Episode 88 Privilege to the Throne
Arai quickly recomposes himself. He brandishes the Sword of Nexon in his right hand, a taut frown on his face as he greets his own grandfather. “Welcome back…Grandfather,” he hisses as the figure of Grendel, robed in pure black, approaches from the narrow platform extending into the sky.
“Pointing the Sword of Nexon at me, eh?” Grendel growls in his wizened but strong voice. “You have grown indeed, Arai, if you dare to point such a thing at your own grandfather. Grown in foolishness, that is.”
“Be quiet and die already!” Arai shouts angrily. He waves the sword threateningly through the air. “I have spent the past five years preparing for this moment, storing up enough mana through mana meditation to kill you! I cannot fail!”
“I see,” mutters Grendel. “You have indeed been busy in the time since those foolish Fatalists dared turn against my rule. That bastard Fain. While my powers eroded away in Zero Dimension, he has turned my own grandson against me! You were always a pitiful heir, Arai…unfit for the throne!”
“I told you to be quiet!” Arai sweats, still brandishing the Sword of Nexon but not doing anything with it. “I have taken your throne from you, and now I will take your life as well! The people desire a ruler that is kind and who cares for them! They do not want you as king!”
“Hmph!” Grendel sneers. “And you believe you can deliver prosperity to them? The people do not understand what they want. They do not know what is good for them! Do not be foolish, boy! I have come back to take back the throne that belongs to me and only me! The throne was never yours to take, you ungrateful scoundrel!”
Kunai and Fayvard watch the back and forth banter between Arai and Grendel with awe. Kunai narrows his eyes, barely breathing. “So this is the true Grendel…and to think that the Grendel I knew in our dimension was so kind and well-meaning…”
“Yeah…” Fayvard agrees softly. “Grendel was stern, but he always looked out for us. To think that this was his true nature all along. That whole family can’t be trusted!”
With a deep breath, Arai raises the Sword of Nexon with intent and purpose at last. His lightning yellow eyes glow brightly as he channels energy into the sword. “Enough, Grandfather! Now will be the end of everything! This will be over in one stroke! Die!” Arai swings the Sword of Nexon, pouring forth all of his mana into its blade.
A cacophony of noise as of a thousand thunderstorms brewing sounds as the sword explodes, unleashing a powerful wave of white-hot energy that surrounds Grendel all at once. The shriek of vengeance rising from the sword tears the very fabric of the atmosphere asunder, its energy reverberating all throughout the world.
Mira instinctively looks towards the direction of the roof of the Fatalists’ castle as a jolt lurches through her very soul. Her eyes widening inexplicably, she stares as a tremor of lightning seems to throb from the very highest reaches of the castle.
As Flynn holds tightly onto her, Ophelia gasps. She stops in her tracks, causing Flynn to turn back and give a forceful tug on her arm. However, Ophelia ignores him, her own eyes widening as some inexplicable sensation crosses her heart.
Pausing in the middle of her trek through the Fatalists’ castle, Cynthia comes to complete stop. She narrows her eyes, as the echo of some tremendous force seems to reverberate throughout her own body. A brief, chaotic flash of images run through her mind.
Gasping breathlessly, Cynthia doubles over, clutching her heart as she breathes heavily. Standing up straight again, Cynthia looks fearfully around, but the hallway remains eerily mundane.
“Kunai… So that is where you are…! Hang on, Kunai! I’m coming!”
Both Kunai and Fayvard step back fearfully in awe of the sword’s awesome power. They hold their arms out in front of them, attempting desperately to withstand the powerful reaction of wind and energy flowing back towards them.
“So this is the Sword of Nexon…!” Kunai cries. “It’s even more powerful than I imagined!”
The Sword of Nexon’s energy materializes around Grendel, crashing into him in several waves like waterfalls. Vicious flames of mana wipe away everything in the way as the very air seems to disintegrate under the heavy pressure. But even the Sword’s power proves too little against Grendel. He waves his hand, calmly shaking off Arai’s assault.
With another flick of Grendel’s hand, the power of the Sword of Nexon’s attack is quelled. Then with almost relative ease, Grendel walks out of the cascade of energy without a single scratch. The storm of mana and power seemingly quiets into a feeble cry, before becoming stifled altogether. Arai watches with shock etched onto every fiber of his face as Grendel calmly strides out of the attack’s searing flames.
Slowly, Arai lowers the Sword of Nexon. His hands begin quivering. Kunai and Fayvard watch breathlessly from behind him as Grendel continues to approach Arai as if a mere breeze has simply fluttered past him.
“H-How…?!” Arai hisses, his entire body now shaking with disbelief.
“My foolish Grandson!” Grendel snorts. “The Sword of Nexon will not work on its master. I mastered the twin weapons of Nexon and Wizet and made them my servants long before you were even born. My powers surpass the two of them combined!”
