“What it means to go on loving you.”
I
Refusing to retreat from battle against the Valkyrians’ Z-Genes, Raviex stood firm on his ground. He held Letaikno with both hands in attack mode. Beads of sweat rolled down, rubbing against his cheek. Indeed, there was no other who feared this challenge more than him. How could one man face such massive destroyers? The only thing left to sustain his courage there and then was his love for his people. King Levon sacrificed himself to end the Kaza War. It was Raviex’s turn to be trialled.
Suddenly, as if to rescue the Prince from a hopeless battle, a tremendous and blinding blue light crashed onto the ground from above before Little Dai Town. A vortex opened, causing the light to twist in circular motion. At the centre of it, an entrance was formed. The vortex began blasting out massive winds from it. Those who were caught by the winds were blown away to a distance.
Raviex struck Letaikno into the ground to stabilize himself and also to get a better foothold. The immense winds had managed to move him from his previous standing ground by five meters to say the least. Oddly, Letaikno started vibrating vigorously in his hands. The fact that was really biting him was these were the same vibrations it gave when the gateway to the White Ruins were opened.
Just as he thought he was getting a hang of the blowing winds, without warning, the winds changed its course. Refusing to return into the vortex alone, they began forcing everything possible into it. The vortex now acted like a black hole, only, it was not in space but on Senadon. Buildings were at the verge of being torn off the ground. Slowly, he too sensed his body lifted from the ground. Panic clasped over him as the sword was dangerously losing the hold on the ground.
“Aaahh!!” yelled Raviex as Letaikno was uprooted from the ground. He instantly felt the strong tug on his entire body; a deadly pair of hands pulling him forcefully straight into the unknown portal.
“Raviex!!!” shouted Christine in horror over the winds.
Raviex’s eyes searched for her through the confusing atmosphere while in midair and abruptly felt a whip tightened on his left arm. Instinctively, his hand grasped the whip. Without delay, he felt himself being dragged back down to the surface of Senadon. At the end of the whip, he saw Christine and a foreign girl pulling him in for cover.
“Are you okay?” asked Christine, relief that he was safe, thanks to the girl’s quick action.
“I’m alright,” assured Raviex. Though he was feeling shaken, he could not stop himself from feeling pleased that she was worried for him.
Mercifully, the winds died down. Raviex and the others turned to see an imperial-like Z-Gene standing at the gates of the town, facing the enemies. Letaikno was emitting a golden ray by now and it was almost uncontrollable for Raviex. It was almost like it was trying to free itself from its master to be with the Z-Gene.
At once, it hit Raviex hard in the head. Could that possibly be…
The black cloak draped behind the Z-Gene flapped with the wind spectacularly—
…the long lost…
A magnificent sword formed from nothing but streaks of light in the outstretched hand of the unknown Z-Gene.
…Ultimate Praetor Valkyr Leo?!
The Z-Gene stood gallantly in an attack stance; its sword held horizontally in front of its face. The blade gleamed from the sunlight.
Two harmonious notes of whistling sound was heard and then—
II
“Hello, Calith…” drawled a man maliciously who was piloting a Z-Gene cloaked with invisibility. His presence was completely oblivious to others.
Lazachus Valkyr was an unseen observer of the scene. He had sent his men to capture the Prince by the order of Lord Valkyr but this… he couldn’t have asked for anything else better. The Prince was nothing compared to what was before him.
Every single professional Z-Gene hunter on Senadon was after the legendary Ultimate Praetor Valkyr Leo. Yet, right before his eyes was the Ultimate Praetor Nullef Dragaina.
“But you, Calith, are the one that I am really interested in…”
Seeing is believing, or so the saying goes but what the five saw next made them doubted that statement, less they were hallucinating. It was simply impossible for a machine as massive and heavy as a ten-storey Z-Gene to move at the speed that it couldn’t be seen by the naked eye.
Couldn’t be seen by the naked eye?! That’s Angel’s Flight!
Christine was baffled. Supposedly, only she could cast Angel’s Flight. Was it possible for a Z-Gene to copy her skill? That was incredulous!
Clear, beautiful and fast-pacing strings of beautiful musical notes were heard blown through a flute while the Ultimate Praetor dashed with the impression of Angel’s Flight towards the nearest Z-tech Destructor. A single high-pitch note pierced through the air, as he smite on the unprepared opponent. The spectators assumed he delivered only a single blow from his action. They were bowled over when they saw it crashing onto the earth in eight cleanly-cut pieces. The remains of the Z-tech Destructor exploded and burned ragingly in the presence of the Ultimate Praetor.
The surface of the ground shook when the crash happened, awakening them from their trance-like mystification at the sight of the majestic Ultimate Praetor. They were suddenly fully aware the reason why it had appeared: to assist in defeating Valkyr’s men.
