studiobondurri Ep 120. Scream All You’d Like. (2)
Ep 120. Scream All You’d Like. (2)
Ep 120. Scream All You’d Like. (2)
Ep 120. Scream All You’d Like. (2)
For a few minutes, Ilias watched in silence at the unfolding spectacle.
‘What the heck...did I really not need to come after all?’
Thunderous noises ruptured the air every time Raizel struck at the emperor. A series of shielding spells were being cast in between them, only to shatter like thin glass one after the other.
“What’s wrong?! Can’t keep up?!”
“...”
As the youngling’s strikes came to outspeed the emperor’s casting, her fist once again found its target’s flesh, burying itself deep into the emperor’s stomach.
With a revolting grunt, the emperor’s half-formed spells faded from his broken concentration. Raizel immediately seized the moment to grab hold of the emperor’s collar, instantly driving him into the ground.
“...Heh.”
A thin smile curved the steel dragon’s lips as she neared victory all on her own. Her heart raced at the thought of completing her revenge, of greeting Serenis with news of her triumph.
That is, until her next, final strike was stopped inches before Lavnore’s eyes.
A single finger held her trembling fist in place.
“You just thought you could win, didn’t you?”
Like a spreading disease, Raizel’s wry smile was mirrored on the emperor’s expression.
A small, black ember flared to life at Lavnore’s fingertip, burning away at the metal surface touching it.
Raizel grit her teeth. Instead of backing out, the youngling only forced her limb further and further – she was, in all literal sense, inches away from a one-sided victory.
But Ilias forced her friend back, snatching Raizel by her waste and throwing themselves away from the emperor’s tiny flame.
“Ilias! What’re you doing?!”
“What do you think I’m doing?!”
Moments after the younglings retreated, the black ember on Lavnore’s fingertip burst upwards in a torrent of pitch-black fire.
The incinerated air sang in sizzled noises. Bits of fire still danced in midair as Lavnore raised himself back to his feet, whisking off the dirt on his clothes. As his glowing fingertips hovered over his body, what damage Raizel thought she’d inflicted disappeared without a trace.
“...That was...”
Ilias audibly gulped as she watched the last bits of fire disappear from the air.
The emperor was human. Of that, she was certain.
But the black flames he’d just summoned were not his own.
That was her father’s magic.
“A good king ought to entertain children at times, even if they’re not his subjects. But first...”
Trailing off, Lavnore redirected his gaze towards the red dragon who’d snatched away her friend moments before his spell had exploded.
Grinning, the emperor pointed upwards. Sharp winds condensed into a small, orb-like flux, levitating above Lavnore’s head.
When he lowered his arm, the collection of winds were released towards Ilias as invisible razors. Even as the spells came upon her, Ilias couldn’t sense anything but faint sounds of the air being sliced.
However, the spell became evident when Raizel briskly stepped in front of her. The blades of wind clashed against the steel dragon, dispersing into thin strands of air once more.
“Mm, as expected from a dragon of steel – how moving. Perhaps a different element will pose a better challenge for you.”
When Lavnore next raised his hand into the air, bolts of lightning crackled around the black ember levitating above his palm. The spell was released as another torrent of black flames, guided by streaks of lightning coating its outer layer.
“Raizel, move!”
“I know!”
As the two younglings threw themselves off from the spell’s course, the torrent of magic brushed past them harmlessly for a brief moment.
Raizel weakly opened her eyes to see the crackling spell through her blurred vision.
Lightning chases her. And the black flames melt her.
‘...That’s cheating, dammit.’
But nonetheless, the steel dragon clawed back to her feet, reflexively stepping in front of her collapsed friend. Ilias likewise tried to get up to her feet, but to no avail.
The emperor’s eyes slightly widened in surprise. Despite the lack of focus in her eyes, Raizel was still somehow managing to stand between him and the red dragon behind her.
“Admirable.”
With a final comment, Lavnore released the spell towards the youngling. A thunderous noise was supposed to follow in the explosion’s wake, incinerating the steel dragon to bits.
But instead, he heard nothing but weak sizzling noises.
“...?”
When his torrent of fire cleared away, Lavnore no longer saw a steel dragon standing before him. He was instead looking at a wall of earth and dirt, charred black but otherwise still firm and standing.
‘...Earth spell? From steel and red?’
An awkward cough drew the emperor’s attention. When he darted his eyes over to the left, Lavnore could see a rather familiar figure, walking towards the younglings with pocketed hands.
“Hm. As I thought, a battle of elements is highly unfair for dragons. I guess that’s only to be expected given that they only wield one...’
Karas came to a stop besides the two dragons, locking eyes with the Akeian emperor.
Lavnore first widened his eyes in surprise, studying the suited, poker-faced crow figure. A ridiculed grin twisted the emperor’s expression, and soon, his eyes were narrowing in disbelief and anger.
“...And who do we have here? I was wondering why Heritch was still absent. I didn’t think you were alive, Xar.”
“And I didn’t think you’d still be alive. Yet, here we are.”
A short laughter escaped the emperor’s lips. The unexpected reunion was neither expected nor welcomed.
“You sided with dragons? I expected you to find far better allies after betraying the empire.”
“...In all honesty, they’re much better than you.”
“Hah! Very well. If you’re with them, I suppose I can no longer afford toplay around. But I must say...your choice of allies is rather imprudent, old friend.”
Lavnore took a small step forth towards the professor. Fragments of blinding light glimmered above his head, forming a brilliant crystal of pure white.
“If you wished to challenge me, you should’ve brought a deity with you.”
“...A deity, huh?”
‘I do believe I’ve met that criterion. Twice, in fact...’
Finally noticing someone’s absence, Karas scanned around the vicinity. Serenis was nowhere to be found; he could only spot the two younglings, torn and burnt as they struggled to remain conscious.
Facing the two younglings, Karas quietly voiced his concern.
“Where’s...has Serenis gone elsewhere?”
“...Someone attacked her...”
“She’ll be back. I know she will.”
Hearing both replies, Karas nodded his head in silence, turning back to face the Akeian emperor. He then unpocketed his hands, holding one out as five elements of magic formed a harmonious spiral above his palm.
“I suppose we can try and hold our ground. Until our own ‘deity’ comes back.”
In a burst of white and rainbow lights, the two spells soon collided midair, each threatening to swallow each other whole. The massive burst of mana tensed the air around them, warping the reality they stood upon into a chaotic flux of magic.
But one soul remained unaffected by the storm of mana. A single, lonely soul of a dead deity, floating about some distance away watching the spectacle unfold.
‘Hmm...maybe Felicis was right. Maybe I should have killed him a hundred years ago.’
But regrets amounted to little in the reality before him. Felicir was nothing more than a spectator here, after all.
For now, anyways.