Long, long ago, so long that mankind had almost forgotten it, there was a group of warriors who lived deep beneath the waves serving a God of the Sea.
These warriors called themselves the Argonauts.
Soldiers of the great God whose kingdom was no more. Luckily, they had all been wiped out long ago.
Right...
"Mister Sieg," Sunny yelled out. "Why aren't you fighting that guy?"
"The fuck you want me to do?" Sieg yelled back. "I'd just die."
"Wait, you're actually just running away?" Princess Ever asked, stunned.
"Duh!"
"But what about all your friends-"
"Coworkers," Sieg corrected.
"Damn."
Sunny did his best to keep up, but the pretty Knight was shockingly fast. It didn't help that he had Princess Ever thrown over his shoulder since he couldn't leave her behind. Part of him wished he had left her behind, however, because Rage was currently gaining on them. "I don't mean to alarm you, but that creature is right behind us-"
Rage flickered out of existence and then, with a mana step, appeared back in front of Sieg, slamming his trident down on the man's head. Before it could land, Sieg's golden armor ignited in a wave of lightning, and he zipped to the side of Rage.
"Missed me?" Sieg smirked. He had his mask off, allowing it to dangle from a chain around his neck, and his mana was rapidly growing in size, his muscles swelling.
"Don't think I'm a fool." Rage spat out a wave of saliva and blood as his lips quivered and his gums gushed red. "You ran off and tried to put some distance between your guild, knowing I would follow, didn't you? You're giving them the time to heal up."
"Nah, I was just trying to save my own skin." Sieg shrugged. "I let them whittle you down a bit so finishing you off myself would be easy."
"Easy?" Rage seemed to bulk up, his size growing and his muscles swelling. "You think beating me will be easy."
Sieg somehow kept his cool, staring into the eyes of the monster. "Well… Maybe not easy."
He had only made it to the courtyard outside of the castle. Off in the distance, a bit closer to the city, would be Vlad and the Fox. He couldn't get too close to them, or he'd be dragged into that battle. He also couldn't go past them, otherwise Rage might kill several of the Licht-Fulk guards or sleeping civilians. This was the best place to fight since it would give the others time to recover and get healed up.
All of these thoughts went through his head just as fast as Rage was able to strike out. Sieg felt pain as the monster back-handed him, and he was sent crashing into a fountain, shattering the stone and slumping down in a puddle of water.
"Ow-" Sieg groaned, but then straightened up when Rage lifted his trident. "Vil Electric-Shadow Bolt!" As soon as the monster's weapon was raised, a bolt of black and gold energy slammed down from the sky and rammed into the tip of the trident. The electricity caused the monster's muscles to lock in place, and he seized up for a second.
Sieg used that as his chance to roll away, and with another spell, he created a large, heavy bow and placed his spear into it as a makeshift arrow.
Lightning zapped off him in powerful waves, slashing into the stone around him, and the bolt shattered the sound barrier as it launched out. Rage grunted and casually caught the spear before it could ram into his face. The monster's hand squeezed down on the spear, and it cracked in two.
"Row Electric-Shadow V-"
Rage stopped the spell and punched Sieg hard across the face. The blonde man crashed to the ground, and before he could try to cast another spell or get back up, Rage brought his foot down hard, aiming to shatter the Knight's ribs. The oni mask, which was now a dark black, managed to wedge itself between Rage's foot and Sieg's chest plate.
"We have to do something!" Princess Ever cried out.
"Do what?" Sunny winced. "I'd be killed instantly. I thought I could do something, but the more I watch this monster fight, the more I realize how utterly outclassed everyone is. Just who the hell are these invaders?"
"I know they can win." Princess Ever shook her head and had a determined glint in her eye. "They're the ones Haru waited for! I'm sure of it. Somehow, they'll pull through."
Sieg winced and watched as his father's old mask cracked and then shattered completely, Rage's foot breaking past it. The remnants of the mask were launched away, and the chain fell slack. Rage's foot kept going down, now pressing into the front of Sieg's chest, denting and caving in the golden armor.
