Chapter One Hundred Forty-One: Hallowed Battle

Minutes before…

"Mr. Fujii?"

"Yes, Saori?"

"I don't like this place…"

Fujii picked Saori up and put him on his back. "Yeah, I don't like it either. But you know, all we have to do is move forward and save our teammates, and then we can leave this place for good."

"At least," he thought. "I hope."

"Was that really my mom?" Saori asked.

Fujii shook his head. "Just a trick. They want your will and spirit crushed. If they're loyal to who I think, they only value strength; both of body and mind."

Saori stayed quiet for a long time as she and Fujii kept on the path. A large, ruined city came into view, with a massive castle at its center.

"If I'm a cult looking to kidnap a very important target," Fujii noted. "That's where I'd take him."

A portion of the castle's roof collapsed. "Yep. And judging by that wreckage, we're not the first ones to cross it."

He began taking off, forcing Saori to hold on tight. "Alright, kid! Let's jump into the fray!"

"Wait, Mister—-!"

He formed a giant ice dragon around the two, which flew and landed in the center of the battlefield, where everyone else was fighting, and stopped.

"Let's do this."

Currently…

Tenma, Shun, Kugutsu, Isamu, and all the other cultists watched in shock as Fujii sliced through every cultist near him, not even breaking a sweat.

"Now, someone wanna explain what's going on?"

Akari called out to him from her position. "Sir! This cult wants to destroy Dachii! They think Dachii is gonna end us all!"

"Is that so?" Fujii wondered. "Why?"

"No clue! They call him the Destroyer! That guy's their leader!"

She motioned to Tenma, who had paused to look at him.

"Tenma?" Fujii recognized.

"Kenshi," Tenma replied. "Eons since I've laid eyes on your face."

"You know him?" Akari asked.

"Sadly," Fujii sighed. "A tie to my old past."

Fujii then smiled. "Now then! Answer me! What's going on here, and why won't you let my soldier go?"

"You should know better than anyone else," Tenma said. "That cannot happen."

"Fine," Fujii declared. "Then I'll make it."

He and Tenma both rushed at each other at the same time, blows connecting and blood spattering. Fujii evaded most of Tenma's attacks, while Tenma regenerated the damage done to him by Fujii.

"How's that even possible?" Fujii questioned. "You don't have an Element!"

"No," Tenma agreed, dodging another attack from Fujii. "But we do have multiple forms of magic. Recovery Magic, for example."

He allowed Fujii to slice off his head, which regrew right back. "Now…do you see? Not as strong as an Element's Regeneration, but with practice and control, I can restore almost any part of my body, as can all of my peers!"

Fujii went in close for an attack.

"Another one we all possess. Shift."

Tenma seemed to shift positions, and he was right next to Dachii, preparing to grab him, but Fujii quickly sprinted across the battlefield and knocked him away.

"Dachii!" he greeted. "How about we get you out of here, pal?"

"Okay," Dachii replied.

Fujii held his blade high as Tenma shifted all around him. "Be careful, all of you. This guy is ancient and dangerous. If he has to kill us all to get to Dachii, then he will. Stay sharp."

Hikari and Aoki nodded, while Dachii just stood there.

"To the right!"

Fujii blocked a punch from Tenma, but the cultist leader grabbed his arm, causing Fujii's blade to disperse. "You know…you've never been grateful for what you've been given…I think I should take it from you!"

Tenma ducked a swing from Aoki and jumped into the middle of the room with Fujii, who merely laughed.

"You can try! Hey, do you remember what my magic is?"

Tenma's eyes widened. "You mean, you still have it?"

"Yeah, I wonder how much you people and your little chains can take before you break?"

"Wait!"

Fujii kicked Tenma off and slammed his hand on the ground. "Magic: Rapid Spread. ICE!"

Fujii's ice came in waves, faster than it had ever before, and he issued a warning out to his team.

"Guys! Get off the ground!"

Aoki grabbed Dachii and Hikari and jumped into the air. Luca snagged Saori and batted away Shun, using his hydra form to latch onto the wall.

"What about us?" Marachii asked.

"Don't worry," Fujii assured. "One thing about metal, it ALWAYS has a breaking point."

