Chapter Seven: Rising Tensions

Previously... On The Big King

The old world clashes with the new world in the middle of desert just to prove how superior they are. Four wizards with very unique magic completely outclassed all three grandmaster fairies and killing Goros with one simple twist. Just as the lead wizard was going to scorch the desert, killing everyone there Andimorak, the tremor golem stopped the miniature sun from completely vaporizing the area. While extremely lucky, the remaining fleet knew.... this was only going to get worse and unlike last time they may not live again.

The Great Falls

"THAT OLD DWARF IS A TRAITOR! ERMAI IS A TRAITOR I TELL YOU! HE FOLLOWED US THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN HE DISAPPEARS RIGHT AS WE GET AMBUSHED!" Hardoy exclaimed, "FROM OUR OWN RACE?! WHAT HAS THIS WORLD COME TOO?!"

"SILENCE YOURSELF BOY! HOW DARE YOU UTTER SUCH IGNORANCE! ERMAI IS NOT THE TYPE OF GIANT TO BETRAY HIS OWN! THERE IS A LOGICAL EXPLANATION FOR THIS!" Grimmbaud shouted back, "I know your upset Hardoy especially after seeing what we all saw. But to think Ermai would do such a treacherous act is nothing more than the anger that speaks for you."

Xix, along with Diamond and Hamitha watched as the two giants argued. Xix shifted his gaze over to the fairies. "I have something to share with you two." Xix whispered. "I believe... Ermai has set himself on a task to make another alliance with the human and that fairy."

"That old fool... that human will kill him with no remorse." Hamitha replied.

"I believe you all forget that we got slaughtered by a smaller element of enemies. We couldn't do anything... That human is one of the strongest beings in the current world today. Not having him on our side would only be hurting us more."

"A death sentence it would for us Xix. To think something like that would even work is preposterous."

Xix fixed his glance back on his brother and the Giant King who had been continuously arguing. He wasn't getting through to anyone at this point and it angered him. Xix may have been a giant warrior but what separated him from others was his strategical thinking. He may have not been perfect in the initial situation but he most definitely learned from previous mistakes. What was there to gain fighting someone they couldn't win against? He also remembered the short brief about elder witches. The magic produced by them trumped any other magical being. Able to conceive various types of spells to enhance, protect, or even revive.

"BROTHER!" Xix called to his brother, making the argument stop. "That is enough, your anger is getting the best of you. You of all giants should know it is never right to yell at your king in such a way."

Hardoy looked at Xix with a soft expression then looked at Grimmbaud. "Your right Xix. My sincerest apologies my King."

"No need to apologize. I understand your frustration." Grimmbaud responded, "but the last thing we need to be doing right now is arguing with one another especially with wizards flying over our heads."

While the argument had stopped Hardoy remained discretely infuriated. Not with his King necessarily, just the current situation. "What were you three talking about a few moments ago?" Hardoy asked sternly.

"Xix has reason to believe Ermai left to form an alliance with the human." Hamitha replied. "If this is true it is safe to imply Ermai may be if not already deceased."

Hardoy looked in Xix's general direction not bothering to lock eyes with him. "Sounds more plausible than my previous accusations. In fact, he did mention that back on the land of titan. Well, he is the legendary dwarf giant... If he feels he can talk down a monster then let him do as he pleases." Hardoy opened his palm examining his hand. "Since we have down time... It is time to test a my theory...My King you can slice through mountains as they were never there correct? Well, let's see if you can replicate that again by slicing that mountain down in the distance."

Grimmbaud looked down at Hardoy confused but he didn't continue to ponder. Instead he looked over into the distance drawing his sword. Getting into a stance Grimmbaud reeled back, "Celestial Sword!" With a great horizontal swing a powerful force of celestial light was unleashed going towards the mountain at a speed several times faster than sound.

Everyone watched as the attack got closer till eventually it hit the mountain blasting on the surface of it not even penetrating through any layers.

Grimmbaud expression immediately changed from confidence to only shock. "I may be getting old but my strength has not withered away yet!"

"I knew it..." Hardoy commented, "A spell of sorts is weakening us all significantly."

The Foreign Swamps, a dwarf giant and a witch await!

Ermai and Twilight stood side by side waiting on the expected arrival of the young trio. "You are aware what may happen yes?" Ermai asked.

Twilight levitated, arms crossed looking forward. "Of course. As long as I am alive, my sister will always take the necessary precautions. Dawn has more than most likely made it to where he tries to kill me upon sight. Nevertheless, don't worry about me dwarf giant. I can kill him and end his suffering within five seconds. However, I think it is much more of a pleasure to turn her own weapon against her. I have been studying this human for quite sometime and I can say this. Dawn made a horrendous mistake...."

