Marshal says to Xandro:
"I'll fight you, with this normal body, because in the end, this one is the... strongest!"
Xandro grins and stands up. He puts his hands inside his pockets and smiles menacingly while saying:
"If that's the case, then I'll land slightly less powerful blows on you."
Marshal sees Xandro as he appears behind him; he continues:
"Tell me, mortal, have you ever tasted death?"
Xandro kicks Marshal in the back, then teleports to the other side, and stops Marshal with another kick.
Marshal lurches forward as a dark surge of blood bursts past his lips, almost like he is vomiting it out.
Marshal falls down, but stands up in an instant. Xandro moves towards him and throws a kick in the gut.
Xandro runs and kicks him in the chest. Marshal flies behind. Xandro appears on the other side and throws an axe kick.
Marshal tries to gain momentum, but Xandro teleports and throws a flying side kick.
Marshal flies to the other side as Xandro teleports with a grin, attacking with a spinning hook kick.
After some time, Marshal falls down and blood spills from his mouth in a harsh, choking heave.
Xandro teleports in front of him and says:
"Do you still wish to continue?"
Marshal stands up while trying to catch his breath. Xandro runs towards him:
"Hmph!"
Xandro tries to kick him in the chin, but Marshal moves backward and holds Xandro's leg. Marshal looks into Xandro's eyes and says:
"I'm... Still... Alive!"
As soon as Marshal leaves Xandro's leg, Xandro crouches and lands a clean sweep kick — causing Marshal to fall down.
Xandro says:
"Most of your bones are already broken, but there is one more thing that will happen right now."
Marshal's eyes are wide open as he sees himself — blood from the cut wounds spurts like water from a fountain.
Xandro laughs menacingly and says:
"HAHAHAHA... Can't stand anymore?"
After some moments of silence, Marshal hardly stands up. He extends his arm and says:
"I am... still standing, and as long as I'm standing... I'll not let any innocent fall down."
Xandro runs towards him while saying:
"You amuse me!"
He jumps and kicks Marshal in the chest. Marshal blasts straight through the building — in one side, out the other — before crashing onto the street.
An old woman sees him lying down and comes out of her shop. She sees him, and asks in shock:
"Oh, boy! What is going on?"
Marshal replies:
"Nothing much. How are you doing today, Miss Tamako?"
Tamako gets worried and says:
"Are you Marshal? Oh, no... Let me call an ambulance."
Marshal stops her from calling the ambulance and replies:
"N-No! Wait..."
Tamako asks:
"Are you out of your mind, son?"
Marshal replies:
"K-Kind of, but believe me nothing is wrong."
Tamako says:
"Wh-What are you talking about? I'm not seeing anything right here either."
Marshal replies:
"Trust me, I was practicing for something and I fell down."
Tamako asks:
"From where?"
Marshal points his finger towards the building in front of him and says:
"You see that building? I fell through the other side and somehow landed here."
Tamako sees it and loses consciousness while saying:
"B-But, how?"
Marshal sees her and says:
"You need an ambulance more than me!"
As Marshal closes his eyes, he hears a familiar voice:
"M-Marshal?"
Marshal looks at the lady standing at a distance and says:
"Mother?!"
Xandro is standing in the air, looking at Marshal. He moves his eyes while speaking to himself:
"I'll deal with him later!"
Xandro teleports and appears in front of a portal on a different street. The Varkyns walk out of the portal saying:
"Haha! Today's the day the dimensional seals finally broke away, we attack these mortals once again!"
As the portal closes, one of the Varkyns sees Xandro standing before them, looking at them with dead eyes.
The Varkyns behind the first one say in anger:
"Move, you fool!"
They all gasp in fear as they see him. They stand quietly, Xandro asks:
"Don't you know that you aren't allowed to be where an Astryn is?"
One of the Varkyns trembles in fear and replies:
"Good day, Xandro-sama, we apologise for not knowing that you're here already."
Xandro says:
"Pathetic fools. Couldn't you sense my presence?"
They all bow in fear while saying:
"P-Please forgive us!"
Xandro starts walking and says:
"If you don't want to get annihilated then run!"
They all quickly move towards the portal. Xandro stops mid-way and grins. The Varkyns fall down, while bleeding, and turn into dust.
Xandro walks away saying:
"Such stupidity is equal to no mercy."
Marshal's mother, Ellie Bell, walks towards him. Her silver ombre with black hair moves and her honey-brown eyes convey a hint of concern.
