Syemore, in a conjured form of a menacing demon, stood before us as the pressure of the air thickened with each breath that we took in. Mana auras flooded the room from both him, Belle, and Tubolt, who were by my sides. The only one who didn't contribute to the mana supply was me.
I could not sense mana aura, but I knew the pressure was there—I felt it. And its intensity didn't bother me. Any normal person standing between these three high-class Captains would not only lose their nerve but be staggered from the pressure of their mana. Let alone, someone like myself who had no such mana. Someone like me would have passed out from the intensity of it alone. Their powerful auras did not affect me. In fact, it seemed as if their auras were avoiding me altogether.
What am I? I thought, reminded again in moments like this. And I knew the answer, it seemed. But something in my mind had been blocking me from even answering the question. It was as if I was forbidden to even think about it… Regardless, even if I could, there were more pressing matters at hand.
Right then, Tubolt unleashed his carbon shards, flying them toward Syemore like missiles. Syemore raised his arms, whipping out his palms and spreading his wings wide and out to his sides. He summoned two cubes—one red and the other blue from seemingly out of nowhere. From them, the cubes crushed and condensed, altering their form until they turned into a red and blue aura. He then led both orbs above him, combining them to form a large black orb above his head.
When the shards flew closer, he unleashed the condensed power.
"Compression Magic: Black Hollow."
The black orb above his head pulsed into a shockwave above him that repelled Tubolt's carbon shards away. They flew back in our direction, to which Tubolt summoned a carbon wall to protect us.
The black orb was still pulsating as it hovered over Syemore's head. He then released one hand away from it and the other, holding the orb suspended over his palm, carrying it and bringing it in front of him now. Then with one swift motion, he drew his arm back and pushed it with a mere flick of his fingers in our direction.
FEEUUUUUM!!
A black blast shot out; more intense than the pulsing his Black Hollow had emanated. As it traveled our direction, Tubolt reinforced his carbon walls and covered us within a dome.
"That won't be enough," Syemore whispered, again his voice haunting.
The blast struck the carbon dome and shattered the front of it effortlessly, pealing back the rest of the wall as it continued to course onto us. Though the dome hardly lasted, it succeeded in protecting the rest of the castle behind us. The blast beams spread in different directions onto the walls and ceiling, opening up the sky to us now.
From the smoke and from where the blast had struck, a tall figure stood in front of Belle and me now. As the smoke cleared, a black knight-like figure stood from within. Glowing red eyes were all that was seen at first from it.
"Carbon Magic: Mana Fusion: Dark Arcane Knight."
The carbon dome that shielded us had broken off into three separate covers—one for Belle, one for me—ironically… and the rest onto Tubolt himself as the carbon covered him intensely from head to toe, forming onto his body and spiking off from him dramatically. His carbon armor was intricate and jagged, resembling pieces of black armor. His head now had a spiked carbon helmet upon it as those focused, red, glowing eyes beamed intensely through the haze, locking onto Syemore's crimson eyes. He resembled a true dark knight, fitting of the name of his incantation.
"Do me a favor, filthy mutt, and don't get in my way," Tubolt sneered at me, his voice sounding more altered in this form, almost mechanical.
"You serious right now?" I said back, the carbon shields from both me and Belle crumbling and joining Tubolt at his feet, revealing us kneeling, and the Arc Slayer stabbed onto the ground.
"You're not the only one who can wield the Arc Slayer. I will show you the true strength of an Arcane Valley Knight." Conviction in his voice coursed through, not only him, but onto us as well. As pompous and an ass as he was, in this moment, I actually felt respect for him. This was why he has been a captain of the Valley as long as he has.
Syemore cackled, swinging his arms as if orchestrating his words. "You waste of a mage… What do you think THAT will do against me!?"
Tubolt was silent, then finally spoke, turning his head slightly to say to me, "I'll be borrowing this…"
I watched him as he reached for the claymore stabbed on the ground in front of me and effortlessly raised it, wielding it as if it were his own. I was surprised that he could even do such a thing. Was he one of those select mages who could wield this blade?
When I saw Belle from my peripheral, even she had watched in amazement. It was as if Tubolt had been hiding a secret power that he only revealed to us and no one else in this moment. In a quick motion, he dashed forward to Syemore.
ZOOM!!
Syemore's red eyes widened as Tubolt sped toward him, holding the Arc Slayer. Barely able to think in time, he wrapped his wings around himself like earlier into a cocoon for protection. But once Tubolt got there, he swung the huge sword down onto Syemore, and a loud crash echoed.
