Syemore, in Ark's Fallen Angel form, stood before us as the pressure of the air thickened with each breath. Mana auras flooded the room from both him, Belle, and Tubolt, who were by my sides. The only one who didn't contribute to the mana supply was me.
Its intensity didn't bother me. Any normal person standing between these three high-class mages would not only lose their nerve, but stagger from the pressure of their mana. Someone like me would have passed out from the intensity of it alone. Their auras, it seemed, were avoiding me altogether...
Right then, Tubolt unleashed his carbon shards, sending the volley at Syemore like missiles. Syemore raised his arms and faced his palms, spreading his wings wide and out to his sides, summoning two unshrunk cubes—one red and the other blue. From them, the cubes crushed and condensed, altering their form until they turned into a red and blue aura. He then led both orbs above him, combining them to form a large black orb above his head.
When the shards flew closer, the black orb merely pulsed and a shockwave above him repelled the carbon shards away and back onto us. To which Tubolt summoned a carbon wall in response for our protection.
"Compression Magic: Black Hollow."
Syemore said as the black orb still pulsed and hovered over him, trailing a hand down to his elbow and lowering the arm that still held the black orb hovering in his palm. Then with one swift motion, he drew his arm back and pushed it with a mere flick of his fingers in our direction.
FEEUUUUUM!!
A black blast shot out; more intense than the pulsing it had emanated. It looked like a black hole on a course with us as the final destination.
Tubolt reinforced his carbon walls and covered us within a dome.
"That won't be enough," Syemore whispered, again his voice haunting.
BOOM!!
The blast struck the carbon dome and shattered the front of it effortlessly, peeling back the rest of the wall as it raged on the other side. Though the dome hardly lasted, it succeeded in protecting the rest of the castle behind us. The blast beamed and spread in different directions onto the walls and ceiling, opening up the sky to us now.
From the smoke and from where the blast had struck, a tall figure stood in front of Belle and me. As the smoke cleared, a black armored figure stood from within. Glowing red eyes were the first seen.
"Carbon Magic: Mana Fusion: Dark Arcane Knight."
The carbon dome that shielded us had broken off into three separate covers: one for Belle, one for me—ironically… and the rest onto Tubolt himself as it shrouded him intensely from head to toe, forming onto his body and spiking off dramatically. His carbon armor was intricate and jagged, resembling pieces of black armor. His head now had a spiked carbon helmet upon it as those focused, red, glowing eyes beamed intensely through the haze, locking onto Syemore's crimson eyes. He resembled a true dark knight, fitting of the name of his incantation.
The carbon shields from both me and Belle crumbled and joining Tubolt at his feet, revealing us kneeling, and the Arc Slayer stabbed onto the ground.
"I will show you the true strength of an Arcane Valley Knight." The same words he had uttered to me in this very room—this time, not as rivals but as allies. Conviction coursed in his tone as he spoke, and as pompous and an ass as he was, in this moment, I actually felt respect for him. This was why he has kept his title as one of the captains of a Valley Guild.
Syemore cackled, swinging his arms as if orchestrating his words. "You waste of a mage! What do you think that form will do against me!?"
Tubolt was silent, his armored head creaked as he turned his head slightly to say to me, "I'll be borrowing this."
I watched him as he reached for the claymore stabbed on the ground in front of me and effortlessly raised it, wielding it as if it were his own.
"You have ten seconds," I said to him.
He scoffed. "Fool. I'll return it when I see fit. You only came to bring me my weapon. Nothing more," he said as he walked forward emanating his own intense aura. "So do me a favor and don't get in my way, filthy mutt."
He didn't even let me respond as he dashed forward to Syemore.
ZOOM!!
Syemore's red eyes widened as Tubolt sped toward him, holding the Arc Slayer.
"I see," he said as Tubolt progressed. "You're one of them."
Barely reacting as he came, he wrapped his wings around himself into a cocoon like earlier. But once Tubolt got there, he swung the huge sword down onto Syemore, and a loud crash echoed, splitting open his wings.
CRASH!!!
The sound was like shattering rock as the Arc Slayer revealed Syemore stunned within it, and a small gash formed on his face from the aftermath.
The air around them both intensified; Tubolt was still steadfast in front of him as Syemore cast another kind of magic right then.
"Full-Body Light Magic: Heaven's Sun Rejuvenation."
