Chapter 40.1

With her cables, Fanny swirls in midair with much ease and attacks Gusion at almost all direction, giving him no time to go for an offensive attack. Angela could not trap her in her strings because she is too agile, all she could do is deflect the bullets that Granger shoots towards them.

Cyclops, who is watching from behind, wants to have his little revenge on the Emperor Scorpion for what he had done to him and Layla. But before he could even release his immobilizing hourglass-shaped magic, Harley, who just regained his consciousness, runs towards him and grapple him on the ground even when his wound gives shots of pain around his body.

"Deal with me first, one eye, before you face that idiot!" he yells at him as he tightens his grip on his collar. Tigreal immediately separates the two before they could fight against each other.

"Stay away from this shit, you stupid simp!" Cyclops yells back as he tries to get away from Tigreal's grip.

Meanwhile, Alucard, who now has the chance to go against Gusion, charges forward and swings his weapon—leaving golden streaks behind every swing. Within the range, Angela releases her strings which made Alucard step back but Fanny is once again on the roll to finish him off.

Hurling towards him, her swords whoosh against the air and with both hands, she strikes downward. But instead of Gusion, her weapons clang against the spider limbs of Nephila whose red eyes are raging in anger. Fanny retreats but Hanabi's Higanbana goes after her, giving time for Gusion to have a small break.

"Your hand," Nephila states as she stands before their squad leader, "I have the Magic Cube."

Trusting her words, Gusion outstretches his hand. He thought he's just imagining things but the moment Nephila holds his hand, he could sense an immense power within the small cube he is now holding.

"Stay away from here for a moment, open that first and I'll hold these guys until you're ready," Nephila states.

The moment Gusion and Angela vanishes in sight, a new team has joined the warriors of the Land of Dawn that seems to have descended from the heavens. Freya's golden wings make her look like a fallen angel but it is no time to be amazed on how glorious she looks. Landing smoothly behind her are Zilong, Claude and Gord—thankful that they finally got out from the harsh world of the Enchanted Forest.

"Gusion has the Magic Cube! Do not let him open it!" Zilong immediately yells before everything would be too late. The Lightborn squad is still confused about what the Magic Cube can do but they get the feeling of something threatening if it would be opened.

Seeing Nephila trying to delay the Lightborn squad all by herself, Freya could tell that she is someone who is protecting the Paxley rebel. Thus, she runs towards her as she summons her shield and sword. To make her offensive attack more powerful, she flutters her wings that speeds up her momentum.

"Go after Gusion!" she exclaims, "I'll deal with this Arachne!"

Following through with her instruction, the Lightborn squad, together with Zilong, goes after the Emperor Scorpion. But with the difference of power, Nephila is thrown back—hitting walls after walls—upon coming in contact with the goddess of war. Freya, still not assured that she defeated her with just one strike, flies where she is and sees her trying to stand back on both feet. On the edges of her lips, blood is trickling down but the glares Nephila is throwing at her tell her that she is still capable of fighting.

Raising her sword parallel to her body, Freya did not have any second thought in wanting to pierce Nephila's leg so she would be handicapped. But even before she could scratch her for the second time, a powerful force hurls her away from Hanabi.

"I hope I am not too late?" Gusion states as he offers his hand to help Nephila stand. Hanabi shakes her head as she accepts his help with a smile curved on the edges of her lips.

"You opened it," she says but her eyes scan the vicinity when she notices something. "Where are your pursuers?"

"They're having some sleepover," he replies with a grin.

Silvanna and Odette, even the other mages of Magical City, could sense a sudden surge of strong power around the city. But the center of it all could be directed where Gusion is and the dark clouds above Magical City starts to spiral around. Roaring thunders could be heard and flashes of lightning appear simultaneously.

Tightening his grip on Nephila's hand, Emperor Scorpion also gives her a portion of the overwhelming power that came from the Magic Cube.

"Shall we start the party?" he asks which Nephila responds to with a small nod.

The two part ways, with Angela still attached to their leader. Harley and Grock, who are watching from a safe place, could not believe what is going on—their squad members are on a rampage. Gusion used to summon only six of his holy blades but now, he can summon as many as he wanted. As for Nephila, the damage of her petal blades increased. Her Higanbana swishes around like a boomerang appearing in random places. Vespid's poison becomes even more lethal—killing her victims in a span of seconds.

