{Month: Sunflare}
{Date: 1/7}
{Time: Mid Evening}
Riding along Rán Forest and following the subtle tracks, I decided to take a small break for Saya and Miyuna so they could catch their breaths and their horses could rest. I sat upon a log and smoothed out my skirt, letting out a soft, refined hum as I looked at Saya and Miyuna.
"Well, since we have to take a break for you two rookies, how about you tell me a bit more about yourselves. After all we are amongst the same ranks now," I said, breaking the nightly silence around us with a royal tone.
"Tch...well if you must know, my Royal Dark Queen, I was trained by the Flame Master of Arcania, Son of the Inferno Halcyon, King Ardent, Prince Flint Avant of the Sun Union," Saya said haughtily, following her statement with a soft scoff.
"I am the younger sister of the late Princess Lexida...so I carried many of her techniques before she was killed," Miyuna spoke softly, her heart weighing heavy upon the topic of her sister.
"So you're the last D'Artagan Family from Semelia? Why is someone from Semelia and a bandit hailing from Helia doing over in Cynthia, all the way in North Sylvannia of all places?" I asked, my gaze shifting between the two girls.
"I was originally on a journey to find who killed my sister...But then I ran into Saya because she stole my rapier, but I saved her from the group of bandits who betrayed her," Miyuna began, grunting softly as Saya gently nudged her side with her elbow.
"And I'm still grateful you did! I mean, I did everything for those stupid guys and they still tossed me away...but luckily we both went back to that base and saved Senju!" Saya beamed, looking down at her panda suit and patting its belly.
Sophia and I glanced at each other, a small smile spreading upon our lips from the strong relationship between the girls. Sophia couldn't help but to chuckle lightly, glancing out into the distance at the nearby islands.
"We're almost at the Sae Valor Islands...I wonder if they are still even fighting," Sophia wondered to herself, speaking her thoughts aloud.
"Granted from all the markings and scratches on the trees, I would assume they are. Besides—" I began, pausing as I heard an explosion in the distance.
We all turned our attentions to the large mushroom cloud deeper in the forest, wondering who was fighting in the distance. In the distance, I could sense Leo's energy, my heart skipping a beat in fear he was caught in the explosion.
Without a second thought, I shot up from my seat and dashed toward the source of the explosion, leaving the other three behind. Quickly, Sophia, Saya, and Miyuna stood up and followed behind, calling out my name to try to reach me.
'Leo..! Don't be the one caught in the explosion..! Why didn't you stay in the castle?!' I yelled in my mind as I raced down the forest at urgent speeds, shifting my Affinity to Wind to gain an extra boost in speed.
The smoke cloud began to clear slowly, Darkwing latching onto Izumi's shoulders to safety bring her back down to the ground. Ren and Hayate watched in awe, impressed by the boost in prowess Izumi received. As they watched, they noticed stone bullets shooting down toward Izumi at alarming speeds.
"Izumi, look out!" Hayate called out, getting up from the bushed to try to save Izumi.
Izumi looked up, gasping in shock as she noticed the volley of bullets headed her way. Before she could react, my body blinked in front of Izumi and I slashed downward with my Zeal Vesper Argentum, releasing a powerful blast of wind energy to blow away any incoming dangers headed toward Leo and Izumi.
Lelitia noticed me below and grunted heavily, guarding herself from the powerful winds and the stone bullets. She quickly descended to the ground, panting softly and wiping her forehead slowly. 'Stella..?'
Leo looked up slowly, his eyes finding mine as I quickly helped him up onto his feet. Without a word, I immediately knew what had happened to him, my gaze shifting toward Lelitia in the distance. I brought him over to Izumi then faced Lelitia once again, sticking my blade into the ground.
"If it isn't the Vice Captain of the Shadow Monarch, Lelitia. Y'know, I thought you would've died off after I drove you away from this land for betraying Sophia. I guess not...now you target my brother and his friends?" I began, each word spoken laced with venom and hatred.
"Hmph, I never liked you nor your Advisor, Stella... You walk around Cynthia as if the entire land was always yours, you keep blocking me from Leo, and worst of all, you shamed my family name!" Lelitia retorted with a wrathful glare, her dark aura surrounding her body.
I chuckled darkly at Lelitia, taking my sword out of the ground and began fully enhancing my Darkness into Space, the faint aura around me shifting in hues of violets, blues, and reds. I grunted softly as black lightning began surrounding my body, warning me of overexertion.
"I'll end this quickly for you so that you will no longer have to see my face!" I laughed, blinking in front of Lelitia with a wild overhead slash.
