The little girl with russet eyes stared curiously at the huge oak door in front of her. She had been living in the castle for a few months now, and she was pretty sure that she had already entered every room in the castle except for this one.
The butler with emerald eyes gently approached her and held her shoulder in the most respectable way. He told her that there was no one allowed inside the room except the royalties.
The girl disappointedly lowered her head and nodded in understanding.
The emerald-eyed butler changed the topic and led her to another place to get her mind off her curiousness. The russet-eyed girl smiled and silently followed behind him.
And as they walk away, the oak door opened and behind it stood a young man with amber-eyes.
He grinned evilly afterwards. "Looks like Chibisuke has found a new toy."
Chapter 8
"This is kind of weird… and unfair," a silver-haired person said. He was talking to a black butterfly floating in front of him. He was standing on a wooden roof of a random house, observing a girl with green hair in a bakery.
"Stop complaining and just get on with your job. We still haven't found her," the black butterfly replied, although it seemed that the butterfly was only a tool for communication. It didn't seem like the one actually talking to the silver-haired man.
"Yeah, yeah," the silver-haired person said. "But you know, Sanada, it means that I'm going to fight Silverchains and Eiralith, right? And I'm just alone. You didn't even give me a partner. Do just know how unfair that is?"
"Then use your specialty. Besides, you're better off without a partner, and you know it all too well."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You guys are so mean," he grinned. He sat down lazily on the roof.
"Besides, they will never know who the next target is. It's unlikely they'll find the same person you're looking for." The black butterfly continued on flapping its wings in front of the man's face.
"Do not underestimate them too much."
The person using the butterfly as his medium of communication sighed and said, "Just report any important updates to me."
"Of course."
The black butterfly flew away and circled around the man for a while before disappearing. The man shrugged and lied down on the roof he was staying at.
:||~ElPhIoRe~||:
"And so, let us begin," Shiraishi said.
All the Eiralith and Silverchain members circled around the moonstone. They were about to summon the power of the moonstone. It can show a person's greatest desire and the answers to it. They needed the moonstone to know who the next victim of the Vesonians is out of their researched 273 females in Skytheria.
In other words, they need to focus their hearts into thinking that they desire to know who amongst the 273 female in the country is going to be the next victim of the Vesonians.
"I'm desiring to know who the next victim is… I'm desiring to know who the next victim is…" they all chanted in a weird way.
Kintarou held his laugh.
They were inside a dark room with red lit candles around and they were in a yoga position while encircling the moonstone and chanting that.
Yup, it's a laughing matter.
After a few seconds, Kintarou let out a loud laugh. He had tears in his eyes as he pointed towards his co-members and Eiralith mockingly.
Tezuka and Kaidoh glared threateningly at Kintarou.
"Hahahaha! That was sooooooooooooooooooo wrong! What you guys are doing! Hahahaha! Damn it, I can't stop laughing! It's all so funny! All of you are freaking funn—except you, of course, Saku-chan~—Gosh, you are all gonna be the death of me!" he yelled as he laughed uncontrollably.
"THERE'S NO OTHER CHOICE!" Oishi tried to defend themselves, embarrassment evident in his voice. "We need to condition our hearts to desire it!"
"IT'S STILL EFFING FUNNY!" Kintarou laughed even more.
Sakuno sighed tiredly. "Mou…" she blushed embarrassedly.
Kintarou noticed it and immediately stopped laughing. "O-Oh, but I didn't mean you Saku-chan! Yo-You didn't look funny at all, swear!"
"I… I just… I wanted to know… so that the Vesonians would finally stop… If we find out who the next victim is… then we could stop the kidnappers from continuing with their plan… and we'd be able to finally come face-to-face with them. If that happens, t-then…" Sakuno's voice faltered.
Fuji found this as an opportunity and took the moonstone and held it to reflect Sakuno's face. Sakuno stared at her reflection with a confused look then at Fuji. "F-Fuji-senpai…?"
The tensai smiled. "Trust me."
The moonstone suddenly glowed. And it replaced Sakuno's reflection with another picture. Everyone got amazed and they all gathered around Sakuno to see what was happening with the mirror.
And inside the mirror, it showed a girl with green hair. She was walking towards the bakery and just went inside.
"Wow, Sakuno-chan, you're so great! You've conditioned your heart to desire to know who the next victim is!" Eiji said excitingly with a huge childish grin.
"Ah…" she was speechless.
"I know who this girl is," Shiraishi said as he recognized the green-haired girl, "Her name's Shizuka Knightsley. She's in middle-class society and she's a Healing Wizard."
They stared at Shizuka.
"So… she's the next victim…" Taka-san weakly stated.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go warn this girl!" Tezuka said and they all followed him outside.
Ryoma was the last one to exit, but before he was out of the room, he stared at the moonstone on the ground one last time. He got curious and went back inside to look at it. He looked at his reflection, waiting for its magic to work. Suddenly, the moonstone glowed and later revealed a man whom he could swear he saw before but couldn't put his words into it.
He stared at the man even more. He had dark blue wavy hair that just ends around his neck. His eyes are of the same color. He had a gentle and kind expression yet showed he was proud and dignified.
"… Who is this person…?" Ryoma asked himself.
Then, his eyes widened when he realized it. It could be possible that this person was a Vesonian. He desired to know who the Vesonians are anyway so… it could be possible that this man is the leader!
His amber eyes glowed with rage. "So you're the one who made Ryuzaki suffer…" he gritted his teeth angrily.
