Lila's arms pressed onto Alan's bleeding wound. "Hate to say it, but Levi's intervention was inevitable in this situation." Her code traveled across his body, filling the exposed cuts scattered across.
"So what are we going to do!?" shouted Kevin. "You saw what he did to Alan!"
Lila adjusted her hair tie and lifted her gaze. "Don't lose hope yet, Kevin. When there's a will… there's definitely going to be a way."
---
Gerald dug his fingers into his shirt's fabric. "Something's happening with my flames…"
"Your fighting techniques are slipping," Levi replied. The metal needles joined together, perfectly resurrecting his limbs. "Will you surrender now, or maintain your persistence until the bitter end?"
The boy's teeth pushed into his tongue, and the pressure within his chest faded with one large exhale. "Come at me with everything you've got!" he shouted.
Levi's finger aimed towards Gerald's chest. "One."
A group of quick needles raced across the lake and grazed Gerald's shirt. "What the hell was that!?"
He united the hole's jagged ends with his thumbs. "There's no guarantee luck will be on my side when he shoots nex-"
"Two."
Another projectile - this time much quicker and stronger, carved a small wound into his chest's side. The attack frequency gradually intensified with the satisfying smile across Levi's face. "Arrogant weaklings opposing the Grand Province deserve to be punished - you're nothing but an unworthy disgrace to Nahata!" Gerald's head shot up, fighting the raging pain across his body. "Unworthy… disgrace?"
His body plummeted towards the open water. "Wait - I have an idea!" Another burst of firepower ejected from his legs, pushing him back into the skies above. Levi's index finger followed Gerald's moving body. "Three."
His body swiftly dodged the projectiles. "I feel a rhythm - could this correlate to my fight with Songnote?" He charged into the remaining group of needles, releasing small grunts with each inflicted cut. The growing power exiles the needles from his body, leading him back onto the bridge's metal pillars. His gaze struggled, following each direction Levi's needles turned. The scattered, metallic pieces of his flesh all move together under the blue skies. "Once my entire body splits, so does my presence!"
Each needle, thin and weightless like sheets of paper, defies the wind's demanding currents. Gerald dances across the pillar's edge and weaves the momentous needles clinking against the bridge's metal. A small group of uninvolved needles overhead resurrect Levi's face. "His movements are advancing - at this rate, he'll begin to exile my needles from his bloodflow with absolute ease!"
Gerald's flaming leg lifts, distorting the precise trajectory of Levi's needles. The roaring flames fade to black, and his body catapults towards Levi's fragmented head. "His eyes… is he using Advanced Senses?" His head scatters into flurries of sharp needles that immediately pierce Gerald's legs.
Gerald wheezed. "He's taking advantage of my advantage - wait, how does that even make sense!?" The needles go flying into the air with a loud pop, and Gerald's shoes brush against the van's roof. His legs spin for a moment. "Concentrating power into one spot can be effective, but it makes my body sore…"
The individual needles conjoin, and Levi's body reappears. His gaze measures the distance between Gerald and the moving cars below. "Running to a more civilized area… a smart but cowardly move."
"Members of Team ENTITY or Team Pyron aren't cowards!" his voice echoes. "Even if you're a highly respected individual in Nahata, I'll follow my friends and fight for logic simultaneously!"
"You aren't fighting for logic," Levi replies. "Claiming to be on the government's side while fighting against a government member isn't senseful!"
"Helping each other out no matter the cost…"
The flames across his legs fade, but the grouping power in his legs persists. A few seconds pass, and Levi breaks the ominous silence. "Every drop of his power is racing to his legs… what is this boy planning to do?"
The dark flames of Emberatalia, strengthened by the large sum of power, ignite across Gerald's legs. It lifts from his leg, molding into a small whirring soccer ball. The sudden shock interrupts Levi's Advanced Senses. "Draining all your power just to defeat me!? You're even crazier than Alan!"
"Lila's commitment, Kevin's perseverance, Kaelan's courage, and Alan's protection! Each of their qualities bind together and strengthen our friendships!" The ball hovers for a moment and lands in Gerald's hand. "STRENGTH ISN'T THE ONLY THING INFLUENCING TEAM DYNAMIC - BONDS DO TOO!"
3 years ago, Crystal Stadium
"Player 38 advances with the ball! HE SHOOTS AND SCORES!"
The conversations within the crowd drown out, leaving room for their roaring screams. Among this crowd sits Gerald, Samantha, and Victor, who spectate from the stadium's elevated seats. A wholesome smile stretched across Samantha's face. "I didn't know you had an interest in soccer, Gerald!"
Gerald snickered. "I watched some games with Kevin, but he wasn't really interested - all he could think of was hitting the ball with fire and lightning combined…"
"WHY DIDN'T YOU BLOCK!?" Victor shouted. He rose from his seat and aggressively lifted his arms. Gerald's eyes thoroughly scanned the soccer field - the sweating players, colorful uniforms, and most importantly, the ball. "I wonder what Kevin would think about my idea…" he whispered.