Lelitia gasped in shock, quickly dodging out of the way and launched a bolt of dark magic toward me in retaliation. My body blinked out of the way, vanishing in mid air and leaving Lelitia confused for a moment.
As she looked around, the forest around her began to warp subtly, minor changes being made to disorient her. Lelitia grunted softly as she felt dizzy, looking around to find her bearings, but groaned loudly as Saya caught her with a fiery punch to her jaw.
Lelitia flipped backwards and landed onto her feet, quickly looking around in high alert, but noticed no one was around her. Quickly, an icy blade flew toward her, but she quickly dodged the attack and noticed Miyuna at her side with an icy onslaught.
Lelitia blocked and parried each of Miyuna's attacks then launched a counter attack, but a blast of wind energy knocked her away. She rolled forward and recovered onto her feet once more, noticing Hayate in the distance. 'What the hell is going on..? I can't sense them until they hit me...'
Within the shadows, Ren rushed out of the bushed with a critical Stealth Strike, his blade slicing down her back then he washed her away with a water serpent. The serpent washed her toward the center of the area, leaving her wide open for me to come down with an downward stab aimed at her chest.
Lelitia's life flashed before her eyes, her brain desperately trying to find a way to save her own life. Before my blade crashed down against her chest, the area around her warped, leaving her at another part of the forest.
"That would be too easy...You barely worked for your death, Traitor..." My voice echoed within the forest, my figure walking through the shadows of the night forest like a ghost in the fog.
Lelitia quickly stood up from the ground, her heart racing with grave danger, her body growing cold with dread as she glanced around in hopes of finding me. 'Where are you..? Where are you hiding..?'
Rushing from the bushes, a darkness clone of myself charged at her with an upward swing, but Lelitia dodged it quickly then clashed with the next Darkness Clone. She continued to dance and lock with my clones as I laughed in the shadows, the pressure increasing the more clones I sent her way.
I charged forward upon her next clash, landing a charging kick upon her stomach and launching her through the forest. I blinked in front of her and launched her away with another then blinked in front of her once more, sending her crashing to the ground with a downward slice.
Lelitia groaned loudly as she crashed onto the ground, panting heavily with exhaustion and slowly sat up to find my blade in her face. She paused for a moment, looking up at me and noticing my eyes shimmering a cold, golden wrath.
"This is your end, but before I kill you...tell me. Why did you betray Sylvannia? Why did you betray Sophia? Helene? Why did you hurt Ainanna the way you did, wrench?" I questioned, demanding answers for her actions from the past.
Lelitia chuckled lightly at my demanding tone, closing her eyes with a soft sigh. "Because, I saw the truth... I was to be Queen of Sylvannia and Xahir simply gave me the power to do so. Helia is evolving...and so should Cynthia."
I scoffed lightly at her answer, yet I couldn't shake the undeniable intrigue I felt from her answer. I pressed the tip of my blade closer to her neck, my grip upon my handle tightening. "Who the hell is this Xahir truly..? I don't take a man in a mask from two years ago as a figure..."
"Xahir is the one True King of Cynthia, The King of Darkness..~ My Lord...He is the rightful Ruler of Cynthia and we of his Disciples shall rule over the Seven Kingdoms, including Lunia!" Lelitia revealed, catching me off guard with a sweep kick then launched me away with a double kick to my side.
I recovered quickly with a light twirl onto my feet, becoming very alert after hearing Lelitia whistle. Suddenly, a stream of dark yellow lightning flew behind me, my mind warning me of another combatant before my body could react.
"You're too late, beautiful Queen of Darkness~ Four Eyes: Four Flashes!" A male voice sounded behind me, landing a lightning fast strike upon my lower back.
Using his lightning he stunned me in place for the next three consecutive attacks, leaving me open for Lelitia to rush forward like a missile with her body cloaked in Black Water. She landed a devastating kick along my stomach, launching me through the forest at great speeds.
"Heh..~ Nicely done, Corvus..~" Lelitia giggled, her elven ears wiggling with delight.
Corvus chuckled softly as he adjusted his crow feather cloak and adjusted his eye patch, his blue eyes shimmering with confidence. He tossed his lightning dagger in the air before catching it with a grin. "Of course, Lady Lelitia...Now, how about we finish off Lunia's Queen?"
"I could be delighted to!~" Lelitia hummed, clapping her hands together with glee.
I began to recover in the air, shifting my Affinity into Earth then seeped A Type Cells into my system to gain access to Plant Control. I began to manipulate the roots in the ground to emerge and catch my fall before flying off the cliff.
