Edited by: 1Jayds

Let’s rewind a little, to the point where the two teams are about to engage. As the two groups of vanguards charge towards each other, Ymil had stayed behind to take care of business over on his end. Not only was he supposed to help erect the Grounding field, he also had other duties to attend to.

Be careful, guys! He said through his inner voice. We don’t know how Alex and Kyra will react to only facing two vanguards.

Don’t worry! said Ragnar in reply. Leave those two to me. I’m putting my life in your hands here.

Oh please, I’ve been holding it in my the palm of my hands since the moment we started this.

Touché. Ragnar took a look at his bracelet and said to his Djinn. “Think we should fuse?”

The Djinn did not hesitate. “Yes!” And he immediately turned into the green orb of light and floated in the palm of Ragnar’s hand. The orb was so small that only Ragnar could see it. Ragnar understood all too well that fighting two on one would be suicidal without the Djinn’s help so he took the ball and pushed it into his stomach.

Moments later Theo and Ragnar began to engage their opponents. Theo was already bashing shields with Anne and was able to quickly match her movements. His grey-green shield looked like a tortoise shell and was made specifically to ward of metal. Luckily for him, Anne’s shield was made of steel.

Things went rather smoothly on Rangar’s side as well. Not only was he able to land the first blow, he also managed to send Alex flying. Talk about good luck! He quickly followed through with the follow up attack, completely forgetting that Kyra was still around, and jumped after the guy. But just before Kyra was able to land a hit, Ragnar was slightly pulled backwards allowing him to adjust and change his position in midair.

Thanks Ymil! said Ragnar using his inner voice and he observed his two opponents. Normally his voice would not reach that far but this time was different, this time they were ‘connected’.

“Well well well,” he said. “Looks like you need a little girl to save your ass. Congratulations Alex, you’ve just lost your manhood.”

“What did you say?!” shouted Alex, his face beat red.

‘Good lord,’ thought Ragnar. ‘He really is a simpleton. Let’s see how far we can push this.’

“Awwww, did I hurt little Alex’s feelings? Would poor Alexandra like to cry?” Ragnar was obviously enjoying himself but that was only an added bonus. The real objective was create a situation where Ragnar had to only fight one of the two enemies in front of him. The other one would have to take care of their ranged attackers, namely Amalia and Rena. If the girls were doing going all out, their Shield should be having some difficulties maintaining their field.

Yes! It seems to have worked! shouted Ragnar in his inner voice. Kyra’s going towards Rena!

Aye! replied Ymil, just make sure to keep Alex occupied. I’ll help Rena out.

At that point both Amalia and Rena started to dish out their ranged attacks. In previous fights they had proven themselves to be much stronger than most people would anticipate and people started to call them the relentless duo. Their attacks never stopped, no matter the problem.

Ragnar really didn’t mind having to fight Alex. Heck, it was the highlight of the day for him. He really wanted to kick this snobby bastard’s ass.

*************************************

Ymil was carefully observing the field as the fight was going on. Amalia’s side was fairly mild, she was amassing a lot of magical power around her but only sent out a few every now and then towards the enemy’s forcefield. The number of orbs around her steadily increase as she was chanting non-stop.

The other side of the field was much more spectacular to see. Rena was dishing out a non-stop barrage of terrifying whip-lashes at a speed that an untrained eye could not see. The team had decided that Rena should provide the initial pressure on the shield in order to lure our Kyra. It looked like it was working.

Kyra is hiding behind the rock closest to me! said Ragnar towards Ymil and Ymil quickly looked towards the middle. He couldn’t see the girl for himself so he knew that Rena wouldn’t be able to see her either.

Rena, Kyra is behind the rock next to Ragnar. Be careful!

Ayay, capt’n! was her reply and she immediately smashed the rock Kyra was hiding behind. This made Ymil smile a bit.

I want to throw Alex a bit off, communicated Ragnar, can you pull when I tell you to?

