[Lilith]
"Amelia!" I yelled as a glowing blue aura absorbed her momentarily. The figure that stood next to her held her as a bubble formed around the three. Claire's body laid limp in Amelia's arm as Amelia stared blankly at her. It looked like the figure formed the bubble as a way to protect them.
I glared back at Mandy…or what was Mandy. Black tendrils covered his body, seeping out of his arm and fingers. The boy's pink hair was disheveled and matted with the black substance as his blue eyes glowed under the layers of black tendrils that layered his face. His skin tight dress that he had worn was shredded from the top, showing his bare skin. He no longer donned the childish looks of a boy…but of a monstrous being.
But Something was off…an immense pressure was building next to me, one that I couldn't fully understand. A shimmer of rainbow color fluttered in the ground as the ground also shook. A faint glow of prismatic coloring fluttered on the ground as it flowed towards the one beside me.
"Lilith…"
I turned my gaze to him. Kota, who was getting up from his kneeling position. A shimmer of that prismatic glow surrounded him, spiraling around him in a misty form. And that's when I caught his eyes.
What were once blue were now a teal color that glowed. His gaze stayed forward, looking at Mandy as he stood tall and lifted his staff. The shimmering prismatic mana surrounded him and enveloped him, forming his Mana cloak. Kota had never used a mana cloak before…
This has to be something else, right?
"Lilith, we have to protect Amelia…Even if it kills us!" Kota spoke, aiming his staff at the pink haired boy. "We gotta stop Mandy at all costs!" His staff glowed a prismatic color as he surged his mana through it.
I continued to gaze at him, deciphering what was going on. Kota had just fallen as we saw Claire pass and now…he's changed, I couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe it was because I didn't really understand mana or maybe I just haven't seen Kota really go all out. But the pressure he's giving me makes me feel a bit uneasy…
"…Kota." I gazed at him. I gripped my black shortblade, my left arm burning with heat as I then nodded. "We can't let Mandy get to Amelia!"
My left arm flared as I stood next to him, the burning heat built up inside me as I stared at Mandy. The deformed pink haired boy laughed at us, his arms were covered in the black tendril as he pointed at us.
"Aw, are you two still really trying?" Mandy manically smiled at us, his black tendrils moving around himself in a meticulous manner. "I'm absorbing those girls…Finishing my task for Arael, now get the fuck out of my way!"
Mandy shot a tendril right at me, I braced my short blade in my right arm and readied to slash at it. My left arm flared and heated. I wanted to burn away this black monstrosity, down to the very co-
A flicker of white light danced across my vision, a flurry of white mist and multiple balls shot right at the tendril. The effects were immediate, the tendril turning into a white crackling form as it began to spread further up itself. It was frozen solid, just barely a couple inches from my face as I quickly turned to see who did it. It was fast, I didn't even hear it at all!
Kota aimed his staff in an odd way, both hands clenched the staff as he aimed it. It was like he was using the staff's tip as a sight, the tip of the staff hissing with drips of the dry ice falling down. His teal eyes gleamed as he stared at the large monstrous body that was Mandy's, with such intensity in his eyes that it made me a bit uncomfortable.
Mandy howled in agony, pulling back with enough force to rip off his frozen tendril. The tendril fell to the floor, cracking and breaking upon hitting it. The pink haired boy then glared at Kota, his eyes fueled by rage before suddenly faltering into confusion. "Wha-You…The hell is that look on your face?!" He spat at Kota, his tendril regenerating in full as he gazed at him. "Your eyes…did you really just get a power up in the middle of all of this?! No fucking way…" Mandy let out a soft maniacal chuckle. "Such typical bullshit…it makes me want to throw up!"
Another tendril shot as Kota this time, the long black appendage soared its way to him. I quickly lunged for it, about to swing my shortsword before I realized that Kota was already moving before me…or rather he anticipated that move already from Mandy as his left arm raised into the air, A crackling of energy surged through it with no issues as he then grabbed Mandy's black tendril. Suddenly, a blue course of lightning surged through Kota's arm and surged through the black tendril.
When did Kota learn to do this? It was like he was harnessing those lightning from the clouds, putting it into his palms. With his mana cloak and his gloves, he was able to do this with no harm…I think.
