Prizmatic Hope #4: An Abare-Style Hero from Another World

"Leave those two innocent girls alone!" said Daiki as he was fighting a fearsome and venomous Centipede Deviant, an odd one compared to the Hybrid Deviants he and Gabbie fought before. Being a normal Deviant, it was not as strong as he expected. The swordsman himself managed to slay the Deviant effortlessly with his usual water-elemental Ryuujin Tatsumakizan. "It's over for me, but not for our Lord Lukretia and Her plans! Bwaaaargh!" screamed the Centipede Deviant before it flops into the ground and explodes harmlessly.

"Thanks for saving us from certain doom, kind hero. We need to do something special for someone like you!" said the cyan-haired Esper girl.

"Yeah, just go with us, or not I guess…" asked the red-haired Esper girl.

Daiki could not resist such temptation, and so he decided to spend some time with the two girls. They took them to their secret hideout, where they spend most of their times together. Daiki almost thought he was kidnapped, but he realized that they're welcoming them in. To his surprise, the hideout was pretty tidy and well-organized. There was a CRT TV with an old-looking DVD player, a bookshelf filled with chockful of mangas and a lot of otaku-related stuff. All of those seemed alien to the Afilian swordsman himself, yet he was amazed.

"Back in my place I used to be a bookworm. I loved reading since I was still a wee little child, and now I'm still loving it, even if these stories that I read right now are not familiar to me. I have a taste for swashbuckling adventures and tales of heroes from other lands" said Daiki as he browsed around the bookshelf.

"Tell us about your past! We might wanna know cuz, we've seen heroes like you in animes and mangas before!" said the cyan-haired Esper girl with an enthusiastic smile on her face.

"You're in for a real treat, girls! This one's going to be a swashbuckling one so, don't go anywhere!" said Daiki as took a deep breath before he told the long story of his past.

Years ago, the Kingdom of Afilia was known for their arts of magic and alchemy, governed by a benevolent king and the Dragon Deities of Afilia, Aevis Aerios, Draco Piscis and Rex Vulcanus. Many scholars, mages and alchemists alike study there and spread their knowledge throughout the continent of Azun and the realm of Alterna. Daiki was a prodigy back in his younger days. He excelled in strategy, swordfighting and marksmanship, thanks to his childhood friend Euphemia Cross, a noblewoman from the faraway kingdom of Arendelle. He even managed to tame a horse at a tender age of 8. He proven himself to be a capable swordsman, strategist and cavalryman.

By the age of 15, Daiki started serving in the Afilian military as part of the Knights of Tonitrus, a unit of knights chosen by the King of Afilia to protect the kingdom from internal and external threats, led by the wizened swordsman Ken Enomoto. He and his fellow knights swore an oath to protect the kingdom with their blades and their lives. His closest friend there among the knights was the illustrious Farah Gardenfairy, a relative of one of the Afilia Saga members. The Afilia Saga were a council of mages that served as the kingdom's congress and ministry. They're led by a Magistra, chosen from one of the Saga members through voting. Daiki's sister Miley Weilschmidt was a member of it too.

Daiki proven himself to be the Knights' greatest asset. His sense of leadership, prowess in combat and strategy and his kindness to his fellow knights helped the kingdom scored countless victories against bandits, troublemakers, villains, monsters and invaders alike. He even slain thousands of Majuus, or demonic beasts during an invasion from the evil Shadow Empire Faust, who seek to rule Afilia under their tyrannical rule and bring forth darkness into the land of Azun. He and his two trusted weapons, his Draco Alchemisaber and his Dragunbuster felled countless Majuus as he rode into battle with his steed and his fellow knights.

After the defeat of the Shadow Empire Faust and the death of their ruler Empress Amara of Faust, who was formerly the Maiden of Greed Uzuko, Afilia finally reached a year of peace. Amazed at his prestige, the Afilian king promoted Daiki to be the Commandant General of the kingdom's cavalry unit, the White Leopard Riders. He was rewarded with a rare steed, a white unicorn. He befriended it and travelled across the kingdom on it, helping the common people with the cavalry unit. He fought bandits, repelled wild beasts and rescued people on his new trusty steed, a white unicorn.

However, the peace that the Knights of Tonitrus brought upon did not last long. The former Crown Prince of Afilia, Lansil Bloodswitch obtained the forbidden sword Void Shadowblade from its shrine in Mt. Jirue out of his hunger for power and jealousy towards Daiki and the King of Afilia, becoming The Revenant. He was abdicated as Lansil was found to be a cruel yet power hungry person. The kingdom was then engulfed in another darkness, one that brought ruination upon the kingdom.

"Hahahahahaha! If I can't have the throne, then all of you shall PERISH along with this pathetic kingdom!" cackled the Revenant maniacally as he unleashed fearsome Majuus out of his cards known as the Akuma Cards. These Majuus are known as The Fallen Ones, ancient Majuus that were defeated and sealed by the past warriors and mages of Afilia. The kingdom's military forces could not defeat them. Common people and officials alike were dying in the hands of the ancient demonic beasts.

"Daiki! Don't mind about me! Save yourself first! Aaaaaaaaagh!" screamed Euphemia as she was attacked and killed by a horde of The Fallen Ones. The swordsman could only watch in agony as he was unable to save his beloved one and his childhood friend. His parents and Miley would fall to The Fallen Ones next, while his cousin Timothy was safe from them as he was still studying in the neighboring country of Avemia.

The Fallen Ones and the Revenant himself claimed more and more victims, including the King, the current Crown Prince, the entire Afilia Saga, Daiki's fellow knights and their leader, Ken Enomoto himself. The wizened swordsman could not fight against The Fallen Ones, and fell into their claws and fangs. However, he pulled one last trick before he could die. Using what's left of his mana, he chanted a magic spell that opened a dimensional door into the Espers' Homeworld before he sacrificed his own life to protect Daiki.

