**Last night**
The campfire still crackled when Ryo, Snow, and Rex finally decided to call it a night. Rex had a leg over Snow, looking like they had been mid-argument before passing out entirely. Ryo slept peacefully in another corner in his own sleeping bag like someone had tucked him in.
I had gotten up to piss and noticed Zeno sitting on a nearby rock that was a bit high up from where we were. It was his turn to keep watch, and we rotated shifts—two interchanging throughout the night, every night, so as to let the other three get ample rest; and then we rotate shifts the following. We did this nightly since we went on this mission. And it was my turn soon.
After I took a leak, I went over to Zeno, who was staring at the stars.
"You should rest soon, big day tomorrow," I said, leaning on that same rock, closer to the campfire.
He didn't look at me when he responded, "You should go back to sleep. I got it for the rest of the night."
"Not an option. We take turns, and that's just how it is. Get your ass to sleep," I said.
He chuckled and said, "Well, we also need our group leader at his best for tomorrow. We don't know what dangers we will come across in there; we need our secret weapon in tip-top shape."
"I'm not your guys' trump card. We're all invaluable." I replied. I was just trying to get the guy to sleep at this point.
"I know you like to think that way and that we're all equal, but the truth of the matter is—we're not." he finally looked at me with his red and blue multicolored eyes. They looked so elegant under the light of the stars and the soft crackle of the campfire.
"Come on, Zeno… just go to sleep already," I begged.
"You know it's true. You just won't come out and say it, so I'll say it for you," he ignored me.
My only response to him was a blank stare as he unwrapped the bandages on his hands and forearms. When he revealed them, they were black and looked like a disease.
"I was affected drastically by the last incident with the Phantomdrakes. As you can see, I am not fully healed. Even with S class Healing magic. Because of my aptitude for magic, my body is significantly weaker than most of you."
I looked away just to nod. I wasn't going to get this guy to switch shifts with me, so I decided to indulge.
"But because of this, I can access Tantra more easily than others with magic… second to Tubolt, of course. He was the one who taught me how to do it," he rambled.
"I've been meaning to ask how that guy was able to use Tantra along with magic? I thought Tantra was only available to those who can't use magic?" I asked, curious now.
"Simple. Like what I was trying to teach the others earlier—Mana Fusions and Mana Diffusions. Mana Fusions help reinforce one's magic, and then when you Diffuse in that state, it allows one to then get access to Tantra while still giving one control of the highest form of however little mana they have left. That is why when I transform to my Black Arcane Knight state, I can at least use Tantra with some protection—same with Tubolt. If he is not in his Dark Arcane Knight form, the Tantra would eat him alive…" He stared at his arm a little while longer before going on, "Tubolt was the same as me… that's why we get along." He said with closed eyes and a smile.
"Really? That pompous captain of yours has a low mana aptitude?"
"Aye. And if we didn't regulate our mana with Mana Diffusions, then it would eat us alive because we also have weak aptitude for Tantra as well."
"What do you mean?"
He raised his arm once more, and I could see more prominently the black that stained it. It looked like he had dipped his hand in a can of paint and could never wash it off. The black seemed to eat through his veins, and the fire burned a light over it. It looked eerily like my black coating… the only difference was that mine went away…
"You see, if it was just low mana aptitude it would just be bruised skin, but because I also have a weak aptitude for Tantra and had used too much of it then, this was the result."
I stared at his arm and was lost in thought.
"Back to the point I was trying to make… we are not the same, Greed." He paused, then added. "You are better than us."
I scoffed and gave him a finger. "You can fuck right off, Zeno."
He chuckled as he began wrapping his arm back up.
"I know how much you 'love' getting compliments. I couldn't resist." He snickered.
We remained in silence for a moment before he spoke again. I didn't see this next topic coming, but maybe I should have… it is Zeno, after all.
"Promise me this," he said and I waited on his words in pure anticipation. "Promise me that when we get back, you will just love on Belle like she is the only girl in the world."
My face began to take an incredulous look. But all I saw in his was stern sincerity.
