Zack and Erma stared grimly into one another's eyes like hungry lions in a cage. Everyone else on the battlefield had a similar glare toward their enemies. Sean and Faith stood far from combat and patiently waited behind a large bush for something to happen.
The ground trembled and the battlefield felt neverending. Thought the tides of the battle have changed in Aveay's favor, there were still the issue of the main Hydra fighters. Erma, Vijan, and Omar stood near one another, taking care of any problems that came in their way.
Watching with binoculars, Faith pulled back and tapped Sean's shoulder.
Faith: [I get the feeling we'll need to make a save point.]
Sean: [Impossible. Parker and I tried that when we went searching for you. We had a feeling you got yourself into some crazy shit. We looked everywhere for like an hour.]
Faith: [Maybe it's like an actual video game and it saves every few hours. The only way to test it would be to commit.]
Sean turned to her with narrowed eyes. His stare of disbelief forced an awkward chuckle out of the sorceress.
Sean: [Feel free to try.]
Taking the binoculars out of her hands, Sean looked into the stalemate that was Zack and Erma.
Another moment of silence passed.
Faith: [Man, if this were a show, people would complain about this awkward silence, don't you think?]
Sean: [I mean, there's some sort of tension in the air... Besides, they did it a lot in Naruto. No one complained.]
Faith: [Because Naruto has a better story than whatever this game is doing.]
Another moment of tense silence passed.
Sean: [You wanna shoot a fireball and raise chaos?]
Faith turned to him with her eyes narrowed and no life in her expression. She slowly nodded once Sean looked her in the eyes then smirked. Sean stood up from behind the bush, raised his wand, and a red ball of light began to form at the tip.
Sean: [Quả cầu lửa!]
The red ball of fire shot forward like a bullet from a sniper rifle and darted its way to Erma's head.
In less than a second, Erma's head tilted to the left after being hit by the fireball, but she remained unfazed. The remains from the fireball faded into the air along with Faith and Sean's excitement. The fading smoke revealed her narrowed stare in their direction.
Faith quickly rose her hand and pointed a finger at Sean. She was shaking like a motor engine. As soon as Sean noticed, he slapped her hand down and began to chuckle awkwardly.
Erma's wings sprouted out from her back which caused the two to flinch. Zack laid a hand on Erma's shoulder, but as she was turning to him, Zack quickly threw a punch to her cheek that sent her back into Vijan's arms.
Erma: [YOU PIECE OF–]
Zack: [You were looking at the wrong foe.]
Erma ignited her fist in flames as she ran towards Zack. Zack twisted his right hand outwards and magically extinguished the flames right before Erma landed her punch to his stomach and sent him into a crowd of Aveay knights. Omar and Vijan cheered her on. Zack grunted in pain as a few knights helped him back up.
Zack: [Capture her!]
The other Paladins activated their abilities and ran toward the Hydra members.
On the other side of the battlefield, Faith had a fist up for Sean to bump, but was left awkwardly waiting.
Sean: [You nearly had me killed.]
Faith: [But you're alive now, aren't you?]
Sean gave her a stare of disapproval, to which she lowered her hand and began walking towards the fighting.
Faith: [I might as well make myself useful.]
Light blue waves flowed toward her right hand before she jumped onto the phoenix.
Faith flew above Erma; diving downward with a light blue star clamping her fist and her eyes glowing a similar color.
Erma quickly raised her arms to block the attack, but the sudden interruption from a friend saved her life. Large, cold hands grabbed Faith's wrist and pulled her away from Erma. The star that was around her hand disappeared and she tumbled to the ground. As Faith picked herself up and dusted her draped clothes, she looked at the person that stopped her attack with a narrow glare.
Faith: [You again?]
Omar stared at her.
Faith: [Why would you third party like that?]
Omar: [You're the one that was third partying.]
Faith dropped her serious act and rolled her eyes.
Omar: [Now you deal with me.]
Faith: [If it's a fight you want... I might not be the best candidate.]
Omar: [After what you pulled off yesterday, you can't play humble.]
Faith threw her left hand out causing dozens of abyss-black spikes to shoot up from the ground one by one towards Omar. Before they could reach him, however, he launched himself in the air and came back falling from the sky like a meteor towards Faith. She caught sight of him and jumped backward, landing on a light blue star to hover her above ground. It acted similar to a hoverboard, only following her command via thought.
The Starboard had a mind of its own and a reaction speed much better than Faith's.
Just as Omar landed, clouds of dust rose around him and made him undetectable. Faith stared at the dust for a moment, until she noticed a part of it splitting and a large bullet-like object darting towards her.
The Starboard she was standing on quickly moved her body to the right and assisted in dodging the strike, but that was only the first of many. Multiple similar objects came darting toward her at lightning-fast speeds. The Starboard continued to move Faith's body slightly faster than the objects could reach her, but only by a hair.
While the bullets continued to spit out, Faith let both of her hands out to summon a ground spike within the dust that reached the clouds. The spike shook the ground as it sprouted from the ground and pushed away all of the dust away, even splitting the clouds in the process. All of a sudden, the bullets came to a stop and made Faith extra cautious. Her Starboard slowed down and backed away as Faith stepped off and moved toward her spike.
There were no signs of life.
As she continued to look around the area, she heard Sean cry her real name from afar. Faith turned around and watched as Omar grew from the size of a blade of grass. He had a fist in the air and the grin of a man craving blood.
Omar's punch hit Faith right in the nose and sent her colliding into the abnormally large ground spike. Faith coughed and then quickly plugged in her nose to prevent her blood from leaking. Her blood was rushing to her head and giving her a minor headache. She felt as if her nose had been broken but stopped feeling the pain soon after. She raised her head and watched Omar slowly making his way toward her.