The trees began to rustle and as they did, various creatures from all around began to evacuate. Even the birds in Ermai's great beard took to the skies. The duo looked at the water as the ground began to tremble seeing it react to the hard steps.

Several seconds later, Ermai felt the entire atmosphere change. In his many legendary battles he has never felt as nervous as he did here at this moment. The dwarf giant's old and battered body was no longer suited for battle. He knew he had no chance if Kane had decided to attack. Twilight remained calm as she awaited his arrival behind her she began conjuring black energy preparing for anything sudden.

With one last rustle of vast trees emerged Kane with both Zachara and Stella on his shoulders. Immediately, Kane stopped in his tracks locking eyes with Ermai. But suddenly, he locked eyes with Twilight and his full blue eyes widened in shock.

"THE LEGE-!" Stella took to the sky as did Prince Zachara ready for a fight. "What are you doing here!"

"You won't stop us from reaching our destination!" Zachara spat out.

In the mind of Kane as he stared at Twilight with nothing but pure fear was the sounds of his cries as a young child.

"Something is wrong! I never seen him like this! Snap out of this big guy!" Kane ignored Stella's demands as tears began to trinkle down his face with unusual twitching. He looked down grabbing onto his head and shaking it violently. Right now, constant laughter of a woman rung in his head and it only kept reaching higher levels of volume.

"What is happening?" Twilight could only question. "One look at me and he goes into fear and panic. Could it be?" Twilight flew closer which made Kane sit down and cover his head.

"THAT'S ENOUGH YOUR SCARING HIM!" Stella flew forward. Going for a punch Twilight simply rose her hand and black energy stopping Stella's attack. The same energy wrapped around Stella's body taking her and pressing her against the tree. "WHAT IS THIS MAGIC?!" Stella enhanced herself to try and break out but there was use. She wasn't freeing herself from this.

Prince Zachara fully transformed unleashing fire. "Stop this at once!" Twilight demanded snatching Zachara out of the air with ease. The magic completely nullified his Atmos form turning him back into a human upon contact. Just like Stella, she also slammed him into a tree rendering both of them useless. "Now..." Twilight continue her flight over to Kane as the other two protested.

Only a few feet above Kane, she could only watch in interest. "I am not like her..." She said making Kane calm down instantly. "We may look alike but we share nothing in common at all...."

Ermai watched in awe as Twilight continued to reassure this human. "You are nothing more than a misunderstood being. I can only feel pity for you."

Lifting his head up to look at Twilight, Kane stood to his full height. Twilight flew higher to his eye level. "I am aware of your mental state instability and there is not a lot you understand. But you are clever enough to know about my sister and what happens if you disobey her. Unfortunately, even myself can't free you from her hold. However, I know you seek the ancient artifact that grants you one wish... I can help you with that if you help me. Can you do that?"

Stella and Zachara was released from the hold of Twilight's darkness. "Who are you and what are you trying to pull here?!" Stella demanded.

"Enhancer fairy, If I truly wanted too there is not a single entity here that can stop me. We have all goals we can achieve only if we work together."

"That is right, Dawn the elder witch has begun reviving powerful remnants of the old world." Ermai jumped in. "Ancient behemoths and now wizards have been reintroduced. Won't be long until other ancient races join. It is essential that we all gather the races together to make an alliance."

Stella and Prince Zachara flew over Kane landing on each shoulder. "Remind me of this. Why should I care about some dastardly witch? In fact, why fight with others who are trying to kill someone they do not understand?" Stella asked

Twilight with a slight nod understood Stella's question. Fairies, giants, werewolves, monsters, leviathans, and many others have tried and fail to kill him yet they still were after him. "You have an excellent reason to be very overprotective of your friend. Understand this though, my sister has taken away something very dear to me. Once I get what I want along with helping find the ancient artifact I can be on my way."

Suddenly from above, a sudden flash of light caught everyone's attention making them look up. At a speed of light the ray's of the sun headed towards the five. "Annoying little magicians!" Twilight rose her hands up sending black magic to collide with the beam which then erased the sun's ray completely.

"You think we were going to let you get away with killing our own!" It was the same squad of wizards that fought the fleet before. "Those pathetic weaklings are a disgrace to their race! Not even putting up a decent squabble! But you? Let's see how you fair human! After them!" The squad of wizards flew down at frightening speed.