The blue lightning zapped and crackled as it coursed through the black tendril, causing Mandy to shake and scream as the magic spell coursed through his body. "Aah! T-the hell?! Lightning?!"
"Lilith! Strike his tendrils, cut them up!" Kota commanded me, his teal eyes gleaming with energy. "That shortblade should be able to stop these things from growing! Nullify his mana!"
Focus. His voice ignited something in me as I twirled my short blade in my hand, my legs moved the moment he told me to. I scraped my shortblade along the cave floor, sparks igniting behind me as I hurled myself at Mandy. The pink haired boy fired his black tendrils at me, all of them zigzagging and shooting themselves towards me. My left eye surged with mana, enhancing my perception as I easily maneuvered past them. I side stepped and slipped through them as I cleanly cut through them with my shortblade, Some of them grazing my cheek and arm, but I ignored them. With each cut and slash I made, it was affecting Mandy and his paralyzed body slightly. I couldn't fully tell, but I knew my shortblade was doing something.
"Raah! You bastards!" Mandy howled, his blue eyes glared at me as I continued my onslaught. The more tendrils he shot at me, the more I cut as I circled around him.
As I ran around him, I gazed at Kota. He continued to hold onto the tendril he was shocking, blue electric charges surged through his staff and his arm as he shocked him constantly. Kota's face was sweating and had an intense look of focus, but I could see that holding that spell was draining him quickly.
"Your running out of juice, lover boy! How long are you gonna hold that grasp for?" Mandy cackled. "Sooner or later, your gonna exhaust yourself to oblivion!"
I then noticed Mandy's tendril that Kota was holding was tensing, his electric spell was diminishing with each moment as he tried to hold onto the tendril. I quickly tried to make my way to him, but I saw his hold was slipping. Mandy took this chance and swung his tendril around, Kota clutching on as he and the tendril swung around the cave floor.
"Kota!" I yelled, I ran quicker to him but the tendrils stopped me. "Get out of my way!" I raised my left arm, the fiery embers fluttered off it as I grasped one of Mandy's tendrils. The touch of my hand instantly set the tendril on fire, the black flames engulfing the mass of flesh and steadily spread up towards Mandy's body.
"Ah, what the hell?!" Mandy screamed. In his own pain and rage, his tendrils swung wildly and out of control. The black flames engulfed more and more of his tendrils, spreading along the lower parts of his monstrous body. The tendril that Kota had held swung violently around, Kota desperately holding on as he continued to shock Mandy with what he had. Mandy glared at him with a Vicious expression, his tendrils sweeping right towards the wall where water was falling down from above.
I sprinted my way across the cave floor, my shortblade readied in my hand as I quickly sliced down the tendril that held Kota. As the tendril fell to the ground rolling, so did Kota. He tumbled and slid across the cave floor, rolling into the streaming water. I saw as he stumbled, balancing himself to his feet as the water streamed above him. He looked mostly unharmed from it all.
I ran to Kota, quickly assessing him and making sure he wasn't too hurt. "Hey, you alright?" I ran my eyes across him, Only seeing some scratch's marks and rips on his clothing.
Kota shrugged, his eyes gleaming that teal color as he focused on Mandy. He stumbled up to his feet as he grabbed his staff. "Focus on Mandy…" He gritted his teeth, his staff humming to life as the floor under us vibrated. "I'm gonna launch you at him, fast. If you can stab him right in his heart…you can stop him…"
"But-"
"Lilith, trust me…" Kota's staff hummed more and brightened as mana surged through it, his teal eyes gazed at me as he gripped my hand. "I'll keep you covered from down here, I'll throw whatever you have at him."
I…Can trust Kota. Of course I can, he's managed to get through everything we've been through…
I simply nodded at him, feeling the cave floor rumbling beneath me as I was suddenly shot through the air. A pillar of stone pushed me upwards into the air with a ferocious speed, my legs swinging in the air as I tried to regain balance. As I adjusted and stared at Mandy, I saw tendrils shooting towards me immediately.
I slashed at them as I flew through the air, Stone bullets flew past me as Kota began to silently cast his spell. This pierced and made holes in the tendrils it shot through. I pulled my left arm back, the fiery aura emanating a black fire that surrounded my fist.
I'm gonna stab him, and then I'll end it with this punch!
