of him with a speeding slice, slashing through him and activating one of my seeds for an extra delayed slash to strike him.
Peter groaned softly as he staggered forward, but never falling onto one knee. "No...I won't accept this..."
"Wow...he's really resilient. After all of that, he can still stand and deny the damage," Fleur analyzed, adjusting the settings upon her sunglasses to get a better picture of the recording.
"What if he's being used by Genesis? It wouldn't be entirely impossible for that to be happening. After all God does work in mysterious ways," Luciel suggested, shrugging her shoulders with slight confusion.
Peter stood up straight with a soft chuckle, looking back at me with his glowing hazel eyes, his spear shifting into a golden, wide bladed partizan. "You know, you are one interesting guy. You come here claiming you are the Prince, you have prophesized abilities...yet..."
"You have one fatal flaw... In the Book of 3rd August, it says 'He who shall appear after me, His name shall roar like the Apex Lion. His eyes will shine with glory like an amber fire'," Peter began, pacing from side to side as he locked eyes with me.
"Your eyes are golden, and you have no Lion with you... The Chronicles states that the Apex Lion will be the only Beast to not be caught in the Tribulation. So, if you are the Prince of Exzodia, where is your Lion?" Peter asked, pointing his evolved spear at me.
"Peter, Peter. Do you love God?" I asked, sticking my blade into the ground, my butterflies subtly shifting silver but deceptively remaining a shade of light blue.
"Of course. I do love God! What kind of question is that!" Peter answered, stepping forward with a resolute glare toward me.
"If you love God, why do you question Him? Do you have no faith in Him? Enough faith to believe he has truly sent his only begotten Son to Earth?" I asked, meeting Peter's gaze with a peaceful, calm expression.
Peter scoffed at me, keeping his spear ready for anything I had prepared. "You are truly lost... believing yourself to be the Son of God is ultimate blasphemy! I'll strike you down right here!"
Peter charged toward me with a powerful roar, leaping forward and thrusted his spear forward, but I warped out of the way, my body becoming a silver silhouette. Peter grunted as he slid forward then turned around, his eyes slightly widening as he noticed my Nature Seeds had all become silver.
I chuckled softly at Peter then began hurling each Nature Seed toward him at an alarming pace, each seed lighting up as if to detonate into an explosion. Peter grunted heavily at the bright lights, immediately taking cover from the area before the seeds detonated into floral explosions.
The woman and the younger man took cover as well, Fleur and Luciel also diving for safety and each of them exclaiming loudly at the explosion. Effie and Leonidas watched my battle against Peter with great interest, Effie cheering loudly in the sky with laughter following.
Peter grunted softly as he rose from the ground, looking around at the roots and flowers sprouting from around the battlefield, the training grounds turned into a epic garden. "What the...."
Everyone got up slowly, cautiously looking around to see that their surroundings was now Floria's domain. In the distance was the sight of a bud similar to Floria's Rebirth Rose. I stood confidently, my butterflies all fluttering around me with vigorous energy.
Reinhart watched from the balcony of the training grounds and leaned against the rails with slight interest, his gaze focused upon me. "Very interesting...I haven't seen this level of skill from him since we were 15.."
Eden glanced at Reinhart then looked back down at me and Peter, her mind trying to figure the mystery behind me. "What are those chains coming from his lower back?"
"I have no clue, but I feel as though we are going to find out," Reinhart said, his gaze shifting over to Peter with a light chuckle.
Peter glanced around the training grounds with extreme caution, his grip upon his partizan tightening as he scanned for any hidden attacks. "What is this trickery..? What do you have under your sleeve..?"
"Peter!" A young voice called out in the distance, the young man making haste toward the battle.
"Nngh— Andrew, get back! What are you doing?" Peter grunted, watching as his younger brother charged toward me courageously.
I dodged his initial slash with a step, leaving behind a floral yellow silhouette where I last stood then warped a step backwards into a spinning slash. Andrew grunted heavily as he blocked my attack, the force behind my swing causing him to slide backwards.
Andrew huffed lightly as he regained his footing, stumbling backwards before getting back into his stance. I got into my Avenger's Stance, waiting patiently to see what Andrew could do next and took a deep breath before slowly exhaling.
