Neo Comet Swordsman Saizaki: War of Magics (part 5 of 13)

a Original Fiction fanfiction by Kaiser

Back to Part 4
The Battle of Rosenheim

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Palace of Freiheit, Munich, Neo-Germany

"You are back, Commander Highland."

Though the portcullis of Freiheit Palace rose in front of him via the 
doorman, Aarin paid no attention to him. The old swordfighter was far 
too focused on his meeting with the council at the Great Hall of Ogma. 
To think those diplomatic buzzards had kept the breach of the Neo-German 
border a secret for over three months. Day by day, Aarin was growing 
less attracted to the secretive nature of the council. But without them, 
it was impossible to keep the Order of Light on its feet. Aarin released 
a breath, then strode through the archway leading into the main 
courtyard. As he walked towards the front gates that led inside the 
Palace itself, a young man ran up to him, a helper, obviously. 

"Welcome back, Commander." The boy said.

Aarin kept walking forward, but spoke. "...I need you to do something. 
Announce to all of the soldiers stationed here that there will be a 
meeting in the main hall. It will be held in one hour. Be as quick as 
you possibly can!"

The boy nodded, then scampered off. Aarin couldn't believe that he would 
have to organize the Special Mission Corps for action tomorrow morning. 
It was around midnight at the moment, and now he was disturbing these 
young soldiers in their rare moments of peace. But the meeting did take 
place. A special alert had been announced and all soldiers either 
sleeping or training were summoned to the main hall with the utmost 
speed. The hall itself was almost completely full by the time Aarin had 
written down what he wanted to say. The aging Neo-English got his 
bearings together and left for the main hall as soon as the hour was up. 
As he got there, everyone was ready. There were hundreds of members of 
the Special Mission Corps, but they had all made to effort to get to the 
hall when asked. Even though the didn't look in the best of shape (some 
were still half-asleep) it mattered very little to Aarin at that point. 
All he was concerned with was the newest mission handed to them by the 
council. Aarin walked up to the stage and sighed, standing before that 
podium once again. He was had only been spending a few months with the 
Special Mission Corps, but so far he had been asked for a lot here.

"Soldiers," The old master began, "I am sure you are all wondering why I 
have called you here. Well I will make this short and direct. Three 
months ago, the day before the mission conducted at Tuatha De Danann, 
the Neo-German border had been broken,"

There was a collective set of gasps, followed by light whispers. Aarin 
ignored all of it. "The small amount of soldiers that broke through our 
lines have isolated themselves at a town to the south called Rosenheim. 
The council has ordered us eliminate the enemy their and reclaim the 
town from their grip. The plan of attack has already been created, you 
will be briefed about it by your respective squad leaders. The three 
wielders of the divine swords... will follow up the assault. "

Aarin took a look at the crowds for them. He could only see Rainhande. 
"Irrespective of rank, every able soldier will be involved in this 
mission. Only a small group of soldiers will be left to defend Freiheit 
Palace in the event that we are defeated. The Special Mission Corps will 
depart at 0600 hours tomorrow. The attack will begin at 0900 hours. Do 
all you can to prepare yourselves for confrontation."

And with that short piece, Aarin stepped off the podium and walked down 
the stage. Though his declaration had been short, his words had struck 
home. This situation was serious. The soldiers knew that. They all 
mumbled between themselves about it, knowing that the expression on 
Commander Highland's visage was less than cheerful. It was a face that 
held back supreme anger. Anger at the council for keeping such a 
development a secret. The soldiers were more concerned with the breaking 
of the front line. Though it was obvious that enemies have been active 
in Neo-Germany (the mission at Tuatha De Danann being a prime example) 
but no one had ever thought that this was because of their struggling 
armies. It was widely believed that the Neo-German border was secure. 

Saizaki was sitting at the back of the hall, standing next to some of 
the older soldiers, the ones in the thirties. Though he was one of the 
last to get here, he was the taking this situation with the most 
seriousness. It looked like he and the Fire Cutter would be getting 
their first taste of a real battlefield.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Shrine of Quetzacoatl, Cath Maige Tuired

"What kind of magic can do this sort of damage in a single blow?"