:||~ElPhIoRe~||:
Knock knock knock
An unfamiliar girl with green hair opened the door. Her amber eyes stared innocently at the people in front of her bakery. "Uhm… may I help you?"
"We're not here to buy bread," Zaizen said nonchalantly. He went inside the bakery without the green-haired girl's consent.
"H-Hey, w-wait… don't just enter here like that!" the green-haired girl yelled as she stomped towards Zaizen who was examining some random breads in front of him.
Zaizen shrugged and took one piece of bread and ate it.
"H-Hey! That's not for free! You have to pay for it!" the lady said.
Zaizen continues on ignoring her as he munched the bread he 'stole'. After a few more minutes of the girl nagging and him eating his stolen bread, he spoke up. "Listen here, lady. I'm Zaizen Hikaru of the Silverchains. And I'm here to protect you, so the least you could pay me is these breads…"
"Z-Zaizen Hikaru? Silverchains? Protect?"
"And you just summarized what I said…" Zaizen bluntly pointed out and began taking another piece of bread. "By the way, you've got nice breasts…"
The lady blushed in embarrassment and wrapped her arms in front of her chest. "W-What!"
Zaizen swallowed before saying, "I meant breads. I said you've got nice breads." He just hoped, well not really, that she'll believe him.
The girl was about to protest some more when they heard a disappointed sigh coming from the entrance of the bakery. It revealed a light-brown-haired man with bandages on his left arm.
"Ah, Shiraishi-san," Zaizen stated in boredom. "I've come to meet Shizuka Knightsley."
Shiraishi shook his head. "That's not the issue right now, Zaizen… I can't believe you've turned perverted… How can you just bluntly comment on a grown woman's physique like that? I'm highly disappointed in you Zaizen."
Zaizen remained expressionless. "I said she have nice breads."
Another person entered the bakery and it revealed all the other Silverchain and Eiralith members. "We're getting off the topic," Tezuka said in his normal, I'm-your-leader-you're-my-servant-obey-me tone.
Shizuka, the green-haired baker, stared in awe at the sudden intrusion of guys—hot guys—in her bakery. And among those guys, she noticed one particular person that stands out, since this person was the only female in the group. "U-Uhm…" her voice faded.
"Pardon us. My name is Tezuka Kunimitsu, the leader of the Eiralith. We're an organization sent by Elphiore and Relphore's Alliance to help this country with regards to the problem of the mysteriously disappearing women. And we had discovered that you, Shizuka Knightsley, is the next victim of the fearsome Vesonians."
…
…
.
.
.
Frankly, the girl did NOT understand a word Tezuka said.
So did the others.
"Uhm… h-hello. I'm Sakuno. I apologize for our sudden intrusion… but we're here to protect you," Sakuno suddenly intervened.
"Uhm… okay…?" Shizuka said unsurely.
"Some important people are going to kill-slash-kidnap you so you better let us in right now OR I'M THE ONE WHO'S GOING TO KILL YOU!" Ryoma said, (not) slightly irritated at the girl.
Shizuka gulped fearfully and nodded furiously.
"Good. Glad we're on the same terms," Ryoma said and walked away.
"Ryoma-kun! You shouldn't have said that! What you did was rude! G-Get back here—" Sakuno followed Ryoma outside.
:||~ElPhIoRe~||:
That night, Inui and the others explained to Shizuka the real situation and their discoveries about what could happen in a short while. They supplied her enough information about the Vesonians, the disappearing women, and such. Shizuka finally understood everything, well some of it, and gladly complied. After their weird introduction to her that morning in the bakery, she was a bit freaked out but now she knows that she could trust them.
Right now, they were in Shizuka's home, not too far away from the bakery. Every member of the Silverchain and Eiralith were already on full-alert, knowing that Vesonians are going to attack any time. They were almost anywhere, inside or outside Shizuka's home, along the streets, in her basement—just literally anywhere. They were pretty good in numbers too so they were confident that they'll be able to catch the Vesonians. Finally.
Shizuka was asked to hide in the basement, along with Sakuno, Fuji, Tezuka and Shiraishi. Echizen, Inui, Zaizen, and Tooyama are on the hallways leading to the basement. Koharu and Yuuji are on the living room. Kikumaru and Oishi are on the kitchen and dining room. Gin, Oshitari, Chitose and Kaidoh are on the streets. And lastly, Kawamura and Momoshiro are on the roof.
Sakuno remained on alert, expecting Vesonians to arrive not a moment later. Then, she looked at Shizuka and found the frightened look of the girl. She smiled and approached her. She held Shizuka's hands and said, "Don't worry. You're going to be fine. We're going to protect you."
Shizuka had some tears forming on the sides of her eyes. Upon seeing Sakuno's assured expression, she knew that she could trust them. She honestly didn't want to die yet!
Just then a violent creaking sound of the wood on the roof was heard.
Tezuka looked up and narrowed his eyes. "They're here," he warned the people around him.
Sakuno, Fuji and Shiraishi nodded, all prepared for the worse that can happen.
:||~ElPhIoRe~||:
"Crappy hell," Momoshiro complained. He was half-grinning half-nervous at the sight in front of him. "Why did you have to start appearing here in the roof?"
"Momo, be careful. He's a positive Vesonian. Just look at the mark on his knee; it's definitely the ones we've been searching for," Taka said almost calmly. He looked back at the Vesonian smirking at them.
The Vesonian had spiky silver-hair and a small portion of his hair was tied back into a low ponytail. He waved an arm at them and began introducing himself confidently, "'Sup. Niou Masaharu, at your service".
