The Beast of the Sea, Squalo[]
"Pathetic," Evilte muttered to himself
"Father?" Aoki said
"Lucien and Talos have defeated. My Seeker magic tells me more flies have entered our web as well," Evlite told everyone
"More fun for me. Finally, this walking's boring," Squalo said excitedly
"Ask and you shall receive Squalo. At the very least those fools managed to divide them. A group of two are closing in. One is injured. Interesting. It seems the fight with Lucien opened up a hidden passage. Go through that door and do not fail me, Squalo," Evlite explained
"Yeah, yeah," Squalo said walking off.
A few moments later, Eiren with Dahlia on his back entered into a large room.
"He he ha ha ha ha!! Welcome little flies!" Squalo screamed from the upper tier of the room
"Who are you?" Eiren asked
"My name is Squalo, and I am the one whose going to kill you little flies,' Squalo replied as Eiren jumped up to the upper tier on the other side of the room.
"Stay here, Dahlia," Eiren said letting Dahlia down
"Wait, I can help," Dahlia said
"No thanks. This won't take long," Eiren assured her.
"He he! Tsunami Crusher!!" Squalo then created a powerful blast of water aimed towards Eiren.
"Water Wall," Eiren chanted as he quickly created a wall of water protecting him from Squalo's blast causing the great volume of water to fall down to the lower level.
Suprisingly, instead of flowing out of the room the water stayed inside the confines of the room filling the entire lower part of it.
"Runes. Can't have you escaping now. Now that I would have let you anyway," Squalo said gleefully "Perfect battlefield for mages like us."
"Then let's get on with it. Water Katana," Eiren chanted as he commanded the water to come into his hand and then fashioned it into a katana.
"Suisugi Sword Technique: Cutting Edge," Eiren then sent out several slashes of water towards Squalo.
"Water Slasher," Squalo also shot out water slashes from his palm that overpowered Eiren's.
The slashes cut straight through Eiren's body, however his body dissolved into water revealing it to be a fake. Eiren then jumped out of the water and delivered a powerful slash to Squalo. Squalo then thrusted his palm stopping Eiren's sword with his bare hand which had now become blue and scaly.
"What the!?" Eiren said as he jumped back.
Squalo simply smiled as his body changed ripping his clothes to shreds and revealing his true shark-like form.
"What are you!?" Eiren exclaimed jumping back from him.
"He he he he! Shark Shredder," Squalo then dived straight at Eiren while in midair spun like a drill towards Eiren.
Eiren quickly defended with his sword. As he barely pushed Squalo back Eiren's sword shattered.
"Ge ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!! You're outmatched boy!" Squalo cackled as he dove into the water.
"Get back here," Eiren called after Squalo as he quickly crafted a Water Bubble over his head as dove after Squalo
"Bad move. In this form, my speed underwater is unmatched," Squalo's said as Eiren looked around
"We'll see." Eiren replied creating a Water Katana in each hand.
Squalo then shot like a torpedo at Eiren with Eiren only narrowly avoiding the attack and Squalo brushing past him.
"Aaaaaaah!!" Eiren screamed in pain.
Although Squalo only grazed him, the spot where he had been hit had a large cut in it with blood staining the water.
"He he he! Can you even fight underwater? Ah ha ha ha ha!! Water Slasher!" Squalo then fired out several powerful slashes from his fins.
"You think I'm some sort of idiot," Squalo said as he quickly turned blocking Eiren's slash as his attack destroyed Eiren's duplicate.
"Kind of. Suisugi Sword Technique: Ten Spears," Eiren then created ten spears from the water that then pierced Squalo. As he cried out Eiren kicked him away.
"You're gonna pay for that!" Squalo screamed angrily.
Squalo then noticed that the foot Eiren used to kick him wasn't bleeding or even injured in the least.
"Another duplicate!" Squalo correctly guessed as he slashed through the duplicate changing it back into water "Where are you!?"
Squalo then looked up and saw Eiren swimming to the surface "There you are!!!"