Andrew held his sword in front of him with the blade pointing to the sky, a golden halo forming behind him and emitting a radiant light. Andrew's body became an afterimage and reappeared behind me with a thrust of his sword, but one of my roots emerged from my lower back, blocking his attack.
"What the—" Andrew exclaimed in surprise, groaning heavily as the root smacked his face, sending him flying toward the fences.
Peter watched in disbelief as he noticed my natural defenses outspeed Andrew's Flicker Strike. 'Impossible...how the heck did he know where Andrew would attack from?'
"This doesn't seem fair now, Mr. Leonidas. Nox is now being boosted by the field he set up. What is the terrain he put up?" Effie asked, looking up at Leonidas for answers.
"Nox set up a Facility. It's named the Bud of Yggdrasil, it has no function truly outside of its passive ability of boosting Plant Affinity users within it," Leonidas answered, his gaze focused upon my figure with great interest.
"Bullcrap, I refuse this field is useless like you say it is," Effie huffed, her attention returning to the battle below her.
Leonidas chuckled softly at Effie's retort and let out a soft hum in response. He became curious about what Peter and Andrew would do now that they were within a Dark Lord's Facility.
"Ava! What are you doing just sitting there? You should at least try to help us out!" Peter called out to the light brown cloak, his golden blade shining under the sunlight.
Ava scoffed lightly at Peter as she leaned against the fence, her right eye closed due to a scar keeping it shut. Her left golden orange eye shimmered with power as she looked at me. "Fine, but you owe me and Andrew a trip to the beach later."
I glanced back at the woman near the fences, my brow raising with curiosity as I noticed her body becoming a flash of light before teleporting in front of me with a slice of her dagger. I warped out of the way of her slash, but Ava teleported behind me with another swift cut in the air.
I parried her slash with my Steel Buster then became a floral yellow silhouette, allowing Ava to fall to the ground. Once she landed on the ground, vines emerged from the ground and wrapped around her hands, trapping her in place and catching her off guard.
"You should've kept your guard up!" I bellowed, appearing in front of her and palming her stomach, planting a butterfly upon her stomach before launching her backwards with a burst of wind.
"Wooo!!! A three on one?! This has started to get exciting!" Effie laughed, Looni squealing with enthusiasm as well as she watched.
Fleur and Luciel watched intensely, the both of them waiting for the perfect time to jump in the fray. They noticed with my renewed might, all of my senses had increased beyond their own belief. They couldn't fathom a three on one for themselves, let alone three Blessed Humans.
Ava teleported back in front of me with a powerful kick, forcing me to block but the force of her strike sent me flying backwards. Andrew flickered above me with a blinding slash, but I became a floral yellow silhouette and warped back toward my sword.
"He's too fast! I can't keep up with him even with my Light Flicker!" Andrew called out as he ran toward me, lunging forward with another slice.
I parried his attack then slashed forward, knocking him back then sliced forward once again, releasing a fiery blade beam toward Andrew. The cutting wave struck Andrew, causing a fiery explosion in the area then set the flora ablaze.
Peter glanced around the battlefield as he noticed the flora around him burning into ashes, the gray smoke rising to the sky as the greens vanished. 'What is this guy's plan..? It's almost as if he's just doing anything...'
Peter scoffed lightly at me then stuck his partizan into the ground, his polearm becoming mana blue energy before shifting into an ocean blue fishing rod. Peter grabbed the rod in front of him then took hold of the handle, slowly unsheathing a blade from within it.
Before I could question anything, Peter teleported in front of me while generating high amounts of concentrated mama then slashed down, releasing powerful shockwaves of energy around the area. Peter stood up slowly and glanced around, noticing I was gone, my silhouette slowly vanishing into the wind.
"They are all so fast..! I could barely keep up with what was going on!" Luciel marvelled, wiping her eyes in awe, hoping her vision was just blurry and that she wasn't getting perception blitzed.
"There's no use in rubbing your eyes, Luci...I can't keep up either. Our worst fears have come to life...we've become too slow," Fleur said, trying her hardest to keep up with my battle against Peter's group.
