The room goes silent and the priest begins to speak "If anyone has anything to say, Speak now or forever hold your pea-" before the priest could finish his sentence, the sealing shatters and the room erupts with a massive shockwave. Eiko and Rileys hand separate as the dust begins to collect around the room, everyone gets on the ground in fear of it being a bombing or something. But a man in a raggedy brown costume, with a mask and a hood around his head appears in between Riley and Eiko who are both sitting on the ground in shock.
"I object."
The man grabs Eiko, throws her over his shoulder, then he uses the lightning underneath his feet, the static underneath his leather boots disburse and spring The Phantom and Eiko hop towards the ceiling. But before they could fully make it out, Devard launches a fireball towards the roof of the palace. Phantom barely avoids the attack by making it out of the room right before the fireball makes contact with his physical body, slightly burning Eikos dress and his cape. Eiko finally comes to her senses once they land on top of the Palace ceiling. "What the hell are you doing?? Why are you so reckless?!?" Eiko screams while being held over the Phantom shoulder. "Well" As she responds to him, He jumps off the roof and on top of the carriage with all her stuff on it. He then slashes the carriage out of the connecting carriages with his sword, It rolls down the forest with them on it. The bright yellow palace is in a secluded area away from most of the kingdom, it's around the same location as the Alphonia Manor but it's completely surrounded by trees. Large Dark tree oak trees in this very long forest, there seems to be no ending for miles. As the cart begins to dash through the darkness of the forest, only illuminated by the lanterns connected to the Carriage, Phantom begins to follow up on his previous sentence. "I wanted to go in with a bang" He laughs and Eiko looks in the same face HE gave her before when she said "2 is more than one." "This guy can't be serious…" She thinks to herself.
"You're taking too many risks, Phantom" She mutters. "What if Fafnir was there, What if you got caught by the knights of Dynasty?" Phantom laughs to himself "According to my Sponsor, I have the strength of around 5 Dynasty Captains. I'll be fine if those nobodies come to fight me." He says with confidence "and with Fafnir… Well, Me and Riley talked about him." We get a flashback to the conversation. "From the moment this pact starts to the moment it ends, We're allies. So I'll do everything in my power to help you get Eiko out of that wedding to not break the Soul Pact. In return you'll send me the coordinates to the Cavern." "Yeah I'll transfer them to you once you hold up your end." Phantom then offers Riley a seat on a log, Riley scoffs but accepts the offer taking a seat on the tree trunk. "So, the wedding is happening tomorrow around August 23rd around 8pm. The location of the Palace where it's gonna be held is hard to narrow down, So I'll have some of my men come pick you up from this spot. You'll be in one of the carriages, Hopefully the one with all Eikos stuff to make the plan easier."
"So let's get to the big issue, Fafnir." Phantom looks at Riley with all seriousness. "I can't defeat him yet, that's for sure, I don't think I could even defeat the entire Knights of Dynasty at once in one go, and He could probably defeat them all 3 times over." "If Fafnir is there, All you really need is a good strategy to counter his calculating brain." Riley says standing up from the log where he was sitting. "Fafnir's biggest advantage in fighting is his destructive power. If you're holding his sister he obviously wouldn't be foolish enough to go all out and kill her." "So you're telling me to use Eiko like a… Hostage?" "Yeah duh. She's some girl you haven't known for long, I don't see what reason you have to care so much or even help her in general." "None of your concern on why I'm choosing to help her." Riley looks at Phantom with a knowing expression, like he knows exactly why he wants to help Eiko but he doesn't want to say it. "Well whatever your reason… Using Eiko as a hostage to keep up the idea that this isn't of her choice is the best way to go about it. Realistically, Fafnir will hold his strength back to save his sister."