Sieg ignored the pain and managed to reach for one of the shattered shards of the mask, gripping it in his hand.
'I know you don't like me that much, but I am your father, so there's some stuff I should pass on to you. Sorry, I've always been so focused on Davi, today you'll get my full attention! See this mask? It's my Core Mask. Pretty cool, right? It has been passed down through the Hawker bloodline for generations, and one day it'll be yours. Did you know these masks are actually special?'
Sieg's fist grew tight around the shard, and Rage felt his foot begin to get pushed out of the armor as the golden suit mended itself. Lightning flowed down it, growing stronger, and Sieg's aura rapidly pulsed. The monster stumbled back, the aura burning his leg, and he growled as Sieg stood back up.
'They might look like they're made of wood, but that's not true. See, here in our nation, we don't have fancy Enchanted items like the elves did. We instead harvest a special metal that was created to absorb large amounts of mana. We forge this metal into powerful katanas as well as our masks. We all possess Mask Cores, which allow us to use Core Masks, and the reason these physical masks exist is that they can help visualize the process of forging the Core Mask.'
The metal shards of the mask all lifted off the ground and flew through the air. Sieg's raw mana was pure electrical energy, and he generated enough to alter the magnetic pulls, tugging the shards back into place, and in no time at all, he held up the fixed black mask.
'Core Masks are strong, and we are dedicated to them, for the first Shogun created them. He also created the three embodiments. These three beings were all modeled after the superweapon that King Sylas created, and they're an advanced form of Core Mask, allowing us to trick the world into thinking we have that power. That's where these physical masks come in. Using an Embodiment takes a ton of energy, so we stockpile that power, keeping it contained in an object, and then when it's time, we put it on, and it allows us to fully harness it. You can tell if the energy is ready to be used or not based off if the mask's color shifts to a dark black.'
Sieg slipped the black oni mask on, and his aura flared, with even large, black flames and golden lightning dancing around his body. His muscles grew even larger, and he became a foot bigger.
'There are three embodiments in total. The embodiment of Ziz. The embodiment of Leviathan. And finally, the one I'll help you master, the embodiment of the Behemoth. Behemoth is the simplest of all the embodiments, as it requires the user to just create a massive construct of mana and take all that power onto their body. All you need to do is have the mentality of something huge. Just be a total powerhouse, combining your fast speed with insane attack power. Think you can do that? Sure, you can. I'll show you how.'
Sieg felt his aura reach its full might, and he grinned. "Sorry about that. It takes me a while to get in the mood."
Rage let out a grunt and sneered. "You never change, do you?"
Sieg took a deep breath and steeled his nerves. "Vil Electric-Shadow Giant!" He announced. From the sky, a bolt of black energy shattered down toward him and rammed into the top of his head.
'Embodiment of the Behemoth is broken into two forms. Form one is creating the massive construct. This is typically a large, powerful giant or monster. Those who can do this are at the basic tier, and you don't even need a proper Core Mask for it. Tier two is where it gets complicated. See, this involves a very delicate touch as you need to weave the construct around yourself. It's not like a suit, though. That would be too easy. You need to visualize yourself as being in a state of pure mana and generate all that power around you. In short, you have to become a Behemoth.'
Sieg cheated.
Using a tier two embodiment was extremely hard, and to be honest, it would take him far too long to master it. Luckily for him, he happened to have a nifty little cheat code. He used Polymorph.
His version of Polymorph was half-baked and shitty, especially if he compared it to Olivia's, but between it and his control, he was able to get the job done. His golden armor fully wrapped around him, the helm springing into place just in time to block the black lightning that now rained down upon him.
As Polymorph activated and he attempted to form the tier two embodiment, his form began to change and morph. The golden armor merged with the lightning, twisting with it. The suit expanded, growing bigger and bigger, until his physical form was just a curled-up ball of flesh resting within it. The armor was becoming his new body, and he was serving more or less as the Core for this new form.
