Chapter 40: Chapter 34 - "Glory of Battle"
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
While running away from Reinhard van Astrea, Annie keeps swinging her arms to create obstacles against him. She knows, that once he grabs a weapon, the winner is already chosen. This wasn't fair, in her point of view.
She looks back, and sees Reinhard jumping over the Crystals. Seeing this, Annie Leonhard realized that Tattletale told him about her Semblance. Her Semblance is about the unbreakable crystals, which she uses as both offense and defense. However, seeing him jump over, makes her realize that he knows what those crystals are, and what they do if you get touched by them.
She turns around again, deciding to look forward instead, and bumps into someone.
Annie : "Ouch!"
She falls on the hard surface of the ground. She looks up as fast as she could, but before she can see the person's face which she bumped into, the person reaches out a hand towards Annie. She grabs it. It was Amy Glory.
Annie : "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? YOU SHOULD BE WITH—"
Amy : "There is no way I'm letting people behind. Follow me!"
She pulls Annie, even though Annie is ready to surrender. The Warriors and Wardens, except for their leaders, are instructed to abandon the mission as soon as the Sword Saint appears. This situation, wasn't different.
Running away as fast as they could, Annie kept creating barriers of Crystal so it would hinder Reinhard, who was still following them. After a few meters of running, Amy runs to the right, into a dark valley, and so does Annie.
Annie ran into another person, it was Eidolon. Before she or anyone else could say something. Annie created a seven meter high wall of Crystal, and the three of them ran.
Annie : "E-Eidolon! What happened to the Spring Maiden?"
Eidolon : "She escaped. I underestimated her. Now that the Sword Saint is here, we need to deal with him, but first… We need to save Shadow Stalker and Neo."
Amy : "Eidolon-sama! Where is Neo?"
Eidolon : "She disengaged from the Raven fight, and summoned all of us. After that, she decided to interfere with the fight against Raven Branwen, which was a fatal mistake. Her Aura is below the fatal level. If we don't save her, Vincent-sama will be extremely angry."
Amy : "Of course!"
The conversation was cut off. The three of them, while running in the valley noticed the sky becoming orange. The sun was rising. That meant, civilians can appear soon, which cannot happen according to their plan.
Amy : "Here!"
Amy points the way towards the place where Raven and Shadow Stalker where fighting. They left the alley and arrived at a giant open square. In the middle, there was a stone statue of a woman, wearing a skirt, and having a angelic style bow in her hands, pointing towards the sky.
Near the statue, they were there.
Raven Branwen and Shadow Stalker were still fighting. Shadow Stalker tumbled to the back, and became invisible. Raven swung her sword and released a shockwave of electricity which paralyzed Shadow Stalker. Shadow became visible again, but was unable to move. Raven decided to dash forward, but that instant, Eidolon dashed forward with lightning fast speed and shattered her blade into a million pieces. Seeing this, Raven dashes back.
Raven : "Eidolon… The Creator."
Eidolon : "My My… There is no need to use that name here, is there?"
Raven swings her sword, creating a black and red portal. She used this ability many times, and just like before, someone appeared out of the portal. Vernal.
Eidolon : "Oh? I thought our fight was finished, no?"
Vernal : "Tsk…"
Annie and Amy Glory stand in the back, right now, they don't want to interfere with this fight, until a certain condition is met. However, Annie did create a wall behind them, so if Reinhard was still following them, he would've to jump over it, which would make enough noise to dodge him.
Raven : "It appears it's a Two versus Two."
Eidolon : "That wouldn't be fair, would it? Shadow Stalker."
He turns his head, and looks at Shadow Stalker, who was sitting on the ground, because of lack of energy and Aura.
Eidolon : "Go to Amy and Annie. You did enough today, I am proud."
Hearing this, Shadow Stalker uses all of the energy left in her, to walk towards the two girls in the distance. Arriving there, she collapses. Immediately, Amy puts her hand on her neck, which was slightly exposed, and started healing her.
