With the mighty force of the wing, a dome shape took place. The wind rotated around the dome while causing great clouds of dust to fly everywhere. The people, who had been outside, desperately got away from there.
“What the hell is this?!” Cantia exclaimed in shock as she stared at the wall of wind and dust. Then she suddenly realized and muttered “What the hell is Lucky thinking?!”
Inside the dome of wind, a great cloud of dust was swirling around. This was causing everything to get carried away by the strong winds.
On the spot, where the initial explosion originated from, two people were desperately fighting against the wind. It was Venezuela and Erza and they were feeling drained due to the amount of energy they burnt in healing Lakshman.
“This is... too strong!” Erza shouted, with her hand protecting her eyes.
“Uh...!”
Venezuela moaned loudly as she tried her best to keep her ground. Both girls were trying their best to channel their Energy Force on the soles of their shoes, but the large deplete in their energy made it difficult.
“Aaah!”
With a scream, the girls suddenly got lifted into the air as their Energy Force failed. They were helpless as they got carried away by the wind and they feared they were done for.
At that moment, they each felt a strong arm grip their failing hands. With grew strength, they were pulled forward and they felt the strong hands shift position; from their hands to their waists.
The forks opened their eyes and saw Lakshman hovering while holding them by their waists. They were still a bit apprehensive, but felt reassured that he was there.
“L-Lucky—!”
“Keep your mouths shut and hold your breath! Otherwise, you will breathe the dust in!” Lakshman bellowed and they did as they were told.
Gripping their waists tightly, Lakshman soared towards the outside of the dome of wind as fast as he could. When he heard the girls chocking, he screamed angrily and created an Energy Barrier that kept the wind out and let the girls breathe easily again.
With a burst of wind and dust, Lakshman and the girls erupted out into fresh air and daylight. He slowly descended and gently let the girls down on the ground.
Seeing them land, Cantia rushed over to them with a worried look on her face.
“Lucky! Explain to me why you created that wall of dust?” Cantia demanded the moment she reached them.
Without looking at her, Lakshman shortly said “Sorry, but no time to explain!”
Without delay, he surged with power and was surrounded by a golden-red aura. Then, he kicked off the ground and rocketed upward before soaring back onto the dome of wind and dust.
“Mental...”
“He's crazy!”
“Wild...!”
The people, standing a few meters away from them, said quietly when they saw him fly into the dome of wins and dust.
Cantia impatiently turned to them and said “He is all that because he is the Phoenix Titan!”
At finally being revealed who he was, all the people had widened their eyes on shock. They could not believe they had been on the presence of the Phoenix Titan these few days.
A while later, Lakshman returned with Emilia and Ondine while he held the Phoenix Blade with his teeth.
In his mind, Tetra indignantly said “Master, this is highly un-dignifying to be held between the teeth as if you are a wild beast!”
Lakshman got annoyed and thought “Stop complaining about that rubbish right now! I have a girl in each arm to hold, I could only spare the teeth to hold you with. You will just have to be patient till we land.”
Tetra said nothing, but he felt her dissatisfaction when he felt her activate slightly. He gritted his teeth and pressed on the sword, which immediate caused her to deactivate her powers.
Once they landed, Lakshman finally let go of Emilia and Ondine while transferring the Phoenix Blade into his hand. The girls staggered slightly upon feeling the ground after what felt like a while. Venezuela and Erza immediately went to heal them in case they had suffered both physical and mental damage.
Lakshman watched them work, when he suddenly a great surge of power from within the dome of wind and dust. He was certain the power surge belonged to the Demon Slayer and knew it was about to vaporize the dome that he created.
He quickly turned around and faced the girls with a serious expression on his face. Seeing this, they instantly knew he was about to tell them something they will not like.
“Ladies, from here on out, I want you to stay from the battle at all times! I do not want you risking your necks in ab attempt to help me. You've done enough for me, but now it’s now my fight and my fight alone! So get out of here and stay safe!”
Ondine scowled and said, “Lucky, now that's something I'm not going to agree with.”
He looked intimidating as he said “I don't care if you agree with me or not; I want you ladies to be safe and not become an interference!”
All the girls looked hurt by his words and Venezuela looked especially angry as she said, “How can you say that to us? Don't you know how much we love you?”
This time, it was Lakshman's turn to get angry and he thundered, “I love you! I love all of you! Which is why I don't want you ladies to join the battle! From here on out, I'm going full force and the battle will become extremely dangerous. You will surely get injured by helping me and I don't want that! So please...! Listen to me and stay safe!”
