HOLY INFERNO (III)

Lynne suddenly spread his arms out, two Chakrams blasting off into existence, chained by the handle, hanging in the air. Glancing one last time at the figure behind him, Lynne’s bloodshot eyes suddenly turned cold as his face filled to brim with determination. After a low roar, he coated both the chains and Chakrams in green flames, his feet in golden and sprung forth.

He landed before the hundreds of incoming guards, all donning silver armors and various weapons. Startled, everyone came to a halt as a mass of spells, from fireballs to water pillars, dove towards Lynne. Glancing upwards, he swung his Chakrams in wheel-like fashion, causing a whirlwind to appear, blasting off incoming spells. With his feet coated in blue flames, he burst forth, swinging his Chakrams downwards.

Figures suddenly spread around, flanking him in the encircled fashion. A reddened bolt of light came cruising from below as Lynne shifted his body sideways, bringing two Chakrams with him and swinging them in a circular manner, splitting two people in half. With their eyes still filled with disbelief, the corpses dyed the stones further red as Lynne bolted forth yet again, sending his Chakrams flying forth.

He danced in marvelous arch, leaving behind only trickling trails of flame, as his Chakrams blasted the stone platform underneath, causing a massive crater. Outward shockwave blew past hundreds of figures, rendering them helpless as they were blown backwards slightly. Without stopping, he coated his feet in golden flames and cast Pyre. His stoic stature was set ablaze, burning like a golden star amidst the darkness. His blue eyes were rendered crimson as his muscles bulged, expanding the flame off from his body slightly.

Aqua Blade suddenly appeared above his head, shaped like a massive claymore, nearly two hundred meters tall. The sword descended, causing a tear in the space itself, as it clashed against more incoming figures donning silver armors. Explosion burst out, flames spreading throughout like raging tyrants, with sword leaving a massive gash in the ground. By now, Lynne noticed dozen or so figures reaching towards him so he spun in a circle, his Chakrams leveled with his shoulders.

Heads suddenly flew upwards, leaving behind blood erupting from sliced necks. Bodies limped left and right, and the entire radius of half a mile around him was completely dyed red, filled to brim with corpses. His body still ablaze, he broke off from the plaza and dove into another group of silver guards currently engaged against a group of middle-aged men.

Lynne flew from above, crashing into the ground and forming a massive crater with him as the epicenter. He spun, letting go of the chains, his Chakrams flying, breaking the barrier of light as they left behind a green trail. Screams abound ensued and blood rained as men and women alike began falling like chopped trees. After a brief nod of gratitude, the group of middle aged men moved to another fight while Lynne returned back to the center of the plaza, standing atop the raised platform.

The platform was watched by thousands of people, yet of those who were free no one dared to approach, and those who dared were not free. Lynne stood calmly, his body still churning with golden flames, two chakrams hovering above his shoulders, his arms crossed against his chest.

Up above, in the high sky, Elynal was currently engaged in a battle. His fists had been changed to metallic gauntlets, his usual, nonchalant expression switched with one of complete concentration. As he clasped his fists together, his body erupted in earthen torrent, with dozens of pillars striking out form behind him, rising up and turning into hand-like objects as they dove towards his target: Second Prince Irey.

Second Prince, on the other hand, stepped slightly back with his feet, but appeared a hundred meters away, evading the diving hands. He then swung his silver sword, unleashing a barrage of arched lights as they pierced through the space itself to appear just a few meters away from Elynal. The latter, in return, roared lowly as his entire body was suddenly coated in metallic sheen, with arching lights bouncing off from his very skin.

He then sprung his feet forth, causing two pillars of earth to rise from well below, nearly half a mile into the air, and pound him onto his back, pushing him forward towards Irey. He swung with his arm, his gauntlet pushing forth like a sword. Irey bent sideways, in a strange fashion, barely evading the strike as he swung his sword from a downward arc, aiming at Elynal’s ribs.

The latter raised his free arm, deflecting the strike, his gauntlet suddenly seemingly coming to life as pillar after a pillar of earth springing out like trees. They encircled Irey within a blink, startling him, and then dove straight at him. Letting go of his silver sword, both his hands suddenly flashed in brilliant gleam as two golden swords appeared in his arms.

He then began dancing in a precise, yet beautiful, fashion as he fought off incoming pillars. One after another, golden flashes of light blinded the sky as they cut through the earth, rendering it to ashes.

While the two of them fought, Emperor Eylnal and his brother were facing some ways off, with the entire radius of three miles around them being completely clear of other battles. The Emperor wielded a gigantic, two-handed warhammer with brilliant, crimson sheen, while his brother wielded a three meters large stone staff. The staff had cracks all throughout its surface, yet also appeared indestructible.

The two stared at each other for a brief moment before bursting forth in a speed neither Lynne nor Elynal could measure up to. Warhammer and the staff clashed, causing a sonic boom to erupt, shockwave slicing miles on forth, with space around them shredding apart. The two were blown backwards due to the impact, but forcibly stabilized their bodies as they burst at each other yet again. There were no fancy techniques or spells, as the two fought with Laws themselves. Both converted one of their body-enhancing Spell Arts into Origin Laws, causing their bodies to become nearly indestructible, and much stronger than any weapon.

Clash after clash, shockwaves reverberated throughout the battlefield as they were sent flying backwards, blowing through the city buildings and mountains surrounding it before re-engaging into the battle.