Mandy Looked at me with what seemed to be surprise and genuine worry as I flew right towards him. The pink haired boy raised his arms to block me, but I was too fast for him to react. I buried my short blade right into the boy's chest, twisting my blade into him as I glared at his blue eyes. I buried the sword deeper into his chest, right to the hilt before pulling it out roughly. His blood splattered onto my clothes, but I paid no mind as I then readied my fist.
Mandy's mouth opened wide as he gazed down at the blade plunged into his chest. But something was off…
The black tendril that surrounded him didn't seem to stop moving, he was still controlling them. I thought that if I managed to hit the source with my shortblade, it would nullify any magic usage?
"Huh?"
"You lucked out, huh?" Mandy chuckled, his teeth gritting as he grabbed my short blade. "That's one hell of a stab you made, but…" he then began to push my short blade from his chest, even with my pressure on it. "You can't stop what's already dead! This whole body has been dead long ago, A rotting corpse for me to use!"
"What?!" I pulled my short blade out of him,I saw the darkened blood within his chest. It became more apparent to me when I saw the rotten insides within his now opened chest. I raised my fist as it heated up with fire.
I then smashed my fist right into Mandy's face before he could even respond. His face smirked at me as I then set his face ablaze with a black fiery burn. What kind of a freak was this guy?
His whole body trembled more as more tendrils began to form from his body, even from the chest wound I made on him. The black tendrils slithered out and tried to make contact with me, but I reflexively pushed away from Mandy.
But…I forgot I was high up in the air in the first place. The sudden realization of no floor beneath me made me panic as I began to fall down to the cave's cold floor. Still, Mandy's tendrils swarmed towards me as I fell, reaching towards me with a sinister force as I plummeted.
"Lilith!" I heard Kota yell at me. As I turned my head towards his voice, a smoldering wave of coldness hit me as my back made an impact with something cold. A glossy white wall of ice caught me, sliding me down towards the cave floor. This long piece of ice was of Kota's, who was aiming his staff towards me as it shimmered a cold breeze from its tip.
As I slid down, the tendrils began to break what was the wall of ice from where I landed. Cracking and breaking it bit by bit as I heard Mandy cackle more. I gazed up high to see Mandy's body roaring with my black flame, but it didn't stop him. As soon as I got back down safely onto the cavern floor, I headed towards Kota.
"My thing didn't stop him!" I pointed at my short blade as I looked at Kota. "The body he's using is already dead…I'm guessing the blade only works on living things?"
Kota eyed my blade for a moment and then Mandy. Something was racing through his mind as he narrowed his eyes, his teal colored eyes glowed with flowing mana. "Got it…I'll just hit him with whatever I got." Kota then gripped his staff with both hands, The staff humming to life as mana flowed through it. A swirl of prismatic waves fluttered beneath his feet as he concentrated.
"K-Kota?" I gazed at him in surprise. The absolute pressure of his mana was getting to me, Almost like someone was pushing against my body with force. Whatever he was doing, it was huge. It didn't seem like he was going to use his dry ice spell or anything like that…this just seemed like raw mana coursing through him.
The sound of flesh whipping through the air caught my attention, I drew my blade and instantly fell into position to guard Kota. Mandy's tendrils came hurling towards us once more, and once more I was slashing and cutting them down as they came.
As I continued to slash and cut down these tendrils, it seemed like there was just an endless amount of them as they came at all angles on me. I felt a tinge of pain as one of the tendrils managed to cut into my right arm, but still I continued on. The pressure from Kota and his spell continued to grow as well, the humming from his staff growing increasingly more intense and louder. We were getting closer!
Suddenly, one of the black tendrils swooped in out of my view and hit me. The impact knocked me to the side as I tumbled into the water near us, my short blade slipping out of my hand and somewhere in the water. I sputtered and pulled myself from the water as I gazed at Kota charging his mana.
"You got a bit juiced up and decided to act like a hero now, huh?" Mandy sneered at Kota, His body burnt from my flames. Burnt marks scathed his skin as he glared at Kota. "That's pathetic, You had all that you could've had before and look what happened! What's the whole damn point of this?! You should've listened to Ara-"
Before Mandy could finish his sentence, A gush of blood erupted from his mouth. The flames were eating at his body, taking a toll on his body. His body was giving out as the black tendrils he had were beginning to shrivel.
