Dagan Zephyr - POV;
"Come! Let us settle this, Xyder!" Lord Seraphim boomed, unsheathing his Persona, Tenshi no Shiru.
"Genesis!" Xyder roared, summoning his greatsword, clearly realising that this was one battle he had to take seriously. However, before he could even take a proper hold of his weapon, Seraphim had already shot towards him at speeds I wasn't even sure Regulus Grisha could have achieved.
"Rend all with the power of the Devil, Kamusari!" Lord Zephyr boomed thrusting his katana towards Xyder's heart. Xyder barely had time to bring his weapon infront of him before the katana's tip struck his blade. Immediately, a swirling mass of colours exploded from Regulus Seraphim's Persona; it's shockwaves blowing us down like a hurricane as Xyder's Persona was completely obliterated. The boy's features twisted in unimaginable agony while he was blasted straight out of the Residential District and disappeared from our view well inside the Commercial District of Zephyr City.
As Lord Seraphim held himself upright, I quickly realised that he wasn't merely summing the power of a rainbow. With raging flames, tranquil waters, resilient stones, cool winds, electrifying bolts, chilling icicles, shimmering lights, shroufing shadows and consuming darkness encircling him, I knew he was harnessing the power of not merely one or two but every single one of the elements! He was just like Xyder! In all of the years that he lived, it was always told throughout Zephyr that Seraphim the Third was blessed by the Elemental Deity, Ignis. As far as we all knew, he had mastered the art of fire... but it was clear that this was far from the truth. Indeed our Lord Zephyr was the pinnacle of all Vessels: a man whom perfected the use of every one of them. For him to reveal a secret so openly which he held for so many decades, it had to mean that he was taking Xyder's threat seriously.
The Regulus wasn't done with Xyder yet. and gave chase. Once he departed all of us, friend and foe alike, slowly pulled ourselves back to our feet. We were all awestruck by the insane level of power we had just witnessed, in a single strike nonetheless! Having such awesome ability even at his age, there was no doubt that Lord Seraphim would have ranked highly in the list of the top one thousand Vessels... assuming he still didn't. It was almost a shame that he never went public with his true capabilities until now.
"Alright! We don't have time to stand around wasting! Everyone!" I yelled, leaping backwards and regrouping with my allies, "Lord Zephyr has appeared to lead us! His efforts have marked a shift in this battle! We will live up to his work! Pay attention to my instructions! Let us change the tides of this war!"
Our team of six stood proudly as we stared down the gathering group of our five, now-corrupted allies. We already had the advantage of numbers, now all we needed was to twist the field in our favour!
"Charge!" I declared as I led our dash towards our foes. The opposing team emulated, closing the gap in amusement.
"Rydia, don't get cold feet! Act fast before you burn out! On the right!" I shouted, motioning to Disas with my hand. The Epitome of Aqua nodded as she broke formation to confront our former Epitome of Umbra. Disas retreated slightly, forcing Rydia to move forward more than intended.
"Hah! Stupid!" Disas cackled, entering her Shadow Elemental Form and disappearing into the wide shadows cast by the mansion which she had drawn Rydia into. Disas zipped around, dragging her blade on the concrete, using the friction to heat her Persona. She emerged to Rydia's rear with a wicked smile as she prepared to bring her katana down.
"Nope!" Alva intervened, jabbing her fingers into Disas' stomach in her own Light Form. Disas flew quite some distance, rolling along the ground before coming to a stop. Having been struck by Light, the weakness of Shadow, while being completely made of her own element, she sustained serious damage. She fell out of her Elemental Form for a moment as she coughed up blood, but she managed to compose herself in time to hiss at the approaching Alva.
"I'll be facing you Disas. I'm sorry but I won't be going easy!" Alva murmured.
"You, on the other hand, are my actual target!" Rydia yelled, launching a wall of water directly at Winter.
"Don't be deluded!" Winter returned, facing the projectiles head-on she freezed the entire wall then quickly transformed it into shards of ice which she fired back, knowing that even if Rydia raised a defence of water, it would all be frozen over and work against the Epitome of Aqua. Winter's attack was perfect, or at least it should have been. In a blaze of glory, Fira leapt through Winter's barrage, melting the ice long before it could touch her and delivered a fiery kick to the top of the former Epitome of Crystallos' head, thus causing her to face plant into the mud.
