Lakshman bid his final farewell to Razzel and returned to the Physical Plane. Once he entered his momentarily emptied body, he opened his eyes. He was surprised to find a large groove in front of him while smoke rose from the surface.
“Oh yeah, I did use Spirit Burst Cannon just now,” he said as he remembered.
At that moment, he heard the panicked voices of his Sacred Spirits speak to him in his mind.
“Master, where have you gone? You suddenly disappeared!” Silvera said.
“That’s right! Your spirit suddenly disappeared and we couldn’t contact you at all!” Tetra said.
Then, the both of them together said, “Where were you?”
He chuckled and calmly said, “Calm down, you two. I paid a visit to the Spirit Plane and bid one final farewell to that bastard Razzel.”
“You mean… He’s gone for good?” Silvera asked in disbelief.
“Yes.”
Just then, Lakshman heard his name being called from behind. Looking around, he saw Dominic walking towards him while he was followed by Fizard and Gurret. The two Dragon Kings were wearing curious expressions on their faces while Dominic wore a puzzled expression on his face.
“What is it, Dom?” Lakshman asked him once they reached him.
“What did you just do?” Dominic asked as he pointed at the deep groove on the ground. “I suddenly felt a tremendous rise of power and opened my wall of blades to see what was going on. I saw you blast him and he suddenly vanished in that light. What did you use to make him suddenly vanish like that?”
“I… used Spirit Burst Cannon on him,” Lakshman told him quietly.
Fizard and Gurret widened their eyes in shock, but Dominic looked confused.
“Spirit Burst Cannon? You mean you vaporised him with it?” he asked suspiciously.
Lakshman was momentarily taken aback by surprise from Dominic’s lack of knowledge of it. He quickly realised the Sword Titan was focused more on the history and learning techniques, but wouldn’t be fully knowledgeable about magical techniques.
“Spirit Burst Cannon vaporises the target and connects the target and the user to the Spirit Plane,” Lakshman explained patiently. “Once there, I witnessed Razzel’s demise when the Serpent of Revenge arrived.”
At this, all three of them widened their eyes in shock. They could not believe the words that Lakshman just spoke. Fizard and Gurret eyed one another nervously as they wondered whether they should believe him.
“I see. So, the Demon Dragon King was destroyed by the Serpent of Revenge.” When Lakshman nodded, he sighed and said, “Mmm… Still, I didn’t think the Serpent of Revenge existed.”
“Oh, it exists alright. Although, the story of its utterly destroying people that committed great crimes is forgotten, but the ugly creature of revenge exists as it roams the dark abyss of the Divine Planes.”
“So, um… Razzel is gone?” Fizard asked cautiously.
Lakshman eyed him sternly and asked, “What? You want to go and check for yourself?”
Fizard widened his eyes and he quickly waved his hands desperately while saying, “Please, spare me that! I don’t have any intention of meeting the Serpent of Revenge.”
“Hmph,” Lakshman said with a small smile.
At that moment, he heard voices from nearby. The voices grew louder as they got closer and Lakshman realised whom the voices belonged to.
“Lucky!”
“Lakshman!”
He turned around and saw Ondine, Emilia and Cantia running towards him with great enthusiasm. They were smiling happily at seeing him unhurt and they were closely followed by Venezuela and Erza.
“Ah! Ladies!” Lakshman said cheerfully.
Running at full pelt, Ondine launched herself and hugged him tightly on the left side. Emilia followed up with hugging him in the centre and Cantia hugged him tightly from the right side. They had jumped at him at full speed and this caused him to stumble backwards and fall on his back.
“Ouch!” he winced as his back hit the hard ground.
Ondine, Emilia and Cantia were happily hugging him tightly while speaking words of concern.
“You’re okay!”
“You’re alive!”
“You’re safe!”
With an exasperated expression on his face, he said, “Yeah… Apart from the little bump I just receive from falling down, I’m totally fine.”
The girls laughed and he heard Dominic slowly say in surprise, “My, my.”
“Seriously. You girls need to watch where you are to suddenly hug me like this,” Lakshman said and he jumped to his feet while bring the girls up with him.