With a clang, Arai drops the Sword of Nexon on the ground. It lies at his feet, its magnificent blade gleaming dully still from the heat of its recent usage. Arai takes an unconscious step backwards as Grendel approaches relentlessly.
Suddenly, Arai gathers himself again. “Stop!” he snarls, causing Grendel to come to a halt paces away from him. Arai draws his Blue Marine staff, nothing but resolution gleaming in his eyes. “If the Sword of Nexon does not work on you, then I shall kill you myself!”
In a flash, Arai sends a chilling barrage of ice flying towards Grendel. Arai then teleports out of the way, anticipating a counterattack. He steps behind Grendel, firing a bullet of lightning at his back.
With a flick of his wrist, Grendel melts the ice. He teleports away from the bolt of lightning and following another wave of his hand, Grendel imprisons Arai within a cage of whirring blue mana. Arai thrashes his staff against the bars of charged mana, but the cage resists, refusing to give way.
“Release me at once, Grandfather!” Arai shouts angrily from behind his cage. However, Grendel ignores him, his eyes falling instead about the watching Kunai and Fayvard. Grendel’s eyes linger for a particularly long moment upon Kunai.
The chorus of shouts rises high into the air and reverberates throughout the grand hall, which is built like a cathedral. The ceiling rises far into the heavenly sky, its rafters towering high over the ground below. A faint golden light filters into the hall through the canopy of wooden rafters and beams, bathing the hall below in an eerie warm glow devoid of any kindness.
At the very front of the hall stands a statue made of a sort of sparkling stone in the guise of Grendel. The taller-than-life figure towers over the rest of the hall as Grendel cradles his staff in his right hand, while he carries an ancient tome filled with archaic runes in the other. His evil glare looms menacingly over the main entrance into the hall. At the statue’s feet is a regal pool of water, its surface glimmering from the shine of coins sitting at the bottom.
On the ground, a maze of crisscrossing hallways and doors lines the walls of the hall from both sides. Again, the battle cries disturb the deathly still air inside the cathedral nearly large enough to contain a small town.
Silver and Wake stand at the forefront of a small battalion of ragtag troops, armed with no more than simple, makeshift spears, swords, maces, and farm tools. Behind the two of them lurk Zack, Rill, and Mira, their own weapons raised in the air as they, along with everyone else in the Rift Army, gaze sternly at the other end of the hall.
From a staircase hidden behind the statue of Grendel has emerged a much more imposing army of warriors. Their faces are hidden behind metal helmets that resemble cow skulls, with horns protruding out of the back. In front of their heavily-armored bodies each knight wields an Eviscerator, its crescent moon tip gleaming palely in the light of the hall.
“So they were expecting us after all…” Silver hisses with a frown, her eyes narrowed tensely. She tightens her grip on her bow, not removing her gaze from the army of knights gathered before her.
Nearby, Wake suddenly takes a step back in alarm. “Who’s that?!” Using his one eye, he traces the movements of a solitary figure standing atop one of the massive shoulders of Grendel’s statue.
The others now turn their attention to this new figure as well. With amazing agility, the thin figure leaps off the statue of Grendel and lands lithely upon the ground directly in front of the Fatal Knights. He brushes a few sharp strands of brown hair out of his mischievous green eyes.
“Was this all that Arai was afraid of?” the haughty figure laughs sneeringly. He raises his hand. Though he is not armored as heavily as the rest of the knights behind him are, he wields in his hands a Stormshear that more than makes up for the lack of imposing armor. He laughs again at the stunned faces in front of him. “Heh! Nice to meet you. Tau’s the name.”
Arai throws his fist against the charged mana of his cage, electrifying only himself. “At least acknowledge me when I speak to you! Are you such a coward that you refuse to fight me, imprisoning me in this cage instead? Cowards have no right to occupy the throne!”
Grendel turns impatiently, glaring at Arai with malicious intent in his eyes. “Do you want to die that badly?” he snarls, his voice barely above a whisper. Arai glares back at him defiantly, but his eyes, reflecting the figure of Grendel, betray his confidence as Grendel stares him down.
“There are better things to throw your life away on,” Grendel continues. “Do you think you are so righteous that you have the right to lecture your own grandfather? You are in no position to do so, boy! You may have occupied the throne while I was imprisoned, but so long as I am alive, I will never give you permission to sit in it legitimately! I am the King, the one and only! Do you understand me?”
With a sound like shattering glass, the mana cage around Arai suddenly collapses. Out of the shards of splintered mana, Arai teleports forward with a blazing flash of blue light. He lands a rapid blow upon Grendel from behind, sinking a crackling blade of lightning into his back.
Grendel easily breaks off the spear of lightning, quickly firing back an even more devastating beam of white light back. Arai teleports away again, but within moments grinds to a halt in front of Grendel, grabbing his shoulder, where his robes have been cut slightly, but no blood has been drawn. He breathes heavily, his eyes narrowed with focus.
