The clashing of blades spoke out for the very silent battle happening in the streets of Muldingirmus. Varis the black knight seemed evenly matched against the stoic Kadal with the gothic Vespa proving to serve little more than a distraction. Kadal barely gave Vespa a glance as he focused his sword on Varis, something that clearly was irking Vespa more and more. Still, the two of them were clearly unable to land a clean hit on the Planetary Star so they retreated to rethink their plan.
"H-He's strong." Vespa admitted, "Stronger than I even imagined."
"Hm?" Kadal scratched his head, puzzled, "I could've sworn I never actually fought any of you rebels since I took this position. Kajou handled everything pretty well by herself. I was under the impression that none of you knew who any of the other Planetary Stars were. And yet you said that I do not know you and you do not know me. What's your deal, scrawny one?"
"Everything I said...was true." Vespa replied, "Every word of it. But the story...you will need to prove you're worthy of hearing it."
"Worthy?" Kadal scoffed, "Buddy, you're way out of your league. I don't know what your deal is but I KNOW I can beat you AND that black knight there. What could you possibly do?"
"I know I can't beat you on my own. That's why I'm not alone."
Black magic began to rise from Vespa's body as they slowly began to take shape into a fearsome form.
"I know I can't beat you without this. That's why I'm glad you're here with me." Vespa said, turning to look at Varis, "I know that you can stop me if it ever goes out of control. So please wait here for a moment as I take down that man."
Varis' helmeted face offered no look into his thoughts but he nodded all the same and relaxed his stance.
"Thank you." Vespa stepped forward as his magic took form into a pitch dark dragon, "Now...it's time for you to serve your purpose...Aldeztroi."
"Hmmmm..." Kadal studied the destructive monster with only a hint of interest, "A memetic magical entity? I've only heard of these kind of things from those hoity toity wizard types. Did you ever visit Magus Alterna?"
"This dragon invaded my mind without my consent." Vespa scowled, "But if it'll help me defeat you, I'll give them my body and soul if I have to.
"You really seem to hate me. Shame I don't know who you are." Kadal shrugged.
"Aldeztroi!"
At Vespa's command, the dragon roared and charged towards Kadal. Kadal drew his sword back and lunged head first at the dragon. The black dragon breathed a cone of black flames at the flying knight. Kadal suddenly seemed to jump in midair as he dodged over the dragon's breath attack and soared over the head of the monster. Kadal swung his sword down at Aldeztroi, slamming the large dragon into the ground, quaking the earth with it's impact. The dragon didn't seemed to be damaged much from this strike though it did seem stunned for a few seconds. And in those seconds, Vespa was charging towards Kadal, sword ready to strike him in midair from behind. But with a snap of his fingers, Kadal slashed Vespa away from him without even turning around.
"What's going on?" Vespa scowled as he landed back on the ground, "It almost like he's at two places at once. What kind of swordstyle is he using?"
"Swordstyle?" Kadal scoffed, "I'll have you know, I'm not a stuffy little practitioner like Kajou."
"Not a swordstyle?" Vespa frowned, "Then what are you using?" "Must I spell it out for you?" Kadal shook his head, disappointed, "It's magic. Pure and simple magic."
"You're...casting projections?" Vespa's eyes narrowed in understanding.
"Now you're getting it." Kadal smirked as he snapped his fingers and six different copies of him struck out from around him into the empty air, "I don't follow the rules of any swordstyle. I don't speak out the names of my techniques like a fool. My magic is powerful but silent."
"A magic swordsman." Vespa scowled, "That mastered silent casting huh?"
"And now you've finally caught up with the rest of the class." Kadal smirked.
Aldeztroi suddenly reared up, having shook off it's stunned state and opened it's maw wide to try and bit onto Kadal's legs. With a snap of his fingers, Kadal widened the projected platform he was standing on to catch onto the dragon's jaw, keeping this monster's jaw stuck open. The dragon thrashed against this platform of light, unable to break it with teeth or claw, unable to unstuck itself, unable to even move as the proud dragon was just left hanging there like a fish on a hook. Enraged, Aldeztroi began to breath it's black flame breath up at Kadal only for it to split apart as it hit the platform the Planetary Star was standing on. Kadal did not even flinch at a single thing the dragon was attempting. Instead, he looked past blazing black flames at Vespa and spoke,
"Your dragon is a farce, rebel. So small, so weak. A pale imitation of the real monster. It doesn't even have the right breath weapon. Killing something like this wouldn't award anyone the coveted title of 'Dragon Slayer'."