Before, when he did this, he had managed to become twenty feet tall and had four arms, along with the face of an oni. He had become a being of the storm and was lightning incarnate.
That wasn't his form anymore, however. That form had only been used once, when his dad was teaching him it, and while he did pull it off, he had failed to maintain it and shattered the form entirely. Now that he had Polymorph and a better understanding, as well as an older, more durable body, the embodiment wouldn't shatter so easily, but its form did change. No longer did he become a giant oni. Perhaps it was the use of Polymorph, or maybe him being a mutant. Or… Maybe it was because he had seen a powerful being and mimicked it.
Either way, when he changed, it was drastic.
Sieg dropped to all fours, and his golden armor began to shift from metal to scales. His arms became front legs, and a jagged tail ripped its way out of his waist. His neck expanded, growing longer and longer, like that of a snake, and the helm, which merged with the oni mask, ripped open, forming a snout with jagged teeth. From his back, the armor groaned and cracked, jagged wings tearing their way out of his body, and his nails expanded until they were razor-sharp claws, coming out of his feet and paws. Spikes also jutted from sections along his tail and neck, his body now a mix of black and gold, and flaming yellow eyes glared down at Rage.
Rage looked back up, caught off guard. He had been expecting a large monster to engulf Sieg, since he had battled tier-two embodiments before, but what he didn't expect was for the man to morph into a golden dragon!
Sieg had become nearly thirty feet tall, and that was while being on all fours, and his wingspan was freaking huge. His tail slapped at the ground again and again, shattering it, and black fire as well as golden lightning began to bubble up in the dragon's mouth.
Of course, Sieg wasn't a real dragon. What he had effectively done was inflate his body to grow his size and shape it into a dragon-like state. He was nowhere near the size of an actual dragon, either, but the fact that he even managed to mimic a fraction of a dragon's power was a worthy feat.
Sieg opened his mouth and unleashed the built-up energy, trying to fry Rage alive. His attack missed, however, when Rage dodged to the side.
"I'm almost impressed." The monster sneered. "In all the worlds I have been forced to live for, you have died early in every single one. I've never seen you get this far. Then again, I guess this is the first world where you've been part of the seven, isn't it? Now I know why Adam placed Tik in charge of you."
"Enough of your babbling." Sieg swung out with his fist and slammed it into Rage's torso. The courtyard shook, and he managed to get his claws around Rage, dragging him across the stone floor, ripping it up. He lifted the monster up and then smashed him into the ground over and over again. "I'll kill you here and now." He declared.
"He became a dragon?" Sunny asked in stunned awe.
"I didn't even know such a thing was possible." Princess Ever admitted. "I knew magic outclassed our Holy Light, but to see it be this much… It makes me wonder just how Godly Haru must have been." She glanced up at the sun. "Why did she seal the demon away. Why not just kill it? What was Haru waiting for?"
The ground kept cracking and breaking as Sieg smashed Rage into it. He hit the monster with everything he had, but sadly, even in this state, he wasn't as powerful as a Captain, which someone like Rage was.
Sieg felt pain, and his construct's hand shattered as Rage swung his trident up, shadows ripping it apart. "Row Shadow Vault." Black hands erupted out of the ground, and their claws began to tear into Sieg's scales and spikes, ripping through them. Water then swirled through the air, forming into blades and stabbing out into Sieg's sides, making him roar in pain.
"How do you have shadow magic?" Sieg growled out, and he launched a wave of fire and lightning out of his mouth. "How do you have my brother's spell?"