"What's this about?" I asked.
"This is me tying my loose ends. If I don't make it back, you have to—"
"Zeno," I said with a still command. I didn't even have to yell or plead my case. He could hear it in my tone.
"Sorry. I know this is not exactly your favorite topic, but I am prepared to die for you, Greed. As weak as my body is, I will stand in the way between you and death if it means you can walk back to the Valley and have a life. Love. A family… so please do not pass up my devotion to that… It's all I have… For I am forever destined to be second." A harsh irony as his red and blue eyes that never mixed glinted, piercing through the night.
I let him speak, and then after some silence, I finally said, "None of us is dying on this mission. When a warrior carries a shield, he doesn't stand in death's path for that shield—the shield stands in the way for him. That's its purpose. And I am that shield—for them"—I looked at Rex, Snow, and Ryo—"and for you, Zeno."
When I said this, I said it with such conviction in my tone. He could see it in my eyes, believe it. I could tell I got through to him with that.
His eyes sparkled as he replied, "Aye, Captain."
I gave him a disinterested look as if it was him who killed the mood and then said, "And by the way, you don't have to tell me twice to love on Belle. She's the love of my life after all."
"Wow, 'she's the love of my life'—could you be any more nauseating? If you get all mushy like that with her, she just might start missing me when I'm gone." Zeno jabbed.
"You're the one always talking about his feelings. And you call me mushy? The only thing she'll miss is seeing you while she's looking at me."
Zeno hissed and said, "Oooo… you make me regret telling you that…"
We bantered a little more as the campfire continued to crackle in the background. And eventually, Zeno had actually fallen asleep on that same rock.
The whole time I was awake, I just kept staring at the necklace Belle had given me; continuously staring at the wolf, rose, and two claw marks on each designated space, and then the empty space behind them all as I held it up to the light of the moon.
Zeno and I never switched shifts again. I kept watch the rest of the night.
***
**Present**
My eyes opened and closed multiple times as I had begun to wake up. The blur of the tunnel and the dark path ahead yawned away from me as I heard fast footsteps below, pattering frantically.
I was being carried away, and the one who was doing the carrying was…
"What's going on?" I said weakly.
"We got separated… and I was the one closest to you. I managed to get the Zion Orb bag, and the rest of them told me to get out with you as fast as I could—"
"You left them behind, Ryo!?" I shouted, finally regaining my consciousness.
"There was no other option."
"Yes, there was. How could you just leave them with that guy!? Turn back now! I'm awake, I can fight." I said as I flailed over Ryo's tired shoulder and we both fell.
When we landed, he took a moment to catch his breath as he watched me struggle to stand.
I managed to get to my feet, but when I proceeded to step forward, I tripped and fell forward onto my elbow, with my other hand just barely catching my fall.
"Fuck…" I said dreadfully.
"I'm sorry… I wish I was stronger. If I was, we wouldn't have had to resort to running."
I said nothing as I continued to struggle on the ground.
"If you want to go back, I will go back with you. But they will be angry to see us. The priority was you and the Zion Orb," Ryo said as calmly as he could.
There was an uneasiness in his tone I was not used to. He was always in control of every situation he faced. If Ryo, the third strongest mage of the Kingdom, one they called the Heart of the Valley, had chosen to run, then it probably was the best option we had. But still…
"I can't leave them… I won't leave them, Ryo… I promised… I promised we'd all make it out of here alive!" I forced out as I dragged up my battered body. I had forgotten my right arm was dislocated. The fact that I had used it to catch myself a moment ago proved I had forgotten about the pain.
I grabbed it and moved my shoulder around until…
Crack!
I had forced it back in place, biting on the gravel as I did.
"Take me back," I commanded.
My back faced Ryo, and I knew he disagreed, but I was still the leader of this mission. So I decided to enforce that solely in this moment. And he obeyed.
"Are you okay to walk like this?" he asked as he put my arm over his shoulder.
"I have to be," I replied as we made our way back to them.
***
Back in the massive room where the Zion Orb was retrieved, Rex, Snow, and Zeno had been holding off the mysterious man who appeared moments earlier.
