Chapter 16 - Cosmos and her army

An army was prepared outside the city of Arlest, the princess who was about to be queen ordered her men to prepare to defend the city and its people. She had also asked help from the Adventurer Guild, many adventurers volunteered to defend the city.

Aiko, Gyou, Kou and Mika prepared themselves to participate in the battle.

"Gyou" Aiko said "Stay back here"

Gyou was confused "But why? I can handle them" he said

"Cosmos is coming after you and Tranzarus" Kou said "It would be quite sad if one of my friends were to be kidnapped"

Gyou sighed, but accepted knowing that he might get captured.

"Aiko, you know how to use a sword?" Mika asked her

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Aiko asked

A soldier came, holding a sword and handed it to Mika.

"This is a magical sword" Mika said "Forged by the best blacksmith in the kingdom and made from the rarest material in our kingdom"

Mika handed the sword, gently, to Aiko.

"It will be very useful" Aiko said, while admiring the sword.

"But being strong has its downfalls, within 10 uses the sword will break" Mika said "Using its magic will lower its durability a lot"

"I see, I'll remember that" Aiko said, she then placed the sword on her waist. "Ehmm.... One more thing"

"Hm?" Mika asked

"Could you do me a favour?" Aiko asked

"Sure! You helped the Resistance after all" Mika said

"Please protect Sozen" Aiko said

Mika nodded "You really care a lot about him" she said

"Of course, we're friends" Aiko said

"Oh? You sure?" Mika asked

"What do you mean?" Aiko asked, confused

"You don't care about him in... other ways?" Mika had a teasing voice.

Aiko thought for a while and realized what she was talking about. "What?! N-No, of course not!" She blushed

"Your face says otherwise" Mika giggled a bit.

"Enough chit-chat!" Lily came from behind them, riding a horse and wearing a shiny armor made for her.

"You majesty" Mika kneeled "That armor suits you very well"

"I thank you Mika" Lily said "Is our men ready?"

"Yes, your majesty" Mika said "500 soldiers, 100 archers, 50 mages and a lot of adventurers, all in your command"

"Perfect! Cosmos will never see this coming!" Lily said "Ha ha ha ha!"

"So, what's your plan?" Aiko asked

"Defeat her army and capture Cosmos alive" Lily said

"Capture her?" Aiko asked

"You need information, she could tell us things about the Demon Lord" Lily said

"Hey, you sound like a queen now" Aiko said

"Really?" Lily smiled "That's great! Because in the near future... I'll become the queen"

A scout came riding a horse to Lily.

"They're here your majesty" The scout said

"Well then..." Lily faced the army and the adventurers.

She cleared her throat and said "Soldiers and adventurers!" she shouted "Today we will get rid of our enemy, the Cosmos family!"

"Cosmos family?" Aiko whispered to Mika

"Cosmos and her family have been enemies of the kingdom of Arlest for centuries now" Mika whispered to her "There were a few numerous battles against them"

"Today, we will make Cosmos fear us!" Lily shouted "Today this battle won't be a draw like the others, today we will have a complet victory!"

"Yeah!!" The army and adventurers cheered

In the distance, Cosmos and her army of mages were arriving to the gates.

"Well..." Lily pointed a sword at Cosmos in the distance "CHARGE!!"

"CHAAARGE!" Soldiers and adventurers began charging at the enemy.

"You should get going" Lily said to Aiko

"Yeah, let's go Kou" Aiko said

"Let's have fun!" Kou said

Both of them charged behind the soldiers and adventurers, to victory or devastating defeat!

In the other side, Cosmos contemplated the hundredsof soldiers charging at them.

Cosmos sighed "I thought this was going to be more easier than this" she raised her arm "Mages! Prepare to summon!"

Mages created a wall in front of her, they started casting a spell. Monsters and beasts came out from the spells.

"Archers! Mages!" Lily shouted "Focus on the monsters and mages!" she ordered

Archers started shooting and mages started casting spells that annihilated the monsters and beasts, the enemy mages protected themselves with some magic barriers.

Aiko and Kou were in the middle of the battle, they cut through numerous monsters and beasts, but they couldn't pass through.

