August 31st 4070 - 10:20PM
Dulse's eyes open, the dim moonlight seeping between into the barren windows of the jail cell. His eyes wander, taking in his surroundings slowly. His body lying against Its stone cold damp walls, as the room echoes with silence, hearing nothing but rats skimmer throughout the floors of the building. The moon being the only illumination in the eerie cage, rusty iron bars enclosing the cell, keeping Dulse locked in. “W- what's going on..? Slowly, the memory and reflection of everything. The argument with Rex. His fight with Jaiden. Dohjo’s intervention. But after that it went blank.
“Ahh shit..! I gotta get out of here and find everyone…” Dulse stands up, running towards the rusty bars of the jail cell. But as soon as he moves he notices his left arm feeling a lot lighter. He looks down, realizing his gauntlet is gone. “Ahh man..” He slaps himself, annoyed but instantly tries to snap himself back into the groove of things. He walks back toward the wall he was just sitting against, then full force charges toward the metal bars. Throwing his full force into it, the bars only dent, as he falls back onto the ground in agony.
“What was I thinking…” Dulse says, slapping himself in the face once again. “I gotta work around this somehow…” He begins to scan his cell, trying to find something to work with. “What would Shidou do..? What about Riley….? In fact, what ARE they doing right now..?” But he shakes off those thoughts, “I have to think about myself right now!” Dulse’s eyes pick up on how one of the metal bars looks weaker than the others. He walks over toward it, grappling the metal bar with both hands. Using his full strength, he pulls the metal bar from the confines of the cell door. He falls back onto the ground with the pole in his hands. “Got it!” Dulse then dusts off his magic knight uniform, stepping backward to build momentum. He charges toward the metal door and slams his metal bar into it. The cell door cracks, the bars falling onto the floor giving Dulse an opportunity to escape.
He steps out, with a smirk on his face and bar in hand. The hallway where he stands is dark and narrow, with only 2 directions to go. He gets chills, unknowing of what lies beyond. One of these pathways could lead to his death, which Dulse reminds himself as he shakes. “I dont have my gauntlet so my magic is like self destruction… I just have to hope I pick the right-'' Before he can finish his sentence, he hears a growl down the hallway on his left. He turns, and hears footsteps. “SHIT!!!” Dulse screams internally “I’ve been talking to myself outloud, wherever I am, or whatevers here with me probably already knows I'm here. I just have to fight!”
Dulse readies his metal bar, ready to beam whatever walks toward him. He's scared, everything in his body is telling him to fight but he stands there, readying himself for battle. The figure steps closer through the darkness, the light from the cell window shining into the cell being the only thing lighting up this area. The person steps into the light, revealing themself to be….. Jaiden. His face dirty, clothing slightly torn“Oh, You.” he says, looking at Dulse stepping into the opening. “You scared me!” Dulse screams out at Jaiden who shrugs in response. “I don't have time to worry about you. We have to get out of here and we have to do it soon. I have a bad feeling.”
“What about Rex? Have you seen him?” Jaiden once again shrugs in response to his question “No clue. And don't think I forgot about what you 2 rats owe me because we’re dealing with a common problem right now.” Dulse shutters at his words but decides to focus on getting out of wherever they are. “What is this place…? Why were we brought here?” “During the magic knight exams, instead of getting put into the next round of the exams. They bring them here to see if they can escape, as a way to test their endurance and if they survive, well they move on to the next round.” “Why’d you get brought here then..?” “I… genuinely don’t know”
Dulse is confused but decides not to push. Jaiden begins to walk down the left hallway, and Dohjo follows behind him. “How are we gonna find Rex..?” “We’re not.” Jaidens words shoot through Dulse’s chest like a bullet, “W- What do you mean we’re not gonna find him..? You’re just gonna leave him here to die..?” “Yeah. You 2 failed me. You have nothing to offer anymore.” Dulse steps back, not believing what he just heard. “You’re not serious…” “I am deadly serious. Nothing I'm saying is a lie nor a joke. I was gonna kill you 2 before Dohjo intervened.” Jaidens eyes look hollow, seemingly 100% serious about what he said, and the next words that leave his lips shatter Dulse. “I found Rex, I left him alone in the cell in the direction I came from, but the exit to this place is this way. You’ll die if you go back, make your choice.”
Jaiden then begins to speed up, making his way through the narrow hallway as Dulse stops. “You…. you… MONSTER!!” Dulse screams at Jaiden, who doesn’t flinch, continuing on with his day like It's nothing. “See you, Commoner.” Dulse snaps himself back into it, turning around instantly, heading back down the hallway and in the direction that Jaiden just came from. Sweat drips down Dulses face as he runs into the darkness, probably down towards his death, which lingers in his mind but he doesn’t care. “I can't let it happen again…. Not again..” As the 2 go their separate ways, tension thickens the air throughout the Cavern. Unknowing of what horrors and atrocities that could be taking place right above them.
We go back to Rileys point of view, he lays on the ground as his body corrodes with Adoras mana. He hears what sounds like propellers above him, so he lifts his face from the dirt, looking up towards the sky barely being able to even manage that. “Ahhh! Took you boys long enough.” Adora says to the helicopter, landing directly beside them in the massive wasteland that the 2 of them are creative from the battle. Adoras 2 main subordinates arrive, hopping out of the helicopter. A boy with a lot of brown facial hair, and a monkey tail, who seems to never stop smiling. He wears a golden chinese style robe, with a staff in his hands and a perpetual smile on his face. Along with this boy, a muscular man with long black hair and a scar on his face stands beside him. He seems roughly 6’5, with a long black leather coat with a silver diamond pattern around it.
