Dabih looked up at the sunsetting sky, holding her arms and letting out a soft sigh as she noticed a few constellations dimming. The only two constellations remaining were the Sagittarius and Scorpius constellations with both Antares still approaching.
Lesath and Shaula began glowing brightly in the sky, Zodiac Energy slowly falling down upon Nu'ma and subtly empowering her. Nu'ma glanced back at the remaining Apostles and Valkyrias, her eyes faintly glowing as her focus was mainly on the Valkyrias.
"Look! Scorpius is still here and Antares is still coming! Someone here in this Citadel is directly connected to the Akrab Mazzaroth!" Alshat called out, turning her gaze toward everyone else around her.
Pauline looked around at her friends, raising an eyebrow as she felt no star energy coming from anyone other than Song Jae-in, but she knew Jae-in had holy energy within her. "Who is it? It's none of us."
"Yeah, we don't know why Scorpius is still here. At least we can rest for the time being and plan something out," John said, his gaze shifting toward his friends.
Dabih hummed softly as she noticed Lesath aiming at Deneb Algedi, her discernment ringing loudly as she subtly lowered her gaze toward Nu'ma. 'Why do I feel like it's her..?'
Descending from the skies, I landed on the ground upon one knee and stood up on my feet. "Draco has been defeated by Reinhart, Sagitta, and Aquila's Eagle. All there's left is to deal with Scorpius, and unfortunately for whoever it is, I still have enough energy to use Al Kaus."
"What do you suggest we do, Lord Nox?" Alshat asked, hurrying over to me and grabbing onto my sleeve.
"The Lord is saying to do nothing and rest for the next three days. The Scorpius Champion will not reveal themselves without their hearts. That leaves us with four days to defeat Scorpius," I said, looking down at Alshat with a smile.
"What? Why can't we defeat them now? We can definitely weed out everyone here!" Alshat said, turning around and generating her star energy around her hand. "This will be quick!"
"There's no need for that because you don't know who is the Scorpius Champion. So just relax for now, and let God do His work. Three days is all He's asking of you," I said, gently lowering her hand and giving Alshat a warm smile.
Alshat sighed softly and crossed her arms then looked at her sister with puffed cheeks. "Jia Jia! Let's go inside, Lord Nox is boring!"
Dabih chuckled at her sister's response to waiting then looked over at me, giving me a respectful bow before heading into the castle with Alshat and the Royal Guards. As they retreated back inside, I stayed outside and walked over to the courtyard to sit down.
With the Lord's instructions known, everyone decided to relax for the next three days they had and used the time to plan out how they would stop Scorpius. While the others planned, Nu'ma stayed outside and looked over at me, her gaze growing more curious about me but the second.
"He's literally alone now...this is your time to strike!" The Black Serpent hissed as he slithered up Nu'ma's leg and increased his size to coil around her body like a sash. "You are The Claws of Scorpius, so attack the Lion of Qutsade right now!"
Nu'ma grunted as the Black Serpent commanded her to strike, but she knew a head on attack could cost her dearly. She held up her arm and pulled upon her sleeve to look inside, a double barrel sleeve arrow concealed inside her sleeve.
Finding the courage within, she nodded and began to approach me and entered Stealth Mode, her body becoming slightly transparent while she moved silently toward me. Once she slithered her way behind me, she aimed her sleeve arrows at the back of my head and placed her hand on the trigger.
"I hope you know, if you take that shot...you will be making a grave mistake. You have two options...surrender now and wait for your judgement in three days, or you can pick a god and pray... because I will show no mercy," I said, unleashing my aura around my body, my energy roaring and pulsing like a lion.
Nu'ma hesitated and froze, her eyes locking onto Leona's gaze as she materialized from the red, fiery hues of my aura. Her arm began to shake from the pressure, the heat in the courtyard beginning to rise as a heat wave began to form.
'How does he still have this much energy..? Did Draco really do nothing to him..?' Nu'ma thought to herself, her breath becoming shaky as the temperature continued to rise.
Nu'ma took a step back and grunted softly, her legs now beginning to quiver as the spiritual pressure began to intensify. She couldn't look away from Leona's eyes in her Lion Form, the illusion of a lion's face forming in the sky around her. She fell onto one knee, her breaths becoming heavier as sweat rolled down her cheeks.
I stood up and held my hand out, calling Leona to me and stopping her Primal Intimidation. "You can barely handle my Arieh Techniques, and you think you can stand to me when I wield the White Serpent? You believe you can walk to the Judge of Qutsade, and stand in trial without an Advocate?"
Nu'ma slowly looked up at me, watching as my hair began to slowly grow into a lion's mane. "How...how can you be a champion of two Mazzaroths? Who... exactly are you?"
I turned around to face Nu'ma and crossed my arms, closing my eyes and letting out a soft exhale. "I am an Echo of the good Lord Almighty. However, I wasn't blessed with everything He has just so I could remain humble, but..."
Nu'ma stood up quickly as I opened my eyes and clenched her fists, her heart racing against her chest. "But..?"
"As I abide in Him, my joy is complete and I can ask of Him, within reason, for anything. That is my special ability...I am a Child of God. That is who I am. Do you think you have the arms to box with His children?" I asked, glancing up at the sky and grunted as a figure descended from the skies.
I leaped backwards to avoid the figure and skidded backwards then summoned one Lion Gauntlet on my left hand then Sephora coiled around my right to form the Bronze Serpent Gauntlet. The figure stood up in an embroidered cloak with a hijab covering her face, leaving only her eyes exposed.
