Strength Keeps Building

Iki, Arata, and Isara stood face to face looking upon a monster that towered over them. His appearance had changed now. He was a true villain, standing 9 feet tall with fur around his marbly skin. His eyes glowed blue along with his chest that extended to his skin as if it was a gigantic scar. Sharp talons stuck out of his legs, arms, and head.

Iki recognized him now in this form. He hadn’t seen him beforehand because he was too scared to even look up, but even from the corners of his eyes when Nightmare forced him to look, he didn’t see this man.

“Kalbokulus–” he said out loud softly. ‘Then, where is my father?’ he thought. ‘Did he perish in the past to Kazuki Alcion? He must’ve. Maybe he was disguised. No, I would’ve sensed him. Wait, I swear I saw my father even the slightest bit among the leaders meaning–”

Iki: “Kalbokulus. My father offered his life for you? Is that correct?”

Kalbokulus: “Iki Kurogane. I see you have returned.”

Iki: “How? How did my father not perish back then?! How did Alcion not kill him?!”

Kalbokulus: “Ah, you are wondering how I’m here? You of all people should not mock the Dark Mold, Iki. Your father was quite the man, but he’s gone now. Let me see something…Wow! You all are strong. What a surprise. If I had been here, none of this would’ve happened. No vital signs from Nightmare. How disappointing. I see everyone else is still alive though. Hmm, the newbie seems to be struggling. I will not help him. Figure it out on your own. I got people to slaughter.”

He was more menacing than anyone they have ever seen. Arata even questioned this man’s strength. He was stronger than Isamu in his mind, but with his body now, he didn’t doubt himself. He never has.

Arata: “Isara, you cannot do anything against this man. You need to leave this place.”

Isara: “Huh? No, I came here to save Welpen. I’m not running away.”

Arata: “Isara, sometimes there are things you have to run away from. You will not survive this if you stay here. I need to focus everything I have on this man. I cannot protect you as well.”

Ine: “Isara, I think we should run.”

Sarz: “I-I’m scared.”

Liz: “That man is scary. I don’t think Morlin could even beat him. Eek!”

Isara: “Everyone…”

Arata: “Whether you agree or not, I’m teleporting you elsewhere. Here grab my ha–”

Before he could finish his sentence, this monster stood towering over both of them with 2 of Arata’s fingers in his mouth, eating them like it was a snack before kicking Isara so hard that it jolted her out of the realm.

Kalbokulus: “Oops! Well, I guess I did it for you. Saved you the extra step.”

Arata: “Wh-What the hell was that? My fingers? Th-They’re gone?”

Iki: “Arata! Watch out!”

Kalbokulus’s gigantic hands came crashing down on top of Arata. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t sense it, but because of Iki, he survived. ‘Even in this body, this man–no, this monster–is strong beyond belief,’ he thought.

He reappeared right in front of Arata who instinctively put up his sword to block the attack, but he got kicked back so hard that he shot out of the barrier as well eventually to the outside world.

Arata: “Huh? Why am I near The Association? Is this where we really are?”

Iki rushed outside next to Arata, taking a stance with his sword and activated his Dark Mold abilities, which he thought were taken from him completely, but for some reason, he still had them.

Iki: “Don’t get me wrong. I hate you with everything inside of me, and I will kill you someday, but I can’t get revenge if I die here, so let’s beat the living crap out of this idiot.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Isara activated her Spirit Assimilation and ran as fast as she could to get to Yasuhiro and Kouki who sat in front of the Sacred Tree along with thousands of people.

Isara: “Wh-What is going on here?”

Kouki: “Who is it?”

Isara: “It’s me. Isara. Why didn’t these people evacuate? They are going to be killed.”

“We will never abandon Lord Kouki and Lord Yasuhiro as well as the Sacred Tree,” a random person yelled before another one got up saying, “Yeah! We will lay our lives down for it!”

Kouki: “Isara, we need to focus or we will never get through to Beyblue Island. This is our only chance. What do you need? Hurry and speak.”

Isara: “Arata and Iki…They are fighting that monster by themselves. They need help.”

Yasuhiro: “We are getting help you idiot! Now get away and let us focus!”

Kouki: “Isara, just leave. Hide away and do not die. As Great Swordsmen and as protectors, we will fix this problem.”

Isara started to cry, but ran and ran, not away though, but back to where Iki and Arata fought. ‘I will not run away! I came here to help!’ she thought, but her fairies thought she was crazy. They tried to pull her back, but continued forward, struggling to pursue.

Isara: “Let me go! I’m not turning back! You’re just delaying me!”

Ine: “Isara! Don’t do this, please!”

Sarz: “Stop!”

Liz: “Isara, please stop it!”

Isara: “No! I’m going! Stop me all you want! We still have our trump card. I know it will work.”

She trudged forward with no intention of turning back while Kouki and Yasuhiro struggled to connect to Beyblue Island…

Yasuhiro: “Goddammit! Answer us! She’s trying to apologize for splitting off! She wants to come back!”

Kouki: “Brother! If you yell at the mother, then she will not take back her daughter. She split off to come here hundreds of years ago and hasn’t spoken since. It’s not going to be that easy.”

Yasuhiro: “Well it should be. All the mother has ever wanted was to reunite with her daughter, so why?! Why now?! Right when we need her!”

The crowd started to cry as the ground shook. The Sacred Tree was upset that her mother was not helping, and people started to stand, trying to sacrifice themselves in order for them to connect.

Kouki ordered them to sit back down.