Syemore's wounds began to heal. His membranous wings were even regenerating from where the Arc Slayer had cracked them open, and he looked more holy now as his skin turned from purple to gold.
The Royal King, Ezkar's magic… Tubolt thought to himself.
"I should mention," Syemore spouted. "Every time I use one of their abilities, it is mine forever. They will never get them back!"
Tubolt's anger rose and his beaming, red-glow eyes from within his helm intensified as Syemore spoke.
He whipped the Arc Slayer back, readying for another swing. When he unleashed the attack, he swung horizontally, slashing Syemore completely in half. Or so he thought...
From where Syemore was split, only a glinting light from both his upper and lower halves shone.
"If you keep making your moves that obvious, you will never strike me!" Syemore taunted.
"We shall see," Tubolt replied.
His aura burned the air in a tempest of black and purple aura, and in turn, Syemore reattached himself and emanated the Royal King's glow.
Their auras pushed and blasted through the wide-open space, filtering the view of the sky in this area a red hue from its mixture.
Syemore shot beams of light at Tubolt as he used the Arc Slayer to deflect them, dashing and flying through the air at lightning speeds thereafter.
Carbon spikes bloomed from the ground as Tubolt summoned them from his sidestep. He then stomped his foot down and the shards floated in air all around him. One by one, he smacked the carbon shards, swinging the Arc Slayer like a bat, and sent clusters toward Syemore.
When Syemore saw the first batch, he remained in place and let the carbon pass him.
"Truly? You know these won't hit a Full-Body user..."
"Aye. But this will." Tubolt said. A calm reply.
As Syemore let the carbon pieces fly past him, he noticed something odd about them...
From each of the pieces, a black aura emanated, like it was smoking off from them. He then looked to himself, and realized that he was not regenerating like he should have by now...
"You let your guard down, Syemore." Tubolt uttered as he sensed he finally realized.
He swung the Arc Slayer on another batch of carbon shards, and they scattered like shotgun shells in all directions. Syemore watched them come for but a second, and then he disappeared with Compression magic.
Syemore reappeared behind him, recreating the parts of himself that the Arc Slayer touched carbon shards had struck him.
"Had it not been for Forbidden magic, that would have killed me!" He roared as he formed a claw to strike Tubolt with.
"And that is proof that you are truly weak." Tubolt responded without looking as the remaining carbon shards formed a shield behind him, just in time for Syemore's attack.
SHRED!
The claw strike was strong enough to collapse the shield, but that was only for distraction—not protection.
By this time, Tubolt had leaped back and charged his next spell. The Arc Slayer was drawn behind him and aura fumed out from where he stood. His glowing eyes flashed through the gaudy carbon helm, and he locked on to Syemore feet away.
His aura messed with his silhouette as he rippled like flames at the mere ready of his swing. Then Tubolt breathed heavy and steam seeped out from his helm as he chanted,
"Carbon Magic: Mana Diffusion: Wicked Blade Disaster!"
He swung and the blade roared, spreading a black and purple beam that ate through the air, growing larger and larger—never ending.
The blade slash became so enormous that when it came in contact with stone and debris, it filtered it to dust at its wake.
Syemore smiled wickedly as he witnessed the attack rush at him with nowhere to go. Even if he were to shrink, he would just make an easier target.
The only next sounds were that of a large blast as the blade slash met its mark.
BOOM!!!
A monstrous explosion detonated, opening up the rest of the Arcane King's castle into a rummaged battlefield that resembled ruins upon a hill. There was nothing left of it except pillars and pieces of wall still standing after the violent rupture.
Belle and I covered our faces from the blowing dust as the blue sky shone through once more, no longer with its red filter. "Did he win? I don't see—"
"Greed, look out!" Belle shouted through the fading smoke.
From behind me, a demonic figure—Syemore. Quick, but not quick enough. I could respond in time, however… a voice from the opposite side of me said, "Move aside, you damn mutt!" Tubolt rushed, pushed me aside, and then…
STAB!
Blood splattered on the stone floors. Silence rang louder than any blast. And a purple claw pierced through the carbon armored knight in front of me now.
"Stupid, filthy dog…" he spouted, blood spilling from his mouth as his carbon helm crumbled like dust in the wind.
"Tubolt! Why did you—"
"I told you… to stay out of my way…" he gushed out.
