Lucita was fast. Really fast. Davi felt his eyes burn as he did his best to keep up with her. In terms of power, she was well beyond what a Squire should have been and had enough raw power to be considered a Knight rank for the Arcane Knights, but the loss of her arm was definitely holding her back, as her strikes lacked the raw power behind them that they should have had.
Davi lifted Storymaker as she appeared before him and stabbed at him with her lance. He deflected the attack and swiped up, but she avoided that, shooting back. Her body would flicker, and she'd zip across the battlefield trying to be some annoying bee and whittle him down with weak strikes.
Davi swung again, but his blade missed, and Lucita twisted behind him and jammed her lance into his back. His armor withstood the blow, and his knees barely buckled as he turned toward her, but she was gone again, smacking him in the chest three more times before flickering around the mountain as fast as she could.
"Death by one thousand stings." Lucita's voice came out distorted and echoed from every angle. "Do you know what that phrase means?"
"It's about a bee that takes its prey out by stinging it one thousand times," Davi said casually, and another eight stabs jammed into his legs, arm, and side, his armor groaning.
"The Licht-Fulk don't use mana the way your kind do. We do not have the blessing of spells. We instead use ancient relics, imbued with the Mother's Holy Light. You mages have a form of combat known as the Mana Step? Well, behold the superior version. What you're witnessing is my gift. The Light Step."
"Sounds fast." Davi looked around, trying to follow the flickering body. Lucita hit him twenty more times, bits of his ebony armor peeling away, and droplets of his blood starting to spill and run over the metal. He still looked calm and collected, casually glancing back and forth, which ticked the Licht-Fulk off even more.
"It's beyond speed." Lucita hissed. "Unlike a Mana Step, which bends the law of space to allow you to teleport, I am actively moving at instantaneous speeds. You can't hope to keep up with me, for I am light itself, and even the best of warriors pale in comparison to the speed of light!"
"You're moving at light speed?"
"Indeed, I am! Scared?" Luctia shimmered before him and slammed her lance into his gut, then just as fast, circled around him and smacked it across his back before appearing on the other side of the mountain. "Your durability is high, but if you cannot hope to match my speed, and you have no way to lay a hand on me, then you automatically lose. I'll beat you with one thousand stings."
Davi felt his armor start to dent at various spots around him, and the lance shattered, sections digging into his flesh and spilling his blood. He adjusted his grip on Storymaker. "There's something I think you're overlooking. About bees that sting a target one thousand times to take them down. That story just doesn't make any sense."
"Quit your babbling and accept your fate."
"No, I'm serious," Davi began. "The story doesn't make any sense because when a bee stings its target-" he turned his body, and rapidly, his mana expanded and grew around him, becoming even more durable right as Lucita jammed her lance into his chest. "-they break off."
The lance shattered and twisted in on itself as it suddenly rammed into an immovable object. Lucita's eyes widened in horror, and the split-second shock caused her to hesitate. She went to use another Light Step but then screamed in agony as her shoulder was snapped out of its socket, since Davi now gripped her arm and stopped her from getting away.
"Bee stingers snap off. I mean, not all bees, granted, but still, I doubt most bee stingers could handle stabbing something a thousand times anyway, so the metaphor just doesn't make sense. Same thing for that 'death by a thousand cuts,' like, yeah, okay, your sword is definitely going to still be working after it hits my armor one thousand times, sure thing, pal." Davi rolled his eyes. "They just don't make any sense."
"Let go of me, you fucking bastard!" Lucita screamed.
"See, that's another thing; your speed doesn't really matter if I manage to grab you once. Like you have to fight basically perfectly, while I just have to wait for you to make one mistake and fight as I normally do. Anyway, this is why I think tank builds are better than speedy dps ones."
"W-What the fuck are you talking about!"
"Huh." Davi frowned and then shrugged. "Sorry, I got into this debate with Olivia a bit ago about which playstyle was better. I think mine is the clear winner-"
"Mother's Light!" Lucita's armor ignited, and from the shoulder pad for her missing arm, light twisted out and formed into a thick arm with a giant fist, which jammed into Davi's stomach hard enough to actually stagger him and throw him back. He let go of her arm as he rolled across the mountain and actually gasped, the front of his armor shattering. "You've seriously pissed me off!" Lucita screamed. "This is my trump card. You don't like speed? Well, good news! This thing is all power! It's pure energy that takes on the form of an amount of mass equal to my total speed. And since I can move at the speed of light, let's just say this arm can hit pretty freaking hard!"
