Leon Crackwell's pov
It was unacceptable, I was a Don a symbol of power and might these bugs should not have been capable of the things I'm not,
how could they do it
how could they see a higher power
a power greater than theirs could hope to be and still have the will to fight
it just didn't make sense
and yet,...
they did it all the same, they stood up in face of inevitable defeat and in doing so they mocked me.
'who are you'
i asked tentatively to the man who came to their rescue, he was haggard looking clumps of dirt stuck to him his clothes had obviously gone more than a few days without washing and he leaned to and fro as if intoxicated, yet he was still beautiful his hair fell down his face in waves that caught the sunlight like a river of silver with golden eyes who beauty could not be diminished by that the lint and cloudiness surrounding them a man so perfect he looked to be trying to undo said perfection yet I couldn't bring myself to call him out on it, because, he was powerful although restrained he excluded an aura on a similar scale to the likes of Langris Kalen Jurad and Eron, no his was greater, I held back the need to prostrate before him I had to be cautious of besmirching my title after all but still a great fear was creeping into my heart the thought of dieing to this man's whims filled me with dread, I gripped tightly to an artifact the 2nd Don had given me before hand
:use this to escape:
he said
: but only if absolutely nessecary anything less and there'll be hell to pay, this thing wasn't cheap:
his words echoed in my mind this was a nessecary situation I thought but another thought crossed into my mind, how was I supposed to explain that out of nowhere I was faced with someone even stronger than Eron there weren't many people like that and I'd scarce have said the words before my head was lopped off by that mad man.
The man looked at me inquisitively before asking
"I said did any of you say Kalen"
'.....'
I couldn't reply, Kalen was the name of the man Jurad had gone away with and I was currently in the middle of killing his subordinates if this man had a good relationship with him I was a goner
"guess you don't know"
he said before waving his hand in the direction of the injured four, their wounds completely disappeared that wasn't healing magic it was organic reconstruction the transformation mana to into cells and having them fill the place of lost parts literally replicating the losts parts of a person's body rather than stimulating natural healing, basically he regrew the parts of their bodies than had been injured, it was a ridiculously high level technique and he just used it not only without chanting but instantaneously as well,
"you mage, bring down you're mental defences I could force them open but,....let's just say you wouldn't want that"
I could tell the mage agreed because in a single second his face gained a sharpness that wasn't there before, he had fully realised the situation, he stood quietly in silent fury before saying
"do you want to continue this fight"
my face must have looked so pathetic, I wanted to run, to scream, to cry but I held on only maintaining a face of panic, my previous opponents were looking at me probably wondering where that proud Don was now that a helper arrived but sorry to say he was never here, he never even existed, he had always been a coward constantly living under fear of death amd could only put up a front in the presence of those he knew were weaker than him, and now it had all cone to bite him in the ass. I wanted to beg but each time that thought crossed my mind it flashed, the uncaring eyes of a white haired man much younger than me so I took a step back and pulled my swords two jet black Don class weapons capable of enhancing the power of a single swing twelve fold but even they wouldn't save me I decided that If I the Phantom beast Lord was going to die it would be in a battle with a stronger opponent rather than begging at the feet of who was supposed to be his ally
'I will but forgive me if I disappoint'
he nodded and pointed his sword at me, I took my stance while saying
'Leviathan Arcanum activate'
the spectral beast that would have been haunting for most but comforting for me quickly surrounded me but if the man was phased he didn't show it instead he spoke with a voice just as attractive as him
"Silver Arcanum activate, Bestowlment"
the ki on his sword gained a silvery light,
he himself seemed to shine like some otherworldly deity after those words were spoken, I realised I if I was going to at least put on a show I would have to give my all even if it kills me
'bestowlement'
as I said that a huge chunk of the beast I commanded detached itself and fused with my blades forming rows of mouths with sharp teeth covering it with a sinister aura my blades now resembled an eldritch horror, he perked up an eye brow at my actions while the magis-swords who had moved to the side in order not to get in his was had shock written all over their faces, bestowlement was a form typically reserved for those with elemental or sub elemental based Arcanum's like darkness or silver not that it couldn't be done with other Arcanum's like I had just shown just that it would be incredibly difficult and dangerous, to posses the level of control I had with mine was quite frankly astounding but it wouldn't make a difference in this fight
'I'm coming'