Syemore then raised his gnarly arm through Tubolt's center, lifting him off the ground, and he grunted as he raised him up. The sun flashed onto his fading eyes from above as he dropped the Arc Slayer on his side to the ground, followed by a large clang.
"Actually… you're the one that's in the way," Syemore snarled lowly to him as he reached his other hand to him to Compress.
But before he did, Tubolt got one last word in.
"The Valley will win…"
Syemore's eyes twitched at the words. Tubolt knew that would trigger him, and it was also enough time for me...
SLASH!
A quick slash severed Syemore's hand and his head at the same time...
There before them both, I had appeared with the Arc Slayer in my hands now.
Syemore's eyes widened at the sight of me before his head fell clean off. "You're all..."—his vision blurred in and out—"really pissing me off..."
His hand dropped, followed by his head, and then his body at last as he fell to his knees, dropping Tubolt in the process.
I caught him there and witnessed the gaping hole at his core spilling and waterfalling red pools.
"Idiot. You didn't have to step in," I said as Tubolt breathed heavy and closed his eyes.
"Like I said..." he wheezed. "You were in the fucking way."
I said nothing and held a solemn look on my face for a good second before realizing something lording over me.
"It's not over," Syemore's headless body loomed, and his head and arm grew back like reformed light; I had apparently missed. "You mangy mutt. Haven't you learned to never turn your back on your opponent?"
"Haven't you?" A sweet voice said behind him.
He turned his head slowly as utter silence rang in his ears.
"Especially one who is your natural threat." Her deep blue eyes carried harsh conviction as they glowed from the shadow of her tilted head. With one raise of her hand, flexed and faced upward, she chanted a spell to end,
"Holy Magic: Heavenly Starlight's Bellow."
From below, light formed and covered the ground under Syemore in an instant. And just as quickly, a large beam of light shot out from underneath, making him cry out in utter agony.
He roared as the Holy light erupted from his feet. Only his silhouette and glow from his eyes and mouth shone past all the while.
"I should have intervened from the beginning," Belle said. "You strut around in this form as if I am not present. You take the form of a Demon with Captain Ark's magic, so you should have known… that all Demons' ultimate weakness is unadulterated Holy magic."
His screams continued like a pleasant song in her ears.
"Burn."
Syemore's cries echoed. I've never heard him screech in such pain before… but then…
His cries began to simmer down, fading and then becoming something sinister. Evil. Like mockery embodied and sitting on a throne. He laughed maniacally. "AHHHH!! Ha… HAHAHAHA!" Then took a breath and sighed as the Starlight's Bellow continued to erupt all around him. It was as if it no longer affected him—or rather, it never affected him at all...
"I jest." Syemore said. And the words alone made Belle, the Valley's princess and second only to the Arcane King, take a step back in trepidation.
His eyes glinted a haunting black through the Holy magic as he said, "Quite the contrary, Captain of the Golden Roses, you see… I prepared for you the most. As I am, it is true—I am no match for you. However, with Forbidden magic, your renowned Holy magic… is but a calm breeze. In fact, I'm completely immune to it—even in a Demon's form."
He completely faced her as she stood in horror, amplifying her magic until it was a tower of Holy that became a beacon over the Valley Kingdom. Still futile.
In denial of it all, she shook her head and took more steps back. Syemore, now, began to strut forward raising his left arm and whipping it to the side, utterly dissipating her magic like a mere gust; becoming light particles in the air as he emerged unscathed.
"The most challenging of you so far was Tubolt. And he was only so because of the Arc Slayer. But with no Arcane King, you are all trash. You deserve to be dominated."
Just as I was about to set Tubolt down, Syemore eyed me, and before I knew it, I was engulfed in an odd aura. I had been swallowed by what seemed to be... a dragon.
CHOMP!
"No! Greed!" Belle shouted… but it had been too late.
Before that, one of the sleeping faces on his chest had awoken. It was the one on the left, glowing only a light blue hue from its hollow eyes and gaping mouth.
From behind him, a ghostly, serpent-length dragon had spewed out. It was as if it had emerged from a dimensional doorway from his back.
More began to spew out like a school of fish through a tight path, multiplying endlessly into the sky, and blocking out the sun.
"I think it is time," Syemore said, chuckling as he raised his arms before Belle and took on an omnipotent appearance to her. "To let the whole Valley sleep an eternal slumber."