The grocery bag from her hand falls down. She picks his head up and keeps it on her lap while tears fall from her eyes:
"Wh-What happened to you, Marshal?"
Marshal stays silent. Ellie hugs him and asks:
"Tell me..."
He replies:
"I was fighting someone."
She asks:
"Fighting who?"
He replies:
"He happens to be a Reeger... An Astryn!"
She hugs him tightly while saying:
"Were you fighting him alone?"
He replies:
"Right now? Yes, but I'm okay."
Her tears fall as she says:
"Oh, boy... These heroic acts of yours. They're gonna give me a heart attack."
Xandro appears saying:
"Heart attack?"
Ellie's eyes widen as she feels the immense energy. Xandro walks in saying:
"But, what if there's no heart in your body at all? Will you still have a heart attack, hmm?"
Xandro stands before them smiling menacingly. Marshal slowly stands up saying:
"Leave her outside of this situation."
Xandro replies:
"Do you have the power to continue our battle?"
Marshal says:
"Of course, I-I can continue our battle."
Ellie says:
"But..."
Marshal looks at her and replies:
"I'll be alright, Mother!"
Xandro moves towards Marshal and taps his gut with his finger. Marshal flies into a wall and falls down.
Ellie stands up screaming:
"M-M-MARSHAL!"
Xandro asks her:
"You didn't answer my question, lady!"
Ellie looks at him while trembling. He says:
"Your presence tells me that you're not fully a mortal. It's quite different but powerful."
Ellie replies:
"I have no intention to tell you."
Xandro says:
"Unfortunate, I wanted to know who exactly you are before killing you."
A portal opens through which a katana comes out, and Xandro grabs it. Ellie sees it and starts panicking.
Xandro looks at her and says:
"This is how your life will end."
Ellie runs towards Marshal and sits beside him:
"Marshal, wake up... You can't leave me alone here."
Marshal is lying on the floor as if he's dead. Ellie's eyes get full of tears and she says:
"Let me just hear your voice before I... Meet my end."
Her voice echoes in his ears. He says to himself:
"My mother... I can't leave her alone."
He sees a moment playing like a video in front of his eyes. The moment when he is little and his mother is calling him:
"Marshal... Marshal?"
He hides behind a wall as she approaches him. He appears in front to scare her:
"Rarr..."
His mother plays along, she gasps, and falls down. He tries to wake her up and says:
"Mama?"
His mother holds his nose, she smiles, and says:
"Bad, boy! Why were you hiding from me?"
He replies:
"No dinner."
She picks him up and says:
"You gotta eat it, or you won't have the power to grow up. Do you understand me?"
He shakes his head. She smiles and says:
"If you didn't understand me. Then why did you shake your head, huh?"
He laughs, and his mother takes him inside the house while saying:
"Let's eat dinner, okay?"
He nods replying:
"Okay!"
She smiles and says:
"Good boy!"
While lying down, Marshal is thinking:
"I must protect her. I can't see her in problems she already had a lot while taking care of me..."
"C'mon, mortal, stand up... This body is the strongest of all. I will have to protect her... EVEN IF IT TAKES MY LIFE."
Ellie is sitting beside Marshal and crying. Suddenly, Marshal's body gets up on its own and releases immense pressure.
His body turns white. His jet-black hair grows longer and his eyes turn black and golden.
A cloth appears to hide his eyes, and a tough head mask partially covers his face.
Three horns appear on his head — the left and right horns are twisted and the middle one is pointing downward.
The Hakama pants and Chelsea boots appear to cover his legs. Two wings and a tail set on black fire appear behind him.
Some bandages appear to cover his middle and lower abs. All the wounds heal quickly, and his body keeps releasing immense pressure.
The form extends Marshal's arm and calls his katana — Shi no Karasu.
As it arrives, the form swings the katana, and effortlessly breaks the ground — and the buildings collapse.
Marshal's body releases more pressure and the form screams out loudly:
"RRRAAARRRRRRR..."
Ellie flies backward and hits a wall. Xandro gasps in shock and says:
"This is..."
The form advances towards Xandro, every moment radiating overwhelming authority. Xandro gulps, his body trembles, and instinctively kneels down.
The form hovers before Xandro, wings partially spread, breathing deep and resonant:
"Rarrrr..."
Xandro whispers in fear:
"Your majesty."
Without warning, the form's leg lashes out, striking Xandro in the chin and hurling him backward.
Shockwaves radiate from the impact, collapsing nearby buildings and shaking the planets themselves.
Blood drips from Xandro's mouth as he wipes it. He struggles to stand up and says to himself:
"Was I... Rejected by its majesty?"
