Chapter 100 - Farewell

Asher was blown back. He held himself and his body up as he travelled back a few paces. A sinister expression took over his face once he got his bearing back.

“Dark flame!” He called out.

Large flames erupted from his palms and shot at Mister Ed. They collided with his shield and even he was pushed back from it. By the time his shield lowered, Asher had already advanced on him.

Thick claws ripped into his shield and he managed to hold him down. Mister Ed blocked every attack but there wasn't a single moment to do anything else.

Defend–defend–defend.

Flames built up on the tips of his fingers, as flames scattered out from his intense lashes.

“That’s it–you’re doing well–don’t disappoint me!!” Asher grew excited. He continued his relentless spree of clawing and sunk his fingers against Mister Ed’s shield but could not pierce it. He dragged it down and tried forcing his way through the defence. “Defend–defend–defend! Can’t you show me more than that?!”

His voice and actions followed the same rhythm and sped up rapidly. The anger behind his attacks poured out of his throat and into harsh screams that egged Mister Ed on.

His shield dropped and Asher drove his claw forward towards Mr Ed’s head. Suddenly the other shield in his opposite hand crashed into the dragon's face. A glowing white surface blocked his body and filled it with light.

Mister Ed locked eyes with the dragon before him and muttered, “Leviathan.”

Suddenly a burst of light exploded from the surface of his shield and Asher was forced across the air. Through the stream of sparkling lines of lights, the rest of the roof fell apart behind the intense blast.

Asher streamed through the air, way up into the sky above the room and beyond any of us. Mister Ed turned back and cast out his hand. “Arga, use it now!”

“R-right! Ehh…how did she use this thing again?” Arga fumbled for something in her clothes.

She pulled out a device, some kind of artefact with a cracked stone at its centre. She gripped it tightly and even tried holding it up into the air but nothing happened.

“Eh–?! Don’t tell me the thing’s busted already!!” She cursed.

Noticing the strange design and colour of the stone I immediately said, “Arga…is that the thing Ilinore used? Where did you get that?”

“Ugh, it’s a long story. We don’t have time, we need to get this thing workin’ now!” She panicked.

It looks like some kind of magic item, how else could it have done what she did with it?

Veldor walked up to us, he stared down at the device and inspected it closer. “Maybe it needs more juice?”

“What?”

“She used it to bend the entire ground to her will, surely it needs more magic than just one person. More than one human person.” He added.

What if he’s right…Ilinore’s a demon and she had a crazy amount of mana for one being. What if it requires something stronger to fuel it? Would any of us have enough to use it…no that wouldn’t work.

Without saying anything, I placed my hand over Arga’s and touched the device. She looked at me with a confused stare but before she could say anything further, Veldor followed with his hand over mine.

“We still need more…” Veldor muttered.

“Yeah.”

“I’ve got quite a bit of power left!” Zephier broke past and shoved his hand over ours with a forceful slap.

A slight glow emerged under our collective fingers but it still wasn't enough to resemble what Ilinore had led with before.

“We need one more person–just one more!” I blurted out anxiously.

Akai’s still out of commission, he’s not even conscious at this point. If he were to try this with him, he might just fall back into critical condition. Damn it, if only my mana wasn't running so low!

“I can do it.” A faint voice called out.

My head turned to its origin, only to lower at the sight of Alice walking towards us. She was still pale from the effects of overusing her Queen's roar. She had a strong presence of mana but I didn’t know if she could handle the strain of using magic again so soon.

“Alice you’re still–”

Before I could finish my thought, she puffed her cheeks out and stared deep into my eyes.

“You’re all important to me too…so…so why shouldn’t I protect you all if I can? I want to help too!” She stated.

“Alice…” I muttered.

I nodded back at her and gave some room for her to join in. She placed her hand firmly over Zephier’s and the light under our palms lit up greater. The powerful pink glow changed into a bright red shine before it flickered back to pink, then blue, green and gold. A spectrum of colours flashed under us before settling on a holographic light.

Just in time too, Mister Ed came crashing down not too far from us. He raised his shield above him and blocked the barrage of flames that followed. As if a meteor had struck, a large burst of pressure hit the ground just in front of him. Fire surrounded it like a cape, one that stretched out more than twice the size of its wearer.

At the centre of its heat was Asher–wrapped in his flames–the cape flowed out freely into a demonic presence that stood behind him in the shape of a dragon.

The flaming figure grew to a monstrous size that far exceeded what the room could hold. What little remnants of the walls and ceiling remained, collapsed under the dragon's weight. Mister Ed was consumed by the growing size of the dragon and in the blink of an eye he vanished out of sight.

I forced my eyes away from the fight and to those standing around me. “We need to hurry–now!” I yelled.

The ground rose and we were lifted into the air. We created a platform from the patch of gravel that hadn't been destroyed yet and managed to escape. The stone responded to our thoughts, almost like a skill. It listened to our will and carried out the task we asked it to. We must have all wanted the same thing because the platform was made instantly.

