Liztawul walked around the black planet with a sad look on his face. He ended up at the border between the black planet and the earth; he sat there, looking at the empty horizon.
"But why… why can't I go and help everyone?" said Liztawul as tears started to flow down his face.
Liztawul was born exactly right before the crash of the two planets. The moment the war started, he already wanted to help. He thought that he was born to help everyone, to defend everything and fight against the humans to kill them.
But he was too young. He is currently the weakest among all the 9 black defenders, and he knew it well, but for him it didn't matter. He wanted to show everyone that he could fight too, that he could help the others and make them win this war.
He thinks that only if he fights will he be able to show everyone how strong he really is. He grew up hearing the stories of the war of his brothers, and he wanted to do the same as them, so he tried to replicate that. But he was too young. Sometimes he goes on missions because he is able to convince the others, but sometimes they say that the missions are "too dangerous" for children; they couldn't send the younger ones and let them get hurt.
Suddenly, Liztawul heard some footsteps behind him and saw Eyrunik behind him.
"Don't be sad, Liztawul. I'm sure that soon we will have a mission for us too," said Eyrunik as he sat down next to him.
While Liztawul is 500 years old and was born right before the start of the war, Eyrunik was born exactly 300 years ago. The runes on his body were created to emulate the magic of humans.
"But at least you have talent… they created you with this magic… while I don't have anything."
"You know that no one expects anything from you, right?" said Eyrunik. Liztawul looked at him, both surprised and angry.
"What? Say it again if you—" Liztawul was interrupted by Eyrunik, who spoke again.
"You aren't the one they have all their hopes in. You weren't created only for this war, so that's why no one expects anything from you." Eyrunik knew well that everyone expected so many things from him, because while Liztawul grew with thoughts that he created by himself, Eyrunik had been hearing these words since the moment he was born. His only purpose in life was to emulate the power of humans and fight against them.
Liztawul didn't know what to reply anymore. He remained with his brother, looking at the empty horizon.
"The poison is slowly going through my body…" thought Vane as he turned back into a human. The krukmongbee was flying toward him.
Vane tried to get up; he could barely stand on his feet. Around him, the buildings were completely destroyed. All around Vane, there was no longer a city; it had been completely destroyed. There was still the tower and the old tree; both looked like symbols of hope for everyone. As long as they were there, the city would not fall.
"I need to fight back." Vane tried to turn into an eagle to fly away now that the krukmongbee was literally in front of him, but he wasn't fast enough. The moment he turned into the animal, the krukmongbee had already punched him.
The punch was so strong that Vane found himself in midair, falling down as he didn't know what to do.
Now that Vane had turned into an eagle, he noticed something: it felt like he had difficulty moving only his left wing. Everything was moving slower, but not as much as that.
"Wait… if I can block the poison somehow…" As he was falling down, he decided to do something. He tried to harden his body, but only on the left wing, making it harder especially where he felt the poison was flowing.
With that, Vane could finally breathe normally again. The moment he hardened his body in that place, it felt like the poison was stuck and couldn't move anymore. "I don't know how much it will work… but I need to try it."
Vane could now move freely and think clearly. As he was falling down, the krukmongbee pointed his sting toward him.
The krukmongbee immediately started to shoot stings toward Vane, who had now regained control over his body and dove toward the enemy.
"I need to dodge them! I can't get hit. I don't think I'll be able to stop the poison another time," thought Vane. A sting was launched right in front of him; as he dove down, he was able to turn left and dodge it.
Many other stings flew toward Vane. He was able to dodge all of them without any problem, even if one passed extremely close to his face, making him scared for a moment.
Vane looked behind him for a moment and saw all the stings thrown into the sky falling down. He smirked, and the moment he passed over the krukmongbee, he didn't even bother hitting him; he simply flew away toward Lily. The krukmongbee remained confused for a moment before all the stings he had thrown earlier fell all over his body.
The krukmongbee lay lifeless on the ground with multiple stings inside his body.
"I've started to bleed," noted Vane. He had been using so much magic that his human form had started to bleed, but as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he immediately shook his head. "I'll think about it later."
Vane rushed toward Lily and Naluri, who had just been reached by Leobruns.
The krukin was standing on four legs in front of them, with his big armor and huge katana, with Banaikuj next to him.
"So? Were you having problems with them?" asked Leobruns, almost surprised.
"You know that I'm not very strong," answered Banaikuj, annoyed.
"I'll take care of them. You just stay back in case someone else arrives." Leobruns looked behind him annoyed, as Vane flew at extreme speed toward them.
Vane turned into a polar bear midair and launched himself on top of Leobruns. The part of his body he had hardened was still interrupting the flow of the poison, and now that he had turned into a bigger animal, he almost felt new, apart from a small part on his back.
Banaikuj didn't waste time and immediately jumped toward Vane, who was going extremely fast. The strength he put into that attack was great, but Banaikuj was able to counter it.
"You foolish human!!" shouted Banaikuj. The two of them landed on the ground and rushed toward each other, exchanging multiple hits with their claws. Still, no one was able to deal real damage to the other.
"Don't get defeated, Banaikuj," whispered Leobruns as he turned toward the other two humans, who were breathing heavily. They took a few steps back, moving away from the enemy.
"Lily, run away, I'll take care—" Naluri knew it was almost impossible for them to win this. They barely had any experience and had already fought multiple krukins. They were already breathing heavily. But Lily interrupted Naluri abruptly.