Momo grinned lazily and Taka positioned himself on attack position. "Don't be too careless, Momo. His other comrades might suddenly come from nowhere and attack us from any point."
"Yes, yes. Don't worry, Taka-san. I'm perfectly aware of my surroundings," Momo replied as he too positioned himself for attacking.
Niou grinned and began laughing. This earned curious stares from the powerhouse duo of Eiralith. "You don't have to worry about that," Niou said after laughing, "There's only me tonight."
"Huh?" Momo and Taka didn't know whether to believe him or not.
"Believe me, I'm telling the truth," Niou said, sensing that his enemies were not believing him. He won't too if he were in their place. "Unfortunately, my stone of a leader—well, vice-leader—was too mean to give me a partner and set me off here on a mission ALONE," he said with sarcasm.
"Yeah well…" Momo said with a smirk, after he said that though, he disappeared as he teleported towards Niou, "… NOBODY CARES!" He gave Niou a hopefully successful uppercut.
The problem was, it wasn't successful. Niou teleported away just as Momo's fist was an inch from his chin. Taka and Momo found him the next second below, in front of Shizuka's house. "That's mean. Why does everyone kept being mean to me?" Niou pretended to whine and smirked when Taka and Momo glared at him. "Is that all you two got? Come on, there's two of you and only one of me! What a bunch of weaklings," Niou laughed mockingly, much to Momo's irritation.
Then, Momo's glare turned into a confident smile. Niou raised a curious brow at this. "What?"
Niou turned around and found four persons in front of him. Namely, Gin, Oshitari, Chitose and Kaidoh.
In a flash, the six members and their combined teamwork was put to use when they trapped Niou, encircling him.
Niou smirked, looking as if he's relatively proud. "Interesting. Really interesting," he commented. "But…"
Gin, Oshitari, Chitose, Kaidoh, Taka and Momo's eyes widened when Niou jumped up. From their view, the Vesonian was on his silhouette form since behind him was the moon. "… Not interesting enough," Niou continued. And just as what they expected, Niou landed on the roof with immense force and broke the house's roof, letting him inside.
"CRAP!" they all yelled. They ran back inside the house to warn or help their co-members with the Vesonian who had come to challenge all of them single-handedly.
:||~ElPhIoRe~||:
Niou safely landed on the hallway, where he was greeted by surprised looks from Echizen, Inui, Zaizen, and Tooyama. Echizen smirked at him evilly and summoned demons. Upon finding a Vesonian right in front of them, Inui prepared himself to write anything on his trusty notebook and use his magic based on what Niou would do to them. Zaizen, as per always, looked bored and held his silver earring with his forefinger and thumb in a relaxed manner. Tooyama grinned like a child and went on a battle stance.
"BRING IT ON!" Tooyama yelled and ran towards Niou in full force, with Ryoma's demons on his track.
Niou smiled, feeling quite happy that he got to do his exercise. He kind of expected all of these to happen as well. Although, there was still one question that bothers him.
How'd they know that he was after Shizuka that night?
Oh well. What's done is done. Coincidence or not, they are all right in front of him, ready to pound him to death. Yeah, like he'll ever let that happen.
Noticing his odd grin, the four heroes got irritated at Niou and continued with their attacks. Niou side-stepped Tooyama's punches and kicks while he dodged Ryoma's soul-eating demons. While this was repeatedly occurring, he did not notice a wave of water behind him. He only noticed it when he heard the sounds. He looked behind him and found a tsunami right down the hallway, coming at him!
"What the!" he cut himself off, not knowing what he'd do with the random tsunami. He rolled his eyes towards Inui. That data man's probably the one who did this.
Niou faced the weird, random tsunami head on, using just his arms to protect him.
"We got him!" Tooyama declared.
"Not yet," Echizen said and pushed Kintarou out of the way. Kintarou muffled a protest but he was ignored.
'I'm going to catch this bastard. For Ryuzaki's sake,' Ryoma thought to himself when once again, he used his magic to summon the best demon he could think of at that moment; Haezrelah.
Haezrelah is a kind of demon who could catch mostly anything or anyone with its body. Its whole body is made of tin and metal that it made him resemble a soldier from the medieval era. But just in his stomach area, is a huge circular glass container, just about the size of a normal wooden chair. Inside the circular container is a wave of different colors of light. He keeps his entrapped souls there after he eats them. That circular glass container is also a torture chamber. When souls are trapped in there, he could torture them first before completely digesting them.
"Haezrelah, get him!" Ryoma ordered and Haez obeyed him.
Haez ran towards Niou, making metallic clangs in the process. Haez is also equipped with a spear, which he uses mostly for his battles. He attacked Niou with this, making Niou in between Inui's random tsunami and Ryoma's demon Haez.
Niou looked panic-stricken for a moment, fooling his opponents that he was done for. But just as Haez and the tsunami were about to hit him, he smirked confidently and his Vesonian mark glowed.
"He's going to use his magic," Zaizen said monotonously. His previous casual position was then changed into a battle stance; his hand still holding his silver earring.
Haez swung his spear to Niou, ignoring that the Vesonian was about to use his magic. But before he hit Niou completely with his spear, something stopped his spear.
Smoke and dust began surrounding all of them in the hallway. And after a few seconds, it faded away. And it revealed another Haez fighting Ryoma's Haez. The tsunami was also gone.
"W-What?" Kintarou exclaimed loudly. "He could summon demons too?"
Ryoma stared unbelievably at the exact replica of Haez right next to Niou. His Haez was fighting this new fake one that Niou summoned. The sounds of their spears hitting each other echoed throughout the whole house.
