Sovereign's Tourney: Part 4

The disturbances in the coliseum had finally subsided. Only Riku and the Sister remained. They lay down on the broken ground, amidst the piles of bodies around them. The scent of rotting corpses wafted in their noses, but they were too tired to feel disgusted.

“God. I can’t move…” Riku grunted. His hair was dishevelled. Sweat and blood mixed on his face. His armour was almost destroyed.

“Me neither. I want to kill you so bad, but I can’t even move a muscle.” The Sister was similarly damaged. Blood soaked her clothes, and her prim blonde hair was dyed red.

The two stood motionless. They tried to keep their eyes open as long as possible. Closing them and sleeping was life-threatening, given how much blood they lost. Riku turned his face to the opposite side.

Tap. Tap. Tap. He could barely make out the figure of a man approaching them. A black cloak covered his entire body, and he carried a giant scythe. Riku’s heart was beating 1000 times per second. Regrets washed over his mind.

“I’m sorry, Aki. Guess you couldn’t keep your end of the promise.” He wanted his life to end with a smile.

Riku slowly closed his eyes, letting his life flash before his eyes. Overall, it was a good one.

—-----------------------------

“Kurokawa! Got any plans for that thing?!” Chiyo shouted. It was the most animated she had ever been.

I had no idea what to do. I expected him to be powerful, but he was on the same tier as gods! How could normal people like us defeat such a beast?

“There’s nothing we can do, Chiyo. Just retreat. Save yourselves,” I advised. Hope was lost when he killed hundreds of soldiers with one swing.

“This isn’t like you, Kurokawa. What happened to the young man I played shogi with, who was full of hope? The one who analysed every inch of the battlefield and found the pattern of attack. You were always the last person to give up, no matter what. Bring back that Kurokawa.” Mr Arakawa’s words struck a chord in my heart. But it wasn’t enough.

“I don’t see any source of hope here. What could damage that knight?” I asked Mr Arakawa. My mind was entirely blank.

Mr Arakawa answered with a single word, “Himself.”

The puzzle pieces formed one by one in my mind. Each piece had fit snugly into the other, forming a whole image. The plan had been completed. It was risky, but I couldn’t think of any other option.

“I’ve got a plan. Chiyo, what’s the status of your mana?”

“Not that much, but I can still do some spells.”

“What about your support magic? I need it at max power.”

“Sure, I can do that. What are you thinking?”

I explained it to Chiyo. Her face was dumbfounded, but she slowly accepted the plan.

“This is absolutely crazy. But I can’t think of anything else. Let’s do it.”

“Dii tibi celeritatem dent!”

Chiyo cast a support spell on Mr Arakawa, boosting his speed by over ten times. A blue aura glowed around his body. Even the slightest movements of his body felt abnormally fast.

“I absolutely hate this plan,” Mr Arakawa admitted, “but if this allows me to kill this monster once and for all, then I’ll take it.”

“I’ll apologise properly after we come back home. For now, please bear it.”

Mr Arakawa dashed towards the knight at light speed, almost floating above the ground. He unsheathed his katana, ready for a slash. But the knight sensed his presence immediately. He prepared his sword, unleashing his dark magic through his blade.

He was no match for Mr Arakawa’s speed, though. He effortlessly swung his blade at the knight’s armour, leaving a large crack due to the extra force. The knight could not even react to the attack. He slashed into the afterimage of Mr Arakawa, while the real Mr Arakawa cut his back.

The knight was being humiliated by Mr Arakawa’s agility. Every time the knight slashed, Mr Arakawa dodged and countered with double the slashes. The fallen god had met its match with the enhanced human.

“Chiyo! How’s the progress on the spell?”

“It’s almost done. I’ll be ready at any time.”

Suddenly, immense pressure was exerted by the knight. Mr Arakawa was sent flying, unable to deal the last blow. Rocks below the knight were crushed by his pressure, forming further cracks in the land. Dark aura burst from inside him, forming flames of black around his terrifying figure. It was the moment of truth.