"No! I can't let you fight here by yourself. We'll defeat him… together!!" shouted Lily.
Leobruns started walking toward them. Suddenly, roots emerged from the ground and grabbed his legs, pulling him down.
"I'll simply cut them," thought Leobruns. The katana fell right in front of his face. As he grabbed it with his mouth to cut the roots, Naluri watched him closely.
They were standing on the ruins of the wooden platform created for Garoo and the mayor. A small part where Leobruns stood was still intact, or at least it looked like it, but as soon as he grabbed the sword, it collapsed completely. Leobruns fell onto the ground, where multiple poisoned roots were waiting for him.
"Damn!" Leobruns hadn't expected that. As he fell, his strength was slowly drained.
"Hide, I'll take care of him," said Lily as she stepped forward. She didn't feel scared anymore; she felt excited to try all of this, even though her body had just started to bleed from excessive magic use.
"Are you really sure?" asked Naluri, worried about leaving her child alone without her help.
"Yes. You don't have anything to defend yourself. Just find a place to hide and help me from there, alright?" Lily answered with an excited smile.
Naluri gasped in surprise before smiling warmly.
"Remember to pay attention too," said Naluri before leaving.
The moment Leobruns finished cutting all the roots around him, he found no one in front of him and immediately assumed a defensive stance.
"Where are they?" he whispered, looking around. When he turned, he saw Lily moving around him with her roots.
"I need him to stay there…" she thought as she tried to block him by creating more roots, but now he was prepared. The moment they rose from the ground, Leobruns jumped toward Lily, trying to hit her.
"I need to go faster!" thought Lily. She was still on top of the ruined stage. As she moved around it, thanks to Naluri's power, a wooden plate slightly slanted, allowing her to speed up enough to dodge Leobruns' sword.
Lily glanced behind her. "I need to bring him back to the middle." She suddenly changed direction and headed toward the spot where Leobruns had been standing earlier.
Leobruns jumped toward Lily, but this time she was prepared. The moment he landed on the ruins of the platform, it collapsed under his left leg, trapping him.
"CIRCLE OF ROOTS!!" Lily shouted as she returned to the same spot where she and Naluri had escaped.
Suddenly, roots erupted all around Leobruns and rushed toward him.
Naluri had previously moved in a circle around Leobruns, leaving small seeds on the ground. The moment Lily shouted "Circle of Roots," those seeds instantly grew into beautiful, poisonous roots that rushed toward Leobruns.
The krukin closed his eyes, focusing only on the sound of the approaching roots. As one reached him, he slashed it. Soon, he cut down two more on his left.
There were around forty roots. They all rushed toward Leobruns, but it didn't matter. With his long katana, he cut them down effortlessly. His body moved perfectly among them. The roots only touched his powerful armor, and the moment they did, they bounced away.
As soon as that happened, Leobruns cut them down with extreme precision. He moved faster than the wind around him. Lily couldn't even process what was happening before all the roots were already cut down.
Naluri had helped Lily with her magic by making the terrain harder to stand on. The moment Leobruns stepped on the wood, it cracked, but he was so fast that it didn't matter, he touched the platforms multiple times before they collapsed.
Leobruns, unsure whether the roots would grow back, jumped away from the ruins. Lily, surprised, didn't know what to do. Leobruns was breathing heavily.
"Maybe Liztawul is right… I'm actually old," thought Leobruns. Four thousand years ago, during his prime, he would have been even faster.
"Maybe Rhihamr is right… us elders should stop fighting…" Leobruns looked at his katana and tightened it around his arm.
"BUT I STILL WANT TO FIGHT!!!" shouted Leobruns as he threw the sword toward Lily.
His movements were slower now. Lily saw the sword flying toward her.
"VINE WALK!!" Roots emerged from the ground, helping her move away and dodge the blade. But as she rushed aside, Leobruns reached her and kicked her as hard as he could.
Lily coughed up blood as her body was thrown away. Naluri gasped in fear. Lily's body slid across the ruined platform as Leobruns chased her.
The moment he stepped forward, the platform collapsed under his feet, making him lose balance.
"Is this because of the other one?" whispered Leobruns. He looked at Lily, who tried to stand but fell to one knee. "I need to find the other one first."
Leobruns picked up his katana and scanned the area, spotting Naluri standing inside a building that was about to collapse.
"So that's where you were hiding… I must say, it's a good spot… but you made a big mistake!!!" shouted Leobruns as he rushed toward Naluri with the katana in his mouth.
Lily screamed through tears.
"GO AWAY!!!"
Naluri didn't move. She smirked, waiting for Leobruns to strike.
The sword passed straight through her without damaging her.
Leobruns froze in confusion as Naluri smirked again and disappeared.
"GOOD JOB, LIRO!!" shouted Naluri. She was hiding inside a stall. Realizing it was Liro's power, she immediately used her magic to make the building collapse on Leobruns.
"What? She's there? Liro?" Lily asked, confused.
Liro stepped out of an alley, bleeding.
"Don't worry. I got you," he said, smiling as he breathed heavily.
"But weren't you helping Darian? Why did you get here all of a sudden?" asked Naluri.
"He said it was going to be alright… I trusted him and came here," said Liro as he looked at the fallen building. Leobruns still wasn't moving.
Darian was still fighting Poisudonom. At the place where Snowy fused with him, two tails had formed, just like the last time against Octavia.
"Snowy… I don't know what you did… but I trust you," said Darian as he breathed heavily, his body bleeding.