CHAPTER 39: DIM LIGHT

The silhouette swiftly charged at Lyssa, swinging his mighty light-enveloped fists at her.

She dodged, jumping into the air like a versatile cat.

The man formed five shining cyan diamonds, scattering them all over the place. Asahi tried to stop the man, but he swiftly pierced through the steel weighing on Lyssa.

His glorious, cyan cape fluttered upward, his pale skin shimmering beneath the sunlight, and a trail of dark mist followed his feet.

Asahi called out to the man, attempting to reason with him.

"What... who are you?"

Aletha, too, was puzzled. "How did you get here?"

He stared at Lyssa with his blue eyes silently, and blanketed the ceiling of trees with dark mist and fog. Lyssa’s lavender eyes broadened in shock, and hastily she summoned chains. She gritted her teeth and yelled out to the man, slashing him in the process.

"Get away from my prey!"

But despite her yells, the man remained silent, tilting his head away from the woman. He then swiftly dodged those strikes and kicked Lyssa twenty-five meters into the ground. Trying to rise from his grasp...

"This fight is somewhat different from what I expected," Lyssa said, sighing as she grappled with the dirt. "I guess I will have to use my master’s charm. I must secure my ultimate prize!"

As if a secret weapon, she pulled out a glistening amethyst gem and struck it with her fingers. Quickly, the purple canister burst out a purple aura and burned some of her hair to a crisp. Her eyes glowed a bright violet hue.

"With the power of the blinded queen..." She mumbled as she hunched over. "I will now transform into my heart’s wish."

Lyssa swiftly charged at Aletha, swinging her glowing fist at her. Then, when all seemed lost, Clover, from a distance, hastily threw a canister and the dissolving dirt into the air. Suddenly, a luminescent green shield deflected the attacks from Lyssa, knocking her into the air.

Angry, she powerfully punched Clover and forcefully clutched her in the neck, brutally choking her, whipping her face, and relentlessly tearing her skin. Clover screamed in tears while Asahi and Aletha stood there, paralyzed and scared.

"Now what can you do? Huh?" She said as Clover teared up. "You sick peasant, you deserve to die."

Slowly, she pulled the skin off, burning with her purple flaming fingers.

"Clover!" Asahi and Aletha said in unison, staring at the trapped victim.

In this manner, Asahi and Aletha’s emotions boiled with rage. Unsheathing the sword from the storage, Asahi engaged in combat. He slashed back and forth in a swift manner, slightly burning the skin of Lysssa with a green flame.

Without warning, Asahi got pulled by Lyssa’s force, blatantly standing before Clover, unable to move or attempt to rescue her.

"He doesn’t belong with filth like you."

Lyssa grabbed her advanced purple laser pistol and pointed it straight at Clover’s head, brutally jeopardizing their assault. Clover’s emerald eyes broadened while feeling the tip of the weapon sliding down her hair.

She couldn’t process the surge of emotions running through her. Asahi and Aletha stood there, trapped in a transparent barrier.

"Mechanisms... eliminate all of them."

Suddenly, the black steel soldiers swiftly charged from the bushes, knocking Sadiki back. He wielded his long sword and tackled one of the robot soldiers, while Belial’s arrows darted over and pierced through the mechanisms.

(WOOSH)

Asahi and Aletha, now given a chance to escape, ran away from the monster. As the arm of a mechanical robot swung hard at Asahi, Aletha, after having grasped a crimson canister from Belial, threw it and unleashed smoldering flames the size of ten bonfires .

"Well done, soil master," Sadiki called out with precision.

Lyssa, gritting her teeth and shaking her head, whispered in defeat as she and her devices were destroyed.

Defeated, Lyssa retreated, her demeanor diminished.

(SWING)

"Not on my watch." Akwan, despite being depleted of mana, had thrown a fist of fury straight at Lyssa’s heart. His long black hair swiftly swung upwards as he jumped in style, using all he could to defeat her. Belial threw even more arrows while Asahi threw his blade like a dagger.

"Meddling with our saviors is rather foolish for such an intelligent clan of Wraileza," Akwan said as he used the remnants of his creative magic. "It is best... You back off."

As lasers flew into the air and swords clashed against the metal bodies, Akwan replied with a rare smile on his fair face. Out of his hands emerged bouncing bombs that exploded in contact. The enemy, now taken aback by all these overwhelming attacks, began muttering as she kicked her high heels upward and fled.

