Previously:
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Rhea's early life was marked by hardship and loneliness. She was an abandoned child, left to fend for herself on the unforgiving streets. With no family or support system, she struggled to survive, constantly battling hunger, cold nights, and the dangers of the streets.
Rhea's days were filled with a constant struggle for survival. She learned to scavenge for food, seek shelter in abandoned buildings, and avoid the dangers that lurked in the shadows. Despite her difficult circumstances, Rhea's resilient spirit kept her going, refusing to give up even when life seemed unbearable.
However, the isolation and despair eventually took a toll on Rhea's mental and emotional well-being. She developed a deep-seated feeling of hopelessness, believing that her life had no purpose or meaning. This innate desire to die plagued her thoughts and weighed heavily on her young shoulders.
In her past, she went through quite a hardship. Then the day that was one of her worst arrived, and also, It was the day she met Eta.
Rhea was 10 years old When she saw 2 men kicked out of the bar through the backdoor in an alleyway. She was seated just a few metres away from the door. After they got kicked out, they got up, moving around wobbly. Since they were drunk, it was hard for them. That was when they saw Rhea just seated there on the floor. They approached her and talked her into joining them at their place. Rhea didn't understand what they said but understood they were talking to her. So, she looked up at them. The 2 men liked her beauty so much that they got aroused and started touching her inappropriately without her consent. Rhea was not paying mind to it either.
That was when Shivan asked, "What are you both doing to her?" as he stood behind them with his Butler and a bodyguard.
Shivan was a child, 5 years older than Rhea. He didn't understand what was going on inside the alleyway with those 2 men close to each other in one corner, So he wanted to check it out. The Butler perceived the situation and advised his young master to avoid proceeding. He assured that he would take care of the matter personally.
Shivan nodded no and went ahead to see what all the fuss was about, that was when he saw Rhea along with those 2 men, and that was when he intervened in asking the question.
His Bulter didn't seem pleased coming to a place like this and felt disgusted, and he felt even more disgusted after seeing the girl[Rhea] being kissed on the neck forcefully. That was when she noticed Shivan. They both then met eyes with each other. Shivan blushed just looking at her face, thinking she was so beautiful, and covered his eyes, looking away. The Bulter so that the young master covered his eyes away from there and looked over to what he could not look at. He saw the young girl had her shirt torn by the 2 men and was naked from the top.
The Butler moved the young master away and helped the girl away from those 2 men. They weren't happy that The Butler intervened in between and stopped them. They then tried to attack him. The Butler was skilled enough to punish them. The Butler then detained them to the ground, tapped on his collar button, and said, "I have a situation here and need some help!"
Then The Butler looked back to see if the girl was OK, but he didn't see her anywhere.
He[The Butler] asked the bodyguard, "Did you see where she went?"
The bodyguard nodded no. The bodyguard was dressed the same as the butler but had sunglasses.
Then 6 other bodyguards rushed into the alleyway and took the 2 men detained away from there.
Rhea was on someone else's hand. The person who had Rhea in his hands was wearing a body cloak, and Rhea couldn't see his face because of the sun's rays. They were on the roof above the alleyway.
The person was a man she could understand by his figure.
He[The Cloaked man] said, "You shouldn't be around that kind of people!"
Rhea felt like she had heard his voice somewhere else.
Rhea asked, "Who are you?"
Rhea then saw a smile on the man's face, and he said, "I? I am your Guardian Savior!"
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Continuation:
Rhea was carried by the cloaked man to a church tower, hopping across buildings from above.
Someone was on top of the church tower before the cloaked man arrived.
The other cloaked person asked, "What took you so long?!"
The voice of the other cloaked person was of a female's. Rhea glanced to see who it was. She couldn't see much because the cloaked woman had covered her mouth in bandages.
Another cloaked man appeared. He teleported in front of Rhea as she glanced over to see the woman. The cloaked man didn't hide his face. He had blonde hair that was slicked back with a brown beard. Rhea got frightened as he appeared in front of her face.
The man said, "Hey, Anita! Don't you feel nostalgic looking at her? She reminds me of our girl Alia when she was about the same age!"
Anita slowly removed the bandage from her mouth after the man appeared.
Rhea glanced back at Anita to see how she looked. Anita's horizontal scar across her mouth did not diminish her mesmerizing beauty to Rhea.