And with another snap of his fingers, five Kadals appeared around the dragon's neck, all of them slashing into the armored beast before disappearing after an instant. The dragon's flames stopped, it's eyes grew lifeless and it's head, still stuck to the platform, began to separate from the rest of it's body, the body slamming into the ground before both it and the decapitated head dissipated like an illusion.
"Do you understand now, rebel?" Kadal said, boredom coming clearly through his tone.
Vespa looked down...and chuckled, "You're everything I thought you'd be. But I still...won't lose."
"You've got grit if nothing else." Kadal said, lowering his platform for him to stand back on solid ground, "But I don't see how you're going to win all alone."
"I'm not alone." Vespa said.
Dark magic rose from Vespa's body again and the black dragon Aldeztroi reformed behind it's host. Without waiting another second, the two charged at Kadal again, roaring with a rage that the Planetary Star still could not understand.
"I wasn't talking about you two though." He muttered as he took up his sword again.
The fight against Kadal was not going well. Vespa seemed to have some sort of grudge against Kadal but as powerful as that dragon was, it was clear Kadal was stronger than they were. Though if he was stronger than Varis, Corissa still had her doubts. She had never seen Varis lose after all. But it was clear Varis wasn't going to intercede in their fight, at least without someone ordering him to. Corissa was worried about Vespa and part of her wanted to tell Varis to help out but it seemed like one of those things they needed to work out on his own. Of course, she also wanted to help but it was obviously too dangerous for her to help out. Kadal was still an experienced swordsman even if Corissa could negate his magic. And Varis wouldn't possibly let her endanger herself without good reason. From the looks of things, her contributions wouldn't amount to much either. She might be able to seal off Kadal's magic but that'd only make her a target. The only thing she could do...was step in when things were looking bad for Kadal and force Varis to step in as well.
"Is there nothing else I can do?" Corissa bit her lip, "I still...can't do anything..."
This rebel and his dragon were more coordinated now. Which was not a surprise. When two beings have such a symbiotic relationship like that, it'd be hard to not coordinate in times of stress. Not that this man seemed to notice. He just kept swinging his sword, trying to corner Kadal as best he could. And Kadal continued to barely put up an effort. He could easily dispatch this rebel. But this man was clearly overwhelmed by emotion. And Kadal couldn't remember ever forming any grudges that would drive a man to host a false dragon as an memetic entity. Kadal was putting more effort in trying to place this man than he was in the fight. But his struggles were drawing blanks and he was getting tired of remembering.
"Forget it." Kadal sighed, "I'll just kill you."
Aldeztroi was behind Kadal, jaws open to try and bite him again. Without even looking, Kadal summoned a projection of himself to slash at the dragon's throat again, failing to sever it like he did before but it was enough to repel it long enough for him to focus on Vespa. The rebel lunged with his arm outstretched, pulling his sword back to jab at him. Kadal summoned a projection of himself to hold Vespa's sword arm back at the moment he was going to strike, moving his own sword back to slice in the opening he'd made. But Vespa didn't stop. He continued forward, dragging Kadal's projection forward with him as he grabbed the real Kadal by the throat. Taken off guard, Kadal grabbed onto Vespa's arm as he struggled to break out of the thin man's grip. Then came Vespa's sword. With his prey in place, Vespa stabbed his sword forward, right at Kadal's face. But the sword came into contact with a projected barrier, bouncing off it's surface not far from Kadal's head. With the rebel's sword falling off to the side, Kadal moved to free himself, sliding his sword under Vespa's arm. That was when he heard the sound of fire. Turning his head around, he found Aldeztroi readying a breath attack from behind him...and right in front of Vespa. And then the black fire came bursting out, engulfing the two humans in scorching dark flames. The dragon continued breathing this flame for a worryingly long time. There was no sign of either of the two within the flames until the dragon started to stop it's breath weapon. And that's when Kadal appeared from seemingly nowhere, alive but slightly singed.