"Fuck!" Mandy coughed out, holding his palms to his mouth as more blood came pooling out. "Don't know how long this body will last, this useless brat's body…But…" I saw Mandy's eyes glaze over something to something off to the side. "A little feasting wouldn't do no harm."
Kota glanced in the direction that Mandy was looking at, his eyes widening as he looked. As I also looked at where Mandy was looking at, it was who he was targeting that set a heavy weight onto my chest. It was The limp body of Claire that resided in the bubble that Amelia was in.
"Wait, do-" Kota stopped his charging, moving forward. But that was instantly stopped as Mandy's tendrils wrapped around him, holding him in place as his other tendrils slithered towards the bubble that Amelia and Claire were in.
"Shut it! I've had enough!" Mandy yelled. "Once I change bodies, I'll make sure you two get a Good look before I end you both. Hah, you really thought you could stop Arael's plans from happening, didn't you? There's no point in trying to stop the inevitable deaths…"
I tried to run for Amelia, dashing out of the water as those tendrils drew closer and around the bubble she was in. But even with my speed, I wouldn't be able to stop it in time. I gritted my teeth, my legs tensing as I ran. "Amelia, please wake up!" I don't even think she could hear us in the state she was in…
"Amelia!" Kota yelled as well, the tendrils around him wrapped even tighter.
As he yelled, a soft hum pulled its way out of the bubble. A faint glow of blue emanated before slowly brightening, even with the black tendrils that surrounded the bubble. As the bubble grew a brighter blue, it found itself ensnared by the tendrils as they tried to enter the bubble. The humming growled louder and louder,
"What the Fu-"
*DING*
Before Mandy could finish his sentence, a church bell rang through the cavern walls as suddenly a bright light burst through the bubble. A large projectile shot through the air as it hissed, surging right into Mandy's chest. A arrow that glowed with a whitish aura, its holy like appearance also seemed to be an effect of whatever it was doing as Mandy began to scream in agony. His black tendrils began to crumble and fall to the cavern floor as he tried to pull the large arrow out of his chest, but each time he pulled…it seemed to burn his hands as well.
"…Great Nebus, lend me your strength to cleanse those who are corrupted and in need. Let your holy light shine bright and vanquish the darkness! Holy arrow…"
Suddenly, the stopped lodged inside of Mandy imploded. A burst of white light flashed along the pink haired boy's body as he screamed in agony, the black tendrils he had began to crumble more and more until finally…He slowly began to shape back to his normal form.
The bubble surrounding Amelia bursted with a shimmering blue haze. The transparent figure that held Amelia had its arms outstretched in a mannerism of holding a bow. Amelia herself was the one who was chanting that spell, her hand clutching the necklace of her family symbol. The small blue haired girl slowly opened her eyes, a faint glow of blue emanated from them as she stared up at Mandy.
"Amelia?" I asked out loud, gazing at her. Something was different about her as well. There was a different aura to her, a more…warm one…a mixture of something.The transparent figure that stood with her gazed at me and tilted its faceless face, as it had done before.
"Lilith…Kota." Amelia let out a small smile. "You two woke me up again…I'm alright, Claire is too…"
"W-wha-huh?" I found myself flabbergasted. "Claire?"
But before we could continue our conversation, The same feeling of pressure began to emanate from Kota. As I turned back to him, I saw he was once more charging his mana. His eyes focused solely on Mandy, who was stunned and confused by what had transpired. The pink haired boy was still slowly transforming back to his normal form, the long body he once had slowly shrunk as he stared at the cave ceiling. He looked like a withering burnt tree with how charred he looked.
"Mandy is weakened, the necromancy he's been using is weakened! Lilith, help me!" Kota yelled, a swirl of prismatic mana twirled around him. His grip on his staff tightened and aimed right at Mandy, the staff resumed its humming and rang through the cave.
I made my way to Kota, the pressure growing almost unbearable with each step until I was right next to him. His gaze turned to me, gesturing for me to hold the staff with him. An odd sensation crackled through my left hand, like it was beckoning to hold it as well.
"Channel your mana into the staff with me, it'll charge faster!" Kota held the staff between us, leaving a gap for me to hold. "We can kill him in one blow, and make sure he doesn't come back!"