Omar: [Don't tell me that's all you've got.]
Faith nervously: [I told you not to overestimate me, didn't I?]
Faith's starboard rammed into Omar's shoulder and blew up, creating enough force to send him crashing into the forest far away from the battlefield. The star dissolved into stardust as Faith slid to the ground and sat down. She took heavy breaths as she searched her ability list for any self-medication skills, but there were no signs of any. She sat with her hand over her nose until Sean made his way to her.
Sean worried: [You shouldn't have gotten involved.]
Faith wincing: [The vampire is only after me.]
Sean sighed then opened his ability list.
Faith: [I might as well take care of him while the others do their jobs.]
Sean: [Don't fuck with me. You know damn well you can't take him on.]
Faith couldn't argue back.
Sean: [I have no healing abilities, but I do know a method from back home.]
Faith: [A method? Like what?]
Sean cautiously: [Okay, this'll only hurt for a second.]
He moved Faith's hands off of her nose and stared at the displaced nose sitting in between her cute face. He winced at the sight of it, but quickly placed his hands over it. Faith watched as Sean tried keeping a straight face, but could tell his insides felt odd and that he wasn't completely certain of the technique's capabilities in this world.
Sean: [Ready?]
Faith softly nodded.
Sean took a gulp and then a large breath before pushing the displaced part of Faith's nose to the right and hearing a loud crack that made his bones shiver. Faith screamed from the top of her lungs for a second before passing out right on the spot and appearing unconscious.
Almost like a lifeless doll.
Sean turned to Faith and saw her body sitting unconsciously in front of him. He reached for her right arm and began searching for a pulse. The moment he found it and noticed it was beating regularly, he sighed in relief and smiled.
Sean: [I think we might need a medic over here!]
He shouted to Ali and the paladins, which were in a battle against Vijan and Erma. Zack blew Erma away with a swing of his sword to buy himself some time.
Paladin Zack: [The tents aren't too far from here! Take her there if you-]
He felt a drastic increase of temperature then turned to a ball of flames heading straight towards him. He jumped out of the way and didn't finish his sentence.
Sean: [Okay...]
He turned to the forest and saw Omar's body laying unconscious against a tree.
Sean: [Get her there before the vampire wakes up. Shouldn't be too hard.]
He raised one of Faith's hands and wrapped it around his opposite shoulder. As he stood up with Faith by his side, he began walking westward.
*
Meanwhile, in the medical tents, Abrianna and Parker were the stars of the medical line. Having healed and treated more people than any individual nurse on the field, they were being observed like professionals.
Healing gave Parker an abnormal amount of experience that he put straight toward healing perks and skills. Abrianna assisted him while healing other soldiers at the same time. He could tell she had way more experience with the way she moved her hands toward the vitally injured spots before the less important parts.
Parker - before her assistance, had been healing whichever spot he laid eyes on first. Sometimes he would start off with the less vital injuries, then climb his way up the ladder. It didn't take long for him to pick up Abrianna's methods and apply them to his patients.
The two cleaned the tent of injured soldiers and celebrated their victory. The delivery of soldiers seemed to have come to a stop and the healed ones began to cheer. While they sat on their beds with bandages and healing paper wrapped around their bodies, the nurses passed out drinks and granola bar-like snacks Parker had never seen before. He asked for one but was rejected after a giggle. The beverages contained several medicines that would speed up the healing process. Giving some to a healthy being would only make them sick, possibly even have them hospitalized.
Abrianna: [We did good, Parker.]
The two of them walked towards the back of the tent and sat on a long stained white sheet on the floor.
Parker: [We? I hardly did anything.]
As he scoffed, Abrianna softly punched his shoulder.
Parker: [I'm not joking. You were the real star of the show.]
Abrianna: [You were amazing out there. I mean, you did more than the poor excuse for doctors.]
Parker chuckled which lifted her spirits.
Abrianna: [I'm being serious! It's like they solely rely on modern methods, like patients and herbs. My mom always told me that "sometimes... change can be a bad thing."]
Parker: [I'd have to disagree. Change is what makes the world go 'round.]
Abrianna looked at Parker with a soft smile on her face.
Parker: [Whether it be good or bad... there will always be a life-changing result.]
Abrianna: [Speaking of. Your life changed ever since you arrived in this world. How are you adapting to it?]
Parker looked at her and saw the bright smile staring him right in the face. Seeing her smile made his heart wrench.
Parker: [Yeah. I left everything and everyone from the previous world without even saying goodbye... and I did so without even thinking.]
Abrianna lost her smile and turned toward the ground.
Parker: [My grandparents, friends, and worst of all... my parents.]
Memories of the time he would spend with his parents began to flood his mind and cause a reaction he could not control.
A single tear dropped from his eyeball and landed on the back of his palm. As soon as he noticed the liquid creating a stream down his hand, he raised his head to the ceiling and clenched his teeth. Trying his hardest to not let any tears fall out was proving useless as the tears overflowed, streaming down his cheek, around his ear, and plopping on the bedsheet beneath them. He gave up on keeping them in and lowered his head once again.
Feeling remorseful, Abrianna got on her knees and made her way in front of Parker. She wrapped her hands around Parker's head and softly pulled his towards her chest. Her body began to warm up as her heart raced like a beating drum. She shut her eyes and listened to Parker's cries as she slowly pet his light brown hair.
The cheering and celebration within the tent came to a stop as everyone gave Parker a moment. He cried his eyes out in Abrianna's hands for nearly a minute. Once he was done, a nurse offered him a handkerchief to which he wiped his face and blew snot into.