"Yes, I could also summon demons," Niou said.
Inui gaped in shock. "How'd you make my magic disappear?"
Niou smirked. "There's a demon who could nullify Spell Casters like you, right?" he looked at Ryoma who glared at him in return.
"The only demon who could nullify a Spell Caster's magic is Lorraine," Ryoma said.
"Yep, that's right. The lovely Lorraine," Niou said with mockery.
"But how did you summon Lorraine in a spun of seconds and summon her back?" Ryoma stepped forward.
"I'm just that great. That's all," Niou said. He turned his head to the side and watched the two Haezs battle each other. Niou turned his head back around to Ryoma and the others again and smiled innocently. "Now, if you would excuse, I still need to take Knightsley with me," Niou said and ran towards the staircase leading to the basement.
Ryoma and the others tried to run after him but they were suddenly stopped when another Haez appeared in front of them, blocking their way.
"Just how many Heaz could he summon?" Kintarou asked irritatingly as he began summoning angels.
"Wait, Tooyama."
Kintarou stopped and looked at Zaizen. "What?"
"You shouldn't summon your Heavenly Beings while Echizen is here," he pointed towards Ryoma who just irritatingly rolled his eyes. It was not his fault he could faint if he were in a presence of a Celestial Being. He didn't like the idea of being a nuisance to his colleagues either.
"Well sorry I'm such a nuisance in this team," Ryoma said sarcastically.
Zaizen smiled. "And that is why you have me to compensate for you."
Just then, Gin, Oshitari, Chitose, Kaidoh, Taka and Momo arrived in time.
Kintarou smiled while Inui and Ryoma questioned his statement.
"So does that mean that you're going to use it Zaizen?" Kintarou asked excitingly. The Eiraliths stared at Zaizen quizzically while the Silverchains grinned with confidence.
"There's no other choice now, is there?" Zaizen said confidently. Then, his earring glowed. "It's my time to show off now."
All of the Eiralith's eyes widened when Zaizen used his power.
:||~ElPhIoRe~||:
Niou stared seriously at the door in front of him. Behind this door could mean more enemy. But it also mean that Shizuka is here.
'If Eiralith and Silverchains were going this much to protect Shizuka, then it means that Shizuka is really the one we're looking for,' Niou thought and smirked. 'Way to hide your secrets from us…'
Niou opened the door and as expected, he was attacked the second he entered the room.
He stopped Tezuka's attack on him by side-stepping it. He ran around the room, trying to get in as much architectural information as possible. His eyes then landed on other pairs of eyes. He could see two more other guys and two girls. One of them is Shizuka, the girl he was looking for.
He stopped running and he summoned a huge tsunami just like the one Inui summoned earlier.
"He's a Spell Caster!" Sakuno said and positioned herself in front of Shizuka. She'll protect this girl no matter what.
"He's got the same power as Inui. Tezuka, don't underestimate him!" Fuji yelled with his eyes opened.
The tsunami washed away the others in no second's time. But before they could all drown in it, Tezuka slashed open a portal to another dimension with his sword and sucked away all of the water.
"Shizuka-san, are you okay?" Sakuno asked the green-haired baker between coughs.
Shizuka nodded, who was also coughing.
Shiraishi stepped between Tezuka and Niou. He glared at the Vesonian. "You're the one who had been taking away our female citizens. I could never forgive you for what you've done. Skytheria hadn't done anything in your country. By doing this, you are automatically declaring war against us!"
"Every country in the world is Vesonia's enemy. Vesonia has already declared war upon many countries before it even disappeared in the hands of Elphiore," Niou explained.
"You're but a bunch of conceited know-it-all," Shiraishi said. "Declaring war against every country? What made you think you could defeat us all? It's only one of you and thousands of us!"
Niou smirked. "We may have been defeated five hundred years ago… but that was only because there was a miscalculation. But it won't happen again."
Shiraishi glared even more. "So we can't talk this out? You're still going to let what the past has done ruin what you have now?"
Niou chuckled. "A person like you would never understand the pain the Vesonians went through. The world saw us as the evil ones. But that's not true at all…"
"What are you trying to say?" Tezuka interjected.
"You don't have to know. You won't believe it anyway," Niou said and began summoning demons.
"He could also summon demons?" Sakuno said with disbelief.
"That's impossible. A person cannot have two kinds of magic at once! That's the fourth of the Universal Law!" Fuji said.
"Well maybe none of the Universal Laws apply to Vesonians!" Niou said and continued on attacking all of them with the demons he summoned.
"That's impossible… unless… there was a Law Manipulator amongst the Vesonians like Relphore," Tezuka said as he attacked the demons with his dimensional sword.
Niou smirked, his eyes blank. 'So they do have a Law Manipulator with them. Interesting information you provide me yourselves. Come on. Just continue on giving me valuable information.'
Sakuno was about to use her magic when Fuji stopped her. "Don't use it. I've got your back. That Vesonian is still not worth using your magic on," Fuji said with a smile. Sakuno just nodded, but she felt a bit unwanted at the moment.
"This is getting out of hand," Shiraishi said. He removed the bandages on his left arm. It revealed a golden gauntlet underneath those strips of bandages. He fisted his left hand and a thick hardbound book popped out in front of Shiraishi.
The book was entitled 'Bible'.
Shiraishi opened the Bible in a page. He stared at the Latin words in the Bible and began reading it.
"What's he doing?" Fuji asked.
Then, a bunch of creatures began appearing from the book. At first it looks like the words in the pages were getting out of the book but once they were at least 5 inches away from the Bible, the Latin words were converted into weird-looking white creatures. These white creatures looked like dandelions.