“Oh?” Grendel sneers, clearly impressed. “To think that you managed to escape one of my attacks with such skill… You have grown indeed, Arai, but still not enough to defeat me!”
Grendel raises his hand. Arai widens his eyes, as mana concentrates around his grandfather’s hand. ‘He can’t be…!’ Arai teleports out of the way once more, but not quickly enough to block Grendel’s attack.
At once, a ray of white light explodes over Arai, ensnaring him in a ring of scorching white mana. The mana erupts into fire; the flames quickly gather momentum as they burn, as if absorbing mana straight out of the atmosphere. Within seconds, the flames swell to a height twice as tall as Arai, forming a wall all around him.
Eyes glassy, Arai bites his lips, preparing for the worst. ‘Grandfather’s most devastating attack…Dimension Collapse! This is really the end for me, then—’
“Arai!”
Both Kunai and Fayvard cry with surprise as a blur of black and purple slips past them. The Fatalist teleports straight into the center of the circle of flames now surrounding Arai and pushes him out of the way just as the flames begin to solidify into twisting bands of searing white mana.
Arai crashes into the ground with a strangled cry. Hurriedly scrambling back to his feet, he widens his eyes as he spots Lillia now standing in the circle in his place. In the precious seconds spent protecting Arai, the white flames have now completely surrounded Lillia as they quickly transform into an eerie cocoon of white ice.
Grimacing, Lillia nevertheless flashes Arai a smile from within the bubble. As she speaks, her voice echoes from within the crystalline cocoon. “Dimension Collapse cannot be escaped and prevents its target from moving, right? Then if I replace Arai everything will be fine…”
“S…Stop it, Lillia!” Arai screams, unrestrained fear now permeating every fiber of his body. “If you do that, you’ll…!” Rushing towards the cocoon, Arai pounds on it frantically, even as it begins to speed up again as it gathers energy. “Lillia!”
“Get away, Arai!” Lillia cries, kneeling down on the ground and wrapping her arms around herself. “The Fatalists have to live on, right, Arai? To save the world, right, Arai?”
“No, stop it!” Arai pleads shakily at the top of his lungs, tears now streaming from his eyes. “I don’t deserve to be saved! Lillia!”
But mercilessly, the bubble around Lillia begins to collapse in a chaotic avalanche. A powerful whirling noise as of a hurricane forms within the cocoon and within seconds, explodes with a sound unlike any ever heard before, like matter suddenly being obliterated from existence.
As the wind from the blast ripples outward over those gathered upon the ceiling of the Fatalists’ castle, dust and ash fall from the sky like snow. Slowly, the debris from the attack begins to clear, and in the middle of the chaotic scene can be seen the fallen figure of Lillia, lying meekly upon the charred ground.
Arai slowly crawls towards her dying figure. He stares pitifully at her broken body. Lillia opens her eyes faintly and watches Arai with tears in them. Weakly, she raises a hand and grabs his wrist. “I…can die happy, right, Arai? I saved the King’s life…for this, the Fatalists will be able to give peace to our world at last…”
Lifelessly, Lillia’s hand slowly drops to the ground in as her eyes close with painful gradualness. Arai shudders, a few tears from his own eyes dropping onto her pale face as he bends over her.
From out of the mist that has fallen over the roof the castle comes Grendel, glaring foully down at the two of them. “Hmph,” he remarks, “normally that attack would have entirely vaporized her body and left nothing behind. My powers have indeed decayed during my time imprisoned in Zero Dimension.”
“GRENDEL!” Arai howls, rising now from the rubble on the ground. Supreme hatred glows in his golden eyes as Arai glares wrathfully at his own grandfather.
“Be glad, Arai,” Grendel says, completely ignoring Arai’s wrath. “It seems that you will have some time to regroup with your Fatalists. My powers have not fully returned yet, and until they do, I must bide my time and wait for them to do so. I expect that will take a couple days at least. Only then will I be free to reclaim what is rightfully mine without holding back. Goodbye until then!”
“W-Wait!” roars Arai, chasing after Grendel as he moves to leave. However, Grendel proves too fast; within seconds, he has already disappeared into the wind, leaving Arai standing alone in a pool of rubble, surrounded by the dead body of Lillia and the awed figures of Kunai and Fayvard.
Just outside the reaches of the Fatalists’ castle, a swirling portal begins to open. It squeezes open into thin air with a groan, as three dark figures emerge from its depths. The three visitors land lightly upon the dewy grass, looking about at their surroundings in the still evening air.
Nearby, the rising chorus of clashing weapons and the roars of battle interrupt the peace outside the castle. Every once in a while, a particularly loud explosion rattles the castle, sending flocks of birds retreating into the air in fright. Xavier, Kai, and Valoria direct their gazes forward grimly, facing the massive castle now standing before them.
—END EIGHTY-EIGHT—