A Magical Rescue
"Is this it? This is the end?" As the demons approach, Luxman exclaims, "A proud warrior like me will go down with no chance to even fight back?" "Hey! Would you please quit babbling over there and attempt to come up with a plan to help us out of this situation… I am not ready to die just yet, y' know." "Oh Yeah? If you are really that worried then why don't you think of something?" "Just look at my face… Do you think it is capable of coming up with a plan?" "Ahhh… Why did I have to go out with this imbecile out of all the people?"
Ace helps to lessen the seriousness of the situation for a while, but eventually, one of the demons leaps to strike Luxman with its razor-sharp claws as its hunger reaches its peak. Indicating that he had already given up on life and was prepared to begin the afterlife, Luxman closes his eyes. Ace gets really upset with Luxman's actions, but his mood changes when he notices a dark figure on top of the house directly in front of them. "Oh, so it's morning already huh?", Ace says with a bright smile on his face.
The mysterious person takes a leap from the seven-storeyed building and chants, "Sword of light, dance with might, blades embrace, in magic's grace, slashing power, swift and keen, enchantment's gleam, be unseen BLISTERING GALE" in mid-air. The demon who was approaching Luxman gets cut in half by a strong slash of wind. However, the second demon was not afraid, he did not have enough intellect to be scared even if the foe it faced was superior to it. The only thing that the demon had were survival instincts which led it to believe that the only option by which it could survive was to eat his fallen ally and it did not take a second to rethink before brutally devouring the demon who was just killed right in front of it. "Eww! I am definitely gonna dream about this tonight.", Ace says with disgust.
As he slowly devours his former ally, the demon gets buffed up and his blood lust becomes more intense. "Hey… AMON… This doesn't look good, can't you do anything to mobilize us?" "Jeez, don't be so demanding." Amon chants two spells simultaneously, one to make himself faster to touch Ace which would activate the other spell and give him back his right to move. However, the demon does not make his job easier as it showcases its newfound strength and speed by punching Amon in the face, outspeeding him even after Amon uses a speed enhancement spell. Amon says in frustration, "Ahh… You better treat me to some liquor after we are done here." Amon chants "Whispers of wind, ignite within, spark the flame, empower the aim, manifest, enchant, now ignite, magic's might FIRE BLAST!" to create a diversion by firing blasts of fire at the demon, however, instead of taking them head-on, the demon counters the attack by firing its own fire bullets at them. Since Amon's attack was just meant to be a diversion, the demon's fire bullets easily cut through it and destroy several houses with ease. "Ahh… This is so tiring. Why can't this thing just let me touch you?".
After a tiring run and chase, the demon decides to end all of them in one attack. It starts charging up an attack capable of wiping the whole town off the map. "Now's my chance," says Amon as he takes a leap, touches Ace, and chants, "Limbs now free, break the bind, with mystic might, mobility find, rise and walk, release the hold, magic unfold." Not much later Ace starts jumping in joy and says with excitement, "Yahoo! I am free again. Yay! Look at me…" "Hey, Ace! Get rid of this… thing now, will ya?" "Oh yeah! on it." However, the demon had already charged its destructive attack and was ready to fire it at the trio.
"It's over now, there is no way that this guy can reach the demon before it fires the attack, and even if he does, I don't think he can do anything about that attack.", Luxman thinks in his mind. However, to his surprise, a brief moment before the demon fired the attack, if Luxman hadn't trained for years he would have been hundred percent sure that Ace disappeared right in front of him.
Luxman was shocked by Ace's quickness, but what really caught him off guard was how quickly Ace dispatched the demon along with its attack in one blow using a sword that was not in his hands a moment ago. "Well… That's what you get for trying to take someone I like away from me again.", Ace mumbles with fury in his eyes and returns to his cheerful, carefree self. "Ok, I feel much better now." Ace's blade disappears into thin air, and his hands fill with a variety of objects, some shiny, some strange, and some quite valuable. He examines each object carefully as if he is desperately looking for something, but the majority of it is food, which he starts eating right away forgetting that he is looking for something…
Luxman cannot comprehend the scenario taking place in front of his eyes and his head is filled with many questions. "So, what do you think we should do about this one Ace? Want me to finish him?" Amon says pointing at Luxman who was still unable to move. "No! Just chant the spell to cure him like you did for me." "All right, if you say so." Amon chants the same spell while touching Luxman that he chanted to mobilize Ace. "Wait, I don't believe this, I can move again." After a little celebration, Luxman bows his head to Ace and Amon and thanks them for saving his life.
Ace asks Luxman "So what now? You want to continue the duel that we started?" "No thanks, after seeing what you can do, I don't think I can do much against you. I admit defeat, so as per the conditions, I will do whatever you ask me to. I will even forfeit my life if you want me to." "No, no, no, you don't need to die or anything. I will only ask you for one thing but first, you must answer one of my questions. HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE GREED?" "Huh? What kind of question is that? Let me think… I guess for me greed would be the hunger, the hunger for mastery, a relentless pursuit of skill and strength, a force always driving me to win against every adversary I face…"
Hearing Luxman's response, Ace starts laughing, "Maann! That gave me secondhand embarrassment, how did you say that with a straight face." Luxman shouts with awkwardness, "Shut up! I know it was embarrassing alright? There is no need to laugh." "ok... ok… I won't laugh. Now listen, here's what I want you to do for me. I like you! So, JOIN US IN OUR ADVENTURE! And I won't be taking no for an answer." Hearing Ace's proposition, Luxman and Amon's jaws dropped. After a brief pause, Luxman begins to laugh "Hahahaha… You could have asked for anything and you… Hahahaha…"
"Hey! What's so funny? Just answer the question, will you join us?" Luxman stops laughing and says "Yeah you are right this is no laughing matter. As for my answer, I will join you and help you in achieving your dream of finding the sword of greed." "Yes, you help me in realizing my dream, and I will help you in realizing yours." "But I told you that I lost to the wrath wielder and now I have no dre-"
Ace smacks Luxman in the face before he can even finish his sentence, sending him flying, destroying 2-3 buildings in his way. As Ace and Amon catch up, they find Luxman rubbing his head while resting among the ruins of a destroyed building. "Great! Look what you did, stop making more work for me will ya?" Amon complains and chants, "Ah just get repaired. I don't feel like chanting right now.", and the buildings start getting repaired by themselves.
"Hey! What's the big idea? What did you do that for?", Luxman shouts at Ace. "Because you were about to lie to yourself." "Lie? What did I lie about?" "You said you had no dream anymore, that was a lie, I could see it in your eyes, the sadness that you feel after failing to achieve your dream." "Yeah, I am upset. But what do you think I can do after losing the fight? I have no option but to give up on my dream!" Ace whispers to himself, "Was your resolve so weak?" Luxman asks, "Huh?" Ace shouts with all his might "I asked WAS YOUR RESOLVE SO WEAK DAMMIT? Do you think you had only one opportunity to get The Sword of Wrath? You say that you have lost but I see you are still alive with all your limbs intact. If you have enough strength to stay on your feet then I say you still have the opportunity to try and achieve your dream. I don't want a weak man who can't even be true to himself in my crew." Luxman closes his eyes and says with a smile, "Man! I feel dumb now. You are right, I don't have the right to forget my dream, I can't let everyone's sacrifice who helped me get to where I am now be in vain. I thank you again, Ace. Not for saving my life but for saving my dream." Ace gives a big smile and says "Hihihihi… Mention not!"