The Twin Wolves of Purgatory

"And that's my story. Do you have any questions?" she asks, looking in my direction.

Questions? I have wheelbarrows full. However…

"The evil Elisabeth is coming. I can feel her presence getting closer," I say. I look at Elisabeth and continue, "We will leave the questioning for after we reign victorious."

She smiles innocently.

"So, do you have any idea how we can defeat the evil Elisabeth?" I ask her.

"Well, she sealed most of my mana. I can't do powerful spells to defend against her attacks. However, I have enough mana to protect your minds against Memory Magic."

"Protect our minds?" asks Selina.

"Yes. Do you all know how to coat yourselves in mana?" she asks us.

"Yes," I say. "By concentrating, you can wrap your body in a layer of mana. This is called Mana Coat. Depending on the thickness of the coat, it can protect you from most mana attacks. However, physical attacks have a chance of seeping through if your mana coat is not properly applied."

"Yes, a mana coat can protect your body from injury, however, your organs are still vulnerable to attacks that pierce your internal body, like Memory Magic. What I am going to do is something only the elite can perform. It's called an Internal Mana Coat."

"Internal Mana Coat?"

"Yes, an Internal Mana Coat, as its name suggests, coats your internal organs, tissues, and blood vessels. It protects everything from magic attacks that affect the internal body. There is another form of coating, however, we don't have enough time for another explanation. She's here."

The building shakes from the pressure of her mana. She's pissed.

Her voice is like static in my mind. Is Elisabeth's internal coating working?

<…>

The static runs in my mind. Then, it just stops.

"Internal cloaking complete. Now you can fight against her."

"Thank you, Elisabeth."

"No thanks needed. I'm just here to help you."

"Let's go."

We charge up to the entrance of the monastery. In front of us are an army of roughly three hundred foot soldiers.

"Quite the show you prepared for us, Elisabeth."

"Sorry, I couldn't get here sooner, dear husband. I was occupied by a bug. But you don't have to worry. I exterminated it."

I continue staring at the evil Elisabeth—our eyes clashing.

Ivy steps forward, "I hate Elisabeth," she says suddenly. "All of the Elisabeths."

"Ivy…" Niklaus sympathises.

"However, I can't let that hate cloud my judgment." She turns around and looks at me. "Haruki, I want to kill the evil Elisabeth. Without me fighting her I might never get any closure; however, this is not my fight to end. I hope you have space on your shoulders to carry my burden as well." She grabs hold of my hand. Tears roll down her eyes as she screams, "Haruki, please, avenge my village!! Defeat Elisabeth and deal the finishing blow!! In return, I will make sure that you solely need to focus on your fight against her."

"Of course I will," I say. And she wipes her teary face clean. She turns around with a resolved look.

"So, are you done with your sob story?" asks the evil Elisabeth. "I'm just about tired of all of you." She raises her hand and says, "So, if you would all kindly die, you would make me the happiest newlywed. What do you say?"

Her army charges us. However, they all collapse in an anticlimactic fashion. Every foot soldier. The only ones standing are Elisabeth, Yukio, Emihiko, Jinx and another girl.

"So, my poison won't work on the top brass," says Ivy, chuckling. She analyses her opponents and says, "I see two losers ready for a rematch." Yukio and Emihiko twitch to her provocation. "How about it, little boys?"

She runs into the forest. "Wait!!" screams Emihiko. He looks at Elisabeth as if he wants authorization. She does not utter a word, nor does she even look at him. Yukio nudges Emihiko and starts running into the forest. Emihiko hesitantly follows him.

"Jinx, I have a score to settle with you," screams Selina.

"Anytime," Jinx says in retaliation. Both run into the forest as well.

"Then you will be my opponent," says Niklaus, looking at the small girl. She remains silent. Niklaus walks into the monastery. "Don't die," he says as he disappears into the monastery.

"Eliminate him," says Elisabeth. The girl walks forward. She walks past me, and I can feel her hatred emanating.

"And now it's just the two of us," I say. "Never thought our first fight as husband and wife would occur this soon."

"Is this not the second fight we have?" she asks me, as she charges me with a sword.

I equip Yugure and we clash. "Well, the outcome will differ this time around."

************

Forest of the Missing Emperor, Waterfall Area

"Do you think this is far en…" I am interrupted mid-sentence by an enraged Emihiko. The oxygen leaves my body. Is this one of his skills? I fall to my knees and gasp for air.

"How does it feel?" he asks me. "Being defeated by an invisible attack."

He walks closer to me, and I smile. "Gotcha," I say.