It must work by responding to simple commands like, ‘Get us out of here!’ or else it wouldn’t have worked just now. If that’s the case, we might just have a chance!

We carried Akai with us on our pillar of stone that rose into the air. It shifted across the air like rubber and carried us to the edge of what once was the Hollow. The rest of Heaven’s Gate was backed against the mountainous walls that surrounded us.

A deadly roar erupted from the massive tower of flames we managed to escape from.

Suddenly two black wings cut through them and separated the flames. A midnight-scaled dragon was revealed. A figure of death, far larger than any building or creature.

It opened its mouth and from the depths of its castle-sized body, a sea of flames sprung forth. It aimed towards the remaining members of Heaven's Gate.

Without Mister Ed they had no way of defending that–they were as good as dead.

Arga used her free hand and aimed it towards them, her face pulled as if she were concentrating harder than she had ever before. In response to her thoughts, the stone flashed red and an exit formed behind them.

I guess we don't all have to use it for the same thing. This is good–with this, we can help them and ourselves–

The platform beneath us shook violently and bent under us. It wasn't fast but the structure holding us up was seconds away from falling over.

Arga quickly brought her attention back to the platform and we were saved. Something didn't seem right though.

They were hesitant, none of them followed through the exit Arga had made. They clearly saw us, they must have known it was our doing. I couldn't understand what they were waiting for, it looked like they had a death wish.

Veldor faced the group of guildmates and cupped his mouth. He took a deep breath and puffed out his chest.

“THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS WAITING FOR?! MASTER IS FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE, TO SAVE YOU–TO SAVE US!! IF YOU WANT TO HELP HIM, THEN RUN! SAVE YOURSELVES SO HE CAN SAVE HIMSELF TOO!!!”

The exit grew larger and Veldor’s chest dropped–he looked like he hadn't taken a breath in years.

“Those idiots…Huff–Huff…” He muttered under his breath.

“Don’t relax just yet–there’s still us we need to worry about!” Zephier interrupted.

All that commotion from Veldor must have turned Asher’s priorities over to us.

The dragon turned his head and aimed with that massive jaw of his. The flames basically dripped out the gaps between its fangs. Its jaw stretched wider and suddenly a beam of light struck the ground in front of it.

Mister Ed had appeared.

Asher's eyes filled with life at the sight of him. It dropped its head and released the terrifying amount of flames it had stored.

Both shields rose to block it and a second, yet much larger one, made of mana appeared over him.

He braced himself for impact and held strong. “Starlit shield!”

The beam of fire consumed him with its massive size. The amount of magic energy that radiated off of it turned my stomach–I felt sick. Every ember that strayed off from the blast and hit the ground, created craters of molten gravel upon contact.

“There’s no way he could survive that–is there?!” Arga blurted out.

“We have to trust him, he gave us the chance to run. If we stay, we’ll just be in his way.”

“He’s only using his shields though, it won’t be enough.”

Arga and Veldor locked eyes and neither side looked ready to stand down. Amidst the conflict, the platform shook. The support beneath my feet lightened and felt like I was standing in putty again–it was coming down!

“We’re losing focus, this isn't good!” Veldor panicked.

With what little power it had left, we brought ourselves down and came to a sudden crash on the ground. I picked myself up and checked around, everyone made it alright–even Akai.

The artefact, however…broke. The artefact itself seemed fine but the gem at its core shattered before we had hit the ground. It must have been at its limit and gave in.

“Tch! This is great, without that none of us can leave!”

I grabbed Veldor’s shoulder and turned him back to me. I met his furious expression with a firm gaze and he winced.

“We can leave through the exit we made for the others. We just have to make it across the hollow and we can escape.”

“Are you crazy?!” He barked back.

Seeing no change in my expression he quickly turned away and dropped his eyes to the ground with a defeated scorn. “No, you’re right.”

The ground and everything around us rumbled with a terrified shiver as a bone-shattering scream resonated through the Hollow. Asher spread out his wings and spun around.

With blinding speed, his wings crashed into Mister Ed and he was sent flying through the air.

He shot through the air in a blur of white and crashed beside us into the sloping mountainside. Large cracks raced around him, up the mountain side and nearly split it open. He fell from the dent created behind him and dropped to his feet.

“Master!”

Mister Ed remained standing but his breathing was heavy. With deep dry breaths, his body bobbed up and down. Sweat dripped off the sides of his face in long trails.

He can’t hold out much longer…not on his own. Is there really nothing we can do?

“What…is that?” Arga’s mouth hung open.

I turned to where Mister Ed had been launched from and noticed the army of large flames that sprouted from the air. One by one they suddenly appeared and in a flash, they burned brightly throughout the air, like a sea of candles.

Asher’s wings rose to the army behind him and responded to his movements.