“I told them the same thing, but they were really worried,” Venezuela said as she nodded in agreement with him.
He raised an eyebrow and said, “Really? Are you saying you’re weren’t worried for a bit?”
Venezuela turned away and said, “Hmph! Why would I be worried about my future husband, who is the Phoenix Titan?”
Cantia chuckled and said, “Ah… Don’t be like that-nyaa. I saw you biting your nails nervously when Lucky fought against those idiotic dragon whatever warriors-nyaa.”
“No, I did not!” Venezuela said firmly, but her cheeks suddenly turned red.
She was not the only one that got annoyed by what Cantia said. Fizard stepped forward and looked annoyed as he stared at Cantia.
“Miss. Camdra Beast Clan lady! We’re two of the five Dragon Kings of the Dragon Clan!” Fizard said with a furrowed brow.
“So what? You’re still bad people for attacking my hubby-nyaa!” Cantia said and she glared at them like an angry cat.
Fizard sighed heavily and covered his face with a hand. It appeared that he was regretting his actions from earlier, but the girls did not know about this. Ondine quickly placed her hand on the hilt of her sword and glared furiously at them.
“If you dare to do anything else to Lakshman, I won’t tolerate it!” she told them menacingly.
“Yes, yes. My deepest apologies, ladies of the ladies of the Phoenix Titan!” Fizard said apologetically and bowed with Gurret to express their deepest apologies.
“Ah. Well, if you regret it, then it’s okay,” Ondine said and she relaxed.
Venezuela looked at the scene of the two Dragon Kings bowing their heads to Ondine and shook her head.
“Unbelievable,” he muttered and Erza only nodded in agreement.
Erza was from another world and seemed to be very new to this world. Yet, she could tell how important the Dragon Kings were and she found it somewhat a surprise to see them bowing down to the simple warrior like Ondine.
Like the girls, she disliked the two Dragon Kings for attacking Lakshman so much to obtain the Demon Slayer. Now they are here and deeply apologising, which made her realise something.
“Ah. This must be part of their code to apologise for their bad actions to show that they really do regret them. Mmm… They’re not bad…” Erza thought and she changed her opinion of them.
While they were talking, Dominic was looking curiously towards Venezuela. Something about her appearance and stature made him recall someone from the past.
“Hmm… Might you be princess Venezuela of the Floria Kingdom?” he asked her curiously.
Venezuela turned to him and said, “That’s right. Who’re you?”
Dominic placed his right arm on his chest and said, “Greeting, princess Venezuela. I am Dominic Rutherford and I bear the title of the Sword Titan.”
At his introduction, the girls all exclaimed in shock. Ondine widened her eyes in surprise, Emilia raised her staff up to her chest defensively with widened eyes, Cantia looked at him incredulously as if she found it hard to believe and Venezuela was taken aback by his words.
“Y-You’re the Sword Titan?” Emilia asked in disbelief. “I thought the Sword Titan was an old man. Well, that’s how I remember him from seven years ago.”
Realising what she meant, Dominic smiled and said, “Yes. That would be my predecessor, Jagan Bredrock. Unfortunately, he died of illness three years ago and that’s how I was chosen to be the next Sword Titan by the Destiny Sword.”
Erza clapped her hands together and said, “Ah! That makes sense because Lakshman and Dominic are really close friends in the future!”
“The future?” Dominic asked in a puzzled voice as he turned to look at her.
Lakshman was startled by her words, but he quickly covered them up by saying, “She just means that we’ll be really close friends in the future, right?”
“Eh? Oh… Right! That’s what I meant! Close friends in the future!” Erza said quickly while looking anxiously at him.
“Telepathy!” Lakshman thought and he began speaking to Erza through his thoughts. “Erza. Please ensure that you do not speak as if you came from the future. Otherwise, people will become suspicious of your behaviour.”
Lakshman intended to keep the fact that she was from another world and the future a secret from everyone.
“Yes. My mistake. I slipped by accident when Emilia spoke like that about the identity of the Sword Titan.”
“That’s alright, but please be extra careful from now on,” Lakshman thought and he deactivated Telepathy before sighing inwardly.
“Master, is Erza from the future?” Tetra asked him curiously.
