Many chains with large cannon balls came crashing down one after another as Tanabe stepped back quickly to avoid them.
“Is that all you know how to do—run!?” Shiro shouted.
“It’s a strategic choice that allows me to avoid unnecessary damage. The effectiveness and skill involved in defensive tactics is often lost on people like you. In other words, I’m not going to play your game,” Tanabe said.
His anger reaching a boiling point, Shiro noticed a small child and their mother hiding behind a wooden crate. “Will see about that.” Turning his gaze, he shot a large cannon ball at the two hiding.
“Huh?” Looking to his left, Tanabe’s eyes widened as he noticed the two. Blinking over, a minor explosion of debris rocked the area the family was at, however when the smoke cleared Tanabe was standing there with his arms outstretched to defend them. A drop of blood fell from Tanabe’s forehead. He barely made it in time, but whenever you’re hit while blinking, the damage goes directly to your core, rather than the flux guard you can put around your body when in the physical world, dealing a lot more damage than it normally would.
“Now Bonjou!” Shiro shouted, and from above countless giant cannon balls attached to hooked chains came raining down!
With a fierce glare in his eyes, Tanabe’s fist met the first cannon ball, smashing it to small pieces; after, in a rapid succession of attacks, he met every single attack, obliterating them as they came crashing down.
“Did we get him?” Banjou said.
“To your left, a few blocks down there should be signs leading to the safety zone. Please hurry,” Tanabe said to the family as they nodded and ran off.
Seeing the family splitting off from the smoke obscuring their view, Shiro said, “Where do you think you’re going?!” and he began to upchuck another cannon ball, but that’s when Tanabe appeared as the ball was halfway out of his mouth, placing his foot on it and preventing it from shooting out before smashing his other foot into him sending him flying to the floor beside his partner. Breathing heavily, the cannon ball slipped out of his mouth onto the floor.
Landing on the floor, with a look of displeasure, Tanabe said, “I won’t forgive those who target the innocent.”
Sweating profusely, Banjou formed even more chains that split the skin on both his arms; it was where they emerged from. Similar to how a fisherman would cast a line over their shoulders, he thrust his arms forward and the many chains flew over him, racing towards Tanabe. But they didn’t attack in a straight line, rather they shaped a tunnel around Tanabe, keeping him from moving anywhere but directly back or forward, however, appearing behind him was Shiro, while Banjou was at the front. The chains continued to emit from his arms, a constant flow to keep Tanabe in place.
“Can’t get away now!” Shiro said, blasting a giant ball the width of the tunnel, but it didn’t smash into Tanabe like he thought it would, instead stopping in place.
Tanabe had one arm outstretched, blocking the attack while not moving even in the slightest from the impact.
Seeing this, Banjou pulled back on a chain with his left arm, and one of the hooked ends swung around, snagging the loop Shiro made. It quickly flung to the left, bursting out of the tunnel of chains and rotating in a full circle before slamming back down over the elite’s head from an unknown angle.
Predicting where it would emerge, Tanabe spun, kicking the ball straight back into the sky where he proceeded to blink out of the hole created by it until reappearing a couple feet beneath the ball. Gripping the chain, Tanabe spun a full three-sixty before tossing it ridiculously fast near Banjou. Reappearing again from blinking, he gripped the chain, swinging and slamming it into directly into Banjou from behind, sending him down his own tunnel directly in Shiro where they continued soaring backwards, smashing into a house.
Not too far away, Otto, having gathered the courage, slipped away from the safety zone, holding a small device in which the fight was being recorded. “Alright Lu-cams,” Otto said, and many floating orbs with cameras circled him. “There are fights out there and we need to capture them, but I can’t be in every place at once. Go and find who you can!” Otto said, thrusting his fist up and the orbs took off. That’s when his communication device went off. It was Shen, CEO of LuluTech.
“Otto, Weevil of the Vanguards first battalion is within the Kingdom of Aurahelm. We’re going to need footage on this fight. His sand worms are a constant threat to LuluTech HQ, including the three great deserts surrounding Rahel; we can’t pass up the chance to gather this data. Please head there as soon as you’re able.”
“You got it!” Otto said, ending communication before scurrying off to the ports within the palace.
In the safety arena the footage was being displayed through a hologram emitting from one of the floating orbs for everyone to see.
“Go Tanabe!” Suki shouted.