The ice spread to the chains, coating them in thick layers of ice. As cultists ran and some got frozen by the ice waves, Akari felt the chains on her arms getting weaker.

"Hey, I think General Fujii nullified them! Try breaking them!" she suggested.

She slammed her hands on the ground, and like glass, her chains shattered. Marachii noticed this and did the same, shattering his chains with immense force.

Ayana held up hers. "A little help? I don't have the same strength you guys do!"

Akari ignored her, while Marachii helped break her chains. "There you go."

"Thanks, Marachii."

Fujii stopped his magic, and the building was now covered in ice. Tenma looked around at all his frozen comrades, an unreadable look on his face.

"I didn't know General Fujii could do that!" Hikari exclaimed. "That magic seems incredible!"

"The ability to multiply and speed up the potency of any material, effect, or attack he uses," Aoki remarked. "What a power. No wonder he doesn't use it often, even after all these years."

Tenma delivered a fist to Fujii's face, but Fujii caught it and sliced off his arms, head, and torso, but Tenma simply regrew his legs and attacked his head back on.

"The torso didn't regrow," Fujii realized. "Is that the key to beating him?"

Aoki ran to his side. "Sir! He has a white orb in his chest! I think if you hit that, you can defeat him!"

"Just like I thought then! Man, I am smart," he gloated.

Aoki rolled her eyes.

Isamu watched the carnage before him, tears falling from his face. "My home…my people…!"

Hikari hugged him. "It's fine! They won't hurt you—-!"

"Get off me!"

He pushed her off. "You lied to me! You told me you wanted to save your friend, but you used me to start a war!"

"No, no I didn't!" Hikari shot down. "I didn't know this would start some grand battle! I just wanted to save my friend from being killed!"

"By killing all of us?" Isamu snapped.

"No, that's not what we want! If you let us leave, we'll go in peace!"

Saori skipped over to Hikari. "Miss Hikari, who are you talking to?"

Isamu backed away. "No, no! You've come to jump me! You maniacs!"

Saori glanced at him. "Is he an enemy? Should we take him down?"

Hikari shook her head. "We're leaving him, Saori! He's just a kid!"

Kugutsu appeared behind Isamu, a devilish look in his eyes. "Well, isn't this something…?"

"Mister Kugutsu!" Isamu acknowledged.

"Step aside, boy. I've got to deal with these enemies, these traitors to their homeland!"

Isamu moved away as various cultists stood up, offering themselves to Kugutsu. He extended his arms, and they all jumped onto him. A white glow appeared, and the bodies of the cultists fused into one massive puppet, with Kugutsu controlling it from the head.

"AHHH!" Hikari and Saori screamed and fell to the ground.

"Do not scream, girls," Kugutsu. "The Puppet won't like that."

He took a step forward only to be hit with a barrage of energy blasts, knocking him to the ground. Hikari and Saori were helped up by Akari.

"Are you two alright?" she asked.

They nodded.

"What's this guy's deal?" Akari questioned.

"I think he's in charge of letting new members into the cult," Hikari explained. "And from his magic, he can control people and things like a puppet."

"So another pain in the ass," Akari stated. "Got it."

Kugutsu and his puppet got up, immediately attempting to slam Akari. She moved out of the way effortlessly, punching the giant arm away before leaping onto the head and bashing it with energy-empowered fists, causing the giant puppet to stumble.

"My power has been restrained for too long," she remarked. "It wants to let loose."

Isamu watched this from a distance, shifting his eyes between the battle occurring between Akari and Kugutsu to the battle between Fujii and Tenma.

"This can't be happening," he thought. "It's all my fault, I shouldn't have let them in here!"

Ayana put her hands on his shoulders. "Hey, kid, you okay?"

Isamu whirled around. "You! You're a human?"

She nodded. "Came here to save my friend Dachii. All this mess has gotten a bit out of hand, though."

"Can't you make them stop?" Isamu pleaded. "This is my home! It's all I know!"

She squeezed his shoulders. "Listen, in my time adventuring, if there's one thing I learned, it's that as long as people have different ideals and morals, they'll always fight. It's the way the world works, there's no set goal. Your side wants to kill Dachii, my side wants to save him. That's our conflict at the moment."

"But, how do I stop it?"

