Chase's hands had already gone numb from the inevitable clash of blades between him and the cobra.
"Mother f-"
He tried to scream as he deflected a speeding blow that nearly took his head off.
Poppy was clearly having trouble with Hans as well, even though her movement was precise, elegant, and outright terrifying, she still couldn't even land a blow on the giant.
Chase was having similar problems, and was starting to get annoyed by Neo's arrogant grin, not even bothering to try as they exchanged blows of their swords.
"You killed Sazir yeah?"
Neo asked, leaning to the left as Hero's Fang slashed through the air next to him.
Chase growled.
"He was a strong dude... Like really strong..."
Neo muttered, flicking his snake-like blade around his wrist like it was some sort of party trick.
Chase dropped to the ground without any warning, causing Neo to finally widen his eyes.
Chase tried something new, if Axis Twitch was a quick movement that broke the laws of physics, then couldn't he get quite creative with how he used it?"
With one hand and both his feet touching the ground, he pushed Axis energy into his arm and legs pushing himself forward at a terribly painful speed to go at.
Chase lost control nearly instantly, but had successfully taken Neo's legs out from underneath him, as his body hit the ground with a thud.
Chase wasn't doing much better as he had been forced into a chaotic roll from his momentum, and landed face first on the wooden platform.
Neo pushed himself up with a raised eyebrow, wiping the blood off of a cut on his face.
"Not bad..."
Chase felt the air pressure rise behind him, and threw himself down, avoiding the soaring gauntlet of Hans.
"Eyes on me!"
Poppy muttered, as she propelled herself into the air, lifting herself just a tad higher by spinning her spear at unimaginable speeds.
Then she soared downward, piercing the floor where Panda had stood seconds ago with a powerful thrust of her spear.
Chase pushed himself up, and gripped Hero's Fang even tighter, making sure not to drop the blade.
Neo grinned, and outstretched his arms ready to take on Chase once more.
But then a loud unfamiliar bell rang throughout the halls of the academy.
The four of them stopped what they were doing in an instant, and looked at each other with questioned glances.
"What the hell?"
Neo asked no one in particular.
Poppy tilted her head and looked at Chase, slowly moving her mouth to ask him something but before she could, he Axis twitched toward the door feeling a terrible dread overtake him.
Poppy, Neo, and Panda ran after him, probably all feeling the same overwhelming aura overtake the academy air.
Chase nearly tripped over a wooden statue that had been placed poorly by the exit of the room but he didn't stop.
He gripped Hero's Fang tighter.
"Please gods no..."
It didn't occur to him once that the halls that had once been filled with life were now empty and eerie.
Chase ran his fastest toward the main hall of the academy, where he had first entered the school on that fateful day and his heart dropped once he seen the entirety of the students all crowded in one room, with a terrible scene playing out on the lowest staircase above the students.
"Please no..."
He shoved past several students, some strangers, others he knew.
Poppy screamed his name somewhere behind him, and panda dropped his gauntlets on the floor resulting in a loud clang.
"What is this!?"
Chase screamed at the top of his lungs, as three figures stood on the lowest section of stairs.
A fourth was kneeling, and Chase had already known who it was before he needed to look.
Poppy grabbed him from behind, wrapping her arms around him.
He didn't bother looking at her face, because he already knew that she was crying, as wet tears hit his cold neck.
Chase was in outrage, as Rider, Picto, and the third general stood over Leander's kneeling figure who wore a sad expression on his face.
Rider wielded a sinister smile, as he spoke with an immense power in his voice.
"Today... I am here to punish Leander of House Orion for the act of treason against the allied armies..."
Some students screamed, and others gasped, but it was all drowned out by the rapid heart beat of Chase's.
"No!"
Neo screamed, as he shoved past the guards but was grabbed by his collar and put into submission on the ground.
Chase needed to find his friends, he needed to help Leander, but he couldn't move, not because Poppy was holding him back, but because his body refused to take a step forward because of the terrible pressure that Rider's catalyst was pouring into the grand room.
"Chase! Stop please!"
Poppy cried, as he tried to push through the crowd, he couldn't let this happen.
Rider lifted the indigo spear with a large curved blade resting at its end with a sharpened polish.
"Leander..."
Chase whispered, feeling his heart ache from what he knew was inevitable.
'Zephyr! DO SOMETHING!'
He screamed inside of his own mind, knowing full well that the dragon was listening.
'I am sorry Chase... But this is destiny that cannot be changed by your will... It needs to play out like this... Forgive me...'
"DAMNIT ALL!"
Rider smirked, holding the blade above Leander's head.
"I'd like to ask for your final words..."
Just as Leander began to speak, the blade swung down and Poppy's hand covered his eyes.
A thud echoed throughout the silent room, followed by Neo's yell of outrage.
"But we don't have time for formalities..."
Rider chuckled, putting a rag against his large blade, and kicking Leander's headless body into the large crowd of students.
Tears fell from Chase's eyes, and he couldn't even try to thrash anymore, there was no point.
He was too late...
End of Volume 3... Into The Frozen Forest...