Parker: [I'm... I'm sorry about that.]
Abrianna softly smiled and looked straight at him as she sat in front of him.
Parker: [I don't know what got into me.]
Abrianna softly: [It might've been the Api Juice.]
The two laughed.
Abrianna: [But I understand you... in some way. My mom and I weren't in the best relationship after she had my sister. One day she was called to aid in a war, and never returned. After I heard that she didn't make it, I felt guilty about everything I said to her.]
Parker: [Damn... I'm sorry.]
After taking a sip of Api Juice, Abrianna rested her glass between her thighs and played around with the top with her nails.
Abrianna: [Ever since that day, I was piled with responsibilities I wanted no part in. I like to call it karma but Ruby called it fate. Maybe it was all meant to be, y'know?]
Parker: [Yeah, its always good to have an optimistic person in your life.]
Abrianna: [Correct me if I'm wrong, but that person is Faith for you, isn't she?]
Parker: [Faith? Oh, yeah. We wouldn't be here now if it weren't for her. Take that as you will.]
Parker turned his eyes away from her and towards loud flaps that could be heard at the entrance of the tent.
Standing there with the tent entrance flapping behind them was Sean holding Faith in his arms. As soon as Parker noticed him, he got up and ran to him. A nurse took Faith out of Sean's arms and rested her on a bed.
Sean laughing: [Sorry man, didn't mean to cockblock you and the elf.]
Parker: [Cockblocking? We don't have anything going for us.]
He turned back to Abrianna and caught her staring at him with a smile.
Sean: [Sure man. Look, Felix's nose kinda jacked up, and I tried fixing it.]
Parker looked at Faith's unconscious stare with concern. He turned back to Sean and laid a hand on his shoulder, later walking outside of the tent. Sean followed with his hands in his pocket. The two stood outside the tent and stared off into the forest.
Parker: [Tell me the whole story.]
Sean curiously turned to him.
Parker: [I know damn well there's information you're leaving out.]
Sean: [I don't know what to tell you, man.]
Parker irritated: [How did it happen? Noses don't just break on their own. Don't tell me you hit her–?!]
Sean: [Calm down! He was fighting the vampire that came to the kingdom not too long ago.]
Parker widened his eyes the moment he heard the enemy.
Parker: [That doesn't explain how he got out with only a broken nose. That vampire could easily kill him.]
Sean: [Felix held up a good fight. He could've won if he knew how to throw hands.]
Abrianna stood up and walked towards Faith's unconscious body.
Parker: [He hasn't gone through as much as you.]
The two watched Abrianna hold her hand over Faith's nose and a green orb hovering in between them.
Parker: [You know he's always getting himself into stupid situations. He's the closest person we have to family in this world, so take care of him next time.]
Sean: [If the kid can kill giant cyclops' without batting an eye AND take part in a war, why shouldn't I assume he can beat up a vampire?]
Parker's disappointment sigh happened to have hit Sean more than he expected.
Sean: [He's the most powerful person we have by our side. It's best we take advantage of that while we can.]
Parker rolled his eyes as Sean walked back into the tent. Now in a bad mood, he tried putting up his optimistic smile. Sean walked up to Abrianna and placed his hand on her shoulder.
Sean: [How's he lookin', doc?]
Abrianna: [She only had a small bruise on her nose. Whatever you did to fix her nose up could've been replaced with a simple health potion.]
The green light between Abrianna's palm and Faith's nose faded away. Abrianna then gently lifted Sean's hand off of her shoulder.
Abrianna: [She'll be out for a few more minutes.]
Parker walked back into the tent with his arms crossed.
Sean: [I'm afraid we don't have the time.]
She curiously looked at Sean.
Sean: [A Hydra member has it out for him.]
Abrianna: [The Paladins should be more than capable of buying us a few more minutes.]
A sudden roar loud enough to vibrate their insides came out of nowhere and a gust of wind followed. The ground shook as a heavy force pressed against the ground and made everyone lose balance.
Everyone that could walk on both feet ran outside the tent to see what could've caused the ruckus, and the reason was terrifying.
An enormous crimson-red dragon stood tall in the middle of the battlefield, with its head screaming into the clouds and its wings spanning all across the battlefield. All of the Paladins grouped together and looked up at the dragon upon them. Abrianna trembled before it, even falling down to her knees. Parker was quick to comfort and help her out but was struggling to keep himself together.
Sean: [Looks like the Paladins are having a hard time.]
Faith groaned as she sat up with her hand over her nose. She grew confused after noticing everyone standing by the entrance and walked over. Once she caught a look at the crimson dragon, she stood silent and narrowed her eyes.
Faith: [Not again...]
Her sudden appearance startled the others.
Parker: [Felix! When did you get up?]
Faith exhausted: [Just now, why?]
Abrianna: [THIS ISN'T THE TIME TO CATCH UP!]
Faith turned to her.
Faith: [Don't worry, we'll deal with it the same way we dealt with Hydra. Shouldn't be too hard.]
Abrianna: [All dragons have a different weakness. That one is Erma, the Crimson Dragon.]
Sean: [So we have the option of either discovering it's weakness by asking random NPCs, or going on with the story by random dialogue showing up mid-fight.]
Abrianna: [What's an NPC?]
Faith: [Spoken like a true gamer!]
Another burst of wind came from Erma's position.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Faith: [The NPCs know a lot about team Hydra, so milking them for information shouldn't be too much of a hassle.]
Faith turned to Abrianna and placed one of her hands on her shoulder.