Rhea said, "You are so beautiful!"
Anita smiled and said, "Thank you!"
Rhea then asked a question that kept them quiet for a while.
Rhea asked, "Why are you all cloaked?"
Anita's smile diminished, and she began to look around.
The cloaked man said, "I have what you are looking for, so stay!"
Anita showed her hand to the cloaked and said, "Pass it!"
The cloaked man giggled and said, "Here it is", as he put Rhea down to stand on her feet and began to search around his pockets for something.
But they didn't know Rhea took that something from his pocket while pickpocketing him.
Rhea moved away from them, then took it out and saw it was folded paper. She looked down and knew there was no way she was getting away from them.
They were in a bustling city in a desert. All the buildings were a bit enclosed between each other, so it would be hard for others to notice them. Rhea scanned her surroundings for a way down and spotted a market shelter across from the church on the left behind it. Though she considered jumping onto it, fear made her tremble.
The man said, "Why think of that? I am not here to take you away or hurt you", as he sat at the edge, gazing down.
Rhea was shocked that he got behind her and that she couldn't notice him.
Rhea asked, "How did you get behind me?"
He looked at her confused and said, "I. I just walked to you?!"
Anita said, "Joe, Let the kid some space!"
The cloaked man kept searching his pockets to find it.
Joe looked back at Anita grumpy and said, "I am missing our kids", and then he looked at the cloaked who kept searching his pockets.
He then switched to look at Rhea's hands and saw the papers the cloaked man was searching for. He looked at Rhea with a slight smile.
Joe asked, "Hey, Eta! Are you looking for our posters?"
Eta stopped searching and looked at Joe and vice versa.
Eta nodded yes, then asked, "Ya? Did you take them?"
Joe moved his eyes to Rhea, pointing to who took it.
Eta was annoyed but smiled and said, "Nice one, Kiddo!"
Rhea looked back and gave a naughty giggle. Then she opened the folded paper and saw there were 3 posters, they were wanted posters. The 1st on top was Anita's poster "Blaze Queen" with her face drawn and "Dead or Alive", and with a prize of 40 billion Orz. 2nd was Joe's poster written "Blaze Speed" with his face drawn too, and "Dead or Alive", and the same prize as Anita's[40 billion Orz]. 3rd and The last one was Eta's poster written "Void" drawn with a cloak covering his face but showing his goatee, and "Dead or Alive", and with a prize 4 times one of theirs[160 billion Orz]. After she saw their posters, she was in utter shock. Rhea looked at each one of them and began to tremble.
Eta saw that and said, "We are not here for destruction!"
Joe and Anita looked at Eta, disappointed.
Joe held Rhea's shoulders and said, "Do you want to come with us?"
Anita covered his mouth and said, "Sorry kid, you can just-"
Rhea interrupted her and said, "I will!"
Rhea then kept saying, "I will", as she smiled and started to cry.
Joe and Anita felt they played with Rhea's emotions and felt bad hearing her cry.
Anita said, "But it is a long way from here. Even with Eta's Checkbeads* it will be hard for us!"
Eta heard all of this and processed it in his head if it was possible to take the girl with them.
As Eta kept processing, he said, "Let's do it then!"
They all looked at Eta as he looked to the skies.
Eta said, "It will take me some time until we can do that", as he created a bubble the same size as his palm.
Eta said, "Either way, we have to get way before they get to us", as he looked toward Joe, Anita and Rhea.
Joe said, "Kid, Hold my hand. We will be moving at high speed", as he offered his right hand to her.
Rhea's happiness made her want to cry, but she held it in and grabbed Joe's hand. Joe nodded at Anita, and she nodded back.
Joe looked over to Eta and said, "We will be at your Checkbead then", and then grabbed Anita's right hand with his left.
Joe then covered Rhea, Anita and himself in flames.
Eta then raised his right hand, facing his palm at them, and said, "Take care, kid! It is going to be a bit bumpy!"
They then teleported while Eta remained there.
After that 12 individuals that were cloaked in black appeared around Eta on top of the church below the tower.
One of the individuals inquired, "Where did the others go who were just here?"
Eta giggled and said, "So it's been a while since you spotted us?! I have got a bit sloppy lately", and put his right hand on his face.
That same individual said, "You haven't answered me!"
Eta gave a death stare at the person and said, "I don't have to answer you", as all the individuals started to fear his presence.
