"I beg to differ. This fight was over before it began. Fate smiles upon the strong. Even in this dreamworld, I was made a king that stands above all else." Sonamus stated.
He then continued, "I believe you humans have a saying that goes, there exists a thin line between bravery and stupidity. So, tell me, human—are you merely naive… or so blinded by your own ignorance that you fail to see the destined outcome?"
"Fate? Destiny? People like you permit such insignificant things to rule over your life. Saying that you stand above all else when you kneel before another—when you let something intangible decide the path you take—I wonder if you realize just how laughable you are. Someone like you who is satisfied with their current power and place in the world can never be my equal. For you, I suppose that is what you would call fate." Izroth said with a carefree smile.
"I stand by my previous words—you really do talk too much." Izroth did not wait for a response as he made his move.
However, the look in Sonamus' eyes spoke for itself as it was filled with cold killing intent.
The purple aura around Izroth and his sword became incredibly thin. It was to a point where the Aura he implemented mirrored a thread.
Shrieeeeek!
A high pitched soundwave traveled in Izroth's direction as he used his final charge of Three Steps of Death to avoid it.
In the same breath, Izroth entered Sonamus' blind spot and had already taken the stance of his Second Sword Form: Returning Wave's Sword Counter. Combining it with the final step to his Three Steps of Death, Izroth's blade moved at frightening speeds as it advanced towards Sonamus!
Bang!
Sonamus felt his body lift off the ground as he was propelled forward by the force of the attack.
Crash! Rmmmmble!
Sonamus slammed into one of the damaged pillars, causing it to collapse and bury him under a small heap of debris.
'I felt my attack reach that time. But-'
Out of nowhere, Izroth's Soul Sense went off as a massive pressure descended on him. This pressure was similar to a gravity pocket and made it difficult for one to move around freely.
Reacting purely on instinct, Izroth forcibly twisted his body and immediately brought his sword up.
Ding! Bang! Rmmmmmble!
An overwhelming force collided with Izroth's sword and sent him tumbling on the ground across the floor of the throne room. His body crashed through multiple pillars before coming to a stop after smashing into a wall, leaving a considerable imprint behind. The wall soon caved in as numerous stones fell from above and stacked on top of Izroth.
"How dare you lay a hand on this kingdom's king in my presence!" A resounding voice swelled with wrath reverberated in the throne room. This voice belonged to Izroth's attacker, the Grand Protector and Knight of the Black Dawn, Bahamut.
Over at Bahamut's previous whereabouts, Fraun, Nysteffor, and Rain had all been severely wounded! The worse of the bunch was Nysteffor, who was missing his entire left arm.
As for Rain, he could barely keep one eye open as the other had been cut beyond repair by Bahamut.
Fraun escaped with the lightest wounds having only his right arm broken and being covered in a few vicious cuts.
Bahamut, on the other hand, had one shallow cut across his cheek. This showed the vast difference in power between him and the other knights seen as elites.
Of course, the biggest disparity existed in terms of Aura. While Fraun's side had access to Aura Cells, it could not compare to Bahamut's genuine Aura. Ultimately, this created a one-sided battle where Fraun and his knights could never gain the upperhand.
"This damn dreamworld… It's just one thing after another. Is this its way of punishing us for creating so many Tale Variations? Or, does it really want us just to roll over and die in this cursed place? Either way, I don't plan on going out so easily." Fraun grumbled as he coughed up blood before struggling to his feet.
Although he was right-handed, Fraun clenched his sword into his left hand. At that moment, Fraun's world was spinning, and it became a challenge simply standing straight. He was clearly in no condition to continue fighting; however, he understood that they would never get another shot like this in their lifetime.
Fraun looked around the room. He saw his remaining knights locked into a fierce battle with the group of palace guards. His knights were more skilled, but the palace guards' numbers appeared never-ending. Slowly, but surely, they too were on their way to certain death.
Fraun set his gaze upward and witnessed the cracks in the palace ceiling. In addition, multiple sizable holes opened on its surface, no doubt due to the dreamworld's deterioration.
"At best, we have another two minutes before the dreamworld collapses. Well, it wasn't such a bad life. Sorry, Commander. I'll have to break one of your rules." Fraun internalized as he forced a smile.
Fraun glanced in Bahamut's direction and noticed that their attention was still drawn away. He then staggered over to Nysteffor and Rain, who were either dead or unconscious by now; however, he had no time to waste on the appreciation of their sacrifice.
"Come on, still be in one piece…" Fraun muttered to himself as he placed his sword down and dug through the rubble using only his left arm.
At first, the situation seemed bleak.
But, after a few moments, a spark of light formed in Fraun's eyes as he finally located what he had been desperately searching for in the debris.
"It's intact…!" Fraun grabbed his sword and used its tip to pry a crystal object out of two spears he found.
These spears were the weapons of Nysteffor and Rain, both of which contained Aura Cells within them—this is what Fraun wanted to get his hands on, and after some minor difficulties, he was able to successfully remove the Aura Cells from the spears.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the throne room, a pile of rubble shifted about before a figure emerged out from under it.
"Human insect! Today you must die!" Sonamus roared as he arose from the rubble covered in debris and an impact wound on his forehead. While his Aura protected him from severe damage, a tiny fracture had formed on his Aura Cell, disrupting the perfect flow it once possessed.
"Hm? Where did that brat go? Don't tell me he ran off again?" Sonamus scoffed as he swept his gaze over the throne room and noticed that Izroth was nowhere in sight.
"My king, this humble servant has taken care of the rebels," Bahamut said as he kneeled a few meters away from Sonamus.
"Oh? Ahahaha, not bad, human. That woman—she meant to use this deathtrap to rid the world of me, but she has failed miserably. My strength will soon be restored, and once it is, I will make sure that woman pays for dragging this lord here. I will personally wipe out every single human within a 100km radius! To have angered this lord, let's see if you can afford it!" Sonamus' gaze became engulfed in unbridled bloodlust as his laughter filled the crumbling throne room.
"My king, I will have the palace guards begin cleaning up immediately and-"
Bang!
Suddenly, an arm appeared around Bahamut's neck as he felt the weight of a body slam into him.
"You won't die that easily, right?! Get up and finish your mission, Captain! Don't you dare let these bastards win!" Fraun roared.
"?! You should have played dead! Remove yourself!" Bahamut tried to yank Fraun off his back; however, they were holding on for dear life.
"Ahahaha! I won't let go even after I die! But, even if I die… You're coming with me!" Fraun opened his mouth, revealing three crystals the size of coins—they were Aura Cells!
Fraun bit into the crystals as a smile formed on his face, followed by a bright flash of light.
"You crazy-!"
….BOOOOOOOM!
A massive explosion erupted at Fraun and Bahamut's location as Sonamus was blown away by the shockwave. The Aura Cell on Sonamus' sword was completely shattered as it used everything it had to defend against the explosion.
By the time the smoke cleared, Fraun and Bahamut were nowhere to be found.
On that day, Captain Gritt of the War Brigade, had perished in the dreamworld.
