Downfall

Frederick wasted no time, and immediately attacked the pair of Leo and O'Lop. The former blocked his attack with his own two swords, while the latter swiftly got out of the way and helped Renée up.

"What happened in here?" Asked O'Lop.

"He's insane! We gotta get out of here!" Anthony yelled, still lying down in the floor.

"No." Said Renée. "We kill this bastard, or we die trying."

Meanwhile, Leo was still blocking and dodging the mad king's attacks. The leather-clad man expertly swung his blade, but Leo had mastered parrying, so the two were in a stalemate.

The king then stomped the ground and twisted his foot, causing rocks to emerge from it and immobilize Leo's feet.

"I am sick of you, swordsman. Kneel and I might not kill you."

"I don't do kneeling."

Gaspar frowned, and punched the wall with enough force to create a hole in it. Pieces of the rocky wall enveloped his hand, creating a study glove that could pulverize anything it hit with enough force. He grinned at Leo, who furrowed his eyebrows, and raised his fist in the air. Leo protected his face with his swords, but he knew very well that it would do nothing.

But before the king could do anything, O'Lop hit him with his hammer in the back of his head, sending crashing down onto a wall. With his concentration lost, the spell that bound Leo's feet to the floor went away, and so did the rocky glove.

"Thanks for the save." Leo said.

"Don't mention it. Let's just hope he doesn't have a lot of juice left..."

Suddenly, a giant purple palm was conjured in front of the pair and slapped them both away.

"Did you really think THAT would be enough to knock me out? HA! You make me laugh." The king said as he emerged from the rubble. His purple eyes scanned the room, and met Renée's own.

"Silly girl, why do you even fight? You clearly lack the skills and training to win."

"You killed my mother!" She shouted in frustration.

"I've killed many mothers. You're going to have to be more specific than that." The king taunted, prompting Renée to let out a battle cry and jump towards him, with the internet of stabbing him. He grabbed her by the wrist and tossed her away.

"I find you comical, but only because you're kind of pathetic." He said, with a straight face.

Then, he readied up a laser blast, that would evaporate Renée. She had leaned onto a wall, and was clutching her injured arm. Gaspar grinned. However, Leo had started running towards him, he leaped up and stabbed both his shoulders with his swords. The king let out a cry, and Leo tried to cut even deeper into his back. His Starborne physiology, however, provided him with rougher skin, so when Leo tried to move his swords, they both snapped in two, and he fell to the ground.

Gaspar ripped out the blades from his shoulders, and blood started rushing out of the wound and on his leather attire. He then turned to face Leo, who was mourning his swords, and grabbed him by his shirt's collar, and lifted him up.

"You have no idea what you just did."

"Y-you don't scare me!"

Then, with as much force as he had, Gaspar threw Leo into a wall, breaking various bones in his body and knocking him unconscious. 

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" Yelled O'Lop, as he started running up the walls to come closer to the king, before hitting him in the face with his hammer. They both plummeted to the ground, O'Lop landing on his feet, and Gaspar with his back. Renée tried to stab him through the heart, but he slapped her sword away and tried to slice her head off. She stumble back to dodge and fell to the ground.

O'Lop tried to hit him on the head once more, but the mad monarch grabbed his ankle and broke it, causing him to collapse.  Anthony noticed this, and decided it was time to act. He went and armed one of the cannons, and aimed it towards  the king, who was slowly walking towards Renée. She had retrieved her sword, so she stabbed his foot, distracting him from the cannon ball coming his way, and it hit his head and knocked him to the ground again.

The king was a complete mess. His once elegantly combed hair was now all over the place, his attire was all bloody, he was sweating and his nose was broken. But he still wasn't done. He slammed his fist on the floor, creating pillars of stone that squished the cannons, prompting Anthony to run towards Renée. O'Lop was crawling towards Leo, who was still unconscious on the other side of the room.

And then it happened.

"What is this?"

Nova's spell had finally taken effect.

"What have you done?"

Blaze felt his power slowly fading away.

"NO! I haven't finished my work yet!"

At that time, Nick had also arrived to the window that gave him view into the room. He saw Anthony and Renée standing next to the king, who was yelling at nobody in particular. Then he started breaking the window.

"YOU WON'T TAKE THIS FROM ME!" The king yells out.

Then, a bright glow starts emitting from his blade. He starts laughing like a mad man, and suddenly, much to the shock of everyone observing him...

BOOM.

Where the king stood became the center of a  ginormous explosion. Anthony and Renée are send flying towards the desk that was right behind them. O'Lop and Leo get sent towards a wall. Nick jumps in through the window, only to be blasted back out into the battlefield. He lands on an enemy soldier and gets picked up by the medics. The entire battlefield is shining due to the explosion, stopping everyone in their tracks. AJ is the first to act, as he runs straight towards the castle.

"MATES!" He yells once he makes it in. "What happened in here? Where's the King?"

O'Lop is the first to say something. "He blew up... Somehow." 

The only thing left at the center of the explosion was a bright yellow key.

"What's this then?" AJ asks.

"Good question." Says Anthony, as he picks up the key and puts it in his pocket. Then, Lucius and Robert walk into the room.

"Renée!" Lucius runs up to her and embraces her. "I'm so glad you're okay... Where's Nicholas? I saw him running towards the castle..."

"I saw the medics take him to the infirmary." Said Robert, as Leo finally woke up.

"How's Tom?" He managed to spit out.

"In critical condition. The medics are doing their best, but there are many dead, and even more wounded." answered Rob.

"I must stop the fighting..." 

"Sit down. You're in no condition to-" O'Lop tried to stop him.

"I'm fine..." Leo interrupted. "Just let me- umf! Ow. Yeah okay, AJ you do it."

"Aye, Chief!"

AJ went out the castle door, and yelled.

"HEY! YER KING IS DEAD! THIS BATTLE IS OVER!"

The rebels celebrated upon hearing this, and laid down their weapons. Most of their soldiers also laid down their weapons and some even joined in the celebrations. Anyone who didn't surrender was apprehended. Tomas Gaspar noticed that the battle had stopped and ran away.  

Back in the castle, AJ had called the medics to pick up Leo. 

"Come on, mate. Let's get you to the infirmary."

"You did great today." Robert told Leo. 

"I will immediately call Vienna and my friends in other nations, so we can discuss where we go from here." Said Lucius. 

"I can't believe this worked..." Said Anthony.

"I didn't doubt us for a second." Renée told him.

___________________________________________

In the realm of the above, Nova has stopped casting his spell. He had again gathered his elite, and he announced:

"The traitor has fallen.".