“We’ve arrived master!” The boy with the tail says, keeping that smile on his face while scoping out the surroundings. "Dundred Cavern… Your king is back.” The tall man says, with a stoic expression on his face. Adora rolls her eyes at the tall man's comment about being king but she ignores it and looks over to Riley. “You have potential. I’ll be looking forward to the next time we fight, so I won't kill you, and I won't be telling you anything either.” The tail boy looks down at Riley and crouches down to his knees to exam the boy's face, poking him. “Isn’t it better just to kill him..? Don't you still want your secret identity?” “No point Leon, that Ezekiel guys ghosts have been here watching the whole battle. If I kill the Cavendines prized child, that might cause us some unnecessary problems.”
“True that.” The tall guy exclaims “What are we here for anyway, didn't we just come to pick you up and leave? Did you get the information you came here for?” “Almost. That Dohjo guy is my last hurdle. Leon, Void, go down that way” Adora lifts her sword up to indicate the direction she's talking about, pointing to where one of Ezekiel's ghosts are hiding. “Kill everyone you find and get me that Dohjo fella. He wears a green jacket and has brown hair covering his eyes.” The 2 nod, making their way in the direction where she pointed, leaving Adora and Riley alone. Adora takes a seat, across from the boy who's struggling to stay awake. The damage from their last battle is finally taking full effect.
Before Adora can speak, in her peripheral version, she takes notice that Arbadak’s body is completely missing, with a pool of blood in its place. “Where did that rascal run off too?” Adora says, but shrugs it off. Our POV switches back to Azra and Zerx. We get a flashback to 15 minutes ago, directly after Zerx hit a dread impact onto Mazakala.
August 31st 4070 - 10:05
This punch blasted Mazakala back, he crashed into the floor and began to bleed from his mouth as his body spun up and down on the floor from that one attack. “WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH HIM?! THAT ATTACK HIT MY SOUL?!” As Mazakala was hit with Dread impact, Arba and Arbadak ERUPTED with Zerx’s Berserker Soul Energy. Zerx walked toward his sister with a smile on his face “You ok, Az?” “Yeah I'm fine… That wound… it healed.” Zerx was confused, but as he tapped where Maz stabbed him, it was healed. “Strange..” Zerx thought to himself, but responded “All according to plan, I’m a god, of course I have a healing factor.” Azra sighed, obviously knowing he's unserious. The 2 of them turned toward Maz, to see him sprint up and run away.
“After him!!” Azra screamed out, sprinting in his direction as he ran. Zerx followed behind his sister, his wound was healed, but the effects of the flames, which caused him to move a little slower than he normally does. On the other side of the forest, Arba runs away from Chloe and Shidou after exploding from Zerxs dead impact, along with Arbadak who could make a clean escape once Riley and Adora begin their fight.
“What's that dude's deal?!” Zerx asked, looking toward Azra with a confused expression on his face, clearly focused on catching Mazakala but also intrigued by what happened while he was knocked out. “Maz is Adora’s henchman!” Zerx dawned a confused expression, but then it clicked and he slapped himself. “That girl always gave me the creeps..” Azra said, looking at her sword and remembering their interaction on the ship. The flood of the girl's bloodlust is reminiscent in her mind. “Isn’t she with Riley…? If the goons are making their move now what's going on with those 2.” Azra felt a shiver down her spine at the thought of what could be happening between Riley and Adora.
The group came to a clearing, where the trees led straight toward a cliff. Mazakala, headstrong and not stopping, jumped off the cliff. Azra and Zerx are shocked but follow, Azra calmly hops down, meaning Zerx leaps off the cliff and screams out “Dread RUPTURE!!” He used the energy expelling from his feet to cover more ground, he excelled down, swinging his feet down onto Mazakalas back, beaming him into the floor at the bottom area underneath the cliff. Zerx’s soul energy unleashed as the 2 hit the ground, exploding and making cracks into the ground as the purple energy seeped through the cracks, which gave the ground a bright purple glow to it.
Mazakala screamed out in agony, as he was slammed onto the ground on impact. Azra fell to the ground beside them, Mazakala trapped in the ground and stopped by Zerx’s attack. Zerx stretched, as he stood up and looked down at Zerx. “I'm gonna need an explanation.” Mazakala laughed and coughed up blood. “Vanish.” He said, forming a hand sign. His left hand stuck up his thumb, index, and middle finger. While his right hand made a fist with his pinky up. He explodes with black energy. Zerx flew back, almost into a wall but he was grabbed by Azra. Maz stood, body flowing with this energy as he decided to make a run for it.
“Damn it!!” Zerx screeched, as he jumped out of Azra’s arms and rushed to follow Mazakala, Azra moving slowly behind them. Shidou and Chloe were having a similar chase with Arba, with the small but agile brother making it farther away. Shidou stopped, Chloe still on Arba’s trail. He snapped, signaling her to stop moving and fall back. Chloe turned, realizing Shidou was grabbing his sword. She fell down to the ground to avoid what was coming. “FISSURE.” He screamed, pulling his Katana from his sheath, as a brown aura swings from his sword. The trees vanished after getting hit with the brown aura, eviscerating into dust. Which left nowhere for Arba to hide, Shidou ran toward it, getting ready to cut it in half until….
“Fall.”
He heard it come from the brothers mouth, it changed its facial expression into a demonic grin, and also did the same hand sign Mazakala did. Shidou crashed into the ground after the words were uttered. Like a pressure was forcing him down, as Arba turned around and started running again. Chloe runs over to Shidou “Shidou!!” “Don’t focus on me, get HIM!!” Chloe nods, knowing she needs to focus and uses her lightning magic.
Chloe's electric blue lightning crackled around her as she sprinted with superhuman speed, chasing Arba through the dense forest. The trees cast fleeting shadows as the two weaved between them. Arba, desperately trying to escape, morphed its hand into a blade, cutting down one of the trees to stall as it kept running. Chloe clapped her hands, as a bolt of blue lightning shot forward and obliterated the falling tree with one blast. The lighting continued to shoot forward, Arba was barely able to avoid the attack as it jumped out of the way of the beam, which gave Chloe a chance to get closer.