CRASH!!!
The claymore had ripped open Syemore's wings, revealing him inside and even gashing his face and chest down the middle, barely missing the sleeping faces on his left and right chest.
Syemore was in full shock at this moment, but then realized just as quickly… "I see… You're just like Henza. In that case…"
The air around them both intensified; Tubolt was still steadfast in front of him as Syemore unleashed another kind of magic at this moment.
"Full Body Light Magic: Heaven Sun's Glow."
As he cast this, Syemore's wounds began to heal. His membranous wings were even regenerating from where the Arc Slayer had cracked them open, and he looked more holy now as his skin turned from purple to gold.
The Royal King, Ezkar's magic… Tubolt thought to himself.
From where he stood, Tubolt whipped the claymore back and readied another swing. He swung the sword horizontally this time, slashing Syemore completely in half… However, from the bottom part where Syemore's torso was severed and the lower half of him, there was only a glinting light.
"You may wield that blade, but because you are not Arcane King Daz, its effects only go so far. I wonder how long you can keep that up before your mana runs dry…"
Despicable, Tubolt thought to himself again.
I watched, stunned, as Syemore dissipated into light particles and reformed his body elsewhere, away from Tubolt, and their true battle commenced.
"Hey, Belle… care to explain?" I asked her.
"I know what you're thinking: if Nullifying magic nulls all magic, how was Syemore able to negate even the Arc Slayer's effects? Well, it works like this," She said as Tubolt and Syemore continued to fight in the background while she explained academically. She spoke as if her voice was gradually gaining speed all the while… "He used the Royal King's magic to counter the effects of the Arc Slayer… This is interesting because Full Body magic, if used correctly, can continuously counter Nullifying magic. If distributed as a whole, Full Body magic can become completely null,"—I felt my brain melting as Belle had begun to get lost in explanation—"Given that Syemore's Forbidden magic allows him to not only take one's magic, it also allows him to master it, explaining this case…"
I looked at her with a bland face. I didn't understand a single word she had just said… but at least she had a cute, nerdy side that I also found attractive. "Thanks for explaining, princess, but I was actually referring to Tubolt, not Syemore." I corrected.
"Oh? Apologies," she said obliviously. Her index finger touched the side of her chin, her face so innocent.
"I thought only the Arcane King and a few others could wield that blade? How is he able to wield it, too? Unless he's one of the few?" I asked as we continued to witness Tubolt and Syemore in intense close combat, if it wasn't for Tubolt telling us to not interfere, I would have already been in that fight as well.
"Ah… Well, that… I'm not entirely sure. I'm just as surprised as you are about it. Sorry…"
My face flushed when she said this, perhaps because of the way she said it. The way she spoke to me was completely unlike the way she spoke to others. Like I was someone worthy of her true self without her guard up. That's how it seemed at least.
In any event—if she herself could only wield that blade for no more than ten seconds, and twenty seconds with a certain spell, as Alice stated, then twenty seconds or less was the timeframe to which Tubolt could last with the Arc Slayer.
Syemore shot beams of light at Tubolt as he used the Arc Slayer to deflect them, dashing at him thereafter at lightning speeds. Carbon spikes bloomed from the ground as Tubolt used his foot to summon them as he stepped down. Syemore flew through the air, permeating the carbon shards and dodging the Arc Slayer's beam slashes. It was an intense and strategic battle barraged with attacks and mind play.
I never once saw him and Asura spar, but I could tell by the way I witnessed Tubolt fight right now that he might have been on par with Asura himself. It was no wonder they were rivals.
Tubolt breathed heavily as the fight continued, his movements becoming slightly slower—though barely noticeable to the human eye.
"Biding time, I see… This blade really is the bane of your existence. But time is not on your side." Tubolt shouted.
He drew the blade back as if sheathing it behind him to his side. Aura fumed from where he stood, and his red glowing eyes flashed through his gaudy black carbon helmet. Syemore, floating in air over the natural lights from above, resembled that of a god as the light itself cast from around him formed a silhouette over us. He merely waited as Tubolt charged his attack, not worried at all the result of the mighty blow that awaited him.
The intensity thickened the already dense air. Tubolt breathed, and steam left his mouth through his thick carbon helmet. The dust below scattered from all around him as he chanted his attack.
"Carbon Magic: Mana Diffusion: Wicked Blade Disaster!"