"It has been a while since we have had an official Mazzaroth Duel. Your best are through for the day...and it gives us the perfect chance to strike! I am Lesath, and this will be your end!" Lesath declared, a scorpion tail slowly dropping from under her cloak.
Without hesitation, Lesath thrusted her stinger forward but I dodged it quickly and kept watch of her movements. Each thrust of her poisonous stinger met the air as I evaded each of her attacks, each step I took growing closer to her within seconds.
Launching an uppercut, Lesath blocked with her arm and countered with an elbow strike which I deflected by pushing her arm. Lesath twirled around into a reverse roundhouse kick, but I phased through her attack and tagged her with a body shot, causing her to stagger to the left.
Lesath quickly recovered and immediately got low for a sweep kick, landing her attack and following with an armdrag takedown. I immediately rolled forward to recover from her toss then warped forward with a crushing knee to her temple, the strike causing Lesath's ears to ring loudly.
"You all underestimate me...now you will see what the Lion of Qutsade can truly do," I said, watching as Lesath scrambled to her feet.
Lesath grunted as she thrusted her tail forward, but I caught it and met her gaze before expanding my aura to blow her away. I roared with great power, using a burst of speed to appear in front of Lesath with a devastating Lion's Fist, the impact releasing a ring of heat around my fist.
Lesath groaned as she was sent flying down the courtyard, her body striking against a table and flying upward into the large fountain at the center of the courtyard. Nu'ma stood frozen, unable to think properly as she watched the Lord's blessings working through me.
'Lesath is beyond 6,000 which is star level. How is this guy keeping up? He's only one star fighting an Mazzaroth!' Nu'ma thought to herself, her body breaking into cold sweats.
"Is that what you think? Didn't you hear what I said earlier? You can barely handle my Arieh Techniques nor can you face me when wielding the White Serpent. I control two Mazzaroths, three when you count Taleh. Just like August Eyica, I can hold all thirteen Zodiacs, even yours," I said, moving my eyebrow up and down with a smirk.
The Star of Shaula began to glow brightly then a stream of light appeared behind me, Shaula landing behind me and summoned an odachi named "The Tail" and swung it at a wide angle. I glanced behind myself, sensing Shaula's presence and narrowly warped away from her slash.
"Not so fast!" Shaula called out, dashing forward and slashing through me in a blink of an eye, a flurry of delayed slashes landing upon me then she following with a wheel kick to knock me backwards.
I grunted as I slid backwards along the ground then dashed off through the courtyard. Shaula followed behind quickly, the two of us racing toward the fountain where Lesath awaited. I shifted from my Leo Form into my Aries Form then rolled forward into a running start.
"Taleh Technique: Heaven Speed!" I bellowed, a golden burst of light forming around me as I bolted forward as near invisible speeds.
Lesath's eyes widened as she watched me approach her then crashed into her, dragging her through the courtyard before sending her flying. Shaula appeared behind Lesath and caught her, tossing her back toward me with a spin for momentum.
I dashed forward and clashed with Lesath then warped above her for a crushing blow to her back, but Shaula descended toward me and tossed me away from her with a hip toss in the air. Recovering quickly, I parried her each of her rapid slashes with my gauntlets then pushed her back with a Pressure Strike.
Hyeon Bae looked out the window while everyone planned for Antares arrival, her gaze attracted to the bright orange glow in the sky. "What's that..?"
She squinted her eyes, getting a better view of the orange light then gasped as she recognized it was me awakening the Leo Form's Mazzaroth Mode. Reene, Song Jae-in, Simcha, and Leo looked over at Hyeon Bae as she called out my name, each of them looking out the window to see me in the air.
I opened my eyes and looked down at Lesath and Shaula, my Sovereign Butterflies taking the formation of the Leo Constellation behind me and letting out a kingly roar. "The Claws, the Tail, and the Stinger are all here...you're just missing a body."
"But...the way you're going, Antares won't have to make it here. If you want judgement this badly, you could've just asked," I added, landing on the ground gently and exhaled softly.
Lesath and Shaula stared at me, their eyes unable to look away from my fiery man and regal gaze. Both of them prepared themselves for a battle against the Apex Predator of Mazzaroths, yet there was a slight hesitation withing their bones.
"What? Too scared to make a move? You should've thought about that before provoking the lion. Now, you should be grateful to God that He's telling me to hold back until Antares arrives. However, if you truly cares for your vessel, your Champion, you would tell Terminus to leave, Shaula," I said, directing my gaze toward her.
Lesath glanced at her sistren and rose an eyebrow, confused of what I was talking about. "What is he talking about? We only planned to attack Capricorn, what are you planning?"
"I don't know what he's talking about, all we're doing is stopping him from stopping us! The plan of increasing our season from seven days to a month is top priority!" Shaula answered, gripping her sword tighter and shifted her stance.
"Sure, the Black Serpent, the Deceiver, is wrapped around Nu'ma's neck, but Terminus as a whole still abides within one of you. To fall because of him...would be a shame," I said, my gaze growing more stern as I awakened my Yaoke and got into my stance.
Shaula bursted forward with a poisonous slice, her blade cutting through the air toward my neck but I swiftly dodged her attack before shifting backwards. I reverted to my normal form and smirked, slipping my hands into my pockets as I watched Simcha crash into Shaula's back with a Saber Tiger Palm.
