Gather

"Lance...?" Marcia whispered as she looked at the pale expression on my face, "Lance, are you okay?"

Right now, I was holding my phone and talking with someone speaking on the other side from Kenny's home.

[Kill him! Kill him!! Kill him!!!]

And just by hearing its voice, Termina began to go into a blinding rage that caused her to scream and cry inside my head in a way I've never seen her do before.

My arms were trembling, my eyes were shaking, my breathing was speeding up, and right now, I had to use all the strength in me to hold my legs from just dashing to my friend's house and tear off the head of whoever I was talking to.

Termina's fury was poisoning me more than ever before, and it was getting harder and harder to keep in control.

{...}

"Ah... Ah..." calm down, calm down, remember how to talk like a normal human being, "W- Who is this...?"

{Ah! Good! You finally replied! I thought I was being ignored for a moment, haha!}

His words were cheerful, but his voice was unnerving. I don't know why, but I don't wanna speak with him... Hearing him talk makes me sick...

{I'm happy to finally get in contact with you! I was hoping we could meet, if possible!}

"Meet...?"

{Yes! All of us! It will be a nice reunion! I'll send the location to your phone! Don't keep me waiting!

For your friend's sake...}

He murmured these final words and hung up.

My head turned around slowly while trembling as my rage continued to paralyze my body, making it near impossible to move.

[KILL... HIM...]

I took one glimpse at the coordinates he sent me before shattering my device into pieces. Termina's fire was flowing inside of me right now and enhancing my strength.

"Lance...?" Marcia talked again.

"Where... Is my sword...?" I replied. My voice was cold and low. I could barely recognize myself.

"Lance? Lance, what happened??"

"One of them took Kenny... One of those disgusting dragons took Kenny!!! I need to go to him!!"

"What?? Lance, are you crazy?? If you go now, they might turn you into dust!!"

"I don't care! I have to do something!!" I declared while rushing out of the room and looking for my wooden sword so I could go help Kenny.

As I moved through Sarah's house and reached the kitchen, I noticed her almost finished with the hamburgers that I asked.

"Oh, hey kid! What are you doing? You should be resting" she asked as she saw me.

"Miss! Miss, I need my sword! Have you seen my sword?"

"Your sword? You mean that?" she commented while pointing at the sofa behind me and the two pieces of broken wood that were laying on the ground by its side, "Your little friend told me that was important so I put it there. I wanted to throw it away..."

My sword... The weapon that was gifted to me... It was broken...

Did this mean I couldn't use it anymore? Can a mage's staff still be used even if it breaks?

[Don't worry... The staff is just a means to force the magic out of your body. Breaking it apart will not affect its function, but it will affect its effectiveness] Termina explained.

"Effectiveness?"

[Since the size of your staff is now smaller, the amount of magic you can extract will also decrease.]

"Ugh... This is annoying... Can I still make a portal to summon Eclipse or to go to the shadow realm?"

[Yes, but the time it takes to do so will be longer.]

Uuuugh... This sucks so much... Of all the times for me to have a broken weapon... But I don't have time to cry about it.

"Sarah, I have to go. Please watch over Marcia."

"Go? Go where? H- Hey!! Wait up!!"

I didn't even wait for her reply before dashing out of the house.

Luckily I memorized the address before breaking my phone. I just needed to hope that Kenny wasn't harmed.

Four blocks fly by in a matter of seconds. Thanks to Termina boosting my speed, I managed to run faster than I ever did in my entire life.

But I also start to worry, as I remember that she mentioned that using her power means that I'll have to deal with a bit of knockback after I'm done.

As I continued to rush across the streets I started to hear the sound of explosions going off in the distance.

"What is it now!!??" I grumble.

Before I could even react, a flying piece of debris passes right by my side and almost tears my head off my shoulders.

"What the hell??" I scream while jumping to the ground to avoid getting hit.

I raise my face and spot the angry lady from before that looks like Marcia, I think her name was Dia, getting tossed against the walls of a building and spitting blood over her clothes from the impact.

"What? Why is she-"

Before I could even finish my question, she starts to look up as some kind of light starts to summon itself above her head, and right after she leaps out of her position, a massive thunderbolt drops from the sky, frying everything in the spot she was just in.

Something was trying to kill her!

"Seriously, where are all these dragons coming from??" someone asked.

Oh no... I recognized that voice.

I aimed my gaze at the source of it, and there she was... Ellie, with her two mage friends, Claire and Joseph.

"What is going on?" ah! There is my favorite question again! "Why are they fighting??"

Dia tried to run away but her feet were frozen by Joseph as he aimed his wooden bracelet at her.

"Oh, no..." she whispered.

"You're not running away too! Dragon!"

Dragon?? What?? They think Dia is a dragon too??

Ellie uses this chance while Dia has her feet stuck on ice to dash at her and deliver a punch with her diamond fist. Dia attempts to block it by crossing her arms and turning them into red metal shields, but Ellie just sends her flying against the wall again.

"Guaaaahhh!!!"