---
"Victor's teaching you a FINAL ATTACK!?" Kevin shouted. His voice echoed through Mystic Mountain's endless trees and lifted into the sky above.
"Stay quiet!" Gerald complained. "Since you chose not to go to the game with us, you aren't getting any more information!"
Kevin chuckled. "Come on, just tell me what it is!"
Present
Kevin's pupils shrank. "A weird power is radiating from above… what the hell could it be?"
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Kevin!" Kaelan advised. "Levi could be in the middle of an at-"
His eyes focus through a small hole in the truck's top, and the whirring ball of Embertalia fills his eyes. "HIS SPECIAL ATTACK! I KNEW I WAS GOING TO SEE IT SOMEDAY!"
"Gerald's using a special power?" Lila asks. "So the power is radiating within his body…"
Volume 13, Chapter 62 - Flameball
Levi scanned the sphere of immense dark flames with his Advanced Senses. "His power buildup is remarkable! I haven't experienced anything like this since Ellis and Victor!" A frenzy of needles ejects from his thumb, racing towards the clot of energy.
"That won't work!" Gerald shouted.
Levi's spinning needles grind against the orb's surface. "It isn't working!?"
A small smirk stretched across Gerald's face. "The friction of our clashing attacks creates heat that the sphere absorbs to grow stronger!" The needles succumb to the sphere's growing force, clinking onto the surface below.
Levi's muscles tighten. "That sphere of his… what the hell is it!?"
The resonance between Gerald's power and the whirring orb strained. "My leg… why won't it extend?!"
Levi's patience started to wane - he formed two Mega Needles with his arms, aimed at the clot of circulating energy. Both needles charged simultaneously, passing through the bridge's metal framework. "Hate to break it to ya, but I won't let your attack land! I won't go easy on you ONE BIT!" His flesh split individually into small metallic portions reinforcing the two large needles launched just moments before.
The needles began to piece together, and Levi's hand now extended towards Gerald's throat. A small, relieved smirk overtakes his face. "The road of chaos you have created concludes here!"
At that exact moment, the scene around Gerald buffered. His mind scrambled - "Fight or flight?" A smaller moment of silence passed, and a bold rush of adrenaline dominated his body. "Fleeing isn't an option - I'LL PROTECT MY FRIENDS!"
The shocking moment returns to normal speed, and Levi's smirk of confidence suddenly fades. "His power isn't getting weaker at all… IT'S GETTING STRONGER!?" A pulse of power ripped from Gerald's heel, forcing the whirring sphere into the skies above. "NOT ONLY DOES THIS BALL SYMBOLIZE MY FRIENDSHIP, BUT THE PROGRESS OF MY GROWTH! SIX YEARS AGO, I BEGAN MY TRAINING JOURNEY ON MYSTIC MOUNTAIN - I'LL GIVE YOU A TASTE OF HOW HARD ME AND KEVIN WORKED!"
The surrounding air roared like a speeding jet. "SPECIAL ATTACK - FLAMEBALL!"
2.5 years ago, Crystal City
Victor leaned onto the Sword Graveyard's damp grass. "Are you sure using something like this is good for you?"
Gerald snickered. "Let's make a promise - the only time I'll use Flameball is if I'm in absolute danger!"
A hesitant smile stretched across Victor's face. "Good. Just make sure you use it at the right time, and victory will follow."
Present
The sphere of flames radiated above the ocean's surface and effortlessly pierced through Levi's counterattack. Gerald's body, overtaken by the compelling grip of fatigue, collapses onto the van's roof. Levi's needles split, quickly fleeing the ball's predicted route. "An effective attack… but not enoug-"
The sphere's direction took a quick turn, incinerating a large portion of Levi's needles. Their dense steel melted, dripping into the lake below. "His attack perfectly cut through my counter!?"
"I'M NOT DONE YET!" Gerald shouted. Through the air echoed his courageous roar, amplifying the sphere's efficiency. The metallic fragments of Levi's flesh scattered into the skies above, desperately attempting to counter the tracking flame. Climbing into the skies above pursued Gerald's Flameball, individually slicing each of the scattered needles.
A weak exhale released the pressure within Gerald's chest. "My flame… will never fade! Even if the odds oppose me, I'll FIND A WAY TO PROTECT THOSE DEAREST TO ME!" The rings around Levi's empty pupils shattered like panes of glass, and his Advanced Senses terminated. All that was left in the sky was the fragments of Levi's head and the pursuing sphere of flames. Flameball successfully sliced through the final batch of Levi's flesh, and the skies went silent - all that remained was the sound of Gerald's heartbeat and the cars' constant honking.
"I won… but at what cost?" he sputtered. "My power's getting closer and closer to total depletion… what the hell is going on with me!?"
—
Levi's head plummets deeper into the Grand Lake. "It's been a while since someone was able to defeat me…" His gray gaze lifts, observing the sun distorted by the water's surface. "Alan may be an idiot, but maybe some of his statements were true after all…"