It was clearly something that Prasutagus could not imagine. And he had 
seen quite a few spells in his time, despite the fact that he was not a 
soldier for the Order of Light. But there were those whose concern was 
for more than that. The startled Rhiannon took a moment to swallow all 
of this. She kneeled downwards, and inspected the five corpses left of 
the guards that were stationed to guard the Shrine of the Quetzacoatl. 
All of her own troops. Rhiannon sighed. This was completely unexpected. 
Things were going so well, too. For the past three months the group had 
been getting on so well at Prasutagus Manor. No problems whatsoever in 
the long run. Which allowed Rhiannon to concentrate most of her time on 
Bonnie. They had been dating almost every night, always coming back 
tired but deeply aware of how much they enjoyed life when they were with 
each other. Now this had to happen. And such an unexpected event would 
force Rhiannon to switch from girlfriend-mode into soldier-mode again. 

Just her luck. 

One of her dead soldiers lay amidst the rubble of the shrine doors. His 
eyes were still open. The redheaded descendant of the Highland Family 
moved her hand over his bloody face and  shut them. He was killed before 
he even knew what had hit him. And the others were probably the same 
way. Rhiannon then stood back up and looked over at Prasutagus. 

"Whoever did this is powerful," Rhiannon began, "The magic is as strong 
as it is fast. I don't think that any of my other soldiers would stand a 
chance against something the likes of which can do this."

"What about you then?" Prasutagus questioned. 

"...My Grandmother taught me how to fight against magic," She replied, 
"But I've never come up against something like this before. Considering 
that there isn't much burning or residual energy... it was probably a 
Non-Elemental Magic Attack."

Prasutagus held a hand to his chin. "This might not be very good. Magic 
might mean that the Covenant are involved. I shudder to think what good 
we can do if that is the case."

"The Covenant?" Rhiannon looked over at the ruined path to the shrine, 
"Call me crazy but this just doesn't strike me as the handiwork of the 
Covenant. They tend to be methodical and precise when it comes to this 
sort of thing. It might sound odd... but this whole issue just has 
recklessness painted all over it. Childish recklessness."

And that gave Prasutagus something new to think off. "You can't possibly 
be suggesting that this act was committed by a magic-user outside the 
influence of the Covenant of Sorcerers, can you?" 

"I'm... not sure... is there anyone alive who saw what happened here?"

"Yeah... me..."

Both Prasutagus and Rhiannon turned to the busted doors of the shrine. 
And saw the man standing there. The chosen Guardian of the Quetzacoatl, 
Leignitz. His scythe was strapped to his back this time, not drawn, 
while his disposition was far less frustrated. Rhiannon looked up and 
down the guy. 

"Who are you?" She asked.

Leignitz looked over at her and snorted. "I'm not giving my name to some 
inconsequential woman soldier from England. The Highland Family have no 
business here."

A deep look of anger passed through Rhiannon's eyes. "What did you just 
say?! Now you listen here, I'm Lieutenant Highland of the Northern 
European Civilian Division! While the Shrine of the Seal works with us 
the Shrine of Quetzacoatl is under our jurisdiction! Now unless you want 
to reap the full and un-hospitable benefits of defying my superiors, you 
better start answering my questions in full!"

Leignitz sneered at her, ignoring everything and anything Rhiannon had 
to say. "Why is it that women love to talk so much?"

"Why you little-"

But before anything got started between the two of them, Prasutagus 
stepped in between Leignitz and Rhiannon, turning attention to the 
Highland girl. "Now there is no need for an argument. Especially at this 
point in time. Lieutenant, this man is called Leignitz. He is the 
current Guardian of the Quetzacoatl. He claims to have seen the 
magic-user who did this."

Leignitz pulled the bangs from his eyes lazily. "That's right. I saw 
her. But she wasn't alone. She had help. From something she called 
'Gram'. They destroyed the doors to the shrine and charged in. I 
attempted to fend off the one she called Gram but she got in the way 
before I could stop him."