Lucita flickered across the mountain and struck out with her fist, smashing it into Davi's face, which was instantly covered by his helm, as he donned it just in time. She slammed him down into the mountain, and it began to crack and shatter as the force of her attack rippled out.
She always hated using this limb because it was everything she wasn't. It was raw, untamed power, meant for nothing more than killing. A bomb of mass destruction in the shape of an arm.
Lucita glared down at Davi. "I'll make an exception for you!" She swung this fist down on him again and jammed him further down into the mountain, which was cracking.
"R-Row Shadow Vault." Suddenly, Lucita felt pain as her own armor shattered and cracked, and something massive rammed into her. She was sent flying back, and she gagged, her ribs cracking. She glared up as Davi stood up and now held his massive anchor. "Alright," Davi announced. "A battle of pure raw power." He held the giant hunk of iron over his shoulder, and his mana coated it. "Let's see who can dish out more damage."
Lucita roared in anger and charged forward, pulling her light fist back as Davi took a mighty step and swung the metal object as hard as he could! Their attacks met, and the entire mountain suffered for it.
Meanwhile, on a different one, away from the cataclysmic battle, Susie shaped her golden orbs into thin walls of pure mana just in time to block waves of arrows and gunfire. Valorn and Minori were persistent and kept up their fire. While that happened, Florence grabbed Dominic and threw him in the air. The old Licht-Fulk cackled, and with his whip blades, he slashed down toward the distracted Susie, wanting to break her barriers.
The weapons never reached her, though, as Max caught them. He held onto the blades, ignoring the pain in his hand, even as blood flowed down his arms. He tugged on the chains, forcing Dominic down toward him, and then slammed his fist out as hard as he could, smashing it into the Licht-Fulk's face and sending him flying back.
"Bastard." Dominic rubbed his jaw and glared up at Max. He then smirked. "You don't seem to be doing too well."
Max breathed heavily and winced. Unlike Susie and Sera, Mana didn't cover his body, so the only thing to defend himself from the intense cold of absolute zero was his own body. His flesh was turning blue, and the jacket he wore was rapidly getting covered in shards of ice. He was freezing to death, slowly but surely.
"Activate your mana?" Susie yelled toward him.
"Nah." Max shook his head and then, still without mana, ran toward Dominic. "I'm good!"
"Is he stupid?" Susie shot a lot at Sera, who just shrugged.
"It's a little complicated." Sera dodged the question and pulled a small glob of frozen snow out of the air. She folded it into a ball, and Susie lowered the barrier around them, allowing her to throw it to Valorn. "Row Size Alter!" The snow expanded and nearly covered half the mountain, swallowing Valorn and dragging him off a cliff. "Yeah! Take that-"
Sera was suddenly flooded with pain as Florence reached her and smashed his shield into her, hitting the size wizard hard enough to break several of her ribs. Sera hit the ground and gasped, and Florence was about to smash his mace down onto her head, but Susie blasted a golden orb directly into him, sending him slamming into Minori, who took aim at the running Max!
Speaking of Max, he reached Dominic and dodged another swipe of the man's chain blade. He slid behind the Licht-Fulk and threw a powerful sucker punch out, both denting Dominic's armor and splitting the knuckles on his fist open.
Max gritted his teeth and then kicked out with his leg, smashing it into Dominic's shin, causing the Licht-Fulk to roar in pain and collapse to his knees. Max then struck out with his elbow, jamming it into Dominic's throat. The force of the attack smashed the Licht-Fulk's skull into the mountain, shaking it.
"I'm not going to be outdone," Max declared. "I worked hard to become an Arcane Knight, and I'm proud to be part of the guild that I am. After seeing how intense Phoenix Flight is, all it has done is cause my resolve to double. Do you hear me? I'll work harder and harder until I can beat you all with my fists!"
