SKYFIRE MAGUS (II)

“Alright Liz-boy, it’s your turn!” Lynne said out loud whereas his body flashed suddenly before a tall, scaled lizard-like creature appeared next to him.

“I have an actual name, you know!” the creature complained.

“I know,” Lynne said. “Can’t remember it though.”

“…”

“Just go and fight them while I recover my strength. This weird dude here will help you.”

“Hey, I’m not weird!” Prince Parsia complained.

“Yeah you are.”

“…”

The creature and the Prince dashed forwards, nearly crying tears, while Lynne sat down cross-legged and began recovering Mana. He gave Median a couple of pills, so the latter also sat down in recovery.

The battle still raged on, and with the reinforcement, Emperor’s forces rallied once more. Even the Emperor himself – who hadn’t a clue as to how so many people actually arrived here so quickly – believed it to be a victory, as did Elynal and most others. Yet, they suddenly saw coiling Dragons, each at least a hundred meters long, erupt from a small, distant body of a youth – or rather his weapon.

Each coiling Dragon was a being unto its own and they attacked as separate entities; seven in total, some attacked from front, some from above and some flanked from the sides. Each Dragon was created from a different element, only missing Mind of eight basic ones. The youth himself suddenly shone brilliantly as lightning bolts began dancing around him like serpents, causing his eyes to turn completely silver and his robes to flutter as if roused by massive winds.

The lizard on the other hand grew to several dozen meters in height and took out a massive, butcher-shaped blade, swinging it without rhyme or reason, only empowered by basic strength. As the blade smashed into the ground, it caused it to quake and caused web-like cracks to appear outwardly before they collapsed unto themselves, creating a massive hole. The two immediately forced the advance of the new forces to come to a halt as they pushed them back.

The several dozen newcomers quickly formed into a formation, creating a gigantic, metallic body towering to over two hundred meters into air. The body appeared humanoid, yet had bat-like wings and a horn atop the forehead.

“Oh oh,” the Prince muttered as he retrieved the coiling Dragons, transforming them back into strands atop the handle. “I did not see that one coming.”

“Shit,” even Lynne felt nervousness creep into his heart. He wasn’t well-versed in the massive formations, but could tell this wasn’t a kid’s toy. “I did not see that one coming.”

Just then, he felt two small hands on his shoulder and a slight chill on the other. As he glanced around, he spotted the monkey and the bird standing calmly atop his shoulders.

“Need help?” the monkey asked, smiling widely.

“Hai, not that I’m mocking your size, but I am when I ask how?”

“… not from him,” the bird said. “From me, you idiot.”

“Of cou—you can talk! Wait, you can talk?”

“Yeah, the reason we are late is because the bird took its sweet time evolving again.” the monkey grunted.

“That’s fantastic! Doesn’t help that much, but still fantastic!”

“Here,” the monkey threw him a small herb; when Lynne felt the medical fragrance coming from it, he was forced to take a step back. “Recover your damn Mana, ride that bird and go fight. You’ll figure something out.”

“… you’re as helpful as tomb riders who only keep finding mass graves.”

“…”

“Hey, the whip dude, come,” Lynne said as he immediately swallowed the herb. “Let’s do this bird.”

“What’s up?” the Prince asked as he landed next to Lynne, still looking at the giant before them worryingly.

“Ever felt like downing a massive giant composed of thousands of regularly-sized people?”

“Never thought it’d come up, really.”

“Alright, let’s do it then.”

The bird flashed brightly, transforming into an Ice Phoenix which reached a hundred meters in length, its wingspan towering at twice that number. While the Prince stared with his jaw agape, Lynne pulled him atop the bird’s back as he himself rode on, feeling his Mana rejuvenate at great speed. He almost felt that if he didn’t spend it immediately, he’d implode from inside out.

The bird took to the skies, aiming straight at the giant who had already disturbed the battle in the sky; when Lynne noticed it, he saw Elynal hurling backwards, his right arm completely cut off, and the plump man he called Third Uncle beheaded. Even Guardian Si was injured – albeit lightly – but it was clear that the battle in the sky had taken a completely new turn.

Elynal’s bloodshot eyes stared at his father while he retreated; yet, despite his stubbornness, he realized that he had failed today. He didn’t predict that the reinforcements would be so close, and that they’d could create a formation giant. As his brother’s short blade was closing in on him, Irey’s eyes flashing with viciousness, he gave up and surrendered to the blade. The battle was lost, and his father was many things, but merciful and forgiving wasn’t one of them.

Yet, just as the sword light was about to pierce his skull, a tinge of flame flashed through and deflected it. Then, before him, a massive Phoenix appeared, shimmering brightly cyan, with two people atop of it. Lynne looked at him, a tinge of disappointment in his eyes, causing Elynal to feel deep guilt and look away.

“Hey,” Lynne called out. “How many people do you think died today? Died while fervently battling for your cause? Do you think you can just give up after all that?”

“… what else can we do?” Elynal floated atop the bird; the freezing gale that swept outwardly with each flap of the massive wings kept everyone away for a moment.

“Win,” Lynne smiled. “I’ll hold back your father and that giant,” he then added. “This weirdo here will keep everyone else away. You do your job, the thing you rallied everyone on your side today for.”

“… I want to believe you Lynne, I really do,” Elynal laughed bitterly as he looked at the incoming giant and his father’s stern, murderous eyes. “But you can’t hold them back. No one can.”

