Vallum flew after Momo, moving faster than he could predict with his foresight and gut punching Momo, causing him to stagger as Vallum kicked Momo away, leaving him knocked out. Dæinvorol altered his mace, turning it into a large sword as he slashed at Vallum, ignoring his defences and cutting at his insides. The two traded strikes as Dæinvorol altered the sword back into its original form, clashing with Vallum and throwing him away with ease.
Vallum intensified his Dominion, making Raúl’s reach its breaking point as his amplification of his Dominion reached double its maximum, burning through Raúl’s spectral energy far faster than he could replenish it.
Vallum stabbed Dæinvorol in the leg, teleporting behind it and summoning voids to pull Dæinvorol apart, exploding across its large body as they erased most of his matter. Vallum turned to Raúl, making his Dominion reach maximum output, forcing Raúl to triple his own output to negate the guaranteed attacks, as his Dominion became a small a small orange circle around him.
Momo got back up, his fury allowing him to tap into his new form once more, his eyes, hair and attire becoming a deep black, as Momo launched himself at Vallum furiously. Sending slashes at Vallum, he broke through his aura’s barrier, creating shallow chinks in his armour. The two slashed at one another repeatedly, as Momo broke through, staggering Vallum as he broke his wrist, to which Vallum stabbed him in the throat.
“You know, holding back against you was a bad idea, you’re stronger than I give you credit for Elric.” Vallum observed, as Momo felt his power increase tenfold.
Impossible! Momo thought, as Vallum covered his body in slashes from his sword faster than Momo could process, his pain not registering for entire seconds due to the speed he was slashed at.
Momo barely stood, but he poured the rest of his Spectral energy reserves into regeneration, as Lord Vallum stood in front of him. Momo focused his mind, peering into the future further than he ever had.
As Vallum moved, Momo had already seen exactly where he was going to be.
One chance…
“Ardour’s Spark!” Momo yelled, as the icy glow of the Ardour’s Spark connected to Vallum, staggering him as Momo kicked him away.
He’s still five times my superior. The Ardour’s Spark didn’t increase me as far as I thought it would. Momo thought to himself.
“So, you’ve reached as far as the Ardour’s Spark can carry you, huh?” Vallum imposed.
“The Ardour’s Spark only fast tracks your growth for so long. From now on, it will only increase your power by a quarter, to become as strong as me, you need to do it the hard way. Such a shame you’ll die before you get the chance!” Vallum commented as he palmed Momo’s face, slamming him into the ground. Momo spun around ready to fight once more, as he prepared to fight again, Raúl collapsed.
“So much effort, for so little consequence.” Vallum remarked, as he sliced off Momo’s arm, slashing his chest and teleporting behind him, stabbing Momo through the back.
Momo collapsed onto his knees his head and body falling to the ground as he could not regenerate.
“Now, for my master’s prize.” Vallum said, as Momo felt his life end.
Golden flames licked the soul of Momo, beginning to reconstruct his body as his soul became conscious. Momo looked around, as his body finished reconstructing around his Royal Attire.
Dæinvorol awaited, alongside Takahiro, Hjalmarr and Raúl. Momo groggily shook his head, standing up.
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“What happened?” Momo asked.
“He attempted to pry the ring off of your finger, but it didn’t budge, he muttered something about unyielding and then ran away.” Hjalmarr commented.
“He wanted the ring. He must be a servant of Rancour.” Momo observed.
“He has just bested all of us. He is not from this age, this I am near certain of, he is likely a servant from the period in which Alard originates, or he may predate him entirely, all I can know is he is the most powerful threat to us since Rancour himself.” Raúl imparted.
“I agree. We shall need to spend more time training to prepare for another confrontation with Rancour and his forces, he is likely more powerful than both kingdoms, this won’t be good for either of us.” Momo replied.
“I am inclined to agree with Momo, we must train ourselves and our armies faster, if we are unable to best his servant, I fear how quickly we shall lose to Alard.” Takahiro remarked.
Momo nodded, as he and Raúl walked to the door to send him back to his kingdom.