My body was receiving some terrifying flashbacks. Not too long ago I myself tried to fight against Ellie, and that ended up with me waking up in a bed covered in bruises with no idea of what had happened... But even if my mind didn't remember... My body still did...

And my body was incredibly frightened by her...

My first instinct was to run, but seeing how much Dia was getting beat up in that three-on-one fight, I decided to help her out.

"Hey!! Knock it off!!!" I shouted while jumping on the fight while waving my broken wooden blade.

"Ah!!" Claire gasped as she saw me, "It's the dragon that escaped!!"

"What...?" Dia whispered, trying to recognize me.

"Take him down!!" Ellie ordered.

I slammed the pieces of my broken sword on the ground and transported boh Dia and me into the shadow realm, just as Claire was about to unleash some explosive fire magic on us.

"Not again!!!!" Ellie cried as she watched us run away.

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We wait for a few minutes and finally decide to get back on the streets after making sure Ellie was gone.

"Coast is clear..." I declare while carefully walking out of my dark portal.

"Thanks... I owe you one..." Dia commented. She suddenly doesn't seem as scary anymore. Probably because I had just seen Ellie's angry face not too long ago.

Or, it might be because Dia was looking severely injured right now as she walked with her hands pressed against her stomach.

"What was that all about? They were going to kill you!!" I asked in confusion.

"You... Ugh... You're the kid from before... Right?"

"Huh? Oh, right... You never saw my real face..."

"Indeed... But now I can..." she commented while looking down, "Do you know what that means?"

"Oh, no... Did they cast the illusion on you as well?"

"Regretfully... Yes..."

Ah... This is just great... Our only chance of communicating with my mother and the rest of our family, and we lose it.

The dragons must have found out that we managed to get Dia on our side and rushed to stop her from ruining their plans. Goddammit!! These bloody dragons!! How I want to crush every single one of them!!! I hate them! I hate them! I hate them!!]

"Ah!!!" I gasp as I slap my own face to stop my rage from taking over again.

"What the... What are you doing?"

"Sorry... I... I'm going through some stuff..." I explain while trying to calm down with deep breaths, "You gonna be okay? I have somewhere to go..."

"Yes... I have a few healing crystals to fix these wounds... I'll be fine in a minu- Eh...?" she said while slowly pulling her hand away and revealing her wound closing up.

"Whoa... These crystals work fast!"

"No... This isn't the work of crystals..." she corrected, "The cursed power in my body is feeding on someone's negative emotions..."

"Negative emotions...?"

"I'm a cursed energy user... Unlike blessed energy that takes its powers from positive feelings, I take my powers from negative feelings. Things like envy, guilt, hate, anger... This kind of stuff."

Anger, huh? Gee... I wonder who could be the culprit...

Mmm... But wait a second...

Dia can get stronger by feeding on the hate that Termina transfers to me? So... Let's say I get close to the creepy voice guy from before, and my anger starts to skyrocket... Won't Dia get a tremendous boost in power then??

"Miss Dia! Could you help me, please??"

"Help? Help with what?"

I proceed to explain to her my current situation, letting her know that my friend is in the hands of a dragon right now and that I need to save him, and also that her power fed by my anger might come in handy.

"You sure about this...?" she comments, "Sound like we are walking into a trap..."

"I don't have a choice. My friend needs me... And..." And... Marcia's face flashes before my eyes, "Someone told me that I shouldn't just accept the bad things that happen in my life... If my friend is in danger because of the dragons, I wanna fight to change that reality!!"

"Well... Okay... But do you have a plan...?"

"No, but I have Termina with me! Her fire can kill any dragon! I just need to get close enough and let her go crazy on them!"

"That's not going to work..." someone comments while interrupting our conversation.

It was the girl I left behind in the house and the owner of the house itself carrying her on her back while she is unable to move, Marcia and Sarah.

"What are you two doing here??" I ask.

"I'm here because you would probably do something stupid and get yourself killed without me..." Marcia comments.

"I'm here because she can't walk and needed someone to carry her..." Sarah also comments.

Luckily, Marcia is a rather small girl so it doesn't look like Sarah is having too much trouble carrying her weight.

"Lance... The dragons know you're hosting Termina... They probably already have some kind of plan ready to prevent you from using her power on them!" Marcia remarks.

"Then what should I do?? Abandon Kenny?"

"No, silly... At times like these, you stop to discuss a plan with your allies before making the next move..."

"My allies...?"

"Remember! You're not alone anymore! I'm here and so is Eclipse!" Marcia adds.

"I'm here as well, if you need me..." Sarah also comments, "You saved my life, only fair that I try to repay the favor by helping you save your friend."

"Me too!" Dia also states, "I was called here to deal with these dragons, and that's what I'm going to do!"

I looked at them. These people that I barely knew were so ready to offer me help and support. Meanwhile, I was ready to throw myself in the arms of the enemy completely clueless on how to properly face them...

I'm still too immature.

"Thank you, you guys... You're right... I can't do this alone... Please lend me your strength!"

"Of course!!" all three replied.

"What about you, Termina? Ready to finally get some payback on these dragons?"

[For you, Lance? Anytime!]