Squalo then shot at him at amzing speeds, however, Squalo went through it as it was another duplicate. Squalo's speed carried out the water and allowed him to gain footing on the rim of their underwater battlefield.
"Time to finish this," Eiren said fusing his two swords into one.
"Couldn't agree more," Squalo said readying himself
"I don't need your agreement. Suisugi Ultimate Sword Technique: Charybdis!!!!!!" Eiren then raised his sword and used the water to create a powerful whirlpool that sucked Squalo into it. As Squalo's yells echoed through the room the whirlpool rose and became a powerful swirling column crushing Squalo with intense pressure. A large amount of water was then absorbed into Eiren's sword increasing its size. Then with both hands Eiren gripped the sword and delivered a powerful slash splitting the water in two and defeating Squalo.
"It's over," Eiren panted "Let's go Dahlia,"
"Right," Dahlia said as she stood up
"You...may have...defeated...me, but you and your worthless guild...are in for a shock. He he he," Squalo said weakly.
"Come again," Eiren said irritably
"Ahead of you are the two aces of our guild. The 'Killer's Jack of all Trades', Ilygad Ondergang and 'Firestarter' Aoki, and even if you could defeat them, there's still the master. He he ha ha ha ha, you fools are doomed." Squalo continued
"Cue'll defeat them. Cue can beat anyone," Dahlia told Squalo as she and Eiren were leaving
"We'll see. He ha ha ha ha!!" Squalo's laughter echoed down the hallway.
The Elite of Revolution Spire[]
"The sword is close. I can feel it," Evlite smiled as he told Aoki and Ilygad
Suddenly, Evlite's expression changed.
"What is it, father?" Aoki asked.
"Squalo has been defeated as well," Evlite grumbled.
"It seems we must enter the fray, Aoki," Ilygad said to Aoki as he turned around.
"Very well. Let's end this quick," Aoki told Ilygad.
"Oh come now, Aoki, that's no fun," Ilygad retorted
Moments later, Cue and Juyo entered the room.
"Hey you, stop!" Cue yelled as he drew his sword and lunged at Evlite.
"Bonfire," Aoki chanted as he created a large fireball and then quickly spread out his arm creating a large wall of fire causing Cue to pull back and allowing Evlite to escape.
"That's some strong fire magic," Cue told Juyo
"So you think I should take the weird looking one," Juyo replied.
"Weird looking one?" Ilygad asked angrily as he appeared behind Cue and Juyo.
As they quickly jumped out of the way Ilygad brought down his arm and created a large impact crushing the ground where Cue and Juyo had been previously standing.
"Hermes," Ilygad then sped towards to Juyo at great speeds. Juyo raised his arms trying to block what he thought would be a punch, but instead he ended up receiving a large slash.
Distracted by Juyo's wounds Cue turned and looked at him, allowing Aoki to catch him off guard with a powerful blast of flame.
"Eden Wall," Cue quickly chanted allowing him to quickly block the fire blast
"I am perfectly capable of defeating these two by myself, Aoki," Ilygad told him.
"That remains to be seen, besides we need to move on," Aoki retorted
"Hey don't ignore me! Cyflmder!" Juyo yelled as sped towards Ilygad
"Hermes," Ilygad with lightning-fast reflexes caught Juyo's punch before it got anywhere near him.
"Fine, Aoki. I'll take this one. Atlas!" Ilygad then threw Juyo across the room shattering a nearby pillar with it's force and then sped towards where Juyo landed.
"Juyo!" Cue shouted
As he began to run towards where Juyo was, a large wall of flame blocked his path.
"He is Ilyagd's. Phoenix Flame," Aoki chanted a created a bird of fire that he then commanded to attack Cue.
'Look's like I'll have to beat this guy first. Hold on, Juyo,' Cue thought to himself as he drew his sword.
The Killer's Jack of all Trades[]
"Cryfder!" Juyo shouted as he threw the rubble off of him with his increased strength.
"Not bad!" Ilygad shouted as he shot towards Juyo
Juyo flipped out of the way of Ilygad's attack and tried to counter with a punch, but Ilygad caught Juyo's punch and slammed him into the ground. Juyo quickly rolled out of the way of Ilygad's following attack.
