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Chapter Forty-Three: Holder

"Ossix..."

Nullus stopped the attack, no longer sensing his friend's presence. "You lost...?"

Dachii heard it. "GOOD. Now you're all alone." He jumped down, landing in front of Nullus.

Nullus began to glow with powerful dark energy, and his skin began to crack. His eyes turned a dark purple-ish color. He put a hand on his head and laughed.

"No matter. If you want a job done, you DO IT YOURSELF!"

He swung at Dachii, and Dachii swung back, fists colliding. Nullus dodged a haymaker from Dachii and countered with an elbow to the stomach.

Dachii spat out blood, and Nullus threw him into a wall. Nullus tried to kick him, but Dachii rolled out from under him and tried to strike him in the head. Nullus blocked it and used a wave of dark energy to send Dachii flying back.

"Enough fooling around, Holder. I'm taking you back now, lest things become even worse—-!"

Fujii zipped past him, nearly slashing him in the chest, but Nullus just narrowly dodged the blade. Ice came flying his way, and he used his power to melt it.

"You again?"

"Duh! You think you're taking my soldier and just leaving? Oh, you've got nerve!"

Nullus got into a fighting stance. "Really? Because I think I AM." A wave of dark energy came at Fujii, and he jumped over it, using his swords to deliver an icy slash at Nullus.

"Cool down, demon!"

Nullus evaded it, shooting another blast of dark energy. "Demon? Look who's talking! Don't try and insult me, tyrant!"

"You murdered an innocent woman and kidnapped her child! You and your people are monsters! Killing people who've never done a crime!"

Nullus, eyes cold, simply remarked:

"Your people existing, that IS a crime."

He slammed his hand into the ground and giant waves of dark energy spread in every direction. Even though Fujii put up a few ice walls to stop it, it continued to advance.

Nullus shattered the wall in one blow, and he and Fujii attacked each other relentlessly, neither giving in. Fujii knocked him back with an icy fist, before slashing off his hand.

Nullus punched Fujii in the face, making him stumble. A hailstorm of energy blasts rained down on him, but he used his power to nullify them.

"So the Princess wishes to die too? What fun!"

Akari dodged a few punches and ducked under the dark energy wave he sent out. She spun and tried to kick him in the head, but he grabbed her by the leg and flung her into a building.

"So useless. Only one of you Royals is even worth a damn."

The entire building began to crumble and crack, and with a powerful shockwave of energy, it was reduced to rubble. Akari picked up a huge chunk of it, eyes blazing.

"Say that again."

Nullus watched as put her hands together and then charged them, firing a massive blast at him which he had to dodge.

"You missed."

Fujii came at him, aiming for his chest with his blade. Nullus stopped the strike by catching it in his hands, but the moment he turned his attention away, Akari nearly hit him in the face.

"Inadequate."

He grabbed her arm, but she simply began spinning around rapidly, and a tornado of energy began to form around her.

"What are you—-?"

Fujii backed away as her tornado became massive, sucking in and throwing Nullus further down the street.

Fujii watched in awe. "Wow, Akari! When did you learn that?"

"I've been practicing."

"When?"

"Everyday."

Dachii, still in the same place as before, was just sitting on the ground, staring off into space. Nullus got up and noticed this.

"The Holder is vulnerable! If I grab him quickly, it won't matter if I kill the others or not," he thought, brushing himself off.

Fujii and Akari prepared to attack him again, but Nullus zipped right past them, heading for Dachii.

"Hey, stop!"

Nullus got closer and closer, preparing to grab the boy.

In Dachii's mind...

All Dachii could hear was the giggles of various young women around him, as they danced in the forest and joked around.

"Come on, Dachii! Let's swim in the river!"

"See I would, but I don't know how to swim. Can I watch—-?"

A giggling girl, with green hair and dressed in leaves, pulled him into the river."

"Hey! I told you, I can't swim!"

"Just follow me! The water will guide you!" She began to glide through the water, almost like a fish. The river began to drag Dachii deeper into the forest.

