Arc 3: Choosing Reality by Embracing Life
Road to a Hero:
Three chances in another world
Chapter 14: Fallen Gods
Hundreds of Anarchists walk onto the other balconies all watching the events unfold in front of them.
Arthur: “It’s like watching a dance isn’t it…come on guys add some enthusiasm, that'll be the last time you see her.”
Gray: “She’s supposed to be the strongest in the world…that’s what she told me…so how is she losing?”
Arthur: “We got lucky and one of our Anarchists has a power that can turn off marks of providence."
Soku: “THAT’S INSANE!”
Arthur: “Yep.”
Roy: “HOW COULD YOU BETRAY US! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS!?”
Lloyd: “You…we spent all that time together, you spent over fifteen years in the Dragon army…and you abandoned us.”
Julius: “I would assume you were never with Valatrositice, to begin with.”
Arthur: “Bingo!”
Since the power of Kioshi's marks of providence has nullified, she has to use only physical strength to win. But she’s on the back foot, fighting a walking skeleton, a man with snake-like skin, the blackbird, and an old jester. All are different in appearance but all give off scenes of utter fear and confidence. But even with their unorthodox abilities, the only reason they're still alive is because of everyone else in the room. If Kioshi were to fight at full strength, even without her marks of providence, Gray and the others would be killed in the crossfire.
Gray: “Who’s the old guy with the make-up, and that dark blue hair…looks like a clown.”
Arthur: “That right there boy, that is our leader, the man who started our faction…the man that will help start a new world. Prometheus….”
They move like forces of nature, the Skeleton continues to swing his scythe, leading the charge in their battle, the bird uses her wings to fly away from all of Kioshi's returning attacks before opening up her helmet, blasting out a sonic screech. It blasts echos of purple sound waves, pushing her back.
Kioshis {I can't land a hit on her! They're all protecting her, and anytime I get close she flies away or screams!}
The Snake-like man stretches out his arms to fight at a range, healing and regrowing them if they get cut off or injured.
Soku: “You can let go of Ophelia now…”
Arthur: “Nah just wait a sec, this fight will be over soon. Kioshi might be all powerful or whatever, but that's just some propaganda. Anybody can be taken out by a good plan or a simple mistake, even Musashi! All in time."
Kioshi looks up to see her friends all in peril, unable to accept the fact she can't save them, and decides to end this. By throwing away her life right now to save the future instead of hoping she doesn't make a mistake she'll be able to win one way or another. But this is that mistake, the mistake she's been worrying about and the Sect has been hoping for.
Kioshi {I can’t take much more of this…I don’t know who is shutting off my marks of providence. The skeleton and that jester can kill me if they hit me once and they don't go down no matter how hard I hit them! And that snake man is doing the same! If it weren't from my enchanted body that mans venom would have killed me a long time ago. And something's giving me a really bad head ache on top of all of it...I can't win this...I'm sorry father, but I need to leave myself open so I can try and kill them with...WITH A FINAL ATTACK!}
In a flash she put all of the strength she could into a volley of movements. She slashed the air with such strength that it sent blades of wind to every attacker in the room, and they all hit. The Bird-like anarchist was saved by the snake-like man extending his arms, strengthen their scales, and blocking for her. That same man healed through her attack. And the skeletal figure seems durable enough to barley live, but he still stood ready. And luckily for Arthur, he was able to react. He put as much power into his sword as he could, allowing his flames to consume it, and after it was ready, he slashed against her attack. it didn't fully counteract it, as his muscles exploded and his sword crumbled, but he was able to live, barley.
Arthur: “HEY THAT’S CHEATING!”
But through the commotion she failed to feel Prometheus' body heal itself in an instant after being eviscerated, and he touched her. Kioshi felt a finger sunk into her spine, and she suddenly lost all feeling in her body, collapsing to the ground. Every bit of stress and adrenaline from the battle was made void because all she could do was feel her failure. Everything seemed out of place, unfair. The skeleton's durability was immense, the jester along with the snake could heal from seemingly everything, and the bird's flight kept it safe from the battle. That, along with her marks of providence and her mana being held into her body, unable to be used, caused her unbeatable strength to be overcome.
Prometheus: “One touch is all it took to make your so called God fall to their knees. A shame. Utterly."
Eve though Arthur almost died from Kioshis slash he's still strong enough to rein an unstoppable presence over the group. So they all get up slowly walking to The Sects' leaders. They sit down on the floor across from Kioshi as she starts to cry. But Prometheus speaks over her silent cries to begin to make his confirmation.