'This guy's something. Guess I have to go to to Second Gear,' Juyo said to himself.
"What are you mumbling about?" Ilygad said.
"Haaaah!!! Second Gear!! Rasio Ceffylau!" Juyo roared as he became a high speed blur.
"What!" Ilygad yelled suprised.
Juyo then delivered a flurry of extremely fast punches to Ilygad.
"Hermes" Ilygad then sped up to try and block Juyo's onslaught.
'Incredible. He can keep up with my Hermes. Fortunately I have other skills'
"Atlas," Ilygad then delivered a powerful punch to Juyo's abdomen which he narrowly avoided.
"Gale Blast!" Ilygad chanted as he created a powerful gust of wind that threw Juyo back.
"Sorry, I bet you thought you had me there with that increased speed. Unfortunately for you they don't call me the Killer's Jack of all Trades for nothing," Ilygad told Juyo as he looked down on him as he was now floating in the air.
'I wonder if Cue's having as much fun as I am' Juyo thought to himself.
"Cynddeiriog Tarw!" Juyo yelled as the muscles in his arms suddenly increased in size.
He then, leaped off the ground and catapulted himself towards Ilygad and delivered a powerful punch which Ilygad narrowly avoided and slashed Juyo across his chest, causing him to plummet back to the ground.
"What the hell was that!!" Juyo yelled.
'That wasn't wind magic. A weapon? But then...' Juyo thought to himself as he held his bleeding chest.
"That's it!" Juyo yelled aloud as he realized it.
"What's it?" Ilygad asked suspiciously
"You have the ability to make things invisible. You're using that to keep your weapon hidden, that way you can catch your opponents off-guard," Juyo guessed
"He he ha ha ha. Correct, but don't think because you now this you've discovered everything in my bag of tricks." Ilygad retorted
"Verbogen," Ilygad chanted as he disappeared
"He he ha ha ha! What will you do now?" Ilygad's voice echoed around the room.
Juyo then recieved a slash to his back.
"Quit hiding!" Juyo yelled as he turned and delivered a kick to empty space
"Oh, but its so much more fun this way," Ilygad jested unseen as he slashed Juyo again
Through his pain, Juyo remembered something his rival Renyen, had told him after defeating him during one of Juyo's many challenges when they were younger.
' In battle one must rely on all their senses, not just sight and sound, ' Renyen had told him ' Out there, in the world, if you want to survive you must learn something more than just physical strength ,'
'Alright, Renyen let's do this your way' Juyo said to himself
He then closed his eyes and chanted "Sjette Sans."
Juyo's ears then pricked up and he sniffed the air.
He then delivered a powerful punch directly in front of him which hr felt finally connect causing a large impact onto the wall in front of him.
"He he. You might be able to disappear from my eyes and fool my ears with your voice, but you can't hide the beat of your heart or the smell of blood on your sword," Juyo told Ilygad as he heard him stand up once again.
Juyo then suddenly stumbled, as he began to sucumb to his wounds.
'Dammit, not now. I'm losing too much blood. It's about time to wrap this up, it seems,' Juyo thought
"Sorry, I wanted to keep fighting, but I got to be on my way," Juyo gasped
"You sound out of breath," Ilygad, still invisible, said as he rushed forward
"Time to finish it! Madfall Iachau!!" Juyo shouted and as he did his wounds regenerated
"Regeneration? That's a handy skill to have," Ilygad said, echoing his voice to try and confuse Juyo
"You can't hide from me," Juyo said as sped to where he sensed Ilygad was and grabbed him by the throat.
"Let me go!!" Ilygad yelled as he slashed at Juyo.
The wounds healed almost as fast as Ilygad could make them.
"You're not that bad a fighter, but time to say goodbye," Juyo then delivered a powerful uppercut to Ilygad sending him towards the ceiling.
Juyo then used his increased speed and strength to deliver a flurry of powerful punches that pushed Ilygad through the ceiling. As Juyo landed safely Ilygad fell down to the ground unconscious and was buried by falling debris from the broken ceiling.
