Chapter 41: The Battle of Volken: Part 5
Orphzus, Zack, Thomas, Yami
“Thomas! What’s happening down there,” demanded Zack as all three of them looked towards the spy for approval that Yami was ok in the ever-increasing tension that permeated the battlement they stood on. Thomas slowly lowered his spyglass and drew his lips to a line, still unsure of the events himself and who was actually at an advantage.
“I think both of them are still equally matched, but I don't think either of them can use Devil Ignition anymore,” there was a moment of silence as all four of them pondered what Yami’s next move would be without the aid of Timekeeper's bubble. Considering most of Red Wing’s assumed he would close out the fight with that technique.
“Then…Orphzus should be less dangerous now at the very least,” Maya suggested optimistically.
“But what about that other relic he has, the one that lets him summon that demon,” asked Zack. Thomas was unsure of how to answer. Thomas knew Yami well, Yami shared almost everything with him, including the tactics of Devil Relics. In all the time they had fought as Red Wings, it felt like nothing would ever stop them, or at least, Yami. However, this was the one time they were going in blind, and Orphzus's mysterious relic showed time and time again it works differently from regular relics. Thomas couldn't answer Zack honestly, but he knew that Yami’s Timekeeper relic also displayed a lot of the rule-breaking that Orphzus’s did, filling him with a slight sense of hope.
“Let’s just keep watch,” he said curtly before retreating behind the lens of his spyglass once again.
The battle between Yami and Orphzus continues as both fighters engage across the sprawling battlements of Volkens towering maze-like mass. Yami gets the upper hand and delivers a powerful punch to the king's jaw, he then follows this punch up by dragging the king across the stone walls of Volken, tearing out stone slabs and rumbling the structure as Orphzus is then sent flying to another level of the castle. In an effort to apply pressure, Yami dashes towards Orphzus to endeavor an axe kick in a downward motion, however, Orphzus is able to recover and narrowly dodges through backstepping just in time, sending Yami’s heel into the stone of the wide battlement and leaving a small crater within the thick stone ceiling.
Orphzus retaliates from his back step by quickly summoning Nevan to his hand and with a maniacal grin on his face, engages with an iai-styled downward slash, with his body faced to the side. Yami counters by blocking with a Mirage Blade which was summoned to his hand just in time, the blade shatters against the impact of Nevan, but reduces the energy behind the swing, allowing Yami to pivot out of the way, followed by a gracefully series of back somersaults to gain distance across the large battlement they stood on.
As Yami lands promptly, the sleeveless man flicks out his hand towards the king, followed by a barrage of Mirage Blades firing from Yami’s side towards Orphzus, resembling a line of archers with how relentless the assault is. I can still sense it, that large reserve of Demonic Energy in him…it’s still growing. The king remains unphased with a smirk across his face as he faces the oncoming blades. He uses his free hand and pulls Nevan from the scabbard surrounding it, forming a crystal shield for him to direct with the motion of his free hand, which he uses to effortlessly shatter Yami’s blades into fragments that melt away in the air.
“Something on your mind?” Taunts the king with a smirk as he and Yami walk casually across a battlement within the labyrinth of battlements sprawling throughout the castle.
“Aye, yer still building up Demonic Energy to bring oot Hakki, aren't ya?” Yami answered with a cheeky smile, likewise, Orphzus responds with a sinister chuckle.
“That’s right, how long would you say you have left until Hakki is ready to fight alongside me?” Yami exhaled dramatically and placed his strong hands against his hips.
“I gee it aboot two minutes?” Once again, the king chuckled.
“Close enough I suppose, Let's use that as the countdown until your relics soon become my trophies.” taunts Orphzus while he gives a sinister laugh
“It took less than a minute to turn you in’tae a pincushion. I reckon I'll make it in time,” Yami finishes with a confident smile.
Thomas looks down at the two fighters casually trading banter through his spyglass and grits his teeth
“C'mon Yami, what are you doing?!”
Yami begins to chase down the king before he has enough time to complete his enhanced Devil Ignition and bring out Hakki at his full power, with Orphzus fully aware of his plan, and decides to play defensively. Both combatants use their Demonic Energy to quickly leap through the maze that is Volkens exterior with grins across each of their faces. You need to be quicker Yami! Thought the sleeveless man as he pursued the robed man. Yami launches from a battlement to get a clear view of Orphzus within the labyrinth of stone, right after, he flicks his hands out to create a ring of Mirage Blades around the king. The blades circle the king slowly as he jumps through the castle with haste, one by one they attempt to fly into him randomly, applying immense pressure on the King to keep track of their movements.
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Orphzus quickly launches himself off a wall to evade one of Yami’s silver swords, but as he does, his face gets caught against Yami’s fist, tearing off the flesh from his cheek and exposing the teeth hidden behind as it sends the king hurtling to a lower battlement.
Shit, his Demonic Energy is going through the roof, I need to end this quickly! Orphzus smirks as he falls to the battlement below, confirming Yami’s thoughts that he’s running out of time. The sleeveless man launches himself from the wall of the surrounding structure down to the king and delivers a kick that sends him crashing through the ceiling.
