Tales of a Lost Sword 33

Episode 33 Resolve, and the Ten Days Countdown
Kunai flips through the skill book given to him by Ryuu, as Xavier finishes attending to the still-unconscious Rill’s wounds. He closes the tome with a snap, and rises from the rock on which he’d been sitting. Pocketing the book again, Kunai turns to Xavier, who is now carrying the bandaged Rill on his back. Xavier himself is heavily bandaged around the forehead.

“I’m sorry for making you do this,” Kunai says, as Xavier sways slightly. “Are you sure you’ll be fine?”

“Yeah, of course, Kunai!” Xavier grins. He huffs and puffs, clutching Rill more tightly around him. “I’ll take this guy to Skylark to get some medical treatment like you asked, and then I’ll find a way to get him back to the Maple World.”

Kunai nods. “All right.” He walks up to Xavier, reaching into his pocket and drawing out the same silver ring housing George’s Anti-Paradox. Without hesitation, he places it in Xavier’s hand. “As promised for your help, here’s the Anti-Paradox.”

Xavier grins in response, giving Kunai a quick thumbs up. “All right! Thanks, Kunai! Now I’ll really be able to show the guys at ARES something.”

“Make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands,” Kunai warns sternly, “there are some pretty shady guys there. If you have to let one of them handle it, let Alto handle it. He’s the most trustworthy.”

“Sure thing,” Xavier replies. “And what ‘bout you, Kunai? Are you gonna be fine heading out by yourself?”

“Yeah,” Kunai says in a low voice. He stares off into the distance. Far off, on the very edge of the horizon, the faint outlines of a train gliding through the vast desolateness can be seen. Even fainter can be heard the sound of a train whistling.

“I’m sorry about leaving you with Rill, but I have some things I need to take care of.”

Ryuu trails behind Fayvard, as the latter leads the way down into a dark passage in Ryuu’s Academy. The walls and floor are made of blackened stone, while torches light the way, guiding the visitors far into the darkness.

“The old dungeons the Four used to use to keep captured enemies…” Fayvard says. “I was pretty surprised when I heard these still existed. Makes me wonder what other stuff you’ve got tucked away in your Academy, little Ryuu.”

Sighing impatiently, Ryuu shakes his head. “These are only still here precisely because the Four maintained them so well. I haven’t had any use for them since restoring the Academy.”

Fayvard suddenly comes to a stop in front of a wooden door. He smiles mischievously. A small porthole is opened at the top of the door, allowing just the slightest amount of light to enter the chamber within.

“Here we are,” Fayvard says. He pounds on the door with his fist. “Yo! Pretty boy! You’ve got a visitor!”

Placing his hand on the handle, Fayvard pushes the door open. With some slight resistance, the door eventually gives way, allowing a rank air to fill Ryuu and Fayvard’s lungs.

Ryuu follows Fayvard into the dark room with a grim expression on his face. He stares, as a slit of light falls onto the face of Flynn the Fatalist from a tiny window on the far wall of the chamber. The Fatalist himself is chained by the wrists to the wall, his feet dangling some feet above the ground.

Flynn raises his ruffled head as the two enter the room, dark bags under his aqua eyes. Nonetheless, his eyes glow with a cold, fiery pride.

“So this is the Fatalist, huh?” Ryuu mutters, staring at the Fatalist’s robes. “Heh, looks like you indeed managed to capture one, Fayvard.”

“What do you intend to do with me?” spits Flynn, his voice hoarse. “I would sooner die than betray my comrades, so kill me if you will!”

“No, I won’t kill you. Tell me about the Fatalists,” replies Ryuu slowly and deliberately. Suddenly, Ryuu places a hand on the hilt of his sword, drawing it ever so slightly forth from its sheath. “If you refuse to tell me anything, I will use any means necessary to force you to.”

Flynn bursts into wild laughter in response, his head bobbing about manically and his eyes bulging eerily. “Hahaha! I refuse! You cannot force me to tell you anything!”

Ryuu merely watches Flynn’s jeers stoically. However, just as abruptly as he’d started laughing, Flynn calms down, his breathing still and controlled. “But…I do warn you that if you intend to stand up against my comrades…you only have ten days left before they arrive.”

“What?!” Ryuu growls, eyes widening slightly. He glances at Fayvard.

Fayvard shrugs. “Beats me. I haven’t been able to get anything outta him. This is news to me too.”

Ryuu rapidly turns back to Flynn. “Then who are you? What is your purpose for coming here? Why are you here ahead of your comrades?”

“Tch,” Flynn spits again, “I suppose it would not hurt to tell you as much. I am merely the reconnaissance. Although it deeply shames me to have been captured by the likes of you… His Highness will soon be here, and then you shall all suffer his wrath!”

“So will you,” Fayvard ridicules. “Your higher-ups won’t be happy with you losing the Shield of Wizet to us. Even if they come, we’ve got the shield on our side now.”

“Haha! I would like to see you dare to attempt to wield it!” Flynn howls, his eyes gleaming maddeningly again. “The Shield of Wizet is no ordinary weapon, fool… One requires an inordinate amount of mana to operate it. It would eat you alive and consume you whole if you dared try to use it!”