"Elder witch?! Oh how I waited for this day!" The lead wizard hands turned black. Twilight's once again rose her hands unleashing black magic. "I am familiar with your magic! While it may be the all powerful there are other forces in the universe that can surpress it! BLACK HOLE VORTEX!" A giant portal of pure darkness was summoned making Twilight's magic become consumed. "I AM NOT KNOWN AS THE GREATEST WIZARD FOR NO REASON!" With complete manipulation the lead wizard released the magic back but his primary target was Kane.

"DODGE IT BIG GUY!" Stella commanded.

Realizing it was Twilight's magic Kane immediately moved out the way as it collided with the ground creating a massive hole that only kept getting deeper.

The other wizards begun their attack. "Disciples of medusa!" Just as before the revival wizard unleashed his creations. "The foreign swamps! Once home to most savage of creatures!" From the depths of the murky waters massive crocodilian like creatures with serrated teeth and green tipped spikes. "Go mighty beast! Go!"

Stella gritted her teeth as she looked to Zachara, knowing that if she didn't enhance him now he would surely die. Beginning to glow, Zachara felt the enhancement and took to the sky at high speeds. Kane clinched his fist as the first three headed serpent lunged at him.

Leaping up he avoided all three heads landing on the spine. Kane proceeded to repeatedly hit the back of the serpent breaking it's spine. "WHAT BRUTALITY! BUT REGENERATION IS SUCH A WONDERFUL GIFT!" Just as he said that the serpent's body heal continuing on the move. Another serpent lunged at Kane making him jump into the air.

With an instant teleport, the one silent wizard met Kane in the air. "Don't be a waste of my time silent brute..." Pulling his hand back he forced it forward stopping it only a few feet away from his body. Suddenly, Kane gritted his teeth as his body reacted as if he got hit making his entire hip roar in pain. "Silent bypass...."

Down below, Stella battled with the constriction wizard. Even with her amplified state, he was far too fast for her to even hit. "Such a beautiful specimen... what exactly can you do?" He questions. "I would hate to constrict you. How about you and I go off somewhere nice eh?" He ask.

Stella attempted to hit him once more only for yet another dodge. "Shut it you arrogant bastard!" Once again, she tried to hit him but this time he used his power constricting her immediately.

"Seems like you think I am not worth your magic. Let me see for myself what you can do." He boast beginning to constrict her tightly. Taking Stella's ability for himself he begun glowing and he analyzed himself. "What is this? Why do I feel such an increase in power?" Looking up at the lead wizard he pointed his hand towards him, "have a taste of this brother!"

The lead wizard fought against Twilight using the power of his space manipulation magic. While he was holding his own, Twilight proved why elder witches had quite a significant gap over even the greatest of wizards. Her magic may have been cancelled by his black hole manipulation but this wasn't even half the extent of her true power. She easily intercepted his attacks, had a hard counter for everything he thrown, and she only continued to entertain his efforts. Flying back higher into the air the lead wizard looked down at Twilight with anger that is until he felt a major change in his body. "What's this? Why do I feel much stronger than before?" He looked as his entire body began to glow. Looking down at the constriction wizard he realized that it was Stella's magic that was behind this major power upgrade. A wicked smile grew on his face as his attention drew back to Twilight, who also noticed this change. In fact, all the wizards began glowing using Stella's enhancement magic. "Now that I have improve attributes, abilities that usually take a lot of energy can now be performed effortlessly! How about a taste of astronomical combat witch?" Raising his arms shoulder height both hands were surrounded by an aura of celestial. "Witness the power of the infinite cosmos!"

Spiraling down, the lead wizard unleashed a trail of stars. These weren't just normal stars either, due to the unique magic of the wizard these burned hotter and with Stella's enhancement behind it these were traveling faster than light itself. Twilight had immediately shield herself while at the same time realizing massive dark energy in the form of bird. "Raven!" Leaping onto the bird Twilight flew forward conjuring up energy. The two clashed unleashing a massive shock wave of powerful magic.

Zachara, who remained high in the air acknowledged one factor. Without the enhancements from Stella's ability he was practically useless. One slip and his life would end right then and there. He also knew that if he hadn't at least tried something the wizards would overwhelm them. Zachara knew that these wizards may have been powerful but also fragile when caught off guard. They didn't have the luxury of a durable body like Kane or ancient giants. Enough power from even someone like him could kill them with ease. None of the wizards paid him any mind, their focus was either on Kane, Stella, or Twilight.

The young prince then glanced over to Ermai who was also slowly backing away from the conflict. Reverting back to his human form to be less of an obvious target Zachara took a longer route to reach Ermai. Landing on a branch Zachara turned to the dwarf giant, "I know this is asking a lot of you but I need your assistance."