"I may have been defeated, but this war has only just begun." She said while crawling. "The Queen will save everyone your family has destroyed. Peace shall return." With those profane words, she vanished in the vibrancy of the distant opening of the forest.

"Wraileza will finally unleash its promised wrath soon."

. . .

With that, the silhouette of the mysterious man vanished in a blink, while Lyssa retreated back to her homeland.

After fighting the remaining monsters, Asahi and Aletha sheathed their blades in their Soul Storage.

"Is that all of them?" Asahi asked.

The battle was won, but at what cost?

"Are you two okay?" Sadiki said.

"No," Asahi said. "We need Clover in the hospital now."

"And me," Akwan said as he collapsed to the ground.

"Is now the best time?" Aletha asked as she assisted Asahi and the others. " Let’s bring Akwan and Clover to the hospital. They have done too much. Got it, Sadiki?"

"Got it."

. . .

As they dragged Akwan and Clover over the forest, reaching halfway, they heard a strange, distorted voice sounding out from the bushes.

"Who dares trespass thy grounds?" It said, "You shall not pass."

Just as another person was damaged, Asahi and Aletha unsheathed their blades, with Sadiki joining in as well.

"Who is that?" Asahi yelled to the forest. "Show yourself."

The deep, creeping, distorted voice replied while the bushes grew a dark violet and black.

"With pleasure, rising sun."

Suddenly, a massive shockwave burst through the bushes, pushing everyone but Akwan away. Cosmic roots stretched out from the ground, wrapping around Akwan’s legs and arms. Sadiki and the others tried slicing the roots, but to no avail; they were unable to do so.

A dark black mist peered out from the bushes, with long slender legs, and icky arms. Its face was covered by a strange helmet, featuring a dark, black visor at its center. Its arms were covered in stars and void, with its boots forming a sharp tail in between. The aura that this monster emitted was one of pure terror, evil, and corruption.

Just as they thought they were done with battling, they engaged in another combat. Slender humanoid creatures emerged and bent down to Akwan, grabbing his arms. It spread its gills out from the helmet, with a bright violet ponytail flowing in movements that defy gravity. The creature/

"Princess, we have found him. The being that manifests both Creation and The Universe itself." He said as everyone watched in shock. "...is in our very presence."

His long, crooked fingers slid over Akwan’s dark hair, showing the wanderers.

"This creature has the ability to create whatever it pleases. And yet... still..." The creature said, cradling the boy in its arms. "He’s weak. Nothing but worthless dust and scrap. If only his power could reach all nations..."

As Asahi pulled out his blade, Aletha asked.

"Why do you want Akwan?" She said, "He did nothing wrong. What are you planning to do?"

"Can’t you see, simpletons?" He said as his ponytail coiled around Akwan’s presence. "We are siphoning his abilities so that ALL shall use it. He is nothing but a precious stone waiting to be unleashed."

The creature quickly hovered its fingers over Akwan’s head, stealing the energy grappled with cyan strings. He then shook the being like a rag doll,

"Is this the rumored being who is connected to the Universe? I laugh at this utter foolishness. Is this some sort of deception that we do not understand? Is this a hoax from the power greatest unto us?"

"Who are you?!" Aletha said, tremblingly pointing her blade at it.

The evil creature pushed his hands behind and chuckled with mockery.

"I am one of the Seventeen Royal Servants who serve the Princess." He said with a grating voice. "We are a faction known as The Ending. We do not value the putrid ’magic’ of The Soil. Our power is administered by none other than The Princess herself. With her power, this deceptive world will be tarnished and the rule of the petty Establisher will finally come to an end."

"The Establisher?" Asahi said. "Princess? Who..."

"We do not wish to fulfill your deepest curiosities." He said, "All of these wretched beings in this world will be engulfed in the welcoming glow of our Ending’s Light. We shall scoff at this world’s decay and soon, rejoice as The Ending shall break all who dare conquer."

As the creature’s presence vanished into darkness and air, he screamed in complete confidence.

"Justice will be served. The virtuous end shall come! And all will be welcome to light."

As it vanished with Akwan, Asahi and Aletha recollected the words uttered by the creature.

"Akwan! Wait, did he just say The Establisher?"

Before they could get answers, the being vanished into complete darkness, with only small white flower petals left behind.