Dozens of other girls watched him as he was swept away by the river. "...Hey?"

Eventually, the river led to a giant lake, surrounded by mountains. When he made it to the lake, he found no trace of be green-haired girl.

"Okay, go! Go!"

He began to flail through the water, but a gentle hand grabbed his, pulling him out of the lake.

"Dachii? Why are you taking a dip in a river with your clothes on, silly?"

Dachii had to use his hands to wipe his face, but he saw HER.

"Mihina? How did you get HERE, now? And why are you wearing that?"

She had flowers decorating her hair, and she was dressed in leaves, just like the other girls. "Oh, that! Don't mind me! Just Mihina being Mihina."

"Are you...okay?"

"Listen. We're not alone."

"What do you mean, not alone? There's no one else here—-!"

She pointed to the forest. Somehow, it seemed to get quieter...and creepier. Despite the wind, the leaves stood still.

"You're not yourself anymore, Dachii. You have something inside of you that's restless, stirring, POWERFUL."

"You mean my Gravity Powers? Yeah, they've definitely acted up from time to time, but I wouldn't be walking without them, so you know..."

"No, Dachii. Not those."

"Then what? My irresistible charm?"

She blushed and giggled, before resuming a serious face. "No." She pointed at the forest, where many forest girls were spilling out.

But as they walked toward the pair, they didn't seem to...walk. They were teleporting with every step. And when Dachii saw their faces, their eyes were black.

"What happened to THEM?"

"Not what. Who."

"Who? What do you mean? What's wrong, Mihina?"

"Work with it to change our fate, Dachii. The thing you have, it's not something people can just ignore."

She began to shimmer and disappear. Dachii was left standing by himself, and the girls got closer and all merged into one individual. HIM.

But not any normal version of him, one with BLACK eyes. He grabbed Dachii's shoulder. "Release."

"Release? Release what?"

But everything around him seemed to crumble, and it all went dark.

Back in the real world...

Nullus attempted to grab Dachii, but Fujii fired an ice blast at him, forcing him to nullify it. Akari jumped in the air and slammed the ground, causing energy to spike and hit Nullus, knocking him back.

When Nullus recovered, Fujii attacked him. In between strikes, he called out to Akari.

"Akari! Check on Dachii!"

"Right!"

She kneeled beside him, shaking him by the shoulders. "Dachii. Dachii! Can you hear me?"

But he just kept staring into the sky, not even blinking once. His eyes seemed to be getting darker. "He's unresponsive, sir!"

Nullus laughed. "Don't tell me you've killed him! Then you'll ALL have to die!"

He punched his hand right through the middle of Fujii's chest. Fujii coughed blood and used his blade to slash off his hand.

"Damn...you..."

Nullus kicked him back, and they both healed themselves. Akari and Fujii stood in front of Dachii. Nullus tried to attack, but a barrage of missiles fired at him, forcing him to get out of the way.

Fujii, Akari, and Nullus watched a car roll up, with Marachii in the driver seat. The rest were all in the other seats. Hikari poked her head out of the passenger seat window.

"Hey, sorry! It took us a while to find you!"

Fujii gave them a thumbs up. "No worries! This guy's already been softened up, so now we just gotta take him down!"

Marachii noticed Dachii sitting on the ground. "What's wrong with Dachii?"

"We don't know! It's like he's in a trance!" Akari replied.

Hikari held up a glowing pink hand. "I can try healing him, but I'm starting to run out of energy—-!"

Nullus clenched his fists. "Don't bother."

He unleashed a wave of dark energy that knocked everyone back. "Don't you see you're all a curse? Evil, that's what you are!"

Arata and Luca got out of the car. "NOW LET'S KILL THIS GUY TOO!" He swung at Nullus, but his attack was slower than usual, even though his injuries were healed.

"Back."

He knocked Arata away. Luca swung his axes at him, but Nullus disarmed him and slammed him into a wall.

Fujii almost slashed him in the back, but he evaded the blade. "Guys! He's too dangerous to fight directly! Let me handle the heavy work, and you guys play support!"