Shiraishi continued on chanting with the Latin words coming out of his mouth. And white creatures kept on coming out of the Bible. The white creatures attack Niou's demons and with just a touch of their tiny little hands that appeared underneath their fluffy thick furs, the demons disappear.
"I knew it," Shiraishi said. "He's not a Spell Caster or a Summoner."
"What is he then?" Fuji asked, still awed by Shiraishi display of power.
"He's just an Illusionist. He was just playing with us," Shiraishi answered. Niou glared at him.
"How did you know all of that?" Tezuka asked as he watches Niou's demons being defeated by Shiraishi's white creatures.
"The Bible knows the answer," Shiraishi said. "With the perfect execution of my power to summon Mystical Spirits, I could identify the truth behind things."
"So these dandelions are Mystical Spirits?" Sakuno asked as she and Shizuka stared at the white creatures.
"Yes. They are the ones taking care of the world since the beginning. They are the spirit of the trees, rocks, mountains or oceans. They are the caretakers of nature, hence they mostly live in nature," Shiraishi answered.
:||~ElPhIoRe~||:
Zaizen's magic awed the Eiralith members. When he removed his earring, his body instantly turned into a beast. He said, "Echizen, if I were you, summon your Haez back or else he might also get involved."
Ryoma nodded and made his Haez disappear. Leaving only two Haezs summoned by Niou fighting them.
"Wow… he turned into a werewolf," Momo commented.
"Not exactly," Gin said. "Zaizen is taking the form of a Mountain Beast—a mutant creature taking the form of a lion and a wolf. Our Mother Nature has different kinds of beings taking care of her. They are called Mystical Spirits. They are the spirits who take care of our nature. One of these is the Mystical Beasts. It is the spirit of beasts who used to live in our world thousands of years ago. Zaizen had formed a contract with them. Meaning, they will reside inside his body in exchange for letting him use their powers. His only condition is that he won't be able to return back to his normal self once he agrees with the contract. That is why he was wearing that earring to conceal the many beasts that reside in his body."
"That earring acts as Zaizen's power limiter. Once he removes it, he automatically unleashes the beasts' powers," Kenya added.
"Wow… your powers are amazing…" Momo said.
In a flash, they saw Zaizen fighting two Haez at once.
"But can a Mystical Beast defeat a demon?" Ryoma asked.
Chitose replied with confidence, "It's basically up to the person using the Beast's power."
They watched as Zaizen trying to avoid one spear and another. The two Haezs were really fast, that was for sure. But he knew that once they got him, it's bye-bye to his soul. Demons eat humans souls after all. So he better be careful.
He ran around and tried to punch the huge circular glass of one Haez. Unfortunately, it was too strong and it didn't break.
"Don't try to break Haez's stomach. If you do that, it would only suck your soul," Ryoma said.
"Gee. Thanks for the early warning," Zaizen said sarcastically. Good thing Haez's stomach didn't break easily, or else he was done for.
Suddenly, Zaizen transformed into another beast. His other half was suddenly turned into a skeleton.
"Creepy!" Momo said looking slightly pale. Kaidoh also paled in a corner.
"That's the beast taking care of dead animals living in the forests," Gin said.
"No wonder."
Zaizen jumped up and landed on one of Haez's head. He turned to Ryoma. "Hey, what's this demon's weakness? Surely you'd know that since you're a summoner and all."
"His stomach," Ryoma replied.
"Huh?" Zaizen said, "But you said not to break his stomach or else it'll only suck my soul."
"Exactly. The only way to do it is to get eaten by him and destroy him from the inside," Ryoma said.
"So Haez's strength is also his weakness? Not cool at all," Momo said as he turned to Ryoma.
Ryoma smirked. "But Haez is pretty strong. You won't be able to do it unless you're really strong," he challenged Zaizen.
"Just whose side are you on?" Kintarou yelled at him. Ryoma rolled his eyes.
"Try me," Zaizen said confidently and jumped inside what he thought of as Haez's mouth. Well, it was hard to identify since Haez was all metal.
They watched in suspense as they wait for Zaizen to appear inside Haez's circular glass-thingy (also known as his stomach). After a few seconds, a glowing light appeared inside the circular glass.
"He got in," Ryoma said. "The question is… will he get out?" Ryoma smirked.
"D-Don't say that! Zaizen will get out for sure!" Kintarou said.
"So… that's Zaizen soul right there?" Kenya asked as he pointed towards the thing inside Haez.
"Yep."
"But there's another Haez…" Chitose said and looked at the other Haez next to the one that ate Zaizen's soul.
Inside Haez, Zaizen's soul was roaming around the place. It kind of felt weird to have your soul separated from your body. But the good thing about that is there's more than one soul inside his body. He smirked. All of a sudden, all of the beasts' souls residing inside his body popped out and began filling Haez's stomach.
"There's more than one soul in my body," Zaizen said. "Are you feeling full?" he asked Haez.
"And you know what?" Zaizen smirked, "My beasts powers are at its best when their spirits can freely roam around!"
The Silverchains and Eiralith began noticing the increasing number of souls inside Haez's stomach. Then, Haez began glowing. And in a matter of seconds, it suddenly exploded.
They all gaped in shock. Especially Ryoma, who couldn't believe that a mere guy like Zaizen could defeat a strong demon like Haez. Haez couldn't be defeated by such a weak power. He was sure of it. 'Wait a second here. Something's off. Haez is not as weak as that.'