"I already know what your thinking young prince. We just need to wait for our moment to strike. It has too be precise our we may all die..."

Back over to Kane, he was being outmaneuvered by the now the much faster subtle wizard. Hitting him without even touching Kane yet he was harming his internal organs. "Physical and magical attacks don't seem to work on you. It is why I was tasked with taking you down brute! No matter how tough your body is on the outside, you still are vulnerable on the inside! Nevertheless, you are impressive as you don't seem go down." Again, he struck Kane making him stumble back.

From behind, one of the revived crocodilians pounced at Kane. Turning around quickly Kane grabbed a hold of the large reptile's jaws keeping them from closing on him. Another hundred foot long reptilian pounced from Kane's blind spot. With a firm grip on the jaws Kane spun and threw the creature as a rag doll into the other forcing them through multiple trees. "Throwing creatures many times your size as if they were toys, not bad. Just know, that you still haven't figured out how to deal with me!" The wizard hit Kane in the sternum.

Crack!

Kane spat out blood into his hands looking at his opponent. He had no defense against his bypassing attacks. With incredible speed and teleportation, he had no hopes of even coming close to grabbing him. In addition, Kane's significant size difference hindered him greatly. The wizard could have already hit him hundreds of times before Kane had even swung his massive arm. The revival wizard's creatures also were a nuisance always distracting him while he tried to fight.

Multiple crocodilians appeared along with the serpents. All at once they attacked while simultaneously the wizard hit Kane in the body to make sure he couldn't dodge. Kane was in major trouble if he didn't something soon he would surely be dead from this onslaught. He kept getting hit by the wizard that prevented him from leaping away. With a quick thinking Kane thought that if he wasn't allowed to jump or stop the wizard from hitting him he could do the only other choice. With one raise of his mighty arm, the wizard retreated just as Kane anticipated. The opportunity was very small and he took it having no hesitation behind it. Bringing down his hand with tremendous force Kane relied on his supernatural strength to completely shift the landscape.

"How can someone generate that much power just from a strike?!" The constriction wizard questioned. "Wait... WH-" The wizard tried to dodge but it had already been far too late. The attack of celestial magic was so massive it still managed to cut his arm clean off freeing Stella from his hold, she gasped for air as she fell on her knees. "YOU BASTARD!" He wailed holding onto his severed stub that was once his arm. Looking at his aggressor his eyes widened when he saw that it was Ermai who was behind the attack. "I'm surprised you can still muster up an attack! You caught me off guard old one!" He growled with a smile.

"DIE!" The wizard looked up rolling away from Zachara just before he connected with his blade. "Can't constrict anyone now!" Zachara was glowing with a smile on face. Turning around, the wizard also saw Stella had regained herself and she was more furious then ever. Her essence had surpassed its limits since she last used it thanks to her rage.

The smile still remained the same on his face, no matter how much she enhanced herself and allies he had far superior reflexes and speed. But this time he was far more aware than before. He knew of Ermai's presence but seeing how old and feeble the giant was he wasn't expecting such a powerful attack and for that it cost him a major asset. Landing by his side the revival wizard noticed the lost limb, "take care of that old giant brother..."

"Wait! Where did the human go?!" The two noticed that Kane had completely disappeared among the rubble. "Someone that big just can't disappear! Stay on your guard!" He ordered, the subtle wizard also landed next to the two looking at the ground. "Did you see where he went?"

"Not at all. The destruction he caused temporarily blinded me not even the creatures can sniff him out." He replied. Suddenly, from beneath them Kane's hand erupted from the ground. All three quickly evaded just to see him submerge himself again. "Was it a coincidence that he moved underground?" The wizard whispered to himself. "No it can't be... did he figure it out that fast?"

The wizard had a unique type of magic known as, reactive adaptation. Upon analyzing an enemy he gains one ability that specifically overwhelms the opponent for a limited amount of time. Given a short amount of time of just meeting Kane he already knew physical and magical attacks weren't going to work. It was why he resorted to durability nullification. However, if his opponent were to figure out a way to avoid or even overcome his counter he was useless until the time limit was up. Which was limit of only thirty minutes. The two have been fighting for a total of ten minutes leaving Kane ample amount of time to turn this fight around. "Stay in the air! He can't fly!" He ordered for the two. "I don't understand, how did he figure it out?!"

All three constantly looked around from high in the sky paranoid about the new change of the situation. "I can't detect him either! What did he do? I thought he couldn't use magic?!" One of them looked over to the left only for a crocodilian to be thrown directly at them. "Look out!" All three evaded just as the creature nearly hit them. A smirk grew on the subtle wizard's face as he crossed his arms, "you are definitely worth my time brute."

