(Zai's POV)
After splitting up, Valin and I headed toward the Castle. Our first mission was to make our presence known. As soon as we reached the troops surrounding the Palace, Valin flicked his wrist, creating a series of lightning rods in their midst.
"Halt! No one is to enter the Palace right now!" the one in charge yelled. After a second, his eyes grew wide, like he recognized me.
"Oh... but I have an invitation. Let me show you," I said, raising my hand and summoning down large columns of lightning.
Valin threw up a wall of earth to block any stray bolts from hitting him as the soldiers in front of me screamed. I caused the ground beneath their feet to ripple, bouncing them all into the air. That way, they took on the full brunt of my electricity. Not one was swift enough to escape. It carved a path straight through the army to the castle gate, leaving behind a lovely black road of charred earth. I was almost falling over with laughter—this was the first time in so long I didn't need to restrain myself. It felt nice.
Once the thundering stopped, Valin lowered his protective wall and created two invisible barriers at the edge of my road, pinning any stragglers who got too close and blocking incoming elemental attacks. That was his way of reducing casualties—because if they got into range, I'd be the one handling it.
We entered the Palace together. Inside, it was empty… but also falling apart. I didn't expect it to be this badly damaged. I'm surprised it's still standing.
"Is he nearby?" I asked after noticing Valin already kneeling, touching the floor with his eyes closed.
"He's… about a mile away. He just turned around and started heading this way."
Of course he did. He can't ignore that I'm back. Even if he wants to...
(Insinz's POV)
I stood a few blocks from the Palace, shocked by the carnage Zai had inflicted. Has he ever heard of overkill?? Regardless, I'm sure that's enough to get Vetro out of hiding.
"He's getting closer," Tana's voice whispered.
I looked at her clone and saw fear in her eyes. She was even sweating… I didn't realize clones could be that expressive. Maybe it's because there's only one, and Tana isn't too far away.
"There's no need for you to worry," I whispered back, stroking her head. Then I caught myself staring at her lips and pulled away. This must be what Tana went through... I admit it's a weird feeling. Maybe I should stop teasing her so much when my clones fluster her. It was nice getting all the memories from my clone when she returned, but… I would've preferred to be there in person! I missed out! Damn it!
"There you are... Tana..." Vetro's voice made my skin crawl. Raijian immediately drew his swords and got into a stance, ready to face the king. Vetro was still wearing his royal robe, though it was in tatters from our ongoing battles.
"I see you brought Zai and my useless son back… did you think that would do you any good? Stop acting foolish and just come back to me. All you have to do is have one abortion, and I'll forgive you. I miss you... I know you feel it too."
Tana flinched, then stepped behind me.
"I realize I can't stand being away from you... So let's end this game now, hm?" He reasoned.
"She doesn't want to talk to you," I said calmly, pulling out a weapon and summoning five clones to join us.
Raijian charged in first, swinging his emerald blade at his father's neck. Vetro leaned back and dodged, summoning a stone pillar beneath Raijian that struck him in the chest and launched him ten feet into the air. Raijian extended his wings to reduce the fall damage, while one of my clones rushed in—but Vetro sidestepped. Even when several of the clones attacked all at once, he moved out of the way, as if he had no bones.
"I'm bored," he muttered, stomping his foot. The ripple in the Earth dissipated all of my clones. I looked down and noticed—Purifying minerals, charcoal and gray crystal sand—spread out beneath his feet, eating away at my lingering poison and destabilizing my clones.
Now that he'd recovered, Raijian launched fire from above. Vetro raised a hand casually, catching the flames as if they were nothing, and I used this distraction to rush in with my acid sword, slashing his waist. He grunted but kept absorbing fire with one hand and countered with the other by creating a blade and jabbing at me. I jumped back, grazed slightly across the nose. His blade was poisonous—but luckily, I'm immune. It only revitalized me.
"Now!" I shouted.
That's when Nelly's clone charged in and extended his hands toward Vetro. Rytem screamed through nearby clones of Nelly and Cera, channeling his chaotic sound attack directly at Vetro. The shockwave launched him yards away.
"Let's go," I said, grabbing Tana's hand and leading her down the path Zai and Valin carved for us.
"Bastards! I'll kill you! All of you!" Vetro screamed as he wrote a symbol in the air. He paused… then rewrote it three more times, screamed "Shit!" and started chasing after us. That must've been the detonation rune—for the crystals he embedded in our necks. Good thing I removed all of them earlier.
Once inside, Nelly's group ran east while mine ran west and met up with Zai's team. Predictably, Vetro came after us first because we had Tana's clone, but Cera froze his feet, making him stumble. He turned to strike Cera but was stopped by a ball of sand, redirecting his attention to Valin.
"Fine…" Vetro muttered, holding his hands together and creating a copy of himself. The clone charged after Nelly's group while he came for us, Valin merged with our flank.
We let him catch up. As soon as he entered range, Valin hit him with concentrated gravity, slamming him face-first into the stone floor. It was honestly amusing watching him struggle to get up.
We left him behind and entered the throne room. Once we were in, Valin merged into the floor, lifting the gravity off Vetro. Only I, Zai, Raijian, and Tana's clone remained.
Vetro burst in, huffing. The damage he took was gone, but he was clearly low on stamina.
"Are you done running?! Finally?" he bellowed, pulling a massive black zweihänder from the ground.
"How about a one-on-one fight now?" Zai offered, drawing his dagger and motioning for the rest of us to step back.
"Looks like one of you has some honor," Vetro replied, straightening his stance. His gaze drifted to Tana. "You could at least talk to me," he mumbled, voice brittle and low.A sharp crack split the air and instantaneously, his jaw detached cleanly from his face. Zai hadn't moved—or so it seemed. He stood in the same spot as earlier, twenty feet away, flicking blood from his blade.
"Now's not the time for flirting!" he shouted with a wide grin.
Vetro grabbed his jaw, struggling to reattach it through the blood pouring from his face like a faucet.
Zai's… gotten faster…
(Snowe's POV)
"How about instead of forcing me to kill all ten thousand of you," Markis offered, "I just challenge your general? If I win, you move your troops to Ocina—the next town over. Sound fair?"
The general pondered his offer, stroking his chin.
"I feel like I'm being reasonable. I won't kill you in this duel, but if you turn me down, I'll make sure to cause as many casualties as possible. You're the commanding officer—your decision could destroy so many lives. Do you think they'll respect you after watching their comrades die because of you?" Markis reasoned.
After a tense pause, the general lowered his hand and opened the gate to his fortress.
It looked like he agreed.
Tana and I stayed on guard just in case. All soldiers stood 1,000 feet away, hands at their sides. Their leader waited in the center.
Markis didn't draw his dagger but assumed a fighting stance.
"Let's make this quick!" the general shouted, attacking first. He pulled water from the air and the ground and launched it at Markis. It hit him—and instantly evaporated into steam.
Then I lost sight of him.
A pillar of fire exploded in front of the general, who reacted instinctively, attacking the flame, only to freeze when a dagger pressed against his neck from behind.
Markis stood there, behind the general's back, calm.
"Should we stop here, or keep going?"
The steam had already scalded the general's arms and face. Markis pushed the blade closer.
"…I concede," the general muttered.
"Good boy," Markis replied, sheathing his weapon and returning to us with a satisfied smile. I'm amazed and so glad he decided to join us.