Awakened

Selene and Asto ran forward together and let out a battle cry. Io smirked and dashed toward them. Asto slashed upwards, but Io blocked the attack. Selene sweep kicked Io off her feet then a water energy sword flew past them and struck Io and exploded. Selene and Asto grunted, sliding backwards. They looked back and noticed Enki standing with her sword in her hand.

Io stood up and wiped her mouth. She glared at Enki then was about to run toward her, but heard a roar and stopped. She looked around then noticed Ionara land in front of her. "Commander Chimera!"

Ionara stood up straight and had smoke coming from her nose. She glared at Enki and snarled. "Enki!" She roared.

"Oh no even she's here too.." Selene said.

"How much worse can our luck get..?" Asto said.

Enki got into her stance, but felt very weakened. "Chimera."

Ionara growled then got into her stance. "We finish this NOW!"

Ikkei opened his eyes and his aura disappeared and the barrier lowered. He stood up and looked at his hands then hopped up and down. "Alright...My Meridian has been restored."

Ikkei noticed an explosion then surrounded his body with his energy then propelled himself toward Selene and the others.

Enki grunted as she was knocked back from the explosion then panted. "I used most of my energy, now that she's in Fury Mode I can't hold my own...My power depends on the Halcyon."

Selene looked at Enki then looked down. "I'm sorry. I'm too weak right now.."

Asto looked at Selene then looked at Ionara. "We have to remain strong until Ikkei comes back."

"It's time to die!" Ionara roared then cloaked her axe with dark energy then threw it.

Ikkei appeared in front of Enki then deflected the axe. His eyes shined brightly then the Anima Symbol shined on his back.

"Ikkei!" Selene said happily.

"The Maji..?" Ionara said surprised.

Enki looked at Ikkei then stood up straight. "Ikkei...you're still alive."

Ikkei looked at Ionara then got into his stance. "Your battle is with me now.."

Ikkei dashed forward in light speeds then kicked Ionara away. She groaned and crashed through the waves of monsters. Io howled and dashed toward Ikkei then swiped her claws at him. Ikkei dodged the attack flawlessly then swept her off her feet with a kick then jumped up and kicked her higher in the air. He landed on the ground then his eyes flashed yellow and a bolt of lightning crashed down then hit her.

Waves of monsters began running toward Ikkei. He stood up straight then looked back at the monsters. He dodged the first few attack then began to strike them back, defeating them in one blow. He bellowed and released a blast of Anima Energy from his body, blowing the monsters away.

Ionara roared and her aura surged powerfully around her body. She looked at Ikkei and her hair was wild now. She dashed toward him, dragging her sword along the ground. She slashed at him, but he dodged the slash perfectly. The axe began to return to Ionara's hand. It came straight for Ikkei, but his aura stopped the axe then his aura overpowered the dark energy and he grabbed the axe.

He stomped down on the ground and bellowed, throwing the axe at Ionara. She used her sword to block the axe and grunted as she was sliding backwards. Ikkei propelled himself towards her and roared. Ionara grabbed her axe then slashed down at him with it. He blocked the attack then struck her with his knee then spun around with a kick with fire surrounding his leg, hitting her and knocking her away.

He landed on the ground then raised his hand, trapping Ionara in ice with her head left exposed. He looked at her then slowly began to ball his hand into a fist, slowly crushing Ionara's body. She groaned loudly and whined.

"My, my...It seems like I might have to step in for this one." A voice said then two orbs of water was shot at Ikkei.

He palmed the first orb and destroyed it then dodged the second orb. He looked up and noticed one of the Dark Goddesses floating above her monsters and Ionara. She was a woman with long blue hair, turquoise eyes, had on a golden sea crown. She had five water orbs behind her and carried a Trident made from pure divine energy.

She slowly descended to the ground then landed beside Ionara then touched the ice around her body and made it evaporate into energy particles.

Ionara grunted then fell to her knees and coughed. She looked up at the Dark Goddess. "Lady Malila. You have come to aid us?"

"Somewhat. I felt his godly power and had to see to the danger myself. It's been so long since I've felt a Maji's presence. Ikkei...dare to face me in a battle in this war?" Malila said then pointed her trident at him.

Ikkei looked at Malila then got into his stance. "I wouldn't dare turn down a challenge from you. Especially not when my allies are in danger."

"This will be a wonderful battle.." Malila said and giggled. She took a deep breath and exhaled. "Go."

She immediately blasted Ikkei away with a beam of water and flew after him. Ikkei grunted as he regained himself then flew toward Malila. He went for a spinning kick, but Malila used her trident to block his attack then pushed him back and swung her weapon at him, striking him. She twirled her trident, striking him multiple times then fired one of her orbs at him. The orb hit Ikkei and exploded.