"That madman!" Kadal gasped, "He's willing to sacrifice himself to get to me?!"
Indeed there was no sign that Vespa survived until the flames died away and the Earthbound rebel was found standing there, seemingly untouched by the flames as he looked down at himself equally confused at his survival in the face of a dragon's flames.
"Your sync rate's gone up?" Kadal growled, "You and the dragon are becoming one."
Vespa looked at his arm that had held onto Kadal with inordinate strength. There was a cut where Kadal had slashed himself free from his grip but the attack that should've taken his thin arm only cut an opening in his clothes and the arm underneath seemed to reflect something akin to scales over his skin.
"You're giving yourself over to the dragon." Kadal sighed, "Assimilating some aspects of the dragon onto yourself. That's how you're coordinating better now. But...the dragon will take over your body if you go too far."
"...I don't care." Vespa said as he turned to face Kadal again, "Not so long as I defeat you."
"Look, in the end of the day, I don't really care why you want to kill me." Kadal scowled, "But the less you tell me, the more I want to know. What's your deal?!"
Vespa didn't answer, pushing his tired body forward to advance on his nemesis.
"Fine, if you won't tell me then you can just die with your secrets."
Kadal snapped his fingers and summoned six projections around Vespa. All of them slashed at Vespa at the same time, the poor man barely able to deflect one before the rest slashed into his body. Like before, the cuts couldn't pierce his new scales but just as this collection of projections disappeared, a new set of them reappeared, right in the same positions and with their swords already drawn back. With his arms still recoiling, there was nothing Vespa could do as the blades converged towards his skinny body.
"Sanctuary."
A white magical seal expanded out to surround Vespa and dissipate the projections the instant before the blades could cut into his body. Even Aldeztroi disappeared as the circle moved to surround it as well as Corissa came walking right into the battlefield to grab Vespa by the shoulders.
"You're not a dragon!" Corissa cried, "You're human! You can't just give up your life so easily! If something is wrong then tell us! We can help! That's what we're here for!"
Vespa stared, stunned at the angry princess. And when his eyes began to wander downward, he turned his head away.
"You'll help me?"
"Of course!" Corissa nodded enthusiastically, "You don't need to become a dragon!"
"Even without knowing why?"
"If you don't want to share, we won't ask." Corissa nodded.
"...I..."
Vespa sighed and stepped back, Corissa letting go of his shoulders as he readied himself.
"...I used to have this friend."
"Congrats."
"Kadal, don't be rude." Corissa said sternly, not even turning to look at him but the strictness in her voice was enough to silence the sardonic Planetary Star from any further sarcastic remarks.
"She was the strongest person I knew. We traveled together for a while and we learned a lot about each other. I learned that despite how strong she was, she was actually bullied by someone even stronger when she was young."
"Wait..." Kadal frowned, "You don't mean-"
"It was you!" Vespa shouted accusatorily at Kadal, "You were Felis' bully!"
"I don't know who that is." Kadal replied, "I mean, I bullied someone when I was young but you can't expect me to remember her name."
"You are exactly like what she said you were like." Vespa scowled, "You always proclaimed you were going to be a hero to everyone's faces. So Felis decided she was going to become an even better hero than you. She hated you but despite that, she still saw you her best rival. She had an unexplainable respect for you. I will never understand it. But she always wanted to surpass you one day. She kept a close eye on your many exploits. Using them to measure herself against you. But then Sirius attacked her homeland."
"You mean..." Corissa gasped.
"Yes." Vespa nodded, "Felis' homeland was Mulapin. Though she lived away from it for a long time for her combat classes. When she heard Mulapin was being taken over by Sirius, she did her best to rush back to her home. But then she heard you were arriving there. And she felt confident you were going to help, hero that you were." Vespa said that last part with a bitter resentment, "But then she learned that you in fact sided with Sirius and in fact helped him take over her home. She was dismayed. Despite everything, she thought you would live up to your claims of being a hero. But you betrayed her in the worst way. We were traveling back to Mulapin to confront you and Sirius when her still fresh despair left her vulnerable during a routine mission. And she perished."