Faith: [Do you know anything about the Crimson Dragon?]
Abrianna: [First of all, I'm not an NPC, whatever that is.]
Faith made a poker face as Abrianna pushed Faith's hand off her.
Abrianna: [Also, everyone knows about the Crimson Dragon.]
Faith tapped on Parker's shoulder and whispered in his ear.
Faith: [This is classic JRPG stuff. Watch this, she's going to explain it regardless.]
Abrianna grew irritated by Faith's inability to recognize her emotions. To Faith, Abrianna was nothing but an NPC. As much as she wanted to feed Faith with false information, she was an ally as well as a friend of Parker's, so she couldn't make a bad name for herself.
Abrianna: [She's really weak against a specific toxin produced by a Wonderfizz plant. The plant itself is called a Widow Peak and–]
Parker: [Woah! I did a side quest with the same name a while back.]
Everyone turned to him as he opened his inventory.
Parker: [It was the quest given to me by the florist near the water fountain. I collected more flowers than he needed, so he let me keep the rest. Lemme see if I have a Widow Peak somewhere in here...]
Everyone waited patiently as Parker navigated through his inventory. The silence in the air grew awkward.
Faith: [Is no one going to mention how convenient it is that Parker has the quest objective?]
Sean: [Sometimes it's better not to question the strange things in life, and just let them be.]
Parker: [It has to be in here somewhere.]
Faith took a peek over Parker's shoulders and noticed two small figures falling in front of the dragon, as well as two standing on its head. The two figures that were falling had flame-like auras around them that trailed as they fell. Erma had lifted herself off the ground and flapped her wings to keep herself airborne.
Parker: [Aha!]
Parker pulled out the Widow Peek feeling accomplished. It closely resembled a rose, with the petals being an ash-black and its corners having a bright red shade. The plant let out a disgusting odor that had everyone around it plugging their noses. All of their voices sounded like they had inhaled helium.
Faith: [Ugh! It smells like garbage!]
Abrianna: [We need to get it in her nose! It should knock her out cold and leave her vulnerable for a few minutes.]
Sean: [Yeah... sticking a flower up a dragon's nose should be easy.]
Sean's sarcasm and high-pitched voice irritated the elf.
Abrianna: [I'm being serious.]
Parker: [You guys thinking what I'm thinking?]
Unlike the others, Parker seemed to have been immune to the smell. Everyone shook their heads as Parker slipped the Widow Peak back into his inventory.
Parker: [One of you guys teleport me to the nose, and I'll throw them in like a bride tossing a bouquet.]
Faith: [That doesn't sound like an appropriate comparison...]
Abrianna: [Why would a bride throw a bouquet?]
Faith and Parker turned to Abrianna, surprised at first but quickly came to remember her situation.
Sean: [There's one small problem with your plan. None of us here can teleport. All I can do is make grounded portals.]
Faith: [And I can summon something to let us fly.]
Parker: [You're both fucking useless.]
Faith narrowed her eyes.
Abrianna: [Let's stop slouching and get this done!]
All of the boys nodded.
Sean: [Rather than coming up with some plan, let's just wing it.]
Parker: [Just like high school.]
He took a large inhale, closed his eyes, then released while slowly opening his confident eyes. With his hazel brown eyes and wind softly blowing on his hair, Parker tightened his fists.
Parker: [LEEEROOOYYY! JEEEENKIIINSSS!]
After taking his first foot off the ground towards the screeching dragon flying in the distance, Parker's heart started racing. At this point, he couldn't stop himself from running forward.
Faith smiled as she watched him, then decided to follow after him. His determination excited her. Abrianna on the other hand narrowed her eyes and face palmed.
As Parker ran towards the dragon and Faith followed atop her Phoenix, Ali, and the Paladins were thinking of a way to handle the dragon. With no ability to fight airborne, the five of them silently stood with their heads up. Moments of silence passed, only to be broken by the sound of heavy footsteps coming from behind. Ali was the first to turn and see the tempered Druid running in front of a cloud of dust. He flinched when he noticed the ugly face making its way towards them, but was quickly reassured the moment the chaotic sorceress came into the picture.
RK Ali: [Guys! We got back up!]
The Paladins turned and saw what Ali had seen. Zack softly smiled to see Faith up and well.
Paladin Anderson: [ABOUT TIME! What took you so long?]
Faith tried to stand from the back of a bird and fell back down. After some time, she managed to balance herself and stood tall while still shaking. Faith threw her hand in the air while her heart beat like a drum, and the Paladins cheered when they noticed.
Vijan: [What are they cheering about?]
Omar took a large breath as he saw the bright blue light coming toward the battlefield.
Omar: [She's back. This could be a problem.]
Vijan turned to Omar while still confused.
Omar: [She got lucky when we fought and then ran.]
His partner chuckled as he looked at Omar's vicious glare.
Vijan: [You can't catch a break when it comes to her, huh?]
Omar: [Shut up before I kick your ass.]
By the time Faith and Parker reached the Paladins, Parker hinted that he needed a boost into the air. In a hurry, Zack pulled out his sword and held it out acutely to the ground. When Parker came into reach, he launched himself into the air, slowly losing his fast pace and feeling his heart drop.
Parker heavily landed on Zack's sword, causing the Paladin to grunt and put tons of force into swinging his sword. As Zack gritted his teeth and his veins popped out of his arms, he swung Parker straight towards the dragon at an alarming speed. The Druid could hardly manage the speed, with his skin flopping with the wind and his muscles incapable of being lifted.