“Yes, but we’ll talk about this later. Venezuela also knows, so there’s not much of a problem,” he thought to her firmly.
“Okay, master,” Silvera said firmly.
“Alright,” Tetra said in agreement.
As he smiled, Dominic turned to him and asked, “Now, what’s your plan, Lakshman?”
“Now that we’ve wrapped up our business with Razzel and everything else, we plan to return, just as soon as I restored this place back to what it was before the destruction,” Lakshman told him.
Without further ado, Lakshman closed his eyes, clapped his hands together and began to surge with power. He radiated in golden-red aura that surrounded him while giving off a brilliant glow of light. As he gathered large amounts of energy, he put his hands together and clapped them firmly.
“Restoration!” he shouted aloud in a firm voice.
The ground began to shake and the shaking sensation began to fill the air all around them. Then, the rocks and debris began to slowly fly into the air. The destroyed buildings began to reappear as if an invisible being was quickly contracting them from scratch. Some partially destroyed areas began to fly back to recreate the destroyed sections.
The ground with many craters from the battle, began to fill themselves up with rocks and flattened to make solid ground. Even the people, that were watching the restoration of their homes and livelihood, felt energised as their wounds were healed and vitality restored.
“Wow… So, this is the power of Restoration…” Fizard said quietly as he watched the restoration.
“Within the texts of history, the technique called Restoration works by recreating the destroyed portions of the buildings and healing the injured in its wake,” Dominic informed them.
“It’s pretty much turning back time,” Venezuela said quietly and the girls agreed by nodding their heads.
Lakshman, who was surging with power, turned his head slightly and said, “The technique uses World Memory to restore the land and buildings back to the way they were before the destruction. As for the people, it heals them by acting like a wide range magic spell by stretching to every corner of the capital.” Then, he suddenly made a grim face and said, “However, it does not revive or resurrect the dead.”
“Oh…” said the people at his words and an awkward silent fell.
“Well… It’s a good thing it doesn’t revive people then. Otherwise, Razzel would get revived and we wouldn’t want to deal with him again!” Fizard said and he laughed forcefully.
Lakshman snorted and did not say anything, but he silently thought, “Fool…”
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One the restoration was complete, he let his hands drop to his sides. He let out a sighed deeply in relief from using his energy like that.
“Right. We will inform the Dragon Emperor of the events that took place here and explain the situation so he understands,” Fizard said to Lakshman in a firm voice.
Lakshman made a small smile as he said, “Even if he isn’t happy, tell him he cannot pressure me into giving up on Silvera; she’s mine and mine alone!”
At his words, all the girls blushed brightly while looking embarrassedly at him. Even Silvera was embarrassed by his words as she spoke to him in his mind.
“Really… Please, stop embarrassing me like that,” she told him pleadingly.
Fizard smiled and nodded as he said, “Yes. I will make sure to pass on your message.”
Fizard and Gurret turned and looked at each other before nodding once. Then, they raised their right hands and aimed ahead of them. As their energies gathered, they fired some sort of electric ball of light. The ball few a few meters before coming to a stop and it began to expand by creating a hole in the middle, which made it look like a portal.
“Is that the Dragon Portal?” Lakshman asked curiously.
As Gurret shook his head in amazement, Fizard said, “Really… You know a lot of our techniques.”
Lakshman shrugged his shoulders and said, “I had help.”
“Well, then. Have a good day, Phoenix Titan and friends,” Fizard said to them.
He and Gurret waved at them before they stepped forward and walked into the portal. Once they disappeared into it, the portal quickly shrunk and vanished into thin air.
“All ready then?” Emilia asked once she turned to face them all.
“Not yet. I need to speak to the people of this kingdom,” Lakshman said and he made a serious face as he spoke.
“If you want to speak, you’ll need to raise the ground-nyaa!” Cantia said energetically. She tapped her feet on the ground as she said, “Earth Rise.”
In an instant, the ground suddenly rose up all around them. The girls were caught off guard, but Lakshman silently appreciated Cantia’s effort to make the ground rise. This would put him above the rest of the crowd and allow him to speak easily without having to directly face their angry faces.
After reaching a certain height, the ground stopped rising and came to a stop.