Once again, he raised his sword above his head. The energy around him focused into the blade, cutting through the sky. The width and height of the supernatural blade surpassed the previous one. He was not making our plan easy.

“Mr Arakawa! Now!”

On my command, Mr Arakawa dashed towards our agreed coordinates with his last remaining strength. The knight’s blade was focused entirely on him like the scope of a gun. He refused to let Mr Arakawa out of his sight.

Chiyo had finished her preparations. She floated above like a heavenly angel, her staff pointed outwards at the knight. A light gold aura permeated around her, a contrast to our enemy. It was a confrontation between two forces: the knight of darkness versus the angel of light.

The pressure around the knight had subsided. His energy reached max potential. The weight of the world was dependent on this final clash.

He finally swung his sword down towards Mr Arakawa. The enormous blade of darkness crashed down towards him, ready to disintegrate every fibre of his being.

But the mana blade never touched the ground.

All according to plan.

A glowing golden sphere stopped the blade in its tracks. Chiyo’s mana potential devoured the blade’s aura, converting it from dark to light. Her scream of pain echoed throughout No Man’s Land. It hurt my heart, but I had no choice.

Her skin was scorched by the excess mana entering her body. Its intensity surpassed the limit humans could handle. But Chiyo was a hard-working prodigy. If anyone could transcend humanity, it was her.

The god-like blade had disappeared into thin air. All mana around the knight had depleted. He was no god anymore. He was a mortal just like the rest of us. Chiyo floated above him in the sky. She glowed golden like the sun, staring down at her mortal enemy. Her granite-hued eyes were replaced with bright gold.

“Ferrum deorum!”

A blade of pure light formed magically above her. Its golden sheen reflected the sunlight. The knight could do nothing but stare at his stolen power.

Pressure exerted towards the ground, stronger than gravity. All the mortals were frozen, unable to move a muscle.

She swung her blade at the singular knight, crashing the pillar of pure gold onto the singular mortal. Everything in her line of sight was gone in a second. The ground turned desolate; nothing existed in her path. There was no sight of the dark knight.

We were victorious.

“That was amazing, Chiyo! You did it! Mr Arakawa, you did spectacularly too!”

“Of course we would. I had no doubts.” Mr Arakawa was proud of the team. He must have been happy working together with his student.

I waited for a snark remark from Chiyo, but it never came. I used my observational magic to see her location. She was still floating in the air, her arms outstretched. However, she did not move a muscle. In fact, her body was shaking in the air like a rag doll.

Phoo! Chiyo dropped all of a sudden. Her head was aimed straight at the ground. She was moving at Mach speed in the air. No matter how much I screamed at her telepathically, she did not respond.

“Chiyo!” Mr Arakawa and I shouted out in unison.

Mr Arakawa rushed towards her dropping point at Mach speed. Catching her with his bare hands was impossible: both of them would have been damaged. Wind magic was the only solution to break her fall.

“Fer eum spiritu venti!”

Using his wind magic, Mr Arakawa softly formed a tornado below her, slowing down her pitfall. She softly landed on the ground in Mr Arakawa’s arms. She was unconscious, sound asleep in dreamland. For all the work she’s done in the war, she deserved it.

“Phew, she’s fine,” I sighed in relief.

“She’s grown strong, indeed.” Mr Arakawa smiled softly.

With a bird’s eye view, I observed the rest of the frontlines. The soldiers of Aogiri cried out in glory at our overwhelming victory. Several Aethelheim soldiers had surrendered to our overwhelming prowess. Ashenfall’s troops were annihilated as well.

The battle of the frontlines was an overwhelming victory for Aogiri.

I had to check two more areas: the Aethelheim base and Yukino’s spot. I decided to check on the Aethelheim base commanded by Riku first.

“Riku. Status update.”

