A Fresh New Start

The city goblins were scrambling around the city, trying to reorganize after losing their commanders. King's arrival has reignited their fire, but they were still outmatched by their attackers. Sun's forces were small but well trained. The Maston women were fast and agile, the Orgut tribe were strong, the Zackons had experience in city combat, and the Legions were unstoppable as an organized force.

The Everflow City defenders were quickly losing ground, and their only hope was King. In the temple's ground, King and Sun clashed with their sword. The sound of their blade echoed on the walls and shook the building. But the sword won't cut it. King used his revolver constantly, shooting Sun on his appendages to slow down his ferocity. The round bullets did little to harm Sun's body, but they did hinder him. "Don't get too distracted!" King slashed Sun's gambeson open and cut his skin. A small amount of blood dripped out from the cut on his chest.

King followed it with a thrust, but Sun parried it and countered with a front kick. Then Sun's sword burst into flame. "I forgot about that," King noted. Fire came out from his hands and was sucked into the gun's barrel. The gun began to glow dark red. "Let's see if this is hot enough."

King pulled the trigger and fired his hellish bullets. They left an orange tail that brightened the dark church halls. Sun parried the first bullet up to the ceiling. The roof burst into flames and collapse into the building. The remaining bullets hit Sun's body and exploded, but he remained in his spot. His body was covered in black smoke. "That's just great!" Sun yelled. The flame on his sword grew larger.

"Don't get too heated," King teleported behind Sun. "Because I'm just getting started!"

Sun turned around and blocked his swing. The fire began to swirl around the blade, creating a fire tornado. Sun slammed the fire tornado in front of him. "Burn in hell! Deep Flame!" The swirling fire consumed everything it touches as it expands out the church and into the city streets and alleyways. And the flames pushed King through the altar and back wall.

King crashed into a large building, and it collapsed inward. Sun sat on the rumble and placed his hand on his bleeding chest. "That wasn't a smart move." He raised his sword, "I guess I got too mad." Then he stabbed the earth. He closed his eyes and released his Isiptali across the city. He could sense King's mana traveling through the city. 'What the, where is he going? Don't tell me he's trying to run away."

But Sun's web was not lying. King teleported to the third dam, next to the castle moat. His loyal repairs and their soldiers were on the dam, bombarding the castle with their last remaining mortars and scarped catapults. "MY KING!" Bishop yelled.

Queen hugged King in a tight embrace and Knight kneeled before him. The garrison inside the castle was not yielding. Stick, Bi, and Spat were standing on the longships blocking most of the projectiles flying towards the castle.

King walked up the platform and extended his hand and place it over the castle. "I think it's time to start a new coat of paint." He said, "Knight! Come to me."

"Yes, my King!' Knight ran to him and kneeled again. King grabbed him on the head and absorbed his mana. After his mana was drained from his body, Knight fell to the floor with a similar appearance to a dry raisin. He died shortly after. Bishop cringed at the sight of the deflated Knight.

"YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BLOW THE CASTLE UP, ARE YOU?" Bishop asked out of concern.

"Don't question him!" Queen yelled with her soft voice.

"No, I am not blowing the castle up." King released his mana from his body, and it traveled through the floor. "They know about our dealings with the church, so I must wash away the filth and the evidence. And start new. For Rook and Knight's sake, I must end this."

Back at the church, Sun and Shuja ran on the rooftops, chasing after King. Shuja shot her arrows over the gaps, creating wires that the two would run across. But they stopped running when Sun sensed King teleporting beneath the castle, several chambers away from the Baptista. "Crap, he moved again. Now he's in under the castle."

"Maybe he's trying to get to the water-making machine."

Sun stopped, "Oh shit!"

"What?"

"I need to stop him. What's the fastest route?"

Shuja pulled out a worn-out map, "I don't know, but you think you can get there fast enough on your feet."

Then a large wolf monster leaped out from an alleyway and landed between the two. "But I think I'm fast enough!" It said.

"Olhos!" The two shouted.

'"I can carry you on my back and get you there."

"Or maybe you can just teleport there." Shuja suggested, "Didn't Pagasa teach you how?"

Sun placed a hand on his chin, "I mean, I understand the mechanics behind it, but I won't have enough to actually fight him. I'm already running low after that reckless attack."

"Than I'll give you mine."

"You can do that?"

"Yeah, it's easy. It's just like emptying a glass of water onto another cup."

"That's great, but I don't know," Sun looked south of the horizon. "I think I've been getting enough from other people. I'll just run for it. I'm a fast runner, you know."

"Compared to Rock, yeah. Look, just take it. It's not like we're strangers." Shuja fist-bumped his shoulder.

"Alright, so how do you do it?"

"Like this," Shuja Sun's face and leaned in to give him a long kiss. "Now go get him."

Sun's cheeks turned bright red. "Yeah, I'll do that." His mana was liberated from his body and raced through the ground and traversed the city tunnels. It flew in the dark and swam through the murky waters until it reached the heart of the city.

"By the way, that's going to be the last kiss I'm giving you today." She said. Sun laughed before his body transformed to light and dissipated in the air and reformed inside the chamber where the Baptista was in.

Olhos stared at Shuja, "I did not sense any magic or mana, or whatever coming out from you."

"That's because I didn't give him any. What he needed wasn't more mana. He needed something else than that. Confidence."