Eidolon : "I don't want to fight both of you. It appears the two of you don't know how my King wants to do his business."
Raven : "Oh trust me, I know everything about your boss."
Eidolon : "Well, if you truly do. Then you know, that appearing here, was a great mistake. There is a very slim chance you can win against me, and you know that."
Vernal : "Someone, is getting a bit cocky, ain't you?"
Eidolon : "I decide to not answer to that silly question of yours. I want to make a deal."
Vernal : "Tsk~!"
Raven : "Talk."
Eidolon : "Join us. We'll discuss how we'll defeat our threat together. We are just like you, we want to protect Jens. We want to defeat the Washuu King. We have the same enemies."
Raven : "What? How dare you, saying something noble like that, even though the chaotic state of this world is because of you. YOU!"
Eidolon : "It appears you really aren't into solving this peacefully, are you? I'm trying to come up with a peaceful resolution, yet you decline me. Why?"
Raven : "There is no way I'm joining Vincent, the one that tortured Jens! Vincent tortured him for hours! Vincent did that with the help of the Washuu King!"
Amy looks at the situation, but she doesn't know what is going on. How could their King, Vincent, possibly work together with the Washuu King. How could've Vincent tortured Jens? It doesn't make sense.
Eidolon : "You forgot the position you are in. I, Eidolon, am the only one who can face Reinhard van Astrea here, I am the one that can fight the End Bringers. I am the one that will show revolution to the ones that drowned in the blood of their ancestors."
Raven : "Of course Eidolon. Vernal. It's time."
Raven puts her mask back on. Right that instant, Vernal spreads her arms, and clouds appear. The orange sky changed to a dark purple shade. Then, a massive light appeared. A Lightning bolt hit Eidolon.
Vernal is the Spring Maiden. She's able to use the original state of Magic, which includes all Arts and more.
After the lightning bolt disappeared, a light green sphere was surrounding Eidolon. The Thunderbolt didn't hit him, or at least, didn't damage his Aura.
Raven : "Let's do this!"
Vernal swung her arms, and created a massive spear of Ice. She send it straight towards Eidolon, but his reflexes were great. He dodged it by flying towards the side of Amy and Annie. Then, Raven swung her sword and released a flaming tornado. Annie was unable to create a wall in time, but luckily, Eidolon used his powers to create a green shield surrounding them.
Eidolon : "Get away. Bring Victoria, Alexandria, Dragon, it doesn't matter! We need the Spring Maiden and Raven!"
Hearing this, Annie turns around and creates a portal. Eidolon dashes forward towards Vernal and Raven.
Annie : "Come! Amy! Follow me!"
Looking at Amy, Annie notices doubt in her eyes. She was confused. The things Eidolon and Raven were talking about, was it true? Is their King, the one that brought them to life, the one that tortured the reason why Amy exists?
Amy : "Annie…"
Annie : "If you won't follow me, I'll go! I don't care what happens to you! I am taking Shadow Stalker with me."
Hearing this, Amy takes two steps back. She embraces her left hand with the other. She looks away from Annie and tears up.
Amy : "Are… We the Demons… of the World?"
Annie : "You're pathetic. Just like your father."
That instant, Amy turns around and runs towards Annie, she wants to punch her to death after mentioning her father, but she was already gone.
Vernal swung her arms to the right. From underneath the ground of the city, water started rising, and it surrounded Eidolon.
Eidolon : "My Lord, you truly are the Spring Maiden! Magnificent! I am sure our Lord will be happy with your strength! I am sure, you'll bring us even closer to victory!"
Vernal : "The only place I'll bring you closer to are the gates of HELL!"
As she screamed, the waters surrounding Eidolon started to surround him closer and closer, until he was within the water. Eidolon tried to swim out of it, but Vernal formed a fist with her left hand, which made the water freeze in an instant.