Some ways off from them, Emperor’s Guardian – the short, plump man – fought Elynal’s Guardian, Si. The short, plump man wielded flying daggers as he flew about, keeping the distance as one and a hundred daggers flew through the space towards Guardian Si. The latter wielded two, gigantic greatswords, both shimmering in silver hue. He would merely flick a finger and the swords would appear wherever he wanted them to, so the two continued to fight to a standstill.

Lady Fen’er was wielding her short, silver sword, sending crimson arcs of light forth towards a woman seemingly in her early twenties who wielded a massive lance. The woman also wore dragon-knit armor of the highest quality, and could practically ignore Lady Fen’er’s average strikes as she dove through the air in offense. Lady Fen’er’s face was grim, as she spent most of her time glancing at the general battlefield rather than fighting her own battle; she realized at the very start that the woman had no intention of killing her, and was merely there just to tie her up.

The rest of the battlefield was a mess; the city was already brought to ruins, walls of marble stone crushed to a pile of stones, streets buried underneath masses of corpses, with nearly every inch of the city having been completely destroyed. Beneath, tens of thousands still fought, but their fights didn’t matter as much; in the sky, things were still relatively equal, with both sides having come to a stalemate, but it would break soon. Beneath, Elynal’s forces were winning by a slight margin, but what angered – and terrified – her the most, was the youth standing on the raised platform, right next to Median.

Right now, he fought off over four hundred men all on his own, killing nearly every single one of them, and he did it with Chakrams. Lady Fen’er immediately recognized them, and knew this was the youth who knew Divine Arts. Were he to tangle with the fights in the sky, there’s no telling how quickly Emperor’s stalemate would come to an end. She wished to retreat, but could not voice it; the moment she did, the morale of the troops on her side would crumble, and losses would perhaps be even greater.

“You want to go and chat with him?” the woman fighting Lady Fen’er suddenly spoke as she stopped, smiling loftily.

“Who’s gonna play with you if I suddenly disappear? I can’t break your heart.” Lady Fen’er replied in kind.

“Ah, just go if you’re that interested. I was merely told to keep you away, as to not… complicate the situation any further. What he does to you, though, well… that’s something I have nothing to do with.”

“…”

“Go.” the woman pointed her lance at Lynne who still stood calmly, a solitary figure surrounded by corpses. “If you change your mind, I’ll be right here, waiting for you.”

Looking over her shoulder, Lady Fen’er moved towards Lynne and quickly reached him, landing ten or so meters away from him, her silver sword still in her hand. Lynne was slightly startled as he saw her, quickly recognizing the woman that had nearly cost him his life.

“Oi, what do we have here?” he spoke, smiling lightly. “Didn’t think the beautiful demoness would be entangled in this crap.”

“Makes the two of us,” Lady Fen’er answered coldly. “What are you doing here?”

“Standing.”

“…”

“And thinking about some profound questions; like, who was that girl that nearly killed me just a few weeks back? I mean, huh, that’s a really tough one.”

“Why are you protecting him?” Lady Fen’er asked, pointing at the fragile body behind Lynne. “Do you even know what he did?” Lynne’s lofty gaze suddenly turned cold as he looked at her, causing her heart to freeze momentarily and forcing her to back up a few steps. “W-what?!”

“The only thing he did was piss wrong people off,” Lynne said in a cold, indifferent tone. “Seeing as I have tendency to piss people off as well, I felt we were similar souls.”

“… doesn’t matter why you want to save him. Just know that, even if you do manage to take him away today, you’ll be hunted by the forces far beyond your comprehension.”

“Hai, who’s suddenly acting like a nice girl? Shoo, I don’t like bad dogs pretending to be good boys.”

“… I have just one request for you.”

“Oh, so we’re requesting things of each other right now? Didn’t know that.”

“Think of it as me owing you a favor,” Lady Fen’er said. “Don’t intervene with the battles up above. With the way things are, the Emperor will most-likely call for a retreat soon.”

“Why would I dare intervene in the fight of the big guns?” Lynne asked, his face full of confusion.

“… I get it. It’s not like you’ll publicly proclaim you know Divine Arts,” Lady Fen’er chuckled bitterly as she spoke. “All I’m asking is that you hold back today.”

“You’re mistaken,” Lynne said, smiling indifferently. “Divine Arts or whatever, that doesn’t matter. I have little to no interest as to what happens up there. Down here, though, whoever dares come, I’ll slice them open until I can see the shape of their heart.”

“… thank you,” Lady Fen’er said in a low tone, lowering her head slightly. “And I’m… I’m sorry about your friend, Anna.”

“… no need,” Lynne said calmly. “You’ve, just like this man behind me, pissed off many wrong people. Sooner or later… well, you don’t need me to retell you the events of the today. The only exception will be the lack of war, is all.”

“…”

All around battle still raged on; Emperor’s face was growing ever so uglier as he realized they were losing. The reinforcements wouldn’t arrive for at least a day, and by then, most – if not all – of his men would have died, perhaps he himself included. Just as he was about to call for a retreat, he spotted a flying ship descending from the sky and the figure standing atop its bow, and his distorted face relaxed and calmed.

Lynne suddenly felt his blood churn and boil, and he had to do his best to suppress it. Alarmed, he looked around, but couldn’t see anything; as if told, he looked up to the sky and saw the flying ship flying towards him slowly, with a beautiful woman of pale skin and long hair standing on its bow. Her eyes looked at him with complex emotions, yet her expression remained indifferent. Lynne felt slight resonance, as if his blood was calling for hers, as if they were a part of the same source. Without anyone telling him, he immediately knew, and was swarmed with mass of emotions he wasn’t prepared to deal with.

“Mother…”