I let out a soft exhale as I dangled upside down, closing my eyes as my blood rushed to my head. 'Worst night ever...'
"Honestly...but I mean it could be worse..."
'Shut up, Risa...' I replied back mentally, rolling my eyes at her witty comment.
I looked up in the air, noticing a large shark made from water energy forming above me then dive straight toward me at high speeds. I quickly blinked out of the way, becoming airborne and vulnerable for Corvus to sneak behind me at lightning speeds.
Just at Corvus went for a killing blow, a light blue blur rushed toward my aid, blocking the attack with a familiar halberd. I glanced behind me, a smirk forming on my face as I noticed Leo protecting me.
"Don't worry, Stella..! The others are on the way toward the islands for Victoria and Natsume! Let us handle these guys!" Leo roared, spreading his wings and blowing away Corvus with his icy aura.
I chuckled darkly as I glared upward toward Lelitia, my cursed marks slowly crawling upon my body from my Royal Crest. "Let us, little brother...Let us show them the power of the Bushido Family!"
Leo roared pridefully, dark lightning crackling around his body as he boosted himself toward Corvus with a powerful flap of his wings, slashing downward toward him with powerful might. Corvus blocked the slash, but the force of his attack send him crashing toward one of the islands.
Lelitia grunted as she watched Corvus and Leo fight toward one of the islands, wanting to go assist her ally, but her instincts told her to keep watch of me. She looked down toward me, her heart thumping heavily against her chest as she began feeling an invisible force pulling her toward me.
"You're done!" I laughed with a giant swing of my sword against her stomach, sending her flying toward the island at high speeds.
I blinked above Lelitia and landed on top of her with a powerful stomp against the ground, surfing a few meters on top of her against the ground before kicking her away. I charged after her and shifted my Affinity into Fire then fused W Type Cells into my stream to create Firestorm.
I sliced in a large circle, creating a firestorm around the area and burned away all of the trees within the vicinity, landing my fiery slash upon Lelitia and blowing her away once again. I laughed darkly, covering my left eye as my heart thumped then began warping the area.
"Kill..." I murmured to myself, feeling Bushido's influence creeping into my mind my left eye shining brightly.
I grunted heavily as my left eye began to shine brightly, but soon the light began to dim into a low hue, shimmering in hues between red, orange, and yellow. I stood up straight with a cruel smirk playing on my face, my bangs covering my right eye while my left shone brightly with life.
As the forest continued to warp, Lelitia appeared back in front of me on the ground, panting heavily and coughing hard as she warped to multiple areas within seconds. She stood up onto her feet slowly, turning around and groaned heavily as I blitzed her with a blade made from fire.
'What...is this..!?' Lelitia grunted heavily, leaping backwards to create space and skidded backwards.
She stared at me for a moment, noticing four blades floating behind me, each made from Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. She noticed spatial particles floating around my body, yet no aura was present. Crimson lightning crackled around my body, the energy around my body corrosive to be near.
'What is this form..? It looks so Elegant...yet so corrupted...' Lelitia thought to herself, using her water magic to heal her wounds as fast as possible.
I cracked my neck lightly and readied my sword to go on the aggressive offensive, dashing toward Lelitia and shuttling through space and appearing in front of her with a searing spinning heel kick against her head. A stone wall formed in front of Lelitia's path of impact, rebounding her back toward me.
I launched my blades toward her to slice her along her entire body then ran ahead and kicked her across the island, boosting my impact with the Wind Affinity. I landed on the ground and caught my Wind Sword, enhancing it into Lightning and slashed down, releasing a row of lightning bolts toward Lelitia.
Lelitia landed on the ground, shape shifting into a Lightning Miko to absorb the lightning and groaned with pain as my lightning was fused with Darkness to make Destructive Thunder, bypassing her absorption abilities. Lelitia fell upon her knees, exhaling smoke and limping forward.
I walked toward Lelitia, dragging my blade along the ground with a light giggle. "Oh, sorry..~ Did I forget to tell you? In this form, every Cell Type runs through my blood stream. I thought you knew how ENA worked..."
I stopped in front of Lelitia, noticing she was fried to the bone due to my lightning, but still breathing. I rose her head up with my foot, a devious grin spreading on my lips. "Well...I guess it's been nice knowing you...Dark Elf."
As I swung my blade down to finish Lelitia, a lightning dagger flew past me to stop my attack, lightly cutting my wrist. I glanced over at the direction the dagger came from, noticing Corvus evading each of Leo's attacks with his speed.