Immediately, Raven dashes forward and swings her Flame Sword, shattering the Ice and slicing his stomach open. Eidolon surrounds himself with Light Green light as soon as his stomach was cut open, and vanishes. He appears on the top of the statue, and heals himself.
Eidolon : "Truly wonderful. I admire your passion. I see the world loves you. I envy you, Spring."
Vernal : "The stories were true about you Eidolon… Such arrogance."
Eidolon : "My My, I don't think those fairy tales were true what so ever. I am the one who's the least relatable to any Sin. So arrogance isn't the right word to describe me."
Raven : "You're leading children to fight against a war which is impossible to win! Don't you feel ashamed?! Just like… My daughter! She fought in this war against the Washuu—!"
Eidolon : "My apologies, but your daughter was nothing but a weak traitor, just like her mother. Abandoning the Warriors is basically facing your end. After I dealt with you two, I'll go after your daughter."
Standing in the distance, Amy just keeps listening to all of this, she doesn't understand anything. Is she even standing on the right side?
Just like that, she looks at the stormy sky, and questions what she's doing.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
A dark, yet beautiful memory plays in the mind of Amy Glory. She's in a bright, bright city. Buildings are made of marble, bridges, waterfalls, beautiful statues. It was a City of the Future, yet.. This memory took place many… and Many years ago.
Victoria : "Amy, we've business to do."
Amy nodded. Victoria turned around, and she followed her. She was her idol, and her sister, even though they didn't look similar what so ever.
They arrived at a giant white building, with Red and Blue crystals everywhere. There were giant characters carved into the gate of the building which said "Wardens Head Quarters".
Entering the building, they walked further and further until the arrived at the Main Hall of the Head Quarters of the Wardens. Entering the Main Hall, Eidolon was standing in the middle of the stage, to his left was Legend, and to his right was Alexandria.
Alexandria is a tall, muscular woman with long, straight black hair. She is missing an eye, but it is replaced with an advanced prosthetic visually indistinguishable from a real one. She stopped aging shortly after adolescence. She wore a black costume with a skirt, knee-high boots and elbow-length gloves. It was black and light gray, with an image of a tower in the center of her chest. The costume featured a wide, heavy cape that flowed over her shoulders and draped onto the ground beside and behind her.
In front of the three Warden Commanders, there was a huge group of people, they all were around the age of twelve to nineteen, children and teenagers.
Eidolon : "Wonderful, Glory Girl and Panacea arrived! We can finally start our speech."
Amy looks around, she noticed a lot of Wardens she knows, even famous ones that are never near their Kingdom. What was going on? Something was off…
"Legend is here… Eidolon as well… and Alexandria… Vic– Glory Girl was summoned as well, and even me. Dragon is there. Next to her, there is Hannah Militia."
Turning her head to the left, she notices even more familiar faces.
"Vista… Crysta Narwhal… Triumph Myrddin. Tattletale… Aegis! Ethan Assault. Even Shadow Stalker?! No… This is not right, most of these people haven't been seen since the attack of The Simurgh. They're grouping Wardens, for what reason? Why? What happened? Is something wrong?!"
Eidolon : "As you all may have noticed. We grouped ALL our Wardens here today, because today might be one of the darkest days in the life time of us, Humans."
Alexandria : "We assume that today might be the day that our world, the one thing that is precious to every single one of you, will break, destroyed, shattered."
Eidolon : "However, even in days like these, I assure you that the Triumph will be ours if we work together. If we combine our powers, not even the ghosts of our ancestors stand a chance against us!"
A fourth individual walks forward, blonde white-ish hair, blue eyes.
Jens : "The Slaughterhouse Nine… and The End Bringers… are making their way towards our Kingdom."
Hearing this, the crowd becomes terrified. People stand up and start screaming, however Alexandria puts her hand up in the air, and a silence occurs.
Jens : "I know that this doesn't sound winnable, but we need to protect those that are precious to us. Even in the times that the enemy appears to be your ally, we need to sacrifice whatever is required for the best outcome."
