Zephyrus was speechless as he saw the inside of his storm barrier through the huge gap from the courtyard of the palace.
He had sensed a huge amount of magia converging on a single point and had set up the barrier around the palace just in time as the powerful wave of magia split the mountain in half.
He sighed. The Council is going to have a field day pumping him for an explanation.
"I hope Seventeen won't go too overboard.", he said to himself. He focused on fixing the part of the barrier that got destroyed by the previous attack.
"Lately I've been doing a lot of damage control.", Zephyrus said with a chuckle.
*******
High above the palace, Two artificial beings faced each other.
Vicaris looked back at the mountain cut in half by a single attack of the android. He then looked at Seventeen whose fiery wings glowed brightly. His purple eyes now glowing a fiery blue and his tattered coat flapping in the wind. The black sword in his hand released a powerful pressure.
At this rate, either one of them will fall. It's a matter of endurance. Vicaris intends to make sure he would not be the one to fall. He's going to have to raise it up a notch.
His eyes flared as he removed the limiter he set for himself, "This is the last resort to beat you.", the smoke from his joints turned into bright flames. His armor morphed and became bigger and turned a reddish hue.
Red smoky wings appeared on his back and a jagged tail made up of flames whipped behind him. The dragon symbol burned brightly on his chest and his sword was engulfed in flames.
Seventeen frowned as he witnessed this transformation. "He said it's his last resort."
(Well. You DID shock him by splitting a mountain in half.)
'I forgot to dial it down and the guy dodged at the last second.'
(If this keeps on you will have to create a limiter for yourself.)
Seventeen looked at Vicaris who raised his sword, "Here comes."
The Dragon Knight appeared right in front of him and swung the flaming greatsword. 'He's become faster.', Seventeen thought as he immediately countered it. His arm throbbed with the force.
The force of the clash briefly pushed back the barrier. The sky flashed as they zipped around the broken mountain and violently traded blows. Shockwaves and magia rippled the sky with each strike.
Seventeen felt himself being pushed back with each blow. Small cuts started appearing on his body which closed up in an instant. Whatever the Dragon Knight did to boost his power, it surely is working well.
{Lightning Code: Electro Boost}, electricity enveloped Seventeen and his speed increased tenfold. He flew towards Vicaris and just as he came in front of his opponent, he suddenly stopped, the force of his fiery wings slightly pushing back the Dragon Knight. He swung Nyx upwards.
{Fire Code: Blazing Prominence}, golden-red flames appeared at the tip of his blade, forming a bright arc of flames as he swung upwards. He followed with consecutive slashes without breaking the flow in quick succession. He then ended the series with a strong downward slash. It was so fast that it looked like a flurry of flames.
Unfortunately, Vicaris was faster. He dodged all the strikes and blocked the final slash. He then knocked Nyx out of the way and swung upwards. Seventeen couldn't dodge it in time and the greatsword found its mark.
Seventeen looked at the deep gash on his shoulder. It smoldered due to the flames of the Dragon Knight and liquid magia flowed from the wound. He touched it and looked at his own blood.
He didn't feel pain but he felt something else, deep in his soul, a flutter. This was the first time someone made him bleed. He felt excited, "This adds a thrill to the battle.", he said with a smile.
"You bleed magia, the blood of the gods.", Vicaris said in a serious voice. "What do you mean by that?", Seventeen asked.
Vicaris ignored the question, "Just what are you?", he asked.
Seventeen covered his blade with ice, the temperature around him lowered, "Let's find out, shall we?"
'Sorry ice queen, but I am using your move.', he thought as he pointed Nyx downwards, {Ice Code: Dance of Swords}.
An icy mist enveloped him and the temperature plummeted. Snow started falling from the sky due to the temperature drop. Vicaris saw this and he was alarmed. He cannot let this continue.
He streaked towards the mist and swung his flaming sword. But it was blocked by the black blade which was so cold that it started to freeze the greatsword.
"Now that's rude.", Seventeen said calmly as the mist dissipated. Like Ruth, his clothes became pure white. His fiery wings are replaced by jagged icy ones and hundreds of swords made of ice surrounded him, some even forming part of his wings.
A snowflake pattern appeared on his cheek as he exhaled mist. Icy veins on the surface of Nyx glowed and ice crackled as it spread from Nyx to the greatsword, extinguishing the flames.