Ayana thought for a second. "Is there any way we can escape? Dachii included?"

Isamu stayed quiet for a long moment, deep in thought. "If you promise that this will stop the fighting, there's a well I can try to reactivate, it's what took Head Tenma and the others to the surface the first time…"

"That sounds awesome! If you can bring back that portal, we can leave, no more fighting!"

"Really?" Isamu wondered. "But that'll get me in trouble!"

"Not if you make it look like an accident! I helped reopen the one to get us here, I can easily take the cover for you!"

She winked. "You just have to work your magic."

"Alright, follow me!"

Isamu quietly led her out of the castle, which caught Akari's eye.

"That bitch! Is she LEAVING?"

Kugutsu delivered a powerful punch to Akari while she was distracted, causing her to go flying. Marachii noticed Ayana leaving and grabbed Dachii by the arm. "I think she has a plan! We should follow her!"

"Oh," Dachii replied. "Okay."

Throughout all the chaos, they managed to slip undetected. Shun attempted to follow, but Luca slammed into him, causing him to cough up blood.

Outside…

Ayana and Isamu reached a nearby well in the heart of the town.

"Is this it?" Ayana asked.

"Yes," Isamu answered. "I just need to chant the chant, and try to open it before anyone sees!"

He threw out his hands and began chanting a language Ayana couldn't understand. "Okay, I guess I'll leave you to it."

"Ayana!"

Marachii ran up to her, Dachii in hand. "What's going on?"

"You two!" she greeted. "Just helping this kid get us our ticket out of here. Where are the others?"

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

"Still in the castle," Marachii said.

"Oh…right."

Ayana turned to Dachii, putting her hands on his shoulders. "I'm sorry about this, Dachii, this is my fault!"

"What…?" he replied.

"I kept this cult a secret from you all, their plans to attack and snatch you, I told you not to tell your team, clearly that was a mistake! No wonder your friend doesn't trust me, I led them right to you! The moment I came into town, they followed right behind me!"

"But…that doesn't mean…"

BOOM.

A giant ice dragon flew out of the castle as Kugutsu, with a much larger puppet, burst through the walls, Tenma and Shun on its shoulders. Armies of cultists were behind them, racing towards Squad S-1.

"Damn it!" Ayana exclaimed. "Isamu, can you work a little faster, buddy?"

He glared at her, and she raised her hands in surrender. "My bad! My bad!"

The ice dragon landed next to Dachii and the others, and the rest of his team emerged from it.

"Taking an outdoor stroll?" Fujii asked.

Akari walked up to Ayana, grabbing her by the scruff of her neck. "Yeah, answer that, AYANA."

"Look, I was tryna help us find a way back home! I didn't leave you guys to die! What point is fighting if we're just gonna be stuck here till their backup comes?"

"Don't try and lie!" Akari snapped. "Did you just sabotage us? Is this cult yours?"

"No!"

Shun, Tenma, and Kugutsu stepped down from the giant puppet, which slowly approached. Aoki drew her sword. "Little Princess, grill the girl later. We've got company."

Akari released Ayana. "Fine. But we're not done."

She glared at Ayana. "You hear me?"

Ayana got to her feet. "I do."

Shun stepped forward. "Let me use my magic, Head Tenma. I'll cripple them one by one, except for Fujii, whom you can do what you wish."

"Sounds good…" Tenma agreed. "Men, swarm them! Split them up! Shun, you use your magic!"

The cultists charged, surrounding the team and forcing them away from each other.

"Can't see a thing through these guys!" Fujii called out. "Everyone, stay together!"

Dachii, Akari, and Ayana got crowded into a herd, and Shun appeared behind them.

"Let's start with the princess. I told you that you would learn. Maybe pain can be your teacher."

He drew his book, and a powerful DARK glow surrounded it.

"Curse Magic: Crippling Burden!"

A massive ball of dark energy came from the book, and it fired straight for Akari, who was unaware, fending off the other cultists. Dachii turned and noticed the ball.

"Akari…! Look out—-!"

Before he could get to her, Ayana pulled him out of the way, and just as the ball got close to Akari…

…Ayana jumped in front of her, taking the magical attack head-on, and going flying into the nearby tavern.

—-