“Bastard…!” Fayvard breathes, clenching his fist. “Don’t underestimate us!”

Ryuu holds up a hand to silence Fayvard. “What are the specific requirements for using the Shield of Wizet?” he asks Flynn.

“As if I would ever tell you!” Flynn snarls in reply.

Ryuu withdraws his sword, and with the blink of an eye, cuts a shallow wound across Flynn’s knee. He screams and writhes in pain, as blood drains out of the wound.

Wordlessly, Ryuu sheathes his sword again. He glares at Flynn. “If you don’t speak, I’ll cut off that leg for real next time.”

Gasping in pain, Flynn nods hatefully. “Fine…I understand. The Shield of Wizet simply consumes mana for it to work. How much mana will depend on the person using it, and also the complexity of the object created. Multiple uses within a short frame of time are more costly. It is possible to kill oneself just by pouring too much mana into the shield. Therefore, it is advised that those who use the shield only use it once a month at a time, the time it takes for one’s body to naturally restore its mana reserves.”

“One last question…” Ryuu hisses. “How do you use the Shield of Wizet to enter your dimension?”

Behind Ryuu, Fayvard raises an eyebrow, peering on interestedly. Meanwhile, Flynn glares darkly and defiantly at Ryuu, his eyes aglow with a cold fury. “Fool, you seek to enter our dimension?! I shall never reveal to you that secret.”

The two, Ryuu and Flynn, stare tensely at each other for some time. Finally, Ryuu nods, breaking the silent exchange of glares between the two.

“Very well,” Ryuu says suddenly. He turns away. “I’ve heard all I wanted to hear. Let’s go, Fayvard.” Without another word, Ryuu begins retracing his steps back out into the hallway.

Fayvard turns to follow Ryuu as well, but not before taking one last glance at Flynn. Meanwhile, the latter writhes and twists about frantically, shouting violently. “Hey! Release me at once from here, you fools! Let me out, I command you!”

Ryuu takes one look at Flynn from the doorway, glancing at him from over his own shoulder. He smiles grimly. “Arai would have to kill me first when he comes.”

Far away in the desolate hills of the Night World, Kunai presses onward, out of breath and stamina, but forcing himself to continue nonetheless. He stops for a moment to take a break at the crest of a hill, exactly the same in appearance as all the other hills for miles around.

Kunai turns and stares off into the distance, where the bright lights of Skylark City lie twinkling distantly behind him. Overhead, the moon glimmers mysteriously behind a light fog.

‘Hopefully Rill and Xavier will be fine by themselves,’ Kunai thinks to himself, hands on his hips.

A light wind blows by, disturbing the dust on the ground and sending it flying up to attack Kunai’s eyes. He brushes some of it away from his eyes. Somewhere distantly, a train whistle sounds, faraway and forlorn. Suddenly, a piercing pain grips Kunai. He clutches his forehead, where a pulsing pain has erupted.

The pain is so severe that Kunai is forced to the ground. He crouches low against the ground, still gripping his forehead, eyes widened intensely.

“H-Headache…?!” he whispers feverishly.

Sunlight streams onto the empty field just outside of the Ellinian Forest. A huddle of about thirty or forty loosely armored men fill the field, chattering amongst themselves.

Silver tramples down a hill towards these men, her bow held beside her. She sighs, as she spots them slacking off and quarreling amongst each other. She opens her mouth in frustration to scold them, but is interrupted.

A silver-haired youth only a couple years younger than her steps in front of Silver, hands held proudly on his hips. He shouts at the top of his lungs. “YOOOO! LOSERS! Quit slacking off, here! Lady Silver’s back and you guys are a total disgrace! Get in line and listen to what the Lady has to say!”

The youth turns to Silver, winking at her as he glances at her from over his shoulder. “That good enough, Silver?”

Silver nods. “Y-Yeah,” she replies tentatively, “that’s good. You didn’t have to do that though, Wake…”

“Don’t be modest, Silver,” the boy named Wake replies, “I’m just trying to help you out! And a little thanks is in order too, I think!”

“Th-thanks…” Silver says without thinking. Wake grins in response and scampers down the hill to join his comrades.

Silver stands still, at the top of the hill looking down at the others, who have now finally fallen silent and are standing in an orderly fashion, watching Silver intently. She clears her throat.

“To those of you gathered here, the Rift World Union Army…thank you for sacrificing your time to our cause.” A smattering of polite applause and hooting commences. Silver blushes slightly. “I’ve spoken with Ryuu, leader of the forces of the Maple World. We will be joining him in battle in this forthcoming war against the Fatalists, that threatens not only the Rift World, not only the Maple World, but all of the four worlds created by the Four of Victoria Island long ago. From now on, we have to fight as one. There will be times of sorrow and grief ahead of us, because this will be a difficult battle. But we must continue on and fight in unity, in order to ensure the future of our separate worlds…”

Somewhere behind Silver, Ryuu watches her speak silently. At last, he turns away grimly, back towards the Academy building.