"Have you considered the fact I might be fighting a Captain or 2 ALONG with Fafnir?" Riley makes a face of cognizance, Just remembering about the Captains on post outside the Wedding. "And how do I even get in?" "Well you're the legendary Half Soul Hollow, You could figure something flashy out. I don't need to help you with everything here." "And what about the CAPTAINS helping Fafnir?" "Oh, Well, Uh." Riley stands with his hand on his chin thinking to himself "And to think I thought you were smart, Riley." Riley scoffs at this remark, not letting Phantom see it boosted his ego a little bit. "Well, I'll probably end up getting my Mom to discuss something with him. She's been meaning to talk about some transactions with him anyway and knowing that rat, He'll pick the business transactions over his family. My mom has a way with words, that skill makes her finally useful for something." Phantom is shocked and somewhat appalled at the comment Riley made about his own mother. "What's with you and your mom?" Riley stares daggers at the Phantom at this question, the Phantom can't help but feel a little intimidated by this glance. "Not going to get into it…"
At these words we go back to Eiko and Phantom riding down the hill on top of the carriage with Eikos stuff on it. Eiko can somewhat think why Riley hates his father after the memories that she was forced to watch, 10 times. Once Phantom finishes his story he begins to speak "As much as I loathe that man, I just want you to know, Your brother cares about you. He probably wanted to go to the wedding but didn't show up cuz of Riley's plan. So please don't be upset at him, for that at least." Eiko thinks about this realization, about her brother. Even though she knew how the wedding would end, him not showing up to the last time he thought that was the last time he'd see her in a long time. Something like that can't be forgiven, picking business over family is a pretty bad thing on such a big day, but She can't help but be used to it. The cart continues to bob along the winding road, and the moon illuminates the surrounding forest. The forest seems endless; the road twists and turns, and the thick foliage blocks out any light except for what leaks through the canopy. "Thank you Phantom." Eiko says smiling in his arms, Phantom tries not to look down at her and says "You want me to put ya down? I would've thought you would have gotten uncomfortable by now." "Nah, I feel safer here." The Phantom can't help but look away from her at this moment, He's not sure why but these words got to him. He's never had this feeling before and it's something strange he can't explain. "O- Okay, if you're sure", Phantom says, and continues to ride in silence for a few more moments. As the cart continues through the forest, Phantom notices that Eiko's demeanor has completely changed. She's gone from being tense and defensive to calm and content in his arms, as if she's found some inner peace by accepting Phantom's words from before.
We have a look back at the remains of the wedding sight a few minutes ago. Devard, Eikos father, stands up in fury. With a snap of his fingers he says "Get up." At these words, everyone feels a strange spiritual energy, a very powerful spiritual energy that they can't seem to understand. Everyone feels compelled to obey this almighty authority so they all stand. "I want everyone in here to go find my daughter NOW!" In fear of this normally docile and kind hearted man screaming, all the guests and family members run out of the wedding. Most are not running to find Eiko, running away from the wedding sight. Leaving only Devard, Vega (Eikos Mother), Saul, Aki and Riley. "Vega." He turns back and looks at his wife who still lays on the ground behind him in fear of the blast through the ceiling. She runs towards him and grabs his arm "I- It's ok Devard~!" She mutters to her enraged husband, but before she could continue her sentence he backhands her. Slapping her to the ground off his arm and launching her back towards the wall. Saul and Aki watch in shock and fear at their fathers rage. Saul backs further away while Aki runs in front of his mother with both of his hands out. "WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!"
As if he's ignoring his son's presence, Devard speaks to the astonished Vega uttering "You. If I figure out this ploy was to get rid of Eiko like I suspected, I will drag you into the same hole you crawled out of." Vega rubs her face where a brutal mark is left from the force of Devards slap and she speaks "I Promise! This wasn't just for- '' Before she could finish her sentence Devard Spiritual Energy ERUPTS through the room. Bringing both Saul and Riley to their knees. Riley watches the conflict build with a sick grin across his face. He feels a sense of justice and karma as he continues to watch the conflict unfold in front of his eyes. Vega falls to the floor from this spiritual energy but Aki stands and resists it. He seems to barely be keeping himself steady but he's using all his strength to keep himself standing to protect his mother. "I won't let you." "What?" Devard says finally acknowledging his son's existence. "I won't let you… HURT HER AGAIN!" Aki launches a blast of wind at his father which throws him off balance, Releasing the spiritual weight off of the rest of their bodies. "Someone needs another punishment huh?" Devard says looking his son dead in the eyes. "One of the many reasons I liked Eiko better." "OH PLEASE" Aki laughs hysterically at his father "Tell me something I don't know." As soon as Aki finishes his sentence he gets blasted into the wall full force by his fathers backhand. He immediately goes unconscious from the sheer force of this attack leaving the rest of the people in the room stunned.
