Chapter Forty-One: Stand Your Ground

"Watch out!"

Ossix narrowly dodged Fujii's blades. Nullus shot a dark energy blast at him, which made his sword melt.

"A head-on attack? Bad move, General."

Fujii held out his hand and shot a beam of ice, which Nullus easily repelled with another blast.

Fujii jumped back, getting some distance. "Okay, he's most definitely the real problem here."

As Akari and Arata approached, Fujii held out a hand. "Looks like we're gonna have to do this in teams!"

Nullus raised an eyebrow, amused. Fujii summoned another Ice Katana.

"Me, Akari, and Hikari, we'll take the stronger guy! The rest of you, handle the guy with the bones—!"

Just then, Dachii ran past him, straight at Nullus, tackling him.

"Dachii, no!"

Nullus easily got Dachii off of him, hitting him with a powerful dark energy blast and sending him flying through multiple buildings, before chasing after him.

"Shit! Akari, come on! We're going after him! The rest of you, you've got this!"

"Right!"

Arata called out as Akari and Fujii headed after Nullus. "Idiots! I wanna fight the strong guy, not this bozo again!"

But they were already gone. Hikari and Luca got out of the car and stood next to Arata. Marachii pulled up behind them.

Ossix cracked a smile and lifted up his arms. A dozen bony appendages came out, each as sharp as blades.

"Let's kill you all quickly, now."

Luca used his axes to block most of the appendages, and Hikari tried to avoid them while still holding Saori, accidentally getting stabbed by a few.

"Ow!"

Saori gasped. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah...it'll heal itself."

Ossix noticed Saori. "Wow, you even got HER on your side? That's so sweet!"

Then a dozen more appendages went for them, attempting to stab them. "Now DIE."

Arata used a shockwave punch to knock them away, glaring at the two girls. "Why the hell did Fujii leave me with the weak team? I DON'T LIKE IT!"

Marachii's car fired its guns at Ossix, but he formed armor of bone around his body, which deflected the bullets. Marachii hit the dashboard of his car.

"Come on, can't you do anything else? Lasers, missiles, flamethrowers, bayonets? What kind of weaponized car are you?"

An automated voice rang out. "Hello, Marachii Jones. How can I assist you today?"

"Oh, who are you?"

"My name is Elara. How can I assist today?"

"Well, anything that will take that guy down! Like ASAP!"

"Activating Maximum Defense Mode. Maximum Defense Mode initiated."

In a few seconds, the car created rocket launchers, plasma cannons, railguns, machine guns, laser guns, and even tendrils with bayonets at the tips, all attached to the body.

"WOAH. Now THAT is some cool technology."

"Awaiting confirmation."

"Fire?"

The car unleashed all of its weapons at once, and it even surprised Ossix.

"What the—-?"

Luca and Arata noticed too and jumped out of the way as missiles, plasma blasts, lasers, and heavy bullets all fired at Ossix.

He put his arms up, and when the barrage cleared, he was still standing, but the armor on his bones had begun to crack. "Now that might be an issue."

Arata laughed. "Great job, tech boy!"

He swung a punch at Ossix, but the guy dodged it and hit him in the face with his bones. Luca threw both of his axes at him, and they bounced off his armor.

"My axes didn't even make a dent! Arata! Marachii! You guys are the key to beating this guy!"

Marachii rolled down his window and peeked his head out. "Me? I don't know, this is a bit too dangerous for my style—-!"

"Firing again."

The car unleashed another barrage, and this time Ossix dodged it instead of taking it head-on.

Hikari approached the passenger door, and gently put Saori in the seat. "Here, she should be safe in here! Just watch her and keep firing from a distance! We'll do the rest!"

Saori watched her go and then she looked at Marachii. "Is this all going to be alright?"

"I hope so!"

Arata charged his body up and threw a right hook at Ossix, but Ossix dodged it and turned his hand into a bony spike, intending to stab him with it.

Luca, moving quickly, caught it between a new pair of axes, and Arata managed to hit him in the face. "You're EASY WORK, BUM!"

Ossix sighed and stomped his foot into the ground, and this time three massive bone pillars appeared, swirling with hundreds of sentient bone limbs.

"This is getting old. Let's end this."

Meanwhile, the other part of the battle...

Dachii and Nullus were going at it again, but Nullus managed to stay one step ahead of Dachii's attacks.

"Using your thirst for violence to compensate for your lack of skill! That strategy won't work against me!"

Dachii's attacks, while more controlled and precise, still didn't manage to connect. Nullus pushed him back with a wave of dark energy, making him stumble to the ground.

"Now I'm taking you back home. There is someone I would like you to meet."

"Is that right? Touch me and I'll rip off your limbs."

Nullus laughed and prepared to grab him, but he jumped back as an icy slash nearly hit him.

"General."

Fujii, with Akari at his side, had his blade at the ready. "In the flesh. Step away from my soldier."

"Oh, dear. I'm shaking."

Both sides attacked each other at the same time, moving at breakneck speed. Fujii had to deflect and react to Nullus's attacks, which were getting faster and faster.

Fujii slashed him once, but dark energy absorbed the ice before it could freeze him. He kicked Fujii onto a building before jumping after him.

Akari went to help Dachii, who just glared at her as if she were a piece of bad meat.

"Are you okay?"

"What does it LOOK LIKE?"

She looked slightly taken by surprise, but she noticed his eyes were dark and empty. "Oh...not this again..."

Dachii stood up. "That snowman isn't taking over my fight, no way!"

"Dachii, just stay here, okay? Me and General Fujii will—-"

Dachii glowed gray, and he jumped after the pair. "—-handle this. Damn it."

Akari made her way after them as well.

Fujii and Nullus began moving at speeds so fast they could be heard all across the festival. Fujii got into a low stance and began rapidly swinging his sword.