“I’ve yet to sweep this battle properly,” Lynne chuckled. “And remind everyone of the existence they seemed to have forgotten. Don’t you think it’s high time Skyfire Magus returned to this world?”

“You-- you were knighted?” Elynal looked at him, surprised.

“Let’s go now,” Lynne pushed him and the Prince Parsia off the bird, looking at them with the eyes of encouragement. “And win this battle.”

“…”

“…”

The two said nothing as they left to face their own battles, while Lynne roused the Phoenix to fly forth, intercepting the Emperor and the giant. The trio had a brief stare-off, their eyes gauging one another, as the battles elsewhere came to the apex. The whole city of Holy Paradise was decimated, not a single building remaining intact and whole, with majority completely buried into the dust and ashes. Countless scars of the battle remained throughout, and even a fool could venture a guess about the battle’s sheer scale.

“I had thought you died,” the Emperor said as he brandished his massive warhammer. “Even Median thought so.”

“Alas…”

“Either you’re the bravest or the most foolish man to stand before me as a mere Master Archmage and expect anything else but death.” the Emperor said, creasing his brows.

“The day I fled Edgemaw, during the Fall, I had made a promise to myself… and to my friends,” Lynne’s eyes grew cold as he stared at the middle-aged man in front of him. “That one day, I’ll end everyone who caused it. I believe today is as good a day to start as any, no?”

“… the most foolish then.”

“Pyre, burn!” Lynne’s body burned like a solitary star atop the sky as he leapt off the bird and hovered into the air. The golden caused all other colors around him to dim, and for him to appear unique. “Reaping,” the scythe flashed behind him, its blade shimmering crimson, slightly vibrating, as if with desire. “Linger, Hope and Life combine!” the scythe enlarged, towering to nearly two hundred meters, causing it to appear like a descending God of Death. The scythe burned in celestial colors, from shaft to blade, blinding all and everything beneath and above. “Death – Paradise Fall.”

The scythe twisted and turned in the sky as the giant and the Emperor attacked. The crimson-shimmering blade blew gales outwards like hurricanes, causing countless tears in the space to appear like vortexes. The sky hummed melody of death, its hue changing by a blink, and the scythe descended in a singular strike. It left behind a trail of massive flames, like waves, which fell from the sky like rain. It clashed against the giant and the Emperor’s warhammer, sending both flying backwards like kites. Yet, Lynne didn’t pause. His Mana was depleted, but his eyes burned with madness.

“AEONIAN FLAMES!!” veins atop his forehead bulged, his muscles tearing as his skin cracked. The golden flame surrounding him turned black and white, causing his hair to turn completely black, with his usual blue flock turning white. “BURN!!”

His body bolted forth like lightning, scythe following his back. He appeared like a massive meteor crashing from the sky, bringing forth everlasting calamity.

“Gift of Infinity!!” he roared as his Mana stilled for a moment before erupting like an ocean.

“Linger, Life, Hope, Death! Linger, Life, Hope, Death!” over and over he roared, black and white flames descending from the sky onto the Emperor and the giant.

The Emperor’s eyes turned to those full of terror – as did everyone’s. Even Thalia and Lady Ella stared in shock, completely aghast, eyes filled with fear and disbelief. The scythe bellowed like an ancient beast, its screeches burning through the eardrums of everyone close by. The Emperor turned to flee, yet could not escape the dooming flames and their harbingers.

One second… two second… over a hundred slashes were lashed out downward, completely eradicating everything within a few mile radius, leaving behind only abyss-like pits in which black and white flames still burned.

“Skyfire!!” Lynne bellowed in a voice that was not his own; his body had already been filled with wounds, his skin torn, bones broken, yet he still didn’t stop. As he roared, all flames surrounding him and the gigantic scythe turned completely white; the land around was drowned in white flames, turning the entire scenery almost heavenly. The beauty of destruction caused a mass of sighs and gasps to erupt.

“DEVOUR!!!”

The giant stepped forth as the tsunami of white flames erupted from Lynne who cast Pyre yet again. Underneath them, all living became obsolete; the flames distinguished neither a friend nor a foe, living or dying, whole or parted. It all burned, yet life seemed to be born anew wherever they passed; as they burned out, the earth beneath was restored, the green of trees rising from the ground at speeds visible to the naked eye, and massive crevices appeared from which rivers flew, filling the massive gashes in earth up, creating a string of lakes. Yet, all that was because the massive giant, composed of thousands of people, was no more. Not even a trace of it could be seen anywhere, as if its entire existence was burned to nothingness, and then restored into the beautiful scenery which encompassed the destroyed Holy Paradise.

Then, both the scythe and the flames disappeared from the sky, leaving behind only the tattered body of the youth; his complexion sank, body fragile to the point of breaking, skin torn throughout, bones nearly melted into liquid… the small body fell from the sky like a bird without wings, straight towards the terrorized Emperor who couldn’t move neither forward nor backwards, as he began believing all this to be a dream.

Lynne fell, unaware, as ghosts of pain devoured him; yet, his throat was burned, and he was unable to scream. Still conscious, he felt every cell in his body burn in its own right. He held the Gift for only three seconds, but because of the scale of Spells he unleashed, the backlash was at least ten times stronger than before. … you better not let me die, you damned monkey…