Final Battle: Part 1

Phase one, separate the two kings, was complete. Only King Alucard and I were left in No Man’s Land. He stood still, bewildered by the sudden disappearance of Emperor Nobunaga.

“That ability. So Masao Suzuki was still alive.”

Bullets of sweat dripped from his forehead. It was obvious that he did not predict these turn of events to occur. He gripped his sword even tighter than before, still pointing it towards me.

“What’s wrong, King Alucard? You seem scared stiff,” I playfully insulted him.

“Don’t underestimate me, child!”

King Alucard launched himself at me at the speed of sound, leaving a large crater where his feet once stood. The edge of the blade came closer and closer until it was just a hair away from me. But my observational magic was two steps ahead.

I effortlessly dodged his sword slash. No matter how many slashes he threw, none of them even came close to damaging me. His breaths got heavier and heavier as he flailed his sword haphazardly around.

“Is that all you got? I expected more from a king of your status. How disappointing!” I continued to offend him.

A sudden burst of mana shot out of King Alucard. It was unlike any mana I had felt in this world. The sheer volume and intensity of this outburst weren’t human. It was equivalent to a large army.

Bingo.

“Begin phase two!” I shouted into the air. It was still filled with the stench of corpses.

Two powerful slashes cut through the raging sea of mana, damaging King Alucard. However, only small cracks were left on his thick armour. His body was still pristinely undamaged. He gazed at the source of the two slashes.

“Ms Fukuyama. So even you’ve betrayed your leader,” King Alucard voiced out, “And you’ve brought a friend.”

“It’s not a pleasure to make your acquaintance, King Alucard,” Yukino expressed sarcastically.

“How dare you lie to us! Forcing innocent people to battle to the death for your own selfish satisfaction… That’s too cruel!” Natsu cried out. Her face was filled with unforgivable anger.

“You mortals won’t understand our goal. I just have to clean up my mess as usual!!”

Suddenly, King Alucard stabbed his sword into the ground. He took in a large breath.

“Mundum in nive et glacie infinita congela!”

The temperature around us dropped immediately. I could see my breath softly float in the air. Yukino and Natsu rubbed their shoulders, trying to keep warm. Snowflakes began falling from the sky. This kind of ice magic was almost equal to a god.

His sword doubled in size, its blade encased in a dense ice exoskeleton. He lifted it onto his shoulder with ease as he stepped towards the three of us, a trail of ice formed behind him.

Boom! Once again, he rushed at us at breakneck speed. Within a short beat, the three of us dodged the sword before he smashed it into the ground. A mountain of ice formed where the blade had hit.

“That much power is straight up unfair!” I shouted without thinking.

“Can my sword even do anything against that much ice? “ Natsu gripped her sword tighter, hoping it could bring out more power from within her. As someone who couldn’t use magic, the disadvantage lowered her confidence.

Only one of us was unimpressed by King Alucard’s feat. She moved forward, her eyes laser-focused on the monster in front of her.

“Lux dei mihi luceat”

As Yukino raised her blade towards the sky, a pillar of light pierced the heavens. The morning sky, with its mixed colours of purple and orange, had been overshadowed by the golden sheen of Yukino’s sword. Her ability dwarfed the black knight’s.

“Hraaagh!”

With a war cry, Yukino slashed her sword downward. The mountain of ice was instantly vaporised by the ginormous beam of light. If it weren’t for her shout notifying King Alucard of the attack, he too would have been disintegrated.

“So this is the power of the princess of Aogiri…” King Alucard stared at Yukino with awe and fear.

“Were you holding back against me this whole time?!” Natsu suddenly got angry. She felt offended at Yukino hiding her abilities.

“Not exactly. I didn’t have the prep time to use it on you,” Yukino answered with a wry smile.

I knew Yukino was powerful, but I had not expected this much power from her.

—-------------

Emperor Nobunaga was mid-air. To his left and right were two dilapidated buildings. Below him was a cobblestone road. It didn’t take long for him to realise where he was. He wondered when he had last entered Ashenfall.

Above him was a familiar face: Masao Suzuki, the previous winner of the Sovereign’s Tourney. He had already betrayed him once, 10 years ago. Even after being taught a lesson, he was ready to betray the emperor of Aogiri once again. Emperor Nobunaga was excited at such resistance.

“Do it now!” An order came from below. Emperor Nobunaga recognised the aged raspy voice of Arakawa immediately.

“Glandes deorum!”

Rocks surrounding the perimeter floated above the buildings, converging into several spheres the size of domes in the sky. Molten lava flowed through the gaps in its structure. All of a sudden, these spheres fell to the ground, homing in on Emperor Nobunaga.

Crash! Several of the spheres collided with each other and landed on Emperor Nobunaga with a sudden fall. But the sudden downward force halted. The floating spheres remained static in mid-air.

“What?! The spell isn’t supposed to stop like that!” Anastasia screamed in frustration. She tapped her feet on the roof of the building repeatedly.

“Quiet, child. I’m thinking,” Chiyo grumbled. She thought of what was happening.

It was too fast for both their eyes to catch.

Whoosh! The spheres of lava and rock shot back up to the sky. Once they reached Chiyo’s eye level, they burst, spreading the molten lava all over both buildings. The two archaic structures became towers of flames.