I dashed forward to most I would have been a blur but I could see it in his eyes, he caught every step of my movement, I swung with a spin yet he only needed one hand to block, my ki stirred and an aberration of mouths with razor sharp teeth flew out trying to bite him but the silver aura around him extended into spikes and mutilated it, they grew longer aiming for me so I jumped back, surrounding the spot where he stood were over a dozen magic circles and they were all aimed at him from multiple directions but before my feet could touch the ground he swung he a cirlce and all of the spells were broken before they could even fire, he had applied magic cancelling in his blade, his move still kicked up dust so I used the cover to try to attack his back but he simply bent his head low and let blade miss i turned to try and cut him again but he had leaned back and placed a kick at my chest, I went flying, through trees rocks dirt and long past the area where Ventus's barrier previously covered, before I could right myself I was forced to block again for he had caught up to me and slashed at me again, off balance I could do nothing but roll on the ground once more digging another trench like when I fought the second Don only this time my attacker wasn't taking care not to kill me so I was getting covered in cuts and bruises, the swing that I blocked had made my upper arms numbs while my fingers were very sore, I managed to land in time to cross my blades above my head and block another swing but I didn't have enough strenght, my swords were almost knocked clean out of my hands i was on my knees and my left shoulder had been split apart, I looked him in the eyes, cold and uncaring this was definitely not the first time he had killed, invisible tentacles flared out of my back and tried to grab hold of him but he simply jumped back, the tentacles followed and not long after he was In the air dodging, he had managed to use them as foot holds and was skillfully dodging them like it was nothing all I saw was his sword glint a bit and all the tentacle had been diced, he desended towards me like a meteor as I swung my swords in the form of an X
'Leviathan Arcanum edict of corrosion'
ki with the properties of acid flew out in the direction of my attacker with the way he was falling he was sure to take some damage, at least that's what I thought
"silver Arcanum edict of reflection"
my attack was sent right back at me, it took all my speed to activate it
'Leviathan Arcanum edict of gluttony'
one the mouths on my blades stretched out and grew to the size of a carriage and quickly swallowed the attack, I was already setting my self up for my next attack when I heard it
"it's over"
a hellish pain hit my back, he had finally gotten a proper slash at me, a swing so powerful and forceful he broke bone, my body fell lifeless to the ground but the pain from the wound kept me awake, I tried crawling away but I felt another pain on the back of my right leg, I could still think clearly enough to know that I had been stabbed there,
'see what happens Ventus'
I spoke as tears pooled into my eyes
'see what happens when you go against someone stronger, it always ends like this, you in a pathetic state'
he had paused now I could sense the anger on his face dissipating giving way to a puzzled expression
'that's because we're weak, you and I both, and now we're going to die, I'm going to die'
I couldn't hold back my sobs anymore and like a lost child I let it all out, for a few seconds this continued until I heard a voice say
"but you're not weak"
his words were so shocking that they put my tears on halt
"you can use bestowlment with you're Arcanum even though it isn't an elemental type and there are very few Arcanum users that can attach edicts to their blades, you're actually very formidable"
I couldn't tell if it was empty praise because it as backed by fact
"tell me why didn't you use your spirits"
I was on my back now looking up at him in shock how could he tell I was a spiritualists as well
"if you had used them you could have at least gotten away"
'because they're weak too'
i refused to belive him, my answer seemed to displease him so he answered
"is that so, I don't think you're weak but I know I'm strong so I'll do you the honour of dieing by the blade of a strong man, is that all right with you"
I couldn't cry anymore, I'm a Don my final moments have to be brave after all, so I put up my most daring expression and let my neck be visible and said
'a clean strike please'
do it, the meaning wasn't well hidden, he swung to decapitate me and I closed my eyes, the seconds stretched as I felt my mind wander, my position my subordinates thoughts of them were constantly overpowered by that on one person
'goodbye Ventus'
"CLANG SFX"
the sound of steel on steel rung out yet i still lived, I wasn't expecting a miracle so shock was evident on my face when i realized I wasn't dead, I opened my eyes to see that I had been saved, a man in all green had blocked the strike green clothes green hair even green blades, two masterfully crafted shorts words that gave off an air of a mighty gale they were in the hands of a man, tall handsome and proud, he could easily be described as something out of this world, a second of bewilderment was all it took for me to place his name
'Ventus'
not looking at me he growled at the silver haired man
"you will not touch my brother"
he said before swung wide and sending him flying.