As he stood in the center of the three of them, Snow unleashed steam that fogged the area around the man thickly. His Steam magic had many properties to it, allowing him to convert it to mist or fog, heal or restore mana, cause explosions, and even cast illusions onto enemies.
The man remained where he was as he observed the shadowy figures around him move in all directions from behind the fog.
He shifted his eyes every which way, catching sight of where Snow or the others may be.
A bullet hurled in his direction, but he dodged it effortlessly with a tilt of his head. And then another hurled, and then another as they rained down onto him from within the fog. He dodged and countered each one like he was shadowboxing as he left the bullets pinging to the ground one after another.
Then, after the rain of bullets, Snow finally appeared from behind, but the man knew he was there.
As Snow, with a gauntlet covered fist, threw his punch, the man ducked and spun-kicked Snow on the side. He reacted and looked as if he was going to fly off from that strike, but he remained and wobbled instead.
When the man saw this, he knew instantly and tried to retract his kick, but he could not.
As he looked at Snow once more, he had looked morphed beyond recognition as he began bubbling intensely, followed by an explosion.
Snow had exploded. Or rather, a clone filled with steam.
The man flew backward from the detonation and dragged his feet to stop the momentum, but as he went deeper into the fog, another Steam clone grabbed him from behind, locking his arms from under his. Then another came running to him like a tackle, then another and another until they had all emerged from the fog all at once to subdue him.
They then beat like a heart as Snow echoed an incantation from the ethers,
"Steam Magic—" and they all erupted simultaneously. "—Scorching Hydro Blast"
The explosions set off one after another, unendingly, until the gusts from the explosions blew away the fog, leaving only trailing smoke.
The real Snow had been orchestrating the whole thing from the sidelines as he released his hand sign at last.
Right then, he heard a whistle and an unknown silver spear shot out from the smoke and grazed him on the cheek, slashing off a bit of his blond and blue-tipped hair.
Snow dashed away, gliding on the puddles that his Steam clones had left over after detonating. He made a gun with his index, middle finger, and thumb and held the bottom with his other hand as he continued to glide, shooting Steam pistols back into the smoke where the man still was.
No reaction.
And then with one swift motion, the man wisped the smoke away with one extended arm to his side. He remained expressionless as he appeared unscathed by the Steam bullets.
What the hell is this guy on? Snow thought.
He blinked, and the man was gone. And just like earlier, he was behind him without notice—without sound.
Snow managed to react, whipping himself around from the motion of his glide and his pointed gun-shaped hand in the man's direction. He attempted to fire, but nothing shot…
Not again! he thought as he recalled the silver spear that grazed him a moment ago. That thing…
Right as he thought about it, the man whistled again, and the silver spear shot back to Snow. He watched as it flew at him after he had somehow been rendered magicless.
But before the silver spear could pierce him, Snow was pulled away by a string of green aura.
The man whistled again, and the silver spear morphed into a pistol as it fell into his palm. He cocked the silver gun and then pointed it at Snow, who was still being pulled back, and fired.
Then a black pillar burst out from the ground, shattering instantly from the shot.
Snow maneuvered away to another direction automatically, checking himself for any gunshot wounds all the while.
When he landed next to Rex, he said, "That silver weapon he's using cancels out magic."
"Yeah, that's gonna be a problem… is it a Nullifying magic weapon?" Rex asked.
"Doesn't seem like it. When he shot that silver gun, it definitely shattered Zeno's black pillar, yet I saw no bullet. If it was Nullifying magic, the bullet would have kept passing through and hit me, but it didn't," Snow said. "Remember earlier when he shot us point-blank after rushing him? There was no bullet from that either."
As they briefly exchanged intel, a wave of black pillars shot over to the man from all angles. It coursed through the ground and then through purple sigils in the air as they kept appearing. The man hopped in the air, avoiding the pillars that turned into spikes below him, using another pillar's flat surface to push him away from the rush of them forming and following him in the air. He dodged those, too, somehow, like a skilled acrobat. But just as he landed on solid footing, from his foot that touched the last pillar, black spikes etched his leg, piercing through the ground, preventing his movements any further.