It wasn't until he made it right under the dragon's nose that he could open his inventory and pull out a sack. He clenched it in between his palms and chucked it like a baseball into the dragon's nose. As he was falling downward, he watched as the dragon's nose started shaking.
Before Parker could crash, Faith flew into the air on her blue Phoenix and followed his fall. Once she managed to keep pace with gravity, she swooped below Parker and arched back upwards. While sitting behind her, Parker squeezed his facial muscles back to their previous form. After a short while, Faith turned back to Parker with her eyes wide and stars glimmering within them.
Faith: [THAT WAS AWESOME!]
Parker smirked and raised his hand for a high five, which he got immediately after.
Parker: [It was! Turns out the forced baseball practice actually came in handy!]
Faith flew them back to the ground where Parker got praised.
As Parker gave everyone a high five, the ground trembled and threw everyone off guard. Once they turned around they saw the crimson dragon laying unconscious with Omar and Vijan slowly making their way down her cheek.
Paladin Zack: [THIS IS OUR CHANCE!]
Anderson immediately engulfed himself in flames and ran forward with his blade gripped in his hand. As he was running, dozens of soldiers wearing Penn armor jumped in his path with their hands out. This surprised him and caused him to stop. He stared at the soldiers with his eyes narrowed but suddenly jumped when a dagger dashed over his shoulder and gutted the soldier in the head.
Paladin OJ: [Don't let them get in your way!]
The soldier fell to his knees. Anderson nodded and continued to run ahead.
With his blade above his head, he launched himself in the air and pointed the tip of it at the soldier blocking his path. He noticed the soldier's eyes widen in fear as he fell towards him, less than a second later, Anderson's blade had pierced through the soldier's skull and slammed him against the ground. His blood pooled all over the ground as his lifeless eyes trembled. Anderson pulled his blade out of the soldier's skull and immediately cut through the neck of the next soldier.
Afterward, Zack jumped above everyone with wind concentrated beneath his feet, taking large hops every time he was forced back down by gravity. He went straight towards the main enemies while leaving the fodder enemies to the other paladins. Faith noticed him and decided to follow on her phoenix's back. OJ and Ali joined Anderson with their long, light blades in hand.
At the infirmary, Sean and Abrianna took the task of taking care of the injured Aveay soldiers. Every soldier had been healed, but unable to fight. The night was long and dim, but it seemed that every soldier had some hope within them. As Sean delivered pain medications and drinks, he watched the soldiers converse with smiles and laughs. Abrianna walked up to him once she noticed the confusion and worry all over his face.
Abrianna: [Surprising, isn't it? It's hard to believe that they were so close to losing before we arrived.]
Sean turned to the pale elf girl as she made her way to him.
Sean: [I have a question for you.]
Once she made it to him, they looked one another in the eye.
Sean: [It's about our reward.]
She appeared confused, slightly tilting her head and raising an eyebrow.
Sean: [I've been thinking about it since we got to the war zone.]
Abrianna: [I think the kings will reward the soldiers well.]
Sean: [This isn't about the kings... it's the quest you gave us.]
Abrianna froze the moment Sean brought it up.
Sean: [I think our reward should be more than quadrupled for our efforts, don't you think?]
Sean noticed the elf standing still as if she had frozen in time.
Sean: [Hello?]
Just like that, Abrianna suddenly came back to reality with an awkward laugh.
Abrianna: [Are you serious?]
Sean crossed his arms and waited patiently as her laugh turned more awkward and seemed more nervous. Once she stopped he narrowed his eyes and stared at her in an awkward silence.
Sean: [I'll accept the original price times ten.]
Abrianna: [Times ten?! That's more than six diamonds!]
Sean casually nodded as Abrianna had a small panic attack.
Abrianna: [I'll never be able to pay that off! Can't we just deal with the triple?]
Sean stared at Abrianna with a frown while he thought to himself.
Sean: [Three diamonds, that's the end of negotiations.]
Abrianna: [You're insane!]
Sean: [Is there a problem with it?]
Abrianna: [Yeah!]
Sean: [You were willing to hand over five emeralds to three guys, each. If I did my calculations correctly, that's about 15 emeralds, which equates to a diamond and a half. I don't know who you are, but that's a shit ton of money for any single person to have. If you're what I think you are, a diamond for the guys that saved the alliance from total annihilation AND delivered you to the quest location, is fitting as a reward. I'm going to leave it at that. I'll be waiting for the diamonds once the war is over.]
Sean opened a portal and walked through it with the smuggest look on his face.
Abrianna couldn't help herself but get frustrated and slam her foot against the hard dirt ground.
Sean reappeared beside Parker as he watched the higher-ups take care of everything. His sudden appearance made Parker jump.
Once Zack and Faith made it past the long line of soldiers, they returned to the ground and ran towards the dragon laying lifeless on the battlefield.
Faith threw an arm out, summoning dozens of spikes from the ground that darted straight toward the dragon, shaking the ground as they grew. Zack used a few of the spikes as stepping stones, jumping on them with the wind giving him a small boost.
Omar and Vijan watched as the two approached from afar. The ground spikes made it to the dragon, piercing through its palm and left wing. The spikes extended out from their initial state, reaching up to the clouds and emitting a light blue mist.
Zack threw his sword with great force, having it cut through a few of the fodder spikes and reaching Vijan. However, as soon as the sword came close to him, he immediately slowed time down and grabbed its grip. Time resumed like normal, surprising Faith.
Faith: [How often can he do that?!]
Zack didn't respond and continued to charge forward. Faith noticeably slowed down due to her loss of hope.
Faith: [How are we supposed to beat a time ninja?]