Rage growled and flicked his trident up. "Row Shadow Vault." Again, black hands seeped out and caught the fire and lightning, dragging them down. "How foolish you are. This is not your brother's spell. What you are witnessing is the creation of Adam. Your brother isn't clever enough to create something like this. An infinite realm of darkness, another universe, one in which the caster's soul realm and inner world reside. Such a thing could only be created by a being of ancient magic. You do not know the sins you have committed, for you're nothing more than a child. One so young. We are older than you, your world, and the world before yours. We have seen realms you couldn't imagine and walked paths never traveled, all in the hopes of bringing back that which we lost. This world disgusts me more than any other. My kingdom and my oceans do not reside here, and the surface has caused so much destruction to my waters. I wish to bring back my world, that which was lost, and it is thanks to Adam that I shall do so. Adam is Salvation. He is the being who has offered us all the chance to regain what was lost, and we'll do so by wiping out the seven beings who shouldn't exist! Each of you seven must die, and I'll do it here and now!"
Sieg roared and went to launch another flaming attack, but the black hands pinned him down. They curled around him and cracked into his scales and hide, his construct coming undone so easily.
Was this really all he could do? He had barely stalled at all. He needed to do more. Just a little more time.
Sieg gritted his teeth, and without warning, the construct shattered and faded as he canceled it. His physical form was within it, hidden as its core. His black mask reverted back to red, and his golden armor faded as he shut his Core Mask and embodiment fully off.
The sudden shift caused the hands to go haywire, and they swatted the air confused, not finding a target. Sieg shot forward as fast as he could, and with a roar, he slammed his fist directly into Rage's face.
The monster staggered, and Sieg struck out again with a second swing. He then pulled back for a third one but missed by an inch as the monster lunged. Rage struck out with his trident, and Sieg felt a wave of pain as the weapon tore through his flesh and came out of his back. He gasped, spitting up blood, and then he was slammed back into the ground by Rage.
The monster twisted the weapon, causing a scream to escape Sieg.
"Sunny!" Princess Ever shoved against her knight. "Do something." Sunny didn't move, frozen in either terror or shock. "Sunny!"
Rage pressed the trident harder into Sieg's body, twisting it some more. "Do you know what an Argonaut is?" Rage asked. "I bet you don't. They seemingly aren't around in this filthy world. So much meddling results in a butterfly-like effect, and nowadays they're wiped out completely. In my world, they did exist, and they were truly glorious. Proper Knights, and not those disgusting puppets that pretend to serve their rotten king. I bring this up because the truth is, this isn't the first time you and I have met. I still remember when you first entered the sea. The look in your eyes as you begged for a place for you and your little brother. My kingdom invited you in and gave you the ability to survive underwater. You became the Eel. A being of sea and storm who brought about the wrath of the depths. That world… I miss it so much. But it's gone. Just like the others. We all lost our world. We all cried and suffered in despair, and we wept, and he came by and answered our prayers. Adam wrote a new script for us. We all just want our worlds back. It's a shame, really." Rage lifted the trident, tearing it out of Sieg's body, and he held it over the man's face. "You would have made a great Argonaut."
Myth rammed his fist into Rage's face as hard as he could, flashing over with a mana step. The force of the strike sent Rage flying back, and he rammed into the destroyed fountain, shattering more of it.
"Looks like I made it in the nick of time." Myth breathed a sigh of relief. "That was way too close. Sera."
"Right." Sera dropped to Sieg's side and lifted her hands. "Row Size Alteration." She began to shrink his stab wound.
"That's him." Max appeared next to Myth and nodded in the direction of Rage, who was standing back up. "He's the one who took Ashley."
"So, he's part of that evil seven group." Susie sneered and created various golden orbs around her. "Let's kill him."
Rage grunted and rubbed his chin. It actually ached. "A Captain arrived? So much for Himvel's plan."
"You lose." Myth called out. "I'm going to defeat you."
"You will try, and you will fail." Rage shot back.
"We'll see about that." Myth walked forward, as did Rage, the two glaring at one another. "You terrorized my guildmates. I'm not going to forgive you. Not even if you beg."
Rage's face twisted into another bloody grin. "In all the worlds I've been to, I don't think we've ever fought. Very well. Let me show you my full power."
Rage was about to take on a Captain.