“It’s finally begun!” one of the men shouted. “It seems the Toivoa Destroyer has been awakened.”945Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDByuyqO0Kr
Kaela looked at the man in shock. She couldn’t believe that they were already that far behind. She bit hard on her lip in frustration. She knew that something was wrong, even when the shaking of the earth died down.
“That’s right, you’re too late,” another man growled, apparently noticing her expression.
“No, it’s not too late,” Visola responded in a dark tone. “We still have a few aces up our sleeves.”
Kaela smiled as she watched Visola’s face filled with determination. She was right. They still had time. As long as they were alive, they had a chance of victory.
“That’s right we aren’t going down that easily! We will put a stop to your plans!” Kaela stated.
“Oh yeah… and how do you suppose you’ll get out of this?” another man asked. “There is no way we’re letting you leave here alive.”
The crowd came in closer to them forcing them to stand back to back to keep up their defences.
“What’s the plan, Marino?” Dimetrios growled.
“Fighting these people here would put us at a disadvantage. We just need to get past them.” Visola answered.
“How are we supposed to do that without fighting?” Lynx growled. “That’s an impossible request.”
“But if we exhaust ourselves here, we won't stand a chance against the leader of this group, let alone the Destroyer,” Kaela snarled, sick of Lynx’s uncooperative attitude. She found herself wishing that he was the one left behind instead of Ray.
“I know that but how will we get out of here?” Lynx asked.
“I don’t know.... but we need some kind of distraction,” Visola claimed.
“Wait…” Kaela declared, realising Visola's intent. “You don’t mean…”
“Yes… someone might have to stay back…” Visola said reluctantly. “In that case, we’d be able to get away and reunite with Brayden and the others.”
Kaela went silent. A distraction would mean the person was sacrificing themselves for the sake of the others. Kaela’s breath caught in her throat.
“So, it’s a distraction you want,” Dimetrios said.
Kaela turned to him to see a large smile spread across his face. The ground began to shake underneath them once more. Only instead of being thrown off balance, a large pillar of Earth formed at their feet and sent them into the air.
“I can do you one better! I will defeat all of these baboons!” Dimetrios yelled.
“But Dimetrios…” Kaela began.
“Just get going already,” Dimetrios yelled with a smile.
Reluctantly accepting his offer, Kaela nodded and began to run. With the others following behind her, they burst through the crowd. They managed to get past them when the group of men tried to grab them.
“You’re not getting away!” one man yelled.
Before they could reach them, a large rock wall blocked Dark Soul’s path. Unlike the earlier versions of Dimetrios’s spell, the wall was more structurally sound.
“You’re not getting past me,” Dimetrios bellowed. “I’m your opponent right now.”
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Dimetrios used a club made of rocks to block an attacker’s sword. He was out of breath and struggled against the man’s strength. Using all his might, he pushed the man backwards with force. He crashed into the wall he had made earlier.
“That’s one more…” Dimetrios said attempting to catch his breath.
It was completely on a whim when Dimetrios used his Earth Elemental magic to block his teammates from the crowd that had closed in on them. He assumed he did it because he wanted the chance to prove himself to them. To prove that he was a member of Twilight Heart and no longer had connections to Regal Night, he let the others run away while he stayed behind. Regardless, he had stepped into the role of the distractor, except he believed he could take it one step further. He believed that he could win. Eighty-Nine enemies were nothing. He had done it before after all. He was one of the people who had attacked Asteria. Even if he had others around him, he knew that he did most of the work, so he predicted that it would be no different. However, it was more difficult than he had expected.
A group of men ran up to him with their weapon ready to cut him down. He dodged each swing and kicked one-man square in the chest. As that man fell to the ground, Dimetrios nudged the weapon out of another’s hand, then punched them in the face. He then used his rock hand the grab onto a man and sent him crashing into five other members of Dark Soul.
“Fifty-five, fifty-six, fifty-seven, eight and nine…” he counted as they fell to the ground. “And sixty.”
He had a strange feeling that he couldn’t describe when he began to fight the members of Dark Soul, which made him subconsciously begin counting. Initially, he believed he did it so that he could boast about it later. However, he began to feel that there was a more important reason for it. Pain shot across his back. One of the men had slashed him across the back with a sword, while he was lost in thought. It wasn't the first time he had been hit. It had been twenty minutes since he started fighting and exhaustion had begun to dull his senses. He turned in time to see another man jump towards him. Dimetrios was able to jump away from the attack, his hands and feet slid across the dirt.
“C-corrode!” he yelled making the ground fall apart once more.
At least twenty men came running towards him. He then lifted up his right arm which sent the rubble into the air. He manipulated the structure of the small rocks to make them harder and stronger.
“One Thousand Stoning Hell…” he muttered, sending the rocks hurtling towards the men. Each stone shot through the skin of the attackers like bullets.
Dimetrios counted the bodies that lay around him. He had kept the promise he had made to Master Isaac and didn’t kill them. He only knocked them around enough to injure them and stop them from attacking any further.
“Eighty-one…” he sighed as he struggled to breathe.
Though many of his injuries were minor, he had lost a lot of blood. It became increasingly more difficult to keep his vision in focus. A shape-shifter, who had transformed into some kind of wolf-man, grabbed onto Dimetrios and threw him into the air. It had happened so fast that he didn’t even see the man coming. He had travelled at least thirty feet into the air before his attacker kicked him back towards the earth. He hit the ground so hard that he coughed up a bit of blood. Once he did, he heard a loud crack coming from one of his legs. As he moved onto his stomach, he realised he couldn’t move his right leg at all.
“C-crap. Broken,” he muttered, his lungs became heavier.