"H-how? How are you not affected by my spell?" he asks.

"Well, a blonde-haired girl coated our internal organs. Spells affecting my lungs, or any other organ will not work." Well, I say that, but I could still feel his ability steal oxygen from my body. Did Elisabeth not have enough mana to coat us? Or did she focus her coating on Haruki, who she knew would fight the evil Elisabeth?

Emihiko looks down at me, infuriated. "Why…!?" he asks, "Why do you always take us for fools!? You're just a disgusting half-elf!!"

"…"

"Disgusting half-elf, you say?" The smile I kept up slowly fades into a blank stare. "Boy, I will give you five seconds to take back what you just said."

He smirks and asks, "Or wha…?"

Before he finished his sentence, a plant root grabs his leg.

"W-What is this?"

"Plant Magic: Croissance Hormonale. By manipulating the hormones in the plant, and feeding it enough mana, I can speed up the growth of a plant. And with Plant Magic: Discours de Fleur, I can direct them to grab your leg. Oh, and that's not all I can tell them to do."

The root grows further from the ground. Higher than any tree in the forest. It swings Emihiko around in the air and throws him to the ground. A giant crater is created in the ground as his body hits the ground. Blood spews from his mouth; however, I'm not done yet.

"Plant Magic: Tumba de mil flores." Thousands of magenta-hued flowers start blooming from the ground around Emihiko. "Encender!!" The flowers ignite into flames and a sweet scent fills the air.

"What… did… you…? My… heart…" he stutters.

"Nerium Oleander, the sweetly scented killer. This flower is toxic all the way to its sap. When burnt, the fume of the flower is released into the air and when you inhale these fumes, well, let's just say you will be taking an eternal nap." He quickly covers his nose and mouth. "Sorry, but it's too late for you. You've already inhaled fumes of a thousand oleanders. There is no saving you now."

As I speak to Emihiko, the air becomes cooler. I look up. So, he's finally making his move? The ground instantly freezes, and the burning flowers become sculptures. Even Emihiko is frozen solid. Yukio walks to him and says, "I am… sorry… brother…" As he speaks, the air becomes colder.

"So, you can speak?" I ask him. Is the temperature dropping even further? What's with this kid's magic? It's frightening.

He takes a deep breath. "It's been a while… since I've last spoken." His voice is soft but menacing. The temperature drops with each word he says. "Do you know of purgatory?" he asks me.

"Purgatory? Are you talking about the mythical eighth realm?"

"Yes, however, purgatory is no myth. Purgatory is a realm filled with deathly screams. A realm viler than Netherworld. Its existence is hidden from all but the beasts from purgatory. I am one of those beasts, the Pagoménos lýkos."

"Pagoménos lýkos? An ice wolf?"

"Yes, a wolf of ice. Every step I take freezes the ground. Each breath I take chills the air. Just my mere presence causes massive drops in the temperature."

Yukio starts morphing. His body becomes slouched, and fur grows from his body. Blue-purple coloured fur. He is transforming into a giant wolf. The temperature, which was slowly decreasing, drops instantly. The trees and even the air start freezing.

"This is my true form." His voice is deeper and echoes throughout the forest.

This is bad. Plants go dormant in cold climates. I can't use my Tumba de mil flores on him. I will have to find a…

He leaps forward, fast as a bullet, and bites me.

"GAAHHH!!!"

He starts laughing maniacally, "Did you believe you stood a chance against me? You are a plant magician. I am your polar opposite. Cold will always defeat plant."

"AAHHHH!!!" The bite wounds start freezing.

"You are not my equal. The only person more powerful than I is Lady Elisabeth. She was the one who saved me and my brother when we were suddenly brought to this realm. Without her help, we would never have survived. Now, freeze for eternity… Wah!!"

He looks shocked as he crunches a clone of plants.

"Plant Magic - Winter version: Substitution de Tombe."

"What is this…?" he asks hurriedly as he spits out a bundle of flowers sprouting in his mouth.

"Flowers are wonderful things, are they not? Not only are there some that blossoms at night but there are even those that grow during winter. This is a flower called Winter Aconite. There is quite the story about this flower in the Bustrul Continent, however, I doubt you will even be conscious to hear the entire conversation with the amount of aconite you just consumed."

I turn around. A huge thud is created as he collapses on the ground. I sigh in relief. These boys were indeed powerful. Unfortunately, they had me as their opponent. "I wonder how the other battles are progressing."

—Ivy vs Yukio and Emihiko

—Victor: Ivy