Tales of a Lost Sword 18

Episode 18 Requiem for the Frozen
Takuya Kimura points his cold, frozen eyes at those gathered before him now. He raises his hand, and directs a blast of frost at the group.

Kunai leaps to his side, dodging the attack. Zack teleports away. However, Mira and Ophelia fail to move quickly enough to escape the attack. Hyacinth steps in front of them and blocks the blast with her Kandine. Fragments of icicles rain down from the sky as she disintegrates the attack.

Kunai watches Takuya cautiously, his eyes widened. “He doesn’t even use a weapon…?!” He turns back to Mira and Ophelia, who are clearly shaken. ‘Damn it…as I thought, they aren’t ready for a battle at this level yet.’

“That’s some way t’introduce yourself,” Zack says, needlessly bathing himself in a flow of green light.

“Who are you people?” Takuya growls in a deep, cold voice. Suddenly his voice changes into a deep, more feminine one. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll kill you regardless.”

The others exchange puzzled expressions. Kunai raises his Avenger in his hand, glaring at his opponent. “We’ve come to ask you for your Anti-Paradox. If you aren’t going to give it to us peacefully, then we’ll have to take it from you forcefully.”

“He wants the Anti-Paradox?” Takuya smirks. “I’M AFRAID I CAN’T DO THAAAAATTTTTTTTT!”

Kunai leaps up into the air as Takuya aims a blast of frost his way. Instead, the ice smashes into a tree behind Kunai, completing encasing the entire tree in a block of ice. Kunai sprints forward agilely, dodging two more blasts as he sneaks up to Takuya, and strikes him with a direct hit with his Avenger.

Kunai leaps back as blood splashes forth from Takuya’s wound. Suddenly, a layer of ice emerges from his arm and covers it, repairing the wound. Kunai’s eyes widen.

“He can heal himself?!”

The Hermit bends over, panting heavily. He clenches his right hand, around which is a Black Hole claw. There are no stars in the holster by his side. He stands inside a massive, brightly-lit, hollowed out room made of sand and stone. Around him floats a host of lifeless mannequins with targets painted on their bodies.

The black-haired Hermit rises into a stiffer stance as a blue-haired mage approaches him from behind, adorned in the black robe of the Fatalist uniform. “Th-thank you for all you’ve done for me, Master Arai!” the Hermit gasps, grimacing as he struggles to catch his breath.

Arai merely smiles faintly. “The transition into becoming a Fatalist is difficult, Rill. Don’t strain yourself too hard trying to adjust,” he warns. “It will be difficult at first to juggle between your new powers and your old powers at the same time. Your ancestor Lord Kimura himself took five months to master the challenge of this room.”

Rill nods. “I understand. However, I feel like I am starting to get the hang of it.”

Arai smiles. He raises a muffin to his mouth and takes a bite from it thoughtfully. “Yes. You learn remarkably quickly, Rill. Soon you will surpass even your rival, Kunai.”

A thick mist starts to envelop the area around the border of Showa Town and the Mushroom Shrine, as Takuya’s ice attacks begin to take their toll. Kunai and Takuya stare coldly at each other, their eyes darkened by mutual animosity.

Kunai creates an Avenger in his hands. “Everyone…get into formation. We’ll take him on all at once. On my count…1…2…3…GO!”

Kunai dashes forward, swinging his Avenger wildly. Takuya blocks the attack easily with a wall of ice; however, with a flash of blue light, Zack appears to Takuya’s right. He fires a Holy Arrow at point-blank range.

A furious blast of ice and white light engulfs the two of them as their attacks collide. Finally, Zack coughs and teleports away, blood trailing after his figure. The mist clears, and Takuya remains relatively unfazed, standing oddly still and without emotion.

“Take this!” Mira howls, sprinting towards Takuya before he has a chance to relax. She raises her sword, striking down at Takuya forcefully. “Fire Charge!”

Her sword strikes a solid pillar of ice. It cuts deep into the wall of ice, but does not penetrate entirely. Takuya grins maniacally, his eyes bulging, as he stares at Mira.

Mira gasps, and swiftly kicks the block of frost with her foot, pushing herself backwards into a retreat. Ophelia steps in in her place, waving a fan. A spout of flame springs forth and explodes violently, charring everything in the vicinity.

Her comrades duck as the flames shoot through the clearing violently, cutting down everything in their path. Takuya motionlessly summons a massive wall of ice, shielding himself from the searing flames.

“Careful where you aim, Ophelia!” Mira shouts from the ground, as the flames dance around in the air above her.

“S-Sorry!” Ophelia shoots back apologetically, herself prancing about daintily trying to avoid the flames.

‘She can’t control her own attacks…?’ Hyacinth thinks to herself, surveying the scene from under the cover of a tree.

As the flames clear, Kunai again returns to his feet, frowning. “Damn, even in formation we didn’t even land a scratch on him…”

Footsteps sound from behind Takuya. A blur flies at him, as Hyacinth sprints forward, her dagger stretched out in front of her. She lands a devastating blow across Takuya’s back.

“She did it!” Kunai cheers, as the attack connects. Zack and Ophelia cheer from the sidelines as well.