"...And that's my fault?"
"You killed Felis!"
"Bro, I didn't even know her name." Kadal scoffed, "I didn't know she was keeping an eye on me and I didn't know this was her hometown. This was just another job."
"What happened to becoming a hero?!"
"Kids grow up." Kadal replied simply, "Being a hero is a harsh job. Adoration is cool and all but I still need to pay bills and stuff. And Sirius was just offering the biggest check."
"Any person could see that Sirius was wrong! What happened to your morality?"
"Morality doesn't pay the bills you clown." Kadal rolled his eyes, "Grow up."
"Do you even still want to be a hero?!"
"Do I want it? Yeah. But there's more than one way to be a hero. You know, I'm like a hero to the people of Muldingirmus."
"Deplorable." Vespa growled, "No sense of right or wrong at all."
"Now hold on, Vespa." Corissa said levelly, "Kadal, do you have a family?"
"None that I keep in touch with." Kadal scoffed.
"Alright, he's trash." Corissa nodded.
"What?! Oh come on, you can't expect me to take responsibility for what OTHER people thought of me!"
"I'm not asking you to take responsibility." Vespa answered, "I know Felis' thinking towards you was flawed. It was a way for her to better herself after everything you did to her. But even if her expectations were misguided, her actions were not. So if she could not make it to confront you and defend her city, then it falls on me to fulfill her will!"
"All that bluster yet you arrived at this city months ago. Why didn't you seek me out? Why did you waste away in that rebel base for forever? It's because you knew you were too weak. That you could not fulfill your dead friend's wishes and you never will!"
Vespa gritted his teeth, his fangs turning a bit more draconic as he glared at the arrogant rival in front of him. Corissa turned and picked Vespa's hand up in hers as she looked him in the eyes,
"Vespa. You've done well carrying your friend's wishes this far." Corissa nodded, "Now, let us take on that burden with you."
Vespa could hardly bring himself to respond. But Corissa simply nodded in a knowing way and placed down Vespa's hands.
"Varis?"
The princess' black knight strode into view, eyes trained on Kadal as he stood in-between him and Corissa.
"From his friend to Vespa to me and now to you." Corissa raised her hand and gave Varis a high five, "As your princess, I order you: Give him hell!"
Varis nodded before turning around and placing a hand on Corissa's head.
"I know, go to safety right?" Corissa grinned, "I'm counting on you!"
As his princess ran off to hide in the alleys between houses, Varis turned back to Kadal and pointed his blade at him.
"Women are such unreasonable irrational creatures." Kadal sighed.
Kadal knew the knight was the more dangerous one of the group. But he wasn't sure by how much. And now it was clear.
"No no no!" Kadal gritted his teeth as he retreated.
Every projection he formed to attack Varis was immediately smited with a bolt of lightning. Without even looking at it, the lightning just leaped off his armor and punctured his clones with relative ease. And Varis was still advancing on him, walking towards him with confident bravado. His eyes never left Kadal so how was he firing off those bolts in his blind spots? It was almost as if the armor-
In his musings, Varis had lunged the rest of the distance at Kadal, sword aimed at his throat. Kadal summoned two clone projections to knock Varis' sword upwards, hoping to disarm him but all he managed was to force the attack to miss. His clones were then dealt with another blast of lightning and even when he immediately summoned a new clone in the same positions to attack, they were immediately dealt with by another blast. In his attempts, Kadal didn't notice Varis' free arm coming up towards his torso. And it was in a split second that Kadal got that bad feeling he knew all too well was coming. He barely managed to summon a clone to wrap around his waist and throw him away before the clone itself was consumed by a torrent of flames that blasted down the street they were in, blasting a hole in the store several meters away from them.
"That's some crazy power, hey!" Kadal shouted as he landed on a platform he projected, "This is insane..."
The height he had gained had offered Kadal some form of security. Some time to breathe. Or so he thought. Varis, eyeing the Planetary Star in the sky, jumped the enormous distance upwards til he was raising his sword up to slash down at the false hero.