Saul has seen enough and musters up the courage to step forward and stop his father. He knows he may pay the price for intervening, but he cannot stand by and watch his brother be treated like this any longer. He blasts his father with a wave of flames from his hands. This catches Devard off his guard and leaves a severe mark on his arm despite blocking most of the attack when he preserves it. Devard rushes towards Saul, who quickly ducks his fathers backhand. But as he ducks, a fist comes hurtling towards him. Saul gets punched right in his face, and he's blasted out the side of the palace. Riley can't help but smile watching the downfall of the family that ruined everything for him, though Devard does slightly scare him. "Despite not being king he sure has the wrath of one." Riley thinks to himself quickly, removing the smile from his face once Devards eyes turn towards him. "This was your mothers idea wasn't it." Riley quickly ponders what to say in this, would throwing his mother under the bus be the right call? Having a man this strong on his side would be a benefit for sure but he's not sure how to anger him without being attacked on the spot. "I'd probably kill him, but that's not what i'm trying to do here." Riley thinks to himself as Devard glares at the boy. "Answer me."
"Well my answer depends on something." Riley smugly lifts his hand up, covering it in soul energy and a brownish aura as he continues to speak "Depending on if you're willing to make a deal with me or not." We cut back to Eiko and Phantom continues to ride through the forest with Phantom continuing to keep up the carriage's moment by shooting tiny zaps of lightning near the back of the wheels. "This sure is a long forest huh?" Phantom says looking at their surroundings. The surroundings of the forest is clearly changing and he's seeing different things but he can't help but feel this forest is way bigger than it seems on the outside. "Feels like we've been here for like 40 years." Eiko responds to Phantom. Before Phantom can respond he hears footsteps coming from around behind him their carriage. He looks behind them and sees a guy that looks no older than them, he has Gray hair with some of it being kept together by hair clips, Blue eyes, and a ponytail. On his back there seems to be something he only recognizes as Griffen. It has the features of an Eagle and a Lion. But it's black and white, Eiko turns and seems to recognize it as well but only from fairy tales Winston read to her as a kid, something out of a picture book. It carries him with its talons grabbing onto his Knight of Dynasty uniform.
"PRINCESS EIKOOOOOOOOOOO!" The man screams while reaching his hand out trying to grab onto the carriage but his hand narrowly misses the carriage propelling it forward some more. "I'm here to save ya!" The man snaps and his Griffin lifts him up further into the air. He watches the Carriage from above while also not going above the trees. He dashes as the moonlight glimmers through the leaves and narrowly poking branches. The man has 12 tubes on his waistband, but only 5 of them seem to have anything in them all in different containers. The containers are labeled from numbers 1 - 12. But only containers 1, 2, 4, 7 and 8 have anything inside of them. As the man continues to fly, he pulls something out of container 4. It's a piece of paper rolled up to fit inside of it. He unwraps the piece of paper and Eiko can barely see what's on it. It has a picture of an Orc that looks similar to something in one of her old picture books. The man throws up the paper and claps with the paper in between, he then says "Imagination Orc!" As he says this an Orc drops infront of him and the Griffin. He snaps and the Griffin drops him onto the orcs back as it swoops towards the carriage. Phantom quite clearly seems interested in this technique but before he can speak the Griffin comes swooping towards them. As the Griffin flies through the air behind Phantom and Eiko, the wind picks up and debris is thrown about in its wake. The Griffin's sharp talons are still tightly gripping Phantom's shoulder armor, and it's not showing any signs of letting go anytime soon. Suddenly, a bright flash of light erupts from the Griffin's beak, and Phantom is blasted away back from its grip, almost stumbling off the carriage but indents his sword into the roof of it, keeping him steady with Eiko in his arms. The Phantom quickly pulls his sword from the roof of the carriage and launches a wave of lightning at the hybrid beast.
The carriage continues to tumble, as the Griffin swoops down to intercept it. It extends its talons toward the carriage, but before it can grab hold, Phantom swings a wave of lightning at the Griffin screaming "STATIC WAVE" This attack slices through the Griffin's wings with a fierce strike, sending it tumbling through the air. "Let me help!" Eiko says through the commission to the Phantom. "You're supposed to be a HOSTAGE" Phantom loudly whispers to Eiko, snapping her back into the context of this battle. The man stairs in terror as the Griffin crashes to the ground beside him and his orc its wings now shredded and useless. It transforms back into some paper version with one of the 4 stars on the paper crossed out now. He puts the paper in the 6th container as he commands his Orc to throw him. His orc tosses him and reverts to its paper form in his hand as soon as it launches him. He lands on top of the carriage right across from Eiko and the Phantom. He looks at the man and the captive he's supposed to save.