"Alright time to go," Juyo said weakly as he looked at the fiery wall marking the boundary of Cue and Aoki's battle.
Firestarter Aoki[]
"Eden Rush," Cue rushed at Aoki with his sword drawn.
Aoki did a quick hand gesture and was then surronded by a wall of fire that forced Cue back. Aoki then blasted Cue with a powerful jet of flame from his palm.
"Eden Wall," Cue chanted allowing him to block Aoki's attack.
"Burn," Aoki muttered as he did some more gestures with his other hand causing surronding flames to converge on Cue.
"I've been watching you. You can't move while you use that defensive technique can you? Haaa!!" Aoki said as he increased the intensity of his flames.
Still, Cue was able to defend against Aoki's assault.
"Hurry up and die already. I need to get going," Aoki said emotionlessly
"Haaaa!!! Buso Eden Break!" Cue yelled as he repelled all the flames away from him knocking Aoki off balance
Cue then lunged at Aoki with his sword. Aoki was able to dodge Cue's attack by blasting flames out of the soles of his shoes, propelling him a safe distance away.
Meanwhile...[]
Evlite had just reached the end of a long hallway and had emerged into a large room with strange heiroglyphics on the walls, and in the centre of the room was an intricately designed sword.
Evlite walked up to the sword and after examining it said "What an obvious fake."
He then looked around at the walls and read "He who can see beyond can create the path to the Serpent's resting place and awaken him, once again bringing ruination to the world."
"Interesting," Evlite said to himself as he began using his Seeker magic to search the room "What's this?"
Evlite walked over to a spot on the wall and pressed it. The ruins started rumbling and the floor began to glow.
"Idoitically simple," Evlite muttered as he disappeared into the light.
The light then spread throughout the entire ruins enveloping all still inside.
The Final Stages[]
Cue then suddenly awoke in a clearing back on the surface of the island.
"How did I get here?" Cue wondered as he walked through the clearing.
"Cue, is that you?" A voice came from nearby, as Eiren and Dahlia emerged.
"Dahlia, you're okay," Cue said
"I'm okay too, thanks for asking," Eiren added.
"Where are we?" Dahlia asked
"I don't know, but we got out of the ruins then the others probably did as well. We should go looking for them," Cue decided.
"No need," Hotaru said as he emerged with Juyo leaning on him.
"Juyo! You're hurt. Let me heal you," Cue said rushing over
"This. It's just a flesh wound," Juyo lied trying to put up a strong front.
"Oh alright then," Hotaru said as he let Juyo down roughly
"Easy there, Hotaru!!" Juyo shouted
"I've done all I can for him. You're much better at healing than I am, Cue," Hotaru told him.
"Right, Shi-" Cue was about to heal Juyo when he grabbed his hand.
"You don't have time to waste. We have to stop them from getting the sword," Juyo said standing up.
"I'm fine," Juyo told him as he turned to walk away.
Aoki the Solar Mage[]
"Beautiful, isn't it Aoki?" Evlite asked as he marvelled at the magnificent tower that had been revealed when Evlite had removed the seal. The tower rested on a cliff overlooking the ocean just outside of the forest.
"Is the sword in there, father?" Aoki asked
"I can feel it. It has been many years since I first found you and brought you under my wing. Now the power that we have been searching for is within our grasp." Evlite answered.
"Yeah, well keep dreaming!" Cue shouted as he leapt from the forest with his sword drawn aiming for Evlite's head.
Aoki quickly swung his left arm up surronding Evlite with a wall of fire protecting him and repelling Cue's attack.
"I don't believe I asked for help, Aoki," Evlite said as the other members of Watcher Eye showed up
"It doesn't matter I guess. It seems we have an infestation on our hands. I will handle these rats, you handle Marco's brat, while our friend inside gets the sword." Evlite told Aoki.
"What did you-"Juyo began to say, but was interrupted when Evlite clapped his hands causing Evlite and the other Watcher Eye members to vanish.