Kouki: “I’m going in, brother. Stay out here and protect the area just in case. She’s connected, but she’s not responding to her. I’ll talk to the mother.”

Yasuhiro: “Ha! Try your best you fool. You’re gonna die in there.”

Kouki: “Maybe, but we don’t have a choice. These people will die. If that monster shows up here, you better freaking kill it or stall it enough for me to get back. I don’t care if you’re my brother, Yasuhiro. If one person dies here, then I will kill you without hesitation.”

Yasuhiro was angered by the comment, but Kouki left before he could say anything, dismantling the immense mana that surrounded the castle back into his body.

He entered into a dark portal that the Sacred tree was producing to the bottom depths underground of Beyblue Island. When he stepped out, it was a mixture of colors that illuminated the plain space. 4 walls and one small sapling of a tree sat dead in the middle in a small pot of dirt.

‘This must be her mind. This is what she thinks of herself right now? Pretty emotional, I see. Alright, let’s get this crap over with.’

As he stepped forward, he realized that he had not moved. His feet were grasped with tree roots, and for some reason he couldn’t even use his sword to break out. Because this was her mind, he was subject to everything that she thought of. He wondered if she could actually kill him in real life if she wanted to. He had to be careful.

Kouki sighed.

Kouki: “You know? You piss me off!”

The sapling shot up, intrigued and the walls turned red in agreeance with its anger.

Kouki: “Don’t give me that bullshit! I’m not going to give you any. I’m speaking my honest thoughts here. I don’t like you and I certainly don’t like your daughter. If my brother wasn’t around, then I probably would’ve sliced that stupid trunk in two pieces. People pray to your daughter as if she is a God. And, for the people at this stupid place, you set stupid rules on them to serve you. I’m sick of it. I’m not a good person either, and I don’t really care about love. Hell, my brother has been missing for a long time now and to be honest, I got too much going on to look for him. He’s probably out there looking for chaplets or being sold off as a slave. If I look for him right now, this world will end. Stop being a lonely piece of crap and help your daughter. I don’t care what beef you have with her. You're her mother. Act like it and help her no matter the situation!”

The colors flickered endlessly, showcasing her emotions. The small sapling was extremely confused about what it should do. Thoughts rapidly rushed through her head, even as a plant.

Then…

A vision.

A little girl with black hair and pigtails was picking flowers in a field. She ran over to her mother to show her what she found. Her mother had light red hair and bright blue eyes. She was gorgeous.

“Mom, mom. Look what I found. Aren’t they pretty?”

“Of course sweetie. Thank you. Those are beautiful flowers. Can you tell me what type they are?”

“Ummm, dandelions?”

She laughed.

“No sweetie. Those are sunflowers. Do you know that sunflowers can grow up to 15 feet tall? Isn’t that crazy?”

“Wow! Really?”

“Wouldn’t it be really cool to be that big?”

“No, I want to be small. You can be big, mama. I’ll be the small sunflower and you can be the big one. That way I can always look up to you.”

A messenger came by to talk to the mother, warning her about the incoming danger. Thieves were pillaging the nearby villages and if they didn’t leave soon, then they would surely be killed.

The mother took her child and ran, taking nothing with her, only concerned for her child’s safety. She found a tree with a large enough hole to hide in away from the thieves who had already made their way near them.

One of them saw them go inside the tree and called his friends over, licking their lips and clapping their weapons together, but when they went to enter, they were repelled. They were angered beyond belief. “Hey! Are you a witch?! That’s it! I’ll go find a witch of my own and bring her back here to open this. You better be ready. You can’t go anywhere. We have people everywhere within 50 miles. You won’t get more than 1 mile without someone else taking advantage of you and selling your daughter. Come on boys! Let’s go get some other women!”

They laughed and went onwards. Regardless of what the men said, the mother could not just sit here. However, when they went to leave, they couldn’t. “What?” she questioned, but it was like an individual barrier. Now that she thought about it, the men couldn’t get inside either, but she was so scared that she didn’t question it.

“Mommy, are we okay?”

“Uh, yes honey. We’re fine. Just turn around and look at the nice tree trunks at the bottom.”

She tried over and over, but couldn’t get anything to work…

Days passed and the mother could not hold on any longer. They ate tree bark to try and survive, but eventually she became so weak that her body collapsed.

“Mom…Mom? Oh, you’re just sleeping? Okay. I-I think I need to sleep too.”

The young girl collapsed as well, as both of them died inside the tree. Roots began to spread to their bodies a week later when they were just skeletons, wrapping around them and forming them into literal trees.

Kouki watched, not knowing that these trees were actually human beforehand. He wondered how they got such power, but he did not ask.

The visions faded and the room turned to a bright yellow before kicking Kouki out.

Yasuhiro: “Oh, not dead huh? You didn’t get through either? Yeah, go figure.”

Kouki: “I wouldn’t be so sure about that, brother. Watch closely.”

Their bodies illuminated in a greater mana than the moons provided them. It was tons more.

“This is crazy,” they both thought, not knowing the true potential of the real Sacred Tree. “It worked?” Yasuhiro asked. “I guess so,” Kouki responded. Their swords changed into neon green and white swords that were 2x their size.

Black ripped capes appeared on their backs that lit up in similar neon flames as they walked forward through an audience that applauded their strength. Their bodies had small branches sticking out of their skin that lit up small spots that were green as well.

Kouki: “We’re finishing it this time, brother.”

Yasuhiro: “Yeah, I’m pissed off.”