Chloe, relentless in pursuit, narrowed the gap. The air buzzed with energy as she unleashed surges of lightning, creating a dazzling display amid the foliage. Arba, not relying on any supernatural abilities, relied on sheer agility and cunning to outmaneuver his pursuer. The chase reached a climax as Arba bursted into a clearing, with nothing but grass around and no more trees, at the exact center of the forest. Once he made it, he saw his other brothers. Mazakala and Ardabak made it to the center at the exact same time. Zerx and Azra followed behind Mazakala into the clearing.
August 31st 4070 - 10:20PM
The brothers finally made it. They run toward each other at the center, Zerx, Azra, and Chloe all follow. The brothers make it to each other and grab onto each other, spinning around as they laugh. Bodies flowing with black energy combine into one. Fusing into their real form. The true form of all the brothers stands, laughing with a sinister smile on his face. He's brown skin, tall, 6 '6 and has dreadlocks. He has purple eyes and wears dark, ethereal armor with gauntlets. These gauntlets, engraved with ancient symbols, crackle with dark energy. The same ancient writing that appears on Adora’s sword from time to time. 2 Flaming Black Tendrils seep out of his shoulder.
“Finally.” The true form of the brothers says, smiling to himself and turning toward the other 3. “Thank you all for making this mission much more entertaining.” Zerx gains an annoyed expression at his words, as the true form looks MAINLY at him. “But since this is a mission, all of you will be meeting your end now. Not many see my final form, so take it in before you die.” Azra looks toward Chloe, who seems to be shocked and focused on how to handle the situation. “I’ll CRUSH you!!” Zerx yells, charging energy into his hands but Azra stops him. “Go find Riley! He needs help! Adora is dangerous!” Zerx stops and thinks, but realizes that she's right. “Fine.. You 2 will be ok right…?”
Azra nods to her brother. “Remember what you told me. Confidence is key.” She smiles and Zerx laughs, tearing up a little but runs in a direction where he senses a large amount of soul energy. The true form turns toward Zerx as he attempts to run. The 2 flame tendrils swoop into the ground, and he snaps, as red flames scatter in the ground toward Zerx. Before the attacks could touch Zerx, Chloe swoops in. She punches the true form across his face, as he falls into the ground. The tendrils disconnect from the ground so the flames simmer off as Zerx escapes.
Our POV switches back to Adoras henchmen. Leon and Void walk through the forest, a bit bored and not talking about anything. They walk awkwardly and bored, as the forest begins to feel like more of the same. Leon decides to spark up a conversation with his ally, saying “Forests are like nature's own paradise if you really think about it.” “What…?” “Well, the trees, the fresh air, what else could you really want? It's a real beauty.” Void sounds unamused, responding “Well. It's a forest. Trees…? Really. That's not much of a paradise if you ask me. Just a bunch of leaves, thorns and icky bugs.”
“Come on dude. Imagine it! The sunlight peeking through the hollow openings of the trees, birds chirping and deers and other animals scattering all throughout! It's like a fairytale!” Leon smiles at his partner, who scoffs. “More like a malaria breeding ground. There's mosquitoes EVERYWHERE.” Void responds, swatting away the bugs annoyed. “Don't even get me STARTED on spiders. I fucking hate spiders.” “Dude spiders are cool. They’re like little architects spinning their webs and making their own webby society, they add character to the forest!”
“CHARACTER?” Void responds annoyed “I’d prefer a forest without eight-legged architects crawling all over my body and tryna set up flytraps on my fuckin face.” Leon laughs “You’re such a buzzkill dude. Look around, despite all the chaos that's coming, it's so peaceful and serene.” “Peaceful till you get a splinter or step on a twig. That’ll remind you that nature ain't so serene.” “Yeah but that's the beauty of it. Life finds a way to grow back, just like your attitude could use a little sunshine. You’re always so negative.” “Sunshine…? Its like an overrated ball of fire that’ll eventually burn out just like your optimism about working under Adora and going on these missions.”
“We’ve both been at this for a while!” Leon says “I just think this is fun, gives me something to do. You just gotta learn to appreciate the little things like the rustling leaves and birdies singing! With a job like this, life is short. You gotta embrace the beauty instead of focusing on all the negatives.” Void laughs, hitting Leon on the top of his head before speaking. “Trust me. I’ve been alive way longer than you’d think, when you’ve seen the things I have, the little things don't matter much. I’d rather savor the solitude of realism.” Leon sighs and shrugs his shoulders “Ok Mr Grumpy.” Before Void can respond, Ezekiel appears from the shadows off the trees and crashes onto him. Void falls as Ezekiel lands onto him, Leon quickly reacting and pulling out his staff.
“You’re not Dohjo. You don't matter.” He says, swinging his staff and whipping up a whirlwind of destruction, it blasts toward Ezekiel who pulls something out of the shadows. A ghost. The spirit swoops toward Leon and through his whirlwind and punches him straight in his dome. He falls back, crashing into a tree. “Damn!” Leon yells as the tiny ghost snickers. Void sighs as Ezekiel just stands on his body, not really feeling like getting up or trying but remembering the deal he made, he grabs Zeeks leg. He tosses Ezekiel off of his body, as he's caught by his ghost before hitting anything. This gives time for both Leon and Void to get back to their feet.