"Who's she?" Rhiannon asked curiously. 

"The child magic-user who is after the Quetzacoatl," He answered back, 
"Gram called her by the name 'Ursula'. She looked about twelve or 
thirteen years of age. But her magic is strong, very strong in fact. Her 
current mess is proof enough of that."

Rhiannon pondered this. "A kid? A kid with magic this strong? It's 
weird... but from what I've seen of her results... this kid has magic 
equal to the strength of a high-ranked magic-user in the Covenant's 
army. So lets just hope that this is the worst she can do. But from now 
on we can't take anymore chances. The sealing ceremony takes place the 
day after tomorrow. So I'll place the rest of my men around the shrine 
to secure it for the night. Then I'll personally accompany Bonnie when 
she performs the sealing rites."

Again, Leignitz just sneered at Rhiannon. "...Humph. The Order of Light 
are outclassed here. They always have been. Stationing your fellow 
soldiers around the shrine would just slow me down when they make their 
next attack. If you had any common sense... you'd keep out of this and 
spare the lives of your troops."

And following that cold little reply, Leignitz walked back through the 
ruined doors into the shrine again. Rhiannon scowled at the nasty-styled 
man and gripped her hand into a fist. That guy just annoyed the hell out 
of her.

"Who the hell does he think he is?" Rhiannon spoke to herself. 

"He is one of the Guardians," Said Prasutagus, "Elite fighters raised 
and trained by the Shrine of the Seal for the purpose of protecting the 
weapons and artefacts sealed away by the group. I assure you that they 
are not all like Leignitz. But he is one of the strongest Guardians in 
Cath Maige Tuired. Maybe in the entire Shrine of the Seal. He was 
orphaned as a youngster, both of his parents killed during the war. 
Leignitz was then brought into the shrine because of his unusual 
affinity with the power of Chi. Eventually they made a warrior out of 
him. But they didn't cultivate much of a personality, however."

Rhiannon just shook her head. "Orphan or not, Chi-user or not, he isn't 
invincible. I'll still have the rest of my squad camped here for the 
next two nights. And I'll stay with Bonnie until the sealing rites 
begin."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Inner Grasslands of Rosenheim, Neo-Germany 

Saizaki, Lilia and Rainhande all watched the town of Rosenheim and 
waited for the battle that was about to take place. It was a bright 
sunny morning, perfect for fighting. The ground was grassy not rocky, 
this being one of the few places in Southern Neo-Germany that was not 
covered in stone and mountains.  All three were armed with their sacred 
swords, Fire Cutter, Wind Soul, and Lightning Tooth. And all were 
dressed in their traditional battle garbs. Full body robes of pure white 
and brown, tunic flowing down from the shoulders, and a hidden steel 
breastplate over the chest. It was the standard battle attire (minus the 
chest plate)  of the Order of Light. So it was perfectly understandable 
that the soldiers involved took this mission very seriously.

The Special Mission Corps very rarely got involved in the wars of 
attrition that the regular army did, so a situation that demanded this 
union was no less than urgent. The weight of this urgency was felt on 
Saizaki's shoulders. The young man peered over the edge of the hill and 
looked down as the bulk of the Special Mission Troops marched towards 
the town of Rosenheim. An organized force of 330 soldiers, varying from 
trainees to elite rank. They were grouped in rows of twenty, armed with 
some of the finest swords that the Order of Light could create. 

"Those guys look ready," Saizaki said slowly. "They had better be. We 
can't afford to screw this mission up. Otherwise, the Special Mission 
Corps are history."

"Yes," Rainhande nodded. For the first time he agreed with Saizaki about 
something.  "But we have the edge. The Covenant's troops are boxed in as 
they are. The only way out would be to retreat back towards the Bavarian 
Alps. And our armies are stationed well there."

Lilia wasn't so sure. "But that's assuming they retreat, Captain. They 
might not do that. And we have no idea how many soldiers are inside the 
town."

