No one expected

Chapter 22

After another day of training, because of a special invitation, Naoya found himself back at the Greenwood Bastion’s Great Hall. Along with him came the members of Cipher and Halo Unit. Captain Bellan was busy watching over the remaining participants of the Fitness Course, but in his place was General Horius, who was very curious about the duel.

At the center stood Naoya and Hisora, facing each other in the same place they first met.

“Just like your duel earlier. We will fight until one is incapacitated or killed.”

“Ummm, honestly Hisora, I don’t know if I can do this. I mean, can’t we just do something easier like, restrain the other person or--”

“No, Naoya. It won’t be enough, just like your opponents earlier. Your duels weren’t enough to bring out your full potential. Now, your opponent will be me, so I can determine the full extent of your skills… and who you really are.”

Naoya turned to Captain Eiren, who stood nearby as their mediator, and found the captain watching him with a mix of curiosity and concern.

He turns back to the fox faunite. “Just to be clear, we will both be fine after this, right?”

She nods. “I promise. Everything will be alright once this is over.”

Trusting her words, Naoya summons his staff beside him.

Silence filled the Great Hall, and the spectators were full of excitement at the duel they were about to witness.

Captain Eiren opens his book, and his eyes glow white as a wave of light ripples through the entire hall. “I’ve isolated this space from the real world, so don’t worry about holding back. Your goal will be simple: incapacitate or kill your opponent, by any means necessary.”

The two combatants held each other’s gaze, no longer shy and breaking eye contact like the first night they met.

Captain Eiren’s voice rang across the hall.

“Three, two, one…”

…

She had been waiting for this moment for a long time. A very long time. She never stopped in her quest. Never rested.

Her grief was her greatest source of strength, a reminder of what she lost. And she was ready to let the world that took away her everything, feel her grief.

But out of nowhere, a different path appeared. The smallest glimmer of hope, the smallest possibility, was presented to her one night. The image of a young man fighting clones of her subordinate alongside the Aetheryn Order’s Knights.

She did not rush. She needed to be patient, especially with a matter this important. She needed to learn more. So, she ordered her subordinates to scout him first, to study everything they could about him, and perhaps befriend him.

After more than a year of observations, the small possibility became a small certainty. And it was time for a more personal approach.

…

“I like the idea, but I do not understand why we need this. Our armies are already perfect, aren’t they?”

“Well, they are, Your Highness. But you see, I supported this because it will give our warriors more ideas to grow, and add the fact that my great friend Langston Valiansteel is leading these Knights, so I know that they’re a formidable force.”

“And to add even more incentive to host this event, you could also use it to bring Princess Ana back home.”

“Ohhhh, you are right! Hahaha, this is why you are my chief strategist, always thinking of creative plans.”

King Kaelen stands up from the meeting table.

“Alright then, you’ve convinced me. It has been a while since we’ve had visitors. Horius, draft up the necessary proclamations, and I’ll approve them when you’re done,” he says as he walks towards the door, followed by his retainers.

“Oh, and Hisora?”

”Yes, Your Highness?”

“Great job on coming up with this Joint Training Cooperation,” he says with a smile

The stage was set, and now it was time for her to find out the truth herself.

…

“Ladies and gentlemen, guests from afar. Please all rise for House von Skalbjorn.”

As she enters the Great Hall with the rest of the nobles, she closes her eyes, using her mind to better find him through the sea of visitors, and sure enough, she feels his eyes on her, completely capturing his attention and following her all the way to the stage. She almost had the urge to jump into his arms right at that moment, but not yet. She still wanted to learn more.

They faced each other that night for the first time, and their mutual feelings were already evident. Perhaps an echo from their past, she thought. Their meeting seemed very short, but thankfully, the princess and the king gave them a better chance.

He was more radiant than she remembered and more daring with his approach, but was still the same awkward guy who struggled to express his feelings.

This was almost enough to convince her, but not yet. She still wanted to learn more.