Becca came over to her fellow Link in training, stating, “He’s really something.”
“How’s Hanabi?” Suki said.
“She’ll be okay, but I’ve never seen her core that cracked before... With her skill, she’s always been able to sustain mending it while repairing others no problem. She must have been pretty exhausted before even starting to repair Rai’s… that or his core was seriously messed up.”
“Maybe both…” Suki said.
They both glanced at the sleeping Hanabi.
Within the empire, much higher than first floor, the apprentices were gathered around the lounging area they often would meet and hangout in after class.
“Ugh,” Lily said, watching Tanabe’s fight from her badge; it was also able to pick up the footage, shooting out a hologram as well. The other apprentices were also watching from their badges from holograms of their own. Lily’s hologram disappeared as she abruptly turned it off and angrily plopped into a wooden chair, saying, “How can they expect us to stay up here while all empires under siege!” She recalled the earlier conversation they all had with Mr. Briggs, the teacher of the Flux cluss.
“WHAT?!” they hollered.
“Listen… I know how you feel, but the Vanguard’s very purpose is to topple the empire. Cutting off the head of the snake in Emperor Adonis, wouldn’t get them very far since there can always be another emperor. But taking out the next promising generation of apprentices, they would surely jump on the chance. We cannot allow this to happen,” Mr. Briggs said. “Follow Kiku’s lead, she’s got the right idea,” he said, gazing at the sleeping Kiku.
Lily crushed the edge of a table beside her, “But my friends are out there!”
“Even so, you’re to stay put. Any disobedience will lead to immediate expulsion from the apprenticeship,” Mr. Briggs said, exiting the room
“It would be quite the hassle going out there with all those Vanguard running around…” Peon said.
“Perhaps Mr. Briggs is right,” Daichi said.
Alan, seeing Lily contemplating the earlier conversation, walked over saying, “From what I can tell, the elites seem to have it under control,” he said, checking the reports on his badge. “The explosions we heard earlier have even begun to die down as well.”
“Yeah,” Ayame said. “I bet they’re rounding up the last remaining Vanguard as we speak.”
“Still…” Lily looked down disappointed.
“Hey, you’re not the only one who wants out,” Fu said, standing on the partly crushed table next to Lily while gazing behind her.
There were small claw marks dragging down a wall in which a very large window was located next to. Standing beside it, his hand curled up into a trembling fist was Tamarri. He was gazing in the direction of the Kingdom of Celestria. It’s where his family’s business was…
“Besides, I’m sure he’s got people keeping any eye on us anyways,” Rina said, using her thumb to gesture upward towards a camera. Its lens seemed to widen before closing slightly again.
Seppe, thinking it over, said, “Hmm…”
From deep below the empire, where the prisoners were being held, Stella retreated next to the patient doctor after a recent clash. Having activated her fourth legacy, her cat-like ears pulsing in red energy. Gritting her teeth, her red energy tail whipped against the floor, carving into the stone flooring. “Sturdier than I thought,” she said.
Opposite her, Knox was slightly scuffed up, taking a couple breaths before recomposing himself. “It’s a good thing I decided to up my training program…”
“Struggling?” Dr. Metzuki said to Stella.
“I’ll get him soon enough,” she said, smirking confidently.
“I’m afraid the time we have left won’t allow for that type of luxury,” Dr. Metzuki said.
“Boo hoo. I don’t see you offering any help!” Stella shot back.
Without warning, the doctor gently placed his hand on her back shoulder.
“What’dya think you’re doing?!” Stella said.
“Giving you a hand,” he replied calming with a light smile. As he pulled away, a peculiar bug resembling a tick, about the size of his palm with runes on its back, remained on her shoulder. Its legs and mouth dug into Stella’s skin!
“Gah!” Stella quickly gripped her back shoulder, “What the hell did you—” a violent pulse coursed through her body, and she collapsed to her knees, vomiting black blood. “Fuck—” she gasped as two black lines, like tears, streaked down her face.
Knox furrowed his brows, unsure of what to make of the scene unfolding.
Outside the arena, Tanabe kept a close eye on the dark hole of the house his opponents were in. Suddenly, the sides of the house began to crack, expanding outward ever so slightly, like it was being fed to the point of bursting. The windows shattered, and the wood containing what was inside splintered rapidly before bursting outward with the roof as a cannon ball the size of the house appeared. Beneath it, Shiro was seen. His mouth was torn on the sides, even so, the ball kept getting larger.