I nodded, my left hand tingling as I clenched the staff with it. The burning amber that surrounded my left hand dimmed as I felt the mana from me channel into it. The humming that came from the staff morphed into a much higher tone, screaming as the swirls of mana that surrounded us changed to a swirl of blue and red. His staff crackled and began to form a spherical ball at its tip, sparkles of prismatic spark ignited around the ball as the ball itself fought to contain itself.
As we held his staff, I could feel my mana sapping away from me. My left arm glowed even more dim than before and slowly regressed back to its normal form. But something else felt weird, it was like something else was seeping into me. It felt…oddly warm and familiar.
"Kota, where did you manage to get all this mana from?" I gazed at him, I could feel my dragon eye slowly flicker in and out of its form."
His teal eyes glanced at me, his teeth gritted as he tried to talk while maintaining the staff. "I tapped into the Duval's curse…I got his mana."
"What?!" My eyes widened in surprise and concern. So Duval is really inside him then? Is that why his mana is so large? Maybe that's why he's able to do these things now. Should I be worried? No…Right now, we should be concerned about Mandy…
I shook my head, gripping the staff tighter. "W-we'll talk about this later! Is this thing done?!"
Kota nodded, his staff shaking violently with the prismatic sphere at its tip. "Yeah, brace yourself!" He then aimed the staff at Mandy once more, with the assistance of me. I braced myself, grinding my feet into the cave floor as I readied myself.
"Delens Actums."
The prismatic sphere at the staff's tip violently vibrated as if it was unable to contain itself any longer, suddenly firing. A mix of blue and red lights danced around the cave walls as the sphere beamed itself towards Mandy. It was raw, Pure mana that expended out of the staff, The force caused a gust of wind to emit from it.
It collided into Mandy's body, instantly beaming Through his whole right side. He didn't even get the chance to respond to it, his dazed state and crumbling body gave him no chance. The beam continued on through the cave room, hitting one of the walls. The cave shuddered and shook from the impact as the beam drilled into it, the blue crystals that hung along the ceiling began to crackle and shatter from the force of it all.
Soon, the beam of raw Mana dissipated. Blue crystals and rocks began to fall from the ceiling, a piece of one of the rocks falling just above us. But before we could move, a bubble formed around me and Kota. A presence of warmth enveloped us as I gazed back to see who it was. It was Amelia, the transparent figure that stood with her outstretched its arms as it maintained the bubble for us. Amelia also held onto someone else, grasping the girl by the arm protectively. It was that maid girl…Bouane? The woman clutched onto Amelia's smaller frame and she kneeled on the cave floor behind her, her eyes shut closed tightly.
"D-don't worry! My summon will protect us!" Amelia said, gazing at me and Kota. "Mallory has it…"
"Mallory?"
"It's what I'm calling the summon now. Because…It's literally all of the Mallory family members into one…"
The blue crystal and rocks pummeled around the bubble, shaking the floor around us. Soon, it subsided and what was left was smoke and debris. The tip of Kota's staff sizzled with a sharp crackle as we held it together, blue and red lights coursed through the staff's wooden frame to show the mana that flowed through it. My left hand was back to its original form, no more dragon scales or burning flames. As I let go of the staff, I felt the odd sensation in my hand linger.
What was it? It feels…like Kota, kinda.
As the smoke began to settle and the rocks and crystal around us stopped moving, Amelia lowered her bubble. Her summon, Mallory lowered its hands, simply nodding and resting its hand onto Amelia's shoulder.
Kota then raised his hand, a gust of air pushed through his palm as he began to silently cast a wind spell. A ball of gust waved through the cave floor, clearing the ground for us to see. And as the smoke began to clear, I could see the body of who we were looking for.
Just in the center with rubble surrounding them, was Mandy. Half of his body gone and unable to reform, he laid there in a heap of rock and crystals. Without saying a word, Kota began to move. Crystal pieces crushing against his feet and rushing streams of water were the only noise being made in the cave, I too then began to follow him. Glancing back at Amelia to stay where she was, as It probably was for the better for her to stay away from Mandy.
As I followed behind Kota, I thought to myself. The way he moved and gazed around was much different than before, his attitude took a much more serious note. It's gotta be because of the duval curse, right? That…he won't be like this from now on, right? I wouldn't want that, it's just not him… Either way, me and him are gonna need to talk about all of this. If he ends up in the same Boat as me…then the two of us need each other's back, no matter what.