Teamwork and deception. These were the two most important tools I would exploit for our comeback. Our ability to read each other and the situation was always great but our training against Lady Catherine had evolved it to incomparable levels. I made a loud show when I wildly pointed Rydia in Disas' direction but this was to hide my more subtle cues because at the same time, I had locked eyes with Alva for a moment and signalled to her through them. She immediately understood my intentions, waiting for the perfect opportunity to catch Disas off-guard and begin her bout with the opponent most vulnerable to her Light.
My words weren't completely pointless however. I chose them carefully hiding messages that only my life long allies would pick up on: 'Cold feet' pointing Rydia in Winter's direction, 'act fast' telling her to be swift and take no breaks, then finally 'burn out' which told Fira she was due to intervene as her element held a natural advantage over Ice.
"Satella! Cheryl's your rival. That is your fight! I know you're the best one for Xyder, so you won't lose! Storm! Come with me! You know what you have to do!" I ordered.
Satella drifted to the left and Cheryl gave chase, likely riled up by my words and trying to prove a point.
"Don't! You're walking right into their hands!" Sorine warned but her hard-headed companion refused to listen.
"You think you can beat me all of a sudden, flea?! You flea! Now die! Ahahahahahahahah!" Cheryl exclaimed unloading dozens of dark stakes on Satella in rapid succession, however the girl expertly weaved her way through it unharmed Cheryl clearly had no plans of letting up and Satella had no way of getting close to make her. It appeared to be a stalemate, that was until Storm appeared beside her in a flash of lightning and drove his knee into her stomach, causing her to be winded and cease completely. We'd gotten extremely close to both Storm and Satella especially having lived and trained together for so many months. Our friendship with them had truly become cemented. However, nothing could compare to the bond that Storm, Satella and Xyder shared. I knew he would choose to back her up when I told him to follow me and so, that was my intention. With both of them against Cheryl, it didn't matter that she'd become a high level Elemental Vessel. Those two would seize victory.
All that was left now was a pair I could honestly have said was my worst nightmare to face; Sorine and Celes. Rydia joined up with me once more and we screeched to a halt, staring up at the duo whom were both using their elements to hover in one place well above us. I could see tremendous disdain in the eyes of these Queens. They were certainly on another level. Not quite as formidable as Xyder but well outdoing anything Disas, Cheryl and Winter could muster.
My plan here was simple and it needed no explanation, honestly. Being an Earth Vessel, I was naturally the best suited to taking on Sorine. My natural ability to ground and cancel out her lightning would prove incredibly advantageous. It would still be difficult but I certainly had a shot at bringing her down. As for Celes and Rydia, neither could harm each other's Elemental Forms and as such their battle would truly boil down into one of endurance... atleast until one or more of us could win and back up the Epitome of Aqua.
Our opponents struck first; Sorine headed towards me while Celes went to Rydia. She entered her Water Form and I, my Sapphire form as we waited. This was perfect! Everything was working as I had intended! There is a saying that you shouldn't count your chickens until they hatch though and I certainly wished I got that memo. At the final second they both swerved and before I knew it, I was being flung aside by Celes' powerful wind while Sorine's electrical blast left Rydia to a similar fate.
I lifted myself to my feet, a bit shaken by their last minute switch. It was only then that I noticed the significant cracks completely covering one side of my crystalline body and the agonizing pain pulsating through it. That should have been impossible. Indira's Lightning could certainly overpower Rydia as the sheer heat generated from her shocks was enough to cause damage however Celes' wind shouldn't have been able to harm my Sapphire, yet she was fully capable of it. My only explanation was that upon reaching the level of Deity Vessel, she had acquired the ability to launch jets of air with such speed and pressure that it could pierce me. If that were the case, then she had certainly become an extremely dangerous foe.