The 2 make eye contact and nod, Leon grabs his staff as it glows, and Void pulls out a mace from a portal made of his soul energy. The 2 run toward Zeek and begin their fight. Leon jabs his staff toward Zeek, as he quickly dodges but goes in the direction of Void's mace swing. Ezekiel's ghost grabs the mace as he spins around and kicks Void in his face, as he falls back. Without giving him a second to breathe, Leon swings his staff toward Zeek. This attack connects while he's still in the motion of his kick that hits void, he crashes into the ground and hits directly into his face. His nose begins to bleed, but his ghost pulls him out of the way before Leon's wave of wind slashes at his face. Zeek stands, holding onto his ghost and begins to speak “Alright Kyu. Let's get fusing.” he says to his ghost Kyu. Kyu morphs into a sphere in Zeeks hand, as he also pulls out a red sphere. The claps the 2 together and pulls, as Kyu stands up on its 2 feet with this new transformation.
K.Y.U - Scarlet Warrior
Leon stands next to Void, who cracks his neck as the 2 look at the newly spawned ghost. This version of Kyu is bulky, with flames protruding from its back with big muscles. Its tall, as its once ragged clothing in its normal form is even more tattered, set ablaze by the flames. The 2 laugh, “Ive seen cooler in my sleep.” Leon says, chuckling. “Nothing special.” Void mentions, which annoys Ezekiel but he couldn’t care less. The 2 teams charge toward each other and begin their battle. The forest echoes with the clash of weapons and the crackle of flames as they face off.
Void swings his mace with precision, aiming for Ezekiel's skull. Ezekiel gracefully evades Void's strike, countering with swift punches that hit him with a gut punch and 3 to the chest. The air around Leon swirls as he unleashes sharp gusts of wind, slicing through the trees around him, attempting to hit Kyu. Kyu dodges and blazes toward Leon, seemingly untouchable and punching Leon backward.
Leon, sensing an opportunity, channels his wind power through his staff to create a cyclone, pushing Kyu away while he flies backwards. Leon backflips, landing on his feet but the ghostly entity quickly retaliates with bursts of searing flames, but Leon skillfully dodges, setting the trees behind him on fire. Meanwhile, Void locks eyes with Ezekiel, the clash of mace against skilled hand-to-hand combat creating a dynamic spectacle. Ezekiel maneuvers gracefully, avoiding Void's strikes with a combination of evasive maneuvers and deft blocks. Ezekiel goes for a jab toward Void's gut once again, but he dodges, swinging back toward Ezekiel's arm. The attack lands, cracking zeeks arm and he falls back. Bleeding from his mouth but a smile still resting on his face.
Leon conjures a series of slicing wind blades, launching them toward the ghostly beast. Kyu charges through the attacks, tanking the attacks and once again swings with a massive punch toward Leon, who quickly reacts and dodges the fiery punch, lighting another tree on fire. This angers Leon, who blasts Kyu with a wave of slashes, forcing Kyu to defend against the ethereal onslaught. The forest around them becomes a battleground of elements.
Ezekiel laughs a bit at his damaged arm, before raising his other hand. He has one of his ghost spheres, using the power of one of his ghosts. He spawns it and covers his arm with it, rejuvenating it back to its previous state and looking even stronger than before. Void, recognizing the need for a change in strategy, disengages momentarily. He focuses on enhancing his mace with mana. Ezekiel begins to think to himself “Is it a soul saber..? It came out of some sort of portal to his soul… I gotta be weary.”
Void charges toward Zeek, recognizing his battle stance being one more on the defensive side. He swings his mace, which is blocked by Zeeks ghost enhanced left hand. The attack has way more force then all of his last ones despite having generally less energy put into it, which further gives Zeek this idea about this weapon being a soul saber. The 2 clash, going blow for blow with each strike of the mace doing more damage. Void is locked in on one specific target, but in an attempt to divert attention from what he's going for, he swings his mace at Zeeks legs. Ezekiel jumps, and the mace goes upward with a swift motion. Hitting Ezekiel in his dome. He falls back, crashing into the ground as Void’s peripheral vision notices Leon.
Leon ducks another one of Kyu’s punches, which hits the ground, setting it into more flames. The flames surrounding the 2 further engulf the surrounding area. Setting the forest ablaze. Leon goes for a jab with his staff, but the attack doesn’t hit the ghoul, as it backhands Leon away, setting a bit of his clothing ablaze. Void scoffs, running toward the 1v1 battle between the 2. Ezekiel attempts to stand but the damage from his broken hand and the mace face shot is still affecting him, he kneels, trying to stand once again.
Void jabs at Kyu with his Baton, actually dealing damage with his mana infused mace.. Kyu falls back, as Void quickly releases an onslaught of attacks. Kyu blasts a burst of flames at Void, who spins his mace around to swat the flames away. He goes for another jab, but it gets blocked with a swift kick from Kyu. Leon, seizing the opportunity, coordinates with Void. He unleashes a powerful gust of wind to create an opening, distracting Kyu with trying to swat it away while Void delivers a decisive blow with his mace. “And that's that.” He says, smashing the mace into Kyu with all his strength, disrupting its ethereal form. The poor ghost recoils from the impact, returning to its normal form.
Ezekiel, seeing his partner lose in battle, intensifies his will to fight. He gets up and moves with calculated precision, striking at Void right as he finishes off Kyu's form. However, Leon steps in, using his wind powers to create a protective barrier, shielding Void from Ezekiel's blow. The 2 laugh, with Kyu subdued, Void and Leon capitalize on the advantage. Leon conjures a tornado of razor-sharp wind, propelling it toward Ezekiel. Ezekiel attempts to dodge but gets blasted and cut up, Void seizes the opportunity to land a powerful blow with his mace to his gut, sending Ezekiel staggering backward.
“And that's karma for hitting my stomach, you bitch.” Void cusses at Zeek as Leon coughs, “We WON!” He laughs, putting his staff back onto his back.