Eta then sent out a bead aimed at the individual from his right palm and said, "A-AH!"
Another cloaked figure appeared out of nowhere, then approached the bead and tapped it with their left index finger. The bubble burst open, releasing a gust of wind that blew away the cloak covering their face.
The person was a large, bald man with a black goatee. He looked at Eta with a dead-focus stare facial expression.
Eta giggled and said, "We met sooner than I thought!"
The man remained quiet and directed his left hand towards Eta, sending a gust of wind everyone could see. The wind was cyan. In response, Eta threw some of his beads towards the wind teleporting them away, sending them high into the sky, about 1 km above, and aimed at each other. The gust of the collided slashes reached them even from there.
The people in the city noticed the gust of wind and looked up at the sky. The cloaked figures noticed they had alerted the people around them.
One of them said to the bald man, "General! We alerted our surroundings. General Han did say this is a covert operation!"
The General then looked at him and said, "I understand. My apologies. I got a bit carried away", as he then bowed a bit down.
He[the Same cloaked figure] then said, "It is alright, General Payne! I saw that you got a bit out of control there. That was why I said that. We are all thankful that you are here with us", as he raised his hands at his head's height, to show that the General doesn't have to bow to them.
Payne nodded yes and then said, "Alright! We will lead him away from the city!"
Eta asked, "Lead me away from here?"
Eta was standing there next to Ian as he said this, and they looked at that and were surprised and fearful. Payne didn't turn his head to look at him. Instead, he shifted his gaze in that direction. He remained calm and did not overreact this time.
Eta continued, "I was here before you all made it here and didn't want anything to do with you", as he walked around circling Payne.
Payne said, "We let you LEAVE?! That is absurd!"
Eta smiled and said, "Then I will destroy you all. I am happy to do so!"
Payne suggested moving away from the city before shaking Eta's hand. Eta was surprised and agreed.
As they were leaving the city, Eta spotted Shivan once again. Shivan, his butler and bodyguard, stood outside a slave merchant's hut. It looked like they were being informed about the types of slaves they had. Eta stood there for a brief moment and moved along again.
As they reached the city's outskirts, the cloaked figures slowed to get behind Eta. One of them seized the opportunity to attack Eta from behind. But Eta avoided it.
Eta said, "That was kind of obvious!"
Eta appeared behind him and patted his back.
Eta asked, "Can you not do that again, PLEASE?"
Eta looked tired of evading the attack.
General Payne looked back to see why are they moving slowly. He then saw Eta's hand over the shoulder of one of his men and talking to him. Payne got angry at the sight of it.
Payne said, "We were trained to take down men like him and not to get to know this man", as he stood straight like a soldier does.
They pulled Eta away from him and said, "Sir, YES, Sir!" as Payne nodded proudly at his soldiers.
Eta, confused, said, "Whatever!"
After a while, They were finally far away from the city.
Payne and his soldiers took off their cloaks. Payne then started to adjust his coat and his shirt cuffs.
Payne said, "I will give you a chance to fight for your freedom!"
Eta asked, "Huh, WHAT?"
Payne paused and asked, "What is it?"
Eta said, "I thought you came all this way just to duel with me. And now you say you came to capture ME!"
Payne said, "After how you embarrassed my whole Regiment*. That is hard to forgive. Even then, I am giving you a chance to fight!"
Eta asked, "Alright then! Anyways. Do you know why they call me the Void? Since you have seen my gift, you can say that does not shout out Void!"
Payne said, "True! I guess I will find out!"
Then Eta and Payne stood apart 25 metres away from each other.
Payne asked, "I, Payne Laos, 3rd General of the Sunrise Army, Issue a Duel*!"
Eta said, "And I, Eta Vall, accept the Duel!" and then put his cloak down.
Eta had short hair with a goatee. He was wearing a casual tank top and shorts.
The sky grew dim as a black orb expanded, covering a 50-meter radius. The soldiers cautiously remained outside its reach.
Inside the black orb, A Devil appeared out of a portal.
The Devil had black wings made up of feathers. The Devil had greenhorns in its head[2 of them] and blue in skin colour. The Devil had his eyes closed. And the Devil was tiny.
The Devil asked, "And what are your conditions after your wins?"
Payne said, "I want him to go into custody with a handcuff that cancels out his gift!"