“Thank you, Cantia,” he told her with a smile.
“You’re welcome-nyaa!” Cantia replied happily while the girls glared at her while feeling jealous.
Lakshman stepped forward and placed his right forefinger near his neck as he said, “Amplification.”
Amplification is a magic spell that amplifies the sound resonance from a vocal organ. Lakshman had used it on his throat, which meant that his voice’s volume was greatly increased. With the increase in his voice, Lakshman began speaking to the people of Mardana Kingdom.
“People of Mardana!” he said and his voice boomed across the entire area. “I am the Phoenix Titan, Lakshman Reddy, speaking to you now!”
People from all around, turned and looked up to where he was. Some were startled to see the highly raised earth from whence he spoke from. Others were wary of him and feared an attack, especially after their city was magically restored by unknown being and for unknown reasons.
“Your destroyed homes, buildings and livelihood has been restored because I did it! I used my amazing phoenix powers to restore this land and heal each and every one of you! I did this, not out of obligation, but out of caring!
For your information, I had been the prisoner of Mardana for a while. Yes! I was the warrior that was forced to fight and kill a Chamatex Lagrator during the Berserker Crusher event that was held a while ago!
I was a prisoner of Mardana Kingdom, I was a prisoner of Adebola Gramstone and I was a prisoner of the Demon Dragon King, Razzel! Now, I am free with the help of my allies and you are helpless without your king and his army! I can very well destroy this kingdom and obliterate it from the face of the world right this instance!”
“Eh?!” the girls exclaimed in shock by his words.
Dominic quickly looked at him in surprise and asked, “Lakshman?”
The people, down below, were horrified by what he said and they were filled with fear.
Lakshman was very angry with the people, but he forced himself to cool down and speak once more.
“I won’t do it because that would break the balance between the four kingdoms of the Human Continent! But still, I have to wonder who the hell would protect you if I and the Sword Titan decided to destroy you all?
Still, that makes me wonder where your king is. Where is here? What’s happened to him? What happened to the loyalty of a king to his people?”
Lakshman paused and looked around at them. The people were beginning to question themselves by his questions. Once he saw them thinking, he began speaking once more.
“Adebola Gramstone does not contain any sort of loyalty in him towards you! He abandoned you for the sake of his glory! In fact, he brain washed you and then used you as disposable pawns to buy time for the Phoenix Army to get distracted when arrived here!
Before I restored this land, remember the destruction… remember the chaos… remember the damage…! All of it was the result of your king abandoning you and your foolishness! Your foolish decision to follow a mad king into destruction is beyond what I can describe!
Shame on you! Shame on all of you! How can you follow a king that would abandon his subjects? How can you believe any of the nonsense he spoke? He is a lying cruel dirt bag that will use you and throw you away like anything! I am ashamed of you!”
Lakshman sighed and witnessed the people bowing their heads with guilt ridden faces. They were riddled with fear and shock of the words Lakshman spoke to them. He did not want to do this, but he had no choice because he was forced to. If the people had chosen the right decision and revolted against their king, it would not have led to the destruction of their homes.
“Before I go, here is my advice for you: The next time you elect a leader, make sure to choose one with great calibre. Ensure that he or she is someone that will follow through with the code of being a king, someone that will care for their subjects and someone that will lead their people towards the direction of peace! That is all!”
Lakshman sighed and deactivated Amplification. He used the Phoenix Eyes technique to zoom in on the people down below. He saw the stunned expressions on their faces and knew his words had stuck deep into their hearts.
Nodding in satisfaction, he turned to Emilia and said. “Emilia, please open up a teleportation portal back to Floria Kingdom. I’m done talking to these people.”
Emilia was startled for a moment by his words. Then, she quickly said, “Yes! It’ll be ready soon.”
With that, Emilia began preparing the teleportation spell while she held her staff firmly in her hand.
Erza looked at him curiously and asked, “Are you sure this is okay? Will they taken your words to heart?”
“From what I could tell, my words hit them deep in the heart, but even if they didn’t… Well…” he said slowly and shrugged his shoulders before he said, “It’s their choice on whom they elect next. I’m not going to force them to do something because I’m not a dictator; I’m the Phoenix Titan.”