Zack managed to get close enough to Vijan to raise a fist and force his sword out of Vijan's hands. He caught Vijan by surprise, landing his punch right on Vijan's chin and sending him back a few feet. Omar completely ignored Zack and ran straight for Faith.
Vijan recovered from his shock while tapping his bleeding lip.
Vijan: [Paladin of Leviere.]
He had a confident grin on his face. Zack picked up the Sword Breaker and reaffirmed his heavy grip.
Vijan: [You're full of surprises.]
Paladin Zack: [Shut your mouth.]
The wind around the two grew dense as Zack glared at Vijan. It grew strong enough to force Vijan out of balance for a moment, but he quickly strengthened his stance. Vijan got nervous and pulled out his long katana, holding it tightly to make sure it didn't fly out of his hands.
He rose his hand and threw his katana towards Zack. Though the winds were heavy, the weapon managed to freeze in midair and a medium-sized magic circle formed in front of it. As the blade cut through the circle, multiple copies of it came out one at a time from smaller magic circles within the original circle.
The blades darted toward Zack at alarming speeds but seemed unbalanced in formation. Several of the katanas flew off with the wind while others remained persistent. Zack took a step forward and waved his sword against the wind current, creating a stronger burst of wind that not only blew the blades away but also forced Vijan out of balance.
Vijan flew off of his feet and into the air with his sharp swords. He screamed out of the top of his lungs but was too high in the air for anyone to hear him. Zack had his blade pointed to the sky with his eyes not losing his focus on the ninja.
Out of nowhere, Zack's urge to end the fight grew. The same urge he got when fighting against Faith's citizenship.
He slammed his sword on the ground and completely changed the wind's current. Vijan, along with his swords went from flying out of control to crashing down to the ground at an unbearable speed. It was like gravity had suddenly turned against them, and continued to press them down against the floor.
As soon as Vijan collided, he created a large indent on the rough ground resembling a small crater. Zack had been pressing him against the ground with enough force to create cracks all around the battlefield, all of which were connected to the same center point.
The Paladin of wind slowly made his way to Vijan's body, looking down at him like some sort of pest. Vijan saw malice in Zack's brown eyes followed by a shimmer from the golden cross wrapped around his neck.
It didn't take long for Vijan to shut his eyes and lay like a rag doll. As soon as Zack noticed, he sheathed his sword and stared up at the rising sun.
----------------------------------------
Omar appeared behind Faith with a ball of light blue energy swirling on his palm. Faith hadn't noticed him there and was still searching for him in Zack's direction. It wasn't until a transparent blue barrier formed around her body that forced her to turn around and see him attempting to push the sphere into her. Sean could be seen in the background holding his hands out; in pain and being healed.
Faith jumped in the air the moment the barrier began to crack and immediately summoned her Starboard. The sphere on Omar's hand faded away as he began to chase Faith. She was unintentionally leading him to her friends. Faith flew above the Royal Knight and caught his attention. Once Omar ran by him, he followed after.
Faith: [He won't stop following me!]
Faith jumped off of her Starboard when she reached Parker and Sean, then hid behind them while cowering.
Sean: [WHY ARE YOU BRINGING HIM TO US?!]
Omar: [Stop running away!]
He slowed down when he saw Faith shaking behind her friends.
Omar: [You have no idea how long I've been–]
Suddenly he was hit on the side of his head and was sent flying towards the trees. A large shockwave followed after he was sent, and several trees fell as he collided into them. Flames trailed the dark hands of the teleporter as he shook them in pain. Parker sighed in relief when he saw Ali give them a warm smile.
RK Ali: [As a former Royal Knight, your power is quite pathetic!]
Omar stood up from the center of an indented tree and angrily glared at Ali.
RK Ali: [How the mighty have fallen.]
Omar: [Get out of my way, Ali.]
A gentle yet dense aura formed around Omar as he stood tall in front of a distant tree. Ali tightened his grip on his short sword and smirked.
RK Ali: [I gave up on bringing you back years ago, so don't take this ass beating personally.]
Omar: [Yeah right. You were basically crying the other day. You aren't over what I did, and I can tell as bright as day.]
Ali narrowed his eyes.
Omar: [You want revenge, and that's fine. As long as you know I don't regret a thing, all is fine.]
RK Ali: [You're messed up in the head, brother.]
Omar: [I don't deserve that title anymore... little brother.]
Parker: [We aren't much help up front, so we'll be helping from behind.]
Ali confidently nodded after swallowing a bit of saliva. The three friends ran back and watched from a distance. Sean and Parker pulled out their weapons while Faith watched.
Omar: [I can sense them, you know? They're watching you now, and they were watching you earlier. I guess that means you've been praying.]
The Royal Knight looked over his shoulder and saw nothing.
RK Ali: [The fact that you can see them means you do regret it. A soul appears in front of those guilt-ridden.]
Omar narrowed his eyes.
RK Ali: [Running from them has only made it worse, hasn't it?]
Omar: [I didn't ask you for a lesson on therapy.]
RK Ali: [Oh, I'm not trying to help you here. Far from it.]
Tightening his grip on his small sword's hilt, Ali entered the Kanzaki stance, and a tight blue aura formed around him.
Omar: [Then bring it on.]
The Royal Knight dashed forward with the sword behind him engulfing in a light blue aura. The three watched Ali running with a large blue aura trailing his every step in awe.
Omar stood still, patiently watching Ali approach him while blinded by his nerves. Omar waited until the Royal Knight came to arms reach to activate his power amplifier. Once there, Omar raised his hand in Ali's path; forcing him to vanish in thin air.
The three that had cheered him on had their jaws on the ground. Omar's apparel had changed to what it was before Faith and the others arrived to the battlefield, completely surprising them.