The pillars formed into spikes, but he looked unscathed even from their attempted punctures. Though before he could remove it, more purple sigils formed in the air all around him like an ambush.
Black pillars surged out and rained down onto the man. He had nowhere to go now.
It was then, as the pillars appeared, a black chain connected each of them together, wrapping him endlessly in what appeared to be a discombobulated coffin.
"Shadowsteel Magic: Black Chain Coffin," Zeno chanted as he formed another hand sign—double casting, "Black Tower!"
Then from above, an enormous purple pentagram manifested and a gigantic black pillar fell from it.
It fell with a heavy descend as the man merely looked upward, still with no expression as he let if fall onto him, trapped within Zeno's previous spell.
The Black Tower slammed onto him like the step of a giant, pulsing air and sending gust their way.
From a distance, Zeno was wrapped in Snow's Healing Haze, which regulates his mana and even slowly restores it. He held his hands out as he commanded his last spell, taking slow, concentrated breaths all the while.
But as he relaxed his arms, The Black Tower shattered, with the man within, once again, unharmed.
"Holy Keeper almighty!" Rex said as his black star eyes glowed, and green aura shot from the shattered black bars and connected to the man. He simply watched it happen as the pieces shot back down to him from whence they came. "Stay down already!"
Snow then cast another fog around him, shrouding him once more as Rex stepped over from behind and cast a simple string of green aura, almost like a rope, from himself directly onto the man trapped within Zeno's shattered black bars and the thick of Snow's fog.
From it, more of Snow's clones emerged like an eerie horde and stationed themselves all around, facing the man.
Rex hopped once, and then he was off; his Trajectory magic taking him sideways while being connected to the man in the center of it all. It pulled him endlessly around the male, his green aura rope igniting Snow's explosive clones with each pass by.
He whipped around continuously, gaining speed each time. And all the while, Snow kept forming Steam clones that continued to get set off with each pass Rex made.
"Now, take this!" Rex said as he maneuvered himself above the explosions, his green-aura rope still connected to the man within. He unholstered his long-barreled guns, flipping them in the air as they shone their pristine black and gold color. Rex's black puffer fluttered as his embroidered Yellow Jackets logo on his back symbolically buzzed with him, and he made a quick hand sign with his guns still twirling to his sides, chanting,
"Trajectory Magic: Howitzer Cannon Blast!"
He shot a blast larger than his two pistols, adding the final touch to the endless explosions. And when it touched down, it caused a shockwave that lit this massive cave up, mimicking the Zion Orb's light.
Rex's black star eyes twinkled at it all, signifying his sure-fire spell.
The spell he had cast not only shot a powerful blast onto his enemy, with his green aura string connected from him to his target, it was like a literal path for his bullets. Even if he were to somehow dodge or evade it, it would follow him until they inevitably struck.
And with Rex' prior awakening, unbeknownst to him receiving the blast, Rex had already spread his green aura threads in a wide range below the man's feet; connecting each and every piece of gravel in the nearby vicinity.
The ground below the man began to ripple like water, and above him the impending Howitzer Cannon Blast still raged down while the explosions from earlier still detonated all around him.
"But wait… there's more!" Rex said as he crossed his forearms, guns still out, in a cross symbol—a hand sign of sorts—and chanted, black stars blazing,
"Trajectory Magic: Uroboros Point."
Right then, the Howitzer Blast connected to each piece of stone, gravel, black pillar, Steam clone around. The ground pulsed upward sending everything in the air to suspend as if gravity had lost its law in that area alone. The man in the center of it all, watching diligently as the green aura strings that the Howitzer Blast emitted pinged to each and every object there… and became the previous spell.
"A fitting name for this spell, don't you think?" Rex said from above, "Each and every one of these objects around you—from the pillars to fucking gravel are connected. And Uroboros Point ties them all and lets them become whatever my last spell was, meaning…"
It was then that a multitude of blasts manifested from every which way, almost transmutating everything connected into the very same thing.