"Can't be much," Saizaki offered. "After all, why would the council send 
us into battle with the Covenant if they didn't think we could handle 
their numbers? Nah, this one shouldn't be too difficult for us."

Rainhande staked the Lightning Tooth into the earth. "Not necessarily. 
If magic-users are amongst those that penetrated the front line, this 
battle might just be a tad longer than the council are willing to 
admit."

"Magic-users?" Lilia walked up to the edge of the hill, "I wonder if the 
people that attacked us during the mission to Tuatha De Danann are in 
Rosenheim right now...?"

Rainhande looked over at the young Lieutenant. "Do you mean that 
jezebel-incarnate, Esperanza? It is quite possible. Especially if the 
force that occupies Rosenheim is aware that the Special Mission Corps is 
in possession of our three swords."

Saizaki shook his head. "I don't think Esperanza will be down there. She 
said that she was going to give the Shadow Edge to Al Gul Jehed. And 
since she's not a magic-user, she'll probably have sailed to Neo-England 
by now."

"It only takes a couple of days to reach Neo-England by sea." Lilia 
answered, looking over at Saizaki, "She could have come back at anytime. 
Besides, she said that she was going to be coming back for you."  

Saizaki rolled his eyes. "...Well, gee, aren't I lucky?"

The three then stopped talking. Instantly, the quiet countryside was 
rocked with the sound of an explosion. Rainhande, Lilia and Saizaki ran 
up to the edge of the hill, and looked down on their army. There was a 
small smoking crater just before the army. It had stopped marching, and 
was now waiting for combat. Which they were about to receive, as 
soldiers of the Covenant began pouring down from the ramshackle huts and 
houses that were of the town of Rosenheim. The explosion had obviously 
been caused by a magical attack. 

"I think this thing has started." Lilia's lips claimed quietly. 

They could all see that much. Screams and war-cries were now starting 
below them. The sound of swords clashing with steel then proceeding to 
rend flesh... the horrors of war. The young man Saizaki knelt down on 
one knee, keeping Fire Cutter in a tight grip.

He then grinned. "Well, it looks like it's time to slit some throats..."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Raaah!"

Aarin Highland growled ferociously, the material of his tunic flashing 
around his legs as his body spun in motion. The slashing tip of his 
sword cut through the air and went straight through the gullet of an 
enemy soldier. The man guzzled his own blood like water, then collapsed 
to the ground. Aarin just ignored the corpse and went for some else in 
the crowds surrounding him and his troops. The aging warrior charged to 
a younger, taller more able looking man. The grunt thrust his large 
sword in Aarin's direction. The Neo-Englishman dodged to one side, the 
blade hitting nothing but grass. Aarin took his opportunity, rushing 
forward and striking. The blade of his Double-Cleaver sword went 
straight though the stomach of the man and reappeared at his back, in an 
awkward angle and with a fresh coating of blood. Aarin ripped his sword 
out of the man's stomach, then moved on to the next victim. 

The surrounding soldiers for the Order of Light watched their Commander 
go to work with the rival army. Aarin's killing power was legendary. So 
legendary that many people had come to fear him. Even his allies. Aarin 
growled angrily and set himself on another of the enemy warriors. His 
sword flew as fast as the wind itself, and cut open stomachs, necks, 
skulls and ribcages. As time grew, stains of blood began to harden on 
his Double-Cleaver. And it had escaped no one's notice that a single 
blow had yet to be landed upon him. 

That was until one man came from behind. A large hulk of a man attacked 
Aarin while his back was turned, slashing at the old warrior's back. 
Aarin winced in agony as he felt steel cut through the fabric of his 
tunic and the flesh of his back. What was once a white and brown garment 
now gained a shade of red. Aarin swung his body around and attacked. The 
Double Cleaver went straight for the waist of the bigger man. He gasped, 
then fell backwards upon death. 