The former Royal Knight searched around for Ali but there was no trace. It wasn't until Omar locked his vision on Faith that Ali reappeared behind Omar with his bright sword above his head.
He went unnoticed for a moment, but Omar eventually caught sight of the light coming from the sword and turned to him.
At first, he was surprised that he couldn't sense so much mana right behind him, but then the hatred burning in Ali's eyes made him remember something. The day of the incident, the result of the attack. Everything that happened was reflecting off his brother's eyes. For a moment, he caught a glimpse of those affected standing behind his brother, cheering him on. Omar shook his head, trying to force those memories out of his head, and jumped out of Ali's attack.
Ali's sword clashing with the ground created a large gust of wind and several cracks in the ground. Omar's foot fell into one of the cracks and he tripped.
His brother released his grip from the katana that was now stuck in the ground and walked up to Omar with disgust in his eyes. He was exhausted – sweat traveling all around his body and making his skin glossy.
Faith: [These guys have some sort of feud they need to deal with.]
The aura around Omar began to resemble light smoke or extremely hot air.
Faith: [If things were to get bad, we wouldn't be much help.]
Parker: [I knew that the moment I laid eyes on Ali's sword.]
Omar raised his head and looked at Ali.
Parker: [We don't stand a chance!]
Sean quickly opened a portal and pushed the others in before jumping through himself. Omar silently watched them disappear without a trace.
Omar: [Why does she keep running away?]
He heard mumbling coming from above him and felt a hand tightly grab onto his hair. The Royal Knight standing above him regained his attention. The hand that grabbed ahold of him started to heat up, rising in temperature by the second.
Ali lowered his head, revealing his teary yet angry face. As sweat streamed down Omar's face and off his chin, small blue magic circles formed all around the two of them like an igloo. Omar found himself incapable of moving, only able to feel the ever-increasing heat on his head and watch as Ali's frown turned more into a smirk. The Paladins turned once they noticed the bright light coming from them, but only for a moment. Hydra soldiers continued to attack them with orders to delay the Paladins from attacking.
RK Ali: [Maybe you don't remember, but this is what you did to Abdi.]
Omar couldn't muster any words, he could only mumble and groan.
The magic circles began to rotate like tires, so fast that the average eye couldn't tell they were actually moving. Within the sphere, bright red lights were emitting from the circles releasing extremely hot waves.
RK Ali: [Ignis...]
Omar looked at him enraged, to which Ali smiled back.
RK Ali: [Fatuus.]
Every individual magic circle shot brilliant flames straight at the two standing in the center like flamethrowers. Still incapable of moving, Omar stood underground as the fire burned through his armor and skin. A tear formed in his left eye and immediately evaporated. On the ground beneath them, not a blade of grass remained.
Several more cracks formed around the battlefield as this was happening, shaking the ground and loosening the hole Omar was forced into.
Ali passed out after casting the spell and didn't seem fazed from the fire engulfing the two of them. His eyelids shut and his grip on Omar's head loosened. Though it wasn't much, he regained a bit of control back. Omar managed to clench his teeth and close his eyes before burning till his skin was pitch black.
*
Sean brought them to the nose of the fallen dragon where they felt the heavy breeze from Zack's battle and the insane heat from Ali's. Sean appeared before the dragon right after Faith and Parker stumbled through the portal.
The three of them were given time to inspect the dragon before either of them made up a plan.
The only idea that could come to mind was from Parker. He suggested they throw more Widow Peaks into the dragon's nose to immobilize it for a longer period of time, but Faith quickly refused.
Neither of them knew what kind of effects the flower had on Erma, so throwing a bunch into her nose could just as easily kill her as it did knock her out. Sean agreed with Faith's reasoning and demanded that Parker put the new batch of Widow Peaks away.
They remained idle for a moment longer, continuously feeling the heavy winds from Zack's battle with Vijan that nearly swept them off their feet. It wasn't until Faith quite literally took off that an idea popped up in Sean's head. The battlefield went silent and the winds came to an end. Faith fell back on the ground with a grunt.
Sean: [I'll summon the magical net!]
Parker: [The one from the cat quest?]
Sean nodded.
Parker: [Wasn't that a bit tiny?]
Sean: [With a mana amp it should be able to grow a ton.]
Parker agreed with Sean's plan with little doubt that it would go wrong. The last time they used it was to retrieve a ferocious tiny pet cat, and it worked like a charm.
Sean didn't have to chant any spells, but summoning it took a lot of mana out of him. He stood tall with the tip of his wand in front of his nose, eyes closed, and his breath steady. The Paladins hoarded around Sean and Parker, assisting them with a small ounce of mana.
Hundred of light blue orbs slowly flew their way towards Sean and levitated around his body creating a beautiful scene for those not taking part. Faith watched in awe as Sean opened his black eyes and redirected the point of his wand above the dragon's back.
What started off as a single blue ball of light expanded like a spider's web above Erma's unconscious body. It tightly wrapped around her and secured its grip before losing its fascinating glow, turning into a dull brown before they knew it.
Zack walked up to Sean and Parker and wrapped his arms around their necks, pulling them together and sharing a laugh. Faith made her way to the three of them and joined in.
Paladin Zack: [We did it!]
He raised his head with a proud smile. Zack stood in front of the sunset and looked at his comrades with courage and grit.
Paladin Zack: [The Hydra war has come to an end!]
All of the Paladins threw their hands in the air and cheered.
