Chapter 68: Chapter 68
Colter
The Royal Palace, Kingdom of Howard
“Then let us have a duel to the death!” Dyron roared in fury as Colter slowly approached his foe, he could notice the king’s dark magic twist all over his body, “I shall send you straight into the pits of the underworld, and soon afterwards, everyone in this failure of a kingdom”
Colter’s powers were at their peak now, three of the four elements worked in tandem as he leapt forward the elemental sword in his hand glowing with a bright light that radiated hope. He swung down as he descended on his enemy, but he was met with resistance. The sword of light clashed against the sword made of pure darkness.
Dyron’s wounds from Vergil’s earlier attack burst with blood as he struggled, “I shall have this kingdom and no one will stop me”
Colter just stared blankly at Dyron’s claims, they clashed swords once more, this time with blinding speed as each combatant gave their whole strength into it. Sparks of fire flew around their battle area, along with flecks of dust and water as the sword of light used all three elements in Colter’s current arsenal.
“You could have been my right hand, Colter. You could have been my son, I would have treated you better than how these mongrels treated you all your life!” Dyron roared as he continued this deadly sword dance against the prince.
But Colter’s eyes simply showed no more fear, no more doubts and it was filled with power and a will to vanquish this evil in front of him. He loosened his stance and landed a backhand on Dyron’s face that sent him flying into a wall, sending out an implosion of rock and dust.
“You did not want me as a son, you were simply using me as a tool for your vendetta against my family, against our kingdom” Colter said as he walked towards the crater that Dyron left in the wall. “I am not a mere tool to be used for your sick ambitions, Dyron.”
There was laughter from the hole in the wall as the king of darkness stepped out, “It seems that you are smarter than you look, Colter.” He dashed forward, unnerving everyone in the room as they had believed he was badly wounded that he could not do such an action.
He had struck Colter with the blade of darkness; it bit deep into the prince’s torso as his blood found itself all over the wall.
“Colter!” he heard Vida scream from somewhere as his vision dimmed for a bit and his thoughts twirled with confusion, he had fallen to one knee, his breath labored.
“Pity, you would have made such a brilliant servant, but you are more trouble than you are worth” Dyron spat angrily as he raised the blade over his head, planning to slash down at Colter. “Now perish, you pathetic excuse of a prince!”
“Colter!” everybody else shouted and Colter felt his body surge with hope as the elements came into his control once more, spheres of water and fire appeared around him and targeted King Dyron immediately. They penetrated his arms and legs, making the king of darkness roar in pain.
Colter stood up at once, wincing from the pain on his side and he stabbed the blade of light deep into Dyron’s gut.
There was a burst of black energy that shot out of Dyron’s back as Colter’s blade pierced through him, Dyron fell towards Colter and found his head resting on the prince’s shoulder.
“Not yet” Dyron whispered in a sinister voice and Colter felt the king’s power grow once more, his body that had been filled with the darkest of energies deformed him. Colter immediately stepped back, and heard Dyron’s bones shatter, his flesh tear in a sickening sound as the King of Darkness roared in total agony. Horns sprouted out of his head and leathery wings shot out of his back. The King’s body expanded to thrice his usual size and his hands turned into monstrous claws filled with dark flames conjured by the black magic residing inside him.
“His true form revealed at last” Malik muttered from behind Colter, Dyron’s true form, the king of darkness resembled a large demon like creature filled with rage and anger, his fangs were sharper than swords, his body swelled with the dark energies he has consumed all these years. “Finish it, my son!” Malik commanded his son who immediately complied.
Colter flew until he reached the collapsed ceiling, but before he could slash down at the demon, it immediately lunged at him, as if realizing Colter’s plans on instinct. They collided in the air, with Dyron roaring in anger, trying his best to pummel Colter with his monstrous fists. The palace, or whatever remained of it, shook with the sheer intensity of the blows. Colter answered with rapid slashes that the demon once known as King Dyron, did not seem to feel.
“HOWAAAAAAARD” the demon roared in anger, Colter slipped from his grasp and he planted the sword of light into his chest. A burst of white light filled the room but the animalistic howl from this demon gave a sign that it still lived.