"I'll hold them off for you, Daiki! I have opened a dimensional hole using what's left of my mana. Go, and start a new beginning! The new world is your oyster!" said Ken.

"But Sir Enomoto, I still want to fight!" said Daiki.

"No, don't mind about me. I shall go down fighting like the rest of this kingdom. Our deaths shall not be for naught, we all die for our beloved Afilia, our ancestors and our Dragon Deities. Now go!" said Ken again.

Daiki could only shed a tear before he leaped into the hole. His mentor was then felled by a demon before he could even swing his sword again. He then died like the rest of the Afilians, and the lone non-Afilian casualty that was Euphemia Cross, the noblewoman whom Daiki once cherished and had feelings upon. The swordsman jumped into the hole, fell through a continuum of time and space, and landed within a lake in Polaris Sanctuary. Daiki then ended his story with a tear in his face.

"I lost everything, but nevertheless I stayed strong and moved on. I don't wanna look back again, and this might be the last time I will tell my past.." said Daiki in a somber tone.

"You lost everything to that heinous Revenant guy? We don't even know him but, I'm sorry for your loss and your sadness. We also faced our own losses, ever since me and my pal Akiko here fended for our lives on the streets and we were captured by Valhalla to become one of their subjects for their twisted schemes. Thankfully, these kind Turquoise peeps saved us and we decided to restart everything here from scratch. After all, a new beginning is fun, right?" said the cyan-haired girl.

"I think so.." said Daiki as he wiped his tears as the Esper girl comforted him.

"Anyways, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Yukiko Kuzuryuu, and this is my bestie Akiko Takamiya. We used to be childhood friends, and we were like.. so platonic towards each other. We shared the same school, we had a same past and we sticked together almost every time. We were like sisters, except we're not related by blood. We even shared the same struggles too. We lived as delinquents back then, but now we decided to live here permanently. Hopefully those Valhalla asses won't take us back!" said Yukiko.

"Umm.. thanks for spending some time with us and telling us your awesome story. I believe you could have these.." said Akiko. She then gave Daiki two Enestals, one red and one cyan. He was surprised that his mana might've reacted with Akiko and Yukiko's Sigils, creating them when he was spending some time with them.

"Look! New Enestals for you to use! However, please be careful as these two look pretty new" said Draco Piscis. Daiki then parted ways with Akiko and Yukiko and went back home to the Polaris HQ with the new Enestals he got in his hands. He never knew that his mana could create Enestals out of nowhere whenever he forms a bond with an Esper. It felt as if his kindness bore fruit, as Daiki was known to be a kind and compassionate person. After returning back to his room, he couldn't forget how kind Akiko and Yukiko was, and he wanted to spend some time with them again.

"Ummm Daiki, you might wanna see this" said Hiroki. The swordsman stood up and followed Hiroki to Gabbie's room. The blonde girl was nowhere to be seen, and Amy was very worried. She tried calling Gabbie via phone, but she realized that she left her phone behind. "Gabs, please stay safe.." murmured Amy as she huddled herself on her bed.

"This is bad! The blonde girl is gone! What are you going to do, Daiki?" said Draco Piscis.

Meanwhile in an unknown part of the Sanctuary, Gabbie was fighting Zaphiel all by herself without any Enestals in her hands. She was filled with anger, swiftly countering Zaphiel's attacks with her feet and hands. "Hahahaha.. don't you remember that it was I who kidnapped you back in Thailand. Me and my fellow Cartel members made some quick bucks out of hunting and capturing Espers and martial artists alike, and I never thought YOU would be the #1 in Lord Lukretia's hit list. However, what she's after was not only you, but that thing on your neck too. That illustrious crystal of yours.." said Zaphiel.

"Stay away… from my family's heirloom. It's none of your business!" said Gabbie as she scowled at the Deviant.

"Hahahahahaha… Too bad it's going to be mine once you're going down" answered Zaphiel before he struck upon the blonde martial artist with his clawed gauntlets. Gabbie quickly countered it and shoved her knee up the Deviant's face, disorientating it for a while. She then went for a quick series of punches until Zaphiel snapped out of his disorientation and countered her back.

After a rather long and arduous fight, Gabbie couldn't keep up with Zaphiel. She became very exhausted and couldn't fight much as she wasn't equipped with any Enestals. Just before she tried to fight again, a mysterious bespectacled person swiftly knocked her out with a strike into her neck. Gabbie fell unconscious and was carried away by Zaphiel and his underling who knocked her out. She was then taken to a decrepit warehouse, where she was tied up in a pillory.

"Look what do we have here, a cute yet feisty blonde bitch, just like what Lord Lukretia wanted. You'll be staying here until her forces arrive. For now, I'll play with you for a little while! Hahahahahahahaha!" said the bespectacled Deviant.

With Gabbie captured, Zaphiel moved to the next step of his plan. He contacted Lukretia to surround Polaris Sanctuary and send her agents into the city. He then threatened the entire city with a game, where Hiroki and his friends must find and fight the agents before the main Valhalla forces led by their new commanding officer, Reiko Matsui arrive into the city to recapture the Espers that Turquoise saved, including Serina, Akiko and Yukiko. Meanwhile, Gabbie is about to be sent to Valhalla as part of their new twisted experiment, the Elimination Chamber.

"Looks like we're in for a huge fight. Better get your sword ready!" advised Draco Piscis upon hearing Zaphiel's threat to the entire city. Hiroki, Kotaro, Lucy and Daiki readied themselves as they prepare to fight for the city and for Gabbie's safety, while Irene and Hayato are preparing themselves to protect the HQ, whatever it takes.