"You're kidding!" Kadal raised his sword and blocked Varis' attack, the black knight's strength pinning him to his knees. But he didn't need to move to launch a counterattack.
"Projection!"
Using the castphrase let his spell come out faster, stronger and in more detail. Two such projections appeared besides Varis' arm and slashed in between the gaps in Varis' armor. A pinpoint attack that would have lopped off the arm of any lesser opponent. But his blades seemed to just pass through the armor with no effect. As if there wasn't even an arm there. And that arm continued to push down on him as if there was nothing there to begin with.
"W-What?!" Kadal growled, "What...ARE you?!"
Summoning two more clones to join him, Kadal managed to pushed Varis away from him, deflecting back into the air where he began to plummet.
"Ha! Can't fly can you!"
Kadal's gloating was cut short when Varis wound his free arm around his body and threw it back towards the ground, firing off a big explosion that blasted his body back up at Kadal. The poor Planetary Star could only get out a short curse before Varis began spinning throwing his body further up before he lashed out with his leg in a sharp downward kick. Kadal brought his sword back up in defense as he caught the knight's attack with his blade. A blade that should've sunk deep into his ankle but instead there was no blood, no cut that that was made. Instead, it was lodged between the armored shoe and shinguard, lodged deep where the shin be but instead there was nothing. And just when Kadal was starting to piece things together, he saw fire climbing up the empty leg before it exploded in front of Kadal. The enormous fireball consumed the two of them as well as the platform as Kadal fell from the lofty heights he had escaped to and landed on the ground in a nasty crash.
But Kadal pushed himself back up. Arms unsteady and charred and burnt in some places but he still had enough strength to continue the fight. Meanwhile, Varis landed back onto the ground, looking none the worse for wear. It was his spell after all. And now it seemed like he was approaching to finish the job. But Kadal wasn't quite down yet. He hadn't used up all his tricks. He stabbed his sword into the ground and used it to push himself up.
"You...freak… What is that armor? Is that even your magic? It's on the level of demons. All this power...do you even pay a price? Or have you already paid that price?"
Varis stopped, not far from Kadal but his questions hung in the air, implied accusations that held him back. It was the most effective defense Kadal had mustered and the recovering Planetary Star was starting to gear up for something big as his mana seemed to surge around him.
"I've got one last trick up my sleeve." Kadal said as he finally pushed himself straight up again, "You ready for it?"
Varis didn't answer. He didn't need to.
"Good." Kadal gripped his sword with one hand, "Then bear witness to my most powerful technique. Scattered Ray Distortion."
Kadal drew his sword from the ground and light began pouring out from the hole where it was drawn. And from the light escaped dozens if not hundreds of clones. All armed, all looking exactly like Kadal. These perfect clones circled around Varis, flying in a large sphere, surrounding the black knight with a near biblical amount of clones.
"Let's see you try and find me among these hundreds of me."
With those as his last words, Kadal jumped back, disappearing as several other clones floated around in front of him, disappearing into the mass of similar faces before the clones began diving in to attack Varis from all directions. Varis let out a large burst of electricity, vaporizing the first wave of clones but more continued to stream out of the light in the ground, but even those in the air seem to split off into more clones like some strange sort of mitosis. And when Varis' lightning disappeared, the clones rushed back in to slash at him. With no other choice, Varis blocked as best he could, trying to find some way to find Kadal in the sea of clones. But there were too many and he couldn't keep track of them all. And these clones were starting to coordinate their attacks better and better.
Corissa watched from afar. The mass of clones drew a great amount of worry from her as she watched Varis go on the defensive. But she could help. Her sanctuary could probably dispel all those clones and prevent new ones from appear. She just needed to get in there. So taking a deep breath, she gathered up her courage and began to bravely step out onto the street.
"Phew. Glad I got away from that."
Corissa yelped as Kadal landed on the ground next to her, in the exact opposite direction from the fight. He looked tired and weary and disgruntled. And very much like he was running away. Then the knight noticed Corissa standing there next to him, too stunned to react.
"Hmmm?" Kadal leaned in for a closer look, "You're that Corissa girl that Sirius wants right?"