As Momo watched the caravan leave his thoughts dwelled upon his loss, a darkness descending upon his mind like a plague, or a spider’s web, holding a tight snare over his thoughts.
“What is on your mind, Momo?” Takahiro verbalized, breaking Momo’s mental war.
“I- I’m not sure. What if… What if this is all for nothing? What if this fight, this struggle for freedom ends with us all dead and these cities on fire? What if, in the end, Rancour wins?” Momo conveyed, stringing together his words as if he were slurring them from exhaustion.
“We will die as those who fought to protect others. This is why we make our every effort for the people, so that if we die, we die knowing we gave everything to protect the innocent, so that at least they were safe for the time they had under our rule. We cannot change death, even for you, there will be a day where death claims those who believe they have conquered him, and when it comes, all that matters is that you did the righteous thing.” Takahiro posited, as the two sat to watch the sun set.
Rancour’s eyes opened, although he had never required sleep, he enjoyed its sensation, as it dulled the boredom from having to wait for his plans to take effect. Walking down the floors of his manor, he reached the first floor, to see his servant awaiting him.
“Rise Lord Vallum, walk with me.” Rancour ordered.
Vallum arose to walk with him.
“My master, if I may, why project your personal residence to the mountains, would it not be better to take the royal manor from the Scottish noblemen instead of allowing them rulership?” Lord Vallum asked, as they left the castle’s splendour to the light snow of the mountains.
“The Scots are aware of the power I possess. They know that I have the power to have easily executed all of them, but by showing them mercy and some faux kindness, I have won them over, allowing them to rule for me, as we prepare to destroy the insurrection by my former host.” Rancour explained.
“I see, and is this why you sent me ahead to demoralise your enemies?” Vallum queried.
“Yes, I know they are the ones forming the rebellions in the portions of Northumbria that I am ruler of, I knew my ring and the sword would cling to the boy as they see the potential within him and are eager to merge into his soul, but I know they will not fight a losing battle, I have, through you, sown the seeds of doubt into the ring and sword, their wills will no doubt be affected by this loss, and once we have dealt with the insurrections, we shall remind them who has power. Do not worry my friend, we shall not be defeated by this boy’s insurrection.” Rancour declared as they trudged through the snow.
“I have no doubt in your plans my master.” Vallum affirmed.
“Now, tell me of those you faced, how did they fight?” Rancour asked.
“I was able to swiftly deal with the Japanese man, I never had a chance to ascertain his fighting style, however, the son of Ellanher did live up to how you described him, although he landed but a singular attack, it was truly incredible. The king was more of a tool than anything else, I never had a chance to fight him, he simply stifled my Dominion with his own. What may interest you, is that your former vessel is in possession of the beast, Dæinvorol. It was a mighty beast, and was far more powerful than even your descriptions, it was able to resist all my powers and gave his master the ability to survive me in conjunction with the king. Your host was far stronger than you had likened him to, within his newer form, he was able to use foresight to land an Ardour’s Spark and if the king hadn’t collapsed, he may have given me some problems, even with my complete power.” Vallum reported as Rancour looked at him curiously.
“You mention a new form, describe it to me.” Rancour commanded.
“Yes, the boy’s power significantly increased under this form, and whilst my Dominion held no effect, he was able to fight at a tenth of my power before hitting a subsequent Ardour’s Spark, the only good news I can report from his immense growth is that the Ardour’s Spark has worn its course with him, and it will only give him an increase in power of a quarter, meaning the Ardour’s Spark will only be able to replenish him from now, it shall not be a turning point, such as it was in your first battle.” Vallum commented, to his master’s satisfaction.
“Very good. That shall be all my friend, go to the far side of Scotland and guard my puppet Ellanher closely, I can feel his power growing, even now.” Rancour ordered, as Vallum bowed his head and flew into the air toward Edinburgh.
Rancour quickly climbed to the top of the mountain, looking to Momo through the Spectral World, outstretching his hand, he amplified a singular slash to instantly cut Momo’s cheek.
Momo opened his eyes into the Spectral World, staring back at Rancour, knowing that the day for war loomed over their heads.