"Everything you see becomes Howitzer… with the sole exception of their destination—their 'point'… and you are that point. The serpent that eats its own tail… you are the tail in that example by the way."
The Howitzer blasts formed, looking like a galaxy of shots ready to rain hell onto the man, who was still enveloped in the sea of explosions. And when they coursed, light swallowed the place in white. What was once a single guaranteed hit, became a multitude of guaranteed hits that rivaled one of Zagura's blasts. The end all of end all's.
Rex used his magic to pull him away before the blast reached him, regrouping himself with Snow and Zeno to his sides. Zeno then cast a black wall of pillars to protect themselves as the enigma surged like a wave toward them and all around.
They watched in silence as the endless barrage consumed the man to no end. Thinking, perhaps, that the move was overkill. But they'd rather it this way with how everything had turned out since his arrival.
"We should run while we can. Catch up to Ryo and Greed," Zeno suggested.
"No," Rex replied. A surprising answer. "He will only catch up to us if we run… look…"
After he said this, the explosions and smoke, as if being dispelled, blew away, leaving only the man, unbroken still, and now holding a silver katana extended out to his side.
"It's impossible… how are we supposed to beat him?" Zeno said. The one who was usually the calmest and collected, now beginning to get frantic.
"We have to use Zagura again," Rex said, like they had no choice.
"What!? I can't! I already need Snow's Healing Haze to keep my mana in check. I don't have enough mana for another Zagura!" Zeno shouted.
"We have to man! If we run now and he catches up to us, we all die!" Rex argued.
"No! We have Greed! He—" was all Zeno could say before Rex slapped him across the face. A side of him that few seldom see—radiating his true title of Captain.
"Zeno," Rex said steadily, the opposite of his slap. "He beat Greed…"
Zeno's eyes shuddered as he looked into Rex's black star pupils—unwavering, as his should.
"Besides. Wasn't it you who said you would stand in the way of death for him?" Rex added.
Zeno hesitated before responding, "You heard that?"
"Aye. We all did," Rex said as Snow glanced over and nodded, still watching their enemy ever so closely. The man still hadn't moved since dispersing the blasts and smoke so effortlessly.
"One more Zagura. That should do the trick," Rex said, his mood completely different than before.
"For once, I agree with this asshole," Snow commented.
Pondering and catching his breath, Zeno took his time to answer. He looked over to the man who remained there; he still hadn't moved from where he was…
"You see him? You know why he's not moving?" Rex said. "He wants us to run. If we had like you wanted. He would have seen which of these tunnel exits we went through and then slaughter us one by one, catching up to Ryo and Greed, stealing the Zion Orb, and then slaughtering them too. I will not let the possibility of that ever happen."
Zeno digested his words. And he was right.
It was then; his fear turned into resolve. "I'm sorry. I lost my composure, you are right."
"And plus," Rex added. "You're a key component to Zagura's form! We can make do without Ryo. Zagura would be less powerful without him, but we still have Snow and his explosive Steam!" He turned around and held up a flexed arm to Snow, along with that stupid, cheerful smile they both knew him for.
Snow snickered and said, "Idiot…" he shifted his words to Zeno and his turquoise eyes gleamed through his rounded glasses, "You heard the Yellow Jackets Captain. Let's give this guy hell!"
Zeno returned to the situation at hand, "Aye," he said, throwing up a hand sign instantaneously. "One more Zagura for the books!"
"That's more like it!" Rex said after him. He clasped his hands together as well, and Snow followed suit.
The man merely watched them, still with zero expression on his face as they all chanted,
"Shadowsteel Magic: Ashen Creation!"
"Steam Magic: Ignition Haze!"
"Trajectory Magic: Formbinding Godthread!"
Their auras roared as the three mages glowed purple, light blue, and green.
The man's silver katana hissed when their manas all glowed intensely, Eat… Eat… Eat! It seemed to say. He glanced at it as it spoke to him.