Sure, replied Ymil and his focused entirely on Ragnar’s fight. Ragnar ran towards his opponent at full speed and smashed his weapon into Alex’s halberd. Alex’s flew back but he never lost his center of gravity. Nevertheless, Ragnar jumped after him and held his weapon above his head. Alex took the opportunity to ready his spear to thrust it into Ragnar’s defenseless stomach.

NOW!

Ymil reacted as fast as he could. The moment he heard Ragnar’s words he yanked the air in front of him with all his might. Well, not air, actually, his Soul.

You see, Ymil had materialized his Soul as the silver threads that he’d used before and attached them to every member on his team. Not only did that allow them to communicate over long distances, as the threads provided a medium for the thought-messages to go through, it also allowed Ymil to manipulate his teammates whenever it was required. By simply yanking at the string that was attached to Ragnar he was able to pull him out of harm’s way and provide Ragnar with another opening.

Thanks! shouted Ragnar through the line and he continued to engage Alex.

Hey Amalia, how many orbs do you have now? asked Ymil. He wanted to see if they could move on to the next phase of their plan.

Almost done, I’ve gathered 22 orbs for now. I can manage another 6 or so. Although Amalia’s offensive had been slightly lackluster, she’d been stockpiling those magical orbs like there was no tomorrow. Releasing them all at once could result in a catastrophe.

Good, how about you, Theo, how you holding up? The entire plan would be pointless if their Shield was unable to protect them.

Meh, replied Theo. I’m not gaining anything here, but then again, neither is she.

That was good news for them. It was only a matter of time before they could initiate phase 2 of their plan. Ymil was pretty proud of himself to watch the plan work out this smoothly. Considering the current situation, what could still go wrong?

*************************

*KABOOM!*

As the entire fight went according to plan, something unexpected happened. At some point their enemies disengaged from battle and retreated towards their side. Alex then threw a black ball right at Theo and the whole place exploded.

Ragnar, Theo! resounded Ymil’s voice through Ragnar’s head. Can you guys hear me?!

Ragnar shook his head and looked around him. He was standing at the edge of a large crater. All the vegetation had been burned to a crisp and fires were burning everywhere. His ears were ringing non stop and his sight was slightly blurred but it was nothing he couldn’t handle.

Urgh, responded Ragnar, I think I’m alive. What happened?

I can only assume Alex threw a Runic Bomb at us. How’s Theo? My connection to him has been severed.

Ragnar started searching for his yellow haired friend and saw him lying a few meters behind him. The boy was trying to get up. He was putting all of his weight on his shield (right) arm and his left was dangling at the side lifelessly.

Theo, how’re you feeling? asked Ragnar.

Just dandy, replied Theo grumpily. I think my left arm’s been dislocated and my ears are screaming like an overreacting Amalia. I can still maintain the forcefield though.

Now that’s a description I can relate to. Get ready, they’re about to initiate again.

Ragnar got up on both feet and took his blue claymore in both hands. He took on a defensive position and looked at his opponent. As he had guessed, Alex was already charging in. Kyra, although not reacting as quickly, ran towards the disabled. The blast had pushed the Ragnar and Theo so far apart that it was nigh impossible for any normal human to defend his friend and ward of the incoming Alex.

But Ragnar is not any normal human though.

Remember Ragnar, said Ragnar’s Djinn, you’ve only got 30 seconds left!

That’s more than enough!

That’s when Ymil’s voice came through. Amalia and I are on our way, just keep Theo safe until then!

Ragnar nodded and dashed towards Theo as fast as he could. Without their Shield, they would be left open to ranged attacks from the enemy. It was not only a matter of saving his friend, it was a matter of saving all of his friends.

He held his blade behind him and lashed out his blade the moment he arrived at Kyra’s location. The incredible speed combined with the immense power of the blow would have cut through Kyra’s body like a piece of paper if she hadn’t dropped herself to the ground at the last minute. Even she hadn’t predicted that Ragnar could move this quickly.

But Ragnar wasn’t done yet. He quickly followed up his attack by swinging his sword down onto the girl. She rolled to the side and the blade’s impact with the ground made rubble fly in all direction, dust flying up into the air.