"Who the heck—" Lesath gasped then grunted heavily as Hyeon Bae's Omba struck her cheek like a flying disk and recoil into the air.
Recovering quickly, Lesath twirled around and thrusted her tail forward to pierce Hyeon Bae but she narrowly phased through the attack and warped forward into a cartwheel kick. Lesath parried her attack with ease and countered with a Venom Cross, launching a dual cross chop toward Hyeon Bae's neck.
"Haka!" Hyeon Bae chanted, slamming her fists upon the Ombas to her side and repelled Lesath's hands away. "Rijl Awwa!"
Hyeon Bae howled as she struck Lesath with a double palm strike to her stomach, knocking her back a bit then summoned Hoon to her aid. Hoon howled as he landed in front of her, his Spirit Energy surging around his energetic body, the Divine Dog now ready for combat.
"Who the heck are these people..?! You—" Lesath snarled, turning back to see that I was now gone from the area.
"Oh yeah, now it's our time to cook up and shine! I knew Lord Nox was powering up for a reason...now I know it was a roar to call his pride," Simcha laughed, hopping up and down then smacked his fists together to create flames around his hands.
Shaula looked back at Hyeon Bae and the others, sensing their energy levels were below 2000 then scoffed. "Only two of the five energy levels are just barely reaching the power of a Red Dwarf...and you think you can sit comfortably with us?"
"Right, we have barely even gotten started. We are Upsilon and Lambda Rank Stars...our real levels reach beyond 20,000. If you were smart, you'd run away back to your stronghold where it's safe, lest you seek death now," Lesath said with a smirk, readying her tail to strike once again.
"Wait what..? She said their levels are what..?" Simcha asked, leaning over to Leo and cleared his throat.
"You heard her, bro...over 20,000 is strong enough to take out an entire Realm if they unleash all if it at once. These two mean serious business," Leo said as calm as he could, a nervous sweat trickling down his face.
"Is that it?" Reene asked, smirking at Lesath and Shaula then transformed into her Awakened Form and summoned her Rebirth Skull. "We've dealt with way worse back in Grushia and Bulan! We've faced against a Principality and more!"
"Yeah! Don't you count us out just yet when we're just getting started!" Song Jae-in exclaimed, stomping her foot down and began riling herself up.
Hyeon Bae's stitches upon the top of her head began to glow as she exhaled deeply, her eyes glowing as she began to see corruption particles within Shaula. "Delirium...On."
"Oh, these chicks are crazy. One too many Meets will do that to you," Simcha said, scoffing with disbelief at their unwavering courage.
Lesath laughed at the three girls and got into a low stance, her gaze locking onto Reene first due to her Rebirth Energy. She bursted forward with incredible speed and thrusted her tail forward, but Reene dodged at the last second and swung her hand upward.
A giant skeleton hand erupted from underground and clasped around Lesath to crush her body, but the hand immediately burst open into tiny shards as Lesath unleashed her aura. While she was in the air, Song Jae-in used one of Hyeon Bae's Ombas to spring toward Lesath for a roundhouse kick.
"You're too slow!" Lesath roared, dodging Jae-in's attack and blasted her to the ground with a stellar blast.
Hyeon Bae gasped and hurried toward where Song Jae-in would land and caught her, grunting heavily as her weight took her to the ground. "Mmph!!! Song Jae-in, are you okay? You're not much of a fighter..."
"I'm alright..." Song Jae-in groaned softly, rolling out of Hyeon Bae's arms and onto the ground.
Shaula targeted Hyeon Bae while she was distracted and pointed The Stinger at her while licking her lips. She rushed forward with a wild slash, but was blocked by an unknown combatant. Shaula grunted as a cat tail wrapped around her blade, trapping her in place.
"Nyan! Nyan! Catiger Pulverizer!" A familiar voice sounded, plowing her fist into Shaula's stomach with electrifying force and blew her away across the courtyard.
Everyone stopped to see the cat cloaked woman standing tall before lowering her hood to reveal herself to be Lee Su-Yun. The girls gasped in shock to see one of their other teachers at a Mazzaroth Event, their eyes sparkling with joy.
"Ms. Su-Yun! You're here too?!" Hyeon Bae asked with glee, running up to Sa Nu Rim's successor with happiness.
Su-Yun nodded and looked down at her watch. "Nox texted me the dangers not even 20 minutes ago. I literally had to fight through both Antares to get here."
Lesath grunted softly with intrigue overhearing Su-Yun say she fought through both Antares. 'This woman survived Alph and Beta Antares..? Impossible...her energy levels are barely reaching 4000. Just who is this woman?'
Shaula let out a roar and suddenly appeared behind Su-Yun with her Surging Stinger, a flurry of delayed slashes rushing toward Su-Yun. Su-Yun smirked and shifted to her Cheetah Mode, yellow lightning crackling around her body as she began dodging each slash with precision and countered with an elbow to Shaula's back.
"Whoa! You know Swift Moves?!" Reene gasped in awe, her eyes gleaming with awe and curiosity for Su-Yun's increased skills.
Su-Yun crossed her arms and chuckled, rolling her neck and humming with gentle pride. "Well, I couldn't just let the other teachers leave me in the dust! Nox was so gracious to leave some Elonun Scrolls for me as a parting gift before teaching Class S."
'So that's her secret...A Human using Elonun Blessings. Is this how far we've gone now..? You give humans access to Elonun Abilities, Lord? I guess we are becoming too much for your creation...good,' Lesath monologued internally, a smirk forming upon her lips.