Ava rushed me with a series of slices, but I evaded each strike with calculated dodges then stuck my sword into the ground and using one of my butterflies to warp on top of the handle, dodging Andrew's quick slash. I leaped in the air then used my Tranquil Chains to wrap around the handle of my sword, taking it out of the ground with little effort.
I landed on the ground then sliced in a circular motion with my chain, forcing Ava and Andrew to dodge my wild circular slice. Before I could prepare my next strike, Peter teleported to the side of me, landing a powerful kick that sent me flying.
"You're finally mine! I've got you now, Blasphemer!" Peter roared, charging forward with a lunging slice.
I warped into position to block, clashing blades with Peter then began perfectly dodging each of his slashes then went for a sweep kick. Peter jumped over my sweep kick then began raining down slash projectiles toward me, forcing me to warp out of the way of each slash.
Peter smirked as he noticed an opening then teleported in front of me into a devasting kick, his attack landing true and sending me crashing into the fences behind me. I grunted heavily as my back hit the fence, my arm hooking over it to keep me supported upon my feet.
"Nice...a solid strike landed upon him," Ava rallied silently, currently taking a knee to recharge her Mana.
Andrew stood beside Ava, panting softly as he kept his eyes upon me, his gaze watchul like a hawk scoping out its prey. "We should be careful...we don't know what else he's capable of..."
I pushed myself off the fence and stuck my sword into the ground, a few strands of my hair becoming thin fiery hairs. "Hmph...that was a good strike you landed, but it's gonna take more than that to beat me."
Peter slightly hesitated as he met my gaze, my eyes glowing an amber light with Mana blue ring around my pupils. He stood up straight as he noticed Leona making her presence known beside me, his body completely freezing with disbelief.
Ava and Andrew froze as well, the sun shining brightly to cause harsh sunlight, my energy reacting with the light of the sun and cloaking my body in Solar Energy. Fleur and Luciel both shuddered with anticipation, their gazes becoming trapped upon Leona's presence.
I kneeled down onto one knee, gathering Mana energy from the environment around us while fusing it to my Solar Energy. My butterflies began to glow brightly, their bodies becoming a blazing red, each of them becoming Crimson Admirals.
"There's no way...there's no way that you—" Peter began, his body instinctively taking a step back as I rose onto my feet.
I opened my eyes once again and met Peter's gaze calmly, my Lion Gauntlets appearing upon my hands with a deep roar. "Are you still doubting? Maybe a closer inspection would do the trick!"
Before Peter could react, I dashed in front of him and launched him in the air with double leaping kicks, both attacks propelling him and myself in the air. I used one of my butterflies to warp above him then another to change it into a Living Bomb, its body shining brightly and detonating into a massive explosion.
"Whoa! What was that move?!" Effie gasped in awe, an idea hatching in her head for her next technique.
"That was one of his Dark Lord Abilities, Living Bomb. Sacrificing one of his Crimson Admirals, he can turn it into a Living Bomb with explodes upon command or contact with anything. That butterfly is then reverted into a cacoon until the next day," Leonidas answered, his gaze never leaving the battlefield with high interest.
The smoke began slowly clearing, revealing the aftermath of the battle with Peter taking one knee and my figure standing strong in my base form. Leona was nowhere to be seen, yet evidence of her presence remained, my singular red cacoon floating with the rest of my butterflies.
"Wait until John hears about this...we are in the actual presence of the prophesized Messiah...the Ascea..!" Andrew gasped, nearly recoiling backwards in shock and gripped the linen of Ava's clothing.
Ava coughed with disbelief and stood up immediately, her gaze shifting between Andrew and me before dropping down onto her knees and bowing before me. "Heavens forgive me! I truly had no idea! Please don't spite me!"
I looked at Ava and softly chuckled at her, walking toward her and crouching down in front of her with a gentle hand upon her shoulder. "I will not harm you...so rise. Treat me as if you would any other student on campus."
Ava rose her head, her gaze meeting mine directly, the image of August looking down at her playing in her mind. Everyone watched with reverence, Leonidas the only one able to resist the Divine Spirit raining down upon the training grounds.