10 seconds Ragnar! urged the Djinn.

Slippery slime! Come here! Ragnar was losing his patience as the girl avoided or deflected most of his attacks. As the girl avoided his blow for a 10th time he lost his temper.

“SCREW THIS!” shouted Ragnar and he poured every last ounce of energy into his sword. The air immediately turned frigid.

“HyaaaaaAAAAAAAAAA!”

Ragnar’s hair started to stand up straight, his eyes became dark green. Pulses of green energy emanated from his body, rubble flying up into the sky.

Kyra had no idea what was going on. According to their data Ragnar only had some mediocre magical skills, but this energy, this power emanating from the boy’s body. It was abnormal, this wasn’t the power a human should be able to manage.

Ragnar, what the hell are you doing?! shouted Ymil for even he did not anticipate this turn of events.

But Ragnar didn’t listen. He closed his eyes for a moment and bright blue energy flew out of his hair. His entire concentration went into this one move.

And then he opened his eyes.

*FLASH*

A bright flash of green and blue blinded everyone on the battlefield. The enemy’s ranged attacks stopped for a moment, Amalia and Ymil stopped in their tracks, Rena stopped whipping Anne’s forcefield. Everyone had their eyes closed as that light surprised them all.

And when they opened their eyes again they saw something unreal. The middle of the field had been frozen over. Pillars of ice had sprouted from the ground, large spiky constructs of frozen water shot out in every direction. It looked as though something had exploded, the ice all pointing away from the epicenter. And in this epicenter stood Ragnar, holding his blade with both his hands, staring at his opponents.

*******************************

When the explosion happened Ymil barely had any time to react. The moment he saw the flames erupt near his friends he pulled at their cords as hard as he could. He was able to keep Ragnar out of the blast that way but Theo was not as lucky. Theo was at the center of the explosion and was blasted off meters to the back.

In those few moments Theo had released his forcefield. A large swarm of projectiles broke through to their backlines.

Rena, Amalia, take cover! he shouted.

The immediately understood what kind of situation they were in. Both of them dropped their offensive and hid behind a boulder.

The barrage ended quickly as Theo got back up. ‘Good,’ thought Ymil as he saw the forcefield come back up. Rena, you keep whipping their field. Amalia, you come with me towards the center! Keep those bolts at the ready!

What was that? asked Amalia as she ran towards the middle.

I can only assume it was some kind of runic device, a bomb, probably.

How low can you go?! scowled Amalia. She knew how powerful runic devices were but they were also super expensive. Did Alex really want to win that badly?

Alex is a slime, we already established that. Ymil was running as fast as he could but even he knew that he was unlikely to arrive in time.

There’s a difference between a slime and a… What on earth is Ragnar doing? Amalia’s message was cut off as she noticed the strange aura emanating from Ragnar.

Ragnar, what the hell are you doing?! Ymil was close enough to use the open channel again. Since when did Ragnar pack this much energy?

And that when it happened.

*FLASH*

Ymil stopped running as he was blinded by the light Ragnar had just emitted. When he reopened them he saw Ragnar standing in the middle of a sea of ice, an explosion of frozen particles with Ragnar as the epicenter.

Ymil had no idea what was going on but he continued to dash forward.

Amalia, keep running! he shouted at the immobilized girl.

He carefully observed the state of the field and saw that both Anne and Kyra were enveloped in ice. Both girls were stuck in the ice up to the waist and had no of breaking out.

He saw Ragnar move towards Kyra and pressed the blade at her throat. ‘What on earth is he doing?! What do you gain from threatening your opponent like that?’ thought Ymil but then he realized what was going on.

Alex was standing next to Theo and was aiming his halberd at Theo’s neck. If he took Theo’s head it would be checkmate.

**********************************

“Let Theo go and I might let your girlfriend here live!” shouted Ragnar as he pressed his sword to Kyra’s neck. Her arms and legs were all encased in ice, she couldn’t move anything but her mouth.

“Are you sure that’s a fair trade?” asked Alex and he kicked Theo to the ground. “She’s just a vanguard, this is your Shield. Everyone knows that a team is finished without their Shield.”