After Haez exploded, and after the smoke and dust faded away, they were greeted by a smirking Zaizen. "The beasts inside of me were all excited that they get to get out of my body… even for just a moment."
The first Haez was defeated! They cheered.
Then, they turned to look at the second Haez.
"It could be possible that the Haez that Niou summoned was a fake one. Haezrelah cannot be defeated by a simple technique like that," Ryoma said.
Zaizen laughed mockingly. "You just can't accept the fact that I defeated a demon, you demon summoner you."
Ryoma glared at him.
"It could be possible that Niou isn't really a Demon Summoner," Inui said.
Then, they began hearing weird noises coming out of the last Haez. It looked like he was restraining something. Then, Haez dropped on the ground and began shaking madly. It glowed for a second before it turned into glowing dusts.
They stared in surprise at what happened. What happened exactly? The second Haez suddenly disappeared!
:||~ElPhIoRe~||:
Niou tsk-ed and let all of his illusions disappear (the reason why the second Haez mysteriously disappeared). They were right. He didn't have two powers at once and they don't have a Law Manipulator (or do they?) with them. He was just an ordinary magician who obeys The Five Universal Laws. "Fine, fine. You got me. I'm just an ordinary Illusionist. They call me Niou Masaharu, the Trickster."
"And I must say, you're a pretty interesting opponent, Shiraishi-san," Niou added.
"So he just tricked us. We have let our guard down," Tezuka said.
The two opposing sides stared at each other in a challenging way before Niou began attacking again. "But knowing my power doesn't change anything now, does it?" he teleported towards Shizuka who could only gape in shock at his speed.
He knocked Shizuka out with a pinch on a vital area on her neck.
"Shizuka-san!" Sakuno yelled worriedly. "I have no choice. I'll use it."
Tezuka and Fuji looked at Sakuno in shock. "No, don't!" they both yelled at the same time.
'Why? Why are they making a fuss about Ryuzaki-san's magic?' Shiraishi wondered.
A mark on Sakuno's chest suddenly appeared. It began glowing.
"NO!" Tezuka yelled.
"Huh?" Niou looked at Sakuno. He stared at the mark on her chest once again. "No… it can't be… She's…"
Sakuno's eye color began changing into different shades of color. From russet to purple to blue to green and lastly, yellow. Niou remained glued on his position. For some reason, he can't take his eyes off of her.
"Firi Austrë Han Huesgh Lie'lore Fŏşique! (1)" Sakuno said.
'I-IMPOSSIBLE! T-That chant…' Shiraishi stared with disbelief at Sakuno, who was currently glowing.
Niou's shocked face was suddenly turned into delight upon hearing the words come out of her mouth. "I… finally… found you…" he said with enchantment, his eyes glowing with utmost delight. He unconsciously dropped Shizuka on the ground.
Then, Niou's eye color began changing as well to the point where it matched Sakuno's changing ones.
"She's really going to use it! Ryuzaki, I order you to stop this immediately! You are not to use this power unless—" Tezuka was cut off by Fuji who told him that it was no use. She was already using it.
"Ryuzaki-san… is the bearer of that power!" Shiraishi exclaimed in disbelief. And here he thought he had the best power among all of them.
"Yes, the sole reason why she was accepted by our leader," Tezuka replied, feeling quite useless at having his teammate disobey him.
"Ryuzaki-chan… has the power to cancel any being's power, memories, personality and etcetera. Be it Heavenly Being, Hell Dwellers, Magicians, Humans, Spiritual Beings or even Law Manipulators. She can cancel it for all eternity. She's The Judge. The one believed in Legends to be the child of God," Fuji said.
"But because of this great ability of her… naturally she also has a great condition," Tezuka said.
"Ryuzaki-chan can't use her magic on a regular basis because of the condition. The first of the Universal Law, 'Every power has to meet certain conditions. The stronger the magic is, the higher the condition'."
"What is her condition?" Shiraishi asked.
"A portion of her life disappears," Tezuka said. "In summarization, we could tell she could only use this power of hers three times in her whole life."
Shiraishi punched the floor. "Then… then… isn't she only just wasting it on Niou?"
"Exactly," Tezuka said.
"We have to stop her!" Shiraishi said.
"We can't. No one could ever stop The Judge once the magic is being used," Fuji said sadly.
Niou and Sakuno's eyes remained on changing its color. Their eyes are at perfect sync. But Niou, instead of looking fearful, was actually looking like he won the lottery.
"Guaô Lẻ'gisa Ỳaehler," Sakuno said and Niou felt like his whole life was being sucked out of him. Their eye color changed one last time before Niou was surrounded by different shades of light. His body shook and he fell on the ground. He raised his head up to look at Sakuno one last time. He grinned like an obsessed man.
"I've found you at last…" he muttered before he fainted on the ground.
Sakuno also dropped on the ground, feeling weak. The lights surrounded them finally faded away. Shiraishi, Tezuka and Fuji ran up to her.
"I-I'm fine..." she reassured them. But she was looking really weak. She coughed a few times before dropping unconsciously on Tezuka's arms.
Fuji and Shiraishi stared at the now-powerless Niou.
:||~ElPhIoRe~||:
The trip back to the castle of Skytheria was filled with tensed silence. Unfortunately, the other Eiralith and Silverchain members arrived a little late than usual. When they arrived, Sakuno, Shizuka and Niou were already fainted. And they found out that the reason why the second Haez disappeared was because Niou's magic was cancelled out by Sakuno.
And upon hearing the news that Sakuno used her magic, Ryoma glowered at everyone. He was the angriest among all of them. Because of their stupid backfired plan, a portion of Sakuno's life disappeared again.
