Tales of a Lost Sword 97

Oh hey, would you look at that, today’s chapter on time. Including this one, four more chapters left in the series!
Episode 97 Dukes are Wild
What little light is present in the hallway falls slanted upon Flynn’s dark face. His fangs are bared, and a maddened, deranged look controls his face. “So the second of the Anti-Phonemes has appeared before me. Indeed, this must be divine providence.” He stretches out his free arm to Mira. “Come, Mira, join me, and we shall create a brand new world together.”

A glimmer of repressed rage shines in Mira’s eyes. Finally, it explodes tumultuously. “Are you kidding me, join you?! Give Ophelia back now!”

“No,” Flynn replies, “you are needed to change the world. With you, I can—what?!”

At that moment, a blinding white light erupts from the hearts of both Mira and the unconscious Ophelia. Seeing this, an even more maddened look enters Flynn’s face. “I see…I see it all now!” he howls ecstatically. He turns towards the door in behind him and bursts through it, cackling gleefully.

Blinded by the light coming inexplicably from her own chest, Mira chases after Flynn, flying up the stairs after him. “Wait!” she cries, stumbling hurriedly up the stairs. ‘What’s this light…?!’

Mira emerges upon a massive platform at the very top of the Fatalists’ castle. The ground is still covered with ice, and a low fog hangs over the entire roof. She freezes at the very edge of the stairs as she sees Arai standing before her, Fayvard and Cynthia beside him.

Arai raises the Sword of Nexon, his teeth bared as Flynn approaches. “Flynn…” he mutters under his breath.

Even as Arai speaks, however, the blinding white light emitting from both Mira and Ophelia continues to grow brighter. Additionally, the lights coming from their hearts are now joined by a third, coming from Cynthia. She steps backwards as the light from her heart grows brighter and brighter. “What’s…happening to me?” she whispers, holding her hands over her chest.

Frowning, Arai looks from each of the girls to the next. “Something’s happening with the Anti-Phonemes. Something is causing them to react with each other!”

Beside Arai, Fayvard’s eyes widen fearfully. “You mean…the Sheath of the Maple Hero’s Sword is coming out of them? But if that happens…”

“No,” Arai retorts quickly, “I don’t think we need to fear that happening just yet…”

“Hahaha!” Flynn cackles, stepping to Arai and Fayvard’s midst. “You really do not understand what is happening, do you? Then allow me to explain…the secret so well-kept that not even His Majesty Arai, yes, not even Grendel, understands!”

“Secret?” repeats Arai softly.

“What are you talking about?” Fayvard growls under his breath.

With a flourish, Flynn turns towards the two of them. He raises a commanding hand, and to Cynthia’s surprise, the sapphire necklace flies out of her hands and into Flynn’s. Catching the necklace in his hand, Flynn stares at it for a moment with a self-satisfied smirk.

“The Anti-Paradox?” Fayvard hisses.

“Yes,” Flynn replies triumphantly, “the Anti-Paradox. Otherwise known as Wizet’s Emblem.”

Zack looks perplexedly still at Xavier, as the two of them grapple with a couple more Fatal Knights. “I still don’t quite understand who you are or why you’re here,” Zack says, lazily knocking one of the Knights off his feet with his staff.

“We’re with the ARES Project,” replies Xavier, darting furiously about as two of the Knights attempt to corner him. The two Knights crash into each other as Xavier flits out of the way. He fires a bolt through each of their heads as they break away. The two Knights fall to the ground, massive glaciers sprouting over their helmets.

“ARES Project, huh?” Zack whispers hurriedly. “So you’re with Kunai then. But you guys’re Fatalists!”

“Yeah,” Xavier answers grimly. “We swore we’d repay our debts to Kunai, and so we’ve become Fatalists using the Anti-Paradox in order to help you end this war, with great risk to our own lives.”

“Risk?”

“Yeah. Becoming Fatalists is a much riskier business than thought. We’ve already suffered losses of our own…”

“Do not speak of Geronimo,” Valoria warns cautiously, striking down a Knight running towards the two. “He would not want us to dwell for long on his absence.”

“Yeah,” says Xavier again. “You’re right, Valoria. We’ll make it up to him by beating these Fatalists!” Nonetheless, he wipes a few tears from his eyes with his sleeve.

Nodding, Zack flashes a brief smile. “I still don’t quite get it, but that’s enough for me t’hear. Let’s fight together to beat these guys!”

Silver agilely darts past two of her men struggling with a Knight. She joins Kai, who is currently heavily engaged with Tau.

As Silver arrives, Tau manages to gain the upper hand; he flips over in midair and brings his spear swooping upwards, cutting under Kai. The latter goes flying and lands in a crumpled heap several feet away.

Silver rushes over to Kai’s side, bending over him. “Are you all right?!” she cries.

“Yeah…” Kai nods gruffly, placing a hand on his masked head.

“Be careful,” Silver warns breathlessly, “his Fatalist ability increases his strength each time his blood is shed. We have to be selective with our attacks. In order to win, we need to take him out decisively.”

Kai nods silently in reply.

Meanwhile, Tau haughtily strides towards them, his spear resting loftily on his broad shoulders. “Hmph,” he hisses, frowning at Kai specifically, “That ugly skull mask you’ve got on there… It makes a mockery of the Fatalists! I ought to remove it for you!”