Venezuela, Emilia, Ondine, Cantia and Erza widened their eyes at his remarkable speech. They did not realize that he spoke to them so forcefully was because he was worried about their safety. He wants to keep them safe while he handled the roughness if battles. He knew their honest feelings for him and their desire to help him, but it was extremely dangerous this time.
The girls turned and looked at each other and began to realise the truth of his words. They found themselves helpless when he created that powerful done of wind and dust until he cane to their rescue. Realising this, they wordlessly and unhappily decided to heed his words.
At that moment, there was the sound of a violent explosion as the dome of wind and dust got released. Lakshman turned towards and screamed as he surged with power.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!”
He instantly created a large Energy Wall that protected him, the girls and everybody that were standing around, unaware of the danger that erupting wall of wind and dust posed.
The wave of wind and dust came forth and slammed into the energy wall, causing Lakshman to raise a hand to firmly hold his position and keep the barrier up.
A few seconds later, everything settled down, but he did not drop the barrier. Instead, he stepped out of the barrier and ensured that no one would be able to follow him, unless they were strong enough to compromise it.
“Now then... Switch Mode: Power Drive!”
In an instant, he was surrounded by swirling light, which eventually disappeared. Everyone was surprised to see him slightly taller than before. Additional to that, they noticed a great change in his face; red rings appeared around his eyes and his blonde spiky hair turned red as it went back. The overall look gave him a powerful presence.
“RUUUAAARRR!!!”
With a roar, he launched himself into the air and he flew towards the Demon Slayer, leaving a trail if golden-red stream behind from his aura.
Venezuela watched, in astonishment, as he rocketed away. It was the first time she had seen such a change in him. Curious about it, she turned to the girls and was surprised to see that they were not fazed by what they saw.
“Um... What was that just now?” she asked them curiously.
Emilia turned to her and explained all about that transformation.
“Just now, Lucky transformed by switching to Power Mode. Whenever he goes into Power Mode, his blonde hair slowly turns red as it goes to the back and he gets these red rings around his eyes.” Then, as an afterthought, she added “Oh yeah... He also gets a little bit taller when he is already tall enough.”
Looking amazed, Venezuela said, “I've heard the Power Mode causes the users to become extremely powerful, but never one that causes such a transformation.”
Emilia shrugged her shoulders and said “I didn't know either until he did it two years ago when we conquered a Labyrinth Tower.”
“Wow...!” Venezuela said in awe and turned to see him flying away.
Meanwhile, Lakshman was soaring through the air at high speed as he headed towards the Demon Slayer, which was hovering stationary for some reason. The next moment, the Demon Slayer pointed its blade in his direction and flew towards him with great speed.
“Good! It’s taken the bait!” Lakshman said in satisfaction.
In his mind, he heard Tetra say “Master, is it alright for you to switch directly into Power Mode like that? Aren't you the least bit concerned about your body and the pressure thus mode will put in your body? Please remember what happened two years ago at the Labyrinth Tower.”
In an irritated expression on his face, he said “Yes, yes. I remember the events of the past, but that was the and thus id now! I have changed, both physically and mentally.”
“But, master...!”
“Stop nagging, Tetra! You're being a pest! I'm not some little kid that needs taking care of. I'm the Phoenix Titan!”
Tetra was hurt by his harsh words. She was only concerned for his well-being, but he was treating it like it was a nuisance. Lakshman knew this and he smiled as he spoke softly to her.
“Tetra, I'm glad that you're concerned for me, but there is no time for it right now. Decisions must be made, actions must be conducted and results must be produced. Feelings and emotions don't matter when reason in your only guidance!”
Surprised by his words, she quietly said “You've changed a lot, master. You somehow remind me a lot about the first Phoenix Titan.”
At her, he merrily smiled and said “A lot has happened, but that comes later. Now, enough of that and prepare yourself; we have a fight to win!”
“Yes!” Tetra said firmly and confidently in his mind.
As the Demon Slayer drew closer, he channeled the Energy Force into the Phoenix Blade and readied her in his hand. When they finally reached each other, he brought the Phoenix Blade and smashed it against the Demon Slayer.
As the two forces clashed, there was a sudden flash of light that was sent in all directions in a wave. As the two blades clashed, lighting began to erupt and a surge if energy and wind got released. Lakshman fought hard to push forward, but the strength of the Demon Slayer kept him from going anywhere.
At that moment, the two swords pulled back and were pushed back by the sudden eruption of wind. As it settled, he and the Demon Slayer charged at each other and the battle began. Lakshman swung the Phoenix Blade and the Demon Slayer swung at him, the two of them were swing at each other furiously. Their speeds and power gradually increased with each clash of swords as their power exploded.
