[Chains of Time] - Lycreus
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|| CHAPTER 24 | [Chains of Time] - Lycreus ||
"In the previous tale that we read, you took note of the snake-like chains the former Keeper had, I believe? Now then, let's–– hmm? "Why would the chains follow people," you asked?
"Well, Lycreus is by far the strongest form of chains I know–– consisting of several silver bounds tied together–– they are referred to as one soul.
"Not only are the chains loyal, but they also have a mind of their own. The only holder I know they recognise is none other than Seimei no Seigyo-ki, wielder of the famous Time Magic. Lycreus who have the same power would very well follow him around 'till the end of time."
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"May your souls rest in peace and repent your sins."
"We pray that the gods above will have mercy on you and give you a second chance."
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As the tensioning air came to no halt, the fox spirits exhaled heavily without tearing their eyes away from the traces of life left behind by the half-demons they defeated.
Their visions quivered not upon the last dust being blown away by the northern wings of the stars above. Fuyukiku and Shiroyuubi walked away towards the other pair of spirits Shizuka's contracted with, watching them fight from the background.
Escaping their peripheral view, Kurogane went away from the others and attacked the black demon and the green-haired one with a double sword, slashing and slashing again.
Verdant green vines grew out of the ground, binding the wolf's legs. Stodged hastily, it felt as if his legs were numb. They went up to his body, trapping him completely.
"Urgh!! Why you––!!"
"BWHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHHA!! THINK YOU CAN RUN AWAY FROM ME?!!" the green-headed demon laughed hysterically, a crazed look on his face when he saw Kurogane struggled to free himself.
"Those vines were made out of my flesh and blood, brought to life by the KING's magic, infused with the powers and energies of my victims. THERE'S NO WAY YOU CAN GET AWAY FROM THEM, BWAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHH!!!"
"Ughhh!!! Kyuusei, behind you...!"
Kyuusei immediately rolled to the side after hearing Kurogane's warning, dodging the two attacks from tall and big demons at the same time, resulting in the two colliding with each other.
"Oof! Out of the way, ya' big oaf!!" a loud shriek came from the tall demon, his messy hair growing wild every second. As if they were snakes, the ends of his long, vicious locks hissed viciously at whom the demons considered an ally.
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Of course, there would be occasional fights amongst the corrupted souls of those halflings.
'When will they ever get along.' The red-headed demon growled and took a hasty step back, dodging a flying light sword aimed at him. "You're too far off right, Princess! Better catch me fast!"
'Well, if fighting each other is the way they wanted to die with, then I won't stop them.'
"Oh, come on! I thought I had that!" Shizuka grumbled and chased the demon down, letting no time pass by for him to slip by her grasps.
The demon grinned.
"My... it seems that you did not," he stated the obvious.
The cocky tone he used and the belittling gaze he sent down upon her as he flew upwards irked Shizuka more than ever. She admitted: She had never been this annoyed by a demon before.
With a twitching smile, Shizuka replied with her swords ready to depart, "Oh, I'll make sure to get you this time. It was quite a feat for you to be able to vex me this much, you know? I'll give you that."
"Why, thank you for the compliment! I'll take that close to heart!" The demon laughed to his heart's content and flew at great speed.
Behind him, Shizuka barely caught up with her newly formed light wings. Making a new spell she had never used before, the demon admitted, she was better than he gave her credits for.
"Oh~? Creating a new and unknown spell on the spot–– I'd say, you're a brave one to do so on the battlefield of life and death."
Avrean, the demon, turned around. Adjusting his body comfortably, he flew backwards with a smirk portrayed on his pale-skinned face. Meeting his crimson eyes with bright azure ones, Avrean's grin grew bigger.
"Lady Luck is seemingly on your side, eh? Seeing that you're not even exhausted from maintaining that high of a spell for this long," Avrean provoked with a confident smile.
"Talk less, Demon-san," Shizuka suggested with a crooked smile. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
"Mm, and why is that, Princess~? Do enlighten me."
The demon's dare was soon answered by millions and billions of swords summoned beneath the crimson moon's glare. One by one, their caster's mana seemed unending with the number of light blades.
Not to mention, might he emphasize, they were made out of light.
One of the two rarest elements for a human to wield, even for a Spirit Wielder. If a Spirit Wielder's one of the Realm's strongest beings, what would happen if one was a Light Magic bearer and a Grand Summoner?
'Oh, this isn't good...' Avrean mirrored Shizuka's former crooked smile. A bead of sweat that rolled down the side of his face showed the worry he felt shortly after witnessing who he's dealing with.
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"Prepare yourself, demon."
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"HUUUHHH?! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO SHOULD BE OUT OF MY WAY, YOU DAMN WILD GIRAFFE!!!" the gruff voice retorted back, belonging to the big demon. His large hands harden and he smashed the ground into bits.
And... their endless arguments returned.
Pieces of the ground were flung towards Kyuusei, some hitting him and others swung in random directions.
"Argh––!!!"
The black-haired fox struggled to stand up since he was burrowed in the rocks that were thrown at him. His left arm was bleeding along with scratches on his face and legs.
A loud yell called out to them, breaking their focus from each other, which came from none other than Shiroyuubi himself. "Heya, need some help over there, little ones?" He smirked at the swarthy wolf and the dark nine-tailed fox.
"Shiroyuubi-senpai, you're not that much older than us you know–– gah!!"
Kyuusei was busy dealing with the two demons who were bigger and taller than he was. He struggled hard against them, especially when he's injured.
Kurogane was finally free from the vines, but the wolf spirit escaped with several injuries on him. They went on fighting whilst the two older spirits watched in silence.
