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Red Wings
42: The Battle of Volken: Part 6

42: The Battle of Volken: Part 6

Chapter 42: The Battle of Volken: Part 6

Orphzus, Zack, Yami

Yami takes a step back to take in the ghostly creature known as Hakki, now brought out to his full potential while his wailing roar permeates through the castle walls. The creature's horned face peers down at Yami, his muscular form and size dwarfed Yami in comparison and the Demonic Energy emitting from him was through the roof. Yami didn’t doubt that Orphzus was not bluffing when he said Hakki was practically immune to any attack involving Demonic Energy.

I…I could lose here Yami thought to himself as blood fell from his chest. I can’nae enter Devil Ignition tae regenerate anymare…when was the last time that’s crassed my mind. Heh, easy answer. Yami thought as he looked up at the smoky beast with a slight tinge of fear, the image of Lock passed into his head. The only man who had ever truly pushed him to his limits with his Devil Relic. While he still regretted the events that happened that day and the mistakes he made, he was satisfied at least to have been pushed to a new high, to have finally figured out what Devil Ignition was. Part of him wished he could re-experience that sense of being out of his element and feeling the thrill of a close battle, but for nearly twenty years now that feeling would escape him as his responsibilities of Red Wing’s took over his life, until today. There was no time to focus on that feeling however. Yami was no longer fighting for himself or just one other person, he was fighting for all of Elden, for Red Wings, for everything he had worked for, it all came down to this fight.

Yami moves at a blistering speed and delivers a kick to the beast's leg to lower it down to his level, followed up by a punch to the beast's horned chin, staggering the creature back slightly. Despite not receiving damage, the muscular beast didn't have an unbreakable poise, and its body was movable if it received enough force. For Yami, that would be enough to keep the beast under control. Upon getting some distance from the beast, he realized Orphzus had fled the battle, or at least was out of sight. Yami recalled how badly he had damaged Orphzus, he was also in a situation where he could no longer use Devil Ignition to regenerate, though it was far more dire for him considering the condition of his body. He’s probably gained distance tae let Hakki take the offensive position while he stays defensive. I wonder if this faerme of Devil Ignition lets him repair himself, regular use of Hakki did, so this enhanced form probably does as well.

“Let’s take you oot of hiding mate,” he finished with a smirk. Yami flicks his finger toward the flaming beast quickly as it dashes through the hallway towards him at an animalistic speed.

“STASIS!” before Yami could test if he is able to freeze Hakki or not, Nevan’s crystal shield intervenes out of nowhere at a point-blank angle and blocks his view of Hakki, allowing the cast of Stasis to be placed on Nevan’s shield instead.

This distraction allows Hakki to launch above Yami and ambush him with a downward punch to the floor, with the sleeveless man narrowly avoiding as it crashes into the stone and throws up dust and smoke throughout the room. Trading hits with Demonic Energy is a bad idea. That thing can really mess us up. From the smoke and dust brought up from Hakki’s punch, Orphzus bursts from the gas and delivers a surprise attack to Yami, slashing him across his forearm lightly with Nevan. Yami remains calm and pushes the blunt side of the blade to deter it, then somersaulting back to gain distance through the expansive stone room.

Yami stands tall despite his injuries as he looks upon his two opponents from across the room. Orphzus stands confidently with Hakki at his side, now fully healed from the wounds Yami had dealt with him. So this does let him repair his body. As he gazed closer on the smirk of the evil king, he noticed parts of his wounds still remained across his body and weren’t completely gone. It's much slower than regular Devil Ignition though, that must have been why he retreated for so lang once he brought Hakki oot. That thing is gonna be a big pain to deal with. Can’nae kill it and it's fast tae, all I can dae is parry and avoid it. Yami admitted to himself as he clutched onto his chest where the marks from the beast remained, as blood coated on Yami’s hand.

“Try not to doze off Yami!” Shouted the king, bringing the sleeveless man out of his deep thought.

“It’s a two-on-one now, let’s see what your relics are really capable of,” proclaimed the king as he spread his arms out with a sinister grin strewn across his face, with Hakki wailing loudly as he stood behind Orphzus. Yami only scoffed and turned his nose up at the pair.

“Nothing multiplied by two is still nothing. The big man is’nae gon’nae help oot much,” Orphzus only smirked at his response, as if he expected that type of retort from Yami.

Both Orphzus and Hakki engage Yami, as their battle very quickly extends to the vast hallways of the castle. Both fighters exert immense pressure on Yami, with the time wielder only able to evade and parry their blows. The blade of Nevan is thrust towards Yami, in which he replies by grabbing the blade to get in close, slicing his hand open again, but allowing Yami to deal a powerful punch to the king’s abdomen. As Yami continues to take distance and evades, his suspicion is confirmed as he notices the king’s body repairing itself slowly. Hakki has to be tied doon to a time limit of some sort, or is Oprhzus still using Demonic Energy to keep Hakki oot? Either way, Hakki can’nae stay oot forever, and it looks like witling him down bit by bit win’nae work, I've got tae take both of them oot with one showstopper. Decided Yami as he evaded the giant fist of Hakki, smirking at the idea he concocted.

