For a few brief moments, all of the fighting came to a screeching halt. Just as Oritsu Ketsueki had arrived, prepared to assist his son in subduing the masked lord, the sky had apparently been torn apart, a stream of blue light crashing down at incomprehensible speeds.
However, to everyone's surprise, the collision had not disrupted much of the land, but it did reveal who the perpetrator—or perpetrators, in this case—happened to be.
Tanjo stood still, shocked. Kronos, the God of Time, had just shown himself to Regashi, Oritsu, and Lord Phoenix. Were gods unknown in this universe? Were they pronounced extinct? Whatever the case may be, that was not all the scene offered. Under Kronos, an aged man with silver hair groaned as he was pinned to the dirt.
"Grah!" The silver-haired elder coughed up his own saliva, "Kronos… you damn fool!"
The blue-haired god was unaffected. "Your time as a god has expired, Derrien. You've destroyed enough universes as is."
The elderly god clung to the arm Kronos used to force him down, clenching his teeth.
"I need… to recreate balance, Kronos… I did it once, but it was tampered with!" Derrien coughed with a pained face.
Before the conversation between Kronos and Derrien could proceed to a further extent, a voice had breached the bewildering scene:
"Hey! Who are you!" Regashi demanded with a yell, momentarily looking away from the fight at hand.
Both of the gods craned their heads in the direction of Regashi's voice. Kronos narrowed his eyes in annoyance, but Derrien gasped with desperation, his eyes snapping wide open.
"...You!" Derrien exclaimed, stretching his hand outward toward the prince of Furusato. "You are my last hope!"
Kronos seemingly caught on to what Derrien was implying the moment a white light coated the silver-haired god's hand, which was aimed directly at Regashi. Just as Derrien was able to fire a beam of white light—*ZRRMM!—Kronos sliced his arm off, redirecting the white laser.
Unfortunately, the God of Time could not foresee what where the white beam would land.
With impeccable speed, the white laser flew right into Lord Phoenix, the masked lord unable to prevent himself from being blasted away. Nobody, other than the two gods, could have stopped the white beam; the sheer amount of power infused into the laser was enough to overwhelm any mortal.
Derrien started to seeth vehemently, "You ruined it! Kronos, you elusive bastard! You ruined everything!"
The blue-haired god ignored Derrien, eyeing the spot Lord Phoenix had been blasted.
"You're called the 'Failed God,' for a reason, Derrien." Kronos muttered, blinking. "You've masked yourself from my sights long enough. Time to retire."
And just like that, the two gods vanished. Even the terrain they leveled as a result of their collision had repaired itself, leaving no evidence of their presence. Tanjo's confusion echoed that of Oritsu and Regashi, who were completely unaware of what had just happened.
For several moments, the three stood in quiet, trying to absorb any information they could. Then Oritsu took a step forward, his gaze fixed on Tanjo.
"Tanjo, you appeared to know who they were; what do you know?"
Tanjo flinched, averting his sights from the area the gods stood to the king of Furusato. "I… couldn't tell you. Even if I knew one of them, I'm clueless as to the reasoning behind their appearance here."
Suddenly, a voice roared to the skies, causing everyone's ears to ring:
"REGASHI!"
The familiarly cloaked form of Lord Phoenix burst into view, stomping furiously on the grass and producing long fissures in the earth that spread for many feet. His sleeves were ripped and his mask was cracked. Aside from the man becoming incredibly unruly, something else about Lord Phoenix was altered. His eyes shone brighter than ever before. Glistening golden orbs pierced through his fractured mask, like if a demon was watching its victim.
Lord Phoenix's rage flared brightly, so brightly that it could be felt by everyone in the nation as a whole, if not further. His Aura Sense surged, making his magic far more effective than before.
"What… happened to him?" Regashi queried rhetorically, stepping back.
"Your soul!" Lord Phoenix bellowed angrily, "is mine! Everything you have, everything you love, and everyone you know… is mine!"
Fear permeated the area like wildfire, radiating down the spines of Regashi, Tanjo, and Oritsu. It could not be helped; waves of power were fluctuating through the air. The ground practically shook from Lord Phoenix's mere yelling.
"Regashi, you can still handle him, right?" Tanjo asked, his voice reaching the brown-haired prince.
Regashi was hesitant to speak, "I… don't know. But, I guess we'll have to find out!"
With utmost haste, Regashi charged at Lord Phoenix, his eyes locked on the masked lord's figure. Instantly, after closing the several-meter distance in less than a second, Regashi reeled his fist back, unleashing a valiant blow.
Before his punch could land, however, Regashi's entire body froze in mid-air, and every single one of his muscles locked tight. He could not move. Currently, the prince of Furusato was forced to make eye contact with Lord Phoenix, who did not move an inch, somehow keeping Regashi floating in the air.
"I've waited for this moment for far too long…" Lord Phoenix grumbled, clenching his teeth behind his fractured fox mask.
*SHUNK!*
Oritsu's eyes widened as blood flashed before his eyes. "Son!"
Several rigid spikes had protruded from the grass below, each made of the earth itself, promptly impaling Regashi's torso. Viscera spewed from the prince's upper body, appearing to be completely irrevocable.
"GRAAGH!" Regashi howled, rendered immobile.
Lord Phoenix narrowed his gleaming yellow eyes as he spoke, "You can not die yet, Regashi—after all, I still haven't killed everything you love before your very eyes!"