"Again? What do you mean 'again'?" Kikumaru asked.
"Ryuzaki already used her magic once," Ryoma gritted his teeth.
"Oh crap. Then that means she can only use her magic one last time," Kaidoh said.
"It was totally wasted at Niou…" Taka said timidly.
All of them arrived back at the castle and the unconscious ones were immediately treated. Shizuka was being guarded by Shiraishi and Chitose while Niou was being guarded by the comedy duo and Kintarou.
On the other hand, Ryoma stayed with Sakuno, who was being tended by Oishi. He held Sakuno's hands and squeezed them tightly. He didn't really know why Ryuzaki used her magic at that time. Niou was not worth it. She just wasted it.
"Echizen, maybe Sakuno-chan used her magic because she wants to be useful to our team. You don't have to blame her or yourself," Oishi said to calm the prince down.
"I'm not blaming her or myself. I'm blaming the Vesonians," Ryoma said, his bangs covering his eyes.
Oishi sighed. He gave Ryoma a reassuring smile. "Look at the bright side. We've got a powerless Vesonian in our hands. You don't have to put Sakuno-chan's sacrifice in vain."
"…"
"By the way Echizen… when was the first time Sakuno-chan used her magic?" Oishi asked.
"When her parents were killed," he said not hesitating on telling the mother hen. He knew he could trust him. "She used her magic for the first time on the Vesonian who killed her parents. At least that's what she told me."
"So the Vesonian who killed her parents are now also powerless like Niou," Oishi said.
Ryoma nodded.
"Well anyway, now that we have Niou, it means we can use him to find out the Vesonians' hideout. And he won't be able to put much of a fight even if he wakes up."
Ryoma agreed. But still, Sakuno's powers were still not worth using on Niou. They could use another method on restraining the Vesonian instead of having his power cancelled out by his fiancée.
"Once Niou wakes up, we'll shake every bit of information out of him!" Oishi said determinedly.
Then, their door bursts open. It revealed a panicky Koharu.
"BAD NEWS! Niou got away! Some of his Vesonian comrades took him away!"
To be continued.
(1) – Yeah I invented the words. I don't even know what language was that. Haha, sorry XD
A/N: Yep, a cliffhanger. Haha. Sorry for the ultra late update. I was really busy and stuff. But don't worry. I'm not discontinuing this fic (I think). I sure hope that you guys liked the chapter. If not, I dunno what I'll do TT~TT But in my opinion, I am pretty happy with this chapter (maybe because of the fighting scenes ;))Oh, and next chapter will be a filler, to lighten up the mood a bit. Then, proceed to the story again!
Anyway, let me put in some important keynotes (because I think some of the readers already forgot what happened in the previous chapters because of my ultra late update. Sorry again about that T.T). But for those who still remember, you may skip it :)
Eiralith (Seigaku) is a part of an underground organization called Relphore's Alliance of Kingdoms (RAK) that helps people investigate and solve crimes in any country that needs their help.
RAK is divided into different squads. One of these squads is Eiralith, representing the country of Elphiore. Every squad is representing a country. The other squads are going to be revealed on the future chapters.
[] Tezuka is the squad leader of Eiralith.
Elphiore is the name of the country where our main character resides. Ryoma is the king of this country. Well, technically, he's still the prince but Nanjiroh (the current king) left the country to him to train him on being a good leader (that and he wanted a vacation).
Relphore is the leader of Relphore's Alliance of Kingdoms. So far, he's still a mysterious guy with amber eyes and red hair. He's a Law Manipulator meaning he can alter one of the Five Universal Laws. The rest of his identity to be revealed on the future chapters.
[] There are Five Universal Laws. The ones revealed so far are the following. (1) Every power has to meet certain conditions. The stronger the magic is, the higher the condition. (3) Once the magician dies, all the magic he had done to change a person, thing and place would be cancelled. (4) A magician cannot have two powers at once, and (5) A magician would lose his power if his power was used against any creature from the heavens. The Second Law is going to be revealed on the future chapters.
The first Universal Law doesn't apply to Tezuka, Oishi, Fuji, Inui, Taka, Eiji, Momo and Kaidoh because Relphore altered it for them. And so, they don't need a condition to use their powers anymore.
[] The Echizen family (Royal Rulers of Elphiore) are the only ones with the power related to souls. The revealed powers so far are Echizen Ryoga's power which is to Manipulate Souls and Echizen Ryoma's power to Summon Soul-eating Demons.
[] Ryoma's condition was he could only take souls if he were to place his hand on the person's back. He couldn't take it if he placed his hand anywhere else. But because he could summon soul-eating demons, it doesn't matter if he takes the soul himself or not because he'll feed them to his demons anyway.
Hedrick (full name to be revealed next chapter) is Ryoma's loyal personal servant. Extra note: he's the same age as Ryoga.
Heyrth (Hyotei) is an ally country of Elphiore. It's ruled by an egoistic King named Atobe Keigo.
Skytheria (Shitenhouji) is a country floating in the skies. The king is Watanabe Osamu.
[] Skytheria has an independent underground organization called Silverchains. Like RAK, they are a gang of justice. They are not a part of RAK though. But they have received invitation to join RAK because of Tezuka. The leader is Shiraishi Kuranosuke.
Silverflame is an angel residing in a Cathedral in Skytheria. He seems to know an important information regarding Ryoma and Sakuno's lives. Who is he?
Tooyama Kintarou can summon angels. And since magicians can't harm heavenly creatures, he's got an advantage whenever he's fighting.