Nu'ma grunted softly and hurried forward to grab Lesath's arm, pulling her back. "Stop this, Miss Lesath. Don't you know this is a trap?"
Simcha rose an eyebrow as he listened to Nu'ma's concerned tone then looked around at his friends with light confusion. "A trap? What trap could we set?"
"This one!" Reene called out, snapping her fingers with a wide smirk as she manifested the Bomb Trap Room.
Su-Yun glanced up in the air and gasped in terror. "What the heck?!"
"Huh?!" Hyeon Bae and Song Jae-in gasped, their eyes widening as they watched a large number of energy bombs forming above them in the air.
"Sweet...Holy... Lord...Yesha...what is this?" Simcha asked in disbelief, his eyes widening and jaw hanging down as he looked up.
Lesath, Shaula, and Nu'ma looked up as well, their wills dimming at the sheer number of bombs above them. Everyone, even Reene, scattered from the area as the bombs began dropping, multiple massive explosions forming mushroom clouds to the heavens.
Dabih opened her eyes from her meditation as she heard the explosions and sucked her teeth lightly. "What are Lord Nox's students doing out there? It doesn't sound like handling the situation to me.."
"See! I told you, we should have taken them down when we had the chance! I'm going out there!" Alshat huffed, hopping into her feet and hurrying to the door.
"Jia Xia!" Dabih called out in an authoritative tone, looking up at her younger sister with a regal gaze.
Alshat immediately froze with her hand on the door's ring handle and slowly turned around to her sister with a nervous gaze. "What, Jia Jia? They are going to destroy Deneb Algedi!"
"As much as I fear for this citadel as well...I still have faith in the king God gave us in Qutsade. Until he roars again, we sit still. Besides...I am the current Gedi Champion, if anyone will have the last say against Scorpius, it's me," Dabih said, closing her eyes and crossing her arms.
Alshat sighed softly and walked away from the door and sat back down with her sister, crossing her arms as well and puffing her cheeks. "Lord Nox better come up with a good plan then!"
Reene laughed as she rushed toward Shaula with rapid strikes, each of her attacks forcing Shaula to meet her halfway with unruly pressure. Reene landed a stiff uppercut then followed with a cross, Shaula groaning as she took a step back then responded with an immediate wide slash.
Shaula's eyes widened as she noticed Reene had vanished then looked down, noticing Reene had taken low ground to avoid her slash. A purple silhouette formed in front of Shaula, Reene landing a Flutter backfist into a Flutter roundhouse, stunning Shaula for a moment.
As Reene went for a third strike, Lesath grabbed Reene's leg and tossed her away then used a burst of speed to appear in front of her. She crashed her fist into Reene's stomach, her claws nearly piercing her flesh if it wasn't for Reene's Bone Armor activating to negate the poisonous strike.
'Bone Armor..?! Is this teenager an Elonun as well?!' Lesath thought to herself then groaned as Reene's Resident warped toward her with a knee to her jaw.
Lesath groaned as she went flying the recovered in the air to block Hyeon Bae's warp chop. Kicking off her Low Omba, she used a Mid Ombas as a platform to perform a NY Flare and land a sweeping kick against Lesath's head. Lesath grunted as staggered in the air, unaware of Song Jae-in coming down from the air.
Song Jae-in bellowed as she swooped down with a 360 spinning axe kick from the air, roaring as her attack landed on the back of Lesath's neck. "MMMMM!!!!! Money!!"
Lesath's exclaim was cut off as soon as she hit the ground, a large smoke cloud forming over her body and covering her with debris. Shaula balled her hands into fists, her gaze focusing on my Valkyrias with a seething expression.
'How are they even holding us back?! There has to be something going on!' Shaula thought to herself, glancing around herself then gasped as the realization hit her with Nu'ma's warning.
"Nu'ma! What do you see? Your Star is closer to the eyes of Scorpius than ours! What did you see to warn us?" Shaula asked, turning toward Nu'ma and her eyes widening in shock.
I adjusted my mask as I held an unconscious Nu'ma's body over my shoulder, my gaze meeting Shaula as I acted as Cipher. "What she saw was my Gigantify Battle Room which triples my allies energy levels, continuously as long as this Battle Zone remains active."
"Who are you?" Shaula asked, not recognizing me behind my face mask.
"I am the one you must decipher, a code you can never solve or understand. You have lost your Vessel...and if this is how I have to hold you off until Antares arrives, so be it. If you want your Claws of Scorpius back...follow my star," I said, warping away with Nu'ma.
Shaula looked around her surroundings, noticing giant angelic statues shimmering into view as the sun's rays hit upon them. 'He set this up..? When did he do it..? While we were fighting..? When he ran off..? How did Nu'ma sense this..?'
---------------------------------
Hours went by since I had left with Nu'ma, the sun now starting to set in the west as the moon began to slowly rise, providing it's soft luminosity in the skies. Nu'ma grunted as she slowly began to awaken, her eyes slowly opening as she sat up and noticed she was in a forest.
She gasped and stood up, disoriented and confused of her where abouts. "Where am I?! Miss Lesath! Miss Shaula!!"
"Calm yourself, Nu'ma. They will be arriving soon..." I said behind her, cleaning off the handle and limbs of my bow, Al Kaus. I looked up at Nu'ma and watched as she turned around to face me. "We moved closer to Antares since it seems you all can't wait long enough."