The man's heart drops to his ASS when he takes a good look at who has Eiko in his hands. He shutters in fear as his face goes white in dread. "THE PHANTOM!!!!" He screams as the Phantom stares at him, Eiko notices how quickly Phantom went from playful to dead serious, Similar to the fight with Marin from before. As he looks back at the man frozen in fear, Eiko can feel his determination as he puts her down beside him. The man snaps back into it and before he even continues to speak, he pulls out the 8h paper and the last one he seems to have in his possession. He unrolls it, throws it up, and quickly claps on it. "IMAGINATION DRAGON!" Without even a second to breathe a Black and white colored 40 Feet, scaly dragon appearing in the forest. Its huge size makes it even appear above the trees. It's massive in sheer size, overwhelming even the Phantom. "DESTROY HIM!" The man quickly points towards the Phantom and his dragon rushes towards him. Fire emits from the beast as it rushes towards the Phantom who seems to be unfazed from the common eye. He covers his blade in a massive amount of Thunder and Energy. Right as the Dragon is about to obliterate the Phantom, He swings his sword down screaming "VANQUISHED EXILE" Right as he swings it eradicates the dragon in a single blow, Slashing it right through the middle it vanishes and turns back into a piece of paper.
The man stares in shock and awe as the strongest of his imaginary monsters is destroyed right in front of his eyes. The Phantom seems to be virtually unphased and begins to say "Y- Your monsters are all probably things from storybooks you brought to life with soul energy. Right?" Phantom says in a groggy voice. The man chooses not to speak and stumbles backwards "What the hell?" He thinks to himself "That dude took basically no damage from the strongest of these things and he looks unbothered?? The rumors about him have to be true…" "Answer when asked something." Phantom says coldly looking at the man. He begins to back away but he hears voices in the distance calling towards him. "Man Buck, do you need help with EVERYTHING?!" As these words are uttered, the other 2 members of the Khourburg Dynasty appear. "Dohjo! Captain!" Buck sighs in relief as he jumps off the carriage. "I'll leave the rest to you twoooooooo" Buck jumps off excited, taking this as a perfect chance to escape while he has all his limbs.
Eiko takes notice of the Phantom posture. Though he physically seems to be fine, the way he's standing shows signs of fatigue. "That big attack might have used too much of his energy…" She thinks to herself "You need to help him out Elarnora! Come on," Despite the gravity of the situation, Eiko can't help but feel a sense of excitement. She's fascinated by the Knights of Dynasty and their incredible strength, and now she has the opportunity to fight alongside them. She knows that if she and the Phantom work together, they can take down the knights of Dynasty and any other threats that may arise. But she remembers the plan right as she's about to stand to her feet. She's supposed to be a hostage in this situation so she can't blow their cover. "So you're the Phantom?" The man who was referred to as Captain says looking at the Phantom. The man is wearing Very high tech steel armor with a mask and 2 Katanas on the back of the suit that seem to be attached to the back of his suit. Metal tubes stick out from around the suit as well. The other man who seems to be named Dohjo stands besides his Captain with unusual attire for a knight. His brown hair covers his eyes and he wears a green hoodie exposing his bare chest underneath. He wields a scythe in his hand. "No." The Phantom says still in a quite serious voice, keeping his composure. The man laughs, "I'd beg to differ. You've made quite a name for yourself in the Dynasty Y'know." The captain says looking at the Phantom "For such a wanted guy, I'd expect you to be more sneaky when it comes to crashing parties huh?"
"Did you come here to talk me to death or die like your friend's little dragon." Phantom says dismissing the man's comment in a very firm voice. "Eh whatever." The captain pulls both of his steel Katanas from the back of his suit and says "Commander Zed. That's my name." He points his Katana at the Phantom and his other Katana at Princess Eiko. "Dohjo, get the girl. I'll deal with this joker." Dohjo rushes towards Eiko while Zed throws one of his Katanas at the Phantom. The Phantom quickly dodges the Katana as it falls behind him. Zed snaps his fingers and he and his Katana switch places, now appearing on the edge of the Carriage where he was just standing and he appears behind the Phantom. The Phantom is caught off guard and almost takes a vital slash in his backside, though he jumps before Commander Zed's blade could fully slash him. His clothes are slightly cut by this attack but makes it out of the way in time. Zed runs towards the Phantom, who enters a battle stance. "This guy has some sort of teleportation power. Probably related to his swords in some way…" Zed swings his Katana down onto Phantom's Thunder Sword. The 2 blades clash but Phantom manages to overpower him and blast him back from the force of his slash.