“Stop!” Tanabe shouted. “You’re going to shatter your core if you continue with an attack like that!”
“Wh—Who cares!” Shiro mumbled, and his body splattered outward as the ball blew up many times bigger, before launching high into the air.
Tanabe looked into the sky with concerned eyes as a huge shadow cast over the homes around him.
The bits and pieces left of Shiro’s body across the floor, slowly split into pieces of flux force, dispersing into the sky as a seed was left behind from his body, glowing brown and blue with a circle and spiral design on it.
Giant chains emerged from the shadow of the house as well, these coming entirely from Banjou’s arms which no longer had any skin left for them to split out of. They latched onto on large loophole of the cannon ball. “For the Vanguard!” he shouted, and with all his might he tore forward with arms, practically ripping them off, even though they were mostly chain links at this point. This caused the direction of the ball high above to come crashing down towards the palace in which Adonis was in.
A look of distress appeared on Tanabe’s face, “A ball that size, falling at that speed; it’ll kill those in the safety zone below!” Gritting his teeth, he hastily blinked as fast as he could from the floor to a house, jumping between the rooftop of the houses before arriving high above on the outer edges of one of the palace windows. Moments before the cannon ball was about to smash into building where he stood, roots emerged beneath Tanabe’s feet, glowing in the color of positive flux force. They were similar to Aegis’s ghost roots in that they were nearly transparent, and as a result a bright light encompassed by swirling flux began to form behind his right shoulder. Seconds later, the cannon ball instantly burst outward in the opposite direction of the empire, where only bits and pieces of it remained, though they quickly evaporated into flux force, saving any homes below from the falling debris.
“Er…” Banjou muttered, torn arms hanging loosely by his side as he walked through the dusty surroundings. In the distance he caught a glimpse of Tanabe who was back on the floor. There seemed to be something along his back right shoulder slowly dispersing into flux, but he couldn’t make out what it was. Behind him the palace remained perfectly intact.
Noticing him, Tanabe walked closer as Banjou fell to his knees. “Why’d you have to go and do that,” Tanabe said with a look of sorrow on his face as he noticed bits of Banjou’s face flaking off into specs of flux force that dispersed into the sky.
“We of the Vanguard would gladly lay our lives down, if it led to the downfall of the empire. I don’t expect a kid… like you to understand,” he said, before falling to the ground. His body, his clothes, everything slowly shed into small bits of flux force, until only a seed glowing silver and white with a chain link design on it remained.
Tanabe frowned looking down at the seed, but then a massive explosion erupted near the palace, near the coliseum attached to it. “The palace?!” he said, quickly darting in the direction of the smoke rising into the air.
***
Aegis’s badge went off as he darted from one branch to the next in pursuit of Temin. Pulling it out, “The General?” Clicking a button on the badge, the call went on speaker rather than displaying a hologram before him. “Aegis speaking,” he said.
“Reports state you’ve headed into the forest of Alcarez. Why’s that?” General Kur said.
“I’m in pursuit of Temin. He was with the Vanguard that attacked Celestria. I’m under the assumption he’s in league with the Vanguard,” Aegis said.
“Temin? Then, he must be the one responsible for Celestria’s ports being destroyed... Aegis, many of the forests around Asceria, like Alcarez, are known to have pocket holes in which a mysterious ocean flows, far beneath the surface; this is most likely a result of the Shattering years ago. It’s believed the ocean’s separating the Holy Land of Cronos from Asceria slipped under or between the continent when the roots uplifted our entire continent. He’s likely leading you to one of those pockets. Continue your pursuit, but be careful, Temin’s vampiric root should not be taken lightly. Report back to me once he has been dealt with,” General Kur stated, and the call ended.
Putting the badge away, Aegis hurried in his pursuit.
“Over here,” Temin’s voice lingered from deeper within the woods.
Aegis followed the whispering taunts when a sudden flurry of bats erupted from the shadows, startled by his unexpected intrusion. They flapped wildly into the dim, fading light of the setting sun, their panicked cries echoing through the forest. Perched on a rugged branch of a towering tree, he gazed down into a vast, expansive valley below. The valley seemed to drop away into an abyss, leading to the churning, rapid waters far beneath. One slip could send him plummeting into the relentless currents, where survival would be nearly impossible.