The two sides began flying around while clashing swords. Each clash sent a shockwave that caused buildings and trees to get uprooted and get blown away by the powerful wind. Some buildings got destroyed by the lighting that erupted between the clashing swords.
“RRUUUUAAAAARRRR!!! Slashing Blades!”
Lakshman suddenly roared and he got really fast as he swung at the Demon Slayer. The technique increased his speed and he was slashing so fast, the Demon Slayer was unable to retaliate and got hit by the Phoenix Blade multiple times before being smashed away.
Not wanting to give the Demon Slayer any rest, he chased after it. The Demon Slayer tried to recover quickly, but his next technique made it impossible.
“Hurricane Blades!”
Lakshman screamed the technique and charged in to smash the Phoenix Blade into the Demon Slayer. At that moment, a tornado of swords materialized and they began slamming into it while exploding at each contact.
“Master, why are you trying to inflict so much damage on her? I thought you wanted her alive, but it looks as though you are trying to destroy her,” Tetra spoke in his mind in a concerned voice.
“Tetra, when one's body is plagued by destructive energy, the only solution us to beat it out! Tetra is at the breaking point because her body took in a lot of the energy without releasing it. That's why I'm forced to beat all of it out before she could use it to self-destruct. See! The red flashing light begun to steadily become lesser.”
At that moment, there was a violent explosion that sent the Hurricane Blades flying everywhere. As they disappeared, Lakshman clicked his tongue with an irritated expression on his face.
“Maybe, you are underestimating her?”
“I'm not, but I don't want to overdo it! I've got to turn things up a notch!”
With that, Lakshman charged towards the Demon Slayer at high speed. Then he suddenly came to a stop with a surprised expression on his face as he stared at the Demon Slayer.
The swords pointed its bladed end towards him, but did not fly towards him. Instead, it was gathering energy and slowly formed a black coating around it. Then, the Demon Slayer swung the sword upward and the dark costing extended into the sky.
“I-Isn't that...?” Tetra said in a worried voice.
Lakshman quietly said “Yes... Just as the Blade of Light signifies the purity, the dark light signifies the Blade of Darkness...”
“Master! We need to get away! That power will destroy you utterly! Please, let's run away!”
Lakshman slowly smoked as he said, “Running away is not part of my blood!”
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“No, master! Now isn't the time to think like that! You'll die with that kind of arrogant thinking!”
Lakshman made a crazy smile on his face and said, “That's too bad because I'm no bug to get swatted! I'm the Phoenix Titan and I have no death!”
“Master!”
Lakshman ignored Tetra's pleas and hovered there as he the Blade of Darkness was swung at him. When it reached a certain point, he raised his left hand and held it above his head.
The Blade of Darkness, swung down and he caught it with his left hand. There was a great surge of power from where he held the sword, causing a wild force if wind and energy to explode; the dark wing got mixed with his golden-red aura.
After a few seconds of this struggle, Lakshman began to scream and he surged with a great amount of power.
“UUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAA!!!!”
With great force, he closed his left fist and caused the dark light to bend. There was a sudden eruption of black light that swept everywhere. A moment later, the black light slowly disappeared to reveal Lakshman floating in mid-air and gripping the Phoenix Blade as he stared at the Demon Slayer.
“No way... Master... What did you...? How did you...?”
He heard Tetra whisper in his mind in a disbelieving voice. To that, he smiled softly.
“There is nothing you can't achieve when you put your mind and strength to good use.” Then he looked towards the Demon Slayer, which was glowing on and off in red light, and shouted “Demon Slayer! You have to double your power, triple your power and skyrocket your before you can ever match me!”
As he reached the end of his speech, he jabbed at himself with his left hand. At the same time, he made an expression that was both angry and intimidating.
Being the witness to this, Tetra quietly said “This crazy recklessness... Yes... You really have become a mirror image of the first Phoenix Titan.”
Lakshman surged with power and he rocketed towards the Demon Slayer. Reaching her in an instant, he began to swing the Phoenix Blade with great force and caused the Demon Slayer to become unable to retaliate. He did this for several second before using any techniques.
“Banishing Shift!”
After saying the technique name out loud, he slammed his sword at the Demon Slayer and sent her flying towards the ground. As it flew, the Demon Slayer found itself taking slow time to recover. Just before it hit the ground, Lakshman appeared out of thin air and smashed her into the sky and in another direction. After reaching a certain height, he suddenly appeared and sent het flying in another direction.
Like this, he disappeared and reappeared while, at the same time, smashing the Demon Slayer in different directions. All of this was causing a great amount of confusion and dizziness to the sword and was unable to pull itself together.