The dragons danced above, filling the open sky above. They scattered everywhere and flew down every crevice of the Valley Kingdom. As they passed through the city streets, they swallowed hordes of people, Arcane Knights, and even W.M.A. officers in their wake. The fake Black Wolves running around and even Blue Phoenix Knights were caught in the ghost dragon's plumage. No one was spared.
Panic erupted all over the Kingdom as the dragons surged through every living thing in their path. Those who were swallowed up passed out immediately from mana depletion. When the dragons had passed through an area, they solidified like crystals and resembled roots that glinted a blue light with those they swallowed, sleeping in a cocoon stasis inside them.
The sounds of hysterical crowds invaded Belle's hearing. The dragons' necks above began absorbing the mana from those they had consumed, making its way back to Syemore who grew larger with each gulp.
His muscles grew and he began to get larger in frame, enhancing his demonic features as he supplied himself with the mana from every person his dragons had swallowed so far.
"No… You monster…" Belle said fearfully, finally understanding what he was doing. But she was unable to do anything. Her magic had become completely useless against a foe that was wholly and undoubtably susceptible to it.
Now, in this moment, the princess of the Valley… the Savior of the Desert… an SS ranked mage next in line for Arcane King. She had become obsolete.
"Ah, yes… You probably know this man," he said while pointing to the eerie face on his left chest, albino white and looking as if it did not belong there. "This is the first Arcane King of the Valley. The one who founded the Valley itself, and from your current Arcane King's lineage."
Belle shuddered from where she stood, her eyes twitching, unable to think clearly. She was overwhelmed with not just powerlessness, but the overwhelming power Syemore had possession of; showing her the bar to true power that even she was nowhere near.
"User of Phantomdrake magic, the dragons he summons from himself are cast and sent to collect the souls of the living. Once captured, the souls devoured by the dragons become part of his mana supply. I admired the concept of his magic as I had wished that my own Compression magic could do such a thing after capturing a soul… So, I found his grave, undid the seal, and surgically merged our bodies together to become one being. Oh, the things you can do with Forbidden magic… The fact that we lock it away shows our naivety as a race. When one dabbles in the Forbidden Arts, the possibilities are limitless."
Syemore spread his arms out once more and looked to the sky, now filled with Phantomdrakes. His sanity was gone. One would question if it was there in the first place... or if he was the one who was truly sane in a world lacking it.
When he looked back down to Belle, his expression changed. It was that of calm as he caressed his last words to her, "Now do you understand when I call you all worms? It doesn't come from a place of arrogance... It is simple fact."
As he finished, a large Phantomdrake, separate from the others, emerged from his abdomen and shot directly at her. It flew so fast that with her distracted by everything that was happening: her obsolete magic, the suffering people outside getting caught in between, and Greed having just been eaten... she hardly grasped the situation.
I'm sorry, everyone. I didn't mean to get you all involved in this... All I wanted...
She closed her eyes and thought of his face.
Is you.
BASH!!
When she opened her sky-blue eyes, the world slowed. She wasn't sure if it was real or if she was within the Phantomdrake. But all she knew in that moment, was that a logo of a wolf fluttered from the back of a jacket, the Arc Slayer was grasped in his left hand, and a fist had bore down onto the raging Phantomdrake before her with him in the middle of it all.
The intensity burst the dragon from its head all the way back to Syemore, who was left astonished at his presence. The wild card. The unknown piece in a game that no one knew the true purpose of, but the same piece that could very well turn the tide. The leader of a group whom the Valley would have never chosen to fight against this threat, but the very same one who might just be their last chance—their last hope.
There were shadows over his eyes as he remained in his arriving position. And Syemore spoke, bewildered, "How? You should not even be conscious, let alone standing here!?"
"Man..." He said, sighing first before saying, "And I thought I was the stupid one."
When he finally raised his head and revealed those black eyes of his, they spoke volumes alone as he went on to say, "I don't have any mana, remember?"
Belle's eyes shuddered in both surprise and admiration with those beautiful, deep blue eyes of hers. Her gaze was one this male could stare at for days, weeks, years...
This was not a dream. She most definitely was awake.
How could I forget— She thought. —that you are not like the rest.
"Hey, princess," he said to her, and she perked like a breath of fresh air. "Are you okay?"