The bats he had scared earlier flapped in a circle before him, directly above the raging waters, but soon, from the tree’s nearby, strips of bark separated from them and they shot toward the bats, slowly turning black and growing wings, creating a tornado of bats.
As the twister thickened, it slowly unraveled, and Temin appeared. His cape was black, but halfway down it, almost like scales of a reptile, little bat wings overlapped the other, flapping rapidly to keep him afloat.
“Joining the Vanguard was a mistake,” Aegis said.
“I’ve been a member long before joining the elites. The Reaper’s ambition to destroy the empire is quite compelling.”
“My father’s ambition will only lead you all down a path of suffering, no different than I was,” Aegis said.
“The people of Asceria have only known suffering. Even before the Jade Wars, and so far, because of the Shattering, long after. But humility… Now that’s a new one to me…” Temin said, now angrily glaring at Aegis for what he had done to him in their previous fight. “I’ve been tasked to bring you back alive; your phantom root’s abilities are highly desired by the boss. However, I much prefer you dead!” Temin said, bursting forward and slicing down at Aegis who disappeared in a purple haze toward the floor. The strike cleaved into the tree, causing the bark to curl back and the branches to darken as the entire tree was slowly enveloped in a pitch-black color.
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“The tree…” Aegis said. The tree which became coated in black from the attack, reverted into a dying gray as it hunched over like a creature whose arms were looking to snag up lost travelers. The leaves meanwhile deteriorated, losing their color as they fell to the floor.
“Do you bleed, son of the Reaper?” Temin taunted from the shadows.
Bats quickly flew by Aegis causing him to turn, but as he did Temin reappeared bursting through a smaller tree opposite the way Aegis faced; even so, his attack missed, slashing another tree that steadily turned black before curling into a twisted tree whose branches looked like long claws aimed towards the floor. “He’s faster than before.” Temin blinked around the forest, appearing many times over to kill Aegis, but within the purple haze stretching across the forest floor, it was nearly impossible for Aegis to be hit by him. Before Aegis knew it, the forest looked as if it were a maze of monstrosities made of trees lurking all around him; added with his purple haze which had been slowly spreading across the ground of the forest, the place had drastically changed into something of nightmares. In one missed attempt as Temin jumped away, Aegis swiftly held his hand out and the purple haze shot out, formed a dying twisted arm with purple veins; it looked pale white with a tint of purple and had long pointed fingernails. Seizing the foot of Temin, Aegis swung his arm down, and the haze followed, slamming Temin into the floor where the purple smoke puffed into the air. Aegis glared at where Temin should be, but he was hidden under the thicker end of the haze a couple feet above the floor. Suddenly, a sharp slice severed his grip. Looking at the palm of his hand, there was a gash stretching it from one end to the other. He could hear Temin scurrying beneath the shallow smoke hovering around the forest. There was silence, until the crunching of a leaf behind him caused him to turn around where Temin leapt out! However instead of attacking him, Temin flew into the sky.
“Hahaha,” Temin’s voice echoed from the shadows. “So, ghosts can bleed after all…” Temin said, his voice bouncing from many different directions.
“What’s his play?” Aegis muttered looking around to find him. Temin came lunging down from another angle, his mouth opened wide, revealing long vampiric fangs. Aegis phased through the purple mist, appearing above Temin’s shoulder and delivering a crushing kick into his arm, sending him hurdling away before Temin’s body burst into a bunch of bats that split off in different directions behind the many infected tree’s.
A wolf howled in the distance as bats swarmed high above, fluttering pass the gaps of light seeping in from the dimming sunlight. Wind swept the dead leaves across the floor, swirling in the air before they fell back down into the ominous smoke Aegis emitted.
“I find your abilities… troublesome,” Temin said.
Aegis, seeing a pair of eyes lingering on him from the shadow of a tree, said, “Haunting severance,” and whispering screams fluttered from within the smoke as he disappeared, phasing into existence as he emerged in front of the tree from the purple smoke, splitting it in half and causing it to slide down at an angle, collapsing on the floor, however Temin wasn’t there. Aegis gazed around his surroundings. There was a spider along a tree sinking its teeth into a butterfly that had been ensnared within it webs, when he heard something creak, but turning, he found no one. That’s when the branches of the tree he cut plunged forward, nicking Aegis and causing blood to spew onto the floor. Had he not dodged, he would have been punctured right through the chest.
