The man who introduced himself as Legion stood across from Ulrich. He looked down at Ulrich's feet and saw only a lower half. The king in front of him didn't exude any sign of emotion, he didn't look angry, nor did he react with worry to the large number of enemies in front of him. Even after killing his previous body, he showed no sign of exertion. "So, you're the current king of Camelot? I must say, it is rather impressive that you managed to sneak up on me like that." All of the men that emerged, all wore black cloaks that obscured their face, however, their mouths remained visible. All of them had wicked and deformed smiles. It was clear to Ulrich that these men weren't normal. Ulrich looked down at the lower body at his feet. With a snap of his fingers, flames engulfed the rest of the body, turning it to ash.
While everyone watched from afar, none grasped the significance of Ulrich's actions, save for one person. Elizabeth, who had seen the young king grow into who he is today, and had seen his transformation because of the fairy forest firsthand. To see Ulrich use his magic so effortlessly and viciously was something that Elizabeth had never believed she would see. She then noticed the same thing that Legion did, that Ulrich was not exerting any kind of power, except his aura. As the flames died out, Ulrich grabbed Excalibur in a reverse grip and lifted it up in front himself, before dropping it, leading to it embedding itself in the ground. Ulrich then looked over his shoulder towards the group watching, seeing Maria, Boudica, and Brynhildr's injured states.
"Why are you bothering looking at them? Don't you know?" Legion lunged forward, readying his swing, he grew closer and closer to Ulrich, with such incredible speed that everyone only saw a blur heading towards Ulrich. "Disarming yourself and turning your back on your opponent is suicide!" The man began his swing, however, Ulrich simply stretched out his left arm and grabbed him by his throat, crushing it, leaving a limp body.
"Quiet." Ulrich spoke in an emotionless voice. The very sight and sound of Ulrich doing this, caused his allies' eyes to widen, as well as sent a chill up their bodies. Elizabeth saw Ulrich look at each of the injured members, before she noticed his blue eyes were beginning to undergo a change of color. It wasn't noticeable at first glance, but upon closer inspection, she saw lines of silver within them. His voice then grabbed her attention, as he spoke once again. "See to it that the three of them don't die." Ulrich then noticed that the men weren't moving, in fact, they seemed like lifeless dolls. He looked at the sword on the ground, and felt a strange energy coming from it. He bent down and picked it up, and immediately felt the sword attempt to bind itself to him. Without a moment of hesitation, he grabbed Excalibur while throwing the black sword away.
"Very interesting that you didn't get swallowed up. You have piqued my interest. I should have been able to take you over, but something about you was able to push me out." Ulrich could hear a voice calling out, however, the men weren't speaking. He then realized that it was the sword itself. It attempted to bind itself to him, however, he was able to fight it off. The men then began to move, while the sword shot towards the closest man, who proceeded to catch it. "It seems like taking you over is going to be a lot more difficult than I thought. Don't worry, after I get you out of my way, I'll make sure no one has to suffer too much. I will admit, I don't like the idea of having to face off against that sword again. Last time, I was nearly purged outright." Ulrich didn't want to speak, however, the words that he spoke intrigued him. He had faced someone wielding Excalibur before, but Ulrich had never heard of a talking black sword before.
"When have you seen this sword before?" Ulrich didn't change his manner of speaking, it still sounded like it did earlier. However, he was far from remaining calm. A fire raged within his soul, one that Viviane was containing, but with each word spoken, the flame seemed to grow more uncontrollable.
"I want to see the real you. I want to see if you are anything like her." Ulrich tightened his grip and narrowed his eyes. Legion knew that he now had Ulrich's attention. "Yes, it's coming back to me. I would have liked to kill her myself, but sometimes you have to take what you can get. I'm surprised that sword ended up back here. Though, I guess that she got what she wanted in the end. Of course, she probably had no idea that I'd manage to survive and try to kill you. Do you know where I saw it last now?" The man wielding the black sword was now smiling with its inhuman mouth. Ulrich looked down at the ground, then looked back at everyone again. He took note of all of their conditions. He then looked at Boudica, who was now on the ground, the adrenaline running through her body having run its course. Ulrich closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"I hope that you're stronger than the last two, because I'm not going to go easy on you anymore. Each and every single one of you, are going to die." Ulrich opened his eyes, revealing them to have changed from blue to silver. His sword began to be covered in lightning, giving off a hum of power. He shot forward, leaving a trail of electricity behind him. He swung his sword toward his enemy, however, the man was able to dodge the attack this time. Ulrich let go of his sword, launching it towards another of the men in the back, stabbing him through the chest easily. Legion then realized that his target wasn't him, and that he was aiming at the men behind him. He then launched his own attack, trying to launch a thrust towards Ulrich's heart.