"What did he do them!?" Cue shouted at Aoki.
"He merely took them away, but you should be more worried about yourself." Aoki told him
"Really. We seemed pretty even back in the ruins." Cue retorted keeping his grip firmly on his sword.
"But we're not in the ruins anymore, and the sun is shining," Aoki said raising his arms.
"Solar Radiance: Beam!!" Aoki then aimed his right arm at Cue and shot a beam of powerful energy towards Cue.
"Eden Rush." Cue narrowly escaped the sheer power of Aoki's attack.
"What the!?" Cue exclaimed when he looked back at where he had formerly been standing to find that not only had the spot he had been standing on melted, but also the path which the beam took away from Aoki.
"Beacon," Aoki murmured as another blast came down from the sky.
Cue quickly dived out of the way as the blast obliterated where Cue was.
'Solar Energy!?' Cue thought '
"Stay still! Beam! Beacon!" Aoki shouted alternating between firing solar beams from his hand and calling blasts down from the sky which Cue could barely avoid.
'This is bad. I need to defeat this guy now.' Cue thought while dodging
"Stop jumping around and die!" Aoki shouted as his attacks pushed Cue towards the edge of the cliff "Solar Radiance: Storm!!!"
Aoki then thrusted his hands out in front of him and then gathered a large amount of solar energy in front of him. The energy then exploded forth as hundreds of bullets composed of solar energy.
'It's now or never' Cue thought as he dived off the cliff into the ocean to avoid Aoki's attack.
"I don't think so" Aoki said as he pointed his index and middle fingers downwards causing every single solar bullet to plummet into the ocean after Cue.
"It's over." Aoki said turning his back on the cliff.
A shadow then appeared under the surface of the ocean which quickly rose and then caused the water to explode upwards startling Aoki and making him turn back to the cliff. As the shroud of water dissipated a crocodile-like sea monster was revealed.
"What the hell is that!?" Aoki exclaimed
"Meet Leviathan, spirit of Envy," Cue's voice told Aoki as Leviathan's mouth opened revealing Cue to be alive.
"You are beaten. Surrender now." Cue said as he jumped onto the top of Leviathan's head.
"Am I now? Your pet can't save you," Aoki said as he shot another beam of solar energy towards Cue.
Leviathan simply raised a fin in front of Cue stopping the beam and absorbing it.
"How?" Aoki gasped bewildered.
"I cannot be harmed by magic from those overwhelmed by their envy," Leviathan explained.
"Envy!? I'm not overwhelmed by envy," Aoki protested.
"Not true. I can smell it on you. You lost your family when you were young, and now you envy those that still have their families because can live a normal and safe life while you have had to fight and fight and fight," Leviathan told him.
"Shut up!!" Aoki shouted at Leviathan firing off another beam of solar energy.
Again, Leviathan simply raised a fin absorbing the attack.
"You cannot harm Leviathan," Cue told Aoki "Attack,"
"Understood," Leviathan said as he swung his head back gathering a large amount of water in his mouth "Levia Cannon!"
Leviathan then shot the water towards Aoki causing massive damage to the ground as Aoki just escaped the pure force of Leviathan's attack.
"If I can't hurt your pet, then I'll hit you directly! Phoenix Flame!!" Aoki said as turned midair gathering flames around his body and then shot them forth towards Cue in the form of a bird.
"Leviathan!" Cue ordered.
"Understood. Levia Wall!!!" Leviathan roared surronding him and Cue with a powerful wall of water protecting them from Aoki's attack. When the wall dissipated Leviathan and Cue had disappeared.
"What!?" Aoki said looking around frantically "Where are you?"
Leviathan then sprang out of the water with his gaping maw wide open. Aoki just jumped out of the way as Leviathan chomped down crushing the earth.
"Buso Eden!" Cue then dropped down from the sky delivering a powerful blast from his palm to Aoki throwing back against the ground.
"Stay down. You're beat," Cue told Aoki with his sword inches away from Aoki's face.