“Can you feel it?” Temin said, his voice bouncing from many different directions. “The cold embrace of death?”
Aegis glared around, noticing many of the twisted monstrosities that were tree’s wiggling their claw like fingers. Some twisted their bodies around, like a towel being wound up, until they snapped off landing on the ground. They clawed the ground slowly in their approach to him, while others uprooted themselves and crept his way. “They’re alive,” Aegis said, as one slammed its claw-like arm down at him, but Aegis retreated to a more open area within the forest, avoiding it.
“Try as you might, but even ghosts can’t escape the night’s hunger,” Temin said.
A massive number of bats emerged from high above, rushing at Aegis who held his guard up as they split, flying right past him, but when the last bunch passed, a giant dying tree was inches away, it’s claw-like branches already encompassing him while the bark in front of Aegis split open like a mouth, revealing a dark abyss within.
Aegis phased, appearing elsewhere, but another branched hand smashed down. He swiveled around the stabbing branch that pierced the floor beside him, but then Temin broke through the tree, slamming a kick into Aegis which sent him flying away towards many other enemies.
The tree’s lunged at him, their many branches making it hard for him to dodge. Even though he phased out of a lot, there were so many, no matter where he appeared they would still be around. Reappearing, his arm was slit by a branch while bats once again blocked his view. His foot slipped from the crumbling earth beneath his foot. Gazing behind him, the dark abyss leading to the raging waters below. The ground burst beneath Aegis at the roots of one of the wicked tree’s emerged, slicing upward. Aegis jumped back, but then from above a whirlwind of bats came crashing down before forming into Temin who smashed his foot into him, sending him soaring towards the water below.
Temin blinked, landing on the cliffside and gazing down as Aegis body eventually splashed into the water below.
***
Every apprentice, apart from Kiku who was sleeping, hastily ran down an expansive hallway together.
“Seppe you’re a genius!” Lily said happily.
“Thank you,” Seppe said, clinging onto his giant paint brush as they searched for the nearest exit of the emperor’s enormous palace.
Earlier, within the lounge, every gazed at Tamarri who had something to say.
“I’m leaving,” Tamarri said.
“But Tamarri, if you go, you’ll be expelled,” Alan said.
“I don’t care. My family’s in Celestria. How can I stay here while they’re in danger.”
“I’ve got it!” Seppe shouted, placing a foot on a chair and pointing to the sky with his paintbrush triumphantly.
“Got what?” Ayame said.
While they discussed, the guard’s watching them from the view of the camera said, “What could they be talking about?” But not long after the apprentices dispersed, each killing time in their own way.
“Huh. Guess it wasn’t that important,” the other guard said.
Shortly after, slowly opening his mouth while his nose curled up, Tamarri sneezed, emitting a steam cloud from his nose.
“Hey!?” one of the guards said, hovering his finger over a button to report any funny business. It clouded their view of the apprentices for a few seconds before clearing up, revealing all the apprentices looking at Tamarri.
“S-Sorry…” Tamarri said, using his furry finger to wipe his nose. “Allergies…”
“Take your allergies elsewhere!” Fu shouted. “You’re making my luscious wooden legs moist.”
Sighing, Alan returned to the card game he was playing with Daichi, meanwhile the girls continued their discussion.
The gaurds watching from another room, leaned back in their chairs, continuing their conversation.
Earlier, during their group huddle, Seppe said, “What if I create copies of us using my art?”
“But how will that stop us from getting spotted by the other cameras?” Rina said.
“There’s not too many situated within the palace, but one’s bound to catch us,” Alan said.
“You underestimate the abilities of true art,” Seppe said. They discussed further, before nodding and separating.
When Tamarri sneezed, Seppe quickly activated his roots, whipping up clones of every apprentice, except Kiku. At the same time, he created tiny blue bees with human-like faces, each wielding small paint brushes of their own. Whispering, he said, “Quick, go block the cameras with our art.” The bee’s saluted him, flying off, but then Seppe said in an urgent hushed tone, “Wait! Make sure it’s perfect. Truly, our art must always be—”
“Seppe,” Ayame said, yanking on his bowtie and pulling him away as they ran from the dispersing steam cloud Tamarri created.
One by one the bee’s found the cameras along the path the apprentices were running toward, and after analyzing the scenery, they quickly painted in an instant, a perfect image mirroring what the camera’s displayed.