"Aiko, there's too many monsters!" Kou said, while slashing a red wolf that could breathe fire "We can't get through!"

"I know that!" Aiko said, while stabbing a flying lion in the stomach with her spear.

"Step aside!"

Aiko and Kou looked back, it was Rokuro, he was aiming his bow.

"The Bow Hero!" Kou said

"I said step aside!" Rokuro shouted

Aiko and Kou backed away and Rokuro started chanting.

"Arch, surround my arrow with the wind of the highest mountain, give me the wind that the king Arlest used to defeat evil, so that my arrow pierces my enemies!" A powerful gust of wind surrounded his arrow "King Arlest's Fury!"

The arrow was shot!. In a blink of an eye it made a path for Aiko and Kou to pass, it had annihilated all the monsters in their path.

"Go!" Rokuro said "I'll follow behind!"

Aiko and Kou run through the path, arriving in front of the wall of mages.

"What?!" The mage in front of them started casting a spell.

"I won't let you!" Kou shouted. He extended his hand and cast a spell that exploded and made the mage be launched backwards.

"Hm?" Cosmos said, she noticed the mage on the floor and Kou and Aiko passing through.

A mage noticed them and started casting, but Cosmos stopped her. "They're mine" she grinned.

"There she is!" Kou pointed

"It's great that I could fight you guys again" Cosmos had teleported behind them.

Aiko turned around and tried to stab her with the spear.

"Hm, what a nice spear" Cosmos was now beside Aiko.

"H-How?" Aiko said, very worried

"Oh, This?" Cosmos was now behind Kou "It's a type of magic, that only I know"

Cosmos started casting a spell behind Kou. He immediately backed away, but Cosmos appeared behind him once again.

"Dammit!" Kou thought to himself. Cosmos finished casting her spell and exploded Kou in the back, he was launched to Aiko.

"I got you!" Aiko catched him, she was pushed back a bit.

Kou stood up. "Thanks..." that explosion left him weak.

"Kou, you rest" Aiko said, while pulling the magic sword that Mika gave her.

"A magic sword?" Cosmos said, suprised. "Didn't expect you to use one"

Without hesitation, Aiko slashed Cosmos, but she avoided it.

"I won't hesitate!" Aiko said, she sprinted at her.

Cosmos started casting a spell, but Aiko pierced through the spell and it shattered like glass. In that moment Cosmos realized, that she was in trouble.

Aiko slashed Cosmos, wounding her arm a bit. Cosmos backed away and healed her wound.

"I understimated you and the kingdom of Arlest" Cosmos said

"Oh? Where did all that confident go?" Aiko teased.

"But you also understimated me" Cosmos said.

Suddenly roots pierced through the ground and tied Aiko's arms and legs.

"What?!" Aiko said, while trying to release herself.

"Ha ha!" Cosmos said "I've caught you!"

"Dammit" Aiko thought to herself "What do I do?" she looked at Kou, he was knocked out on the floor.

"Oh, him?" Cosmos said "He won't be much help"

Cosmos walked to Aiko and looked at her in the eye.

"Now, I'll toy with you" Cosmos smiled. "So, in which part should I star-"

Cosmos grabbed an arrow with her hand. "Perfect timing!" She looked at where the arrow came from "Bow Hero!"

Rokuro didn't say anything and kept shooting her.

"Not talking?" Cosmos said "I'll make you!"

Cosmos appeared infront of him, leaving Aiko still stuck.

"How do I get out of this?" Aiko asked herself.

Kou's hand touched the roots and he casted a spell that burned the roots.

"Kou!" Aiko said worried.

Kou smiled and said "Finish the... mission..." he passed out again.

Aiko nodded "Sleep well Kou"

Rokuro was weak and tired, Cosmos had almost defeated him.

"Now, time to die!" Cosmos casted a spell.

She felt a presence behind her, she turned around. Aiko sliced her spell and it shattered, Cosmos teleported away.

"So, you freed yourself" Cosmos said

"I had a friend" Aiko was talking about Kou.

Cosmos casted a spell. "Absolute Defense!" her body was surrounded by a shield.