Ulrich then maneuvered his body to the right, grabbing onto the man's wrist before spinning around him, and began to head towards the large crowd of possessed warriors. Legion turned around with a surprised expression, before feeling an intense burning sensation. He looked at where Ulrich had grabbed him and saw that his hand was no longer attached, and that it was on fire. The large group of warriors all produced strange looking curved swords, the kind that couldn't be find anywhere around the middle of the continent. Though the appearance of the swords caused the group watching to become nervous, Ulrich simply kept charging forward. Many charged forward, however, no one present had ever seen Ulrich's magic be used seriously, except for Boudica. Not even Elizabeth, who had practically been a surrogate mother to him, had ever seen him use magic in a real battle.
Boudica looked on, having a fulfilled feeling in her chest. Her wish to see her king become the person she witnessed all that time ago, had come to fruition. In her eyes, Ulrich was a heroic man who would save anyone who needed to be saved. The broken king, who had been at war with his own soul and identity, now seemed to reborn into a new person altogether. Ulrich's right hand then became engulfed in flames. The closest man then swung his sword, however, Ulrich quickly ducked underneath the blade, before delivering an uppercut to his chin. As soon as his fist reached him, the flames exploded upwards and through the man's head, completely burning it to ashes. He then maneuvered around the body, using it as a barrier against the soldiers that were coming towards him from the left, before throwing a straight punch to another man's chest, blowing a hole through him with flames that managed to cause those on the other side to become engulfed in flames. Three warriors then managed to strike Ulrich, however, they then saw that their blades had hit a thin barrier of flames. Ulrich quickly spun around, while delivering a kick that caused the victim to stumble into the others, allowing Ulrich to aim his hand in their direction, before shooting a bolt of fire that incinerated them.
Leanna looked on in amazement at Ulrich's incredible firepower. While she was able to manipulate flames and bend them to her will, Ulrich's explosive use of flames was a sight to see. What surprised her more, was that Ulrich's magic needed no incantation and that he had the fire element. However, Leanna noticed that his magic was unique, as it seemed to be more of an explosive magic rather than normal fire. Even the way he was shooting the flames towards his opponents was odd. The balls of flames shot forward with incredible velocity but never travelled farther than five to seven feet. His flame barrier worked in the same manner, but on a much smaller scale. The flames only appear at the point of contact, and only for a short amount of time. It was then that Leanna noticed his magic's glaring weakness.
Ulrich's breathing was becoming labored and he was beginning to have sweat form on his forehead. After the initial battle, the surrounding men had managed to create enough distance between them and Ulrich, that his magic couldn't reach them. Ulrich was now surrounded by all of the warriors. Ulrich then began to think to himself, "I could rain fire down on all of them right now, but I'd end up becoming berserk if that happened. My body hasn't had time to adjust and I've already used up most of my magical energy, plus I'd end up destroying this place in the process. I need Viviane's help to regulate the flow of magic in my body." Ulrich's flames then extinguished, as he looked towards Excalibur, still embedded in the body of one of the warriors. As he was about to run and grab it, he noticed that the runes he had been using to enhance himself had run out of power.
"You are a very interesting human. To be able to kill so many of my servants and to manage to catch me off guard twice is quite the feat. However, I won't allow you to ruin my plans here. I need more powerful servants for what is to come and I think that you and your knights will be perfect for such a role. So, I'm through being nice." Legion, or rather, the body that wielded the Black Blade, began to make his way towards Ulrich. Ulrich could sense an amazing amount of pressure coming from the sword. It seemed to be polluting the air and causing magical stagnation from the sheer amount of magic it was releasing. If this continued, the lands surrounding Camelot would end up becoming damaged beyond repair. Ulrich then bit his lip, causing it to bleed, before wiping it away with his finger and writing runes onto his armor. "Like I'd allow you to do that."
Legion then charged forward with amazing speed, thrusting his sword forward as he did so. It wasn't until his sword was about to pierce Ulrich, that he noticed a smirk on Ulrich's face. As the blade reached Ulrich's chest, the blood rune began to glow brightly, before launching Legion backwards with a sword wound in the exact place Ulrich was hit. Ulrich quickly ran toward Excalibur, however, the servants of Legion began to move to block him. Ulrich quickly focused his magic into his fists once again and continued to run at full speed towards the servants. Instead of attacking with punches, the flames began to spread up to his forearms, however, it was clear that his armor had reached its limit. His gauntlets began to fall apart because regular metals could only handle so much magical energy before it began to corrode and turn into dust. Ulrich brought his forearms up in front of his face and focused his remaining magic in his legs, before launching himself forward towards Excalibur.
As his body pushed its way through the large crowd, he could feel the pain from two swords that had managed to pierce his armor and stick themselves in his back. Ulrich was knocked off balance and stumbled forward, falling next to his sword. He stretched his arm out to Excalibur, but when he was about to reach it, he could feel more swords begin to stab into his body. His vision was beginning to black out and he could feel his strength leave his body. As his vision blurred, he could see the silhouette of a beautiful woman holding out her hand.