Finally, we approached Mandy. Who…somehow was still alive. But barely, from what I can tell. A whole blue crystal piece fell onto his legs, rendering him unable to move. The pink haired boy looked like a complete mess, his hair disheveled and matted in dirt. His eyes were bloodshot and wide as he gazed at Kota, it also seemed like he had a smile going as well…
"Hah…expected you to come waltzing…over to…me…." Mandy sputtered out, his voice was much weaker and wheezing with each word he uttered. Blood slowly leaked from his lips, drawing onto the floor. "Haah…Gonna mock me for doing all of this? Ruining…lives and helping Arael? teaching me a…lesson?"
Kota furrowed his brows, eying Mandy. "No. It's too late for that. You had a lot of years to see where you went wrong. I…thought I could help you change, but…I'm unable to see through all the things you've done." He then knelt down beside Mandy, frowning. His teal colored eyes gleamed as he gazed at him. "You didn't intend on being better, did you? You wanted others to feel the same hurt and pain as you, right? That's why you continued to help Arael?"
Mandy's eyes glared at him, his lips quivered surprisingly. "…You know it. Every person I took, killed or siphoned…I wanted them to see how angry I was…and Arael gave me that chance." His arms shifted under the rocks and crystals. "That's a good feeling of accomplishment, biting back at those who did me wrong…it felt good…"
Kota gazed at him, thinking of what to say. His eyes drifted to me momentarily before looking back. "…There's no helping you. You took people's lives when they could've lived for something, all because you couldn't live yours." He then raised himself up to his feet, his staff pointed at Mandy. "I'm ending this, you and arael…"
Mandy gave us a blood ridden smile, something that put unease down my spine as he glared at Kota.
"Big talk…for someone who's going with me…"
Suddenly, the floor glowed. A bluish light spread across the floor, revealing a magic symbol that spanned across the center where me and Kota stood. I quickly went to grab Kota by his arm, we needed to get out of this magic circle!
And what happened after I grabbed him suddenly left like slow motion.
A blue portal opened in the center of the cave floor, a breeze of cold air blew from it before I felt it slowly suck us towards it. Through the portal, I could see what appeared to be a gray sky. I gripped onto Kota's hand, trying to pull him away from all of this. I felt weak at the moment, my dragon powers were exhausted and I felt like my legs were bound to give out. But I couldn't let whatever this was take us out!
It was only for a mere second that I gazed at Kota's palm before I felt a gust of wind hit my stomach, sending me flying backwards. His black glove he had on his hand in my grasp as I then tumbled on the floor and into Mallory's transparent hands. The transparent summon immediately formed a bubble around me.
"W-wait! Kota! What are you doing?!" I yelled, pulling away from Mallory's grasp. The suction from
The blue portal pulled rocks and crystals into it, sending debris flying through the sky on the other side of the portal. Kota gazed at me, surprised by his own action.
Amelia stood next to me, her expression filled with confusion and despair as she too gazed at Kota. "Kota, get over here!" She gazed at Mallory, who nodded and raised her hand towards Kota. A smaller bubble formed around him.
I kept eye contact with him, the odd sensation returning to me that felt like a familiar warmth coursing through me. Kota clenched his bare fist, gazing at me with determination.
"Sorry, but…I'll find my way back." Kota gave me a sheepish smile before the suction from the portal pulled him through it. Even Mandy was pulled through the portal as well, the portal going on for a few more moments before seemingly closing.
The dust settled, the awfully quiet silence that lingered through the cave swept through me. I slowly blinked, hoping that he'd be there, standing in the center. But nothing. I felt my body slowly begin to give out, my knees shaking before I began to kneel on the cave floor. My hands trembling as I tried to process what just happened, what I just saw. Of all this time trying to find Kota and saving him from Mandy, I ended up having to watch him disappear again. The black glove he had was clenched in my hands as I shaking pulled it close to my chest, my breath turning shaky and fast.
He's gone. Kota was pulled somewhere else. Somewhere that I don't know.
The sound of water playing against something caused me to look down. His gloves were wet, my own tears dripping down onto it.
"…K…" I croaked out, my voice cracking. "…KOTA!!!"
My voice echoed through the whole cave. A call for someone who couldn't hear it.
Someone I deeply loved.