Dohjo walks over to Eiko "Hey girl!" He says to her as if she were a dog. "I'm here to save you! So just come with me and we won't have any problems Ok?" Eiko feels as if she's being talked down to. "I have to help the Phantom somehow…" She thinks to herself while backing away from the Dohjo. "What's her deal?" He thinks while looking at Eiko who's crawling away from him. "W- what if you're another kidnapper?" She mutters in a very scared and anxious voice. "...What?" Dohjo says, confused looking at the princess. "Stay AWAY!" She yells at him blasting a wave of Ice in his direction. This catches Dohjo off guard, before he can react to what's going on he's hit by a blast of Ice and stumbles back. "What's your deal bitch?" Dohjo says losing his whole savior persona. Eiko doesn't respond and stands up, she throws spears of Ice at the man who quickly dodges them and rushes towards her. He doesn't spear as he swings the back of his scythe down towards her head in an attempt not to hurt her but to knock her out. Eiko quickly reacts by making a layer of ice above her head to block the attack. She then punches upward with both her arms, which makes 2 spikes through the already formed layer of Ice. This stabs through the back of the Scythe, throwing off Dohjo. The scythe doesn't break but now it has holes poking through it, making it looser than before. Dohjo pulls the Scythe off of the layer, then steps back assessing the situation with a much more aggressive and serious demeanor. Eiko is taken aback by the sudden shift in Dohjo's demeanor. He rushes towards her and she quickly realizes that he's become a much more imminent threat, and she needs to find a way to protect herself. Without thinking, she summons a massive wall of ice to block Dohjo's advance. But Dohjo isn't easily deterred, and he quickly rushes at the wall with his scythe, trying to cut his way through. Eiko's heart races as she watches the scythe make contact with the ice, sending shivers down her spine.
Zed snaps and his other katana zooms back to his hand. He bolts toward the Phantom with lightning speeds, The Phantom is able to keep up with his movements but he's caught off guard when he realizes that Zed jumped into the air. Zed throws down one of his Katanas at the Phantom that blocks with his sword. But the Katana seems to be getting pushed down by some other force despite having nobody holding it. The Phantom struggles to hold back the blade as Zed falls down with his other Katana in hand and slams it onto the Katana already held down by the strange force. The Phantom strikes with his thunder blade with even more force upward, counteracting the added pressure of Zed's strike. He then uses the momentum from the block to strike back. He sends a massive wave of lightning through his body to his blade, which sends out a massive bolt of lightning that makes it seem like he's striking the man with the force of a lightning bolt. "Backblast WING" The Phantom shouts at the man who's in point blank range of the strike. with his 2 katanas he gets sent flying backwards even faster this time. The Phantom rushes and swings his blade down, sending a wave of thunderous lightning that slams the man, who's still flying from the moment of Backblack Wing, down onto the ground. The man seems exhausted already while the Phantom looks calm and ready for more combat. Though the Phantom is still feeling the effects from his battle with Marin a day earlier AND the fight with that Buck guy. He's barely keeping himself together.
Before Eiko can react to Dohjos attack, He breaks through the layer of ice with his scythe, shattering it into pieces. He then charges at her, swinging his scythe down with all his might. Eiko ducks out of the way just in time, narrowly avoiding the blade, leaving the altercation with only a small cut on her leg. Her wedding dress makes it harder to move, but she quickly scrambles to her feet, summoning two ice spears in her hands. Dohjo rushes towards her as she tosses the 2 Ice spears at the knight. He hardly ducks the first one with the first one piercing his leg. "FUCK!" He yells as he crashes to the ground from the wound. He rips the Ice spear out of his legs but before he could stand up Eiko kicks him right in his face, launching him backward closer towards the Phantom and Zeds battle. Eiko swings her hand and it stops near her face, she closes her hand and a WAVE of ice comes crashing down towards Dohjo. He stands up and swings the scythe, quickly shattering the Ice, but this allows Eiko to get behind him and run into him. Slamming him down to the ground with her. Dohjo is caught off guard wondering how this princess is overwhelming him, but Eiko already knows the answer and is using it to her advantage. "He can't actually deal any killing blows to me." She thinks to herself while they both crash to the ground, breaking through the roof of the carriage as they both fall into it with all Eikos things surrounding them.