The Devil nodded yes and said, "That can be arranged", and then looked over to Eta.
The Devil asked, "What is this? This is your 4th duel today!?"
Eta nodded yes.
The Devil asked, "*sigh*" Alright then! What do you want the condition to be?
Payne looked surprised hearing that this was his 4th duel, and he still hadn't got a scratch.
Inside the black orb, the noise was suppressed. Eta couldn't hear Payne and vice versa. They were able to listen to the Devil and vice versa. The field where they were on should have been turned dark, but it was alright. It looked like the sun was still shining in there.
Eta smiled and said, "I just want him to smile after the duel!"
The Devil said, "Unless He wants to", as he looked at Payne.
Payne didn't hear him, so he asked, "What was it he asked?"
The Devil said, "He wants you to smile for him if he wins!"
Payne said, "I accept!"
The Devil nodded in agreement and stated, "Let's now establish the rules of this duel. You may propose one condition, and I will add my condition!"
The Devil pointed up, and a large white glow board was created.
Eta said, "I want the time limit to be 480 seconds!"
The Devil said, "I agree", as he clapped once.
The 1st rule was then written on the board.
Payne said, "No one can stay in a single position for more than 5 seconds!"
The Devil said, "I agree with that too!"
The Devil clapped again once.
The 2nd rule was then written on the board.
The Devil said, "Alright then. Mine is that none of you can move outside this circle, and if you do. You lose the round!"
The 3rd rule was then on the board.
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1- Time Limit is 480 seconds
2- Can't stay in a single position for more than 5 seconds
3- Can't get out of the circle, or you lose
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An Invisible armour covered Payne's and Eta's whole body, and a cyan-glowing circle formed around the black orb.
Eta and Payne began with an intense stare-down. The soldiers were watching all this through a screen the Devil made for the viewers to see from the outside. Not just the soldiers but some passersby also noticed a duel was taking place.
The display was circular and showed various perspectives from different angles, such as behind Eta and Payne, above them, and a dynamic view that constantly moved. This was duplicated on all sides, making it accessible for everyone to view.
The Devil said, "Let the duel begin!"
Payne raised both his arms at Eta and shot 100s of wind slashes as he slowly kept moving forward at Eta.
Eta tried to run away from it but saw it was following him.
Eta sent a bead towards the wind slashes and teleported it towards Payne's face. Payne then went out of the circle but stood his ground.
The Devil said, "Round 1 goes to Eta!"
Payne said, "I see now. The next one is MINE!" and then looked at Eta with a confident smile.
Eta smiled back.
Payne attacked the same way by taking quick steps instead of slowly walking.
Eta said, "Again? So you don't learn, huh?" as he threw a bead at the wind slashes.
In this instance, Eta was forced out of the circle, while Payne was also out of the ring later. This occurred when Payne redirected one of the wind slashes, causing it to move behind the other. Although the wind slashes aimed at Payne hit him first, he was further away from the circle than Eta.
Payne laughed and said, "It worked!"
Eta was shocked at what happened, but after processing it all in his head, he got a brief idea of how he planned it.
Eta giggled and said, "AM-AZING!"
Eta got up from the ground, excited about what was to come. Eta gave an evil grin.
Meanwhile, somewhere far, far away from where they were, Joe and Rhea landed in the middle of nowhere in the desert.
Joe was confused and said, "Well, this is unexpected", placing his right hand in the back of his head.
Rhea looked around and asked, "Where is Anita? She was just with us on the way!"
Joe said, "Probably still inside the vortex", as he looked up at the sky.
Anita was still inside the vortex headed towards Golden Valley.
Anita faced back and said, "Hope they don't run into any trouble!"
Back inside the black orb, Eta sensed his checkbeads vanishing slowly since he began to build up his full strength.
Eta was thinking, "I messed up Badly with that too. I hope Joe is alright. Luckily, Anita will get a bit closer to Golden Valley.
After closing his eyes for two seconds, he took a deep breath and exhaled before opening them and looking at Payne.
Eta said, "That means I will not hold anything back!"
Bubbles formed around him and burst when reaching a certain height. Eta had a blue aura around him and began to float.
Payne gave out a smirk.
Payne said, "Han, you were right!"
Meanwhile, also in a desert were 3 Generals. Generals Han, Toppy and Yen. They were 20km from Joe and Rhea, but they knew exactly where they were.
