Tales of a Lost Sword 70

Episode 70 Second Chance
Another explosion rocks the Academy, as chaos descends upon Ellinia. The stone wall to the underground prison cell is torn open by a particularly nasty explosion. Flynn sheds the metal chains around his wrists, casting them aside onto the floor. He places a hand on his shoulder, stretching it by rotating his arm in a windmill motion.

“All right, it has been a long time since I have had my freedom!” Flynn cackles.

He stumbles out of the rubble of his former prison cell, staring about as the Fatalist forces of the Night World invade the Academy.

“Tch…should I be surprised that the fools of the false dimension are waging war amongst themselves even while we are so close to annihilating them?”

Flynn looks up at the Academy rising on a hill above him, spotting the window into Ryuu’s office. Several nervous figures peer out of the window. Flynn’s mind rushes to Ophelia.

“Damn it…these fools are irritating!”

Geronimo pulls back his fist, having crushed the skull of the firebomb Fatalist with ease. He turns to Xavier, Kai, and Valoria. “All right, that’s the last of this group.”

“Good,” Xavier replies, shifting his gaze up the hill to the academy, where the bulk of the commotion appears to be originating. “It looks like their main force is up there, though.”

The four hopscotch over the hill, arriving in the midst of the main force of the Nightless Empire. All around them, pseudo-Fatalists rampage about, their movements imprecise, but their destruction devastating nonetheless.

Valoria draws her katara, slashing through one of the Fatalists in a flash. With her other blade, she stabs the Fatalist in the back with a twisting motion, disemboweling him. The Fatalist falls to the ground with a disgusting squelch.

“Damn it, there sure are a lot of them!” Xavier gasps, as another of the Fatalists sprints towards him. He fires a bolt from his crossbow, nailing the Fatalist in the neck.

“Yeah, but they don’t seem that strong,” Kai retorts.

“That’s true…”

Ophelia hurtles desperately through the corridors of the school and down a flight of stairs, emerging outside where the battle rages. A large spider web suddenly forms a roadblock in front of her, catching her off guard.

Wrestling blindly with the silky fibers of the web, Ophelia does not notice a dark figure sneak up behind her. Without warning, the fibers of the spider web turn to ice, freezing Ophelia in place. She screams, as a Fatalist rushes toward her from behind, a dagger in his hands.

Out of nowhere, a flash of white light rushes past Ophelia. In the next second, the Fatalist lies dead on the ground, a deep cut across his chest. Ophelia turns as Flynn cuts away the web sealing her in place.

“Flynn!” Ophelia cries with surprise.

“Yeah,” Flynn replies, “consider this my gratitude for earlier.”

“Flynn!” Ophelia says again, this time with more cheer in her voice. “I knew there was a nice guy within you after all!”

“Jeez, you make me blush,” Flynn answers. “I am merely repaying a debt. Besides, I cannot stand the sight of these pathetic so-called ‘Fatalists’ souring the name of the true Fatalists! They are nothing but pathetic human beings!”

“Either way, you saved me, so that makes you nice!”

“I-I am not nice! I demand you to retract that statement at once!”

Flynn sighs. “At any rate…why are you on the battlefield? This is no place for a lady as yourself.”

Ophelia glances at Flynn out of the corner of her eye. “I was going to the battlefield to help fend off these Fatalists. If no one is going to protect the school, who is?”

At great length, Flynn sighs again. He stares at Ophelia with his aqua blue eyes. “Very well. I shall do it.”

Xavier lowers his crossbow, having downed another Fatalist. He breathes heavily, obviously out of breath from the nonstop grind of killing the enemy Fatalists.

“There’s…too many!” he groans, sidestepping as another Fatalist rushes straight at him. He fires a bolt into the Fatalist’s back, sending him sprawling onto the ground.

Geronimo flies past Xavier, knocking one that had been creeping up behind Xavier to the ground with his fist. “Yeah. They keep coming in waves.”

“Try this then!” A burst of pressurized water pummels into Geronimo directly in the stomach, sending him skidding backwards with a grunt.

Xavier jumps back as well, raising his crossbow in front of him as he identifies the new enemy. “Tsing?!”

“Hrm, so it is him,” Valoria mutters next to Xavier, watching with interest.

The red-haired assailant points a thumb at himself. “Yeah, that’s…ME, YOU BASTARDS!” The mage suddenly begins howling madly, saliva running down his foaming mouth.

“That sounds like Zareth’s voice, too…what is going on here?” hisses Valoria.

“It must be the effects of the Anti-Paradox,” Kai growls.

“Tsing and Zareth…” Xavier says. “You two were ARES members who disappeared shortly before Alto left the base. So this is your fate…”

“Yup, so please die now!” Tsing cries, pointing at Xavier’s face. A blast of scalding hot water flies out of his finger like a laser, heading straight for Xavier.

Geronimo blocks the attack at the last moment, absorbing it with his massive biceps. Steam flies from his wound, as a deep burn grows across his arm. Shuddering slightly, Geronimo nevertheless recomposes himself.

“Geronimo, thanks!” Xavier cries.

“Yeah!”

“What a sad fate for two of our former comrades,” says Valoria, brandishing her katara. “To become mere pawns of the Nightless Empire…”

“I WOULDN’T SAY THAT!” Tsing froths, conjuring a massive tide of water out of nowhere. The water crashes into the ground with a deafening roar.

In a flash, Kai bursts through the wall of water, slashing at it with his zamadar. The water steadily solidifies into ice, glistening in the bright sunlight.

Valoria joins Kai, appearing out of nowhere to land several quick hits on Tsing with her dual blades. Tsing sways wildly, blood whipping out of his wounds. “Ah, damn…you…!” he cries, blood flying from his mouth.

Geronimo steps forward, aiming a mighty swing at Tsing. At the last moment, Tsing manages to dodge the attack, but Geronimo merely turns around, grabbing Tsing from behind with a massive bear hug.

Xavier now steps in, aiming with his crossbow and firing several bolts into Tsing’s body. Blood pops outwards in the opposite direction.

Finishing off the attack, Geronimo now lets Tsing go, allowing him to sway for a moment before crushing his skull with a devastating downward punch over the head.

Tsing lies on the ground, his eyes wide open, but obviously dead. A pool of blood rushes out from under his body, staining the green grass crimson. Kai stares silently at Tsing’s body, his eyes glistening slightly even from behind his mask.

‘Anti-Paradoxes…aren’t they the same as Paradoxes? In the end, it’s all the same…people end up suffering…’

A sardonic clapping suddenly draws the attention of the four on the ground. They turn as one, as a new figure saunters into view. Dressed in magnificently white robes is Alto, his pale, sneering face shining in the sunlight.

“Well done, ARES members. I was certain that encountering one of your former allies would be enough to unsettle you. I suppose I was wrong. However, your foolish resistance against the might of the Nightless Empire ends here.”
—END SEVENTY—
Probably about a month away from finishing writing ToaLS. Hopefully. There’ll be enough chapters to likely last through the rest of the year at this current pace though.