Well, not complete silence, unfortunately for Fuyukiku.
"Shiro-chan, stop talking to them! Let them focus!" Fuyukiku scolded the male beside him as he pinched his cheek.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Oi, shtobb iet!!!" Shiroyuubi tapped (more like hit) Fuyukiku's fair arm several times before the silver fox finally let go of his cheek.
Fuyukiku crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side, emphasizing his words, "Just sit down quietly and watch!! We'll help them when we're asked to."
"Jeez... Be gentler would ya'? My cheek's all red now..."
"Serves you right."
"Hey!!"
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Back to the rapid fights of the Grand Summoner and a red-haired demon, the two huffed and puffed with waterfalls of sweat covering their persons.
With the former Keeper hovering behind her, Shizuka's appearance had changed drastically a while ago and Seimei was nowhere to be seen by the naked eyes of others. The ones there were Shizuka, the red-haired demon, and another one with no face–– literally.
'Uhhh...'
It wasn't an overestimation that Shizuka was quite taken aback by the demon's appearance. Although Avrean made no comment of it, the young Spirit Wielder kept hers to herself as well, daring not to say them out loud.
Shivers went down her spine as she observed the one without a face.
Probably a bit crept out by the fact that he seemingly had no face.
Previously, after the four spirits separated from their master, Shizuka called for her yellowish-white-haired partner, "Seimei no Seigyo-ki, lend me your powers as I finish my enemies!!!"
Lightning struck again to where the platinum-blonde Ichijou's at.
Seimei calmly closed his eyes and faded away into gold clouds of dust. The tow-toned dust gathered into the lightning, with it slowly disappearing away, revealing a whole different person.
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The female that was present had long, white hair with yellow tips at the end. One of her eyes was as red as blood and the other was similar to Seimei's violaceous eyes with a square pupil beneath the striking colour.
She was wearing what Seimei had been wearing the whole time–– a loose, long white shirt with and some loose white pants. A simple yet grand look.
On her white head was a wreath made out of clear glass, and her skin turned a few tones paler.
Lycreus–– Seimei's trusty chains–– were slithering around her in great number, waiting for her to command them.
"Oh~? My, my~ Quite the form you got there, Princess~" the red-headed demon teased the girl as she descended slowly to be on the same height as the demons.
"..."
Mr No Face said nothing as he didn't have any mouth.
The demon with no face soon lifted both his palm and opened them, revealing mouths of all kinds on them. By "all kinds," there were ALL kinds of mouths. There were mouths of marine animals, unknown beasts, even a human's mouth.
They were all fit in both his palms.
Shizuka shivered once more watching the mouths on his palms uttering incoherent things and whatnot. Her face showed those of apparent discomfort.
"What? Never see a demon with so many mouths before, Princess?" the redhead teased again.
Shizuka deadpanned at the demon, trying to get her focus back. The female Ichijou slapped her cheeks and she was in deep focus once more.
Though she voiced no answers or replied no more to the Avrean's provocations, her presence was enough to remind them all that she's, indeed, a Grand Summoner.
Hearing the title itself was taboo if one was to wish to make it out alive.
Those around her could feel chills and fear from the intense focus she was in. Her face showed no emotion as her eyes became as empty as the darkest voids.
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"Hmm? I see that you're ready to fight now, Princess?"
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No response was said to the male's question as she charged at him at high speed.
Along the way, a sword made out of light appeared in her hands as she swung the sword towards the red-haired demon.
He dodged it at the last second. Shizuka's sword vanished completely after one swing and she grabbed his shoulder. Shizuka held on to the demon as she did a hand-stand, turning her legs around to kick Mr No Face who was right behind them.
A mouth of a lion grew bigger and tried to grab her legs, but was blocked by Lycreus.
The silver strings wrapped around the lion's mouth, with its crystal ends piercing into its flesh. Fresh, black blood splattered out of it.
The lion's mouth quickly shrunk as another mouth of a snake cut off the silver strings with its sharp fangs. Lycreus attacked again relentlessly, preventing Mr No Face from injuring the girl.
Shizuka switched positions with the red-haired demon as she swung him with great force towards the ground.
Clouds of dust formed around the male as they were flattened by the winged individual as he launched into the air with the same force.
"YOU'RE MINE, GRAND SUMMONER!!!"
For once, he didn't call her "princess."
The male appeared above her abruptly as a black trident was aimed at the girl. Shizuka calmly teleported behind him and kicked him on the back and he met the ground once again. She flew at him and summoned her light sword again, slashing the demon.
The demon tried to stand back up.
His back was bleeding and his wings were injured from her attack.
The winged male grunted in pain as he dodged her attack by flying clumsily away.
"You may not look like it, but you're really strong, Princess. Why are you being so quiet? Scared much~?"
The conversation was one-sided when Shizuka didn't respond to anything he said. She raised her right hand. She was meters away from him as butterflies made out of light formed around her. There were thousands of them, forming one huge butterfly made out of the same substance.
She ordered Lycreus to bring Mr No Face in front of the red-haired demon, and the silver strings did just that. Mr No Face was thrown in front of the red-haired demon.
As the redhead tried to get up, light vines bound him, preventing him from helping his "comrade."
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"––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––!!!"
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His voice was silenced as everything around them were muted. The gigantic butterfly flew at them at great speed as the faceless demon was incinerated alive.
Little did anyone know, a sphere with a sky inside it protected the red-haired demon from burning.
|| CHAPTER 24 | [Chains of Time] - Lycreus - To be continued… ||
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