Akari charged her fists up with energy. "Right! You guys heard him, back him up!"

Nullus laughed again, summoning dark energy whips from his hands. "How heroic. The General protects the youngsters."

Nullus launched the whips at Fujii, who used his swords to deflect them. But every time he did, his sword began to melt further and further.

"But who's going to protect you?!"

"This! ANNIHILATE!"

He stabbed his sword into the ground, and both men were taken high into the air by a giant wall of ice.

"Sir!" Hikari called out, with Saori in her arms. "We have to get up there!"

Arata stood up, preparing to punch the ice wall. "ON IT!" Akari grabbed his arm before he could.

"Stop."

On top of it, Fujii and Nullus were attacking each other with heavy attacks. The ice began to crack from the force of their battle.

"You don't deserve to possess him, you murdering elves!"

Fujii used two swords to slash Nullus in the chest, partially freezing it. "And what? You do?"

Fujii created a wave of ice dragons, which slammed into Nullus and sent him flying off the ice. He destroyed the ice dragon with a fist of dark energy, and he landed on the street.

Fujii created a slide of ice to make his way down and he and Nullus continued their clash. Akari ran after them, as Fujii started to tire out.

"Come on! General Fujii is beginning to reach his limit!"

Nullus delivered three punches to Fujii's stomach, slowing him down, but Fujii slashed his neck, nearly cutting it off.

"Wrong weak point!"

Nullus uppercutted him and then used two hands to push him back. Akari came in and tackled him, knocking them both to the ground.

Nullus stood up and launched a whip at her, which hit her in the face, but she used all her strength to punch him in the head, blowing part of it off.

Without missing a beat, Arata used a shockwave to stagger Nullus, and Fujii came back in and sliced him across the chest.

Luca, Hikari, and Marachii watched.

"How is he still standing?" Marachii asked, but he heard the car door open and Saori got out.

"No! You're not going to hurt them!"

Before anyone could stop her, she ran towards the fight, with her hands in front of her.

As Nullus fended off the attacks on him, he saw Saori.

"Well, come to try and save the day?"

"Take...THIS!"

She fired a giant rainbow at him, which fully knocked off his head. Fujii stared at her in shock.

"Woah, little girl! I didn't know you could do that!"

Arata hit Nullus with another shockwave. "Yeah! She KILLED that other guy! I think."

Despite the attacks, Nullus unleashed a gigantic wave of dark energy that brought everyone to their knees. "It's time!"

He regrew his head and took off towards Dachii, who was still sitting on the ground. He reached out his hand to grab him, but someone was pulling him back.

"Get...away...from...my...brother...!"

Marachii had gotten rid of the car, now using a tendril from his back to stop Nullus. He tried to use his hands to yank him back, but Nullus simply pulled him towards him.

"You are a human, so, sorry about this."

He punched through Marachii's back, making him throw up tons of blood.

"Marachii! What the hell did you do?!?" Hikari called out, as she tried to punch Nullus, but he broke her arm with ease.

He tossed both of them aside, continuing his walk toward Dachii.

But to his surprise, Dachii was now looking at him.

"Brother...screams..."

His eyes, to Nullus's horror, began to change from black to a DARK ORANGE.

"That power!"

He slowly stood up, holding one hand out and clenching it into a fist. "Whatever...it takes..."

In the next second, he blitzed Nullus before he could react, pushing him down the street with the force of his fist.

"...TO BE FREE!"

Everyone watched in awe and shock, and Dachii's fist turned from gray to ORANGE, and it punched RIGHT THROUGH NULLUS'S chest, exposing his heart.

"GAAH!"

Fujii immediately formed an Ice Katana and rushed to the fight, as Dachii collided into the building behind them.

Nullus stood still, attempting to regenerate his chest...

But Fujii got to him and...and he slashed him right in the HEART.

"N...no..."

Nullus fell to his knees, his body beginning to shake. "Master..."

"...this time, we've failed."

—-