…
The 2 feel a presence they’ve never felt before, Leon instantly pulls the staff back out and Void turns, the flames of Kyu still burning bright. But walking through the flames, Scythe in hand and green eyes glowing from underneath his hair. Dohjo. He seems mad, his cloak tattered from the flames and face expressionless. “That's the guy..!” Leon says, not taking his eyes off of him. “That soul energy ain't nothin’ to scoff at..” Dohjo doesn’t speak, swooping toward the duo undeterred. In a flash, the 2 can't even process it as Dohjo slashes his scythe across Leon's chest, dealing a fatal blow….
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
August 31st 4070 - 10:40
Dulse runs down the hallway, covered in blood but still ready to die rather than leave his best friend behind. His mind floods with negative thoughts “I’ll die…” “He's right… You can't do anything alone..” “You’re pathetic.. Dulse.” He slaps himself, remembering his time on the ship and remembering his time with Riley and Zerx. “Those 2 are big inspirations to me… I can't let them down. I have to keep going…” With a rusty metal bar in his hands, he turns down the corner and finally… he finds…
“REX!!” He screams out looking at his friend, magic knight uniform torn as he lays against the cell wall all dirty. His eyes look up, soulless as he stares at his friend. “Hello… Dulse.” He says without much emotion, clearly tired and just ready to give up…. “Come with me! We’ve gotta get out of h-”
“Rex!!!”
I recognized the voice. Dulse.
I'm scared. Cold… I don’t know what to do.
“Whats the fucking point.”
Dulse is shocked by Rex’s response but this is what he expected a little in his heart. “Please… Now's not the time for this Rex we HAVE to go!!” “Theres no FUCKING POINT.” Rex screams out at Dulse. “We’re gonna be enslaved till that fucking bastard dies…”
“I'm here..!”
“Dulse… it's terrible… everyones… Gone…”
“I have a way out! Come with me… I made a deal with one of the knights…”
What..? He's not serious right…? Why me…? Why just me?
“Rex. I'm sorry.” Dulse says, looking down toward the metal bar he's been using to beat through Ezekiel's Ghouls. “I didn’t console you before I made my choice. I wanted what was best for me and thought it was best for you to, and for that, I'm sorry. You don't need to accept my apology. You don't even need to speak to me after we get out of here. But… At Least let me save you. I’ll help you get out of your contract with Jaiden. I’ll figure it out, trust me.”
“But- Everyones gone so what's the point…”
“We still have each other! That's all we need! Just trust me with this… We can figure it out.”
Oh that's right… Dulse is my… best friend.
Rex reluctantly stands up, and looks at Dulse. “I’m sorry.” Dulse is surprised by Rex’s sudden reaction. “You just wanted to help me, and I was nothing but I pushed you away for trying to help. You’re not at fault for the alternatives that were forced onto you in a stressful situation… I’m sorry.” Dulse begins to tear till he starts to outright Cry, smiling looking at Rex who looks away after his apology. “I forgive you…” He wipes the tears away from his face, as he swings the metal bar. “20… TONS!!” The metal bar glows, crashing into the cell bars as they fall onto the floor. The metal bar bends but it doesn’t seem to matter to Dulse. Rex scoffs, simply saying “Alright. How do we get out of here..?”
Our POV switches once again, back to Adora. She continues to yap away to Riley, who's pretty uninterested but he's too weak to move, but she catches his attention by asking one question. “What's your definition of a hero..? Would you consider yourself a hero?” Riley is confused by the question “Elaborate.”
“Well. I consider myself a hero. From what I'm trying to achieve here.. I’ll be considered a hero when it's all over. I just have to play that antagonistic role. What about you..? I know you don't care about saving people or being a knight Mr. Richie Rich. So what's your deal?” “Well…” Riley says, turning his head away from Adora as he answers, a smile dawning on her face. “NO NEED TO ANSWER THAT LITTLE BROOOOO!!!!”
A scream comes from the trees, as Zerx swoops in, kicking Adora away from Riley. Adora flies back, the kick full on slamming her face as she begins to bleed. “What the fuck..?” She looks up, as Zerx stands up onto his own 2 feet “I'm here to kick your ass! You fuckin- Uh.. SLUTWHORE!!!” Adora looks at Zerx, completely unamused. “You.. give me the projection vibe. What do you have genetal warts or something..?” She laughs at her own joke Zerx doesn’t take any time to slow down, Rushing toward and ready to fight Adora head on.
Chloe stands up, “Me and Azra have been fighting this guy… and we’ve made no progress.. He's too..” Before she can even finish her thought, the true form blitzes her. Punching her full force as she flies across the open field. Azra tries to cover more ground, using her flames to keep up with him but it fails, her sword swing misses as he kicks her away. As she flies back she thinks to herself “Is he like the perfect combination of all 3..? Perfect physical prowess?! What's his deal?? I have to crack the code..” She lands back on her feet, but the second she does the true form slams her into the ground.
Azra blasts flames from her feet, engulfing the true form in flames as it stumbles back. Despite having fire powers, fire damage seems to do good against it. Chloe jumps behind it while it's off guard, she claps her hands together, launching a beam of thunder at it. It lifts its hand, blocking the lightning with nothing but its palm. “What the-” The true form tosses Mazakala’s sword at Chloe, covered in black flames as Chloe hardly manages to dodge the throw, cutting her cheek and bleeding from the slash. Azra runs toward it, slashing her blade into it while its occupied.
The blade slams against the burning armor, not even a scratch on the black armor. “What the hell are you?!” She yells at it. “I am Null. The real embodiment of my brothers. And your killer.” The tendrils on Nulls shoulder protrude and stab Azra, slamming her into the ground pinning her down. As Null recovers from the flames, Chloe goes for another lightning strike. This one actually connects, going straight through its chest. Literally. A hole opens up in Null's body and the lightning bolt goes through the chest. “That one would have gotten me if I was weaker. Unfortunate.” Null blasts flames toward Chloe, the black flames follow the trail where the lightning came from at an even faster pace, a split second before she's hit, an Axe is tossed. Going directly through the flames and straight for Null.