Aiko activated the magical sword "Come forth!" the sky turned grey and it began raining, a lighting bolt struck her sword, it became electrified.

"That powerful?" Cosmos thought to herself, worried.

In a blink of an eye, Aiko was behind her.

A layer of the shield broke "W-What? When did she..?" Cosmos thought to herself, shocked.

Cosmos's shield started to break, one by one.

"Only 5 times and this sword will break" Aiko said "But I only need to attack just one more time and I-"

Aiko was hit by a huge boulder, she luckily blocked and got only a few scratches.

"You think..." There was flying massive boulders behind Cosmos "YOU CAN DEFEAT ME?!" Aiko had made Cosmos mad.

The flying boulders flew at her.

Aiko sliced through three boulders. "2 uses left" she started dodging the boulders.

The boulders were coming at her with speed, Aiko barely dodged them, until a boulder was infront of her.

"Crap! I can't dodge it!" Aiko said

The boulder shattered, Rokuro had shot it.

"I'll cover you!" Rokuro said to her "End this once and for all!"

Aiko nodded and started sprinting at Cosmos, each boulder that came after her was being shattered by Rokuro.

"Dammit! Dammit! DAMMIT!" A very massive boulder appeared behind Cosmos "TAKE THIS!" she said enraged

The massive boulder shattered, behind the pieces Aiko slashed her shield, shattering it.

"NO!" Cosmos said. A lighting struck behind her, a shadow was infront of her, its eyes were shining. It was Aiko.

Aiko unleashed the power within the sword. "Lighting Blade!" in just a milisecond, Aiko had defeated Cosmos.

"S-She did it.." Rokuro said "VICTORYYY!!" he shouted

The mages turned around, they saw their leader in the floor, knocked out.

"C-Cosmos has been defeated.." A mage said

"Incoming!" Another mage said

The mages turned around and realized, that the adventurers and soldiers had passed through the monsters.

"Surrender and we won't execute you" Lily said, while riding a horse.

The mages hesitated, but they didn't have a choice, they surrendered.

"VICTORYYYYYY!!" Everyone cheered

"We did it Mika" Lily said, while hugging her.

"Yes we did" Mika hugged her back "Your father will be proud"

"No, not only him" Lily said "All the kingdom will" she smiled.

Aiko was standing up, with the help of the sword, she was very tired.

"W-We did it..." Aiko said, suddenly the sword shattered. She started falling to the floor, until someone grabbed her.

"You did good" It was Gyou, he had a smile on his face "Rest, we'll handle Cosmos"

"T-Thanks..." Aiko slowly closed her eyes and passed out.

Hours later, she woke up.

"Eh..?" Aiko said, still sleepy.

"You're finally awake" A familiar voice said.

"S-Sozen..?" Aiko said. "Wait! Sozen?!" she realized and stood up. "O-Ow..." she felt a bit of pain.

"You should lay down" Sozen was laying beside her.

"Where are we?" Aiko asked

"Outside, where you passed out" Sozen said

Aiko laid down beside him, she blsuhed a bit. They were outside at night, they were staring at the stars.

"W-When did you wake up..?" Aiko asked

"Sometime later after the defeat of Cosmos and her army" Sozen said

"I-I see" She said

"You did great, as I expected" He said

"You believed in me..?" Aiko asked

"Hm? Of course, friends believe in eachother" He said

"Y-Yeah..." Aiko said "Friends..." she said a bit disappointed.

"We should return" Sozen stood up, but a hand held his. "Hm? Aiko?" it was her hand.

"E-eh.." Aiko was blushing "C-Could you.. stay with m-me a bit?".

Sozen blushed, that side of Aiko looked cute. "E-Eh.. sure..."

Sozen laid back down with her.

"T-Thanks.." Aiko said, still blushing.

"D-Don't mention it..." Sozen said, while blushing.

Both of them laid under the night sky, full of stars and the beautiful white full moon.

"W-We should go.." Sozen stood up and noticed Aiko, holding his hand and asleep.

He sighed and smiled "Goodnight, Aiko"

She carried her back to the palace on his back.