Arc 5: The Heart Within
Road to a Hero:
Three chances in another world
Chapter 19. Launcher
Soku throws wind blade after wind blade to keep Arthur on his toes. Edward attempts to charge head-on but Julus pulls him back, insisting that he be the one to lead the charge. Arthur goes to attack Soku with a large stream of flames but Julius stops him before he can get the attack off. Arthur should be able to deal with Julius easily but the work Leo put in is shown, allowing Julius to almost be on the same level. Arthur shoots fire out of the bottom of his foot, coating the ground in flames. Julius is forced to jump into the air, leaving him open for an attack. Arthur blasts beams of pure heat from his eyes which head right towards Julius’ head. In a flash, Soku grabs Julius and blows herself away.
Julius: “Thank you for the assistance.”
Soku: “NO PROBLEM!”
Arthur: “THIS IS SO ANNOYING!”
Edward comes out of nowhere, spooking Arthur. Arthur can get a few good hits in but Edward pushes through and swings at his shoulder with his great sword. Arthur gets down, dodging the blow. He goes to blow fire out of his mouth to burn Edward, but surprisingly Edward had anticipated this, jumping and putting all of his weight on his sword so he can swing down on Arthur. Arthur is forced to use his wounded arm and blast flames out of it to push him out of the way. He winces in pain, not noticing Julius right behind him. Since Edward missed his attack, his sword cleaves through the floor as well as the stone beneath, creating a small opening to the ballroom below.
Julius cuts a bit of Arthur's face, but Arthur delivers a much more powerful attack. He uses the momentum that was created when he dodged Edward to swing his other arm directly into Julius’ stomach. Julius prepares himself for the attack, and Arthur releases a blast of fire into Julius’ gut. Arthur then quickly turns around to see Edward about to swing at him. Edward bites his lip and uses the dragon's fist technique to swing his sword even harder.
Edward {DRAGONS CLAW!}
Arthur blocks the blow with his arms, but the sheer power of the attack not only damages him, but it also slightly cuts his arms, as well as knocks the wind out of him
Arthur: “Damn Edward! You got way, WAY stronger! Ouch, that eye though…is that branded? OH, NO WAY! That’s the Gravestone Pirates flag, isn’t it? Damn, that had to hurt! Nice armor by the way, and that sword…I don’t think it’s as big as your last one, but it’s bigger than any sword that I've ever fought.”
Edward remains quiet, not even flinching from the backlash of the dragon's fist technique.
Arthur: “And I see you fashioned…what is that a big jacket? Well, it seems you made that jacket into a nice-looking cloak now haven't you.”
Arthur looks up to see Soku charging up her mana on the ceiling. With all the wind circling her it’s allowing her to stand upside down on the ceiling, and in one swing of her sword, she sends all that power barreling towards Arthur. She even uses her mark of providence to boost the strength of the attack. Edward puts his sword above his head to block the massive attack, while Arthur tries to use his flames to cancel out the blast. He’s able to make sure it doesn’t cut him, but it still forces him down onto the floor. The rest of the attack carves through the floor, breaking through the stone, leaving a big portion of the room further destroyed than it already was. Soku jumps off the ceiling and uses her staff to start gliding, flying straight toward Arthur. He takes a deep breath, blasting a great wall of flames toward her. She turns out of the way, kicking a blast of wind to send her backward and hit him with the wind.
He bends his knees, his muscles tense, and exhales. He then vanishes from Soku's line of sight while the ground gets destroyed due to his movements' speed. He then quickly hits Soku and Edward with a flaming fist. Though Soku gets hit and is sent tumbling backward, Edward pushes through the force of the attack, so Arthur grabs his hand. Arthur heats his hand, setting it ablaze to heat his metal gauntlets. It burns at Edward's hand, but he pushes through the pain and swings his sword with his other hand. Edward uses the arm that Arthur’s holding onto to grab Arthur's wrist with all his might so he can’t dodge. Arthur kicks at Edward's chest, blowing fire out of his chest to fly backward, though Edward won’t let go. Arthur uses his wounded arm to block the sword swing, further injuring it. Edward finally let's go, having to remove the gauntlet so it won’t continue to burn him.
Edward: “Dammit…my hands burnt all to hell…”
Arthur gets up, only to be met with swift slashes from Julius. Arthur decides to save on energy, so he fights Julius with his bare hands. He casually dodges Julius’ sword strikes, but he’s also unable to hit Julius due to his monocle looking slightly into the future. Edward takes a second to breathe, and Soku runs over to him. She blows some cool wind onto Edward's burned hand.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Soku: “I might get Gray to use Khightic on me.”
Edward: “Rosemary's body almost exploded when it was used on her, what’ll make you think you’ll be okay?”
Soku: “Her powers break her body, so it pushed her to a stage she couldn't handle. I just have to worry about losing mana, feeling sick, and maybe getting a few cuts. I should be able to handle it for a bit.”
Gray, still sitting on top of the castle, finally decides to go back into his astral state.
Peter: “We might…need to head there soon.”
Gray: “What’s the plan? We have to wait for them to be finished.”
Peter: “I dunno…fly in through the baloney like they got in, grab them, and go. Leo's body is just sitting down there…and Rosemary might be finished with what she can do.”
Gray: “Edwards still has a lot of power left in him, same with Julius. But Soku might be the only one I can use Khightic on, so she has to stay.”