Nu'ma glanced down at Al Kaus and grunted, taking a step back from me with a nervous sweat. "Is that...Al Kaus? Are you going to strike me down here?"
"Nunki is not aimed at Scorpius' Claws nor Tail or Stinger. Look up at the sky," I said, setting down my bow and looking up at the sky.
Nu'ma glanced up at the sky with me, looking through the foliage to view the stars above, noticing the Sagittarius and Scorpius constellations shining brightly in the sky. I pointed up at at Kesith's bow and arrow, the Lord causing the Star of Nunki and a row of stars to twinkle brightly.
"Kesith is aimed at Akrab's Heart, which is Antares. Antares is flanked by two stars, Alniyat also known as Sigma Scorpii or Antares Bet, a star that outshines it. Nunki has to strike Antares Alph and not Bet," I explained, keeping my gaze upon the stars.
"Why?" Nu'ma asked, looking down at me with a confused gaze.
"Alniyat means 'the arteries'. Sure, Antares Bet acts as a second heart, but why strike the weapon and watch them bleed? Antares Bet isn't even a person, but a weapon. It's better to strike the heart with truth instead of piercing their lung for they may never live to hear it," I said, lowering my gaze to meet Nu'ma's eyes behind her hijab and mask.
Nu'ma crossed her arms and hummed thoughtfully, taking my words into account and looked back up at the sky, her eyes catching the Star of Noxius leading Lesath and Shaula toward our location. "Wait, they're actually showing up?"
"Antares will be here shortly as well. Him and his weapon will show up at the same time. It's time for you to choose...you do not have to fall with the ship. The stars do not have power over you," I said, standing up onto my feet and walking toward Nu'ma.
"You are the Scorpius Champion, so the Mazzaroth should work with you and for your benefit...not the other way around. They are using you especially that sly serpent around your neck," I said, using my Yaoke to reveal the Black Serpent upon her neck.
Nu'ma met my gaze and took a step back with hesitation, averting her gaze and rubbed her neck softly. "How do I get control then..? I'm...not even as strong or fast as the others..."
"You are Beta Rank and your spirit burns hotter than Antares, Lesath, and Shaula combined, but you won't shine as long as you let the stars control your life. As a Mazzaroth Champion, your job is to preserve the story in the stars, not allow your ambition to manipulate it," I explained, placing my finger upon Nu'ma's heart.
Nu'ma glanced down at my finger, a gentle burn forming in her chest as her a small Holy Ember began to form on her chest. She stood still and silent, processing my words before slowly lifting her gaze toward me.
Nu'ma and I decided to wait for the other stars to arrive in position and Nu'ma decided to observe the skies, noticing the foot of a constellation slowly appearing above Scorpius' tail. She hummed softly as the stars forming the foot began to twinkle, each one glowing brighter as Lesath and Shaula quickly grew closer.
"Lord Nox, they're arriving quickly! What's going on?" Nu'ma asked, looking back at me and watched me stand up onto my feet.
I glanced up at the sky and warped to the top of a tree, noticing Antares speeding up as well as the sun began rising once again from the east. Suddenly, a man with long red hair began quickly descending to the ground toward me with a humming red blade in his hand.
"This is it! I've arrived, Lord Noxius!" Antares called out, launching a swift overhead slash.
I phased through his attack then grunted softly, warping away from his vertical spinning slice, the burning blade splitting the tree I stood upon in half. I returned to the ground and studies Antares, sensing his energy levels did not reach beyond 3600, yet he was a Red Supergiant Class.
"I haven't been this excited to face off against a Hero of Origin since the Days of August. So it's you who's stopping our plan to extend our season? I suppose you're connected to God like August huh?" Antares asked, planting his feet upon the ground and smirked at me.
I continued to study Antares, barely acknowledging his speech and crossed my arms. 'Antares Bet...what would Alniyat be in this instance? It isn't the sword, it's barely even making a difference to his level...'
Nu'ma grunted softly as she looked at Antares, slightly backing away behind me and grabbed my sleeve. "Lord Nox...what are we going to do about him? He's the leader of Scorpius..."
I glanced at Nu'ma then returned my gaze to Antares then noticed Lesath and Shaula arriving onto the scene as well. "He's not the leader...just the heart of Scorpius. Everything you speak comes from what you feel in your heart, so of course...it will seem like he's the leading operator."
"Sir Antares! That's him right there! He's the guy with Arieh, Taleh, and the White Serpent! He has three Mazzaroths!" Lesath reported, panting softly to catch her breath from the long distance run.
"And he's accusing me of having Terminus within me! We've got to deal with him now!" Shaula exclaimed, pointing her odachi at me.
Antares looked at his two Star Valkyrias and chuckled, his eyes returning to me and Nu'ma with high interest. "Is that so? Who are you to decide what we do and not do? Do you have any authority over the stars?"
I pat my shoulder three times, smirking lightly then swung my arm in a circle swiftly then took on my Archer Stance, Al Kaus forming in my hand. "I am the current King of Qutsade, and as the Guardian of this land...the Lord has granted me some authority over specific Mazzaroths, but...you can say I am a bit inexperienced with this one."
Antares' smirk grew larger as he noticed Al Kaus in my hand, his aura expanding larger and his energy levels growing higher as a Crest began to shine where his arteries were. "Oh ho ho!! So you have Al Kaus with you...ahh, that means you've conquered Sagittarius in St. Meishi?"