Celes waved her hand infront of her, creating a vast collection of tiny, circular spheres of wind. She flicked her wrist forward causing them to be fired like bullets in my direction. I raised my arms, creating a wall of ten alternating layers of Sapphire and Stone. It was certainly a bit much but I had to be safe, knowing the tremendous force she held.
"Crack!"
An unimaginable wave of anguish washed over me and I fell forward, losing strength in my legs. In fact, I was barely able to support myself on all fours and the reason quickly became apparent. My defenses had been perforated and Celes' wind bullets, only slightly altered in their trajectories, riddled my sapphire body with tiny holes. Luckily they were mived enough that my limbs took the majority of the beating while my vital areas were protected, however this may not have continued to be the case with her overwhelming penetrating power.
Against most other Deity Vessels, these little projectiles would have been inconsequential, however the Earth and Nature Element and it's Elemental Forms suffered one severe drawback and weakness that no other Element did: our Elemental Forms were solid and could be harmed in almost any way a normal human could. While a Fire Deity Vessel for example wouldn't be harmed if slashed with a sword in their Elemental Form, a Nature Vessel would be bisected. Earth Vessels like myself were atleast blessed with a very high defence in our Elemental Form, however Celes had overcome this and suddenly I found myself helpless.
Unable to maintain my element any longer, I fell back into my human form and my shield crumbled, revealing a smug Celes floating overhead. I could hardly move as my wounds began to erupt blood; there was no chance that I could beat her in such a state however I knew that I could not lose for if I or Rydia fell and these two behemoths were allowed to aid their allies, we would be facing a certain defeat.
"Celes!" I called out in desperation, "Stop this! Please! It's me, Dagan! Don't you recognise me?!"
Without any acknowledgement, she twirled her fingers, creating arcs of wind which slammed into me, pushing me back as it cut into my flesh. I clenched my teeth as I squirmed in an attempt to conceal the aching in my body.
"Weren't we all in this together?!" I yelled, stuggling to get myself into a seated position, "Didn't you say I could lean on all of you when I needed to?!"
The former Epitome of Ventus pointed her index at me as the air around her swirled and compressed itself into the tip of her phalange. Without remorse, she fired causing me to close my eyes as I cried out, "Didn't you say I could depend on you?! That you would protect me with your all! Was it all a lie?!"
Facing an unceremonious death, I began to tremble slightly but I was prepared for it even though I felt a tremendous guilt for failing Alva and the others. After our training, I should have been able to muster more than this meagre attack, however I couldn't bring myself to use much force against Celes. My mind and resolve had been too weak. A couple moments of silence later, I realised that the pain never did manifest. Did my words reach Celes? Did she stop her attack? The answer was no, however what I opened my eyes to was perhaps even more unbelievable.
Sorine stood infront of me, bleeding from bullet-like wounds to her shoulders and holding her Persona firmly in her right hand. It appeared that she had cut Celes' attack in half, but the split pieces had ricocheted in diverging directions, striking her. She had saved me!
"Sorine?" I spoke her name.
"D-dag-an..." she muttered, looking back at me for a moment. Her eyes remained clouded in darkness and it seemed that Xyder's corruption still maintained hold, however she was fighting! Something had triggered her to regain some of her senses!
"Dag-an. D-dagan. Dagan?!" she exclaimed before lowering her head and entering a prolonged silence.
"What are you doing?" Celes interrogated, nonchalantly.
Sorine began to chuckle to herself before speaking, "Dagan, you've done enough. Look at the mess your body is in. You should take better care of yourself. I'll handle this."
"Do you betray us?" Celes pressed.
"No. I'm just tired playing the loyal bitch. Now why don't you be a good little girl and give up?" Sorine mocked her.
Summoning her Persona at her side, the former Epitome of Ventus surrounded herself with a storm of winds.
"So this is how you want it? That's fine. I prefer this. I owe you a good ass beatdown, little miss homewrecker," Sorine cackled as she and Celes rushed each other with violent intent.
****
Seraphim Zephyr the Third - POV;
"Hah hah hah hah. Hah hah hah hah hah. Hahahahahahahahahahahahah! Seraphim, you asshole!!!" Xyder blared, covered in wounds and stumbling over himself, "You worthless piece of shit! How dare you resist your fate!"