“UUUUUAAAAAA!!!”
With a loud yell, Lakshman smashed her one last time and sent her flying towards the ground. The Demon Slayer flew straight down and pierced into the ground, causing a great deal of wind, dust and rockets to get sent flying away. At the sane tine, the great impact caused the ground to crack and spread for a few meters in different directions.
Lakshman slowly descended to the ground and gently landed on his feet. He let out a small sigh and looked towards where the Demon Slayer was, pierced into the ground. Using Banishing Shift, he had delivered countless blows on the sword and felt s bit weary from using it.
The ground began to shake slowly beneath his feet. He looked down at the ground for a moment before looking back at the Demon Slayer. He noticed that the ground was shacking violently towards where the Demon Slayer was, stabbed into the ground.
There was a sudden explosion of power and the ground erupted into pieces as the Demon Slayer freed itself from this frozen situation. It floated upward and hovered in mid-air for a moment before lowering itself slightly and turning its blade towards him.
The next moment, the Demon Slayer began to glow in a bright glow of light. Following this glow of light, the ground began to split and crumble from the amount of power the Demon Slayer was releasing.
Lakshman stared at the glowing Demon Slayer and quietly said “Sword Drive... Looks like it’s getting serious.”
In anticipation of the next battle, he gripped the Phoenix Blade tightly and readied himself for it.
The Demon Slayer stopped glowing and the ground stopped shacking, but it continued to radiate black energy like smoke from its gleaming blade.
“Get ready, Tetra!” he said to Tetra as he realized the sword was done powering up.
“Yes!”
For a moment, the Demon Slayer just hovered above the ground. The next instance, it zoomed towards him at high speed, making him duck and get out of the way quickly. He turned around and saw the sword flying back at him with an incredible speed.
The two forces finally began clashing swords and the Demon Slayer's increase in speed caused Lakshman to widen his eyes slightly in amazement.
“Fast!” Tetra said Ina voice of disbelief.
“Super-fast!” Lakshman commented in agreement.
The speed at which the Demon Slayer was flying towards him was so fast, he was having trouble getting his momentum right. The surprise if the sword's speed came as a surprise and he found himself desperately defending the best he could while avoiding other slashes, he was unable to block with the Phoenix Blade.
“Ugh...! Mirage Effect!” Lakshman cried out in an irritated voice.
He pulled back, thinking he was in the clear, but the sword zoomed forward and cut him. To its surprise, uts blade passed straight through an illusion, which vanished instantly. To its surprise, it was hit from the side by the Phoenix Blade and it quickly turned around to see Lakshman stranding there. It zooned forward and was surprised, once again, when it cut through another illusion.
The Demon Slayer continued its relentless assault on him, but kept cutting through his illusions. It soon began, however, began to anticipate his moves and it soon became difficult for him to strike back without being quickly countered.
“Che! One Man Army!” Lakshman said once he deactivated Mirage Effect for how useless it became.
With the One Man Army, a hundred if Lakshmans appeared and this caused the Demon Slayer to get totally confused. It struck a few times, but those Lakshmans turned out to be just illusions.
“Stone Bombardment!”
The many Lakshmans said at the same time and portals appeared around the Demon Slayer and it got bombarded by large stones that appeared out of them
“Fire Rocket!”
“Wind Cutter!”
“Earth Crash!”
The Fire Rocket was a fireball that was launched at high speed and dud a lot of damage. The Wind Cutter was the wind acting like many blades as it attacked. The Earth Crash was the ruse of earth and slammed into the Demon Slayer.
Lakshman used these three techniques in random times while he shifted between the multiple copies if himself. This enabled him to land a lot of damage on the Demon Slayer and get noticed the red glow of its blade slowly diminishing.
“It's working! Your plan is working, master!” Tetra said brightly.
“Yes, but don't get so complacent, Tetra. This is far from over.”
He was right because, at that moment, the Demon Slayer let out a strong surge of power. The next moment, a black ball of energy was unleashed and it instantly destroyed the illusions of Lakshman upon contact.
“Damn! Dark Energy!” Lakshman said while looking startled.
Before he could react, he was hit by the Dark Energy and he found himself getting dragged while being hit by it. Fir a few second, he was unable to do anything due to the amount of energy the thing absorbed from him.
“AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!”
With a loud scream, he pulled his left fist back and quickly gathered great amount of energy before punching the black ball of energy.
There was a struggle between his power and its power. Eventually, however, his power won the struggle and his energy slammed into it. There was a moment of pause in which the ball stopped pushing him back. Then it erupted into an explosion of wind and it carried dust and ricks in all directions.