I glanced down at my stellar bow and chuckled lightly, lifting my gaze to meet Antares' eyes. "I've been done that...and now the Sharpshooter is realigned. It's time for you to be corrected now!"
I fired an arrow of light toward Antares, but he easily deflected my arrow then used a burst of speed to appear in front of me. Quickly, I parted my bow into dual swords and clashed with Antares, grunting lightly as he pushed me back a step from a sudden burst of strength.
I broke our blade lock and swiped my sword at his leg, forcing him back then tossed my second in the air. Antares quickly grabbed my hood and pushed it over my head, blinding me for a moment then delivered a heavy upper slice to knock me in the air.
While suspended in the air, I glanced up at my sword then launched a Sovereign Butterfly toward it as it fell down. 'He's a lot faster than I expected...I will have to use this form of combat...'
Warping toward my sword, I kicked it down toward Antares then held my hand out toward him, using an attractive force to pull him toward my sword. Antares grunted in shock as he was dragged to the air, but quickly dodged my attack, but couldn't react quickly enough to my Lion's Fist to his jaw.
'What...the...' Antares thought to himself, groaning as my attack launched him through the forest.
I landed on the ground and huffed lightly, my silver silhouette merging back within me then I looked my at hand, silver particles flowing up from my palm to slowly form Nunki. 'This process is quite slow...but all I need is 30 minutes...'
Antares rose up from the ground and rubbed his jaw, standing up on his feet and patting his Crest upon his arteries. "Well, this is starting to become interesting. Alright, Alniyat...work your stuff!"
I sensed Antares' speedy arrival then forming a wind spiral around my feet then hopped upon the currents to grind toward him. Hopping off at the last second, the winds pushed me toward him with extra momentum for a accelerated spinning roundhouse.
Antares dodged my attack then grabbed my leg, swinging me to the ground then releases a pulse of wild fiery energy to blow me away. I grunted as I rolled backwards along the ground, the pulse of energy carrying me away toward an opening in the forest.
I recovered back onto my feet, shaking my head to remove the leaves in my strands then ran my hands through my hair. "That confirms my suspicions... Alniyat has to be within him. He just went from 3,600 to nearly 9,720 within seconds. Is he feeding off Alniyat's energy?"
As I turned to look at the skies for my answer, Antares appeared in front of me and landed a crushing gut blow then followed it with a series of blazing slashes before launching me backwards with a large ball of flames. I grunted as I was knocked across the nature arena, but recovered onto one knee.
"What's the matter, Lord Nox? This is the power of the King of Qutsade? The one who shall stop us from extending our season? Stopping us from rotting the things of old and bringing forth a new dawn?!" Antares asked, pointing his sword at me with fiery authority.
I looked up slowly, noticing Nu'ma in the distance watching the duel with Lesath and Shaula beside her. I returned my gaze to Antares, taking a deep breath before standing up with an exhale. "You don't want a new dawn...do you even understand what your season is for? Your purpose?"
"We know what it is. It's a process for transformation, a renewal. Before creation, ruin comes! How can we expect more if we have a short season to do it? Deneb Algedi has enough life force to extend our season to an entire month!" Antares replied, lowering his sword as he noticed my serious expression.
"A season of decay, corruption, and death for an entire month instead of the short seven days? Sure, the Lord renews what He allows to be destroyed...but do you think tampering with Divine Timing is a good idea? You fool...you will destroy Qutsade's environment!" I replied in a strong tone, a piercing arrow of light appearing in Antares' shoulder.
Antares grunted softly and looked at his shoulder while clutching it, his mind unable to find the answers on how fast the arrow struck him. Suddenly, a wave of pain surged in his shoulder as the realization finally set in. "W-What even... happened..?"
"Your story revolves around your tail striking against the foot of the Serpent Bearer, yet still end in loss because death has already been defeated. Death is a natural process in life, but isn't the end...which is why your season is short," I said, snapping my fingers and calling forth the Arrow Trap Room.
Multiple Al Kaus illusions formed around Antares, each one aimed at him no matter where he moved. He grunted softly as he looked around himself, noticing he was surrounded with barely any room for escape.
"There's a time to slow down and reflect, to make use with what you're provided and know the LORD's Grace is sufficient enough. To try to extend on it means you don't trust His plans for us," I added, snapping my fingers and unleashed five arrows of light.
Antares grunted as he barely dodged the arrows then took off to the skies, deflecting the next three arrows then slashed downward toward me, releasing a burning cutting wave toward me. I walked forward and connected my dual swords into Al Kaus once again and phased through Antares' cutting wave.
"I see through you, and I now understand Alniyat is truly within your arteries. However, that leaves me with one more issue," I continued, looking at Nunki's progress in the sky to see the Star of Nunki barely glowing.
Antares could feel a shift in my presence, watching as a silver crown began to form atop of my head with a tattered light brown eagle cloak forming around my body. 'No way he also has Kesith's Form as well..! I can barely get a clear read upon him...!'
The Black Serpent around Nu'ma's neck escape from her and made his way toward Shaula, slithering up her body and coiling around her neck. With one swift influence, the wickedness within her was amplified and caused her to charge in toward me.
I watched as Shaula grew closer to her original position in the sky as she approached me, my eyes shining a silver glow as I warped toward her with a pulsing uppercut to her chin. 'Now, to know her into Antares!'
Sending her flying in the air, I warped in front of her with a wheel kick to her stomach, sending her crashing into Antares. Flying forward, I struck her with a Spirit Flash, knocking the Black Serpent onto Antares and sending both Shaula and Antares to the ground.