Victoria forms a fist of her hands, and stands up.
Victoria : "I'm sorry to interrupt you Excellency, but please tell everyone here… Exactly who are approaching our Kingdom?"
Jens : "The Leviathan… The Simurgh… The Medusa… and an another unknown entity."
Victoria : "WHAT?!"
Jens : "We are not sure if it's a fourth End Bringer or not, but as our Thinkers have analyzed the entity, it's just as powerful as The Leviathan."
Victoria sits down, with her eyes widened and her mouth open. Tears start to form around her eyes out of fear, and she quickly looks at Amy.
Amy looks straight at Victoria. She has never seen her sister crying, someone as prideful as her, someone as amazing as her, someone as glorious as her, shouldn't be crying. But this situation, these events, they were too much to handle for a Warden, even though she's just a girl.
Victoria : "We… Need to run away Amy."
Hearing this, Amy is shocked.
Fear. Scared. Victoria was scared. She was embraced by fear, and is afraid. Amy understands what is going on, but she doesn't want to. Seeing her sister like this, her reason why she exists willing to give up, breaks Amy from inside.
Amy : "I…"
Suddenly, a piercing noise is able to heard.
All crystals that create light inside the building, become red and they start to flash. Everyone stands up and starts to panic. People start to scream, until—
Legend : "THE SIMURGH HAS ENTERED THE CAPITAL! GRAB YOUR WEAPONS! HEALERS, GO TO THE HEALING FACILITY! THINKERS, FOLLOW ALEXANDRIA! WARRIORS, GO TO THE BATTLEFIELD! WARDENS, FOLLOW EIDOLON. THE ONES WITH NO IDENTIFICATION, EVACUATE THE CIVILIANS!"
Legend started screaming, everyone listened to him, and as he was the leader of all this, the Wardens listened to him.
Victoria and Amy ran outside, and saw in the distance, at least a few kilometers away from them, a giant skyscraper collapsing. People were screaming and running on the streets of the capital.
Victoria : "A-Amy… Now is our moment, we can leave!"
Amy : "I… No… We can't."
Victoria : "W-What?! Are you crazy?! The SIMURGH is already here! If the Leviathan arrives here, we'll be washed away. Tsunami's will destroy our families, cities and friends. The Scream of Simurgh will drive us insane! Amy, please…"
Amy : "We… We promised to sacrifice whatever it takes. It was Jens that gave us a place in the world, I will fight until the bitter end!"
Hearing this, Victoria widens her eyes, and removes the tears from her face. She then smiles at Amy and gives her a hug.
Victoria : "You always know what to say to your big sis to make her feel better, don't you?"
Amy nodded.
Victoria : "Then it's settled. Go to the Healing Facility as soon as possible. Me, Eidolon and the others will fight off the Simurgh."
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Vernal : "Tsk~!"
Raven : "Vernal, stay foc–"
Raven got interrupted as someone kicked her in the back. She falls on her knees, and immediately looks back. Neo appeared, she was recovered from their battle.
Vernal : "Hyaagh!"
The Spring Maiden swung her right arm downwards, which caused the clouds to thunder. A Lightning was send towards Neo. It hit her, but she shattered just like glass. Her Semblance avoided her from being damaged by the unexpected.
Vernal claps her hands, and a typhoon surrounds Vernal. She swung her arms towards the statue and destroyed it completely. Eidolon teleported himself a little bit further away from Vernal and Raven, and Neo appeared behind him as well.
Eidolon : "Truly magnificent. It's so sad that you don't understand that you're fighting at the wrong side. Like I said, once you surrender, I'll do you no harm, and will take you to Vincent-sama, who will take care for you."
Raven : "In contrast to you, or any Warden or Warrior, Vernal isn't brainwashed. Trying to manipulate her with your pretty talks won't work."
