Chapter 24 - Awaken, hybrid

Leonidas stands on the middle of the battlefield, dead, with Akio having healed his corpse, hoping that it would somehow bring him back to life, even if only for a little. Meanwhile, Genkei has caught up to Akio, as they fight together, though they are not left alone for long.

During this, Jack is fighting alongside Harumi, as they clear waves of soldiers, though one stands in a way; naturally, it's a Shadow Commander. This alarms Jack, who recalls his experience with one a few weeks prior, but he doesn't let it get into his head.

He nods at Harumi, who nods back, as they each run towards a side, in an attempt to confuse the commander and potentially overthrow him. The commander does not lose the two generals from his sight, as they close they distance.

Jack jumps and Harumi ducks, as they shoot out their strongest attacks in perfect coordination. They both get pushed back from the explosion created, having taken some damage, but as the smoke clears, they're surprised to see that the commander is still standing unfazed.

They hadn't lost hope, though. Actually, both of them had somewhat expected it. Jack and Harumi both pull their weapons out, thinking that now, they'll finish this. They both charge at the commander, who remains unfazed, but before they strike, they put all of their magic energy on their weapons, strengthening them to insurmountable levels.

The commander had not expected it, and with the two using this as a last ditch attack, knowing that they would not even leave a dent otherwise, they had put everything on this one and simple attack. The commander's eyes widen only once, as light envelops him.

When everything clears, the commander has clearly perished. Jack and Harumi, who are barely able to stand up due to the sudden loss of magic energy, hug each other, so as to say congratulations. Meanwhile, Aurora, Kurayami and Eldric are fighting another commander, who appears to be surprised at the strength of the three.

"Would you look at that... You three. You possess incredible power, however, you must cultivate it. Especially you, young girl."

Referring to Kurayami at the end, she slightly nods, saying that she knows. After all, she's a hybrid. This surprises the commander, as he recognizes who Kurayami is. She's most likely the daughter of that man he had killed. What was his name.. Lucifer? Gah, he can't remember. It wasn't too important anyways.

Kurayami's eyes widen, as she immediately gets angered. Even though her father was not once a part of her life, she knew what a great person he was, and this bastard standing in front of her.. took him. He took.. one of the most important people for her.

This commander had done it. Kurayami grits her teeth in a blind rage, as a horn starts to grow on her right side, with the right part of her mouth also growing fangs, and her right iris becoming slit, as her hair and eyes change from pitch black to crimson red with light black accents.

This magic energy. It's.. incredible. Kurayami's energy is similar to Lord Gawain's.. no.. Lord Hades' energy! Could it be.. in fact.. death magic!? The commander steps back, with sweat dripping from his face, as he tries to make a run, but Kurayami appears in front of him, raising her right hand.

"Die, you filthy bastard."

Her hand expelled a black and red aura, as it enveloped the soldier, until finally, he was turned into nothingness. After this, Kurayami kneels and falls to the ground, as her horn disappears, though her eye remains slit and her mouth continues to have fangs, while her death magic is deactivated.

Aurora and Eldric rush to help their friend, congratulating her, though apologizing about what the soldier had said. Kurayami, however, is about to lose consciousness, and with a light smile, asks if they had defeated the soldier, as her light blue eyes barely get raised. Subsequently, she falls unconscious, and Aurora tends to her, as Eldric says that he'll go help Apollo and Blaze.

He was right to take this approach, as Apollo and Blaze could really use some help. Why yes, they have brought the commander to where they wanted, they've also gotten weakened. At this point, even though currently, the two comrades appear to have the advantage, that would soon change, until Eldric comes in.

Eldric gives them healing injections, telling them that he'll take it for now, and that they should wait until they've fully recovered. The two nod, as Eldric rushes towards the commander. He jumps, kicking him in the face, as he falls behind him, kicking him in the back, and using his magic to teleport around him, punching him in various places.

Finally, he goes in front of him, kicking him in the stomach, knocking him back. The commander, who is on his last strength, tries to use everything he has left to kill Eldric, but he fails, for Eldric very simply knocks the blast away. After all, it was really weak.

Coming up to him, Eldric says that he'll give him a quick and painless death, though one one condition: the commander must tell Eldric the weakness of The Dark Wizard. The commander, however, replies that he doesn't know, but Eldric says that he'll simply give him a long and painful death, then.

The commander, who has been scared greatly, starts telling Eldric everything. Eldric laughs, and then quickly, he beheads the commander, saying that now, he can finally get revenge on him, who had caused him so much pain.

Saying this, a flashback is shown, as apparently, a house is in flames, with a little girl crawling out slowly, though her lower body was missing. When he looked to the burning roof, the young Eldric saw the one man that he would never forget: The Dark Wizard himself.

Usually, he doesn't go out to wreak havoc alone, but some times, he does, though only to have some fun. As he recalls these memories, Eldric is enraged, rushing to where The Dark Wizard is. Now, back to Akio and Genkei, who had been fighting soldiers, since the commanders are being taken care of.

They do have some distance between them, so that's a disadvantage that would prove to be nearly fatal. While Akio's fighting, someone attacks him from behind, apparently aiming to kill him with one punch.

Genkei looks to see who it is, and he's surprised to see Achilles standing, however, his only thought was Akio.

"Akio, watch out!"

As Genkei could only scream out to his cousin, Akio turns around far too late. Inches before the punch connects with his face, ultimately killing him, someone grabs it. No, it cannot be.. Leonidas!?

Leonidas laughs, saying that he wouldn't die from such a weak attack, which he later reveals to be a joke, as he had in fact died. Akio asked him how he returned, and Leonidas said that it was simple: Apotheosis has granted him the gift of temporary revival. Leonidas shall make use of this time to defeat Achilles, so Genkei and Akio should move towards The Dark Wizard, noting that his magic energy is increasingly becoming stronger.

The two young generals nod and run, while Leonidas turns to fight Achilles, saying that his rival hasn't changed since the good ol' days, where they would fight and train their two students. Achilles is still unable to recall any memories, though he returns to his senses, asking Leonidas what the hell he thinks he's doing.

This prompts Leonidas to say:

"I'm simply doing what I'm supposed to. What the hell are YOU, doing, Achilles?"

Achilles is unable to form a response, as he simply attacks Leonidas, who blocks Achilles' punch, though he gets knocked quite far away. Leonidas regains his composure and rushes back towards Achilles, hitting him with a right hook, then continuing to land a quite fascinating combo.

This makes Achilles angry, as he screams. Meanwhile, Eldric, Genkei and Akio are all charging towards Gawain, with the others taking care of the remaining soldiers. When the three young adults arrive, however, what they see is shocking.

Alex, Grace and Chase. All three of them had been defeated by The Dark Wizard. Eldric loses his control and charges towards Gawain, as he sees the man who had killed his little sister all those years ago.

"We finally meet again, you bastard. However, today, I'll kill you, and I'll take revenge for Ava!"

Eldric tears up while saying this, though his anger remains the same. Gawain scoffs, saying that if Eldric cannot even scratch him, he had no hope of winning, though Eldric reveals that he never planned to do this alone from the start.

He jumps up, and from behind him comes Genkei, who uses his vortex drill to pierce Gawain's chest. Akio follows up from behind, preparing to use Apotheosis to knock the wizard onto the ground, but Gawain made sure to avoid the staff, much to Akio's surprise.

Akio tries to hit Gawain with Apotheosis again, but he dodges, and the battle continues..