The Axe spins through the fire and slashes through Null’s armor into their skin. Null doesn’t react, but their hand is bleeding through the armor. “Azra! Chloe!” A voice shouts, and out comes Nora. Azra smiles and Chloe is suprised “Where have you BEEN?!” The 2 shout in unison. “No time to worry about that! I’ll explain later!” Null tosses her Axe aside, and rushes toward Nora. they pull their sword back from the floor beside Chloe, and attempt to slash at Nora. Nora dodges the attack, and gut checks Null, Punching him through his armor straight to his stomach with her raw strength. Azra takes this opportunity to slash at the tendrils getting her out of the ground but she has 2 holes in her shoulder.
Null crashes back into the ground, spitting out of their mouth from the punch. “What the fuck..?” He says, looking up at Nora as she grabs her Axe from the floor. Azra also notices and feels it, but Nora has a dark red aura around her, surrounded in bloodlust. She looks up at Null, her eyes dark and hollow, pulling her Axe behind her head, then charging toward them with full speed. Null goes to slash Nora, but it misses, as she slashes through their armor once more hitting the left armpit. He begins to bleed, but unleashes a wave of fire from underneath them, which burns her and knocks her back. Undeterred however, Nora runs right through the fire, burning herself but slashes Null in its chest, breaking through the armor once again.
Chloe sits stunned, but Azra recognizes this. “It's like…. On the ship a few days ago..” Null falls back and clashes with Nora, its sword clashing with Nora's axe as she laughs. Nora pushes Null back, as they get sent backwards from the pressure of the Axe overpowering the sword. As Null slides back, Nora jumps up and swings down the axe once again, going straight through Null's left arm. Null screams, crashing down as they bleed. Null regenerates their hand and summons 3 flame tendrils from their back. 2 of them are dodged in Noras leap, but one stabs directly through Nora's leg, and slams her onto her back onto the ground.
“This girl is an Anomaly. I’ll get rid of her right now.” Null attempts to obliterate Nora, using its tendril as a medium to engulf her in flames. Before they can actually do the attack however, they get a stab in their back from Azra. Null screams in agony, spawning another Tendril in its back to get Azra away from them. Tendril gets swiftly blocked by Azras sword coming out of his body, but it's too late, Nora swings her axe down at his neck. They quickly spin out of the way to dodge the attack, which lets Azra get away from the back tendril as it spins with them. Azra crashes back to the ground and the 3 girls look at Null, who stands back onto their feet, bleeding out. “I- Won't… LOSE!!!” Null screams, covering the entire area with black Flames which spread fast, making their way to the girls…
We switch POV’s once more, back to Dohjo. Leon falls to the ground, after getting cut by the vice captain. Dohjo doesn’t even hesitate, running straight for Void with nothing but smoke on his mind, seeing absolutely red. Void dodges the first slash, countering with a swing from his mace. Dohjo redirects his scythe, clashing with the Mace. In a split second, the mace shatters from the impact of the scythe. The scythe swings up, getting directly through Void's left arm and ear, where he was holding the mace. “Oh well.” He says, kicking his left arm toward Dohjo.
Dohjo cuts through it before it can touch him, the blood from the arm explodes. The blood covers Dohjo’s vision, as right behind him comes a Triton. He's muscular and an aqua marine blueish color. He goes for a punch covered in Ice, the punch almost connects, but Kyu blocks it. The small ghost disappeared after being defeated, just in case of a situation like this. The triton jumps back, as Leon stands up beside it. “You good, Lee?” It says, looking at its partner. “Void…?” “Yeah. I don’t get extra bodies for nothin’.” Dohjo instantly gets it. “That means hes like me. No other race has the ability to do that kinda thing besides Specters.”
Dohjo wields his Scythe, spinning it around his body as Kyu goes inside the axe, enchanting it. Leon coughs out blood, falling down onto the ground kneeling. Void notices this “Plan B.” He says, grabbing Leon and tossing him onto his back. He slams his fist covered in water into the ground and it turns into a chunk of Ice. It covers the 2 to give them a chance to escape. Dohjo rushes toward it and attempts to slash it, but misses as it shatters, with nobody inside.. “Christ..” He says, as he puts the scythe down. He turns, and sees Shidou walk toward him. “This isn’t good Dohjo!” He yells out, “The forest is getting set ablaze and all the challengers are still out?! What do we do??”
“Take Zeek and gather up as many survivors as you can and take them to a ship near the camp. Go straight backward and you’ll find it. Me and Kyu will go take out the cause of this problem. I can promise you that.” Dohjo says in a serious voice. “Alright!” Shidou says, running toward Ezekiel’s limp body. He picks him up, and rushes off into the burning forest to find more survivors. Dohjo rushes ahead, attempting to find and KILL Adora.
Zerx and Adora clash. His fist beating onto her sword with all his strength. Adora swings her blade, but misses as Zerx throws another punch. The punch lands and Adora slides backward clearly annoyed by the unexpected entrance. “You’re boring.” She says, summoning a mirror behind Zerx and blasting him with a wave of light.
Zerx tanks the attack, rushing toward Adora once again with his hands covered in his berserker energy. His punch misses, hitting the floor and forming a crater. Zerx grins, his berserker energy pulsating around his fists as he approaches Adora with a confident swagger. "Prepare for the first of many, Dread IMPACT!” He throws a powerful punch, aiming directly at Adora. Adora tanks the attack but the effect of the Dread Impact had before doesn’t happen again, she just takes the soul energy infused punch and slides backward. “So you’re stealing techniques from Riley now..? Boring.”