Han said, "They should be close by now!"
Yen said, "This better work or else This was all for nothing", and Toppy nodded silently.
Yen, Toppy and Han felt Joe's presence appear.
Yen smiled in excitement and said, "This worked!"
Yen then placed his right hand on Toppy's right shoulder and Han's left hand on Toppy's left shoulder. Han gave out a slight smile.
Han said, "He's difficult to catch. We learned that the hard way before, but it will be different this time!"
Toppy said, "We handicap them!"
They rose in the sky on a platform, moving quickly towards Joe's presence.
The 3 Generals reached their destination just 10 feet above Joe and Rhea as they walked through the desert. Joe felt like the wind changed around them and looked up. He saw the 3 Generals above him and Rhea. Joe was shocked to see them track him down.
Yen asked, "Weren't 2 of them supposed to be here? Was your script wrong about that?"
Han was confused and said, "I can't say. Maybe it was the kid that it mentioned", as he took his hand off Toppy's shoulder and put it down.
Toppy kept looking at Joe and said, "If this is what we have to deal with, then deal with it we will!"
Joe glanced at Rhea, then the 3 Generals, knowing he couldn't leave alive.
Joe asked, "Can we not do this here? A child is accompanying me", as he held Rhea close.
Yen said, "He is right about that! We shouldn't bring an innocent child in the middle of it. Let's-" Toppy raised his hand, and Yen stopped speaking.
Toppy said, "That might be his kid. Don't underestimate them. We learned that. For all we can say, the kid could be a criminal like him," Yen looked surprised[not in a good way] by Toppy's comments.
Han looked at Toppy, then closed his eyes and said, "Even so, that is a kid in front of us. We have sworn to our obligations to keep people like them safe! Or am I wrong? Sorry, that wasn't a question. You know me, I was talking to myself", as he smiled and opened his eyes.
Toppy remained silent.
Yen said, "We will not attack you. My word is the Truce*. But if the kid is 10 metres away from you.
Joe smiled, realizing he was cornered unless Anita or Eta helped.
Rhea felt afraid of just the sight of the 3 Generals.
Han noticed that Rhea was afraid.
Han said, "It is necessary to complete the task, even though we may not want to. By that, you were right, Toppy!"
Toppy nodded with closed eyes and said, "I'll wait until Yen understands."
Yen was confused as he heard them speak.
Yen asked, "Understand What?" with an angry look.
Han said, "You will see when the time is right for you," as he smiled.
As Joe and Rhea kept close to each other.
Joe whispered, "Hey. Rhea! When Anita gets here. Grab her hand. OK? It will take you to a place from here!"
Rhea nodded yes. She didn't care how, but she felt the Generals weren't here for pleasantries.
Joe had a gut feeling that Eta would not be the one arriving there.
After 1 hour of walking through the desert while being followed by 3 Generals, Joe received a transmission from Henry[telepathically].
Henry asked, "Joe! Can you hear me?"
Joe looked annoyed hearing Henry and whispered, "Little, Henry. How many times have I told-" Rhea heard him, so she looked at him to see what was up.
Then Henry interrupted him and said, "Hoof! You can. By the way, I tried contacting Dad. But couldn't get to him!"
Henry was at the entry port standing there.
Henry looked back at the entrance of the Golden Valley, where Anita was stretching to get herself ready to teleport to Joe. He then looked ahead at the open skies.
Henry said telepathically, "Since
Joe said, "I agree, but. What about the child?"
Henry confusedly asked, "Child? You mean me?"
Anita approached Henry and placed her hand on his shoulder. Henry looked back again. Anita gave a gesture to add her to the chat. Henry nodded yes.
Anita asked telepathically, "Is the child with you?"
Joe said, "Yes", as he looked at Rhea, and their eyes met.
Joe smiled to comfort Rhea.
Anita said, "Then I want you to take her to the Checkbead while I hold them till you get back", as she nodded yes to Henry.
Joe said, "Alright!"
Henry asked, "Big Sis! Why do you sound like they are in trouble?"
Joe asked, "Come on, kiddo! Haven't you seen our wanted posters?"
Henry said, "Surely it isn't that much trouble!"
Joe said, "I wish!"
Henry said, "You sound like all the Generals just came to hunt you!"
Joe kept quiet.
Anita asked, "Are they ALL there?"
