Chapter 9 – Garuda
“You’re pretty good.” Vrede said as he stepped back from the attacking long haired student. Seiryu followed up with two slashes from his blade, but the former just evaded the attack with ease once again. His flame wings now had burned even brighter. “And now I’m saying that seriously.” He added.
Seiryu stopped attacking and once again they were both in a stare down.
“I thought you’d stop talking.” He said to him with a smug look on his face.
“Can’t help it, I’m a talkative guy.” Vrede replied as he jumped up high in the air. A flaming phoenix had appeared behind him as he jumped up high. “Garuda Fire Rain!” he shouted as flames of red color wrapped themselves around his arms.
It began to rain fire from above as Seiryu sped through each fire blast in order to get to safety. Darkness charge around him as he countered some fire blasts with his own darkness flares; it would seem that the two combatants would not run out of energy as they continued the fight, but that can never be the case for there is always a victor in every battle.
Vrede landed on the ground as he noticed that Seiryu was still running around him with very fast speed. The fire wielding Sentis member then conjured flames around him now and waves of red and gray fire appeared from both of his arms.
“Fires of Garuda, and Fires of Exion, come to my aid.” He chanted as fire rains continued to rage around him. The red and gray fires now began to combine in one of his hands. “Hooryuho (Phoenix Dragon Fire)!” he shouted as the flames of grey and red began to take form of a dragon blast with phoenix wings.
“Shit.” Seiryu said as he tried to outrun the dragon fire that was going close to him. He then felt an energy speed past him and on the other side he was shocked at what he saw.
“Ain’t gonna escape that easily!” Vrede said as he twirled his sickle on his left hand while his right conjured the fire dragon. His left hand now was conjuring a bright orange flame that took a shape of a pure phoenix this time. “Garuda no hi Tsubasa (Fire wings of Garuda)!” he shouted as the phoenix fire tried to collide with Seiryu as well.
The long haired student found himself cornered between the Dragon fire blast and the phoenix fire blast and as the two flame creatures closed in he tried to think of a way to dodge the attack.
“Damn it!” he shouted as his darkness tried to serve as a shield in the incoming attack.
“It’s no use!” Vrede shouted and right on cue the flaming dragon and the flaming phoenix collided with the Treyah student.
An explosion of grey and red flame was produced as a byproduct of the collision and a huge smirk had approached Vrede’s face. He smiled evilly, for he had known that he had defeated one of the stronger members of the enemy party that had attacked them.
Or so he thought.
The fog had cleared up and it revealed the long haired student laying face first on the ground. He was still holding on his katana but the grip seemed not to be tighter than he usually holds it.
“I told you” Vrede said as he twirled one of his sickles. “You’re no match for me.” He said as he exhaled fire from his mouth.
“Sh-shut…up…” Seiryu tried to say as he was slowly trying to get up.
“You don’t know when to give up do you?” he said as he followed it up with an evil laugh.
Seiryu’s head was still down but his body continued to get up. This movement from him alone had already brought surprise to the red haired Sentis member.
“Impressive, if he can stand like that.” Vrede thought. “That means he outlasted two of my strongest attacks.” He added as he shifted back to his fighting stance. “You gonna face me or what?!” he shouted at him still with an evil grin.
He kept being surprised at what he saw for now he had seen that Seiryu was beginning to build up his darkness around him. The long haired student now once again faced him and his eyes shone a dark red color. He had a cut on his cheek as blood dripped on it but he did not seem to mind. His katana had been engulfed in a pure black energy this time.
“This energy…no way!” the red haired Sentis member said as he began to take caution.
Seiryu on the other hand kept calm as his eyes now began to become darker red in color. He shifted on to his fighting stance again and prepared to rush at the Sentis member.
“Just like that” the long haired student heard Bahamut say inside his head. “You can control it now fully, remember.” The beast added. “Now use it to its full potential!” the summon shouted as Seiryu’s darkness now raged around him like wildfire in a forest.
“Don’t throw away your life just for a single fi-“ Vrede tried to say but then he was cut off when he felt an elbow hit him on the torso. He coughed up blood as he staggered backwards. It turns out that Seiryu had immediately closed in the distance between him and his adversary.
Vrede staggered backwards and the long haired student took advantage of his situation. He let out a slash that hit Vrede once more this time across his chest and the blow had stunned him. Seiryu jumped up high in the air as he charged up darkness on the blade of his sword.
He then rushed towards Vrede who was below him and attempted to strike him down again.
“Not a chance!” the red haired Sentis member said as he tried to defend himself again.
Their weapons clashed as Vrede was now parrying with both of his sickles against Seiryu’s blade. It was a test of strength now and the two battled to gain the upper hand from one another.
“Yaaahhh!” the red haired Sentis member shouted while Seiryu kept his calm
It would seem that Vrede was winning the clash now since he was beginning to push towards Seiryu, but then something unexpected happened. As he pushed against the katana blade, he felt the force that was being used against him weakened and as a result this caught him off-guard.
“What?!” he shouted and immediately Seiryu took advantage of the opening.
He spun in a 360 manner and executed a spinning slash that hid Vrede squarely on the body. This sent him flying in the air while Seiryu’s darkness still raged around him. His body fell to the ground and the long haired student was now in his post attack stance.
“Chain Attack Form 3, Suichoku Danmen (Vertical Cross) to Yakekoge Senko (Searing Flash Attack).” He said calmly as Vrede lay behind him face first.
Seiryu kept his composure as he stood up straight and faced his adversary once more.
“You’re…full of surprises…” Vrede said as he stood up but ended up getting up on one knee.
The darkness innate didn’t reply to him as he let his darkness rage around him.
“Going all out’s the only choice now is there?” the red haired Sentis said as he picked up his sickles and got up to his feet. “Damn and I thought that it would never amount to this.” He said as he let down the top part of his grey cloak since it was already ripped to shreds.
He took some blood from his arm by cutting it carefully and he took the blood and drew incantation seals all over his body. The magic seals slowly lit up as fires lit up on the blood that he used to write the seal around him.
Vrede’s eyes lit up a bright orange color as fires now formed around his body. He let his sickles go now as he would have seemingly no need for his weapons and red fire wings had sprouted from his back once more.
“Urggghgaaaahhh!” he shouted as the fires around him intensified.
Even Seiryu was taken aback from what he had seen. Vrede had changed his look from a normal Sentis member to somewhat a hybrid of a phoenix and a human. His face remained the same but the fires around him made his aura around him more phoenix-like.
“Like in the mythos, I can be reborn from the ashes and flames.” Vrede said. “So it was necessary to set myself on fire.” He added.
“What the hell are you?” Seiryu asked him in response.
“Even I don’t know.” He answered him in rhetoric. “But in the mythos, those who held the power of the phoenix, were said to be immortal.” He answered once more. ‘But then again that’s all they were, stories.” He concluded.
Fires around him raged once more as his skin began to be cloaked in an iron like texture of skin. It had looked burnt, but it wasn’t.
“I’ll show you what it means, when I say, I’ll take you to the fires of hell itself.” Vrede said as he rushed towards Seiryu with all of his flames now.
“I won’t die here…not yet!” he shouted as he held his guard in return. With ante’s up and the odds seemingly against Seiryu, how will he find a way to defeat the adversary that destiny had set up against him?