Zerx gets annoyed “THATS MY ATTACK, Fuck are you talking about?!” Zerx runs toward her angry, swinging another punch toward Adora who just sighs, “Annoying brute.. Find a hobby that doesn’t involve fighting you monkey.” She perry’s Zerx's next punch with her sword. She retaliates with a slash infused with black sludge towards him, attempting to ensnare him in its attack.
Zerx smirks, the slash seems like it hits him, but it has a 3 second delay. The version of him that she thought she hit vanishes into purple soul energy, the regular Zerx appears behind her "Dread Evasion!” He lunges forward with a series of rapid punches, each carrying the destructive force. He punches her with a punch that carries a massive amount of energy, which slams into her which turns out to be a mirror. The mirror shatters as she appears behind HIM, beaming him with a flash of light. “Mirror Prism Flux.” The attack makes a trail of light and smoke, leaving her unable to see him“You’re not the only one that can make illusions, brute.” The dust settles and Zerx dusts himself off, spitting out some blood as he laughs.
“That light show means NOTHING to a god!” Zerx laughs, swinging his arm around to make sure it's still ready to fight. “You survived the attack that took out your little bro, so good on you for that one you monkey.” “Yeah yeah, I don't any compliments from some stupid harlet.” "You really need to work on your insults. You’re corny. Dread Insults, maybe?" Adora laughs to herself at her own joke, annoyed by him still but gets ready to fight once more. Zerx chuckled. "Well, my fists do the talking. Dread Fury!" He unleashed a powerful shockwave of energy, Adora attempts to form a barrier with her mirror, but it shatters. The force knocked her back, but she swiftly recovered, using the black sludge to lash out at Zerx from a distance.
Zerx swiftly beats through all the sludge, moving toward Adora as he leaps. Adora sighs again, her annoyance growing. "Can't we settle this over tea or something?" She throws her blade, switching places with it as Zerx swings down and punches the sword. The second he lands, she raises her hand and the sludge that surrounded her swoops in to bury Zerx. Zerx laughs, seemingly enjoying the challenge. "I thrive off of this! 2% max OUTPUT!!!!” His max output erupts, destroying the sludge surrounding him as his energy scatters around 30 meters around them.
"You really don't get tired, do you?" Adora mutters, using the distraction to launch a surprise attack. She switches places with the sword, and launches a mirror beam at Zerx point blank range. Zerx gets blasted, flying into a tree as Adora shakes her hands. “Eek! I'm getting better at using this mirror stuff!” She says, smiling and shaking around genuinely excited. Riley lays on the ground, wanting to move but not gathering enough strength. “She must have more forms of magic in the back right..? She must be practicing using this mirror stuff. No way that's the only thing she has stored.”
"Dread Surprise, huh?" Zerx chuckled, wiping off the dust from that attack coming out basically unscratched. "I'll give you points for creativity, Adora. But it's not enough!” Zerx runs toward Adora, throwing a barrage of punches as she quickly counters. The 2 clash with hand to hand combat, Zerx begins to struggle to keep up with Adoras martial art training. She throws him off by hitting his ear with an Eagle Strike. The attack throws him off his game for a split second, which gives Adora the perfect opportunity to hit Zerx with a Haymaker. Right in his gut. He falls back from the impact, CRASHING into the floor and bleeding from his mouth.
Zerx staggers, standing on his own 2 feet as Adora pulls her sword back to herself, slashing him across his chest. Once she slashes him, she instantly hits him with a roundhouse kick, kicking him aside as he slides across the floor. “You’re boring.” She says, walking toward Zerx with her sword in hand ready to kill him. Zerx hardly manages to stand up…
“You have 3 cores. 1 for each of your brothers souls. I realized that when I cut your hand off.” Nora says, looking over at Null as they are about to make his escape. “I’ve hit you enough times. And I have an attack that can hit 3 times at once.” Null is confused, but Nora simply snaps her fingers “Triple. Axel.” The attack erupts on Null's body as he begins to bleed out of the 3 wounds that explode on its body. Null claps his hands and slams them on the ground, the fire begins to erupt further. “Triple Axel wasn’t enough…” Nora says, staggering back as her bloodlust slows down after her strongest attack failed to kill Null. Chloe attempts to make a move but the fire is too vast, “I can't get to HIM!!! DON'T LET HIM ESCAPE!!!” Azra hardly manages to focus…
As if In Synch, Azra readies her sword while Zerx grabs his fist. Despite the fact that they’re in 2 different fights. 2 Different locations. The 2 go undeterred. Knowing what they came there for. A memory of their grandma flashing through their mind at the same time.
“Don’t let my training go to waste. Give them hell.”
…
Give them hell.
On the night of which it fell
Fire burn and give them Hell.
Eyes open wide, soul on fire
The music's rhythm, my desire
To be one with the beat, so pure
To dance like a flame, that never expires
So let's dance, to the beat of music
Let's flow like fire, so magnetic
Swinging to the rhythm, of life's harmony
We are the flame, that will never cease
Just dance, and let the music lead
Let your soul ignite, and be free
Get up and move, and let the beat guide
And dance like a flame, so alive
In a split second, as if both in unison. Zerx swings towards Adora meanwhile Azra charges at Null, flying through the air and moving through the flames unharmed.
“SCARLET NOVA!!!”
“DREAD IMPACT!!!”
Both attacks connect at the same time, Adora feels a shockwave go straight through her body as the punch connects. Adora feels an attack go straight for her SOUL. But due to her magic, the attack hits one of her many decoy souls that use one of her many different Magics. The girl still takes damage, bleeding from her mouth and getting launched back. Meanwhile Null gets flown across the forest, getting engulfed in flames as they literally feel all 3 souls getting forcefully torn apart and separated. Azras eyes are closed, so she can't see exactly what happened, but when she awakens from this trance, she sees something burning to a crisp in front of her. As she snaps back into reality, she sees a gate in the middle of the floor. Before she can process it, something comes out of the open gate. Out comes Dulse and Rex.