Peter stands up, throwing his hands into the air.
Peter: “THEY’RE GONNA DIE!”
Gray: “I believe they can do this…they have to be able to.”
Peter puts his face right in Gray, making his declaration.
Peter: “I’m a wimp…I don’t have any special powers or superhuman strength…and I’m scared out of my mind…but I can use these tools I’ve built, get down there, and get out. You get down there in your astral state, power up Soku, and get on Dema.”
Gray's tone of voice lowers, talking a lot more seriously than usual.
Gray: “You can go down there if you want, but Rosemary can do this. Edward sure as hell won’t get on Dema if he can still fight, Julius is hardly done, and Soku still has some use. Wait for just a second.”
Gray seeps into his astral state flies down to the room and places his hand on Sokus' back. She feels his presence and shakes her head, motioning for him to use Khightic.
Gray: “Khightic.”
Spirits surround Soku, pulling out her inner power as well as granting her some. Arthur's attention is drawn from Julius, looking on in awe as she blitzes past him. Multiple cuts form on his chest completely shredding his black robe and leaving him shirtless. Soku jumps into the air and proceeds to bounce between the walls, tossing wind blade after wind blade at Arthur. Will all the stress the rooms have been put in, whether it be the lightning bolts that shot off of Leo, the powerful punches that Rosemary let off, the burned and broken floor, or the multiple holes Soku and Edward made, the floor's about to collapse. And with each missed wind blade the room furthers in its destruction. Soku lands right in front of Arthur, overflowing with glowing green mana. The wind cuts at Soku's body, making her settle on putting all the power into one more attack. Julius and Edward watch as Arthur motions for her to attack him.
Arthur: “Bring it.”
Soku uses all her mana, puts it through her mark of providing to further increase the power of her attack, and swings her short sword with all her might. Arthur slashes at the air with his hand, pulling mana through the air as he does it. He creates a powerful wall of black flames, then follows up the move with a charged flame punch. The flames are so closely bound together that it transform into something else, no longer just black flames but now resembling pure plasma. He punches at Soku's massive attack, an attack that consumes the large room, but the power of Arthur's attack not only cancels out Sokus, but it also explodes, almost destroying the room entirely. Edward quickly covers Julius and himself with his large sword, to hopefully lessen the damage of the massive attack. But Soku is not so lucky, Gray uses his ability to manipulate the flaming spirit mana and force the it away, lessening the blow. But Soku is still blasted and burned by the pure power of the attack, being sent flying back, having to be caught by a still injured Rosemary.
Rosemary: “SOKU!?”
Soku's body was saved from the disintegrating heat of the attack, but her body was still hit by the force of the attack as well as still being burned. Rosemary clutches her tightly and heads right back into the fight. With the immense amount of damage using the fifth stage and Knightic's power up at the same time she’s in no shape to fight. With her destroyed arm, cracked leg bones, and crumbling ribs, she shouldn’t be able to fight. But somehow she enters the third stage and leaps at Arthur. Arthur struggles to move, still out of energy due to the massive attack, and is forced to take the attack right to the face. But the power difference is vast, even with all the damage he has taken so far, he’s still an immensely strong fighter.
He isn’t even knocked back from the attack, he just takes it and remains still as his now broken nose bleeds. He grabs her, knocking her to the ground.
Arthur: “Now that punch was just pitiful.”
A boom is heard in the distance, everyone in the room looks towards the balcony and watches as a black blur wishes into the room. Arthur watches as Peter aims a weapon right at his face. Peter pulls the trigger, and a spring gets released inside of the tool, launching a ball filled flame crystals and gunpowder. Before the explosive leaves the device, it slides across small blank crystals, which are located on the sides of the tube, giving the flame crystals mana to activate. Arthur is confused, letting the bomb hit him right in the face, exploding on impact. Peter then reaches into one of the various pockets on his utility belt, grabs three small petals, and hurls them at the ground in front of him. When they hit the ground they spew gray smoke everywhere, blinding Arthur.
Gray suddenly emerges from Dema's saddle, hiding to ensure Arthur doesn’t see him. He stretches the cloak to grab Soku, Rosemary, and Leo, pulling them onto Dema. Gray holds onto them, and Peter goes flying right back out of the balcony. Arthur attempts to blow the smoke away, but he’s halted by Julius and Edward, who have both sprung into action. Right before they leave, Gray throws Peter's large pouch of explosives right where Arthur’s fighting. Gray uses his spiritual senses to see Edward and Julius through the smoke, and grabs them with his cloak, pulling them out of the way. Gray pulls them onto Dema, allowing her to burst out of the room right before the pouch explodes. And once it does explode the room collapses, sending Arthur falling to the ballroom below.
Edward: “Gray, are you joining in? I can still keep fighting!”
Gray: “I know, Dema will head back in there and drop you and Julius off. You’ll have to wait just a little bit longer before I can join in.”
Julius: “Understood.”
Dema drops Gray, Peter, Leo, Soku, and Rosemary on the roof, and then flies back down through the balcony. Dema flaps her wings mid-air in the ballroom, staying stationary. Edward and Julius look down upon Arthur’s injured body wiping blood and dust off of his mouth.
Arthur: “That…kid…had a damn grenade launcher…awesome”
End of Chapter nine-teen