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After all of this, they went to the infirmary tents, leaving Hydra in Cody and Isaac's hands. Once there, Abrianna quickly ran to Ali's aid which he refused to accept. According to him, he was perfectly fine, but his burnt skin and hair said something else. He looked like he had a vitiligo all over his body.
OJ proudly: [As Zack has already said, this brings a conclusion to our battle against Hydra and the constant fighting we've been going through for the past week.]
While OJ was giving his speech, Sean, Parker, and Faith sat outside of the tent with glasses of Api Juice in hand. Parker and Faith had already taken a few sips while Sean didn't touch his. Sean watched them go from moody to blissful in a split second. He laughed to himself as he thought of how much they must've been pushing themselves since they arrived on the battlefield.
Sean: [Hey, Felix.]
She turned to him with a wide smile.
Sean: [How are ya doin' man?]
There was silence outside of a room with cheering soldiers and preaching Paladins. Though it was muffled, they were still pretty loud.
Sean: [You don't have to answer...]
Faith: [Honestly...]
She raised her head and stared up at the bright sky.
Faith: [I'm doing way better than I would've imagined; considering we just won a war and all.]
Parker: [Yeah! It's a once-in-a-lifetime event.]
The two high friends laughed.
Faith: [But I don't think this is our last battle.]
Her sudden change in tone surprised Sean.
Faith: [You remember what Ali and Sophia were talking about before, right?]
Sean: [The demon lord...]
She softly nodded.
Faith: [We got lucky with the timing because... the first raid is tomorrow morning.]
Sean stared at Faith as she didn't take her eyes off the sky for a moment. Her bright blue hair glistened in the light color of the sky and reflected the bright light emitting from the two suns.
Sean: [Shit... not to mention the progress towards finding out how to get out of here.]
Parker: [Maybe the only way out is by finishing the campaign!]
He may have been high out of his mind, but his claim made Sean stop and think.
Parker: [But we aren't leaving without the others!]
Faith: [At this point, we don't know how many people came here with us. First we find Ruby, then Vijan, then the rest of the whole school! Not to mention the fact that Andy and Ismail's locations are unknown.]
When she lowered her head, she did so to take a sip of Api Juice. Once again, her smile appeared blissfully and her tone made a 180.
Faith: [Let's party while we still can, guys!]
She stood up and ran towards the cheering soldiers while spilling her drink on the ground.
Parker: [PARTYYYY!]
He followed after Faith with his hands in the air.
Sean stayed back and watched them party like there were no more problems to worry about. Even after he mentioned the demon lord, she still had some energy in her to socialize. Silently and alone, he let them have their fun before the big day.
Thinking about the Demon Lord frightened Sean to a degree that made his heart race. After seeing one of his generals fight, he assumed that he had to be much more powerful. He wrapped his hand around his chest after seeing the image of the Demon Lord on his throne in his head.
Though Parker's claim also came to mind. Maybe there is a campaign and defeating the Demon Lord isn't their only requirement? What more would there be? Find everyone that was transported? Solve the world's mysteries? Maybe it has something to do with the fairies he's heard a lot about or the discovery of the new world. Is it a ONE PIECE situation? Sean's head began to ache as he thought this through.
Once Zack approached the two, he wrapped his arms around their shoulders and pulled them closer to him. The partying came to a stop as Zack waved a bell around. Everyone looked at the three. With everyone's attention, Zack turned around and called Sean to get involved. He walked beside Parker with his arms crossed.
Paladin Zack: [These three newcomers have gotten themselves involved in situations more life-threatening than anyone would've liked! They faught valiantly in a war they had no part in, and did more work than some of our leaders.]
The other Paladins turned a blind eye as they nervously chuckled. Everyone shared a laugh. Faith nervously looked at Zack and noticed the api-overdosed expression he was making.
Paladin Zack: [I'll be honest... if it weren't for these three, victory wouldn't have been ours. They took out the strongest dragon in the north, disabled the leader of the horrible association, and assisted in the fall of the Crimson Dragon! Their accomplishments shan't be forgotten.]
Zack opened his interface and began searching.
As he did so, Faith looked at the others on the opposite side of Zack's chest plate. They were confidently looking forward at the crowd of soldiers and nurses. Parker noticed her stare and turned to her with a wide smile. His cheeks were bright red and his teeth a shining white. His smile was contagious, forcing a silent chuckle from Faith and all the butterflies in her stomach to fly out with a single exhale.
Paladin Zack: [With the power vested in me, I hereby bestow them the ancient title of; Elites!]
All of the soldiers cheered, pointing their sharp blades in the air.
A pop-up appeared before the three of them with several items listed.
* The Super Legendary title: 'Elite'
* A golden badge with a sword and shield logo embedded into it.
Paladin Zack: [They will be rewarded a dozen diamonds as compensation.]
Sean's eyes widened upon hearing Zack then immediately turned towards Abrianna. She had a sly smirk on her face, but a simple head shake from Sean changed her mood.
Paladin Zack: [The ban on the harmless sorceress has been lifted, so please treat her well from now on.]
Every soldier nodded. Though none of them had been working for Leviere, they didn't want to ruin the mood.
Paladin Zack: [To humble beginning–!]
Suddenly, a portal opened up behind Zack. It caught everyone's attention and even made a few nervous. Grabbing onto his blade, Zack prepared himself for the worst but was relieved by the result. Ruby and Sophia walked through the portal, but not like themselves. They seemed different in a way. Ruby was more mature and confident while Sophia was uneasy.
A strand of Sophia's hair turned purple as she read Zack's mind.
RK Sophia: [Good.]
She broke the silence.
RK Sophia: [I'd hate to be the party pooper, but things aren't looking so good for Leviere.]
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