Phantom looks down at Zed who's holding onto his swords but clearly seems to be exhausted. The Phantom can barely stay on his feet due to his fatigue and notices that they're nearing the end of the forest. "Let's wrap this up, Commander." Zed stands up not saying a word, he looks down at his Katanas. All of a sudden a voice comes out of nowhere and Phantom listens as it says "Kill him. Let me feast." Phantom realizes the voice is coming from Zed's Katanas. The Katanas are both made of steel with a black blade and a white and red hilt. "Yeah I'm working on it." Zed responds to the voice "He's strong though" "Do you need our help with EVERYTHING?" The sword on the left says, the sword on the right responds saying "Give him some power, Maybe he'll finally be able to take down that threat. He seems to lack Soul Energy." "They call him a half soul Hollow." Zed says in response to the Sword on the right. "Interesting, So his Mana must be immense. I'll give you some of my power so you can kill this rodent." Zed's sword on the right glows immensely, the blinding light illuminates not only the carriage roof, but the forest surrounding them. The light beams through the leaves. Phantom is blinded by it and once it fades he feels a sharp pain on his stomach. He looks down and realizes, He has a massive gash through his stomach. Zed caught him while the light was still glowing and slashed right through the fabric of his clothing. Zed grabs the Phantom's face, and throws him to the other side of Carriage where Eiko and Dohjo were fighting. Right as this happens Eiko and Dohjo both crash inside the carriage, leaving the roof exposed. The carriage is still barely moving on its own at this rate, the lightning being put into its wheels is starting to grow thin and it seems to be slowing down.
Eiko and Dohjo both lay on the floor of the carriage for a few seconds. She quickly sees that her wedding dress is now torn and dirty, but this is not the time to worry about that. The 2 jump back to their feet and they begin their brawl once again. Dohjo has a look of anger on his face, clearly very bothered with how this fight is turning out, believing he's particularly wasting his time when he could be helping out his captain. Continuing to hold back, Dohjo swings around his scythe through the carriage, slashing and tearing apart a bunch of things lying around the room Eiko is using to cover her. Eiko grabs a box and throws it at Dohjo, He slices through the bag but in return a punch of rocks and dust poof out of the box and covering Dohjos face leaving him unable to see. Eiko lifts her hands upwards and an icicle shoots through the middle of the carriage, blasting Dohjo into the air, knocking him out, and stopping the carriage's movement, stuck in place due to the icicle. "That old rock collection is finally good for something" She mutters to herself and falls over. "Damn it.. I'm out of mana…" Eiko lays on the ground out of energy and thinks to herself. "If he wakes up it's over… It's all up to the Phantom now.." Eiko gasps as she hits the ground. She's exhausted from the fight, both mentally and physically. She can feel her body trembling and her heart beating furiously in her chest.
As the carriage comes to an abrupt stop, Zed stumbles while Phantom falls off the roof. He crashes to the floor with his wound open and he starts to reflect. "How did I get here… Why did I do this." He thinks to himself. His mind flashes with memories of the things with Eiko, how he saved her tending to her wounds, their conversation at his camp, the walk, and the look on her face when she told him her problems. The dread and despair in her voice when she was talking. Sounded all too familiar… to her. Phantom's mind then quickly flashes his memories of Dundred cavern and a girl with black hair, and red eyes. "Oh yeah, that's why." He smiles to himself as Zed jumps from the top of the carriage in front of him. The Phantom stands up onto his feet with his sword in hand, Zed rushes over and punches The Phantom right in his face, directly in his mask. The bottom half of the mask breaks off from the punch and the Phantom gets propelled backwards into a tree, it breaks and it falls backwards into another tree. Leaves fall on Phantom's head, his mask is broken at the bottom revealing his mouth. Blood rips from his mouth as he lays in the remains of the tree. Zed scoffs and walks towards the Phantom who's laying in the tree, Katana's in hand. Phantom forces himself to stand back up, his thunder sword in his grasp. The Phantom looks up at Zed, He's covered in a strong white Aura. "You're pretty sturdy, Phantom" He says looking at the battered and beaten up Phantom. "That's what I'm known for." Phantom says with a smile on his face, wiping away the blood from his mouth.
