Chapter 95 : Challenge

"Is there no way of winning this?" a royal knight mumbled in frustration. 

"Lift your head. We just need to hold on until reinforcement here," said Tirion.

"But even with reinforcement, how are we supposed to beat an immortal army?" 

"You're right," said Stravenkov. He looked at the ring on his finger. "I'm sorry. If only I can do more…."

Suddenly, a loud sound took their attention. 

Axion is still fighting the steel army. Throwing them aside to make way towards Versatel. 

"How the hell is she still fighting?" a royal knight mumbled. 

They watch her swinging her sword with no sign of slowing down. She keeps her pace and defeats the steel knights one by one. 

"Y-your highness. Don't worry. Let's keep pushing forward," said a royal knight. 

"Yes. It's too soon to give up."

Stravenkov looked at them and nodded. Determinations filled him. They try to keep up with Axion and continue to push forward. 

Meanwhile, Kaizo is having a hard time, parrying the elite soldier. He starts to lose his breath. But Kaizo pushed himself to stay standing. 

"You're not so bad. I guess this explains why you're cheeky," said the elite soldier. "But don't get it over your head. I am different from the opponent that you kids have fought before."

"Nonsense. You don't even know what kind of opponent I've fought before," said Kaizo. He charged ahead and gave a full swing with his sword from above. But the elite soldier sees it coming and parries him with ease. He pushes Kaizo back. 

"Heh. Is this the best you can do? Compared to you, the girl over there does a better job," said the elite soldier. 

Kaizo runs towards the elite soldier again. He tried multiple attacks. But all of them got parried. 

"You're getting slow. Are you tired?" said the elite soldier. 

Kaizo didn't answer. He keeps on attacking nonstop. 

"Attacking me randomly like this won't get you anywhere."

The elite soldier swings his sword. Pushing Kaizo back. 

"Huh. Disappointing," said the elite soldier. 

Kaizo looked at Axion. She's still pushing through the army of steel. 

"That's right. This is not the time to hold back," Kaizo mumbled. He stands up and turns on his amber mask. 

"Changing your appearance won't get you anywhere," the elite soldier mocked. 

"You talk too much," said Kaizo. He runs towards the soldier and gives a good swing of his sword. 

"Ughh…." the elite soldier grunt. "His attack got stronger," he thought to himself. 

Kaizo's attack is getting harder to parry. The elite soldier jumps back. Trying to put up a distance to think. But Kaizo chased him and kept him close. 

Kaizo keeps on attacking. Leaving no opening for the soldier to counterattack. 

Soon, the elite soldier reached his limit and he got thrown across the room. He hit a few steel armies before he landed harshly on the floor with a loud thud. 

Kaizo stands straight, trying to control his breath. He looks at the elite soldier, expecting him to stand up again. But the elite soldier didn't move. 

"Ha! Who's the loser now," said Kaizo. He immediately goes through the steel soldier and catches up with Axion. 

"How are you doing?" Kaizo asked. 

"I'm good but the others are getting tired," said Axion. 

Kaizo looked at the Prince and his men. They're having a hard time stay standing. 

The pieces of steel around them begin to float and reassemble again. 

"Again? How many times has it already…." a royal knight complained. 

"We... can't keep... this up... much longer."

"Hahaha. It's futile. You can't win against me," said Versatel. "No matter how many times you beat them, they will only reassemble and rise again."

"Bring it on!" said Axion. "I can do this all year long."

"Tch. Persistent little fly. You may be strong. But soon you'll get tired too," said Versatel. 

"Controlling these many steel knights at once is tiring, isn't it? I bet your mind can't hold on PuppetBot's power till next morning," said Axion.

"You'll be dead by morning!" Versatel yell. 

Suddenly, a rain of bullets attacked the steel army. They looked at the entrance to find an army of Sveratis knights, along with Ramenman and Virion. The Prince and his men smile in relief.

"Astra delivery! Anyone ordered some beef?" said Ramenman with a smile. 

"We have an all-you-can-kick buffet if you got a big plate," said Axion. 

"Well, lucky us!" he replied as he stepped aside to let a few knights with machine guns step forward. 

They begin shooting the steel army. 

"Keep it raining, speedy," said Axion. 

"Gotcha!"

Axion nodded at the Prince and his men. They rushed towards Versatel. Ramenman and the others don't stop shooting. Keeping the steel army from getting reassembled. 

The Prince climbed the platform. But before he can snatch the Power Sphere, Versatel puts a gun on the Queen's head. 

"Mother!" Stravenkov exclaimed. 

"Versatel your low life!" said Tirion. 

Once again, they're at a stalemate. 

"Give up, Versatel. It's your loss," said Stravenkov. 

"No. Don't you think you can get what you want," said Versatel. "You think you can keep shooting those steel armies? Soon, you'll run out of ammo. And these steel armies will hunt you again."

Axion looked at Versatel sharp. She raises her hands and waves at Ramenman. Telling him to stop shooting. Ramenman and the reinforcement stop shooting. The steel army begins to reassemble again. 

Versatel laugh. "Hahahaha. Yes… that's right. You can't defeat me."

Slowly, the steel army begins to get close to the Prince. 

Suddenly, a glittering light distracted Axion. She notices that the ring on the Prince's finger glows as if it's calling her. She slowly holds the Prince's hand and touches the ring. The Prince looked at her in confusion. 

A jolt pulls her consciousness into another realm. She looks around to find herself in a dark room. 