However, Takuya quickly turns around before Hyacinth can escape. The crackling of ice sounds ominously. A single thread of ice forms in Takuya’s hand, transforming into the shape of a sword. Takuya pushes the blade of ice forward, ready to make the finishing blow on Hyacinth.

Hyacinth freezes, unable to do anything. She closes her eyes, bracing herself for the hit. Instead, she opens her eyes again wide, as the impact sounds with a devastating crack. Kunai is standing in between her and Takuya, his right arm raised, his claw blocking the frozen blade. For a moment, Hyacinth and Takuya both merely gaze in astonishment at the scene.

Another set of footsteps sounds from behind them. Mira dashes forward, her sword poised to attack. “Now’s my chance!” she hisses.

“Mira, no!” Zack suddenly cries, taking a step forward but unable to reach her in time.

Takuya quickly lets go of Kunai and directs his blade crashing into Mira’s, countering with a force so strong that Mira’s sword flies out of her hands. It sails into the air and lands tip first into the ground several yards away. Unable to defend herself, Mira merely absorbs the blow from Takuya’s attack, taking a direct hit from his sword across her left shoulder. She falls to her knees, blood rushing out of her wound.

“MIRA!” Ophelia screams, running forth. Zack steps in front of her, blocking her way with his arm.

“Stay back!” he shouts. “Ya gotta keep formation. You’ll be no use fighting up close with him.”

Takuya suddenly begins sniggering, capturing everyone’s attention. He starts with a soft giggle at first, but then bursts into a loud cackle of laughter as he stands over Mira’s motionless body, her blood leaking out onto the grass at his feet.

“Yes…this is…fun…!” he hisses, still suppressing a snicker or two. His blood red eyes are lit up with a manic glow not unlike the one seen in Soma Vesta’s.

He freezes suddenly, his eyes darkening. His voice abruptly changes into the more feminine one. “Requiem…it’s a requiem…it’s a requiem of ice. You shall all die here.”

Takuya’s eyes suddenly light up again, as his face contorts grotesquely. “Shut up…shut up!” he shouts into the air, waving his sword wildly through the air. “Let me have some fun first!”

“They want the Anti-Paradox!” he argues with himself. “We must kill them!”

“Fun! Fun! Funnnnnnn!” Takuya screams, now losing himself completely.

The others stare at each other uncertainly. Kunai is the first to take action, as he quickly forms an Avenger on the move and then brings it crashing down thunderously at Takuya.

Takuya stops instantly, and gathers himself. He turns and faces up Kunai, challenging the attack with his sword of ice. Tiny flakes of ice fall to the ground as his weapon scrapes against Kunai’s Avenger, the two battling for dominance.

Kunai finally lets go and jumps backward as his Avenger cracks and splits in half from the pressure. He forms another Avenger, but his eyes widen as Takuya swings his sword, orchestrating a stream of frozen stalagmites towards Kunai.

“Crap!” Kunai gasps, unable to get away in time.

At the last moment, a flood of fire obliterates the river of ice cutting through the ground towards Kunai. A massive explosion occurs as the fire and ice meet, sending debris high up into the sky. Chunks of dirt and rock fall to the ground like hail.

“Nice one!” Kunai breathes, looking as Ophelia lowers her fan.

Zack takes the opportunity to teleport to Mira’s side, bending over her bloodied body. He picks up her limp body and teleports back away from the frontlines, cradling her in his arms. He covers her with a flood of green light, healing her open wound.

Kunai glances at Hyacinth as she rises from the ground shakily. “You okay?” he asks her.

“Y-Yeah,” says Hyacinth, surprised to catch Kunai’s eye.

“Mira’s been taken down, and Zack’s healing her. Ophelia is not a frontline fighter. This is gonna be up to the two of us,” Kunai growls.

Hyacinth grunts in agreement. She grips her Kandine tightly in her right hand.

Kunai turns to her again. “You ready, Hyacinth?”

“Yeah,” Hyacinth smirks. “Except don’t call me Hyacinth. It’s Cynthia.”

Kunai nods. “All right, Cynthia. Let’s go!”

Takuya turns towards the two as they prepare to execute their next attack. He raises his sword of ice, a dangerous grin on his lips. “You shall die!” he screeches gleefully. “I’ll kill you myself!”

“Go!” Kunai shouts. He disappears with blinding speed, appearing at Takuya’s right side with an Avenger poised to strike.

Takuya follows him, tracking him with his sword. However, at the last minute, Kunai pulls back. A spider web instead surrounds Takuya and tangles his feet, anchoring him in place momentarily.

Hyacinth flashes towards Takuya with equally brilliant speed, her dagger in position to kill. She stops on a dime and raises her dagger. “This will finish it!” she shouts.

But as Cynthia makes contact with Takuya, he raises his sword just in time. The earth-shaking impact shatters the ice sword to pieces, but in its place forms a newer, much larger sword. Takuya’s eyes darken, as he grabs Cynthia’s wrist with a vice-like grip. Her eyes widen as her entire forearm begins to freeze over.

A demonic sneer appears on his face. He speaks, with a deep, feminine voice. “This shall be…the requiem for the frozen!”
—END EIGHTEEN—