Zed and Phantom square off, each with one hand on their sword and the other raised ready to strike. The tension is high, with both warriors anticipating the next move. Zed takes a step back, and Phantom advances forward, his thunder sword held at the ready. Suddenly, Zed lunges forward, swinging both of his katanas in rapid succession. Phantom is quick to react, blocking the attacks with his sword. Zed slashes downward at Phantom, Phantom uses everything he has left putting his thunder into his Sword and countering Zed's slash. The 2 collide and have a full on collision, 2 swords vs 1. Who will come out on top? Zed lets go of one of his katanas, and quickly blasts a Light energy ball into the Phantoms side, his body jerks left, weakening his grip and his static wave is launched into the sky. The Phantom stumbles back as Zed charges toward him with his Katanas. The Phantom and Zed clash, going blow for blow with their blades but the Phantom physically seen moving slower than before. Zed charges his beams of light into his blade which push back the Phantom further. The combined toll of his Marin fight, his spout with the Griffen and the Dragon, AND his fight with Zed is really taking a major hit to his swordsmanship, he seems to somewhat be swinging his sword around, still with a general motion but more predictable which allows Zed to get the one up. Zed and Phantom lock blades once more, their eyes locking, both knowing the fight will soon end one way or another. Zed launches a powerful kick at Phantom's side, which sends him flying into a nearby tree, right back into the one that was previously destroyed from something similar. He lands with a sharp crash, hurting his back in the process. Zed rushes toward the Phantom, ready to swing his katanas down onto him, ready to finish the battle. Phantom quickly thinks to himself of something Rika said to him before.
His mind flashes back to when they were eating at a dinner table. Roy looked at his sponsor and said "I have a lot of mana but my attacks take a lot of energy and focus to get done." "Well yk what they say sometimes right?" Rika said while stuffing her face full of pasta in the most sloppy way possible. Roy looked at her in disgust. "Grown ass woman…" He thinks to himself before she said "Sometimes you just gotta let loose, not everything needs to be so controlled you know? Just let it out!" Roy sat up and responded "But that's so sloppy?!" "Aye not everything needs to be so organized lil bro" Rika slurped up the rest of her noodles and then burped which left Roy shocked but still her words got to him and he sat at the table thinking for a few seconds. Rika noticed the look on his face and blushed, she said out loud "Man I'm such a good teacher." Roy looks at his mentor confused but also grateful for her words.
"STATIC DISBURSE!"
As Zed charges towards him, ready to strike with his katanas, the Phantom explodes with lightning around his body, it's going all over the place. There's nowhere for Commander Zed to even stand as his Metal suit absorbs all the lightning shooting it through his body. The lightning seems to have no formula, no actual method or movement pattern. It's going all over the place as if the Phantom is just releasing the mana from his body without even thinking about it. Despite this he still seems to be focused on something but Zed doesn't even take notice of this. Zed launches a white blast directly at the Phantoms chest, which stops the discharge of energy. Zed looks down at the Phantom, he walks over and says "The man who I once feared, so sad to watch you so beaten, Half Soul Hollow." Phantom doesn't react, from just his mouth Zed can tell he's not reacting. "Any last words? I don't plan on keeping you suffering much longer, I'm not that cruel" A sick grin appears on the Phantom's face, he sits up which sends fear through Zed's body. "What is this.." He's thinking to himself "I'm winning! Why am I so.." The Phantom points his finger up in front of his half broken mask and with that sick smile on his face, he says "Static. Downfall.." All of a sudden, the Static Wave launched into the air earlier comes crashing down with double the force exactly where Zed is standing. The amount of force from the blast completely immobilizes the Captain of Squad 6. Zed falls over limp in his whole body going limp and the white aura from his body vanishing as he drops his Katanas and falls over.
Phantom barely stands up on his feet. He's fatigued and tired from this battle. "Holding that up there for so long limited my strength in that battle… Took me a long time. But I was able.. To get it done." Phantom stumbles and can hardly move but he begins to walk to Eiko in the carriage. He's fading in and out of consciousness. The slash mark on his chest is taking major affect onto him and he can barely manage to stumble to the carriage door and open it. As he looks down at Eiko, his mask falls off, genuine sadness in his face. As Phantom approaches Eiko, he becomes increasingly weak, and he struggles to stay upright. He leans against the carriage for support and takes a deep breath, trying to regain some of his energy. "Eiko," he says weakly, "I'm sorry. I couldn't protect you." He limps over and crashes beside her, the last thing he sees is her slowly getting up before he completely loses consciousness.