Whispers circling her. She focuses, trying to make sense of those whispers. She can hear many whispers overlapping. But she caught the gist of it. Some of those whispers don't trust her. Other whispers insisted on asking her something.

"To whom it may concern, the current Crown Prince is in trouble. We have no time so make your decision now," Axion yells.

The whispers are suddenly silent. 

"Can you hear us?" ask a whisper.

"Clearly, I can hear you enough to know how discriminative you are towards me even though I may be the only person who can convey your message to the Prince," said Axion sassily.

"She talks a lot," said a whisper.

"Well, excuse me. It's not every day I get to trash talk the likes of you and I've always particularly disliked your kind," said Axion.

"You…" 

"Skip it! The Prince is in a pinch. Do you need anything or not? I've got no time for this," said Axion. 

"She's right," said a whisper. "If you're willing, there's something we'd like you to convey to the Prince…."

Shortly later, Axion is back to reality. She looked at the Prince. 

"Listen to me carefully and repeat after me," Axion whispered.

"Hahaha. You could never win," Versatel laughs.

"I challenged Versatel for the right to command this army!" said Prince Stravenkov.

The steel army lowered their swords and looked at Versatel. 

Versatel looked around in confusion. "W-what…?" He let go of the Queen and looked at PuppetBot. He twists it around and even hits it a few times. Wondering why the steel army stopped.

The Queen slipped away and hurriedly ran to Stravenkov. 

"Mother…." said Stravenkov as the Queen came to his arm. 

The Queen burst into tears as she hugged her son. "Straven… I'm so happy to see you safe."

"Me too, mother. Me too," Stravenkov replied. 

They all looked at Versatel. 

"Challenge must be answered," said Axion. "Or else, no one will command this army."

"W-wha... But… how? I have PuppetBot!" said Versatel.

"The steel army was forged to follow those of royal blood if unchallenged," said Axion. "That is the condition the first King of Sveratis made with PuppetBot." 

"You… how did you…." 

"Let's just say I have my ways of knowing," said Axion. 

Versatel fell speechless. 

"Versatel, I challenge you. Fight me," said Stravenkov. 

Versatel growl. He threw away PuppetBot. "Fine," he said as he pulled out his sword. 

"I pray for your victory, your Highness," said Tirion as he put his hand on the Prince's shoulder. 

"Good luck," Axion whispered. 

Stravenkov nods. 

They step back to give space for Versatel and Stravenkov to duel. 

"Hmph! Kid. You are too inexperienced to defeat me," said Versatel as he pointed his sword at Stravenkov. 

"The hard times that you forced me into had taught me a lot," Stravenkov replied. 

Stravenkov charged first. He jumps and attacks from above. Versatel parried it. Stravenkov quickly swung his sword from the side. 

Versatel ducked, dodging the attack. He counterattacked with a stab. Stravenkov pulled back fast. But Versatel chased him and attacked with another swing. Stravenkov parried it and they held for a moment. Stravenkov pulled his sword and attacked with a lower swing. Versatel jumped and dodge it. 

"For an old man, he's quite good," said Kaizo. 

"It's exactly because he's old, he's good. He has more experience in battle than the Prince," said Axion. 

"That's true. But Versatel is very old. His age should affect his body somehow. And since he's a general, he's probably used to commanding an army instead of fighting himself. Surely his combat skill has gone rusty by now," said Ramenman. 

"You shouldn't underestimate him," said Tirion. "He may be an old man but his body is built well. Even at his age he still can move actively like that. You could only imagine what he was like when he was in his prime."

Kaizo, Axion, and Ramenman glance at Tirion before they look at Versatel, lost in their own thoughts of the battle. 

Versatel keeps attacking Stravenkov. His attack is fast and he doesn't do any unnecessary movement. 

"As expected. Versatel is making up for his lack of power with speed," said Axion. 

"You noticed," said Tirion. 

"It's a plausible decision. If you're overpowered, then you must be faster and smarter," said Axion. "I do it too from time to time."

Tirion is surprised. "You? You ever gotten overpowered? With that strength?" he asked, remembering the moment she fought the steel army. 

"The universe is a big place. There are plenty of people that are much stronger than me," said Axion. 

Tirion stared at her. "What kind of strong person could ever overpower her?" he mumbled. 

"A very strong one, probably," said Ramenman. 

Versatel continued to fight Stravenkov. His movement is short and precise. 

"Go, Prince Stravenkov! You can do it!" the royal knights cheered. 

Slowly, Stravenkov turned the tide of battle. Bit by bit, he began to match Versatel's movement. Stravenkov is a fast learner. The longer the fight goes, the more Stravenkov learns. Versatel's old age started to catch up to him. His stamina runs out faster than young Stravenkov. 

Versatel starts to have a hard time catching his breath. But he refuses to slow down. He swung his sword at Stravenkov. 

Surprised, Stravenkov pulled back. But Versatel chased him. He lunged at Stravenkov. To their surprise, Stravenkov catches Versatel's sword with his bare hand.

"Got you," said Stravenkov.

Stravenkov's hand bleed from holding Versatel's sword. Versatel grunt. He tried to pull his sword. But Stravenkov grips the sword hard.

Before Versatel can pull back, Stravenkov puts his sword on his neck.

Sweat falls Versatel's temple. He let his sword fall to the floor.

"... do it," said Versatel. 

Stravenkov shook his head. "No. I win…  you live."

Versatel fell to the floor. Stravenkov lowered his sword. 

The royal knights cheered upon Stravenkov's victory. They rushed to apprehend Versatel.