The Final Stages (II)[]
"Disappointing, Aoki," Evlite, who had appeared, said shaking his head "It seems I was wrong. You're nothing, but trash."
"Where are my friends!?" Cue demanded pointing his sword at Evlite
"Father, what are you saying?" Aoki said getting up as Cue's concentration was now focused on Evlite.
"Stop calling me that. I'm not your father, boy," Evlite told Aoki
"Father," Aoki said confused
"You there, Watcher Eye brat. Do you why I am no longer a member of the Ten Wizard Saints?" Evlite asked Cue completely ignoring Aoki.
"You conducted unauthorised experiments that resulted in the deaths of many people," Cue answered his sword still drawn.
"One such experiment in particular was testing my newest invention," Evlite explained gesturing with a metal glove-like device covering Evlite's right hand "This Magic Disruptor allows me to disrupt the flow of an opponent's magic causing their attacks to dissipate..."
Evlite then turned towards Aoki and finished "...or go beyond the user's control."
"What did you say?" Aoki gasped as something suddenly clicked in the back of his mind.
"My unauthorised experiment occured eighteen years ago," Evlite chuckled.
"The day you adopted me," Aoki gasped shocked by this new revelation
"What!?" Cue said suprised
"He he he. The amount of sheer power you released when your magic surfaced, I thought you could make a powerful tool, but it seems I was mistaken. You are nothing," Evlite told Aoki.
"So you're as big a scumbag as I heard," Cue told Evlite, his sword still pointed at him, as Aoki dropped to his knees, his world shattered. "But like I said before, where are my friends!?"
"Oh right." Evlite said as he snapped his fingers causing the other Watcher Eye members to materialize. "They're alive just so you know. I didn't see the point in killing flies with a cannon."
"Guys, are you alright," Cue said as he knelt down next to his friends.
"Uhh...Yeah we're alright," Juyo groaned
"Evlite." A voice came from the woods.
"Evlite, what about me? My dream?" Talos said as he emerged from the woods "Aoki was your son. If he was nothing to you, then does that mean you were never going to make me human."
"Of course not, you hunk of junk." Evlite scoffed "I have neither the means nor the intention to turn you into a human. I just needed a way to control you once you developed those useless emotions."
"You. You used...all of us. Talos, take my flames! TERA INCINERATION!!!"" Aoki said as he stood up flames gathering on his body. The flames then surged outwards.
"Understood Aoki. Dragon Flame!!" The flames that had erupted from Aoki were then absorbed into the fire which Talos had created, making a fire dragon far bigger than the one Talos created during his fight with Hotaru.
"Take this!!!" Aoki and Talos shouted as Talos commanded the dragon to attack Evlite.
"Honestly, you two are so useless," Evlite said as he thrusted his gloved hand forward "DISRUPT!!"
Black lightning then bursted forth from Evlite's Magic Disruptor which then collided with the flame dragon causing it to dissipate.
"What!?" Talos and Aoki said simultaneously.
"Direct Line!" Evlite shouted, disappearing from his previous location and instantaneously appeared in front of Talos delivering a powerful blow to him knocking him back into the woods.
Evlite then vanished again, only to reappear in front in of Aoki. Evlite then raised his fist to deliver a blow to Aoki only to have it blocked by Cue's sword..
"What do you think you're doing?" Aoki asked as Cue pushed Evlite back.
"I thought I was saving your life," Cue replied matter-of-factly.
"I don't the help of some legal guild. I can handle this," Aoki said as he got to his feet.
"As if it were possible for either of you to defeat me," Evlite told them.
"Put your differences aside," Talos said, as he emerged from the woods. "We'll fight him together."
"No matter how many insects gather before me, I shall still squash them ALL!!" Evlite bellowed releasing a large amount of magical power.
The Guildmaster of Revolution Spire[]
"Solar Radiance: Blast Ray!" Aoki then thrusted his arms forward and charged up a large amount of solar energy in the palms of his hands which he then released in a powerful, concentrated blast towards Evlite.
"Pathetic!!" Evlite simply raised his Magic Disruptor and shot more black lightning into the blast.