Roy gets up, his body wrapped in bandages in a sleeping bag. He sits up to see the wound on his chest completely covered and his clothing and half broken mask sitting beside him. He looks around and sees Eiko starting a fire. It seems to be sometime around 5AM and the sun is starting to rise in the distance. The 2 are near a cliffside and Roy sits in a sleeping bag with some random remains of what seems to be Eikos stuff around her. "Oh! You're awake!" Eiko smiles at the boy "Yo" he says nonchalantly "I took the remains of my stuff and kinda migrated my way over here. I'm not sure where you wanted us to go but this is the farthest I could take us." "I'm surprised you had the resolve to do that, After that fight you had with that Dohjo guy." "Oh yeah, him! Yeah he didn't hurt me that bad, I got a few scratches but it's fine." Roy looks down and notices her dress, it's all mangled and torn up. "Doesn't that bother you?" "What?" "The wedding dress, It's all messed up." "Eh, I've never been a big wedding gal anyway." She laughs it off and the fire starts. "I did it!" She yelps in excitement. Roy smiles at her being able to get it done. "I'm proud you were able to take down the Knight all alone, Shows some improvement" "Well I picked up some notes after watching your fights and decided to use it to my advantage." Eikos smile then kind of fades, breaking this character she's been putting up. She takes a deep breath and turns to Roy, her shoulders sagging. "I don't know what to do. We're in the middle of nowhere, alone, with little to no supplies or help. And to top it all off, we're both extremely tired from all this" Roy places a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Eiko, we're alive. That's what matters. We'll figure out what to do next, one step at a time." She looks at the fire, feeling a sense of warmth and comfort wash over her. "Let's rest for a bit. We can tackle it when we get there. I already have a plan. Let's take time to relax."
Eiko takes a deep breath and tries to calm down but it's pretty clear to Roy that she's still struggling. Roy gets up from his sleeping bag, still clearly exhausted and wounded but still making his way over to Eiko. He grabs her hand "Follow me." Eiko gives a shy nod as Roy takes her to the cliffside. He sits down and invites her to sit with him. She follows suit and sits directly next to him. "Just enjoy the view." The 2 sit on the edge of the cliffside, watching the horizon and the sun come up. They sit in silence for a while, lost in their own thoughts. The sun rises, casting a warm glow over the landscape. The butterflies flutter and the smell of fresh air fill their senses. It feels like a moment of calm amidst all the chaos the 2 were experiencing before. A warm light slowly creeps up from the horizon, as if pulled by an invisible string, lifting the darkness and shrouding the world in a soft ochre hue. The first traces of the sun are like wisps of fog, clinging to the earth, until a sudden burst of golden rays breaks through, casting out the remaining night and warming the dew-laden grass. As the sun climbs higher, the sky turns from pale pink to a deepening blue and the world gradually becomes awash in light. The air grows warmer, and the chorus of bird songs grows louder. The sunrise over the horizon is a sight of majesty, a reminder of the natural beauty that surrounds us and the awe-inspiring power of the natural world.
The northern side of Khourburg beams in the sunlight. The many villages, forests, seas and the capital of it all stand in the middle of it all. The whole north part can be seen by just looking through the cliffside. "It's so beautiful… I've never seen anything like this before." She turns to Roy and smiles. "Thank you for bringing me here. This is a moment I'll never forget." As they sit there, taking in the serene scene, Eiko's mind begins to clear. The stress and anxiety she had been feeling slowly fade away, replaced by a sense of calm and gratitude. She realized that even in the midst of all the chaos and confusion, there was still beauty and hope in the world. Roy notices the change in Eiko's demeanor and leans in slightly. "I'm glad you're feeling better," he says softly. "I know we still have a long journey ahead of us, but I promise I'll be there to help you. No matter what" Eiko smiles at him, feeling a sense of comfort and security. "I know," she says. "I'm lucky to have you." "In a few hours, We'll head over to meet with my sponsor and move from there. I have a mission to complete but I'm not sure how I can continue with these injuries." Eiko smiles, feeling a sense of excitement. She finally feels ready for this new chapter in her life, whatever those problems might bring her….