Ikkei flew out the smoke and a burst of energy surrounded his body then he feinted his attack, catching Malila off guard then struck her stomach. She groaned and coughed then Ikkei struck her face and kicked her down to the ground. Malila stopped her self then dodged a bolt of lightning then flew off, evading the bolts of lightning then turned around, flying backwards. She fired her orbs of water at Ikkei, but he avoided them then teleported behind her and grabbed onto her then leaned back and flew to the ground. He began spinning and a tornado formed around them then he slammed her to the ground.

Ionara watched the battle and was in awe. "L-Lady Malila!"

A beam of water was shot to the sky and Malila flew toward Ikkei and began shooting waves of water projectiles at Ikkei. He deflected them and palmed one of the water orbs which caused an explosion. He blew away the smoke and looked around, he noticed a swarm of harpy monsters around him.

"Strike him at once!" Malila commanded.

They all began flying toward Ikkei and he dodged and blocked their attacks. He released a blast of dark energy at them, blowing them away. Malila bellowed and fired a massive beam of water at Ikkei and he blocked it, but the force of the beam sent him to the ground.

Io howled and stomped her feet down and chained down Ikkei with ice chains. "Kill him! No Maji means Our Majesty can not lose!"

All the monsters charged at Ikkei at once.

"Ikkei!" Selene yelled.

Ikkei bellowed and released Anima Energy to the sky then powerful pillars of light began crashing down, striking the monsters, killing them in one blow. Io was struck by one of the pillars and howled in pain then slowly turned into energy particles.

"Io!" Ionara yelled. She dodged the anima pillars then snarled. She blew smoke at the ground then disappeared.

Malila avoided the pillars then landed on the ground. She noticed the onslaught of energy pillars had stopped. "So this is the power of a Mastered Anima Mode Maji. He wiped out my entire army even Io. Sigh, that means I'll have to go through sticks and stones to revive her. Even Ionara retreated."

Ikkei reverted to his normal form then fell to his knees and panted. He noticed Enki and the others hurrying to him.

Malila noticed he was weakened and could take this shot to kill them, but she smiled and backed down. "Hmph...You're strong even in your weakened state, but I would like your battles against us to be at your best. I will retreat for now, more so because I've grown hungry from our battle. Until next time...Ikkei."

Malila warped away.

Enki helped Ikkei stand up and looked at how beaten everyone was. "We survived and won..."

"That's because she let us win. We were virtually useless in that fight." Asto said.

"Nonsense." Ikkei said and looked at Asto. "You and Selene held your own well against an army like that. You too, Enki. I know you and Ionara have thousands of years of experience with each other, but you helped keep Asto and Selene safe."

Enki slightly blushed. "W-Well that's because Selene is to become a Halcyon. It is my duty to protect the Azure Halcyon."

Ikkei smiled and looked at everyone. "The next kingdom of Algoron is just up ahead...Lets go and find a place to stay."

They nodded and began to traverse to the next kingdom.

.....

"So you lost your fight against the Prince and Princess of the Azure Empire?" Dilith asked and looked at Ionara.

"They weren't alone." Ionara said.

"Hm..?" Dilith asked and crossed his arms. "What do you mean?"

"The Maji. He's awake. He was with them as well as the Azure Guardian, my archrival Enki." Ionara said.

"Huh. So you say the Maji is awake. That's some interesting news." Dilith said then stood up from the throne of Azure. "We've already seized the throne of the capital of Algoron, but if the Maji is alive...I suspect he might be heading to the Azure Temple."

"From the looks of where they were headed, I agree. Shall we ambush again?" Ionara asked.

"Malila told me her entire squad is wiped out and the other Goddesses are fighting their own battles in the other regions. Let's give it a few days. Malila should already be working on getting new monsters." Dilith said. "For now, take a rest."

"Yes, milord." Ionara said then walked off.

.....

Malila looked at the different eggs in the Monster House then sighed. "Decisions, decisions. Hey I think I'll use this Relic."

"Ooooo~ Twhe awakewniwng staw, twhose awe wwewyy wwewyy wawe!~ Twhat'ww cost yyou 8,870 gowd!~" The cute devil merchant said and smiled with her hand out.

"WHAT?! This price went up again?!" Malila asked.

"Yep!~ It'ws a pawt of twhe bwusiness!~" She said and smiled at Malila.

Malila rolled her eyes and sighed then paid the merchant then she received a special egg to put fuse the Awakening Star with. She began to walk off with a sigh.

"Twhank yyou! come agaiwn!~" The merchant waved.

Malila grumbled as she walked out the store.

...

A few days went by, and Ikkei and the others finally made it to the next kingdom. Ikkei stopped at the gates and smiled.

"The Kingdom of Berylona. Home of the legendary sea serpent, Glagia. It's been ages since I've last seen this kingdom." Ikkei said.

"Me too." Enki said and crossed her arms. "Well for me it's been a year."

"We've only been here when we were just little kids." Selene said.

"Well we all can see what all is new here together." Asto said.

Ikkei nodded and walked through the gates and the knights nodded at him and the others.