Corvus flipped backwards off one hand, using his lightning to summon his battle axe to clash with Leo then countered Leo with a swift slice to his neck. Before his blade could hit Leo, Leo's body swapped with my Earth Sword, completely nullifying his attack.
I caught Leo by his waist and began carrying him at waist side, smirking at Corvus and flipping my hair. I began using attractive forces to pull Lelitia toward me, carrying her at my other waist. "You want your elf..? Come get her."
I quickly dashed off into the island, blinking forward and using my Earth Control to construct a stone platform to surf down the river on. Corvus quickly chased after me, using his lightning speed to race down the river beside me.
He began firing bolts of lightning at me, but I retaliated by firing stones at his bolts with my Earth Sword, each collision causing an explosion in the air. I looked ahead, noticing a Waterfall approaching then leaped off my stone platform and launched Leo and Lelitia in the air.
Leo caught Lelitia in the air, using his wings to keep himself airborne while watching me freefall to the ground below. He looked up at the cliff above, grunting in alarm as he noticed lightning daggers flying toward him in high amounts.
"You will unhand her, Lunia scum!" Corvus bellowed into the night, clapping his hands together with them aimed at Leo. "Lightning Arts: Lightning Crow!"
Corvus bellowed as he launched a large blast of lightning toward Leo shaped as a giant crow, the bolt of lightning flying toward Leo at an alarming rate. Leo knew he couldn't react fast enough to his attack, but he instinctively pointed Selenoath at the Lightning Crow.
I smirked as Leo pointed his weapon at Corvus's attack, swapping Selenoath for my Earth Sword. Leo gasped in shock at the swap, noticing my blade nullifying Corvus's attack with ease. He looked around for me, noticing the shine of his halberd within the forest.
Leo quickly launched Lelitia toward me then flew after her at high speeds, Corvus quick on his tracks on the ground. The two raced toward my location at top speed, Corvus intercepting Leo with a vertical, spinning kick but Leo swiftly evaded his attack.
Leo landed on the ground, catching Lelitia by her wrist before safely tossing her back in the air to evade Corvus's swift attacks. He kicked Corvus away then picked up a stone, hurling it toward me at high speeds.
"Swap! Swap quickly!"
"I know what I'm doing, little girl," I replied with a light chuckle, swapping the stone for Lelitia and catching her body before shuttling through space deeper through the forest.
Leo looked up in the air, noticing Lelitia's body replaced with the stone the leaped in the air, encasing his foot with icy energy before kicking it toward Corvus. The icy stone flew across the battlefield like a speeding bullet, but Corvus unleashed his lightning aura, supercharging the icy stone.
Corvus knocked the stone back toward Leo with his battle axe, but Leo slipped past it and charged toward him with my Earth Sword in one hand and Celestial Edge in another. The two began clashing with one another, their weapons weaving in an epic clash between Prince and Assassin.
"Heh! You're pretty good, Prince! Yet, I don't see what Lady Lelitia sees in a young teenager like you!" Corvus taunted as he rapidly clashed with Leo, streams of lightning flashing around with each swing of his sword.
"It doesn't matter what she sees in me or what she believed she saw in me! Those days are dead, and now I must take her down!" Leo retorted with a royal declare, parrying Corvus's attack.
Corvus smirked and dodged Leo's follow up, launching him away with a powerful lightning infused kick, dealing super effective damage against him. "We'll see about that!"
Corvus launched a volley of daggers toward Leo, flashing toward each one at lightning speeds and striking Leo at various angles before reappearing above him. "Shadow Lightning Arts: Fulgar Storm!"
Corvus unleashed a large blast of lightning down toward Leo, striking him down with incredible force into the ground. Corvus smirked as he noticed the bolt engulfing Leo, but his smirk faded as he noticed a stone blade peeking out of the giant bolt.
Leo roared as he sliced the bolt in two, dispersing the lightning and panted as his healing scars began to form into icy scales. He chuckled softly as he began to turn around, his eyes becoming more dragon like as the heat of the battle grew.
"Well...you almost took me down with that one, annoying prick. I think I should repay you with some of your own courtesy!" Leo challenged, his aura growing stronger through his raw passion, a beastly grin forming on his lips.
'That damn Twilight Dragon he's bonded with...it's enraged and wanting a battle. It's making him more aggressive and wild, but I can deal with it...get through him and get to Lelitia...' Corvus thought mentally, preparing himself for Leo's true night and getting into his battle stance with clarity.