As everything cleared, Lakshman appeared and he was breathing quickly due to the amount of energy he lost because of that Dark Energy technique the Demon Slayer used.
Taking his lack of focus as an advantage, the Demon Slayer flew towards him and aimed for his head. It had a clear vision of killing him, which would automatically activate the Death Spirit punishment for killing its master or one it recognized as its monster. Thinking if this, the Demon Slayer flew as fast as it could towards him.
“AAARRGGGHHH!!”
To its surprise, Lakshman quickly reacted by screaming and held his sword firmly. Once it got close, Lakshman swung the Phoenix Blade around and hit the Demon Slayer, sending het flying away in the process.
As he turned in the direction he sent the Demon Slayer flying away, he heard a small voice speak in his mind. It was a rough, but a powerful voice and it kept repeatedly saying the sane word over and over again.
“Destroy, destroy, destroy, destroy, destroy, destroy, destroy, destroy, destroy, destroy, destroy, destroy, destroy, destroy...”
Feeding to those, he straightened up, but his head hung Dow. He raised his left hand up and aimed at the Demon Slayer and began to surge with power to ready his technique. It only took him seconds and he gathered the required amount for one if his powerful techniques.
“Positron Cannon-!”
At that moment, Tetra shouted in his mind.
“Master! What are you doing?!”
“H-Huh?” Lakshman said groggily as he brought his head up and he looked like he had been snapped out of a trance like state.
“Huh?!” he suddenly exclaimed when he saw the energy gathers in his left hand and realized it was the Positron Cannon.
Instead of asking questions, he quickly reacted by aiming the technique up at the sky. With a surge if power, he released the energy and it harmlessly flew into the sky. Even so, he was alarmed by the amount it had contained; the amount was enough to destroy that area three times over.
Once the energy vanished, he breathed a sigh and asked “What the...? Why was i charged to fire Positron Cannon? I don't remember charging it in the first place.”
H heard Tetra say in his mind, “Master, you've been affected by the Voice of the Phoenix.”
At hearing that, he cursed and said “Dammit! So I was put in a trance like state and was forced to do its bidding when I was distracted.”
“Yes...”
“I hate the Voice of the Phoenix! It makes sense why the Decisive Player adamantly told me not to unlock the final seal. It is also the reason he made sure I would not become like the past Phoenix Titans because they were influenced by the Voice of the Phoenix's desire fir self-preservation. Dammit...!”
“Much of the past is shrouded in mystery, master. I, myself, am unable to remember a lot if the past.”
“Yeah. I always thought the Decisive Player was the Voice of the Phoenix, but he was a separate entity that gad been suppressing it and keeping me from getting affected by the way of the world.”
“Which why you turned out to be really stupid and ignorant for a while.”
“Enough of that! It's clear I have further training ahead if me, but that will have to wait! It's up to me to take responsibility of this and others matter.”
“If you would like, I could help you out?” Tetra asked hopefully.
Lakshman shook his head and said, “Thank you for the offer, but it won't do you any good, Tetra. You are nit a match for the powers of the Voice if the Phoenix. Mmm... I must find a way to suppress it without showing any sign of weakness...”
“Yes, but master... Be careful... If you show another sign of weakness...”
“Tetra, stop it or I will be forced to punish you severely for being a nagging Sacred Spirit!”
He heard Tetra laugh and he shook his head in exasperation. Then he suddenly felt a great surge of power from further up ahead, which shocked him.
Up ahead, he saw the Demon Slayer rise slowly into the air while being completely surrounded by a great glow of red light. This caused his eyes to widen as the thing he had been trying to avoid was about to happen.
He quietly cursed and said, “Damn... What a blunder...? When I was in the trance like state, I must have struck at her without bothering to mask my power so she does not absorb from it directly. Uh…! What a blunder to make, even by mistake!”
The Demon Slayer was poised to self-destruct with the way it was glowing so brightly in red light. His mistake was about to cause a wide destruction; the Mardana capital will be destroyed, all the people killed and the ultimate death of the Demon Slayer.
He had his head down, which made it difficult to see the expression on his face. Strangely, however, when he looked back up at the brightly glowing Demon Slayer, the frown on his face slowly disappeared and was soon replaced by a smile.
“Why are you smiling, master?” Tetra asked curiously, but it appeared as though he did not hear her.
“Just joking. When I decided to beat the negative energy building inside her, I was also prepared for the worst case scenario. Yes... The beating has become a release...!” Lakshman said as he eyed the Demon Slayer with a crazy smile on his face.