"You are already defeated boy. I have no more business with you. You've failed in your evil. With those wounds, you'll die even if I left you now," I told him blatantly as I sheathed my katana. He ground his teeth in anger as I walked off but there was little he could do. He knew I was right.
"Don't be so quick to leave Seraphim. After all, I'm the one you really wanted to face... isn't that right?"
As the coy, familiar voice entered my ear, I spun back to my grandson in shock. Standing much straighter than before and with a thick, black aura of Darkness around him, my grandson shrugged. This was no longer Kristæl's son infront of me.
"Tenebrae," I growled.
"What a warm welcome. I'm glad you remembered me," the wicked Deity smirked as Tenebrae's face formed infront of Xyder's from the darkness enveloping him. "How long has it been since we last met, Seraphim? Ten years ago? No, that's not quite right. It was twelve years ago was it not? Twelve long years since we last crossed paths... tell me, how is the family my old friend? Is everyone well? What about your youngest. He must be so powerful by now.... Oh wait! That's right! He died didn't he? On that very day we crossed swords, you let Kristæl lose his life! You watched him die and did nothing! You killed him!"
"TENEBRAE!!!" I bellowed, leaping towards him with an overhead slash. He clapped his hands together and separated them rapidly, creating a thick length of dark energy between them which blocjed my attack perfectly. I continued to press into it but we were at a deadlock. As much as I tried, my sword would not cut it on sharpness and brute force alone.
"You've degraded since we last fought, Seraphim! You know you can't get through like this! The reason humans, demons and even the other Elemental Deities fear me and the Darkness is because it is the most versatile and the most powerful of the elements!"
I pushed my soles into the ground, firing my body backwards with the force generated by the mechanical contraption attached to my legs.
"You began to grow fearful of my return some time now, haven't you?" Tenebrae spoke, "Ever since the day Cerberus attacked Zephyr around a year ago and Xyder appeared to him leading a pack of beasts. Demons have tamed the demonic dogs since time immemorial but they have never been able to do the same to the Hell Hounds. Sure, there have been cases of some wrestling one or two into submission but even then the Hell Hounds refuse to obey commands perfectly... if they obey at all that it. Only one being could summon them from the depths of hell so freely and take control of all of them in unison. That being was their true master and creator himself. You knew only I could manage such a feat!"
Having put distance between us, I focused the flows of my energy before exploding forward, propelled by every one of the Elements. Tenebrae emulated my plan, charging with the power granted by his Dark Element.
"Cerberus didn't appear that day by chance," Tenebrae continued, "Instead the impossible had happened. A mortal man made a pact with the Legendary beast to aid in the defeat of Tenebrae, should the God of Darkness ever escape his bindings... Cerberus felt my presence growing immensely and this is why he emerged on the surface with his army. Even the beast was surprised to find himself in Zephyr City and face-to-face with Xyder, the grandson of the very man whom enlisted him. You made this deal, Seraphim. You played with the likes of creatures far beyond your understanding! You would have been unstoppable with a Legendary Beast like Cerberus and its armies at your call, but unfortunately for you things didn't turn out as expected. In an unprecedented move, Duran Blaze entered the realm of Hell and with his Mythical Vessel held off the entire Demonic Dog army as Rex Blaze challenged Cerberus one on one. Rex ultimately killed the beast leaving you at a complete loss."
As we closed in on each other with clenched hands drawn back, our speed and power increased exponentially.
"But Cerberus knew. He sensed that something terrible was coming... all because of the line Xyder proclaimed to him at Zephyr: 'A ub r: qorj ur yt bd ybk, dorrork gy r: ruvnc ur rtougruou! A ub r: g✡ ur doubzc!' Xyder demonic half revealed the truth to the three-headed Guardian of Hell: 'I am the curse of Yin and Yang, nurtured by the powers of Tenebrae! I am the King of Demons!'" Tenebrae translated, "Cerberus appeared infront Kraken not long before his death and warned the octopus to be wary as one day he may face the Dark Deity himself. Cerberus warned that if things played out poorly, they may be facing the end of their reality. Kraken believed these words to be a farce spun by a delusional mutt... that was until the day we crossed paths in that nonsense tournament. While Xyder fought Kraken physically, I appeared in its mind and it was speaking to him there that I learned all of this. You were scared Seraphim! You were afraid that you wouldn't be stromg enough to beat me again!"