“Is that so?” Kai sneers, his Zamadar coming alive with a current of lightning and ice.

Arai’s frown softens slightly at Flynn’s words. “Is that all?” he asks. “Unfortunately for you, Flynn, I already surmised as much, that the Anti-Paradox here is Wizet’s Emblem?”

“Wizet’s Emblem?” Fayvard asks. “What the hell is that?”

“A relic said to have belonged to the God of Creation, Wizet… Wizet’s Emblem was a device that had the power to bring together all souls. Originally, Wizet used it to bind the world together and to separate it into the world of the living and of the dead. It is because of the Emblem that life exists in the first place. I never knew for certain if the Anti-Paradox was Wizet’s Emblem or not…but after witnessing Kunai’s transformation, and the way the Phonemes were summoned…there can be no doubt about it. The Anti-Paradox is Wizet’s Emblem.”

“That is only half of the story,” Flynn interrupts sneeringly. “It seems that not even the Royal Family itself understands this, but as Duke of Ossyria, my family controls the infinitely vast libraries of Orbis, which hold within their chambers all the secrets of the world.

“Yes. You know of the Twin Weapons, the Sword of Nexon and the Shield of Wizet, but that is only half of the story. For, secretly, Nexon and Wizet forged their own secret weapons, known as the Higher Weapons, that possessed the power to defeat the Twin Weapons should they have ever fallen into the wrong hands. Wizet’s Emblem is one of the Higher Weapons. The Nexon’s Sheath is the other.

“Yes, yes, yes! The Sheath is a weapon far greater than both the Twin Weapons combined… Indeed, it surpasses the power of even Grendel himself! With this, I shall become the ruler of a brand new world!”

For several seconds, Arai watches Flynn with stunned eyes. However, he quickly recovers. “Impossible!” he protests. “The Sheath and the Emblem have nothing to do with each other! The Sheath was merely constructed to check the Sword of Nexon.”

“That is what you have been led to believe,” Flynn replies, his face darkening considerably, “however…in actuality, the Sheath is not a weapon of defense. It is a weapon of destruction. It is known as the Sheath not because it is for holding the Sword of Nexon, but because it is a chalice with the potential to absorb an even greater power!”

Fayvard looks uncertainly from Flynn to Arai. “No way…that can’t be true!”

However, Arai remains silent. He stares fixedly at Flynn. Finally, Flynn breaks into a sneer. “Hmph. If you do not believe me, then I shall allow the Emblem to provide the proof! Look, it is already calling forth the pieces of the Sheath buried deep within these girls’ souls!”

With a flash of brilliance, the light from each of the girls, Cynthia, Mira, and Ophelia reaches a crescendo of brightness. Immediately, three flames of white light fly straight out of each of them into Flynn’s outstretched hand. Slowly, a sheath made of black metal forms in his hand. As the Sheath consolidates, Flynn holds it up for all to see. It is an empty black container. Elaborate lines of gold run across the Sheath, but otherwise it is rather plain-looking.

“Behold…the Sheath! With this, I shall defeat Grendel myself, and I shall become master of this world!”

At the head of the hall, under the shadow of Grendel’s statue, Silver and Kai continue to engage Tau, their weapons flying like blurs through the air.

“Come on, come on, come on!” Tau hollers, deflecting each blow by Silver and Kai with ease. “If you expect to win this war, this ain’t gonna cut it!”

“Oh?” Silver smirks. “You may have started with the advantage, but the tide is turning. Look for yourself!”

Indeed, though half of the Rift Army lies dead or in pools of blood on the ground, twice as many of downed Fatal Knights litter the floor. Tau bares his teeth unpleasantly as he views this sight.

“So what?” he spits. “Checkmate ain’t called until the leader is defeated!”

“Oh?” Silver says again. Next to her, Kai retreats away from Tau in order to catch his breath. She turns to her comrade in battle. “I have a plan. Get ready to strike when I say so.”

“You have a plan, huh?” Tau sneers, digging his heels into the ground and lowering his shoulders so that the very tip of his spear points directly at Silver. “I’m looking forward to seeing it…”

Arai bites his lip, stepping cautiously away from Flynn as he brandishes the Sheath loftily in the air. “Impossible…” he hisses, his golden eyes displaying a hint of concern for the first time. “To think that even I did not know about this…”

Just behind Arai, Cynthia drops to her knees. She holds a hand up to her chest, where moments before was present the glowing white piece of the Sheath. “That…was inside me all this time?”

Flynn bursts into a condescending grin as he stares at Arai, the Sheath at his fingertips. “The Sheath…is mine at last. With this, I shall conquer the world, for not even Grendel shall be able to stop me! However, fear not, Your Majesty… This Sheath will do you no harm yet. But it is only a matter of time before I shall possess the power to rule the world!”

Triumphantly, Flynn turns around to walk back down the stairs. However, a new figure blocks the path. Recelo stands in the way, his breathing heavy, blood pouring out from underneath his many bandages. Still, he manages to hold onto his Doombringer with both hands.

“What are you doing here?” Flynn snarls contemptuously.

“I never trusted you much anyway…FLYNN!” Recelo roars. With a cry, he thrusts forward and pierces straight through Flynn’s stomach with his Doombringer. Blood splatters across the moonless sky.
—END NINETY-SEVEN—