He unleashed his attack in an upward motion directly at Syemore. I felt as if I had witnessed the slash three times from three different angles all at once. Even though it was one direct slash, the slash beam itself was so enormous it evaporated the large debris falling all around it as it traveled dreadfully to Syemore from high above. Even if he managed to dodge the beam itself, he would just be absorbed by the aura it emitted. I had never seen an attack such as this before… The aura even changed around Tubolt. I couldn't sense mana aura, but this I could—because I finally understood what kind of attack it was… it was like mine.
A wicked smile was borne once more from Syemore's face as the gigantic beam slash drew nearer to him. The only sound at this time was that of a large blast overtaking every other sound in this room, right at impact.
BOOM!!!
A monstrous explosion detonated from above us. The crumbling walls with an open ceiling had, at this point, been unable to hold any longer as they joined the blast in the same upward motion following the direction of the beam, disintegrating some of the pieces as it continued its reckless, violent rupture. The multipurpose meeting room of the Arcane King's castle was no more, and left only a wide open space that resembled a ruined arena.
Belle and I covered our faces from the blowing dust as the blue sky and sun above took up more of the room, now without its walls. When I got the chance, I looked up, trying to find Syemore. "Did he win? I don't see—"
"Greed, look out!" Belle shouted through the fading smoke.
From behind me, a demonic figure—Syemore. Quick, but not quick enough. I could respond in time, however… a voice from the opposite side of me said, "Move aside, you damn mutt!" Tubolt rushed in to push me aside, and then…
STAB!
Blood splattered on the stone floors. A purple claw pierced through the carbon armored knight in front of me now…
"Stupid, filthy dog…" he spouted, blood spilling from his mouth.
"Tubolt! Why did you—"
"I told you… to stay out of my way…" he gushed out.
Right then, Syemore raised his gnarly arm that was still through Tubolt, lifting him off the ground. Tubolt grunted as Syemore raised him up and the sun flashed onto his fading eyes from above. He dropped the Arc Slayer that rested on his side to the ground, and a large clang sounded from the fall.
"Actually… you're the one that's in the way," Syemore snarled lowly before he was about to toss Tubolt to the side… but he got another word in.
"The Valley will win…"
Syemore became triggered when he heard those words. He violently threw Tubolt to the side on his right, letting his emotion on the phrase get the better of him, and forgetting to have compressed Tubolt instead. I dashed over and caught him just before he could harshly hit the ground.
"I've had enough of you Valley Knights. You still think you will win even when you have clearly lost? You really believe you will still win!? Such insolence! You're all pissing me off!"
"You fucking ass," I said to him with justified rage building up from inside of me. I set Tubolt down on the ground gently, A dark aura seeped out from all around me. It wasn't mana, but something else entirely.
"What is this?" Syemore inquired, observing me, "You continue to surprise me, young mutt… I was looking forward to fighting you most of all."
But right then, from behind him… "Haven't you learned to never turn your back on your opponent?"
He turned his head back slowly.
"Especially one who has the target to your head."
Her deep blue eyes were those of harsh conviction as she stared intensely at Syemore from behind. With one raise of her hand, palm facing and hand flexed upward, she chanted…
"Holy Magic: Heavenly Starlight's Bellow."
From below him, light formed from all around and just as quick, a beam of light shot out from underneath, causing him to cry out in agony.
"I should have intervened from the beginning… You strut around in this form as if I am not present. You take the form of a demon with Captain Ark's Spirit Conjuring magic. You should know… all demons' ultimate weakness is unadulterated Holy magic… So burn."
Syemore's cries echoed. I've never heard him screech in such pain before… but then…
His cries began to simmer down, fading into something sinister. Something evil, mocking even. A laugh so maniacal that it even made Belle, the Valley's princess and second only to the Arcane King, take a step back in trepidation.
"AHHHH!! Ha… HAHAHAHA!" he took a breath then sighed as the Starlight's Bellow continued to rage all around him. It looked as if he was completely unaffected… "I jest." Syemore's eyes glinted a haunted gleam through the Holy magic.
"Quite the contrary, Captain of the Golden Rose, you see… I prepared for you the most. As I am, it is true—I am no match for you. However, with Forbidden magic, your renowned Holy magic… is but a calm breeze. In fact, I'm completely immune to it—even in demon form."
He turned around to her, now, as Belle stood there in horror, in denial of what she was witnessing right at this moment. And then, as he proceeded to strut, Syemore raised his left non-dominant arm and whipped it to the side, dissipating her magic entirely into light particles all around him. "The most challenging of you so far was Tubolt. And he was only so because of the Arc Slayer. But with no Arcane King, you are all trash. You deserve to be dominated."