Far far in the distance flying over vast chaos, Twilight and the lead wizard continued to battle. Even with Stella's enhancement gone he remained in this mode he called, 'infinite cosmos.' Twilight unleashed a fury a dark birds towards him as he unleashed multiple black hole portals to absorb them all. At the same time multiple cosmic lightning bolts rained down. Easily she dodged all the bolts advancing towards him. "It is has been a very long time since I felt the thrill of a battle. However, you may have been strong in your era but compared to the likes of me your nothing more than entertainment. To think that Dawn would waste her time reviving you from the dead." Twilight taunted, "you are using all the power you can muster while I have yet to begin! Now...tell me where my sister is before I send you back to hell!"

"DAMN YOU ELDER WITCH!" He yelled back. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he was outclassed by miles. Without the benefits of enhancement he was growing exhausted as time went on and still he hasn't even come close to hitting Twilight. She only had one answer for his attacks and they worked every time she used it. Even when he used the black hole portals to absorb the black energy, her lack of effort made it to where she was not close to being exhausted. Being close to her would be suicide as one touch from that magic could instantly vaporize him. He no longer had any answers to fighting Twilight, she easily kept this at stalemate and if she really wanted too, would end up killing him.

"That wasn't the answer I was looking for. I will give you one last chance or we can keep going till you tire yourself out..." She said, "but this time I'll put forth thirty percent of effort instead of one. We'll see if you can keep up with me then."

He growled at her mocking attitude clinching his fist as tightly as he could. There was no way he would tell the location of Dawn. "I would rather die then tell you where she is. THIS IS OUR WORLD! WE WERE BROUGHT BACK TO TAKE WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY OURS!"

A sinister grin grew on Twilight's face as she looked up at him. "Very well, let's see if you can keep up." Raising her hand, she did a snap of her fingers and instantly she disappeared.

Sweat began streaming down his face as he looked around for where she may be coming from. Several seconds passed by and the longer he waited the more nervous he became. Without even noticing from above, the clouds began changing from pure white to complete darkness. Then, they began fusing together becoming a mega cloud blocking out the sun's light. Only then did the wizard notice the change in the atmosphere. The mega cloud unleashed solid black walls made of nothing but the black energy incasing the wizard in essentially a giant black circle from which he could not escape from. Inside complete darkness, he trembled more with fear as he had no form of light. "I completely nullified your ability to teleport out of this chamber. Using nothing more than your speed I would like to see how well you can dodge this incoming attacks." Her voice echoed in the chamber, laughter following at the end of her sentence.

The wizard flew straight forward, lighting himself up with the essence of stars. This didn't help him as it was still too dark for him to see anything. "I don't believe you understand the power of true darkness like you would like to believe. I gave you the illusion that your black hole portals were actually a temporary counter. What if I told you, that compared to primordial darkness... black holes are insignificant?" Her voiced echoed once more. "Heads up."

A very intense burning sensation hit his leg making him scream in pain when he looked down nearly his entire leg had been cleanly amputated. "You didn't even try to dodge that? Maybe that was too fast for you. How about this?" Another intense burning sensation hit this time, three fingers on his right hand making him scream again. "THAT WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU! MUCH SLOWER THAN LAST TIME! TRY AGAIN!" A loss of all five fingers on his left hand. "HERE I THOUGHT YOU COULD HANDLE THIRTY PERCENT! YOU CAN'T EVEN COMPREHEND THE SPEED!" Energy grabbed a hold of his body slamming him into the ground.

The wounds were immediately sealed so he couldn't bleed out. He feebly struggled against the hold only to no avail. The cloud disappeared along with the black walls allowing it for it to be light once more. The magic still kept him bound as Twilight reappeared right in front of him, her boots only a few inches away from his head. Looking to her left she saw that Ermai was making his way over to her, his nostrils and mouth had dried blood from the attack he used earlier. "One attack and it nearly killed you? Hmph, you don't have much time left." Then her eyes widened moving back only for one of the serpents from the revival wizard erupted from the ground taking the lead wizard in it's mouth then going back underground and slithering away. Looking up in the sky, the other three wizards looked down at her.

"This isn't the end of us... We'll be back..." All three flew away following after the serpent.

Kane, Stella, and Zachara also found there way over to Twilight who still had a smile on her face. That was simply due to the fact that battle she now had a trace of where these wizards would be going. Which meant more than most likely they were going back to her sister, Dawn.