One summoned painted be stated, “Bee-utiful,” giving it a nod before darting off to another camera.
The camera’s themselves couldn’t turn to view from another angle, so a still image was all that was needed to trick the guards. Luckily their attention was on the footage of the apprentices, and the rest of the screens just looked like the camera might have glitched for a brief moment on their end should they be looking.
As the apprentices continued to run towards the exit, Daichi called from behind, “H-Hey… wait for me!” He was running out of breath, slowing to a halt when an explosion rocked the building.
“That sounded like it came from the coliseum?” Peon said.
“Quick, let’s check it out!” Lily said.
In the heart of the coliseum, Knox stood battered and bleeding, his remaining eye fixed on the monstrous entity before him. The creature towered nearly half the length of the arena walls at fifty feet high; its body, like it’s eyes, revealed a grotesque blend of pulsating red energy and cracked, blotchy skin. Large, catlike ears drooped like a dogs over its head, and three red glowing energy tails, ending in spiked orbs made of bone, lashed menacingly behind it. Its stomach was a patchwork of fur and skin, and its hands and feet were armed with sharp, menacing claws.
“Not good,” Knox said, twitching from the pain as he grasped his dislocated arm.
The creature roared, sending a spiked ball at Knox!
Knox quickly slammed one fist into the ground and multiple gold walls formed, though each one were shattered until the last burst through the wall in front of him.
“Impact!” Smashing his fist into the ball, Tanabe altered the direction of the attack as it narrowly missed Knox.
“Tanabe?” Knox said.
“Knox, what is that that thing?!” Tanabe said.
“It’s Stella of the Vanguard… I suppose,” he replied, snapping his dislocated arm back into place.
“Here it comes!” Tanabe said as another spiked ball came crashing down. Knox jumped out of the way while Tanabe blinked into the air. Noticing another coming his way, he blinked again, but predicting where he’d appear, the third spiked ball smashed into him, sending him soaring into the stands.
“Tanabe?!” Knox pulled his fist back as gold wrapped itself around it, making a golden fist. Focusing a ridiculous amount of flux, he smashed his fist forward, “Champions Meteor Barrage!” What started off as a small golden shaped fist shooting from his hand, quickly expanded into a fist that was as large as the creatures before him. They slammed into the beast, one after another, causing it to get pushed back before crashing into the wall where the flying golden fists continued to push it further into the walls of the arena. After, Knox, breathing heavily, waited to see the outcome.
“Knox, what’s going on?!” Lily said as the apprentices appeared atop the stands; all but Tammari.
The creature that was Stella roared, and on its forehead three legacies glowed. Swinging its arm down, three large energy beams shaped like a claw slicing through the air, burst towards the apprentices. They all froze, struck by confusion and fear as the attack ripped towards them.
Knox quickly gathered gold along his entire body, launching from where he stood before landing in front of the apprentices. Quickly stacking many layers of heavily flux infused gold across his body, he rose his flux guard to the max as a huge explosion erupted. The other energy claws were spaced too far apart from the size of the attack, instead tearing through the palace walls beside them. When the smoke cleared, he was breathing heavily with a bloodied slash across his chest.
“Knox!” the apprentice said, running to his side.
“Listen up apprentices, since you’re here, you must have already made up your mind about joining this fight against the Vanguard. However, this isn’t the place someone of your level… should be” he said, standing firmly. The apprentices gritted their teeth and clenched their fists, not wanting to leave. “With that said, I do believe the most growth is met when faced with adversity, and I don’t think I’ll be taking this thing down by myself. You’re to support in any way possible, but if things go south, you must get out of here. Understood?”
“Yes sir!” they said, and the apprentices ran to different spots within the stands of the circular coliseum.
Hovering above them was a lu-cam.
Within the safety zone, the people gazed at the hologram displaying the monstrosity.
“What is that…”
“Close your eyes honey,” a woman said, covering a young child’s eyes. Small bits of dust and debris fell from above from the attacks, but nothing that would harm anyone.
Mr. Briggs, who was healing the cores of injured Abminus from their fight with the vanguard, saw the apprentices, shaking his head with a sigh. “Guess it can’t be helped…” Standing, he said, “Becca, Suki.”
“Yes Master Briggs,” they stated.
“Please stay here and watch after the injured. I’m heading up.”
They nodded and Mr. Briggs ran towards the coliseum above.