Unable to tolerate what is happening, Esmeralda reveals herself to stop the VENOM squad. Shameless is she to do so after watching Gusion turn against Magical City for her to return to the heavens but she, too, did not expect that he would eventually have the Magic Cube.

Chanting an ancient spell, Esmeralda tries to stop the time even just for 10 seconds...no... five seconds are enough to kill Gusion and seal the Magic Cube once more. While the Lightborn and SABER squads are fighting the VENOM team, Esmeralda summons the powers of the stars and locks Gusion as her target.

"One strike," she mumbles to herself, "just one strike right at him will end this madness."

She jumps off the ground and a blinding, spherical light materializes just above her and her eyes are focused on Gusion's whereabout. With her power fully charged, Esmeralda swoops down towards Emperor Scorpion. Vespid tries to undo their attacker's magic but it is too strong for her to handle.

"Emperor, I cannot cancel that mage's power!" she claims. Gusion smirks in triumph as he summons a hundred of holy blades directed at Esmeralda. But the moment he swifts his hand to fire them, Nephila's Higanbana and a bronze cross blade outspeed the daggers and directly shoot the sphere that Esmeralda has created—cancelling it within seconds.

"Let me join the party!" Sivir exclaims as she lands with ease on the ground and stands just beside Nephila. Raising their hands together, their weapons come rushing back to them. Princess Odette wants to join and end the battle together with Princess Silvanna but she cannot just abandon the injured mages and warriors that are in need of immediate attention.

With Sivir's addition to the VENOM team, the fight is much more complicated especially that she is a stranger to everyone, well, except for Esmeralda. Princess Silvanna is not only worried of the destruction that the VENOM squad is inflicting to the city but she has a bad feeling about the vortex whirling just above Magical City.

"A vixen shall paint it red," she mumbles to herself, remembering the prophecy that was discussed before the war started. "Could the vixen be those two?"

Staring at both Sivir and Nephila, Princess Silvanna is determined to stop them. With her spear crackling as golden flashes of lightning surround it, she charges towards the two. Sivir wants to go against her so she shooed Nephila away and take care of the rest. Silvanna's spear is directed towards Sivir's chest but she simply blocks her attack with her cross blade. Clanging of metals and streaks of light are left to be seen by the eyes as the two clashes at lightning speed.

"You disgraceful son, I shall kill you rather than accept you after this atrocity and shame you have put our clan in!" Mr. Paxley is enraged as he faces his son after a long time of not seeing him. Despite his anger, Gusion simply shrugs his shoulders and tells Vespid to detach from him so he could have a fair fight with his father.

"A man like you, who is always concerned of the family's reputation rather than becoming a father first to his children, has no right to accuse me of atrocity and being shameless," Gusion responds as holy blade after holy blade appears just behind him. "Didn't I just become a hateful man like you? But never mind that, let me show you the power that your bigoted clan has despised."

He initiates the first move but instead of attacking his father, Gusion charges towards the remaining mages of their clan that are hiding behind the shadows. By the looks of it, they want to ambush him but he won't fall to such pathetic trap. With a smirk drawn on his lips, his eyes reflect his excitement of annihilating his own clan. With his daggers shooting every mage lunging at him and even those who try to run away, drops of blood littered the vicinity. Their magic has no damage on him for the heart of Enchanted is absorbing those magic that are weaker.

"Hey, old man," Gusion states upon coming to a halt after eradicating the others, "it's your turn."

He faces his father and together with his holy blades, they charge forward with the intent to kill. But everything seems to have slowed down when Gusion is shot right at his chest. His hundreds of holy blades vanish and warm liquid starts to cover his chest. He did not expect that at such crucial time, he would be stopped.

"You did it," he whispers. His gaze is fixed on one person—Lesley. With a small thud, he falls on his knees as his vision starts to become blurry as the serum inside the bullet rushes in every part of his body. Who would have thought that his downfall is not because of magic?

Afraid that another bullet would hit him, Grock summons a huge wall to block anymore attacks that are directed to their leader.

"I'll never forgive you if you die on me," Lesley mumbles as she runs towards the fallen Emperor.