“We’ll let him deal with the Z-Genes and war crafts,” said the blond-haired girl whom Kyoden marked as a nuisance, her head tilted at the direction of the Ultimate Praetor. “He seems capable,” she added. “The rest of us, it’s a free-for-all on the land attackers.”
“I still don’t understand why we’re letting her boss us around,” muttered Kyoden lowly to Raviex. Raviex cleared his throat, signalling him to be quiet, before the girl blasted at him again.
Christine glanced at the girl beside her; her life-saver. “Who are you?”
“I am Lorenne Fierell, Yamist of Wisdom. The other girl you have just seen is my elder sister, Sonia Fierell, Messenger of Wisdom,” she answered politely, her voice ringing with sweetness. “It would be better; however, if we leave the talking session for later or Sonia won’t be happy.”
“Err… okay,” responded Christine awkwardly, uncertain of how she should react to that.
“Christine, go ahead of us using Angel’s Flight. Break off our enemy’s formation. We will divide and conquer,” told Lorenne in a quiet voice, her eyes looking far off. The enemy was here.
“How did you know my—”
“Go, or it would be too late.”
Throwing her one last inquiring look, Christine turned to the marching men. She was in time to see the Z-tech Destructors and war crafts which were advancing on the town averted their attention to the newly-arrived Z-Gene. A blue visor formed and Interpreter was online. “Angel’s Flight!” she commanded.
Raviex was only in time to see a blue light fade away, heading for the men. “Ryn!” He too ran to meet the small army.
“Raviex, wait up! No need to rush for a fight!” Kyoden called to him, tailing the Prince.
Sonia smacked her hand on her forehead. “The guys…are IDIOTS!”
“There, there, Sonia, not everyone is a strategist like you,” comforted Lorenne.
“Argh! Let’s just get to them before they have their heads on the ground, especially Prince Raviex,” fumed Sonia.
Much at the front line, Christine raced around the four hundred men madly. The soldiers were confused with her zigzagging around them. The guys began to understand why she went off without them. She was not attempting a suicidal attack but distracting their opponents. Performing her specially designed martial art, tens of men fell and crumpled in pain. Since she was almost invisible, the men panicked and drew their weapons blindly, causing casualty on their own.
Targeting a separated group of men, Raviex, while still running held his sword with its tip pointing downwards. “Dance of the Fire Dragon!”
Letaikno suddenly burst into flame. Raviex threw it high into the sky. He leaped into the air tens of feet high after it. As he grabbed the sword, he swirled his body. Instantly, the soldiers saw an illusion of a golden dragon, its wings wide open. As gravity caught his body, he aimed Letaikno at them. He was a living tornado of fire.
His body swirled ceaselessly, falling perilously fast. Seven grand fire balls similar to burning meteors conjured. The targeted group gaped; they were stunned in horror and grandeur. The seven fire balls crashed and the result was proven destructive. Around fifty of Valkyr’s men were engulfed in inescapable fire and heat. Raviex steadied Letaikno for the finale of the skill he was performing. Letaikno was struck into the ground, breaking his master’s fall. A burst of shockwaves of flames took out those within the radius of fifty metres. The men were turned into ashes within seconds.
At the other end, Kyoden was having his own fight. While delivering blows of punches and kicks in combos at his opponents, he never failed to prevent his precious weapon from being scratched. He was enjoying the challenge he had put up for himself. In other words, he was only toying with the soldiers.
As the fighter before him fell, suddenly, a soldier sprang forwards and aimed his sword at him. Instinctively, Kyoden ducked. However, to his shock and absurd fury, the blade managed to slice off two strains of his long, coal-black hair. He watched his hair touched the ground in dramatic slow motion effect.
“My… my hair… w… what have you done?” he muttered hysterically.
Kyoden Kaneshiro stood up gradually. Though he had his sword pointed right at his neck, the swordsman still felt insecure. He shifted his body uneasily. He knew he was facing a completely different person. The man gulped for Kyoden was staring at him in an odd way.
“You… you monstrous beast… Why did you do it? Why did you have to cut off two strains of my beautiful hair?! For fifteen years, no one… and I mean NO
Unfortunately for him, the joker of the party had finally turned into a passionate warrior. The dirt on the ground blasted away as Kyoden’s red Sacred Energy magnified and physically inflicted damage at him. The sword was knocked out of his hand as he toppled backwards.
Sonia who was not too far away from Kyoden sensed the sudden change of atmosphere. Tension had increased and a new killing aura had appeared. She had heard his raging words. “He drew out this level of power simply because he lost a few strands of his stupid hair?!” she commented, completely baffled and irritated.
“No more, nice, sweet, funny Kyoden. It’s full payback time to you Valkyrians!” he seethed. The living titanium which was wrapped around his forearm and wrist altered and formed a state-of-the-art crossbow. Powered by a tiny piece of crystal which claimed to be once part of the Heart of Katelion, the living titanium under his command was not something which should be underestimated.
“THIS is for ruining MY HAIR!” Kyoden directed his crossbow at the sky. “Hyper-blast Metallic Rain!” he commanded. A single arrow was fired.