At the same time, one of the sleeping faces on his chest awoke. It was the one on the left, and its eyes and mouth were empty when it opened, glowing a light blue hue. Then, on his back, bubbling formed from the surface of his skin and in an instant, large transparent ghost dragons spewed out. It started with four and then the dragons began to multiply one after another. They multiplied as dozens of them polluted the air above us, shooting out and now blocking out the sky.
Then one of the dragons had split off, raging over to me and Tubolt from above with a large gaping mouth.
CRASH!
It had swallowed me within it…
"No! Greed!" Belle shouted… but it had been too late.
Syemore continued to chuckle, raising his arms as he said, "Now… let the whole Valley sleep an eternal slumber."
***
The dragons that danced above filled the open sky above. They scattered everywhere and flew down every crevice of the Valley Kingdom. As they passed through the city streets, they swallowed hordes of people, Arcane Knights, and even W.M.A. officers in their wake. The fake Black Wolves running around and even Blue Phoenix Knights were caught in the ghost dragon's plumage. No one was spared.
Panic erupted all over the Kingdom as the dragons surged through every living thing in their path. Those who were swallowed up passed out immediately from mana depletion. When the dragons had passed through an area, they solidified like crystals and resembled roots that glowed a blue light, with those sleeping in a cocoon stasis inside them.
***
Back in the meeting room, the sounds of hysterical crowds of people invaded Belle's hearing. The blue glow from the dragons' necks above began gulping down from those they had consumed and made its way to Syemore, who stood there still and ethereally, with his arms spread out.
As each gulp entered into him, his form began to change once more. His muscles grew and he began to get larger in frame. It was as if he was being fed more mana, supplying himself with the mana of everyone outside and all throughout the Kingdom.
"No… You monster…" Belle said fearfully, realizing what he was doing. But she was unable to do anything. Her magic had become completely useless against a foe that was wholly and undoubtably susceptible to it. But now, in this moment, the princess of the Valley… the Savior of the Desert… an SS ranked mage, second only to the Arcane King. She had become obsolete.
"Ah, yes… You probably know this man," he said while pointing to the eerie face on his left chest, discolored and looking as if it did not belong there. "This is the first Arcane King of the Valley. The one who founded the Valley itself, and your current Arcane King, Daz's lineage."
Belle shook from where she stood, her eyes twitching, unable to think clearly. She had become overwhelmed with not just her powerlessness in this situation, but the overwhelming power Syemore now demonstrated. Showing her the bar to true power that even she was nowhere near.
"User of Phantomdrake magic, the dragons he summons from himself are cast and sent to collect the souls of the living. Once captured, the souls devoured by the dragons become part of his mana supply. I admired the concept of his magic as I had wished that my own Compression magic could do such a thing after capturing a soul… So, I found his grave, undid the seal, and surgically merged our bodies together to become one being. Oh, the things you can do with Forbidden magic… The fact that we lock it away shows our naivety as a race. When one dabbles in the Forbidden Arts, the possibilities are limitless."
Syemore spread his arms out once more and looked to the sky, now filled with Phantomdrakes. His sanity was gone. One would question if it was there in the first place. When he looked back down to Belle, his expression changed. It was as if he were bipolar and could finally express his true self. But the tone he took on was that of calm as he caressed his last words to her, "I told you I would show you the power of a god."
As he finished, a large Phantomdrake, separate from the others, emerged from his abdomen and shot directly at her. It flew so fast that with her distracted by what was happening outside, her magic not working, and Greed getting eaten, she hardly had time to grasp her situation in time until it was too late… but just in time…
BASH!!
I dashed in with a reckless and focused presence. The Arc Slayer grasped in one hand, but not being used… and with my right hand, I threw a normal punch packed with intense power down onto the Phantomdrake that charged at Belle and pummeled it, nose first. The intensity burst the dragon from its head all the way back to Syemore, who was left astonished at my being there. I, the wild card, the unknown piece in a game that just may turn the tide, banished the Phantomdrake away with a mighty fist and an intense look upon my black colored eyes.
"Hey, princess," I said calmly, shifting my attention to her now, but still facing Syemore. She focused slowly on me with those beautiful, deep blue eyes of hers; her gaze was one I could feel as her eyes calmed themselves at the sight of me there now, in front of her. I asked, "Are you okay?"