The red feathers in the middle of the battlefield contrasted with the surroundings. In the sky, a black creature with purple eyes. Far from the feathers, a knight beside his companion, stood firm, even though his body was exhausted by the cold imposed on his body and the heat emanating from the creature, being thus cornered, his only option being to close his eyes. Amidst the purple rays, in the midst of the darkness still far from the feathers, a female form with a briefcase next to a group, had been observing the battlefield for a long time.
— My God, is there no end to this?
"Mamoru, it looks like this battle will go on for a while longer. The good part is that we'll get to see Marengo's skills."
— Why do you say we're going to see his skills?
"Haven't you noticed yet? He's been playing around this whole time. I can't explain it to you, but I'm sensing something coming from those two, and since they're both like that, it must be something crazy."
The knight reached out to his mare, stroking her mane, then broke from his wild pose and embraced her. She whinnied in response, turned, and headed toward the bar.
—Why did you do that? I understand. You love your mare so much that you freed her from death along with her owner. A beautiful, human act. Let's move on!
— I no longer need a horse to get to you, I will only need my willpower.
A black hurricane appeared in front of the knight, before the spiral his body was suddenly pulled. It was impossible to try to hook it to see what was happening inside the hurricane. Whistles appeared, could they be birds? Grasshoppers flapping their wings?
The Angry Echidna threw a purple ball toward the hurricane, which was absorbed and could be seen rising slowly, searching like a predator for its prey. It served as goggles for everyone. Its glare illuminated the hurricane from the inside out, its rays tearing through the sky, making it flicker, shaping the silhouette of the knight.
With a blink, the knight's fingers passed through his belt, with a blink the horse that framed the belt became a black horse with long wings, with a whistle the silhouette momentarily became a winged horse, and the lightning turned into a bang and disappeared.
Echidna, even more furious, launched more energy balls towards the hurricane, which turned the sky completely purple. As it reached the direction of the hurricane, it repelled the energy balls, but it wasn't just any repulsion, but rather the knight with wings as black as the night.
— a horse kicking? What did that make it seem like a bad joke, stupid human.
— that's not a stupid kick, it's a Dual\Memory\Kick!
The scattered energy of the lightning solidified at the knight's foot. His image was mystical; from the spiral that consumed everything around him, a knight emerged, his armor channeling lightning throughout his body, concentrating it on the sole of his foot. He directly encountered a creature that could easily have been pulled from a fairy tale. With all his strength, he restrained his muscles so that his blow would be as powerful as the charging of Apollo's horses to the sky.
The blow landed hard, the creature's eyes turning dark, the flame that inhabited its body was extinguished, sending its body flying towards the ground, its chin bending to its neck, its teeth gnashing loudly, the crack that was heard was like the wind that extinguished all the torches of a huge temple. As it approached the ground, the feathers began to rise into the sky again, becoming a net that held the Echidna, who suddenly opened its eyes in an even more vibrant tone than before. Its previously charred skin peeled off, like a snake's, giving rise to skin that more resembled scales.
The creature roared ferociously, advancing forward, following the trail of energy left by the kick that nearly knocked him out. Its eyes were so bright, a purple substance erupted from its mouth that it ignited as it gnashed its teeth, letting it drip onto the ground, burning him. Its scales shone, reflecting the trail of fire that followed it, and fire gushed from its nostrils. As it approached the knight, without any further trickery, it simply tried to reach him with a punch.
—It seems the two have loosened up a bit. Marengo with his animalistic kick and Echidna with his equally animalistic punch. It seems this battle will take even longer,
— Mamoru, come with me.
Shizuko held on tightly and pulled Mamoru from the room, who let out a snort. As they left, Daisy grabbed Shizuko's dress, "Human, be careful, someone's watching us! Keep my mother safe." Her head fell against her mother's chest and she went back to sleep. The young man heard her, quickly changed his expression, and pulled Shizuko's arm, leading her to the back of the establishment.
— Mamoru, I'm not feeling well.
— Are you in those days?
"No. I'm feeling something strange, and I think it has to do with something I saw. When the flash passed over the hurricane, I saw some more silhouettes. The Apollo crew must have found us because of the confusion. What do we do? Amélia is inside taking care of Margarida; we can't let her worry any longer."
"It must be that. Mary told me everything he's been able to gather all this time. Damn, I didn't expect that."
— Who are you talking about?
"It's not about who, but about what he has. Shizuko has to do with your lost memories, you know, the years you spent with my sister, my sister's father, and the destiny Apollo wants for you."
— What...
A loud bang rang out, and Shizuko gripped Mamoru's arm tightly, almost teasing him. Perhaps it was anger at Mamoru's jokes, perhaps it was fear for Amelia's safety, or simply the anxiety of knowing she no longer remembers the person she's always loved. Mamoru pulled her away before they could discover the source of the loud bang, ran his hand over her face, and smiled. He kissed her forehead and held her hand tightly, then ran to see what the loud bang had brought.
Shadows took over the entire space, turning the kingdom into darkness, the rumble was not a rumble, it was the heel of the queen of that dimension, carrying a briefcase in one of her hands
— Wow, brother-in-law, aren't you going to say hi to me? How rude.
— Elizabeth! What are you doing here? Did you come to steal Daisy from your mother? I won't let you!
The knight grabbed the creature by the neck, took flight, and as it leaned forward to leave, he did what the creature so desperately wanted: he threw it toward the queen. The queen ducked, and amidst the darkness, the storm began to take shape. A man in a black helmet raised his hands to create a chorus of bodies before him, which held the Echidna. The queen smiled, opening her case and letting an amphora fall to the ground. Day turned to night, a constellation shone, and a giant fox appeared.
"How wrong, brother-in-law, to think I would hurt my beloved stepdaughter. This makes me deeply sad, and we didn't come to capture you, nor Apollo's two toys, we just came to get our guinea pig."
"How's Marengo? How's my nephew doing? I hope so. When this madness is over, I'm sure you, your son, Mary, and my daughter will be reunited as a family again. Goodbye, before I go, please send my thanks to the two young men who saved my daughter, Mamoru and Shizuko, okay? Goodbye."
The queen and king of that kingdom of darkness, along with their guinea pig, disappeared riding the fox towards the cosmos. At the same time, Shizuko saw the fox and fell unconscious into Mamoru's arms.