The fight is soon taken to the open dark night looming over Volken, as Hakki misses a strike with his large burning fist, causing it to smash down a wall to the outside. Yami uses this opportunity to open his options and the battlefield. Yami takes advantage of his Demonic Energy efficiently as he expertly maneuvers across the maze-like battlements covering the castle, now forced into playing defensively.

“There they are!” shouted Jane as her superior height allowed her to catch the combatants burst out of the castle wall.

“Fuck, it’s that creature again,” Zack stated grimly as he saw Yami get overwhelmed. Zack’s chest was met with Thomas’s hand, pressed firmly against his breastplate. Zack looked the man in the eye and without any words spoken, it was clear that Thomas was telling Zack to not get any ideas about joining the fight.

“If this scales up anymore, we may need to consider moving to somewhere further away,” Suggested Maya.

“No! We have to stay here for Yami’s sake!” protested Zack,

“She’s right,” spoke Thomas “Yami’s going to try something, I can feel it,”

Orphzus slashes and thrusts are evaded by Yami as he and Hakki put pressure on the outlaw. However, Orphzus stops his assault and remains in place on one of the battlements while he watches Yami take on Hakki. This will do for now, so long as I don’t let him recover enough to use Devil Ignition, I'll wear him down until he makes a mistake. Oprhzus smirks as he sees the sleeveless man struggle. And I think that mistake has arrived right now. As Oprhzus predicted, Yami failed to evade the brawler's large punch which resulted in having his arm punched clean off by the middle of the tricep. His arm flew away into the dark abyss of the night while blood burst open from the wound.

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“That’s more like it,” Uttered the king while he covered his menacing smile with his hand as it ran across his face, pleased with Hakki’s performance.

Yami’s face widened in surprise and shock as his arm was torn clean off with a single punch. The man continued to evade across the castle with only his single arm remaining. Taking the opportunity to its fullest, Orphzus rejoins the fight. Synergizing with Hakki perfectly as the two time their attacks perfectly to give Yami no room to breathe. Orphzus is successful in landing a swift roundhouse to Yami’s head, sending him sliding across the walls of the castle the three all stood on while dragging up smoke, staggered, but still on his feet. Yami looks up at Hakki through his brow with malice burning in his eye, then straightens out his posture.

“Yer no welcome ta what’s gon’nae happen soon,” he says with disdain in his voice, before clenching his fist and holding it against his face.

“DEVIL IGNITION!” The sleeveless man throws his fist out and opens his palm to once again take the form of Devil Ignition, with sleek silver armor and the quartet of blades returning to his arsenal. With his palm outstretched, he thrusts his arm towards Hakki - his silver blades following the motion and pursuing the beast - then violently clenches his hand into a fist, with the swords piercing into the beast deeply, yet the creature remains unphased. Then - with his fist still clenched - he pulls it in the direction of Orphzus, influencing the blades towards him while still being embedded within the creature, allowing Yami to hurl the beast into air, using the swords as leverage to control where Hakki’s body goes, with Orphzus taking the brunt of the force.

Orphzus looks down at Yami with a look of frustration as he notices his arm begin to rapidly heal once again, first by the bone, and lastly by the armor. So he’s recovered enough to enter Mirage Blade’s Devil Ignition, that must have been why he was acting so passively before. Orphzus landed on the battlements once again, peering up at Hakki as he remained suspended in the air, held up by Yami’s Mirage Blades. And now he’s neutralized Hakki as well, he’s taken advantage of the fact he isn't an immovable object and he’s used the Mirage Blades to pierce Hakki and control its position with the swords. He looks up at the beast high in the night sky as it roars and tries to free itself from the quick, nimble blades within its body retaining him in the air.

There's no reason for me to dismiss Hakki yet, He still allows me to repair my body, but if this keeps up much longer, my reserves will be completely drained, and you know that, don't you?! Damn you Yami, you suspended Hakki for that very reason!

With his body fully healed, Yami leaves Devil Ignition to return to his human form and engage the king once more with a smile across his face. Yami receives a surge of power and energy, due to his body being fully recovered, and delivers a powerful punch to Orphzus which the king manages to block at the last second with his arms crossed over his face. Sending the king flying up the wall of the tallest tower of Volken as they practically defied gravity by standing against the stones. Hakki is finally able to free itself from the swords imbedding it, with the final one being pulled out with a wailing roar, while the creature intends to pursue Yami. The black-haired man notices this and dashes toward the staggered king, delivering a powerful punch to the bottom of his jaw, causing it to shatter. Yami then follows up by grabbing the robed man’s arm and hurls him towards the beast, followed up with a final punch. Launching the two far out of Volken and close to the bridge.