Stone and rubble smash against the floor of the building while the king lands on his feet in a staggered form, sliding through the room lined with stone pillars. Yami quickly follows suit and lands harshly on the ground, his desire to kill the king quickly being evident in his movements.
He’s stopped fighting back altogether so he can charge his Demonic Energy faster, cmon Yami, give him no room to breathe. As the black-haired man lands in the room, he dashes towards Orphzus immediately, with the king resorting to dashing between the pillars lining the room to confuse Yami and buy time. The sleeveless man stays in one spot within the room, choosing to summon four Mirage Blades and arrange them like the point of a spear, additionally, Yami also manipulates the blades to rotate at a high speed. Both decisions allowed him to increase the durability and speed of his blades. The silver swords spin like a corkscrew just above Yami as he attempts to trace Orphzus’s constantly shifting mass of Demonic Energy. Luckily for Yami, this was made easy thanks to Orphzus’s storing absurd amounts to summon Hakki and points out his location. Yami turns quickly, engineering a blind spot for the king as he launches his fused mass of swords towards the king.
The sword pierces and smashes through the pillar with a loud crash, clipping the king’s ear and long white hair, but sending rubble from the pillar at high speeds towards him and piercing into his flesh. Yami then quickly throws out his finger towards the king.
“STASIS!” but the king remains unphased, with half of his face mangled. Orphzus walks through the dust created by the impact and rubble, shoving the blood off his face with his teeth exposed garishly on his right cheek.
“That was pathetic, you can’t even aim Timekeeper correctly. Are you panicking because you're running out of time?” taunts the king. With his hand still held out Yami replies with a smirk on his face
“I was’nae aiming for you mate,” Orphzus’s face turns to one of anxiety and stress as he realizes he misinterpreted Yami’s action.
“RESUME!”
Before he can act, an object pierces through him like an arrow, going all the way through his back and out of his chest while tearing a hole in his lung. Orphzus is staggered in pain by the impact with his face filled with confusion and anger. Below him, he finds the culprit. One of Yami’s blades!? I see…he used stasis on one of the blades from his surprise attack, he then must have shot enough Mirage Blades at the stopped sword to apply reverse momentum to it while I was distracted. It has to be that, that blade flew so fast it pierced me by the handle!
Yami’s face turns stern, and with unwavering focus, grabs the handle of the blade as it flies out from the king’s chest and delivers a devastating slash up through Orphzus’s torso in an Iai stance. The slash cuts deep and spurts blood everywhere, coating both Yami and the king. Orphzus’s eyes fade to an unsettling white, a sign of his near incapacitation as he falls to his knees. However, with enough time passed, Orphzus’s Demonic Energy reaches its zenith and from the air emerge clawed hand’s that attempt to grab Yami. The sleeveless man evades the grab but does not escape unharmed, with the hands leaving deep scratches across Yami’s chest, with the hands slowly revealed to belong to Hakki. His slow blue flames and dark smoke fade in front of the king, as the creature towers menacingly above Yami with a void-like roar.
“I’m going to join the fight,” states Zack as he turns on his greaves to make for the stairs before his gauntlet gets caught in Maya’s petite hand. She looks back at Zack’s only eye, shaking her head with a distraught expression as she grapes on tighter to stop him from leaving, almost like a child holding on to their parent.
“We’ve been over this Zack,” Thomas said flatly as he turned to face his black armored figure. “I get it, we’re all worried. But we need to respect Yami’s decision, he knows what he’s doing.”
“But what if he doesn't!?” yells Zack as he turns to face Thomas, with his black armor clanking abruptly. “We have no clue what’s going on in there. You said yourself you both didn’t know what that relic does!? We have no plan to counter it, the best thing to do would be to slay it with the Frozen Blade!”
“Even so, that’s not what makes Yami the strongest. It’s his strategic mind. Yami will win, Zack. If you can’t trust my word, then trust his word,” Zack grit his teeth with frustration as it boiled up within him, finally, he finished with a deep, sharp exhale before storming back to the edge of the battlement and remained focused on the castle for activity.
“If you plan to join the fight, then I shall too Zack.” blurted out Maya. The members of Red Wing’s turn to her in surprise. Jane was the first to grab her and pleaded not to join, with Zack following suit afterward.
“You said yourself, you can’t control your mana, I’m not putting you in a situation like this,”
“I've…gained more control. Lending the aid of The Frozen Blade has made me get used to the…sensations it brings,” she said, slightly unsure of herself.
“Even still…I don't want you joining the fight, you won't be safe,” Zack said with frustration in his voice, looking down upon her.
“Have you ever considered the fact that I worry about you too and wish to keep you safe as well!?” Maya protested emotionally. The three were stunned for a moment before Thomas turned his head back to the castle.
“Please win this Yami,” he uttered “I don’t want to see them fight with each other when this goes to shit,”