Chapter 23 - Master and Student

As the battlefield continues to be filled with blood, the Generals head out, though Akio decides to set his attention to The Dark Wizard, running towards him. Aoi and Harumi clear his way, leading to him thanking the two, though before he can reach his goal, he is stopped.

Akio's eye widens, seeing who dare stand before him. "You shan't reach Lord Gawain, Phoenix." When the words leave the man's mouth, Akio's suspicion was confirmed. The one who stood before him, was truly the man who he looked up to long ago: Leonidas!

Being unable to talk, Akio simply rushes in at Leonidas, who does not appear to recognize his former student. Leonidas struggles a bit, but he blocks Akio's attacks with little fail, reading his movement.

Leonidas starts to get some blurred memories of his past, subconsciously saying that Akio's movements "haven't changed one bit." Both Akio and Leonidas are quite surprised to hear this, as the latter falls back, trying to understand what is wrong with him.

This gives Akio the opportunity to strike again, something that the original Leonidas would not be able to dodge. However, this Leonidas not only blocked the attack, but he broke Akio's arm, asking him what the hell he's doing.

This confuses Akio, who says that he's simply taking the chance he received. Leonidas says not to interrupt him while he's thinking, punching Akio in the stomach, sending him flying. Now, he goes back into thinking.

What was that? Why did he say these words to Akio? Could it be.. that they've known each other? Leonidas tries to remember, but instead, he is left with a horrible headache. Akio looks from afar, healing from his injuries, thinking that now is his opportunity: kill or be killed.

He charges at Leonidas, ready to kill his former teacher with all his might, but without even looking up, Leonidas dodges the attack and stabs Akio in his stomach, his hand going through it. "I thought I told you not to interrupt me, but instead, you attack me when my guard is down. Stay down, scum."

Pulling his hand out, Leonidas throws Akio away, thinking that he's done with the young adult, though subconsciously, he tears up and starts screaming, seemingly in pain. Akio, on the other hand, is laying down, as the gaping wound in his stomach cannot seem to close.

When all hope seems lost, Akio manages to open his eye, and next to him, he sees something glowing, as he calls out to it:

"Apotheosis..."

The staff glows brightly, as it comes closer to Akio, healing his wounds, as he stands up. Finally, he notices the change with Leonidas, and he thinks that it must be that he's returning to his senses, so he should help his teacher.

Akio runs towards Leonidas, putting his hand on his shoulder, but Leonidas cuts it off. In a blind fit of uncontrollable emotions, including rage and sadness, Leonidas screams, as his magic energy fluctuates abnormally.

Everyone in the vicinity takes note of it, and Akio compares it to his berserker state, thinking that the basis is almost the same, however, The Dark Wizard also takes note of Leonidas' power, as he raises his hand:

"Leonidas, you mustn't lose your control."

When he closes his hand into a fist, Leonidas stops, falling to the ground, as he is obviously in even more pain than before. Akio is furious at this, as he hits Apotheosis to the ground, seemingly severing The Dark Wizard's control, as he himself recognizes the staff.

"No.. that staff.. it cannot be.. you little brat!"

The Dark Wizard gets up, walking towards Akio, seemingly in emotional distress, as someone stops him.

"Where do you think you're going, Gawain?"

That someone is revealed to be none other than Alex, who seemingly knows The Dark Wizard, whose face turns from one of shock and stress to one of disgust. "Oh, it's you, Alex. It appears as though you've found a way to live through these past few centuries. However, a feral dog without its owner should be put down."

Gawain raises his right hand once again, placing it on Alex's head, as he blasts something to the old man, who takes it head on. Smoke fills the wizard's eyesight, but when it clears, he's surprised to see that Alex is still standing, having barely gotten a graze on his forehead.

"Ha, ha. Gawain, your moves are as weak as back then. With this level of power, you won't even be able to break a small pebble!"

Alex laughs, with the wizard noting that even though he cannot damage Alex, he (Alex) cannot even hope to damage himself, for he is simply above everyone. This makes Alex agree, but that's not what he aims to do.

He grabs Gawain's hand, using Omega to cut it off. The wizard stays collected, as he makes a new arm out of absorption magic, dodging Alex's follow-up attacks, as he places his hand on Alex's stomach and blasting him off with magic.