“It’s too late–he’s going to send those straight for us.” My mouth quivered as I spoke.

“W-we’re done for.”

“...Damn it!”

“No…I don’t want to die–not yet…”

Our fears layered over one another into a cacophony of turmoil. All but one.

“I planned to fight him with everything I got but I never thought he’d hit me with something like this. I figured it would end like this though…just a feeling I had.” Mister Ed stepped forward.

All of our gazes followed behind him as he walked past us. Something felt different about him, I couldn’t place my finger on it but he carried a different air around him.

“Mister Ed…”

He looked back at me and grinned. “Take care of him, will ya’?”

What–what does he mean by that? Why is he talking like we’re about to go our separate ways?!

His shields were littered with cracks and looked as if they had aged over twenty years since the battle had started. He took a long look at them and grinned to himself. The shields locked together and formed a larger shield that stood taller than him.

“I’m going to use my Leviathan skill to absorb that attack. If I bounce it back at him while he’s attacking me, I can hit him right in the mouth. He’ll be vulnerable while attacking.”

“Master!” Veldor interrupted with a forceful yell. He reeled back and looked down at the floor as his face filled red. “If you release the Leviathan while being shot with that attack…” His eyes rose and met with Mister Ed’s. “..you’ll be vulnerable too.”

“What–no way, that has to be a mistake right? Mister Ed wouldn't do that if he knew he’d die.”

I looked over at him but Mister Ed refused to look me in the eye. I took a step forward and pressed my face closer to his, staring at the side of his face with worry.

Mister Ed turned back to the battle.

“Akai. You’ll handle the rest, right?”

Mister Ed’s words lifted Akai’s eyelids. He looked over to him and gave a short nod. “You have my word.”

“Good. It’s time I end this properly.” Mister Ed responded sternly.

Asher’s wings flapped forward and sent a barrage of flames along with it. An army of massive black flames headed straight for us and behind it all, Asher raised his head.

His jaw opened wide and a beam of black and white burst forth. It flowed like a volcano tipped on its side and broke its way across the sky towards us.

My eyes filled with dread and turned dry from the heat that drew near. My throat burnt and I struggled to keep my eyes open but it would have been impossible to close them. It was something I would never have forgiven myself for missing.

Mister Ed stared down the flurry of flames headed for him and in a moment of peace before collision, he turned his head back.

His eyes locked with Veldor’s and a smile brightened his expression. The coldness in his eyes lifted and a peaceful warmth raised his brow.

His eyes drew back to the flames. With a commanding tone, he let out a powerful cry,

“I’ve always hated this stupid skill of mine–only good for defence! I waited and waited for some strength until I made some for myself. This crappy skill, this one that got my comrades killed–this one that’s never let anyone die since then…I’ll use it now against a bastard monster like you, yeah–you’re no exception!”

Mister Ed’s feet dug into the ground as the blast landed against his shield. The wave of flames all concentrated in one area–they piled onto his shield. Everything Asher could throw–all of it was forced at Mister Ed, for him to defend against.

Ripples of light ran across his body and in a matter of seconds he was enveloped in a powerful glow.

It wasn't enough.

“Not yet–I need to hold more!” The straps of his shield snapped under the pressure and he was forced to hold over the top of his shield for support. His fingers burnt to char under the heat of all those ravenous flames but held back his screams.

“M-more, even more!” He carried on.

Asher’s wicked laughs carried through the beam of fire and hit like a wave of air. It was a sinister howl, one befitting of the monster he was.

“Yes, to survive my attacks you must be the strongest of them all! The strongest human here to die by my might–the honour is mine, little one! I deem you the strongest human to ever live!”

“..you talk way too much for a monster.”

Mister Ed’s shield lit up and the stream of sparkles and explosions rose from the cracked surface. The white and golden glow surrounding his defence followed throughout his body and shined even brighter–a holographic spectrum of colours raced over him.

“My final skill…Leviathan–destroy!”

The beam of light that erupted from him travelled along the flames. It tore through Asher’s mouth and out the other end of his head. The bright red gleam in his eyes faded to white as all life in his voice faded to silence.

The beam shrunk into a thin line and suddenly–

A stream of explosions shot across the air and in its path, carved holes throughout the dragon's body.

The cracks in his shield split open and rushed across the rest of it, in a single burst they fell apart and blew away in chunks. His armour melted off his skin like sand in the wind and his body vanished under the intense light that broke away from his shield.

In the last remnants before disappearing he held out his hand towards us. The flames that managed to escape him and slip past, rushed at us like a tsunami.

“Spirit of Envy–heed my call and shield my allies, Starlit shield.”

With those words, he vanished under the light and a massive shield of mana appeared around us like a bubble. The wave of flames hit and the bubble bent and contorted to the shape of the hit.

Veldor reached out as Mister Ed disappeared and his eyes widened with a heavy flow of tears.

“Master! Maaaaster!!!!”