Eidolon : "Then I've no choice. I'll keep fighting until either of you can't battle anymore, or until the two of you surrender. Let's make a pretty show out of this, won't we?"
Raven grabbed her White blade and swung it in the air, multiple times, into multiple directions. After a few seconds, Crystals filled with light Mana were formed. Then, Vernal swung her arm, and released a massive breeze which send the Crystals towards Eidolon and Neo.
Neo grabbed her Umbrella and jumped towards the Crystals. However, she used her Umbrella to block every single one of them, and jumped so her feet and knees wouldn't get hit by them.
Eidolon snapped his fingers, and became a living ghost. His body was made out of gas, and the Crystals passed through him.
After all the Crystals were gone, Eidolon returned to his normal state, and Neo lowered her Umbrella.
Raven : "Nice trick."
Neo smiled. Eidolon nodded. There was barely any communication left.
Amy looks at the situation, and doesn't understand what to do. Can she even interfere? She's nothing compared to these people, she's just a healer, with a Semblance.
But after remembering that day, she thinks… Is she even fighting with the good people? After all the things that Raven and Vernal said… Is Eidolon actually a good person?
Amy : "I…"
She tries to say something, but is unable to do so. She just collapses on her knees and looks at the scene.
Then, Neo dashes towards Vernal and grabs her arm. As a reflex, Vernal tries to kick Neo, but instead Neo becomes mist and disappeared. After less than a second, Neo appears behind Vernal and used her Umbrella to choke her.
Vernal : "A-Agh!"
Raven : "VERNAL!"
Raven dashes towards Vernal and grabs her Black Sword, she swings it and creates a portal. She enters the portal and appears above Neo and Vernal. She kicks Neo's jaw, but instead she disappears like mist again. Vernal falls on the ground, and as a reflex to former incidents, Raven swings her black sword behind her and released a shockwave of dark energy.
However, she hit nobody.
It seems that Neo's power isn't as predictable as it looks.
Eidolon : "Wonderful! You sacrifice whatever it takes to save your friends! You truly are a Warrior! I am proud of you Raven Branwen, but why must you abandon that what you are? Once a Warrior, Always a Warrior!"
Raven : "You all are nothing but scum. I have seen everything with my OWN eyes Eidolon! Everything, everything, everything is a lie! There's no such thing as defeating the Washuu King! There's no such thing as peace! There's no such thing as defeating the End Bringers!"
Eidolon : "Perhaps your wrong. Maybe a new methodology is required against you. You see, as you seem to know, the End Bringers are beings created by the Witches. Just like them, they're able to be sealed. We can stop whatever we want if we work together. You don't have to be lonely, Raven. I know that you've been through a lot, but what about forgetting about the past, and move on? It's not like another friend of yours will die in a mission again, right?"
Raven : "Shut the fuck up! Don't you dare to mention Summer! SHE DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!"
Eidolon : "Hmm, it seems that lying isn't my favorite thing to do so, so I'll answer honestly… Perhaps I am affiliated with the death of your friend, Summer Rose. But it wasn't just me, it wasn't just fate… It was your fault as well, you were the one that wasn't able to save her. If Jens was with you guys, you would've been able to defeat that thing easily. But no, you're weak. You're so weak. Because you're extremely weak. You were born like this, and you'll stay like this for the rest of your life, you bug."
Hearing this, Vernal starts to feel angry and punches the ground, and it shatters the earth. It starts to become warmer and warmer, until Magma rises from underneath the ground. Vernal manipulates the Magma and fires Lava towards Eidolon.
Eidolon opens his arms and claps them, the sound wave of the clap makes the Lava freeze, and forms stone.
Eidolon : "You however, you are truly strong. You are so strong, that you can play a role in defeating the Washuu King. But yet, you decide to follow this Fool."
Vernal : "Look who's talking."
Then, Vernal claps her hands twice, and the clouds start to rain.
The rain falls down, but as it hits the ground, it becomes Ice, and Vernal created needles of Ice to send it towards Eidolon.