Ragnar knew that off course, the trade was not exactly fair but he couldn’t help it. He looked at the other girl encased in his ice but she was too far back for him to use her as a bargaining tool. She was still able to move her arms and would just try to fend him off long enough for Alex to knock out Theo and come to her aid.

“Like I said!” shouted Ragnar again. “Let him go or she becomes a head shorter.”

“Don’t listen to him!” shouted Kyra, “he’s a pussy, do what we were paid to do, kill the Katharos kid!”

Wait a minute, paid to do? Did Ragnar hear that right? Someone paid them to kill of Theo?

“As if I care about money,” said Alex nonchalantly. “I just want to see Ragnar’s tortured face for a while. We both know I’ll end up killing him anyways.”

“Why you!” started Ragnar but then he saw Amalia and Ymil coming up from behind.

Ymil, what do we do? he asked desperately.

Keep him busy for a while longer, answered Ymil. The moment Amalia’s in range she’ll blast him with all she’s got.

Roger!

“So Alex, you’d rather be paid than get laid? That’s rather sad, man!” taunted Ragnar and he moved his sword a bit.

“Aïe,” said Alex without any sign of anger. “Why on earth would I want to get laid by ‘that’?”

“What the?!” Kyra was obviously not happy with that response. “Do you really think your ‘boyish’ charms will get you in anyone’s pants?!”

“Oh shut up, you know you dig it,” answered Alex. He was getting slightly annoyed here. “But that’s not the point! I want to see Ragnar beg! Ragnar, go on your knees and I might let him live.”

Amalia, duo blasts, fire!

Ayay, capt’n!

Amalia stopped in her tracks and released her orbs all at once.

“Fierum Didymo!”

It was a spell she that she’d been working on by herself. An orb of crackling electrical and burning energy sizzled through the air, right at Alex’s smug face. The heat emanating from this orb was intense and anyone caught unaware would be burned to a crisp.

“Ha, did you really think we didn’t notice?!” shouted Alex and he turned around to face the incoming ball of flames. Off course Kyra had noticed the incoming aid and she’d warned Alex of the fire coming his direction. She didn’t recognize the spell though.

Alex took his weapon in his hands and swatted the big orb of flaming electricity away as if it were nothing. The problem with such a huge ball of energy is that it was very easy to fend off.

“See? Easy, peas-.... Holy shit!” started Alex but was interrupted as a second orb became visible.

The problem was that most people grow overconfident after deflecting such a large attack and leave an opening in their defence for a short moment. Alex, being as confident as he is, was no exception to this. This was key to the concept of the Duo Blast, a spell Ymil and Amalia had thought of together.

*BAM*

Alex wasn’t able to deflect the second orb completely and he took it magical bolt in the shoulder.

“Raaaaah!” The impact made him fly backwards and he completely lost his balance. He knew that he’d lost the advantage but he wasn’t going to give up. He saw that Ymil was still too far away from Theo to protect the guy and realized that Ragnar was coming in his direction. He knew that he had only one shot at this and took his weapon in both hands. He focussed on his target and threw his halberd as hard as he could.

The weapon flew through the air, soundlessly searching for its target. It was only when Alex fell to the ground that it reached its destination. Ymil slowed down and Ragnar stopped altogether. Amalia couldn’t help but blink a few more times as she saw what had happened.

Theo was sitting upright, his eyes peeled open. He could feel liquids flowing over his skin, his entire lower body getting soaked. Unable to feel the pain at first, Theo reached for his stomach only to find his fingers stained red. That’s when the pain started to kick in. His entire body felt as if it were on fire, his breathing becoming irregular and tears started to flow out his eyes. His mind went into a frenzy, thinking of all things that could have been, that would not be and everything else. And then his mind went dark, his consciousness faded, his thoughts up in smoke.

Alex’s weapon was sticking out of Theo’s back, piercing his entire body. His life’s blood was dripping down its blade, trickling into the large pool of bodily fluids that had escaped Theo’s body.