This was no longer the Dyron that had invaded their kingdom, the king of darkness that had laid out meticulous plans to wipe out the kingdom of Howard, this was just an avatar of anger and ambition that has taken over Dyron’s thoughts and is now lashing out blindly at all of its foes.
Colter felt his humongous claws scratch at him, the very motion of the blow itself had made a fierce whistling sound with the intensity of the attack. It was barely dodged as Colter felt his armor crack from the pressure.
“Why won’t you fall?!” Colter now shouted, terrorized by the sheer tenacity of Dyron’s true form. All his slashes connected and drew blood, yet the demon seemingly did not flinch from it. In a moment of weakness, Dyron suddenly lurched forward and managed to grasp at Colter and tried to squeeze the life out of him.
The prince roared in agony as he felt his armor pressing in on him, his bones were screaming at this pressure and once more, hope dwindled.
“HOWARDDDDD” the avatar of anger continued, pressing harder on Colter as he felt his consciousness disappear, but all of a sudden, a voice called out:
“Prince Colter take my power!” it was Samuel, the wind Ecanus, Colter glanced over at his direction with his vision fading and he saw that Samuel was transferring his power into him. The last of the four elements, the power of the wind, that somehow returned to him after it was taken by King Malik.
Four elements now resided inside of him; Colter’s emerald eyes glowed with amazing power as he forced himself out of Dyron’s grasp with just a twitch of his arms. He felt it. He felt the power of the kingdom, the power of hope completed, the power to drive away the darkness that threatened their peace. He has been entrusted with these powers and he must finish this fight.
A fourth sphere of power appeared floating behind Colter, green this time, symbolizing the power of the wind. “It’s over” Colter shouted to the monster that was Dyron, in one fell swoop he put his fist through the demon’s body and focused all his energy into his hand.
The demon roared paralyzed by pain and fear at what was going on, it tried its best to take swipes at Colter but the pure magic coursing through him negated his actions.
“HOWARD” the demon roared one last time before another burst of white light flashed across the place, the palace shook violently as the Colter expelled all of the black magic within Dyron’s body, his horns and wings disintegrated and he shrunk back to his normal size.
“I grant you, peace” Colter told the fallen king quietly, the prince closed his eyes and there was an explosion that rocked his enemy. Without a word, King Dyron fell back into the earth as he landed with a dull thud on the palace floor.
Colter immediately set his sights on the skirmish that was going on outside the palace, the demons were slowly overpowering the Royal Guards and their casualties were building up. He immediately flew towards their location and started to assist them.
To his surprise, Malik was there, helping them fend off the attackers.
“It’s over then?” the king asked his son with a somber voice, and Colter only nodded as he swung his sword so hard that an arching blade of light shot out of it. It connected with a group of demons that were attempting to breach the shield wall that the guards were struggling to keep together.
“Then let’s clean up the rest of them” Malik said at once, realizing that the bigger threat has been neutralized.
A demon threw a spear towards the king, but Colter immediately caught it and easily threw it back, impaling the attacker through the head. The royal guard gave a cheer as they realized that Colter had joined them in the fight, with a mighty roar they pushed back the demons with their shields and shredded them with countless swords.
The wounded ones stood behind them, launching magical attacks with what little magic they have left, trying their best to contribute even when they should just be resting.
“Incinerate” Colter chanted and pillars of flame appeared all over the battlefield, it was a cataclysmic event for the demons as they were burned alive by Colter’s empowered flames. As the fire spread throughout the area, Colter once more focused his newfound energy and chanted “Tempest.”
A whirlwind appeared, merging with the burning flames turning into a tornado of fire and death. It lifted off the demons who were seemingly endless as they kept on streaming from the portal that Dyron had created. Body parts, blood and shrieks were in the air as they were swept into this inferno.
“Gaia” Colter muttered this time and roots emerged from the ground, they wrapped around the demons who managed to evade Colter’s first two attacks and held them in place. He smiled to himself at his new powers, he managed to get a grasp at it. As the demons were tied down, the royal guards used this to their advantage and finished off the immobile enemies.
The tide was finally turning, yet again, in their favor. Colter and Malik’s presence had empowered their troops, the sight of them alive and fighting gave them a second breath that allowed them to fight even more fiercer than usual.
“Does this mean, Dyron is still alive?” Malik asked Colter as he eviscerated one demon with his king’s sword, “He did say that it will only end once he falls.”