Antares recovered quickly and grunted softly as he felt a corruptive presence enter inside of him, his body tingling with an uncomfortable sensation as Terminus began making his way to his heart. "What is going on...!"
Shaula slowly sat up, holding her head as her eyes began to return to purity. She looked up at Antares, gasping as she noticed his sword crashing down upon her. Before his sword reaches her, I warped toward her and grabbed her before she could be hit, taking the strike upon my foot with a groan.
"Foolish king... knocking me into the strongest part of Scorpius' system. Now you must live with the consequences!" Terminus laughed through Antares, taking his sword out of my foot then pinned me down by my cloak with his sword.
"Shaula, return to your temple in Gethsemane! Take Lesath and Nu'ma with you! Antares will return to you shortly," I warned, pushing Shaula away and grunted as Antares gripped my head to pull me onto my feet into a headlock.
"Letting them escape? How noble of you, but are you so sure that Antares will return? In fact, your star hold enough energy to extend Scorpius' season for an entire generation. That's 30 years of destruction around Qutsade!" Terminus laughed through Antares, tightening his grip around my neck to try to squeeze life out of my body.
I grunted as I gripped Antares' arm, dropping my bow and kicking it forward before he could grab it. "Antares, I know you can hear me! Don't let the Devil speak for you! Don't let him take over your will!"
"Shut up!" Terminus roared, lifting me into the air and blasting me away with hellfire through the forest.
I grunted as I flew backwards then manifested my Sovereign Butterfly wings, stacking my Sovereign Form on top of my Kesith form. I flew off quickly through the forest with a corrupted Antares chasing after me. I glanced behind myself and noticed Antares closing in the distance, a thousand scenarios already playing in my head.
The two of us raced through Fideline Forest, our speed carrying us down a stream near the Nebula Border. I let out a loud roar, warning my allies in the area of Antares and Terminus. My roar stretched through the entirety of the Capricorn Kingdom, the soundwave shaking the ground below with mighty force.
"There's no where to run! You're mine!" Terminus laughed, forcing Alniyat to boost his energy levels to 10,000 and released a powerful beam of heat toward me.
Suddenly, a Genesis Butterfly flew forward and collided with Antares' Hellfire Disaster, a bright light shining before an explosion in the area alerted everyone in the vicinity. Antares grunted as the smoke obscured his vision, making him unaware of Luciel's approach with ten Flutter Strikes landing within a second.
Antares groaned as he was knocked away, but recovered onto his feet and looked up, noticing Luciel standing strong in front of me, white lightning crackling around her body. "Who the heck is this?"
I smirked as I noticed my Spiritual Wife standing with me on the battlefield, the Queen of Qutsade being the first to answer my call. "Well, you surely took your sweet time getting here, Nunki..."
Luciel flipped her hair with a hum and a sweet smile, looking back toward me with a hand upon her hip. "Well sorry, I had to make sure everything was right. Kaguya and Yochanan are already at the Temples stabilizing Deneb Algedi after Scorpius' attack. That leaves just us."
"The Queen of Qutsade is here as well...has 30 minutes passed already..?" Terminus said to himself, glancing up at the sky to see the Star of Nunki gleaming brightly in the air.
Luciel smacked her fists together and grinned with excitement. "Well, my king...Shall we show him what we can do together?"
I crossed my arms as I looked at Antares, noticing Alniyat humming through him in pain as Terminus continued to force its power. "We should be careful. This is a Judas situation we are dealing with...and knowing Terminus, he will do something sly...so I have a plan."
Antares watched as Luciel and I huddled together to formulate a plan on how to deal with him. He grunted softly as he felt a few dark surges urging him for destruction, but couldn't explain it. 'It feels like I can't control my own body...this level of power strains me as well..'
Luciel hummed at my plan and turned toward Antares, placing her hand upon my shoulder and awaked my Yaoke in her eyes to peer into his flesh design. "I see what you mean... Alniyat is fighting back and cutting even one cord would kill her and Antares. So, you want to grant Antares Fire Barrier...and force him into defense."
"Trust me on this, my love. I saw what our son did against against Giansar in Meijiang. He used Ice Armor to trap Giansar within himself which is what defeated him the first time. This technique will work," I said, summoning the Elonun Scroll, Fire Barrier, in my hand.
"This plans seems way beyond your intelligence level, and Gila's mindset. It just seems so crazy...but we don't have much else to bank off of. We will need to coordinate perfectly," Luciel said, looking at me with determination.
I nodded at her then walked forward, tossing Antares the Elonun Scroll with a smirk. "Here! A little gift from Judge to Defendant. It's a small leeway for you since it's a two on one now."
Antares caught the scroll and looked at it, grunting in surprise that it was an Elonun ability. Terminus also hummed in curiosity and intrigued, wondering if I had gone insane. "Are you stupid or something? Have you finally lost your mind, Elonun of Redemption?"
"Even the people called Noah crazy before the flood came. Are you going to reject your one and only chance at coming out of this alive? Reject this, and Scorpius dies guaranteed," I said, my gaze never breaking away from Antares.
Deeply inside, Antares felt in his heart that there was truth in my words and knew he should take the Elonun Scroll. He opened the scroll and read the information within, learning Fire Barrier for himself. "Hmph...you better hope this doesn't sting you later."
"I've already been stung once earlier," I said, pointing down at my foot. "The stars are aligned...and now it's time for the inevitable!"