Aarin sneered at him, then held a hand to his back. It wasn't a deep cut 
but it would need to be treated eventually. For now, the commander of 
the Order of Light ignored his slight pain and set himself against more 
of the enemy. The soldiers of the Order all began to mix in battle with 
the soldiers of the Covenant. Blood splattered against the dry grass, 
and corpses began dropping to the ground every few seconds. Cries of 
pain, emotion and momentum all echoed in the once sleepy countryside of 
Neo-Germany. Along with the monotonous sounds of steel clashing with 
steel.

Aarin's sword deflected an incoming slash, then blocked the following 
one. As his sword locked with that of an enemy soldier, the old man 
backed up with a fellow soldier, on his own side.

"This... is odd!" Aarin said with difficulty, trying to speak and to 
defend himself at the same time. The man at Aarin's back cut down the 
man that was attacking him, then replied to his leader.

"What's odd, sir?"

Aarin shoved his own attacker forwards, out of their sword lock, then 
chopped him down in one brutal and violent downward slash. "There are no 
magic-users! The soldiers fighting us are just normal troops! How could 
they have broken our front line?!"

The younger man had no answer for his commander, just shrugged and went 
to attack someone from the opposing side. Aarin's stern blue eyes looked 
over to his left, and noticed that three men were running to attack in 
his directions. His eyes looked over to his right to see a forth man 
steaming in for a kill. Aarin waited for them to get closer, then 
launched himself into the air. The four men watched with awe as Aarin 
rotated his body in mid-air and descended towards them, his sword at the 
ready, yelling fervently, 

"4-Edge Cut!"

There was a flash of momentum, but seconds later, the damage was shown. 
Four bodies collapsed to the ground in death. Each one of their craniums 
had been sliced open. But not a single one of them had even known what 
had hit them. A fifth enemy soldier was about to try his luck with 
Aarin, but froze in fear when he saw that display.

There was a chill running down his spine. "That man... killed four men 
in one attack... is he the grandmaster swordsman we were warned about?!"

Aarin stood up from the crouching position he hand landed in. "Hurry and 
attack me." 

That cowardly soldier froze in place. He was terrified. Aarin growled in 
frustration, then ran forward towards the boy. But rather than use his 
sword, Aarin knocked the wind out of him with a swift punch. The wizened 
sage was not going to waste time killing soldiers who were afraid to 
die. The boy passed out, and Aarin charged over to his left, in the aid 
of his fellow soldiers. 

"For a return to peace. For our beautiful, wounded earth..." Aarin drew 
up his sword as another man came at him in his stride. "You must die!"

And so the battle raged on. The battle for possession of Rosenheim. The 
two forces set themselves against each other with brutal ferocity. It 
was almost like a front line battle. Men and woman all tore into each 
other, clashing their weapons together and attacking vacant weak points. 
Bodies were littering the ground, along with broken weapons, blood, and 
scraps of dismembered limbs. It was the kind of brutality that plagued 
wars in this century. No finesse, no flair, just ruthless killing. And 
though these soldiers had no lust for killing, you had to become a demon 
of destruction to survive conflict. 

As the battle reached the half-hour mark, Aarin killed one last 
attacker, then drew in breath. His body was not what it used to be. 
Aarin's crystalline eyes scanned the battlefield. He was seeing more of 
the enemy than he was of his own people. Though he shuddered to think 
what that might mean. "Damn..." Aarin scowled, "Where in God's name 
are..."

"Thunder Shot!" 

The question was answered for him. The old soldier grinned devilishly as 
a wave of shocking compressed electricity surged through the air. It 
rammed into and stunned a nearby soldier for the rival forces. He 
screamed as his body was wracked with streams of lightning magic, and 
collapsed to the ground, choking up his own blood and bile. Aarin looked 
over to his left, from whence the blast came. He was greeted with the 
stone frown of Rainhande. Soon his was not the only magic on the attack. 