Joe said, "Except 1 of them, which I guess he is duelling Eta!"
They then heard Yen say inside the telepathy chat, "That, you guessed right!"
Joe turned back, looking calm. Yen gave a disappointed smile.
Yen said, "I don't like using my gift, but when Han says it will come in handy, I trust him!"
Han said, "As expected, the script will go through. And. You will die today!"
After Rhea heard that she didn't like what he said about Joe, she hugged Joe, then looked angry but sadly at Han.
Joe said telepathically, "Get here quickly. I agree with your idea!"
Henry then cut their transmission.
Henry put his left hand on Anita's shoulder and said, "Domainal Control!"
Meanwhile, back inside the black orb, Round 3 was still going on as Eta used WA-EH simultaneously at Payne, and he countered it with his wind slashes.
Eta realized that their current approach was not going to work. So, he decided to try something different and teleported behind Payne.
Eta exclaimed, "A-AH!" and immediately trapped Payne inside a bubble.
The bubble was filled with pressurized air that blasted directly at him.
Payne didn't seem faced by it. As a wall of wind shielded him from it.
The Devil said as he watched them, "This Duel is the peak of this world. I can say that confidently. They know how each other fights in just 3 rounds!"
The people around the black orb were hearing the Devil as he narrated the duel as it played out. The people kept speaking with others in the crowd, but when the Devil said, "This is the peak of this world," they kept silent because they felt it was true.
Payne and Eta were in the battle zone, unable to hear anyone except each other.
Eta smiled and said, "That's it. A-AH!"
He launched another bead that kept getting bigger and bigger as it reached the bubble Payne was trapped inside and covered him inside another bubble.
Payne crossed his arms, and the bubbles burst open, releasing a gust of wind.
Payne said, "This will go on forever,"
Eta didn't seem to care what Payne said.
Payne said, "That was exactly what I was told to do. I am enjoying it either way!"
Eta said, "I know!"
They then smiled at each other and clashed. They kept colliding all around the ring.
The blue aura surrounding Eta intensified, causing him to move even faster.
Eta began to feel like Payne was slowing down.
After a long wait, Eta finally landed a hit on Payne, which sent him flying, but fortunately, he managed to stay within the ring.
Payne appeared puzzled as he wondered, "Woah! How did he move faster than me? Did I get slower? No way. His aura appears to look stronger than before. Is that a reason for his speed?"
Eta materialized beside him and said, "I call this form Aqual. You're correct! I'm getting faster!"
Payne swung his hand back to hit him, but Eta disappeared, reappeared in front of Payne and said, "WA-EH!"
That sent Payne flying outside the ring.
Eta smiled.
Eta said, "We are at the climax of this duel,"
Payne slowly got back up, feeling the full force of the strike. Despite this, he didn't appear tired.
Eta continued, "And it will end with you on the floor!"
Meanwhile, back in the desert, Joe and Rhea continued to walk through the desert. Anita gave Joe the signal. The signal was the literal heat of the desert increasing by the second.
Anita was cloaked, and the Generals were focused on Joe.
Joe held her in his arms and said, "Hold tight!"
Rhea nodded yes. Rhea then held tight to Joe.
Joe used his gift called "Blaze-Speed". The Generals saw a yellow aura forming around him, and his body changed colour to the sun's.
Joe swiftly moved away, but Toppy's wall blocked his path to Anita
Toppy asked, "Is that the wall you meant?"
Han said, "Yes, that will suffice for-"
Yen interrupted him and said, "I will take the Blaze Queen while you deal with Joe!"
Han asked, "Did you know the Blaze Queen was on the other side?" Yen nodded yes.
Han continued, "Hmm. Alright then! That will keep her occupied for a while. But don't underestimate her abilities. Remember how her gift works? Stay away from her while we take him out, and then we'll assist you!"
Anita stood outside the wall, grinding her teeth and clenching her fists.
Anita exclaimed, "Do they think this is all it takes to keep me out? Pathetic!" A flaming crown materialized above her head, hovering.
Yen landed 50 metres next to her.
Yen said, "I will be the one to stop you!"
Anita couldn't hear what he said, but she could piece out why he was there.
Anita's gift is called "Flame Empress".