I was met with silence. 5 seconds. 10 seconds. 30 seconds. There was still no reply.

“Riku! Are you there!?”

1 minute passed. I was getting worried.

I tried to survey the land using Riku’s point of view, but I couldn’t connect to his consciousness. This meant he was either unconscious… or he was dead.

“Mr Arakawa! I can’t get to Riku!” I started panicking. I had already lost Mr Hide. I couldn’t lose another close friend, too.

“Calm down. I’ll go check up on him. Try contacting Yukino.” Mr Arakawa advised.

I listened to his command and connected to Yukino.

“Yukino. Status update.”

“Aki… Help.”

Those words were enough. I dashed towards a horse and zoomed towards Yukino. Mr Arakawa understood my actions clearly. He placed Chiyo in another soldier’s care and climbed on his horse, dashing towards the Aethelheim base.

My objective was clear. I grabbed the end of my katana tightly. The enemy general would be slaughtered by my hand, no matter what.

—-----------

“Yukino. Status update.”

Though I could barely figure out my senses, I heard Aki’s soft, spoken voice as clearly as possible. If he was asking about me, that meant we had control over the frontlines. I was glad.

I wish I could say the same on my side, though. My vision was blurry, unable to see what was in front of me. My hands were weak, yet they gripped my katana tightly. Drip. Drip. Drip. The gashes in my body were leaking blood onto the floor. I was feeling anaemic.

The advantage I previously had was gone. The enemy general before me, though damaged, stood strong and confident. My stamina had failed me, forcing me to take continuous slashes all over my body. Even my counterattacks had gotten weaker.

I was going to lose. But I didn’t want to die. I had so much to do in my life.

I had to keep my promise to Aki.

“Aki…Help,” I uttered those cries of help with my last remaining strength.

He didn’t need to say anything else. I could feel his presence move closer to mine. The speed and desperation from him were that great. I hated that I was overjoyed. My knight in shining armour was coming to save me. Yet, it proved that I was weak. I wanted to protect him, yet I couldn’t even do that. I was a failure.

“You called your strategist for help? So you’ve given up.” The general was disappointed. She was bleeding profusely from similar gashes, and every piece of armour of hers was shattered except for her helmet. How she was still standing shocked me.

“I never said that. I’ll keep fighting till the bitter end.”

With the last drops of energy inside me, I raised myself into an attacking stance. Hearing Aki’s voice was enough to boost my spirits. I was not going to disappoint him, no matter what.

The Aethelheim general smiled. She seemed proud of my decision to fight, not that I needed her approval. She readied herself into her own attacking stance.

This was our final clash.

—--------------

Mr Arakawa could not believe his eyes. From the telepathic connection with Aki Kurokawa, he expected a shattered dome at the Aethelheim base. What was in front of him was definitely not that.

Towering walls that resembled a maze covered the entire area. Beside it was a coliseum, shattered and destroyed. It resembled an ancient monument weathered from age. But this structure was only built an hour ago. How was it destroyed so badly?

He entered the coliseum through a cracked hole in the wall. The floor was covered in piles of bodies like the stacks of books in Chiyo’s room. Blood splatter was painted around the cracked walls and the crater in the centre.

Arrows pierced through the skulls of the Ashenfall zombies. Cracked pieces of his armour were strewn all over the perimeter. It was obvious that Riku had been here. Yet, he was nowhere to be seen. Not even a trail of blood was present.

He turned his neck at breakneck pace. A sudden presence had just intruded in the area. No, it made itself known. The intruder had always been here. Mr Arakawa stood at the centre of the coliseum, scanning every hidden shadow for the enemy.

Tap. Tap. Tap. The figure emerged from the shadows, his dark cloak floating in the wind. A scythe, the size of the Ashenfall knight’s sword, was in his right hand. Mr Arakawa’s eyes went wide.

“You’re-”

But he had no time to react. The figure’s hand made eye contact with his face.

And everything turned black.