Vicaris immediately pulled back, preventing his sword from being fully frozen by Seventeen's. He had never seen a Code like that in his 3000 years of existence. "What is that?"
"Something I learned from a friend.", Seventeen said with a smile. Despite being a more powerful version of Ruth's Code, Seventeen hadn't fully mastered the dance of swords so he could only maintain it for 5 minutes.
And that much is enough. 'If this works, I will treat you to dinner in a nice restaurant ice queen.', Seventeen thought as he gripped Nyx.
Vicaris ignited his sword and attacked again, this time much faster than before. Seventeen flicked his sword and the powerful strike by the Dragon Knight was blocked by the ice swords under his control.
Vicaris did multiple strikes but all were blocked by the frozen swords. He suddenly felt something off and looked above. multiple ice swords were rushing at him from above like a swarm of icy death.
He flew out of the way but the swords followed him. He zigzagged at lightning speed but they mirrored his movements. He knew it would be useless if he kept moving so he stopped and prepared to intercept the sharp stream of ice swords.
"Got you!", Seventeen suddenly appeared behind him, lightning crackled around him and enveloped Nyx, he swung at Vicaris's back.
The Dragon Knight swiftly twisted and struck. He had anticipated this, "Nice try.", he said to Seventeen who was smiling despite the greatsword coming at him.
"I don't think so.", the android said, {Space Code: Switch}, Seventeen disappeared, and in his place were the ice swords. Vicaris's sword passed through the swarm as they moved away from the blade and struck him violently.
Taken by surprise, Vicaris bolstered his defenses and tanked the massive swarm of swords. They kept on coming, bouncing off his armor, blocking his vision and movement. He was trapped.
He felt a presence behind him, it was Seventeen. Vicaris cannot defend against this attack due to the onslaught of ice swords.
Seventeen increased the intensity and amount of swords. He raised his hand to the sky and concentrated his magia. The sky above the mountain darkened, becoming darker than the clouds of the storm barrier. It rumbled and lightning flashed in the sky as the clouds swirled right on top of Vicaris.
Seventeen stopped the barrage of ice swords. His eyes glowed bright blue as he put down his hand.
{Lightning Code: Judgement Bolt}
A massive and powerful bolt of lightning ripped out of the swirling clouds and struck Vicaris. The sky lit up and the land shook, further crumbling the split mountain.
The barrier struggled against the force and almost dissipated. Down in the palace, Zephyrus coughed out blood. The damage to the barrier is taking its toll on him.
"Damnit Seventeen. Just what are you doing?", he muttered. He barely had time to wipe the blood before a huge crash shook the palace. "Now what?", he sighed.
He ran into the great hall. A crater was formed right in front of the throne room and dust billowed. He could see the silhouette of someone lying in the crater.
Seventeen floated down the hole in the roof and landed on the opposite side of the crater. His ice wings collapsed and the swords evaporated into mist. His wound had stopped bleeding and is now healed.
He saw the fallen figure of Vicaris. Smoke wafted from his armor and scorch marks were everywhere, even a few dents and scratches could be seen. The Dragon Knight's wings and tail have evaporated and the symbol on his chest glowed faintly.
Seventeen was breathing heavily to replenish his Reserve. He had also used Soul vision to look for any weaknesses along with his magia vision. Add that to the Code Cancel he used, his Reserve has taken a big hit.
Suddenly Vicaris twitched. Seventeen and Zephyrus stepped back as the Dragon Knight picked himself up and shook his head. His sword flew into his hand and he gripped it tight.
"Damn. Still not down. What is it with his durability?", Seventeen gritted his teeth.
"That was a powerful attack. I would've been finished if it was stronger. You have multiple attributes. I am impressed.", he said and took a stance, "Time to end this."
He pointed his sword at Seventeen and it started to glow. Runes appeared and formed concentric rings around the blade. A massive presence fell on Seventeen and Zephyrus.
The rubble around them started to float due to the powerful magia. Seventeen's eyes widened as he recognized the structure of the code sequence around the blade.
"Get away, Headmaster! He's going to use an Original Code!", he yelled at Zephyrus who became alarmed by what he said.
"Oh boy. This is bad!"