After this, Alex does fall back, but he notes that even though Gawain has this magic, it is not his, so he can never wield it properly. That is why, in fact, he remained weak, even though his magic attribute was the one thing that made him the infamous Dark Wizard.

Hearing what Alex said, Gawain cannot help but agree, though he says that if he can't do anything like this, he'll simply have to use absorption magic, while imbuing his fists with the latter. Alex starts to get worried, saying that now, he'll need to be more careful.

Meanwhile, Leonidas is still in an uncontrollable state, after Akio broke Gawain's control, though now it's much lighter than it was merely minutes ago. Leonidas charges at Akio blindly, dealing some heavy damage, but Akio considers trying to draw out some of Roland's power, thinking that even though that it's far too dangerous, it's a risk he must take.

As he starts to lose his consciousness, seemingly moving to his soul, he is instantly woken up by Apotheosis, which is glowing brightly. Akio is confused. Why is it glowing now? Could it be talking to him?

A few seconds later, he can understand what the staff is trying to tell him. Of course. Apotheosis isn't simply a staff meant for healing, it's something way beyond that. It's the legacy and strength of the Phoenix family!

Akio taps the ground with Apotheosis, placing both his hands on the staff, in an attempt to draw out it's power. This appears to be slightly successful, with Akio noting that he cannot use more than seventy percent of Apotheosis' power, it must be enough.

He charges at Leonidas, who is starting to gain control of himself once again, as Akio stabs the latter in the stomach using Apotheosis. Leonidas spits blood, but he remains unfazed, punching Akio in the face.

Responding swiftly, Akio kicks Leonidas, pushing him down, and using a fireball imbued with Apotheosis' power to finish him off. Still having a glimmer of hope in his heart, Akio directs it towards Leonidas' chest, allowing him to live on, even for at least a few minutes.

Shooting the ball, Leonidas' life flashes before his eyes, as he remembers everything. He turns to look at Akio, smiling.

"I'm happy, Akio. You've grown into a fine man, and now, I've given you your final lesson: how to survive."

Leonidas' eyes go blank, as Akio's eye widens, tearing up. Before his feelings can even surface, he taps Apotheosis on Leonidas' corpse, begging for the staff to save Leonidas internally. Nothing happens, and Akio simply kneels, crying.

He had finally met his teacher again, after five years, but he was the one to kill him. It wasn't something that he could get over easily, but he sits there for a few minutes, until he sees Alex getting beaten up by Gawain.

Akio's expression turns from one of sorrow to one of anger and determination. He already let one of his teachers die, he will NOT allow this to happen again! He rushes towards Gawain, but to his surprise, Alex uses the last of his strength to push him away.

"It's not your turn to fight yet, Akio. Live."

Getting pushed back, Akio is very much in shock, seeing his own teacher push him away like that. He calls out to him, but Alex can simply smile, as Gawain charges up a ball of magic which is filled with Alex's own energy.

The Dark Wizard tells him that he was a worthy rival, but to the surprise of all three men, Grace saves Alex, kicking Gawain back. Next to her stands Chase, who tells Alex not to try and show off by dying alone like that.

Alex laughs, saying that it's his bad. Grace gives him a healing injection, with Alex thanking her, as he injects it onto himself, getting healed back to pristine condition, his magic energy also having returned.

The three stand alongside each other, now with a newfound hope to beat the wizard. Akio gets up, going to fight other soldiers. Meanwhile, Genkei is fighting Achilles, though the two are also going through the same turn of events that Akio and Leonidas did.

Apparently, Achilles used to be Genkei's teacher, and Leonidas' rival, though he had died far earlier than his friend, as he had been sent on a similar mission. Achilles, however, had no recollection of his former life, whereas Leonidas had some memory, as he had shown before, something which helped him remember everything.

Genkei says that he's happy to be fighting with his mentor again, but Achilles is confused, asking the young man what the hell he's saying. This saddens Genkei, but he knows that he must continue fighting. Since this scene takes place a few minutes before Leonidas' death, when it does happen, Achilles can feel his comrade's energy fading, as his guard is lowered.

This gives Genkei the chance to knock Achilles out, or so he thought. Genkei, after this, apologizes to Achilles, saying that he'll be back later, as he runs to Akio's aid.