The wounded king peers out from the arms of Hakki he was protected in to find his opponent on the top battlement of the castle, with one arm pointed out to the sky and the other held onto his shoulder to act as support. He's placing Demonic Energy in something? His gaze then turns to the direction Yami's hands are pointing, squinting his eyes at the distance leads him to find a single Mirage Blade hovering high above the castle, most likely suspended by Timekeeper.

He's firing a constant stream of blades at that one sword, what the hell is he doing? How long has he been doing that? Orphzus’s face shifted to confusion as he tried to figure out his opponent's intentions. Then, his mind recalled the technique Yami used against him before. Firing blades at a sword frozen in time to apply potential energy in any direction and allowing the ethereal blade to fly much faster. His face of confusion slowly resigned to one of stress as Orphzus put the pieces of Yami’s plan together.

“HAKKI! STOP HIM NOW!” Orphzus panics and screams for Hakki’s aid, the muscles in his neck strain as Orphzus quickly becomes extremely stressed. Hakki launches itself towards the suspended blade by using the walls of Volken to climb rapidly like a predator, the walls smash and fall apart by the impact of his jumps before he finally leaps high into the air to break the blade.

Yami took advantage of this, realizing that Hakki works under the rule that even though he is brought out as an independent fighter, he still follows the rules of his Devil Ignition. That being, Hakki has to be issued a command and will do anything to achieve it, unless given another one. In this case, Hakki was ordered to destroy the sword in the sky, while ignoring Yami. This in turn backfired for Orphzus and allowed Yami to deliver a powerful punch to Hakki’s jaw, with the beast completely unaware as it pluments to the closest battlement by the force of his strike.

Swords continue to fly in the frozen blade like a hail of rain, shattering on contact while the sword stopped in time remains strong and undamaged. As a last-ditch attempt, the king throws his blade like a javelin toward the silver sword with great precision. Yami however, saw the king’s act and managed to land and launch himself from the castle walls again, intercepting the blade with his own body enhanced by Demonic Energy. The blade pierced right through one of his forearms but went no further, safeguarding his plan.

Orphzus gazed up at Yami, fear and anxiety overtook him as he came to the realisation that nothing could be done. As Yami landed back on the top battlement, the stream of blades hammering into the single frozen sword stopped abruptly. The black-haired man looked down upon the pair who lay below in the castle. His face was devoid of emotion outside of hatred, it was as if Yami's eyes had gone hollow in that moment, then he uttered…

“Fall to hell,” The frozen sword flashed green, Oprhzus and Hakki gazed up at the sword with shock in their eyes, before their gaze was met with a blinding light.

As the blade resumes in time, it flies so fast it ignites all the air around it, causing a large combustion as it plummets to the ground, causing a colossal explosion that spans the entirety of Volken. The explosion sound ripples all the way to the city of Vholeria, the ocean is thrown around and crashes as it lands, bursts of winds damage the bridge leading to Volken. As the enormous explosion declines from its zenith, the castle is seen crumbling to rubble, nothing remains except a bed of stone that acts as an island, small embers of the explosion, and smoke covering the remains of the castle.

“Is everyone alright!?” Thomas calls out as he brings himself up from the cover he took refuge in, as did everyone else as they slowly stood up hesitantly to take in the destruction left behind by Yami. Zack stood with Maya and Jane as he shielded his eye from the immense amount of dust.

“You should have said he was about to pull off something like this, Thomas, We could have died!”

“I…I didn’t know he was even able to do something like this,” Thomas admitted as he caught his breath and took in the devastation.

Along with the castle, Hakki was completely obliterated, along with the Devil Relic he represented, now permanently erased from Elden due to the explosion being a natural force and not Demonic Energy. Yami walked amongst the island of rubble - no longer resembling the castle - with half his clothing torn and the other half of his face burnt off. He could only laugh at the destruction he caused to Orphzus and his castle, not to mention the erasure of his Hakki Relic, as he slowly emerged from the smoke with a slight limp as he gained his breath, with his body exhausted by expending all his remaining Demonic Energy to survive the explosion.

“Did’nae think I would get caught in that,” he said chuckling to himself “First time I've tried that, went pretty well I’d say,”

“That beast is gone!” Zack stated as the smoke began to clear more.

“Do you think he destroyed the Relic?” Jane asked

“With the size of that explosion and the fact it wasn’t caused by Demonic Energy, I’d say so,” stated Maya

“Then what about Orphzus?” asked Jane

“If that thing is gone, then the king is probably gone too,” replied Maya

“So then…” Zack stopped in a brief feeling of hope as he came to the realisation.

Thomas finished his thought “Yeah…Yami’s won,”