Just like before, Snow's Steam enveloped them, and black shields protruded out from both the ground and air. When all the pieces were in place, Rex's Godthreads connected all of Zeno's black shields over the mist Snow had cast over them.
It was a smaller scale due to their low mana, and with no Ryo with them, nonetheless, this was still…
"Fusion Magic: Bound Colossus: Zagura!"
They all said. The air exploded when it roared, blasting a gust of thick air pressure over to the man. He had to hold himself in place from the emission of its force.
Hungry! Eat. Eat. Eat! The man's silver katana spoke to him again as Zagura began to charge one of its powerful blasts pointed in his direction.
The man whipped his katana over to the other side of himself, readying a slash all the while.
The massive room filled with intensity as both parties prepared their devastating blows.
From the three mages within, they roared as one with Zagura as their voice.
Their powerful beam shot out in a direct path onto the man. He did not flinch. He did not waver. Still in that stance with his silver katana that spoke, in a drawn-out way, he whipped his arm back to Zagura's beam, slashing it away entirely followed by a loud, drawn-out clang.
The beam dispersed, trailing all the way back to Zagura as it seemed to permeate its neck, passing through and then hitting a nearby wall.
It was only after the rock and debris had hit the ground that Zagura's form dispersed in an instant.
No. No. No! Not like this! Rex thought as he desperately formed another hand sign, but nothing happened.
Snow didn't even try to comment, and Zeno had the look of fear on his face once again. They were all completely out of mana…
The look of shock rippled through the three mages all at once like a spreading infection. That was their final and all, and yet they…
Then, almost like a second wind, Zeno shot forward to the man. No mana. No magic. Reacting solely on instinct, as the only thing he had from the intense focus in his red and blue multicolored eyes to his bare knuckles pulled him forward in a desperate attempt to keep his promise. He was but a blur, but for a short few seconds, it had seemed his eyes had finally become purple for that short second…
He appeared before him in an instant. The man had barely finished the swing of his slash. When he saw Zeno there before him, he twitched an eyebrow so slightly one would barely notice.
Zeno shot his fist forward, unravelling his bandages and revealing his black colored forearm and fist.
The man reacted and blocked his punch with his palm.
Right at impact, the black that diseased Zeno coursed upward to his neck, looking like bolstering veins. From the side of his face, jagged white fangs emerged like a parasite eating him alive.
"I see. Now I'm starting to understand that other guy's Tantra after seeing yours," he said as Zeno remained pushing against the man's palms, grounding his teeth and struggling to pierce through. "Unlike his, though, the reaction on your body is more understandable." He gripped Zeno's fist and began pushing it back. "A last-ditch effort."
As he said this, he pulled away Zeno's fist. Compared to Zeno's six-foot-one height, this man was about six-foot-five—the size of Nash.
And not only was he mysteriously powerful, but his physical strength alone was also something to be praised. He didn't even need Tantra to overpower Zeno's as he snapped his arm and threw a punch to his chest, whipping him backward to Rex and Snow.
Zeno managed to keep his balance regardless, ugly as it was, and staggered there as he stood next to Rex.
Right then, the man's silver katana morphed into a pistol once more and held it in their direction. And when he did, in that moment, the massive room turned pitch black, like the only light from the veins of the cave had flickered unknowingly, and all that could be heard was the sound of three gunshots…
BANG! BANG! BANG!
When the cave lit back up, the only thing that was seen was Snow, Zeno, and Rex falling to the ground, eyes wide open, with gunshots through their heads. And the man who pointed his silver pistol at them.
As they fell one after another in consecutive motion, the sight of Rex's fall, the drop of his two black and gold pistols, and the splatter of blood from their heads was all Ryo and Greed witnessed when they finally made it back to the massive cave.
Silence rang in their ears so loud that there was no other noise except the ping of three black bullets hitting the ground. And Greed's agonizing cry at the sight of three of his closest friends…
It was at this time that the silver pistol the man was holding spoke once more. Both Ryo and Greed heard it as well, and its voice sounded like an ethereal, grave whisper,
Noir… Anima.
"NO!!!"