“That’s it?” snorted Sonia who kept an eye on him while attacking and defending herself with her silver spear. As the arrow reached its highest point of flight, a sound of two clashing metal was heard. Kyoden smirked.
Here comes the fun part.
Then, thousands and thousands of metal arrows rained down at the terrified soldiers. Sharp whistling sounds were heard as the rain of arrows never seemed to end. Countless were killed as the arrows pierced through their bodies.
“Watch where you’re aiming, you idiot!” yelled Sonia angrily. She just narrowly dodged an arrow herself. Kyoden sighed regretfully in response for the arrow had missed her.
‘No wonder it’s called Hyper-blast Metallic Rain… He’s an idiot but that’s quite a feat,’ she mused.
“I’m not done yet, you Valkyrians! THIS is for interrupting MY BREAKFAST!”
‘He sure fights for the best things on Senadon,’ Sonia thought sarcastically. She quickly formed a shield on her left forearm from her silver wrist band, which matched with her spear, considering that she was still in range to Kyoden’s attack. His far-range attack could easily handle her share of the Valkyrians.
“Divine Retribution, Rage of Thor!”
Kyoden took a leap and disappeared into nowhere.
Where did he…?
Sonia abruptly noticed men dropping to their knees in agony. They were looking up into the sky in confusion. She, too, started searching the sky. She then caught a blur movement and from it came the attacking arrows which flew at an incredible and almost abnormal speed.
Rage of Thor, in other words, at the speed of lightning and the force of the mighty thunder.
Lorenne was the last to join the group. Despite the fact that they could use her reinforcement on the attacking aspect, she did nothing. She had her eyes on the Ultimate Praetor which was fending off the Darkness-delivered Z-Genes. Her attention was unwavering, Sonia and her new acquaintances faded from her mind. If anyone had seen her, they could have sensed a touch of deep loneliness and sorrow in her then.
The Ultimate Praetor Nullef Dragaina had destroyed three of the war crafts and three of the Z-tech Destructor. He stood poised, as if aware of Lorenne watching. Her soft, brown hair brushed against her left cheeks as the wind blew.
You are here… aren’t you?
His momentary pause cost him. The two surviving war crafts ambushed from a distance to capture him with long and massive iron chains, immobilizing him. The Ultimate Praetor tugged against it. The last Z-tech Destroyer took the chance to execute a special move to attack him. It sped at him with its two battle axes ready to strike.
No chains could bind me…
Nullef Dragaina pulled at the chains. His strength was more than enough to force the war crafts to be drawn towards him. He swerved one of the chains with his right robotic hand. One of the war crafts too swerved towards the other. The two smashed into one another with a colossal impact. Then, he effortlessly broke the chains off him.
He turned back to see an ethereal Z-Gene formed in a blink of an eye from wisps of mist and taking the hit for him from the Z-tech Destroyer. The axes struck right at the core of the Z-Gene’s body. The direct hit caused the eerie and hovering Z-Gene to burst into sparkling dust. Nullef Dragaina shot a look at Lorenne to see her kneeling in agony with a hand on her chest.
Furious, he lifted his sword again and the air around the Z-tech Destructor began to freeze. Before the pilot of the Z-tech Destructor knew it, his Z-Gene was frozen in ice. He panicked. He jammed on the eject seat button but it would not work. The thick layer of ice trapped him. He was at the mercy of the other.
Nullef Dragaina made a strong slashing movement with his sword. An infinite force blasted out from him, sending a visible slash of the bright blue energy, and destroying the gruesome ice sculpture before him.
He rested his sword on his side. His emotions rattled. All these while, he thought he had forgotten. Yet, the sudden rage had proven him so very wrong.
Did you do that… perhaps… for me?
The Ultimate Praetor did not move. He was suddenly still. He hesitantly faced Lorenne again. Why did she have to search for his heart with such pleading and desperate eyes? Why? He felt the familiar pang of guilt on him again. Its poison of anguish spread in him. Two years had passed. Why did it not make any difference? Why could he not just escape the past?
Please… I beg you. Don’t leave by your own again.
Without a word, Nullef Dragaina turned away. He took a step and vanished into thin air, leaving the Yamist of Wisdom to dwell in disappointment and sadness. A single tear from her weeping heart rolled down her cheek. She closed her eyes and comforted herself, swallowing down all her emotions.
Unknown to Lorenne, the pilot of Nullef Dragaina was watching her through his invisibility mode. It pained him to do what he just did. Yet, he knew this was for the better.
I’m sorry, Lorenne, I truly am.
IV
“My, my, my, what have we got here?” said Lazachus Valkyr contemptuously. He was apparently amused and entertained as he witnessed the scene between Lorenne and the Ultimate Praetor Nullef Dragaina.
“So, it isn’t just a rumour after-all. The almighty Calith has a weakness.”
And she will be my key to him.
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