***
“Tsk. Do you take me for a fool?” Temin said, turning around.
From behind a tree, away from Temin and his many monstrous creations, Aegis appeared. With a smirk, Aegis said, “Weeping Willows,” and the purple haze floating around sucked into him before bursting out into a large cloud enveloping everything.
Temin gazed around as many of his crooked creatures surrounded him. Last time he used this, before I knew it, I was unconscious… I won’t underestimate him again. “Things won’t go how they did before. Today, you die.”
“Is that right?” Aegis said.
Hearing Aegis behind him, Temin immediately blinked out of the way, appearing elsewhere as the surrounding tree’s protecting him were split in half. Sweat trickling down his face, he quickly jumped towards a branch on the tree, then down towards the ground before hastily leaping backwards. “Curse you,” he said. Although no attack came, he felt a presence that caused him to move, because if he hadn’t, he might have died. Smirking, he turned his head, staring directly at Aegis.
Surprised, Aegis jumped away as he was once again swarmed by the many trees. “You move well for someone whose vision should be obscured,” Aegis said.
“Echolocation. While others might be disoriented in the fog, I navigate it effortlessly. Just as bats use sound to perceive their surroundings, I use my heightened senses to see through the obscurity. The fog is nothing more than a minor inconvenience to me.”
Aegis glanced into the fog. Were you satisfied with the Vanguard… No, not likely… Focusing his gaze back on Temin, he said, “Guess there’s no reason to place much flux into it then,” and the dense fog cleared up, still remaining everywhere, but now they could clearly see each other.
Temin walked over to one of the tree creatures, hugging his left arm around it, like a love may do around the belly of someone from behind. “Is that all you’ve got phantom? Well, I’ve still got something for you…” Opening his mouth, Temin seeped his four long fangs into the tree, but instead of sucking it, blood seeped out of him into the tree. The tree twitched, its branch-like arms shaking uncontrollably as its many smaller branches and roots from beneath the earth burst out like stretched gum, piercing into every single living tree nearby. Soon, they also started to shake uncontrollably, and from small cracks within the wood, blood seeped as the tips of the branches started to soak in a dark red color. Yes… drink my lovely’s… Temin’s cheeks sucked inward, and the bags under his eyes darkened.
“What’s going on?” Aegis said, getting into a fighting stance. He considered attacking, but figured it be unwise since he had no idea what was occurring.
Finally, the tree’s trembling halted, and Temin released his grip, retreating in the shadows, “Mmmm…”
The tree he sunk his teeth into began to crack down the middle, stretching almost the entire length of its gray wooden body. As the crack in the center separated, a sticky saliva expanded from each end, and blood oozed out. Small teeth then pushed out from each end, wiggling within the opening crevices of the rotten tree, until its mouth flung open and intestines vomited out its mouth onto the floor. The bloody intestines wiggled across the floor, as if searching for something, but then small branches pierced through from their insides. The intestines slowly rose, hovering in the air as the very ends of them gazed around, before focusing on Aegis. The rounded end of the swiveling tubed-shaped guts split open as well, and more teeth emerged. It was barely visible at first, but from that hole, like a tongue within a mouth, a small bone shaped spike dripping with blood, emerged. Every tree was going through the same process... The teeth scrapped away at the bone as it pushed out further, until it burst out! “Uh!” Aegis, phased away, barely dodging the speedy attack.
“Reeeeek!” The tree’s all burst out countless bone tipped spikes! Aegis phased away, appearing by another and aiming his phantom blade from within the purple smoke at the base of the tree, but it didn’t cut it.
“What?!” An intestine swished through the air, slamming into Aegis’s side where the sharp branches protruding from it pierced into his arm before he phased away as it tried to wrap around him. The other gory tree’s shot their guts out, looking to snag Aegis, but he jumped high in to the air, however one wrapped his foot, yanking him back down where its mouth remained open to eat him. “Phantom Chains!” he shouted, and from the purple haze ghostly chains wrapped the tree ensnaring him below, tightening around its body until splitting it into multiple pieces, causing blood and guts to explode everywhere. Landing on the ground, more chains spat out, gripping a couple of the other deadly tree’s, eventually ripping them to pieces as chunks of meat flew across the battlefield.
“You’ll have to do better than that…” Temin’s voice lingered from afar.
The other tree’s seeing the guts, started to gulp them up with the mouths at the end of their intestines hanging outside of them.