"ONSLAUGHT!"

The blade unleashed waves of ice at Nullus, but he dodged most of them, and he used his power to counter the ones he couldn't dodge. A few bits of ice managed to strike him, but his power quickly absorbed it.

They crashed into an office building, still fighting inside of it as people screamed. Fujii, in between blade strikes, yelled out:

"Everyone, evacuate the area now! RUN!"

Nullus shot a blast of dark energy at a Voltian woman, knocking her to the floor, but before he could fire again, Fujii slashed off his arm.

"Keep going!"

"T...thank you, General!" She got up and continued to run, as Fujii and Nullus crashed through another wall.

People ran screaming out of buildings as the battle progressed further and further down city streets. Fujii did a spinning slash, creating some distance between him and Nullus.

"I want to know..."

He summoned another Ice Katana.

"Where you bastards TOOK MY MOTHER!"

Nullus rubbed his chin, smiling. "Mother? Does the powerful General of Ice really want his mommy after all this time?"

Fujii tightened his grip on his blades, eyes cold. With a deep breath, he raised his swords above his head and brought them down, and the ice they shot out FORMED A MASSIVE DRAGON OF ICE that flew straight towards Nullus.

"ICE DRAGON!"

As the dragon flew towards Nullus, he had to use a considerable amount of energy to slow it down.

"Impressive move!"

With a huge wave of dark energy, he managed to reduce the dragon to ice, but Fujii quickly jumped into the air and spun, creating three more.

"Oh, great."

Nullus began to envelop his body with dark energy, releasing it as the dragons crashed into him, causing massive damage to the surroundings.

Nullus stood, ice covering the right side of his body, and he held his hands up.

"Enough playing around."

He rushed at Fujii with a speed that he'd never pulled out before, and with his fists coated in black energy, he and Fujii began their clash once more.

"Your death will be for the cause, General!"

As Nullus kept breaking Fujii's swords, Fujii had to quickly make more, which began to take a toll on him.

After Nullus broke another one, he aimed a punch right for Fujii's heart, but an energy blast stopped him. He and Fujii looked at the source.

"The Princess."

"Akari! Right on cue! Where's Dachii?"

"I don't know, sir! He came this way, but I got here before him!"

Nullus shot a blast of dark energy at both Fujii and Akari, forcing them to evade.

"We'll figure it out later! This guy's gonna be a problem!"

"Right!"

Akari shot another blast of energy at Nullus, but he countered with his own blast.

"I don't have time for this. I need to get the Holder."

"Holder? Holder of what?"

In response, Nullus unleashed a furious barrage of punches at Fujii, who used his sword to block most of them, but one connected with his side.

"Ow! Not the ribs!"

Akari engaged him in combat, and he countered her energy-infused attacks with some of his own, creating powerful explosions of energy.

As their fists met again and again, he kept getting faster and faster, but Akari kept up her relentless assault, getting faster as well. Fujii came from behind and tried to slash him in the chest, but Nullus stopped the blade with his bare hands, ripping it away, and along with it, Fujii's arm.

"Gah! Damn it!"

"Sir! Are you alright?" Akari asked, and Nullus tried to punch her, hitting her forcefield instead.

Fujii's arm began to regenerate. "I'm good! Keep up the attack!"

Fujii summoned another blade and Nullus blocked his attack with his arm, repelling the sword. Akari charged her body with energy and made a slash with her arms, unleashing a powerful and precise energy blast at Nullus, which slightly caught him by surprise.

"Ridiculous."

He clenched his fists and, swiping his arms, released a massive wave of dark energy that sent the pair flying and shut down all power within its radius.

"Now, where did the target go?"

"Right here!"

Dachii stood on a nearby roof, smiling a malevolent smile at Nullus, who lifted an eyebrow.

"Bold move."

"What's really bold is THE FACT YOU HAVEN'T run."

Nullus laughed a genuine laugh, holding his stomach. "Funny."

Fujii stood up. "Dachii! Don't engage! Run!"

Dachii looked at Fujii for a moment, thoughts swirling in his mind. "Enemy..."

But a blast from Nullus refocused his attention. Nullus jumped onto the roof, right in front of Dachii, and held out his arm.

"Now, Dachii. It's time for you to hand over Deity."

The words confused Dachii, and one of his eyes shifted back to normal. "Deity?"

Even Fujii and Akari appeared perplexed. "What?" Fujii wondered, mind racing with possibilities. "They aren't after his Element?"

"What's he talking about, sir?" Akari asked.

Nullus fired a blast at them both. "Enough talking."

He turned his attention to Dachii, whose face reverted back to his aggressive state. "It WILL belong to us."

Meanwhile, the other part of the battle...

Luca and Arata were trying their best to hold off Ossix's attacks. Marachii's car continued to fire at him. but he was too fast for the hits to land.

"Car, can you shoot faster?"

"Maximum speed reached."

"Crap!"

Hikari used her storage magic to store a dumpster, then she made a portal over Ossix's head and tried to drop it onto him.

"You're too slow, girl!"

He easily batted it away with the back of his hand, and he continued his assault on them. Saori began to tense up, shaking.

"No! I can't let this happen! I can't let him do what he did to Mommy!"

Marachii instantly turned to look at her as she opened the car door.

"Hey, where are you going? Come back here!"

She jumped out of the car, attracting the attention of the others.

"Saori! Get back in the car!" Hikari demanded.

Saori held up both her hands, and she began to glow white. "No! I'll...I'll help to defeat the bad man!"

Ossix watched her, curious. "Well, now. Seems the little girl has gained some guts—-!"

But out of nowhere, a rainbow formed from her hands, and it hit Ossix in the face, knocking him to the ground.

—-