Mira and Ophelia sit side by side within Ryuu’s office. Through the open window comes into the room a few panels of sunshine, warm to the touch. All remains strangely quiet within the office. The ticking of a clock sounds, while the singing of birds floats into the room through the window.

Ophelia glances at Mira, who is sitting stiffly still in her chair. Mira is hunched over, resting her head on her clasped hands, a pensive look on her face. “Say, Mira,” Ophelia breaks the silence suddenly, “what do you think Headmaster Ryuu called us up here for?”

Mira relaxes, sitting up and looking at Ophelia. “Probably to tell us what his plans are for us while he and the others go fight the Fatalists…”

“Oh, that’s what I thought too…” Ophelia murmurs, looking down on the floor.

“If anything,” says Mira sharply, “I’m going to convince him to let us go with him to fight the Fatalists. We deserve to go too!”

“Oh, but you mustn’t!” Ophelia cries, raising her arms worriedly. “Headmaster Ryuu is only thinking in our best interests… I’m sure he would have said yes if he were sure we could handle it.”

“You wanna go too, don’t you, Ophelia?!” Mira cries impatiently. “I don’t want to just sit by and watch the others fight while I can’t do anything. I’m going to convince him to change his mind no matter what!”

Ophelia opens her mouth to argue back, but then changes her mind. She looks down at her lap, fumbling around with her fingers absentmindedly.

The door to the office suddenly opens, as Ryuu enters, the usual frown on his face. Both Mira and Ophelia jump to their feet as he enters, but Ryuu signals for them to sit down again. He strides over behind his desk, and takes a seat as well.

“Headmaster R—” Mira begins, but Ryuu shakes his head, silencing her.

For a moment, all remains quiet, as Ryuu swivels in his seat away from the two girls, glaring outside the window at the sunshine outside. He plops his booted feet on the window ledge, crossing his legs as he continues to stare out the window.

“Have you two heard of ‘soul potions?’” Ryuu asks abruptly.

Both Mira and Ophelia are taken aback for a moment. Mira is the first to speak. “O-Of course we have. We learned about them in class not too long ago. What about them?”

Ryuu sighs, bringing his legs down and turning to face them fully. He clasps his hands, peering at the two girls from over his touching hands. “Five years ago, they were considered pretty powerful weapons. Of course, technology changes over time. Soul potions are no longer considered a very advanced weapon these days.”

“That may be the case…but what are you trying to suggest, Headmaster Ryuu?” Mira asks perplexedly.

Ophelia leans in closer as well, eagerly anticipating Ryuu’s answer. “Does this have something to do with the mission you have for us?”

“Soul capsules,” Ryuu says plainly, causing both Mira and Ophelia to look at him in confusion. “When we started hunting down and destroying the last of the Myougun’s Paradoxes five years ago, we didn’t just track them down and kill them. We captured some of them and did some research on them. As a result, we learned a lot.”

“But what does this have to do with anything?” Mira questions.

“Everything,” Ryuu answers. “Prior to our studies on Paradoxes, we had no idea how the Myougun were making soul potions. The only way we could obtain them was by stealing them from the Myougun. But now, we know how to make them. And we’ve made improvements as well. We call these new weapons soul capsules. Cutting short the scientific mumbo-jumbo, these soul capsules are pressurized containers of Paradox material. Anyone who gets caught in their field of attack has their soul broken apart immediately.”

Ryuu pauses, a certain gleam in his eyes. “In other words, they’re a biological weapon.”

Kunai stands alone in the middle of a dark, lonely field. Forests of stalagmites of different sizes—some short, some as high as skyscrapers—surround him, rising far into the cavernous sky. A dense, cold fog hangs over the field.

Equipped to Kunai’s right hand is Myou. The red seal on the weapon sits dully on the black weapon, faded like an old, worn-out tattoo. Kunai turns around as he hears footsteps sound from behind.

“Azuma…” Kunai says, his voice echoing slightly in the vastness of the cavern.

Out of the fog, however, Kunai spots two shadowy figures approaching him. The one on the right emerges from the fog first, which Kunai recognizes immediately as Azuma.

Kunai bows low. “Azuma,” he says, “I’ve returned to the Underworld in order to ask for your help once more. I seek training to improve my skills with Myou.”

“I know,” Azuma replies, coming to a halt in front of Kunai. By his side, his sheathed Blue Screamer glimmers brightly even in the dim light. “I am aware of everything that has happened since the last time we met. However, before I accept you I must first test your strength once again, just as last time…”

Azuma places a hand on the hilt of his sword, massaging it gently. Kunai raises his Myou in response, clenching a fresh set of Steelys. “Very well. I’m ready to take you on, Azuma!”

“No,” Azuma growls mysteriously, causing Kunai to lower his guard, “I would first like you to test your strength against an old foe…”

Kunai’s eyes widen as a new figure steps out of the darkness behind Azuma. Lord Kimura smirks, his Blue Screamer shining with its unbearably blue glow.
—END THIRTY-THREE—
Out of nowhere, a longer chapter.