"In your dreams, King of Nothingness!" Terminus roared through Antares, launching himself toward me with a searing slash of his sword.
I dodged his slash then warped behind him, Luciel rushing forward and catching Antares off guard with a gut blow into a clean right hook. She grabbed him and redirected him behind herself then elbowed him forward. I launched a Precision Thrust, but Antares immediately casted a Fire Barrier around himself, my palm crashing against the flaming surface.
I shifted into my Leo Form and struck his barrier with a Lion Barrage, each strike absorbing the heat from his barrier and adding it onto my own energy levels. Kicking off his barrier and taking position in the air, I shifted back into my Sagittarius Form and fired a blazing arrow at his Fire Barrier.
Antares groaned as my arrow struck the weakpoint within his barrier that I created from my Lion Barrage, the barrier cracking and imploding. He grunted as he was carried backwards, but recovered onto one knee. "What the...how did he beat my fire with fire...?"
Luciel looked up at me, noticing my nod then nodded back. She turned toward Antares and rushed toward him, three lavender silhouettes forming around him. Antares quickly stood up and dodged the first Flutter Strike, his balance becoming off and causing him to stumble backwards.
Luciel appeared behind him within a second and struck his back with an elbow then warped in front of him with a missile dropkick. Antares groaned as he was knocked backwards then recovered onto his feet, noticing Luciel now below with a sweeping kick into a NY Flare straight kick into his stomach.
'She's too fast..! I can't react to her..! What technique is she using?!' Antares thought to himself, growing frustrated and landed onto his feet to counter with a barrage of fireballs.
Luciel unleashed her aura, transforming into her Genesis Form and opened her eyes slowly, silver, lavender, and white energy flowing around her body. With minimal effort, she began dodging each fireball with immense speed; Luciel dashed forward and landed a running knee to Antares chin, stunning him for a moment.
"If you want to survive, you'd better start going on defense! I'm not letting up!" Luciel called out, following her attack with a spinning roundhouse kick to his head.
Antares staggered to the side, but remained strong and roared as he used Alniyat to boost his energy levels further then groaned as a cold spike washed around his body, diminishing his energy levels down to 8,250. "What—"
"Flash Mekori!" Luciel bellowed, blasting the unaware Antares away with a beam of glorious light then summoned her Scepter.
Luciel charged forward and tossed her Scepter forward, cracking Antares against his head and caused the Scepter to fly in the air. She warped to her weapon and aimed it down at Antares, a volley of light arrows crashing down upon him from the heavens.
Without knowing what else to do, Antares deloyed his Fire Barrier, blocking each arrow and grunted from the downpour of arrows crashing upon his defense. "Alniyat..! What are you doing..? Are you getting tired..?!"
I looked down at Antares and noticed his arteries were beginning to slow down and fail from Terminus pushing Alniyat too far. I summoned Al Kaus and watched, a bit of hesitation entering me as I felt sympathy for Antares' struggles.
A crack appeared upon Antares' barrier then I warped to the ground and took aim at Antares, summoning an arrow of light and firing it toward him. Terminus sensed the arrow and forced Antares to lower his barrier, but I had already planned for it, my arrow splitting into multiple smaller fragments and piercing his limbs.
"If you want to live, put up your barrier! Sagittarius Arts: Bullseye!" I bellowed, locking onto Antares heart and firing a white, fiery arrow directly to his chest.
Antares grunted and slammed his fist against the ground, casting a stronger Fire Barrier around himself to block my attack. My arrow pierced through the thick flames, creating an opening before fizzling out due to the low output I generated.
"Ha! You fail again, King of Qutsade! What now?! You can't break through this barrier!" Terminus laughed through Antares, looking at me with a deranged smirk.
"I don't need to. It's already been broken through," I said with a smile, snapping my fingers to bring forth my Mirror Facility, flipping Antares barrier to the opposite direction.
"Sagittarius Arts: Nunki Spiral!" Luciel called out, holding the real Al Kaus in her hands with the Arrow of Nunki in her hand.
Antares turned around in shock hearing the real Sagittarius Arts behind him then turned around as Luciel fired Nunki toward him. His eyes widened as he watched Nunki slip through the opening I created and approach him. Terminus tried to escape, but the thick barrier only pushed him back into Antares' heart.
Unable to escape Antares, Nunki pierces through Antares heart and struck Terminus within, Antares body glowing brightly with purity and a groan of pain as Terminus was now truly defeated and purged from Antares. The light dimmed, two large orbs of red light floating between me and Luciel before returning to the skies.
All the stars of Scorpius gleamed brightly with happiness once again, each of their stars fading away for the Sagittarius Constellation to shine brightly with Nunki twinkling a victorious glow. Soon, the skies returned to normal, a golden crown floating down from the skies with Kesith's Sigil upon the turquoise gemstone at the center.
I caught the crown gifted to Qutsade by Yesha, looking down at it with a smile and hummed. I looked up at Luciel and put it on her head. "We did it, my love. The Kaus Tekoah Avar is complete..."
Luciel smiled and nodded, looking up at the crown on her head. "Seolhart Institution's first award..~ Oh, I know the students are gonna be so happy! Before we go, we should go check on Empress Dabih and her people."
I nodded and picked Luciel up bridal style, Luciel squeaking and giggling as she held onto me tightly. I made sure she was secure before taking off back to Deneb Algedi where everyone awaited us, the Holy Dove flying behind us with a beautiful chirp to my butterflies.