Anita raised her right hand and pointed 2 fingers upwards towards Yen. Within seconds, a radius of 100 metres around her began to get hotter and hotter. Yen noticed the sudden temperature change and quickly moved away from where he stood. Suddenly, the ground beneath Yen's feet exploded like a bomb.
Yen looked concerned and glad that he got away.
Yen gulped and said, "Taking her out is not a possibility," as Anita aimed at him again the same way.
Yen was thinking, "What if I get closer to her?"
Yen sprinted towards Anita, the temperature rising with every step. When it became unbearable, he retreated.
Yen said to himself, "Bad idea! So, how do I break past her defence?"
Yen looked at his pistol in his holster and took it out to aim it at her.
Anita looked surprised to see they had something to counter her.
Yen then shot a bullet at Anita, lucky it missed her, passing by her left arm. But that gave a smile on Yen's face.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the wall, just before Yen jumped across to confront Anita, Joe placed Rhea behind him. They were trapped with the Generals, including Yen. Joe sensed the inevitable battle with the Generals approaching.
Yen waved at Joe and said, "Later then!" after jumping over the wall.
Joe couldn't hear him, but he knew they sensed Anita on the other side.
Joe tapped with his right hand on Rhea's shoulder and speed-dashed towards Toppy on the floating platform.
Joe snapped his fingers while speed-dashing. Rhea transformed into an energy ball, zipping towards Joe and orbiting around him.
That left Han and Toppy confused about what was going on.
Han evaded away from the platform just because his instinct told him to.
Joe bunny hopped onto the platform.
Toppy seized the opportunity, swiftly sealing Joe's feet to the surface. With a triumphant grin, he taunted, "All that effort just to face your fate!"
Joe had a grin on his face and said, "You are wrong!"
Toppy didn't look pleased to see Joe grin.
Meanwhile, inside the black orb, the duel was over.
Easily clinching the rest of the round, Eta strolled past Payne, who lay on the ground, panting and utterly drained, devoid of any remaining energy.
Eta said, "I recognize this scheme as Han's attempt to eliminate one of us. But Joe is not to be underestimated. When pushed to his limits, he can manipulate time and navigate the battlefield with unparalleled agility,"
Back in the desert, Toppy fell paralyzed to the ground, confused.
Toppy said, "What the. How did I fall?"
Toppy looked at Joe, standing there with his back towards Toppy with some black markings on his right arm.
Toppy asked, "How did you?"
Joe said, "Time was my friend here", and he vanished from there.
Han said, "Well, this might be one of the unforeseen circumstances", as he joined Toppy's side.
Joe reached the top of the wall and turned back to normal. The energy ball transforms into Rhea again. Joe caught her in both arms after she returned to her physical state.
Joe asked, "Are you alright?"
Rhea nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, the wall where
It was because of an attack Anita used on Yen.
Yen was trying to get in Anita's head.
Before Joe got to the top of the wall, Yen kept evading the explosions Anita threw at him. He knew he couldn't keep this up any longer, So he tried to get in Anita's head.
Yen said, "Blaze Speed will die today. There is nothing you or Eta can do about it!"
Anita got angry just hearing "die". Tears started coming out of her eyes.
Anita stopped her onslaught on Yen.
Anita said, "Not on my watch!"
Anita posed in a double palm strike pose facing Yen.
The overheating field around her was gone.
Yen was thinking, "Was that enough to anger her? Well, Whatever. I guess I keep it up," as he aimed his pistol at Anita again.
Anita said, "Eta might be the strongest among us, but I have this!"
A black fireball started to form in between her palms.
Just before Yen shot, Anita said, "Empress's WA-EH!"
The blast was so big that Yen had no way of escaping it. It created a huge dent in the wall. Luckily for the Generals, they were rescued by a cloaked child. The child held Yen and Toppy on his shoulders, and Han watched this all from the platform.
Han said, "I did tell not to confront her directly. Just distract her. *sigh* The script does not follow your decisions but fate's!"
Yen said, "She is a fierce one!"
Han said, "I know that!"
Anita got inside the wall through the dent she made, and Joe held Rhea in his arms and landed next to Anita.
Anita extended her right palm toward Joe. He carefully set Rhea down, then clasped Rhea with one hand and held Anita's right hand with the other. With a swift teleportation, Joe vanished, taking Rhea with him and leaving Anita behind.
Han asked, "Joe will come back for you, right?"
Anita remained silent.
The cloaked child dropped Toppy and Yen to the ground.