"W-What the hell are you babbling about!" Dominic roared, but he was punched again by Max. Max got ready to strike the Licht-Fulk again, but by this point, Valorn managed to return to the mountain and shot his arrow. Right before it hit Max, Sera used her spell and shrunk the thing down so that it was nothing more than a bee sting. It still caused Max to wince and freeze, which Dominic used to throw the strange man off of him. "All of you will be sliced apart!"
Dominic roared again and sliced out with his chains, splitting the entire mountain in two as he began to rapidly whip them back and forth. The weapons began to glow and light up, getting brighter and brighter! He wasn't the only one, either.
Florence raised his shield to the sky, which was also lit up, and Minori loaded a golden bullet into her gun, as Valorn placed a shimmering arrow on his bow. All four of them got ready to activate their strongest moves. Right before they all activated it, though, something appeared in the air around them.
Hundreds- No. Thousands of small golden orbs. They glowed and swirled around, lifting into the air and beginning to take shape. "For one month, I got my ass kicked," Susie hissed out. "Beating, after beating, that psycho lady never let up. I barely got any training myself. In the past, I was a master of fire magic. The youngest in my village to learn nearly every Row-level spell that there was. I was sad when I learned my Core was damaged and couldn't be used properly, but since meeting that depressed idiot, I learned a secret. A Golden Core? It's similar, in a way, but mine is so much better." Susie lifted her hand to the sky. "Behold."
The golden orbs came together into a shape. Massive in size, it towered over the mountain, its wings lifting out to their full height.
A dragon. One forged entirely out of light.
"Davi thinks he's so cool because he figured out some aura trick; well, fuck that!" Susie yelled. "I can make a fucking dragon! Fuck all of you! I am way cooler!" The dragon opened its mouth and unleashed a beam of brilliant light.
Back over on the destroyed mountain that Davi was on, he raised an eyebrow as he saw a flash of bright light. "Huh. I didn't know this place had a sun."
Lucita sputtered up blood and remained motionless on her back. Davi wiped the blood from his forehead and dusted off his armor, which was now completely ruined.
He and Lucita had gone blow for blow until they shattered the other one. In the end, he won, but his flesh was covered in bruises, and he now had a broken bone or two. It was worth it.
Davi placed the anchor back into his vault and lazily stepped off the side of the mountain. His armor reforged as he dropped, fixing itself, and used a form of Shadow Vault to coat his broken bones, putting them back in place, similar to what he did when he fought Adam. He crashed down to the bottom and was about to head down the stairs that led to Himvel's underground castle, but as luck would have it, he didn't need to. Himvel was waiting for him.
"You're late." Himvel closed the book he had been reading and stood up.
"Sorry."
"Have you changed your mind about joining my team?"
"No. Have you changed your mind about letting us out?"
"I have not."
"I see. So we're at an impasse?"
"It seems so."
"Row Shadow Vault." Davi opened his vault and drew Storymaker.
"Row Atomic Transportation." Himvel held his hand out as reality twisted around him, and a katana suddenly appeared. "Are you worried for your friends at all?" Himvel asked.
"Nah, they can handle themselves." Davi insisted.
"Good. Because after I'm done with you, your next-"
Davi charged forward and swung his blade out. Himvel ducked the swing and used a Mana Step to escape. The armored elf slashed out with his sword and used another spell to cause the very atoms in the air to carry the swing toward Davi, who created a white orb in his palm and struck out at the slash, with it blocking it. He then threw the orb at Himvel, who split it in two with his blade, but that just caused the two halves to glow and explode. Himvel leaped out of the blast, coated with bright golden mana, and he used another spell, several portals opening up and dropping golems onto the battlefield.
Davi chased after the fleeing elf and began to tear his way through the golems using a mix of Storymaker and his white orbs. "I'm not letting you get away that easily." Davi created another white orb, but this one appeared at the tip of his blade, and he ran his sword through it! The orb shimmered and shifted, breaking down into an explosion of white fire around his blade! And then- "Row Shadow Scar!" The explosion of white fire suddenly halted and was wrapped up by the shadows that flowed from his armor.
Storymaker was now coated in shadowy flames that screamed and clawed at the air, wanting to come off the blade. The sword shook, and pain flooded his arms as the attack kept trying to leap off his sword.
Shadow Scar was a new spell he had recently created. Its birth had come about by complete accident.