Saint Elizabeth and Leanna had ordered Sister Therese, the remaining valkyries, and the sorcerers to transport the injured Maria, Boudica, and Brynhildr inside of the castle. Leanna knew that if they remained, then this man called Legion would definitely attempt to capture them. Elizabeth on the other hand, knew that they needed to be treated by the healers inside the castle, otherwise, they would most likely die from their wounds. Luckily for them, the ice had managed to melt enough for Therese to retrieve Maria. As much as Boudica wished to stay, Elizabeth reminded her that healing miracles could only do so much. As the group began to make their way to the city gates, they could feel an explosion of magical power. Boudica managed to turn her head towards the direction of the explosion.
Elizabeth and Leanna both placed themselves in-between the injured and the explosion. The danger of something like this wasn't the small radius of the explosion itself, rather, the danger came from the potent magical energy that would spread from it. if the injured were to be hit by the residual energy that came from it, their bodies would go into shock and, at best, they would fall into a coma, at worst, they would die. Elizabeth was able to summon a barrier with the help of Leanna. While Leanna couldn't set up a barrier, she was able to use her swords as a catalyst to help channel Elizabeth's holy magic. As they did so, Leanna was able to see what had happened, even though she already knew what it was that had happened. It wasn't just Leanna that could feel her blood begin to heat up, on the other side of the wall, Nina and Alicia could both feel the power resonate inside of them. The two of them, along with Eve, quickly made their way up to the top of the wall. Eve looked at the two and was surprised at what she saw, instead of a worried look, the two simply wore a small on their face.
A light had blinded Legion and most of the other warriors, but as it dissipated, they finally saw what happened. Surrounded by a small group of bodies, Ulrich stood alone, surrounded by a silver circle at his feet. The circle then dissipated as the runes on Excalibur began to light up with the same silver color. While the wounds on Ulrich were still visible, they were no longer bleeding. His silver eyes had an ominous glow to them and his magical energy wasn't even noticeable to Legion. He seemed like a completely different person. Rather than continue to stand and wait, five of Legions men rushed forward and attempted to attack Ulrich. However, Ulrich simply stood still as they approached, before two of them suddenly fell to the ground. Ulrich appeared behind them, with his sword held out, as if finishing an attack. The remaining three continued, however, Ulrich summoned a spear into his off hand, before quickly spinning around in a circle and allowing the spear to dissipate once he was finished.
The three warriors stopped in their tracks, before falling to their knees, then to the ground while holding their sliced throats. Legion grabbed one of the warriors and placed the black sword in his hands. The previous body then slumped to the ground, having served its purpose. He knew that he would need a body that was uninjured to use his full power. The king had changed, he was more powerful than before, despite the runes on his armor having burnt out. As he thought about what could have caused this change to happen, he then noticed another change beginning to happen to Ulrich, a streak of silver appeared in his hair. That's when he realized that his sword's runes were probably responsible for allowing him to move faster than before. However, even with that, it shouldn't have been this much of a change. As he began to grit his teeth in anger and silently curse Ulrich, the king's voice was heard speaking in a low voice.
"I would suggest that you start using every bit of your power. Otherwise, you and your minions will all die here." Ulrich then smirked. "So far, I've tried to keep a peaceful state of mind. I've kept everything I have under control. I got rid of Excalibur because I wanted to see how far I could go with this." Ulrich looked at his hand, before balling it into a fist. "However, it seems that I still have a lot of work to do before I can properly draw out my full power." Ulrich held up Excalibur. "Are you ready?" Legion then heard something that he didn't even think was a possibility. The sword replied to him.
"Of course, my love. Release all of thy anger and emotions. Thy beloved is ready to show this worm what her betrothed is capable of." Viviane replied with her usual cheerful voice.
"Allow me to share something with you before I kill you. I have a blessing from a certain goddess, and that blessing only requires that the moon is in the sky, it doesn't require the sun to be gone." Legion then looked up into the sky, noticing the moon was visible. The sun was still in the sky, but was beginning to set. Anger began to overtake him, furious that this man was growing more powerful before his eyes. He then looked towards Leanna and Elizabeth, who were now escorting the injured into the castle. He smiled as a thought came into his mind. However, Ulrich already knew what he had on his mind.
"You've already attacked those dear to me and you even cut my cousin's face,..." a massive amount of magic began to emanate from Ulrich's body. Contrary to earlier, it was now raging like a fire and it was easily noticeable how powerful it was. "for the sin of attacking those I care about and for attempting to cause trouble in my land, I'm going to break you." Ulrich's sword then became engulfed in lightning again, however, the lightning quickly spread and was now merging with Ulrich's aura.
Ulrich then spoke again, however, for the first time, their seemed to be a woman's voice accompanying his. "Ready yourself Legion. We want to see the look of fear upon a demon's face when he's lost everything. We want to hear you beg on your knees for the salvation that will never come for you. Gather all of your spirits into yourself, because no matter how many spirits or demons you are, we will send you back to hell where you belong."