The form spreads its wings and propels itself forward with terrifying speed. The sonic boom of its flight shatters the air.
Xandro tries to move, but his body freezes. The form's katana gleams as it reaches out with its other hand, grabs Xandro's face.
Without hesitation, the form drives him into the ground, cracking the stone and earth alike.
The ground swallows him briefly before splitting open again, and Xandro emerges, gasping.
Unrelenting, the form grabs Xandro's head and slams him down once more, then drives the katana into his leg.
Pulling the katana free, the form grabs him by the collar and flings him across the street.
Xandro says to himself:
"No matter what I do... I cannot face it. This form is beyond my control because it represents the pinnacle of us — the Reegers."
"But, the question is how he was able to awaken it while being a mortal?"
The dust flies, and everything around them is broken. Xandro is lying on the ground and is unable to move.
The form stands in front of Xandro and screams out loud emitting more immense pressure out of Marshal's body:
"RRRAAARRRRRR..."
In the timeline of Millennia — in the battlefield of Euralups — all the royal guards lie fallen on the sand, yet Candro stands, calm and unfazed.
He takes a deep breath, but the scream from Aeonic Dusk reaches him. His brow furrows, eyes widen, and he murmurs:
"This... this is the pinnacle of us, Reegers. The apex none have awakened before... I can hear it screaming."
He bows his head, hand resting on his chest, eyes closed. His voice carries awe:
"Your majesty is unrivaled. Your power... truly supreme. As one who reveres you, I cherish the awakening of Ultimo Reinro — the highest of the highest."
Back in the timeline of Aeonic Dusk, the form — Ultimo Reinro — holds Shi no Karasu.
The form swings the katana and is about to strike Xandro in his heart. Suddenly, someone stops it by grabbing its hand.
A portal opens and a tall lady steps out — her silhouette shaped like an hourglass. Her white cloak, marked with the Astryn Number "-1" over the heart, gleams softly.
Xandro sees her and mumbles:
"Lady... Ushwa?"
Her long velvet hair sways with a soft sheen as she walks and a red cloth covers her eyes. She kneels saying in awe:
"Your majesty, Ultimo Reinro — the highest of the highest. We truly cherish your awakening."
The form hears it and sees the guy stopping it from attacking Xandro. It's Arai, he smiles and says:
"I never thought I'd get to see you awakening it, Marshal."
Ushwa stands up and replies:
"There is no Marshal — he is unconscious."
He says:
"I know, but I'm still fascinated."
She replies:
"I see!"
He says:
"So, how do I stop this form now?"
She replies:
"You cannot stop it until the work, which awakened it, is done."
He gasps and says:
"So, Xandro is?"
The form tries to move Arai away but he doesn't let go:
"Don't kill him. It's time for you to wake up, Marshal!"
The form pushes Arai away and kicks him in the gut. He flies into a wall and falls down:
"M-Maybe, I shouldn't have stopped it."
The form grabs the katana and attacks Xandro in the chest. It pulls out Xandro's heart as he screams in pain:
"HAAAAAAAAA..."
The form grabs Xandro's heart and crushes it by stepping on it. Xandro stops breathing and in his last moment he says:
"It... Was... Fun!"
Ushwa is standing behind as she sees it and then she walks behind Ultimo Reinro.
After some moments, Ultimo Reinro stops and slowly fades away. Marshal is about to fall when Arai teleports and holds him.
Their surroundings are restored almost instantly. Arai says to Ushwa:
"Why were you following Marshal? You should pick up your subordinate's body and leave."
She replies:
"This has nothing to do with this boy, but the form he awakened is our heritage."
He asks:
"So what are you thinking right now?"
She asks:
"Tell me his name?"
Ellie enters and says:
"His name is Marshal Bell."
Ushwa sees her and asks:
"Who are you?"
Ellie replies:
"I'm his mother."
Ushwa smiles slightly and says:
"I see! You're a fortunate mother to have a son like him."
Arai asks Ellie:
"Where did you come from?"
Ellie replies:
"Huh, it's a long story, but I have been here since Marshal was about to awaken it."
They both start walking, Arai laughs and says:
"Haha! Then you saw what happened here?"
Ellie nods. Arai says:
"You must go home now. I'll send Marshal as soon as he wakes up."
Ushwa walks near Xandro's dead body and stares at it. She moves her finger and Xandro's body starts floating.
A portal opens, she starts walking towards it while saying:
"Let's go now. Your job is finished."
(TO BE CONTINUED)