He sealed Old Bird's Flapping Wings and Way of Self Iron with a Vow. This was so he could alter how they worked and allow him to turn pain into chaotic mana and store it as a smaller chaos core within his body. Since doing that, the power of his Self Sphere also rapidly increased. The white orbs were able to compact a lot more energy since he got hurt a lot, and so this explosion was far bigger, and the heat they'd give off was hotter.
Despite getting stronger, though, his control over them didn't get any better. He couldn't fully use them the same way Susie could her golden orbs. She had perfect control over the shape, intensity, and size of hers, yet he could only make a ball that would blow up. The blast was strong, sure, but hitting an enemy with the full thing was hard, since most of the explosion wasn't focused on the spot he was aiming for.
In his attempt to use them more, he eventually got the idea to try to combine them with his sword. He found he could pop the orbs himself if he stabbed them, and it would coat his blade in the explosion for a fraction of a second. He wanted to swing and send the explosion off, but that was impossible.
Or was it…
During one of his attempts, when the blast twisted around his blade, and it looked as if white fire coated his sword, he tried to use Row Shadow Armor on the explosion itself. It didn't exactly work out, but he kept trying, over and over again, using his other spells, like Vault and Robes. Robes worked the best since they were flowy and lacked any serious Vows in them, so he then kept tweaking and altering it, and then one day, he woke up with a brand new spell.
Row Shadow Scar. It flowed over the blast perfectly and halted the explosion, keeping it contained and held back, not getting rid of the blast but not letting it out either. The effect caused black flames to flow over his weapon; intense and powerful, they roared for release. This was the second thing he had created during his training with Laerton.
Davi took a deep breath and slowly lifted his sword up. He gripped the handle with both hands, the black flames swirling around the edge. "Finally. It was always hard to use, but I've figured out the best method for it. My sword is a sword that will cut the skies! Sky Cutting Sword Style!" Davi brought his arms down as hard as he could.
The black flames screamed one last time, and then they jumped from his blade! The ground was completely torn apart, and the slash was carried along the flame, which split through the golems, blowing them to bits thanks to the white orbs' explosion, which was unleashed bit by bit with every target it had!
Himvel turned and stared in shock as the slash approached him at ludicrous speeds! He narrowly dodged out of the way, but it didn't matter. Davi twisted his sword, his mana going from his blade to the black slash. "This scar is one that will leave a mark on your body," Davi said coldly. "You cannot escape it."
The Shadow Scar twisted and came back around, forming a U shape, and ripped right through Himvel's left arm, slicing it clean off! It kept going and going, rising into the air, and then it finally detonated, lighting up the sky and forming a miniature sun for a moment before it finally died down.
This was the true reason Davi was so confident. Both his white aura form and Shadow Scar were two great powers he now wielded. Godlike speed and a sky-cutting sword slash that could be used from far away. Of course, neither was without their limits.
Davi winced as smoke rolled off his arms. The armor around his hands was completely melted, and his flesh was turning a nasty shade of red. "Close. I'm getting better at using it."
"I'm quite impressed." Yet again, Davi was shocked by Himvel because the elf seemed insanely calm despite the fact that he was missing an arm. Weirdly enough, he wasn't even bleeding. "That's some attack. I see I'll have to take this seriously."
"You want to give up now?" Davi asked. "Because, sorry to tell you, I can use Shadow Scar twice before the damage piles on too much. I still got one in the chamber if you need me to take your other arm."
"No need. This fights over." Himvel used a Mana Step and appeared before Davi! He swung his sword out, and Davi did the same! Their blades!
Davi smirked. "You're right. It is over. Mother's Light!" The chalk in his pocket lit up as the ability High programmed in it activated!
"What!" Himvel seemed stunned as the light spilled across Davi's armor and wrapped around their blades!
Then Storymaker was gone.
The chalk crumbled to ash, and Davi blinked as his longsword suddenly left his hands and vanished in a flash of light… Just his longsword… Himvel's blade kept going, and the one-armed man rammed it directly through Davi's chest.
Meanwhile, back in Underworld City, High looked down at Storymaker, which now appeared in his hands. He raised the sword up and gazed upon it. "Finally. A beauty like you. You were wasted in his hands. I knew what you were the moment I saw you. Don't worry, Storymaker, you're in good hands now."