Arcadia

A Long Time Coming

The blinding flash soon cleared. In the middle of the solemn-looking hall, Vega faced off with Mikhail.

"Curse you.... Spitting in the name and pride of the Inquisitors, then having the guts to parade as a teacher in Shiratori."

Vega held his sword and impaled the ground. "Have you no regret for what you have done? Answer me!"

Mikhail squinted, then calmly shook his head without a word. 

Vega picked up his sword once more. At the advent of his second charge seemed to eradicate all air witin the room. Stillness could be a better way to describe it, as he held his sword horizontally at eye level. 

It would be simple. One clean stroke is all that will be needed to end this. He set his feet firmly and dashed towards Mikhail. He expected another energy attack, but the Shiratori professor did not budge, nor even move a finger. He merely lifted his eyebrows, and his pupils turn purple, as if a switch has been flipped open.

"May you burn in Hell forever!" 

Vega's voice was filled with indignant anger, yet he was stopped right before his blade could reach the object of his hatred. What stopped him was a piercing sensation which cut horizontally past both his legs. He lost his balance and fumbled forward, holding on by grabbing onto his sword, which hit the ground.

That was when he first took a closer inspection on the ground.

"It's... filled with runes!" 

Just as those words left his mouth, the rune which was embedded on the tile where his sword was lit up. What this tile did was send off sparks and purple pulses through his sword. The archbishop was forced to let go of the sword as the sparks turn violent and shoot upward. Naturally, he stepped back in order to regain distance between him and Mikhail.

It appears that his opponent has thought of everything precisely. The next block which Vega stepped on also contained a trap in the form of another rune. This one was colored blue. With a simple activation trigger as being stepped on, the rune lit up. From all around the enclosed area, icy blasts of wind all trigger and blow towards Vega.

Still feeling overwhelmed with all these things happening all at once, Vega was not able to dodge. He felt the full blast of the icy wind and was dropped down to his knees. Mikhail produced an energy ball out of his arms and flung it at the archbishop, tossing him back on impact.

This turned Marian restless. "Master!"  She knows very well how it would end up should she step in, so she stood in place. She inched closer, but managed to repress her urge to interrupt the battle.

Mikhail finally broke his blank expression. "How tragic. Blinded by self-righteousness, the deluded hero fights on under his conviction." He summoned another orb from his hand and continued. "Nothing has changed since 15 years ago, Vega."

With one hand, the archbishop pulled himself back up.

"Unforgivable!"

"Are you so caught up in your delusion of what the world should be? Is that what's preventing you from seeing the world around you? Vega, for the past 15 years, haven't you seen the effect of the steps the Inquisitors took that day? Haven't you seen what Arcadia has become?"

"The only thing it has become is a rotting sinkhole of such trash. Demons, spirits, mutants, and espers like you... You spawns of evil don't belong to this world, and I swore to set things right!"

"How pitiful, Vega! Through that peace treaty, humans and us alike have started to move on towards a new tomorrow, with this city as our symbol. All of this would not have been possible if--"