“Is it over already?” a man sneered. “I commend you for taking out so many of us, but it’s all over for you now.”
Dimetrios looked up at the men in front of him. His eyes widened in shock when he counted them.
“Only five? I only had to…” he stated before growling in pain.
He had been so close. He almost had taken them all down. There was nothing he could do. It was all over for him. The remaining Dark Soul members came closer and closer. They stood in a straight line as the one in the middle prepared to take his life. Dimetrios smiled weakly.
“I guess I’m not as strong as him…” he uttered. “The rest is up to you… Valero…”
The man lifted his sword into the air. Suddenly a light shone out of the corner of his eye. He watched as quick beam of black energy shot through all five of the men in front of him. Their blood stained the dirt as they fell into a heap on the ground. Dimetrios’s eyes widened in shock. Every single one of them died instantly on impact.
“W-w-what was that?” he stuttered with fear.
He waited, paralysed with fear and unable to speak. He expected to meet the same fate. But nothing happened. He managed to sigh with relief even though his chest stung when it did. He tried to bring himself to stand or even to sit up straight, but he lost all of his strength. He looked up at the clouded sky. It seemed to have calmed down since he last looked at it.
“Did I?” he began, thinking that he somehow managed to survive.
However, he still struggled to breathe, and it became harder each passing moment. He frowned and narrowed his eyes. It was so calm and peaceful as he lay there. He almost didn’t mind that he wasn’t going to make it.
“No… I don’t think I’m…”
He heard footsteps walking towards him. They became louder as his chest became heavy. Before he could hear them pass him, they came to a stop. He could feel someone’s presence standing by him. Dimetrios managed to find the strength to turn his head. Through his blurred vision, he could make out a cloaked figure. From what he could gather they appeared to be a woman. She seemed to look down at him; her green eyes met him with a blank expression. She seemed to say something, but Dimetrios heard nothing. His vision turned black as he watched the girl lean down towards him.
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945Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hqdKpaBYd
Pennie opened her eyes and sat up on her knees. She tried to remember what had happened as her vision began to clear. The last thing she recalled was hearing a man's voice in her head that started to search her memories. It had caused a terrible pain she couldn’t describe. When her surroundings came into view, she could make out Ray standing in front of her. She could also hear a bloodcurdling laugh.
“We finally have it! The Toivoa Destroyer is ours!”
Pennie instantly recognised it as the voice that was in her head. She looked at the man. She saw what had become of his mouth and became afraid.
“W-who is that?!”
The man's eyes darted to her, which made her shriek with fear.
“So you’re awake are you?” the voice echoed in her head.
“Pennie! Are you okay?!” Ray called out to her.
Pennie nodded but said nothing. Her eyes darted towards Cianna and Mr Kaden. Noticing Cianna stirring, Pennie ran up to her.
“Cianna! Are you alright?” she called as she kneeled beside her and placed her hand on the Light Elementals back.
“No… I-I’m s-scared.” Cianna cried as she began to sit up. “That man…he’s…”
“That’s right I’m a monster! And just what are you going to do about it? We have the Toivoa Destroyer now!” the man laughed.
“No…” Pennie said. She couldn’t believe that they were too late. She believed that because of Dark Soul’s possession of the weapon there was no chance of them winning. Realising she was focusing too much on the negatives, she shook her head and attempted to formulate a plan of action.
“No, you were right the first time Miss Raynhart. It is all over for you! There is no plan you could make that could stop us now!” Achilles bellowed.
“How did you know that? And how did you know my name?!” Pennie demanded.
“Careful Pennie, keep your thoughts controlled. This guy can read and manipulate your mind!” Ray shouted.
“Exactly which means there is no move you could make to dodge this!” Achilles claimed as he swung his body back then began to run towards them.
Pennie attempted to move, but her body had other ideas. She was frozen in place. Not because of fear but because Achilles was in control of it. She could do nothing but watch as the man ran towards her. Luckily, Ray blocked his path by turning around and kicking Achilles backwards.
“I’m the one you are fighting!” Ray claimed. “If you want to get to them you need to get through me first!”
“Why? Why can’t I hear your thoughts? I’m always in control. I…must control everything…” Achilles muttered. “I’m useless if I cannot do that. I cannot do my master’s bidding.”
Pennie was able to stand. She watched as the man in front of her struggled to keep his sanity. She realised that Achilles must have had a difficult past. The men he worked with had overtaken his will and desires.
“What do you hope to gain from this?” Ray asked clearly realising the same thing. “Why do you want to use the Toivoa Destroyer?”
“I already told you,” Achilles growled from inside their minds. “To create an empty and peaceful world! That is the purpose of Dark Soul! It is the will that the Dark Oviri bestowed upon us.”
“I can’t take it…” Cianna cried. “This world is too scary. Too many bad things happen.”
“That is why it must be destroyed,” Achilles claimed. “That way people like us won't suffer anymore. Destroying everything is the only...”
“Well, what do we have here? It looks like you’ve failed to take down the enemy,” a voice interrupted.
A sword plunged through Achilles’s shoulder. It was so sudden that it left everyone stunned.
Cianna screamed as the sickeningly sweet smell of blood filled the air. Achilles eyes went wide with shock and darted to see the man behind him.
“C-Cormac how could y-you?” he stuttered as his blood seeped through his clothes.
Pennie watched in terror as the man with pale blonde hair smiled wickedly. He had one blue eye, and the other was such a dark brown that it was almost black. He looked at his former colleague with eyes filled with insanity and bloodlust.
“Whoops,” he sneered with a high and mocking tone. “Looks like I missed.”945Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5qyjmp1YZM