Kadal's eyes traveled up and down her body scanning her in a vaguely lecherous way before saying, "Damn. Bastard has good taste if nothing else."
"Ummm..." Corissa said though she didn't know what exactly to say in this situation.
"Right then. Can't head back empty handed."
Corissa yelped as Kadal suddenly leaned down and lifted her up over his shoulder.
"W-What are you-"
"Sirius will cut me some slack if I bring you back so shut up and do as I say. With you in my grasp, even that black knight can't do anything to me unless he wants your head on the ground. We're already too far away from him to get to us. Even if he manages to escape the clones."
"Nooooo!" Corissa yelped as Kadal jumped into the air, carrying her away, "Varis, help!"
Through the clashing of steel and his whirling thoughts, Varis heard Corissa's faraway cry for help as clear as crystal. And when he turned to see the Planetary Star escaping with his princess, Varis felt his blood run cold as an indomitable anger took hold of him. With chilling intent, Varis sheathed his sword as he kept his eye on the escaping Kadal. The distance was much to far to cross in one motion and as if in response to his attack, the clones began swarming around in front of him until he lost sight of the real Kadal. But that no longer mattered. All he had to do was close his eyes and he could see their paths crossing once again.
"Varis!"
"Shut up!" Kadal snapped, "If I was more prepared, I'd have defeated your knight already! Next time he won't be so lucky!"
"Varis will beat you!" Corissa cried.
"At this point he can't even save-"
And at this point, time seemed to slow down. Kadal's instinct had picked up something his other senses could not. The slightest foreboding sense of danger. But all his senses and logic could not possibly see where such danger could be coming from and so they dismissed it. Which left him completely open as Varis seemed to emerge out of nowhere, right in front of him. And with blazing fire, he slashed, cutting right into Kadal's chest and through his armor. Kadal coughed up blood and as he began to lose consciousness, Varis simply sheathed his sword again and plucked Corissa from his grasp, carrying her to a soft landing as Kadal slammed back down onto the ground.
"Y-You all okay?!" Vespa cried as he ran up to them.
"Y-Yeah." Corissa answered with a smile that proved that she was indeed fine but also that she didn't know what exactly happened.
"How did you...escape all that...and get in front of Kadal?" Vespa looked back as only now were the clones starting to lose power and disappear.
Varis didn't answer, choosing instead to simply let his princess back down onto the ground.
"I-I'm not sure what happened either." Corissa said, "But...we beat Kadal! We avenged your friend!"
"...He's still alive."
And indeed he was, as even with his grievous injury, Kadal was still drawing breath. The armor had been cut thoroughly through but seemed to have served it's purpose well as the wound was serious but not quite deep enough to require immediate attention. But all that amounted to was extending the period where he needed medical attention from a few minutes to maybe half an hour. A full hour if he was lucky. He could still be saved.
"Do you want him dead?" Corissa asked.
"...My friend..what can I do other than avenge her? What can I do other than destroy?"
"...Can you summon Aldeztroi for me?"
"Huh?" Vespa looked confused.
"Just for a few seconds."
"A-Alright."
Vespa wasn't sure why but she asked so casually and he was so tired that he didn't really have the strength to argue. So he summoned the black dragon from out of nowhere, the monster looking around as if it itself was confused why he was still around. Corissa walked up to it and placed a hand on it's cheek, the false dragon regarding her like a curious pet.
"Holy."
The black dragon of destruction slowly began to disappear. Not just physically either, Vespa felt the force that had settled in his mind, the burden that had latched onto his consciousness, begin to disappear as well. The black dragon was well and truly disappearing and dying. In front of this miracle, Corissa turned back to him with a gentle smile.
"From your friend, to you to me, to Varis. Her wishes have been inherited and fulfilled. So...why don't you let her memory rest...and live the way you want to once again? I'm sure that's what she'd want to."
Vespa didn't understand how or why...but the parasitic meme that had been forced onto him by Magus Alterna was gone. He was free...and he didn't know what to do. All he could think to do was stumble forward and hug Corissa, tears choking his voice as he slowly and quietly sobbed.