Toppy felt pain as he dropped to the ground.
Yen said, "You shouldn't be dropping us like that!"
Yen then stood up as he wasn't as hurt as Toppy was.
Yen took out a little potion and gave it to Toppy. Toppy drank and felt a little better and got up.
Toppy said, "I underestimated him. It is my fault. THAT! Will not happen again!"
Toppy looked at Anita with a death gaze.
Toppy conjured a cane, tapping it twice firmly against the ground.
The sand around Anita became 2 huge hands that Toppy was controlling.
Toppy caught her in place and said, "I will not make the same mistake with you!"
Anita was trying to budge out of the hold.
After a few minutes, Joe returned.
Joe was at a Checkbead a few km away from the battle, but with "Blaze-Speed", he got there.
Joe was welling in anger as he saw Anita had fainted at the grasp of the gigantic hands that Toppy had conjured.
Toppy laughed. He felt a sudden pang of dread, a feeling he hadn't expected. The atmosphere shifted as if an invisible storm was approaching.
Yen, Han, and the cloaked child watched this all unfold on top of the platform.
Yen asked, "Is this the only way we could have done it?"
Han said, "I wish it could have been done without a sacrifice. The script cannot be cheated."
The child removed the cloak and kept gazing at Toppy. The child was The Reaper when he was a child.
Reaper said, "That old man agreed to this without 2nd guessing. He is a lunatic for that!"
Han looked over to the Reaper, patted his head and said, "Hey! Do not say things like that about a man like him. He is a nobleman with values of his own. Thanks to his sacrifice, we proudly identify ourselves as the Sunrise Royal Army."
Reaper said, "*hmph* Surise Royal Army, ridiculous!"
Yen said, "Shut your mouth, kid! You don't understand what it means to be a soldier."
The Fight was about to begin.
Han said, "You both keep quiet and watch it as 2 of the greatest fights it off!"
They all then brought their gazes back to the battlefield.
Joe used Blaze-Speed with a yellow aura like the sun's.
He speed dashed at Toppy. Toppy stood his ground.
Toppy kept shielding himself with the sand whenever Joe tried to land a hit. This went on for a while till Joe got a plan.
Joe then ran to Anita and tried to get her out of there. That was when a spear pierced through Anita's body and through to him in the gut. The Anita's body was a fake as it turned to sand.
Joe's vision started to blank out because of the amount of blood he was losing.
Joe asked, "But how?"
Toppy said, "You felt her energy flow, didn't you? It was her's. But she is trapped in a large catacomb inside 1 of the arms!"
Toppy laughed, aware that his time would come once Joe was eliminated.
Joe extricated himself from the spear. Once he managed to stand again, he found it difficult to stand upright and wobbled.
Toppy said, "Sadly, This battle has reached its last battle for you,"
Toppy continued, but in his mind, "And mine!"
Anita looked angry as she looked around.
She saw Joe bleeding through his gut, and he fell as he saw her and called her name out, "Ani-ta," Anita rushed over without thinking twice.
Anita kept saying, "No!"
Till Joe touched her cheek with his right hand.
Joe coughed some blood on the opposite side of Anita, said, "Fo-cus. The G-neral is. crafty!" and coughed out more blood.
Anita said, "Don't! Don't speak. I finish with him here, and we will head back quickly.", as tears started to come down her eyes.
Anita rose, brushing away the tears that stained her cheeks. She fixed her gaze firmly on Toppy, seated across from her, and then turned to Joe, pleading, "Please, stay with me."
Anita got to the double palm strike pose immediately.
Toppy knew that was a bad sign. He made all the structures he created spike at Anita.
Yen asked, "Why can't we just help him?"
Han said, "If we joined the battle. We all would have in there!"
Han continued, "The Blaze Queen was holding back because if she had been the only 1 we faced, we would have lost!"
Anita had enough time to finish overloading her beam.
Anita said, "Empress WA-EH!"
Turning Toppy into ashes as it washed him away.
Anita got back to Joe to see if he was alright.
Han said, "Let's go back!"
The platform then began to go back from where it came from.
Meanwhile, back at the Golden Valley, some sky pirates tried to raid them as they heard Eta wasn't there. They were slaughtered by a single person, a child, Rhea, who was later called "The Ripper".
1 of the pirates was still alive and had an O-pass in his hand.