Just a short distance behind Rainhande was the swordswoman, Lilia, 
battling for all her worth. Though she was surrounded by scores of 
larger, muscular men, she had no trouble in handling herself. The girl 
ran into one the larger enemy men, ramming her shoulder into his chest. 
The man gasped and stumbled backwards. Lilia swerved expertly from him 
to another behind her and then readied her sword. A stalwart gust blew 
into the battlefield just as Lilia prepared the Wind Soul for attack. 
The girl crossed her arms over her chest, then spread them out again, 
automatically performing a slashing manoeuvre. 

"Whirlwind Slash!"

A circular burst of wind magic was released from the swipe. Two enemy 
soldiers yelled in confusion as the mini-slipstream was hurled in their 
direction. The men were both lifted off their feet and hurled skywards, 
crashing down again by the power of gravity. She winced when she saw the 
look of pain in their eyes. It was obvious that Lilia was not suited to 
this background, this killing. But it was where she wanted to be. To be 
defending the world from what she saw as a threat. 

Aarin smiled generously at Rainhande and Lilia. In a short three months 
they had begun to master the powers of the sacred swords. But he didn't 
see...

"Where is Lieutenant Saizaki?" The commander asked. 

Rainhande cut down one soldier from the opposing army before answering 
that question. The German boy threw his thumb over his shoulder and 
pointed to the right. Aarin followed that idea and looked towards that 
area. He could not see Saizaki, the crowds of battling men were too 
thick, but he could make out flashes of flame. Flame which struck down 
enemy soldiers in their pairs. That had to be Saizaki. And it was. 

Though the Neo-Japanese soldier was cut off from the other sacred sword 
users, Saizaki was very comfortable with his current position. The 
fierce swordsman yelled many battle cries as he slashed and hacked 
through the surrounding soldiers. Once the Fire Cutter had been embedded 
inside one man, Saizaki was already planning his assault on the next. He 
ripped his sword free of the enemy soldier's carcass, than strode over 
to another one. Saizaki brought up his sword to deflect that man's 
impending blow, then slashed straight through his neck, in a gruesomely 
deep cut. At that point he turned around to see two other men running 
for him.

The Japanese soldier gripped the hilt of the Fire Cutter, and watched 
them advance. Fire sparked off around the sword, as it pointed 
downwards. Saizaki lifted it above his head with both arms, as the blade 
was embraced with searing hot fire. 

"Wanna play with fire, boys?!" Saizaki grinned with heartfelt passion, 
"Burn Flow!"

He slashed downwards, hurling a wave-like cluster of spinning flame at 
the two soldiers. They stopped running, but were too late. They screamed 
respectively as burning fire scorched their flesh. Even if they survived 
the attack they would be hideously scarred for life. Saizaki showed no 
remorse what so ever and went in for the attack against another 
adversary. 

Things were beginning to look bleak for the soldiers occupying 
Rosenheim. In the short ten minutes of the divine sword's unleashing on 
the battlefield, over 75 men in their ranks had fallen. And with the 
grandmaster Aarin Highland assisting them, it seemed as if Rosenheim 
would fall back into the hands of the Order. And being that they were 
behind enemy lines, there was no where for them to run to. Saizaki 
noticed the diminishing forces of the enemy. It had only been an hour 
and it looked like victory was secure. Until...

Saizaki didn't know what made him jump away from that exact spot, you 
may as well call it instinct. But it was in good timing. The air around 
that part of the battlefield grew thicker in some way. There was a 
twinge in the air, everything felt slow, like being inside the eye of a 
hurricane. Then in an instant all that stillness became action. Saizaki 
heard a female voice yell the word 'Pulsation' and then sheer 
destruction began. A swirling sound filled the air, followed by a 
tremendous beam of pure white energy. Saizaki gasped as the beam 
completely cut him off from the larger side of the battleground. It was 
a tearing and aggressive energy, that dissolved the twenty or so bodies 
that were in its path. The beam travelled onwards until it smashed into 
the hill overhanging the town on the horizon. Moments later, the energy 
slowly dissipated, leaving behind the phenomenal damage. A huge trench 
(3x85 metres long) had been burned into grassy ground. The only thing 
left of the soldiers that were in its path was ash. But not only were 
those soldiers of the Order, but also of the Covenant. That attack had 
killed members of both parties. 