“Still, I believe you were very harsh with them, Lakshman,” Ondine said unhappily. “I mean, it’s not like it’s their fault that Adebola turned out the way he did.”
“What are you talking about, Ondine?” he asked her incredulously. “It is the fault of the people that their homes were destroyed, it is their fault their land was damaged and it is also their fault this kingdom ended up going to war against Floria Kingdom. It’s not that king that rules the land; it’s the people. Without the people, this land is nothing, but a wasteland with no use or purpose. Without the people, there wouldn’t be a kingdom in this kind of place.”
He looked firmly into Ondine’s eyes and said, “Always remember that it’s the people that come first.”
Ondine looked at him fixedly with an expression of amazement on her face. It was the first time, in her life, did she feel so amazed by someone’s actions. She was amazed by keen interest in becoming strong from the time when he was just a child and his constant drive to protect those around him. Now, she was amazed at how powerful and strong he had become, both physically and mentally. All this happened in the time that he was kidnapped and taken as a prisoner of Mardana Kingdom.
“Wow… I can hardly recognise him now…” she thought quietly to herself.
Lakshman turned away from her and faced Dominic before he began to speak to him.
“Dom, what will you do now?”
Dominic smiled and turned to look at the people down below.
“I will stay and protect these people. I cannot leave these people right after taking such a beating from the war.” Then he turned to Lakshman and said, “I am an Allay of Justice and the Sword Titan as well. I cannot abandon the people that need my help.”
“I see. That’s quite understandable,” Lakshman said and they smiled at each other.
Just then, Emilia said, “Alright. The teleportation circle is complete, Lakshman.”
“Alright,” Lakshman said as he looked over his shoulder. Then, he faced Dom and extended his hand before saying, “Let’s meet again later.”
“Definitely,” Dominic said firmly and he extended his own hand out.
The Phoenix Titan and Sword Titan shook hands firmly for the first time, marking the start of their friendship. The clouds suddenly shifted to let the sun shine its light down on them. The sun bathed the two warriors with its warm light and created an amazing scene of warmth and strength.
When they let go, Lakshman smiled and said, “Well then, have a good day.”
“You too, my friend,” Dominic replied with a smile.
Emilia was the first to step onto the teleportation circle and she was followed by Venezuela, Ondine, Erza, Cantia and Lakshman. He still had the Phoenix Blade and Demon Slayer hooked to his belt. After confirming that they were still attached to his belt, he turned around and waved at Dominic.
There was a burst of yellow light as it surrounded them. A few seconds later, the light vanished and they were gone. Meanwhile, a burst of yellow light appeared within a forest and the group appeared out of it.
While looking around at the deep forest they were in, Lakshman asked Emilia, “Where did you teleport us, Emilia?”
“I teleported us to a nearby forest near the capital,” Emilia told him. “We shouldn’t be that far away from there.”
“Yes,” Lakshman said with a nod of his head.
As they began walking towards the exit of the forest, Lakshman heard Silvera speak to him in his mind.
“Master, I think you should’ve used your aura to frighten them into submission! Then, they will learn the lessons of their mistakes.”
“Seriously…? I was already harsh enough with my words that I doubt I want to look like a total scary person with my aura. Oh… That reminds me, I’ve never used it, have I? Oh well. I’m sure I will get the chance to use it soon…?”
“Hmm?!”
Lakshman made a sudden exclamation sound with his mouth and his eyes sharpened. At that moment, he was sensing many power levels that were going up and down like the waves of the ocean. He did not understand, but felt danger imminent up ahead.
“Lakshman, what’s wrong?” Venezuela called after him as he began running through the forest to quickly reach the exit.
A while of running later, he burst out of the trees and he arrived at a location that was atop a cliff. Smoke was rising into the air from the burning buildings and trees as the land was damaged.
A war was being waged between factions that Lakshman had never seen before. Magic spells and energy attacks were being used to attack each other and destroy one another. Meanwhile, the people desperately did their best to escape from the destruction of their homes and land while trying their best to stay alive.
Seeing the chaos reigning before his eyes, Lakshman widened his eyes and bellowed, “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!”