Prometheus: “We are the Sect of Anarchy incarnate. We are all different people, some were born with powers, into royalty, and some were born with nothing to their name. But what makes us similar, is our beliefs. The world is corrupted, and controlled by people who don’t know what the world could be. We all made a vow that states that we will all help our fellow brothers and sisters, humans, demi-humans, and elves. By standing together we all strive to make a new world, without prejudice, without fear, we will all be together. We are the future pillars of justice and this is just one of our thousands of acts of justice."
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Gray: “You make it sound so nice, but to achieve the goal you lie, destroy, and slaughter whenever you feel necessary. Doesn't sound so nice when you add all of the facts in there.”
Rosemary: “Your people killed the entire Golden Knight faction…how does that seem fair!”
Prometheus: “Well I’m sorry but we are busy people, Pandora would you please inform them of what we are going to do?”
The blackbird, now revealed to be Pandora, begins speaking with a righteous tone in her voice.
Pandora: “Of course. Your friend here, Kioshi, is a big factor in any possible loss at mass war, so today, November twenty-seventh, Kioshi Van Helsing dies. Any last words? What about you Severus, and Lazurus as well?”
Lazarus: “I know the feeling of death well, you fought a lot better than I could have ever expected, just like the legends.”
Severus: “The fact I got to fight against a god of war and win! It’s unprecedented, it’s amazing, it’s absolutely lovely!”
Prometheus: “With that, YOUR LIFE COMES TO AN END!”
Prometheus sticks his fingernail in Kioshis neck. At that moment she was frozen in a storm of failure, her role as the strongest, failed. She was able to withstand everything even after losing her powers and her mind, but she paniced when her new friends fell into harms way. She'd attacked Arthur fearing they would be killed; she made a mistake, and in an instant, her body explodes, coating everyone in her blood. So in that moment, Kioshi Van Helsing, the strongest being to ever exist, was killed. She was trapped in a perfect storm that halted every bit of her strength and is now nothing more than a pile of blood and guts. Edward and Rosemary shut down from shock, while Gray struggled to keep his cool.
Arthur: “Now for you guys, Roy you’re first.”
Roy: “NO, NO, WE FOUGHT TOGETHER MAN!, WE TRAINED, I -”
Arthur blasts Roy with his black flames, burning him alive. His skin boils, his face melts, and his screams fill the room until his soul leaves his body.
Gray: “WHAT THE HELL!?”
Soku: “Just let Ophelia go…I’ll let you do anything to me, please!”
Soku starts to break down, squirming and crying before Arthur holds out his hand again.
Lloyd: “NO PLEASE, I’LL JOIN THE SECT I SWEAR I’LL STAY FIGHTING WITH YO-”
And once more Arthur blasts a wave of flames over Lloyd's body. The black flames surround him, instantly turning him to ash.
Julius: “You burned my only brothers.”
Arthur: “Now for this damn annoying cat girl, always hated em'.”
Soku: “NO! STOP PLEASE! PLEASE I BEG OF YOU! PLEASE I'LL DO ANYTHING!"
At the last possible second, before the flames can fully muster, the back wall of the ballroom gets destroyed, releasing fog throughout the room. Arthur then feels his arm about to be cut off, then right before he is about to be cut down, The pillars attack the savior, causing the fog to be blown away, revealing a ronin dressed in old armor, a straw hat, and an old cloak.
Edward: “MUSASHI GET OUT! RUN NOW!”
Gray: “NICE TIMING! NOW RUN LIKE HELL!”
The same drake that saved the group from the mansion, arrives behind them allowing them to get on her back.
Gray: “DEMA, YOU’RE A HERO ONCE AGAIN!”
They begin to get on Dema while Musashi battles the pillars. However, something seems wrong. As the world's strongest swordsman that should be able to deal with these devious beings with ease. Unlike Kioshi, Musashi has more skill and control, even with his mana take. So he shouldn't accidentally harm anyone else and be able to keep up, but something is still off.
Musashi {Dema cant fly with all of us on it, at least no fast enough to allow for escape. I need to do something to push them off, but if I do I'm stuck...}
As he smashed through Serverus arms and blocked Lazarus swings and carved through Prometheus the battle field continued to move around them.
Edward: “Julius get on!”
Julius: “You will let me escape with you? I have no relationship with you though…how strange.”
Gray: “JUST GET ON DAMMIT!”
They all get on, with Ophelia walking up to Dema.