Clenching his fist, Lord Phoenix tore Regashi's body from the spikes with an invisible force, the prince's body levitating unnaturally. All he could do was writhe in pain, but his body refused to submit, to concede to the loss of blood and pierced organs.
Lord Phoenix's gaze landed on Tanjo and Oritsu, malice fueling his heated glare. "Your turn."
*KRRRSHHHH!*
The ground had been lifted to the skies behind Lord Phoenix, dwarfing any mountain and generating a wave of material that began to crash fast into the village of Furusato.
'He didn't have this power a few minutes ago… that white beam must have infused something into Lord Phoenix!' Tanjo reflected quickly, his muscles tense as he watched the land get flipped upside down.
"Tanjo! You said you needed to be in this fight! So prove yourself useful and help me blow away his attack!" Oritsu ordered, creating two red Genso-Kyu in each of his palms.
The teenage boy nodded, copying the king of Furusato and creating two Genso-Kyu for himself, both made of blue magic.
"Fire!"
*BOOM! BOOM!*
Immediately, the impending wave of earth had been demolished the moment the four beams from Tanjo and Oritsu connected, preventing the two from being wiped out along with the village.
"Good, Tanjo! Now, we just need to find out where—!"
"I am?" Lord Phoenix suddenly appeared behind Oritsu, a hand on the king's shoulder. "Much like your son, you're far too oblivious!"
*SWOOSH!*
Spinning swiftly, Lord Phoenix tossed Oritsu's body into Furusato, tearing down the village wall and any structure that the man's body crashed into. It was a horrible sight—debris flying everywhere and village material clanking loudly as it fell down harshly.
"That leaves the younger brother…" Lord Phoenix said tensely, looking at Tanjo menacingly.
Tanjo nearly tripped over himself as he stepped backward, anxiety washing over the boy, forcing sweat to pour from every inch of his body.
"You know, the last time I brought you into conversation, Regashi got really mad. The moment I mentioned his younger brother, he saw red and became the reason why I wear this mask!" Lord Phoenix revealed, ending with a roar.
'I can't die here… anywhere but here! I need to be in my own universe!' Tanjo thought, gulping nervously.
"But, now I wonder: what if I killed you now? Would he still manage to stop me? Would he still be the hero everybody says he is!?" Lord Phoenix inquired with ire, clenching his fists.
Raising his index finger—*ZOOM!*—Lord Phoenix discharged a small beam that he conjured from thin air, shooting it at Tanjo. The jet-black-haired boy quickly blocked the beam with a red barrier, raising the masked lord's eyebrow.
"Your Aura Sense… it's different… How come?" Lord Phoenix asked, his voice low.
Tanjo swallowed his fear temporarily. "That's only for me to know, bastard!"
"Well," Lord Phoenix was shocked, amused. "You managed to out-smart me last time… I want to see you try again! Escape death!"
*RUMBLE!*
The ground around Tanjo shifted, with a stone spike shooting out and stabbing the boy through his right arm, holding him in place. Moments later, another stone spike tore through his left leg, shrieks of pain emitting from Tanjo's throat.
"Do something, brother of Regashi! Surprise me!"
"Tanjo! Brother!" A new voice screamed, garnering Lord Phoenix's attention.
The masked lord inclined his head toward the voice, perplexed. "Who's that? A clone of the little brother?"
To Tanjo's surprise, Kenji sprinted toward the scene, stopping once he deemed himself too close for safety. But, of course, it was too late to contemplate safety.
"Stay out of this!" Tanjo called out to his identical variation, "I know you're smart enough to see danger when it's before you! We're practically the same! So, please, listen to your head and leave!"
Kenji paused, his eyes flickering between Tanjo and Lord Phoenix.
Then, the boy parted his lips to speak, "If you truly know me, then you'd know that I don't give a shit about what my mind tells me if the ones I care about are in danger!"
Lord Phoenix chuckled, observing the interaction with a hint of humor. "This was your destiny, then… to die because you listened to your heart!"
*SHRRRM!*
Red light then enveloped Lord Phoenix's entire right hand, which trained on Kenji's body. After the masked lord was pleased with the amount of magic flowing through his palm, he carelessly shot a beam of red magic toward the other jet-black-haired boy.
Tanjo shut his eyes and turned his head away in fear, bracing for the inevitable explosion to appear.
*BOOM!*
And there it was, the red beam Lord Phoenix had sent out exploding violently.
"Leave my brother out of this!"
Tanjo's eyes opened, his head snapping toward the direction of the new voice. It was Regashi! He was moving! All along his torso, Regashi's wounds slowly healed, the holes closing.
Regashi had successfully blocked the red beam from colliding with Kenji's body, the palm of his hand taking the brunt of the explosion.
Lord Phoenix hummed, displeased. "It always angered me how abstinent you are to dying!"
The prince continued to glare at Regashi, uncaring of what the masked lord uttered.
"What? Not speaking anymore? Perhaps I struck your nerves once again." Lord Phoenix goaded, though his own anger began to take control.
Regashi breathed in, his body brimming with potent magic. After a few seconds of charging up, the prince of Furusato spoke:
"It doesn't matter if the last you hear will be your own screams."
XXX
The fight is definitely picking up! How did Lord Phoenix get such power? Where did Kronos even come from, especially with Derrien? Who will win this gruesome battle? Stay tuned for more!
(We're also close to 200 chapters!)
Have a Great Day!
Peace - Cr1ticalz_