Ryoma is pretty defenseless whenever he's near an angel. The reason for that is because of his demons and angels are holy and can purify demons.
Wizards are weak against angels. Angels are weak against humans. Humans are weak against Wizards. This cycle is called The Universal Cycle of Dominance.
Fiera (Fudomine) is the country where Momoshiro's fiancée lives. This is Elphiore's neighboring country. More to be revealed on this country next chapter (yes, it's their time to shine next chapter!)
Vesonia (Rikkaidai) is the name of the enemy country of Elphiore. They were at war before it ended five hundred years ago. This country was completely eliminated by Elphiore during the war but there are still some survivors and so they commit crimes on different countries all over the world to gain attention and to indirectly say that the war is still not over yet.
[] Vesonia cast a curse on the Royal Rulers of Elphiore. Ever chosen son per generation will never be able to go out of the castle or else he'll die. That is why the castle of Elphiore is surrounded by darkness all the time.
[] Vesonians use their power with the help of their "will". Because Vesonians are still recovering from the war, they are still not strong enough to activate their powers without a will.
[] Ryoma met Sakuno five years ago when he saved her from three bullies. Sakuno's parents died before their meeting and it was concluded that Vesonians are behind the murder.
[] Sakuno's power was revealed in this chapter. Her power's name is Judge. It can cancel any being's power, personality, memories or even all of it at once! She's pretty powerful!
I guess that's it. Hmm… if I forgot something, please tell it in your reviews… oh and you can also ask me questions to clarify some things :)
Now, the summarization of what happened per chapter! (You may skip this if you still remember)
Chapter 1: Eiralith was introduced and they were in a journey to get to the cursed castle of Elphiore to recruit Ryoma. Ryoma and Sakuno were also introduced as lovers here.
Chapter 2: Ryoma joined Eiralith after thinking about it. But they had an agreement that Ryoma will only join missions that involves Vesonia. Sakuno found out about the cursed son and learned that Ryoma had a brother and felt saddened because Ryoma kept all of this information from her. Kirihara was also introduced here as someone who just returned from his training and he seem to have an affection towards Sakuno. Ryoga was also introduced but his identity was not revealed until the next chapter.
Chapter 3: Ryoga is Ryoma's older brother. Ryoma seems to be afraid of him and tried his best to avoid him as much as possible. After a few months, he was told that he will be going to Heyrth for his first mission ever since joining Eiralith. The ones with him in this mission are Tezuka, Momo, Eiji and Inui. They met King Atobe there and engaged in a few talk over breakfast. Their mission was to investigate an inn with a case of disappearing people. They met the owner, ojii and his wizard employee, Yagyuu Hiroshi. Yagyuu is a water wizard who put a spell on the inn and all of its wooden material as 'fire proof'. Then, they received a letter from Vesonians stating that they will attack the inn later that night.
Chapter 4: They prepared for the battle. They guarded the inn but failed since the inn was suddenly set on fire. Yagyuu died because of a Vesonian attack and so his magic on the inn was cancelled. Then, two Vesonians appeared, Marui and Jackal and engaged Ryoma and Tezuka on a fight whilst Momo, Eiji and Inui tried to put the fire out. Then, Yagyuu appeared, revealing that he was a Vesonian all along. Then, the three Vesonians told our heroes that they only appeared to formally introduce themselves to the King of Elphiore (Ryoma) and left afterwards. When they were on the journey back in Elphiore, Momo and Eiji confessed to Ryoma that Fuji was currently training Sakuno to join Eiralith. Ryoma got mad at this and confronted Relphore, who refused to not let Sakuno join them. Ryoma went back to the castle and found Fuji training Sakuno. Ryoma got mad at Sakuno and told her to leave Eiralith or fear his wrath.
Chapter 5: Ryoma and Sakuno were still in a one-sided cold war (Sakuno tried her best to get to Ryoma's good side again but the prince was too stubborn). They were heading towards Skytheria where their next mission is. After a few drama, the two lovers finally made up. But then, a new love rival appeared, Tooyama Kintarou.
Chapter 6: Kintarou introduced all the members of Silverchain to Sakuno. After negotiating and exchanging information, Tezuka found out that only female residents were disappearing from Skytheria and they were looking for a girl with the name starting with the letter 'S'. Then, Shiraishi told them that the only way to find the next victim is through the moonstone. But to get the moonstone, they must ask an angel named Silverflame to give it to them. Kintarou was revealed to be an Angel Summoner and he summoned Silverflame and asked him for the moonstone. The angel agreed on giving them the moonstone but he had a condition. He wants Sakuno to go look for it since he hid it somewhere in the country. Silverflame's appearance drained energy from Ryoma and so he was sent back to Skytheria's castle to recover.
Chapter 7: Sakuno found the moonstone in time due to Silverflame's help by giving her a code. Then through a crystal necklace, Ryoma had a dream where he and Sakuno were cousins, Ryoga was their immortal clan leader, and he was living in Skytheria. A tragic ending to all of them occurred wherein Ryoga killed Sakuno because he hated her relationship with his younger brother. Then, he gave his immortality to Ryoma just so he wouldn't see Sakuno in the afterlife. Ryoga died because of that and a new immortal Ryoma was left feeling lonely that he'll never get to see Sakuno again. Ryoma woke up from the dream and he was left to wonder what that dream was about.
Yeah, that's what happened from chapter 1-7! Have you guys still remembered it all? Haha XD
By the way, thanks for the reviewers so far:
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Prince of Tennis © Konomi Takeshi.