“He has already been defeated father.” Colter told him promptly, “Let us clean these monsters out of our kingdom until they stop coming, shall we?” Malik grinned, a grin that he had never given his son, and slapped him on the shoulder with happiness, “Take the lead then, my son.”
The father and son duo ripped through the remaining force like a knife through hot butter, the royal guard followed suit, finishing off any survivor. It was a rout. The demons, in disarray at what was happening, the royal guard whose morale had returned, King Malik, another powerful warrior in his right and Colter bearing the powers of four elements, only panicked as they were met with the sheer will of the kingdom of Howard.
“Vergil’s going to like this.” Colter suddenly said and they all turned to look at him, his hands were joined together as if in prayer as he closed his eyes, spheres of water suddenly lifted itself from the ground and floated precariously in the air. It zoomed even higher until it reached an extreme height that only birds and flying Ecanus could reach.
“Blood Rain” he chanted and the spheres turned into blades of water that descended unto their enemies. It was a slaughter now, payback for the wanton violence that the Kingdom of Havocc had caused them. Malik smiled at his son’s new powers, his bravado and his calm demeanor, had he always been like this then his son would have appreciated him even more.
“The sun is rising” one of the royal guards called out and they all looked to stare as the sun slowly made its way out of the east.
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King Dyron
The Royal Palace, Kingdom of Howard
“Heh…” the fallen king laughed, still alive and back to his normal self, he stared at the ruins of the kingdom and laughed at his failure, “Pathetic. I failed.” He coughed and blood shot out of his mouth, Colter did a number on him, he felt like his internal organs were disintegrated with that one punch. His blood, now red again, because Colter had purged the black magic out of his system, pooled around him and then he felt a presence close in. It was Gian.
“Ah, the older prince.” Dyron muttered weakly, slowly dying from his wounds, “Yet another one who chased ambition just like me.”
“Had I not realized the error of my actions, I might have ended up like you, Dyron” Gian told him quietly, he was still weakened from his earlier fight with Colter. “Evil never wins.”
Dyron laughed at his last claim, “Tell me, Princeling: What is your perception of evil? Does one simply look at one of my creatures and claim they are evil? In your eyes they are. But in my eyes they are a force of good. In my eyes, you and this whole kingdom are evil, yet somehow my evil won.”
“Spare me the semantics, King of Darkness” Gian snapped at him weakly, coughing as well as the pain from his fight with Colter suddenly hit him, “You were willing to plunge the lives of the innocent for the desire of power.”
“So were you, did you not use people at your whim? Did you not mortally wound Flora that allowed my men to finish her off?”
Gian froze at his answer and felt his tears build once more, he remembered his mentor and teacher, he had been responsible for her death. But then he remembered her last words and his heart finally gave him some peace.
“I did, in a moment of darkness, I will forever live with that shame and horror. But in this moment, on the brink of chaos, I know that I did her proud. If I were to die here, I would be welcomed by my ancestors in the other world with open arms.”
“Indeed, such is the folly of war and battles.” Dyron said weakly, he felt it now, his life was draining fast, “Savor your victory while you can, another will rise in my stead, I know not when. It could be tomorrow, it could be today, it could be a thousand years after we have all passed on. Someone will carry my darkness once more and tear down this kingdom.”
Gian then remembered Colter and smiled proudly at his younger brother, “And someone will rise against that darkness again. It may be a sick twist of fate, but the light always follows after the coming of the dark.”
Dyron laughed at these words, he noticed that the sun was rising and he let out a smirk. “One day…” he muttered. Slowly his vision dimmed as the king of darkness finally succumbed to his wounds, defeated at last.
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King Malik
The Kingdom of Howard
The King noticed that the surviving demons were slowly turning into ash, they screamed in horror as they were vaporized from this world. It was a disquieting sight as the zone was filled with demonic screams, but it could only mean one thing.
“Dyron has passed on” Colter announced, feeling the last of his life force vanishing into thin air. Malik let out a sigh of relief as he dropped his sword and sat down on the ground. Colter approached him immediately and offered to lift him up, but the King laughed like a child and pulled his son down to his level.
“I am glad that you returned to me, my son” Malik said as he swept his embarrassed son in a warm embrace.