Vernal : "This is the end Eidolon. Go and F–"
Then, Vernal feels something stabbing her in the neck. A small needle. She turned around and sees Neo smiling at her. Optical Illusion is her trick.
Vernal collapses and falls on the ground. She tries to stand up, but it feels like her whole body is unable to do so. What was going on? It was just a needle.
Eidolon : "Wonderful work Neo! I am sure Vincent is very, very proud of you! Now, let's finish Raven, and we'll bring the two of them back to our master. Is that a fine idea, my Neo?"
Neo looks at Eidolon. Neo approached Raven, and grabs her Umbrella.
Raven : "RRAAAAAAAGH!"
She swung her Green Sword and created a wall of Earth, but Eidolon immediately shattered it with a snap of his fingers.
As a response, Raven fires a Fireball towards Neo and tries to use her sword to launch herself towards Eidolon, however… Neo used her umbrella to reflect the Fireball and Raven got hit instead.
She's lying on the ground, and looks at Vernal, who's at the point of dying, just like Raven herself. She knew, that this was the end.
Eidolon : "Great work! Wonderful! Bring them back to the Head Quarters, I need to hurry and inform Alexandria. You've performed amazingly, Neo!"
He swings his arm and disappears.
Then, Neo walks towards Raven and grabs another needle. Raven looks at the needle as precisely as she can. Then, she noticed why this was happening to Vernal. At the end of the needle, a green fluid was dropping from it. The needles were poisoned. This was a fatal situation.
Raven grabs her Blue Sword and throws it towards Neo. Neo shatters again, and appears behind Raven.
Neo waves her hand and blinks her right eye. Before she could kill Raven, she gasped, making barely any voice and she collapsed. Neo fell on the ground like a corpse.
Raven stood up, and tried to figure out the cause of this, as she looked up, there was her Hero, or Heroine… Amy Glory.
Raven : "What did you do to her?"
She doesn't respond. She just looks at Raven, crying, shivering, not understanding what is going on or what's good or bad.
Amy : "Did I do… The right thing…?"
Raven stands on her feet, and looks at Amy.
Raven : "You're Amy. The sister of Victoria, right?"
Amy nodded.
Raven : "… Why?"
Amy : "Y-Your conversation… I-Is it true?"
Raven : "It appears I have to inform you about the real world we live in. Yet, I still don't understand one thing, Amy… What did you do to Neo?"
She points her blade towards Neo, who was paralyzed.
Amy : "I… disabled her nerve system."
Hearing this, Raven widens her eyes.
Raven : "You… Are a Warden, yet you decided to help me, an EX-Warrior."
Amy : "I… Want to know the Truth Raven. Is this the right thing? Where is Jens? W-What happened to the Wardens…"
Raven : "You did save my life, however I don't see anything beneficial for me, nor the Branwen Tribe to recruit you. I'll thank you, but you can move forward from here, alone."
Amy : "I can heal. My Semblance, I am able to alter biology. I can heal Vernal, and possibly make her stronger."
Hearing this, Raven turns around and looks in the eyes of the child. She notices fear in her eyes, yet flames of strength which are inextinguishable.
Raven : "You're from the Glory Family. I am the one that nearly killed your teammates, yet you decide to follow me… Why?"
Amy : "I don't know, but if this is the right thing to do so, I'll do it."
Raven : "Hmm… We're more similar than expected."
Raven swings her sword, and creates a black and red portal. She walks towards Vernal and grabs her body, and carries her on her shoulder.
Raven : "I'm going to enter first, you can follow if you want."
Raven, who was covered in blood, and carrying Vernal, entered the portal and disappeared.
Amy walks forward, but hesitates.
How can she abandon everything she has? She'll abandon her sister, her friends, the ones that need her. But, just like that, she knows… That if Raven was telling the truth, she would have to follow her.
Just like that, Amy takes a step, and enters the portal.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone