16 Ch 15: Ancient Entities (III)

Rex had launched an onslaught of attacks. Each time he swung his blade, a wave of green energy would swallow everything on it's path. However, it wasn't just him who had such capabilities. Gladius would merely slashed the attack and the wave would split without resistance leading to it dissipating.

Their battle continued forward with great momentum. Every living and undead creature who got caught in the middle of their attacks either died from the surging energy or simply gotten erased from existence.

"Fallen Sword: Moon." Rex raised his sword up and gathered his sword aura to form a large blade of energy. The descent of the sword was fast and powerful that it forced Gladius to dodge and retreat.

When the blade of energy fell, the sword aura that made up the blade exploded. The green energy began to devour everything in a large area. Gladius did not expect such an attack and was forced to defend.

"Severing Blade: Erasure." His blade lost it's sword aura. However, he simply waved his sword in front of him. The wave of green energy was severed horizontally and disappeared just as it was cut. Gladius quickly stopped his sword and struck diagonally down in front of him.

Rex still had his sword stuck at the ground. But that did not stop him from rushing straight at Gladius. His lunge was fast even with his sword being dragged while it was still partially underground. Just as Gladius severed the existence of the explosion of energy, Rex slashed his great sword diagonally up from the ground.

*Clang*

The sound of their blade echoed through the battlefield. With Gladius strength, he pushed Rex's greatsword up in the air. However, he needed to defend right away since Rex slammed his sword back toward his head once again. Gladius met Rex's blade yet its strength was more than he imagined. Rex had slammed Gladius' sword to the ground, he took a step back and pointed his blade at him.

"Fallen Sword: Cave." Rex thrusted his sword straight towards Gladius. The sword aura had spiralled around the blade which resulted into a twisting energy the moment it was thrusted.

"Severing Sword: Cleave." Gladius perfectly dodged the thrust by lowering his posture and leaning forward while his sword cleaved through the energy. He was directly underneath Rex's sword and his sword was running down the blade. Rex did not expect Gladius to take such a risky strike. However, he had to defend himself or else his lower half would be severed by Gladius' sword.

"Soul Cage." Rex's energy shaped themselves into iron chains and bars which started to encase himself inside. Luckily it had soften Gladius' strike which still severed the soul cage and left a horizontal cut on his bony plated body.

Rex jumped back and sent a few wave of energy back to Gladius. He needed to retreat for now, however, Gladius wasn't going to allow him any rest.

"Severing Blade: Split." His slashed his sword down with his sword aura covering it. Rex had quickly dodged the strike by going to Gladius side.

Everything in front of Gladius was split into two. He wanted to keep pressuring Rex when a sudden back kick was about to strike him in the back. It successfully made him jump.

"Fallen Sword: Rupture." Rex's sword was rising up while tearing apart the ground beneath him. He jump up and slammed his sword with force and strength beyond his normal capabilities.

Gladius did not like being on the air. He wanted to move but Rex was a step ahead and struck him. He used his sword to block the attack but Rex's strike still pushed him up in the air. However, Rex did not give him any mercy and struck down which slammed Gladius to the ground with his sword shaking from the sheer force of the attack.

"Fallen Sword: Lake." His sword condensed itself upon the blade and Rex plunged it straight into the ground resulting with an explosion of green energy that crushed any living being.

Gladius was bellow Rex's sword. He took a heavy blow from Rex's sword, however, he wasn't going to give up and die.

Rex's left arm and a portion of the left side of his head was cut in a clean strike. he simply jump back and readied himself for another attack. It was unwise to trade blows with Gladius.

Gladius came out of the rubble with a heavily beaten body and bloody face. Never in his life has he remembered Rex dive bombing him with the force of an atomic bomb.

"Then let's finish this! Fallen Sword: Reaper's Edge!" Rex slashed his greatsword horizontally. The green sword aura had disappeared, instead, his sword began to glow light green with a blinding light.

"Holy Blade: Angel's Grace!" Gladius raised his sword as his golden energy transformed itself into his four sets of wings and a halo above his head.

They clashed into a heated battle as they stuck, parried, thrusted, dodged, and blocked their strikes. The sight of the 'Ruler of Bones' wielding a green blade and clashing against an eight winged 'Sword Saint' induced fear and awe to the surviving humans alive. However, it was all decided in one strike.

Their swords met one final time as death could not overcome light. Gladius had swung his sword and had managed to flung Rex's greatsword away from him.

"Severing Blade: Principality!" Gladius' vision turned black and white as his angelic form vanished out of existence. He saw Rex's soul and being intertwined by the strings of fate.

"Let's end this." Gladius sheathed his sword. He entered a stance similar to Iaijutsu and severed the strings of fate, life, future, past, and present. Completely releasing Rex's soul from any future, possibility, or past in which he was bound to become the very monster he has become.

Gladius opened his eyes once more, and Rex Fidelium was no more. His very existence of being the 'Ruler of Bones' has been severed from the world.

****

Lucius sat up from his bed. He had awaken from his slumber of blood and carnage.

'That was... Overwhelming.' Lucius thought. After realizing that everything was a dream or perhaps an illusion of the past had eased his mind.

When he looked down on his hand, they were shaking. He needed to remind himself of anything remotely funny or interesting to distract himself. Eventually he calmed down.

'So that was Rex Fidelium. Hmm... He doesn't really tie in between my rebirth or my nightmares other than him fighting the sword saint.' Lucius was expecting a clue about his rebirth yet he found nothing.

He sighed deeply and got changed. They still had plenty of land to cover before entering back to the marquis' territory. It was best not to waste anymore time.

*****

Lucius was back at the carriage contemplating on what was the purpose of the dream. He figure it was something to do with his nightmares, but he never really got to find out why.

'A dream... Skeletons, pantheons, and swords. Base on my knowledge i have... no idea.' Lucius was slightly confused.

There were many myths and tall tales of monsters back on earth. Perhaps his situation was close to a forgotten folklore. Lucius may have never known, however, he does know that the 'Ruler of Bones' is somehow haunting his dreams.

Hours passed by and the carriage had finally arrived at the borders of the marquis. Normally it would've been safe, however, the marquis had stated there was an emergency. They didn't know what caused the marquis to be alarmed. The servants and hidden fangs in the shadow could only pray that their return would be uneventful.

Lucius closed his eyes and crossed his arms. He knew a storm was brewing, and his intuition was very alarmed. However, he will face such trials forward. Rex Fidelium, the 'Ruler of Bones', had shown him what an army and powerful beings were capable of. He felt a sense of emptiness after knowing that being like the 'Ruler of Bones' and 'Sword Saint' once existed. But that feeling of emptiness also gave him courage as well. Whatever lies beyond his future will pale in comparison to the event he witnessed. However, the future was never set in stone. Even fate and destiny can be changed.

Suddenly the carriage stopped. They had arrived at the gates of the marquis' mansion. However, inside the building was full silence and dread. There were still servants cleaning and moving between rooms and corridors, but it was clear from the atmosphere that something had happened.

Lucius directly went to his father. He figure that he may be in the study or his mother's room. Luckily enough for him, he went to the study first and found his father sitting by a desk with documents filled up.

"What is the emergency father?" Lucius asked his father about the situation. He wanted to know why it was affecting everyone in the entire mansion.

His father stopped writing and took off his reading glasses. It was clear that he had not slept for day as he had bags under his eyes. "Dear boy, No need to trouble yourself. Rest back to your room and worry not, i'll settle this matter myself." The marquis had given Lucius a gentle smile.

Lucius was not reassured. He wanted to know why his father was being troubled but couldn't really force him to. The marquis was tired enough and Lucius feared that an nosy child would annoy him instead. "Then i'll take my leave. You seem very busy and i rather not interrupt your work." Lucius exited the room.

The Marquis' smile faded and a tired face replaced it as he continued signing and planning on his answer to his problem.