“Chiyo! Anastasia!” Arakawa screamed out, hoping for a reply of sort.

Emperor Nobunaga stood unharmed on the cobblestone pavement. His arms were outstretched towards the sky. Chantless force magic was his speciality. An attack like that was too easy for him to counter.

“Good attempt, Chiyo. It would have worked on anyone else other than me,” Emperor Nobunaga congratulated his enemy.

Arkawa and Misao stood to his left and right, readying their katana and scythe, respectively. Arakawa signalled Misao with a nod. The two rushed at their former master with a powerful slash. Unfortunately, he dodged it. Emperor Nobunaga outstretched his palm, ready to blast Arakawa. But Misao stretched his foot first, making contact with Arakawa.

Shwp! Emperor Nobunaga had pushed thin air with his force magic. A slash came from behind him in return, cutting through his armour. Arakawa readied his stance for his next attack.

“I forgot how troublesome your teleportation magic was, Misao,” Emperor Nobunaga complimented his adversary.

“Thanks, your highness. I’ll make sure it gets worse!” He replied.

The routine continued. Arakawa would attack his prey before retreating, but Misao’s teleportation magic would save Arakawa before he was hit by Emperor Nobunaga’s magic, leaving him open to another attack. Sometimes, Misao landed a hit with his scythe in the middle of the scuffle.

Emperor Nobunaga’s irritation was showing. Though his armour had been mostly cut off, his body showed no signs of scratches. Arakawa and Misao couldn’t believe their eyes when they realised..

The emperor showed both his palms towards the ground, sending a tremor underneath everyone’s feet. Misao hopped in anticipation, but Arakawa remained standing. An earthquake wasn’t enough to force Arakawa to stumble.

Shwoo! A phoenix the size of the road collided with Emperor Nobunaga. A large explosion erupted, creating a crater on the road. Thick smoke shrouded the battlefield, covering the aftermath of the shot.

“Bullseye!” Riku shouted in celebration. His aim was perfect. An attack like that was sure to have caused great damage to Emperor Nobunaga. Once the smoke cleared, Arakawa and Misao watched expectantly for anything.

“Nice move, Riku. You’ve improved greatly,” a familiar deep voice broke through the shadow curtains.

The top half of his armour had been destroyed, revealing Emperor Nobunaga’s muscle-filled body. His fair skin, once again, had not even a scratch on it. He clapped at the showcase of Riku’s skill. Arakawa and Misao, on the other hand, left their jaws agape. They thought Emperor Nobunaga was indestructible.

“So, is it my turn now?” Emperor Nobunaga asked, his silver magical aura glowing. He was preparing for another attack.

“Don’t count us out yet!” Anastasia floated down from the top of the building, magic aura leaking out of her.

“Prepare for the pain you’ll be facing at my hands,” Chiyo said with pure hostility.

“Fine then! Let’s see if you can take this!” Emperor Nobunaga laughed crazily.

So far, this battle was the most fun he had had in years.

—--------

The floor of No Man’s Land was no longer recognisable. What used to be a pile of bodies, the sacrifices of the Sovereign’s Tourney, had now been covered in snow and ice.

Clash! King Alucard’s blade of ice collided with Yukino’s blade of light. The reaction of their magic created a small explosion, launching both of them. Natsu and I could do nothing but watch as the two magic behemoths battled it out.

If they continued battling at this pace, the loser would be the one who runs out of mana first. For sure, that would be Yukino. We could not let that happen.

“Any plans, oh great strategist?” Natsu asked sarcastically next to me. I decided to let it slide because of the urgency of the situation.

“If this stalemate continues, Yukino won’t be able to conserve her mana for the final phase. We’ll have to set up the next phase now.”

I telepathically connected with Misao using my observational magic. By only making a single connection, I could reach him even though Ashenfall was quite far.

“Misao, do you hear me?”

“Loud and clear. What’s your command, strategist?” Did people just forget my name?

“Expedite phase 3. We’re facing some difficulties here.”

“Roger.”

I nodded to Natsu, signalling the beginning of phase 3. We ran towards the battle of ice and light, swords in hand. I counted down in my head till the switch occurred. The timing had to be perfect.

Three… King Alucard shot icicles through his sword, aiming directly at us three

Two… Yukino seamlessly vaporised half of the icicles with her blade of light.

One… I cut through my fair share of icicles while dodging the rest. My limbs were almost frozen. If I moved an inch closer to King Alucard, I was sure to be frozen.

Zero

Yukino disappeared into thin air, shocking King Alucard. He raised his sword, ready to swing that hunk of ice at me.

“Another one of your tricks, Kurokawa?” He grumbled.

“You could say that. A magician never reveals his secret.”

Suddenly, the edge of my sword, as well as Natsu’s, was bathed in flames. Its warmth thawed my body, returning me to peak condition. At once, we slashed a shocked King Alucard, giving him his first cut.

“What? How?!” King Alucard couldn’t believe his eyes at our flaming swords.

“Only because the great mage Anastasia is here to help them!” Anastasia announced her entry.

An aura of flames engulfed the snow and ice around us.

The fight was now much fairer.