She listened to his stories, completely absorbed in his words, which brought back similar nostalgic memories she had almost forgotten. His countless ramblings about his studies as she simply watched and listened. Just the two of them, alone together.

From that point on, piecing together clues from the past and the present, the small certainty now turned into almost a complete certainty. Years, no, decades of heart-wrenching grief, elaborate machinations, and intricate deceptions, all leading up to this moment.

She just needed one more sign. One more answer to the question she had asked since she first saw him.

“Is it really you? Have you finally returned…?”

…

“Three, two, one… To the death!”

A powerful shockwave immediately emanates in the space between Naoya and Hisora, caused only by the intense clash between their minds, almost blowing away the spectators from across the hall.

None of them wasted a moment and dashed towards each other, the sound of steel clashing as their weapons met: Naoya’s staff, and her large grey scythe, a darker shade than its wielder’s hair. They continue exchanging blows at close range, nimbly dancing around and reshaping their environment.

Eventually, the two fighters create space between them, taking a quick break to catch their breath and plan their next move. Both of them have sustained injuries, with Naoya looking worse for wear than Hisora.

But it wasn’t just them that looked damaged. The Great Hall inside Captain Eiren’s spell was in even worse shape. The stage was completely torn off; the ground was missing in some places, sticking out in sharp spikes on others. Even the tall ceilings were chipped and burned, their missing pieces scattered on the floor.

The spectators were all equally shocked at the display they had just witnessed.

“I already knew Naoya was talented, but I still can’t believe he’s able to match Hisora that well,” Ana comments.

“Who is she?” Astrea asks the princess.

“Hisora? She’s probably the most talented mage in the kingdom ever since the end of the Demon Lord wars. She’s a lot younger than me, but even before I left Jaruna five years ago, she had already graduated from Viridican Arcanum, which is basically our Academy, and she was already recruited by the Legion. Crazy, right?”

Astrea looks back at the mage with suspicious eyes.

“That weapon…”

The battle continues as Naoya readies his staff. Hisora drags her scythe on the ground and fires off a wave of sharp stone spikes at Naoya, who stops it in its tracks by temporarily removing a thin slice of space in front of him, a very advanced spell he learned during his Academy days.

The duel turns from close-range encounters to a battle of pure magical abilities and imagination. Unseen attacks slash the walls behind the combatants, the ground is engulfed in flames, and those flames are gathered into an enormous ball. Which is then solidified into a crystal-like material, shooting thin, sharp lines at high speeds towards Hisora.

The two of them didn’t show any signs of slowing down, even despite their increasingly worse condition. Their power and creativity were on full display, reaching a point of inverting gravity itself and removing light from their surroundings. Until finally, one of them makes a mistake.

Naoya rushes forward to deliver a powerful strike at Hisora with a lance and a spectral horse he had summoned. But he immediately senses danger and leaps backward just in time to dodge a massive sword from above, smiting his horse instead.

However, he lands on a glyph, and before he realizes his mistake, he is teleported in front of Hisora and stabbed directly in the chest, her scythe’s massive blade poking out of his back.

Naoya falls on one knee, realizing his defeat and smiling weakly at the person in front of him.

“Well played, Hisora. I lost.” He looked up at her as blood poured out of his mouth.

Her expression was nothing like he expected — she looked at him with a trembling smile.

She cradles his face in her hands and leans forward.

“It really is you.”

“After all this time, you’ve finally returned to me…”

"…my dark flame.”

She kisses him on the lips, and pale shadows surge around them, dimming all of the light in the hall.

…

Back in Valebryn, as his gun finishes a fleeing Noctis operative, someone special suddenly appears behind him.

“Now what could be so important to make you leave your tower?” Sir Valiansteel asks.

A mage with blue, wavy hair, wearing a large hat and elegant robes, stood in front of him and spoke in a serious tone.

“Langston, the Hero Party’s spell is broken. I just sensed it right now.”

The Prime Sentinel shoulders his gun.

“Oh boy. Things are about to get messy, aren’t they?”