Our fists collided in the middle causing a ripple of energy which extended outwards for miles, uprooting buildings and shredding the streets into oblivion.
"Careful Seraphim! Your men are still being slaughtered by my minions around here. If you go too far, you'll wipe them off the face of the Earth yourself!" he snickered as he continued to push into my knuckles with his own.
"They are Warriors of Zephyr! They stand in the face of evil and will not yield, EVEN IN DEATH! I don't have to hold back against you!" I proclaimed, driving my free palm into his thorax. The Elemental shockwaves from this strike caused him to reel and he bounced along the Earth for a few hundred metres before he could catch himself.
"It seems that you may be the one who's lost his touch, heathen," I mocked as the kneeling Deity projectile-vomitted an ocean of viscous, crimson fluid, "To drown in your own blood as it pools in your lungs. A pathetic death fitting one as dastardly as you."
Tenebrae began to chuckle between sputters, "This human body is fragile. If I had had my own, I would be unstoppable. Even so, I don't act rashly. Did you really think I'd take such a hit for nothing?! Look at your arm Seraphim!"
I glanced down immediately, only to find Tenebrae's darkness crawling it's way up the inside of my limb. Thick dark ropes bulged like veins as it slowly inched upwards.
"No one can escape the corruption of the Darkness, Seraphim! Once it reaches your brain, YOU WILL BE MINE!" Tenebrae screeched. I looked at his smug smile with narrowed eyes and without breaking eye contact, I casually unsheathed my Persona, severing my left shoulder cleanly from my body with a single, swift swing.
"WHAT?!" Tenebrae exclaimed in disbelief, his eyes twitching in visible irritation. A few moments later he chuckled to himself as he regained his composure, "Of course. If there ever was a person who could cut off his arm without hesitation to escape my grasp... that person would be you Seraphim. Perhaps you truly are the greatest rival I have ever faced. I was wrong about you. You fear no fight... no enemy... no calamity. You hold no love nor care and because of it you are braver than any other to have graced this world. You used that accursed sealing power to seal your wound and prevent blood loss; that blasphemous ability that was bestowed upon your blade by the man who is called the Devil. I didn't bow before Zephyrus himself and there is no way I would be afraid of the power of Zephyrus' lowly descendant. Even so, it seems I truly cannot best you in this weakened state of mine. I'll leave you be for now. Most of Zephyr and it's people have already met their demise. You are in ruin. I was disappointed, Seraphim. Most of you didn't put up much of a fight. Your clan had become weak. Besides for yourself and Kristæl's surviving wife, everyone else seems to be worthless. You hid this well and convinced the world that Zephyr still had as many powerful men as it did when you took over fourty years ago, but it was all a lie. If the other clans knew the truth of your sorry state, you would have been eliminated a long time ago. This is unbelievable. I've had enough of this. Once I have regained my full strength, I will return to defeat you, but until then, this is where we shall part ways."
"Do you think I will let you just walk away Tenebrae?" I pressed him firmly.
"No. I know you would just follow me if I tried to simply walk away. As it turns out however, I am not the only one who sought to speak to you, Seraphim," he smiled.
Suddenly, I found myself engulfed by a barrage of Dark Energy. I could feel an incomparable anger resonating withing these strikes and a drowning sorrow seemed to be buried deep within it. This was much different from anything Tenebrae had thrown at me before. In fact, I didn't even see him throw this attack... this wasn't him. This was someone else. None of the strikes had actually succeeded to land on me as I skillfully dodged or cut through each and every one, but by the time I could look around clearly, Tenebrae was gone.
"I've waited so long for the chance to make you suffer."
"Who are you?" I asked without looking back as the woman descended in her shroud of darkness.
"Zephyr," she stated, "Geraldine Zephyr."