“They’re eating each other?” Aegis said surprised. In doing so, the trees grew larger, and the intestines which were skinny at first, also grew in size. Other trees wrapped in chains, busted out of them! His chains could no longer restrict or tear them apart… From beneath roots burst forth, so Aegis blinked out of the way. Much larger spikes burst out the others, causing Aegis to have to slit them mid-air, but then Temin appeared!
“Forget about me!” he shouted, slamming Aegis down to the floor.
Aegis landed on the floor as one of the tree’s toppled over, its mouth aiming to consume him. “Chilling Wail,” he muttered while swaying his head as an intestine bit into the earth beside him. From the purple haze, the faces of what looked like humans quickly gathered, howling forward in a directly line and filling the stomach of the much larger tree until it burst apart, splattering blood all over Aegis. Quickly he rolled out of the way as many large intestine mouths slammed down, not only aiming for him, but to eat the guts of the previous tree.
“Nothing like a couple appetizers before the main dish!” Temin said, appearing before Aegis. Temin slashed at Aegis, who held his arm up to block it. “What with that ridiculous blindfold over your eyes. Did your father gouge them out as a kid?” But Aegis didn’t answer. They exchanged blows with one another before Temin dispersed into bats, flying away as giant spikes crashed into Aegis, but since they were so big, he was hit even after he reappeared from phasing away, sending him hurdling into a normal tree, smashing into it heavily.
“Gah!” Slowly, he slid down to the floor. Coughing up blood, Aegis looked up at the many large tree’s, their mouths large enough to consume a horse without problem now. Placing the palm of his hand on the ground, he uttered, “Grave Reclamation…”
Sensing something, Temin quickly leapt on a branch of a regular tree. “What’re you up too?”
From the purple smoke along the floor, sorrowful cries emerged as numerous large ghostly pale arms twisted upward, wrapping around all of the living trees. They dug their fingers into the bark, causing blood to splurge, and slowly the trees were dragged downward into the haze, no matter their size. As they struggled to stay above ground, halfway within the purple murky air, Aegis closed his fist, and the entire body of all the monstrous trees were instantly yanked in, followed by a bloody spout that burst skyward, until it rained back down.
Aegis stood to his feet, huffing as he gazed to see where Temin was.
“You’re not out of the woods yet,” Temin said. He was curled over on a knee, gripping his chest; possibly from severely cracking his core. Beside him, another tree he had sunk his teeth into.
Aegis, looked around, many of the other tree’s had bite marks already in them. Once again, the tree beside Temin split open, as did the others. Aegis, furrowing his brows, paused… A light smile appeared on his face as he eased up. “Do you know why I thicken the clouds around me when in battle?”
“Who cares,” Temin said, watching his army of trees steadily approach Aegis.
“It’s because I don’t want others to see it,” Aegis said, and the purple haze returned to a slightly thicker shade.
He couldn’t see Aegis, but he could slightly make out the shape of the rest. Peering into the woods, one of his creations burst into tiny bits as blood slapped against the floor. Not long after another burst apart, and another… A strange mix of a screech and laughter echoed in the distance as all the trees Temin created started to burst rapidly, splattering blood all over. “Wha—What is this?!” Temin shouted. Even with his echolocation, he couldn’t sense what was out there. Shadows danced within the purple haze, which now had shades of ghostly white within it. Long protruding teeth and red eyes gleamed from multiple directions at him. Temin felt fear for the first time since confronting the leader of the Vanguard. “Stay away!” he shouted. The screeching laughter pierced his ears as he ran as fast as he could. But then he stopped as the noise faded, though his arm was numb... Looking down, he noticed half of his arm was gone, blood dripping on the floor while the sound of something slurping whispered into his ears. “Agh!” Temin morphed into a swarm of bats, flying away as fast as he could, eventually exiting the haze with a sigh of relief, but as he looked up Aegis was waiting for him with an ethereal blade made from the purple smoke.
“Farewell,” Aegis said, slicing down. The blade cut deep into Temin, launching him downward where he smashed into the raging ocean below. As the haze disappeared, Aegis stared into it, watching as flickering red eyes disappeared. Looking at the palm of his hand where the gash was, it had completely healed. Pulling the badge out, he pressed a button to send a voice memo report to the general. “Its done.” Not long after, he put the badge away. “Tougher than expected…” he said, before falling unconscious to the floor.