“Azra!!” Dulse screams out to the girl, which finally brings her 100% back into it. “Dulse!! We were looking for you! You 2 ok?” She says, wobbling toward them clearly exhausted after the attack she just used. “We’re good, we just don't know where Jaiden is.” Dulse says, a bit confused and concerned. “What do you mean..?” She responds “He was in there with us.” Rex interjects. “But we didn't see him come out, but the gate was open so we KNOW he got out. We just don't know where he went.” Before they can focus on that, Chloe zooms toward them with Nora on her back. “DULSE!!! REX!!!” She calls out to her childhood friends.
“CHLOE!!” Dulse says, screaming out to her as the 2 hug. Rex stands awkward, looking away without saying much. “I'm glad you’re ok, Rex.” Azra smiles, she doesn’t have a connection to this but she's happy they could reunite. Azra looks at Nora, who seems to be tired and confused. “What happened to her..?”Azra thinks to herself, but before they can focus on that. They all feel Zerxs soul energy. “My brother!” Azra screams, running in the direction of where it's coming from as the reality of the situation finally comes back. The group followed her, unknowing of the approaching forest fire.
Adora bleeds out, coughing up blood as she looks up at Zerx. “Gotcha BITCH.” He screams, shaking his hand as it recovers from actually using the effect of Dread Impact again. “What a RUSH!” he says to himself out loud. Adora is MAD, she sits up, picking up her sword and looking at the brute. “I shouldn’t have been practicing. This creature is gonna be a PROBLEM in the future, I can sense it.”
Adora begins to charge something up, but before she can, Dohjo swoops in. He swings his scythe but barely misses her neck as she jumps out of the way. “YOU!!” She screams out, pulling herself away from him. As she turns toward Dohjo, who seems to be serious and completely unamused, she also looks toward the other side of the forest. Azra, and the others all arrive in the center along with Dohjo. “GOOD TIMING!!” Zerx yells out to his sister, his ears still ringing so he's unsure how loud he's talking. “Glad you’re ok Zerx!” She looks down at Riley beside her, who seems to be badly bruised and beaten. “You on the other hand, I'm happy you’re still ALIVE. I’ve never seen you this bad big bro…” Riley turns away embarrassed, “Long story…” He mutters, as Azra lifts him up and hoists him onto her back.
“Odds are against me… I’ll die.” Adora thinks to herself, but sensing the oncoming wildfire. She smiles to herself, realizing her goal is completed. Before she can speak, Void, Leon, and the brothers all appear from behind her in the shadows and jump onto the helicopter they came from. “Master!” Mazakala screams toward Adora, “The Cavern will be destroyed in the wildfire! Evacuate!” Adora laughs, Dohjo attempts to bulldoze her but he misses his scythe swing, and she returns to the helicopter.
“I’ll be seeing you all. Till next time.” Adora laughs maniacally as the helicopter takes off. Dohjo wants to go after it, but after looking at the state everyone else's in, he sighs. He takes a deep breath, then yells. “EVERYBODY RUN!!!!” The group all snap into reality as they realize the wildfire is getting BAD. “FOLLOW ME LETS GO!!!” Dohjo screams, as he runs back in the direction of the campsite. Everyone is forced to leave their stuff behind, as the entire island engulfs in flames.
The ship's hull groaned under the weight of despair as the flames danced along its sides, casting an eerie glow on the faces of the survivors. The once vibrant island now lay in ruins, consumed by the relentless fire that seemed to defy the laws of nature. The air was thick with the acrid scent of burning wood and sorrow. Inside the flames, the photo of Nora and her brother was lit ablaze. The flames hungrily devoured her brother's image, leaving behind only ashes and memories. Strangely, though, her side of the photo remained untouched.
Amidst the devastation, the group of survivors gathered on the ship's top deck, a solemn assembly of those who had witnessed the island's demise. Medical staff hurriedly tended to their injuries, their expressions reflecting the weight of the losses suffered. The ship, now a vessel of both escape and mourning, set sail for Kelbath, the heart of the Khourburg Dynasty. As the ship cut through the tumultuous waters, the survivors sat together, their faces etched with a mixture of relief and grief. Azra, Zerx, Riley, Dulse, Rex, Shidou, Chloe, and three mysterious knights found themselves united by the harrowing experience of the royal knight exams' invasion. Their shared destiny now charted a course toward Kelbath, the center of the Khourburg Dynasty and the bastion of the magic knights. The horizon ahead seemed to hold both the promise of healing and the challenges of the unknown. Together, these resilient survivors faced an uncertain future, bound by the shared scars of a day that would forever linger in their memories.
In the bottom floors of the ship, sit Dohjo, Jaiden and Zeek with the captain of squad 6 and Dohjo’s leader, Zed. Zed sharpens his sword and looks at the group, through his metal armor they can clearly tell he's waiting for an explanation. “Let's just say, there were some unexpected turns that made this year's exams a little harder.” Jaiden scoffs, looking over at Ezekiel for backup. Ezekiel doesn’t say anything, still clearly unsure of what happened himself. Dohjo looks at his boss, “I tried my best and those 2 fucked up everything I was trying to actually GO for. Especially Jaiden. When the king finds out-” “The King won't find out.” Zed interrupts him, simply looking away with a stoic expression into the wall. “He's too focused on the abduction of his sister at his wedding a week ago.”
The room goes silent, the 2 captains and the lieutenant all look at each other with a knowing expression. “That's why our next big mission was to recruit as many as we could and as strong as we could for the exams. We’re going…”
“To Catch The Phantom.”
September 1st 4070 - 12 AM
Starting Number - 300
Ending number - 9
End - The Royal Knight Exams Arc