Soku: “Come on Ophelia runs faster!”
Fire. It burns away homes, burns people, and continues to grow until put out. Anger, drive, and wrath are all emotions tied to fire, which are the emotions going through the group's body. This is because right as Ophelia was going to get on Dema, reaching out her hand, a rush of black flames hit her back. Lighting her body on fire, scorching her.
Soku: “...no...”
Ophelia breaks down, crying from the ongoing fire, trying her hardest to put it out, but sadly with no luck. Soku goes to use her wind magic to blow the fire away but she’s too late.
Ophelia is a kind, caring, whimsical, loud, blunt, happy, young girl. A girl that got roped into something she had no want in, was taken from her home and had to adapt to her new life as fast as she could. That same girl is taken over by the flames, she reaches out to Soku, screaming in pain.
Then she turns to ash, blowing away from the wind of the Musashi's battle.
Soku: “...What…”
Soku leans in close to the fire that had scorched her sister. The flames even spread to her long hair. Soku shuts down, her body exploding with mana. All of it rushing to the left of her chest. A rush of light explodes from her left shoulder, revealing a mark. She holds out her hand, blasting all the mana in her body at Arthur. The blast carves through the floor, looking like a backward vortex. With all that effort, Arthur swings his sword while blasting out flames. The force canceling out her attack. The wind from her attack puts out the fire burning her hair. Soku sadly falls to the ground unconscious, her arm broken and bleeding. She's then s grabbed by a panicking Gray, pulling her back on Dema.
Prometheus: “Amazing, to watch a Mark of Providence awaken right in front of me. Truly beautiful."
Gray: “NO! GOD DAMNIT WHAT THE HELL!? WHAT IS WRONG With THIS WORLD!? UGH! DEMA GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!”
As everyone set into panic, aside from Julius, the hell they were trapped in got even hotter. Soku is handed to a now shattered Rosemary. She holds her dearly while tears stream from her face. But she had to be strong; Soku was just a kid indeed of help. Dema then rushes out of the ballroom, flying through the air. Musashi struggles to keep up with the Pillars.
Edward: “MUSASHI GET OUT OF THERE NOW!”
Musashi {This is it. I spent all my life fighting battles, fighting with my brother, and my father, Becoming a monster, a god of war, and achieving the name “Ronin of the mist” just to end it here. Fitting for an old man, to save the new generation. The Truth never lies, but I can at least push a bit further.}
All he was doing was buying time.
No matter how many times he hit Lazarus and Prometheus away they always came back. No matter how many times he attempted to take down Pandora or Serverus they were always saved. It was either run and have a case or stand his ground to keep going.
Musashi smiles at Edward, then puts all of the power he can muster up into one sword swing, slashing at Prometheus. It carries so much power that it seemingly pulls down the sky, cleaving through the roof of the ballroom, hitting Prometheus's body, and creating a shock wave so great that it pushes everyone back, destroying the vampires body. He then feels Lazurus’ scythe slash his back, sealing his soul in an instant. In his last seconds of life, he sees’ Prometheus’ body parts glow, recreating his body with no physical damage to be seen. Prometheus spreads his arms laughing hysterically before Musashi falls dead on the ground. It was an impossible scenario brought into the world by devils.
Prometheus: “RUN! FLY! HIDE FOREVER! WE WILL LIVE ON FOR THE REST OF THE TIME! THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING, A SMALL PART IN THE PLAN OF FREEDOM, THESE MEANINGLESS DEATHS, THIS POINTLESS DESTRUCTION, ALL OF THESE THINGS THAT HAVE JUST HAPPENED WAS PURE AND UTTER ANARCHY! THE OLD PILLARS THAT MUST BE REMOVED FOR A NEW SOCIETY TO FORM! AND OUR NEW WORLD IS EVER CLOSER! WE ARE THE INEVITABLE INCARNATE!”
All of the Anarchists scream and roar, chanting with an overwhelming sense of victory.
Prometheus looks at Gray, staring him in the eyes. The vampires body began to break and splinter to dust in the wind as Gray's adrenaline finally begins to subside. The deaths, the fear, the shock of so much in do little time finally overwhelms his heart. Leaving him unconscious. Rosemary holds onto Gray as Dema starts flying as fast as she can.
Rosemary: “WHERE ARE WE GOING!”
Edward: “GREENVALE, I’LL FLY US THERE!!”
Rosemary: “GREENVALE!?”
END OF CHAPTER
14