"Fucking hell! What in the world was that?!" The Neo-Japanese man said 
fearfully. 

One of the soldiers of the Order, his leg burnt off from the knee joint, 
struggled to clutch his sword. "That was... a magic attack..."

Saizaki was less concerned with what spell had been cast, and more 
concerned about who had been the one to cast it. "What kind of lunatic 
kills their own people?"

A woman appeared at the other side of the trench that was dividing the 
battlefield into two sections. Nearly everyone on this side had been 
killed. Aside from Saizaki. And the fighting on the other side was so 
thick that Saizaki could not see Lilia, Rainhande or Aarin. He was alone 
in a sea of corpses as the woman began walking toward his path. She 
looked just a few years older than he was, with silvery-blonde hair and 
a pale skin tone. Who was she? 

The woman rested a solitary hand at her waist. "Saizaki Seisuji, I 
presume?"

"Who the hell are you?" Saizaki questioned.

The girl pulled a cold smile. "Me? My name is Diana Angelinous. Second 
in command of the Covenant of Sorcerers. I am surprised you haven't 
heard of me. After all, it was that wretched father of yours who killed 
my love, Zephaniah."

Zephaniah? Saizaki had heard that name from somewhere before, but where? 
Well it didn't matter. This woman was of the enemy. Saizaki drew up his 
sword and got into a fighting stance. He was cautious this time around 
however. This woman was obviously very skilled when it came to magic. 
This was the kind of strength that Order was struggling to defeat.

Saizaki asked another question. "...You knew my Dad?"

"I used to. But I hear that he is dead now."

Anger flashed in Saizaki's dark eyes. Suspicions appeared in his mind. 
"What do you know? Were... you involved in the death of my Dad?! Do you 
know something!?"

"No..." Diana said simply. "But I wish I had been there. To exact my 
vengeance on your miserable father... I would have crossed the gates of 
Hades themselves. I will eternally be an enemy to all members of the 
Seisuji family. Including you."  

Saizaki's feet suddenly did the thinking for him, as he rushed over to 
this woman. Though he was worried about her magical capabilities, 
Saizaki would not stand for anyone insulting the man who had raised him. 
The Japanese swordsman ran towards her, then jumped into the air, the 
Fire Cutter in hand. Diana's eyes watched his movements but she did not 
move. As Saizaki descended towards the magic-user, he drew his right leg 
close to his body while the other one extended outwardly. The boot of 
Saizaki's extended leg soon was swathed in the burning flames produced 
by the Fire Cutter.

"Dragon's Fang!"

Diana glared at him, then waved her hand slowly. Saizaki's foot collided 
with something. Something invisible. A magical shield. Saizaki skidded 
off the shielding force, and fell to the ground, with Diana standing 
above him in dominance.

She shook her head. "...Pathetic."

Saizaki scuttled away from Diana, and got back onto his feet. The young 
man charged at her, his sword upraised for a direct strike. Diana did 
the exact same thing as before, deflecting the blow with magical 
defensive energies. Saizaki gasped as he was blown back from the girl, 
all a result of the powerful magics that she invoked. Saizaki tumbled to 
the ground, dropping the Fire Cutter. He reached for it, before he was 
left defenceless. Too late. Diana flashed her hand, and an invisible 
force blew the Fire Cutter out of Saizaki's reach. 

"Damn!" The boy yelled. 

Diana gave him a cold glance, lowering her hand. "Your father destroyed 
the only thing I ever loved about this world. The man that was supposed 
to be my husband. Setsuya Seisuji took the most previous thing from me. 
And although he isn't here to suffer from it, I will do the same to him. 
By killing you." 

Diana's fingertip started to glow as she pointed it at Saizaki. There 
was nothing he could do to stop this at all. Not with the Fire Cutter 
being stripped from his hand. The young warrior looked on helplessly as 
this magician was about to rob him of his life... 

"Prepare to descend into the netherworld, little boy."

Onwards to Part 6


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