Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Slayers: Chaos ❯ Episode 51 ( Chapter 48 )

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Slayers: Chaos

Episode 051: Victory! Against All Odds

The Zanaffar growled loudly at Flagoon, who fearlessly stood her ground, holding the flaring sword of light high. The silver beast made the first move and stretched its neck forward, bearing its long sharp fangs at the warrior. The fierce creature tried to swallow her whole, moving with amazing speed like a silver blur. Its massive jaws closed around nothing but air, as Flagoon jumped back and regained the same position as before, only several feet back. The Zanaffar repeated the action, additionally swapping at Flagoon with its claws. She landed gracefully on her feet, studying her opponent as it continued on the offensive. Then suddenly, just as the human thought she had dodged the attack, the Zanaffar's claws stretched with such speed that rather than avoid the attack again, Flagoon could only block the hit with the sword of light. The impact of the clashing forces was so strong that sparks of blue electricity flew. The Zanaffar's red eyes glowed brighter in anger.

"I get it," Flagoon chuckled. "You're getting impatient. Alright, let's get serious!" Flagoon went on the attack, but the Zanaffar didn't relent. It attacked with its fangs and claws, with Flagoon defending and attacking simultaneously, putting extra pressure on the hits when the sword of light collided with the silver beast. The blue electricity sizzled while Milgazia and Xellos watched the fight progress. The Zanaffar spun, trying to hit Flagoon with its massive tail. She knew she wouldn't be able to stop the beast's force, so she dodged the hit instead. Taking it as an opportunity, the silver beast tried the same move another time, again and again. The Zanaffar kept repeating the motion so quickly that it turned into a giant silver tornado.

Milgazia made an attempt to move towards them, but Xellos stopped him. "If you interfere, I will interfere as well and my first move will be to kill you. Don't overestimate your luck simply because you survived the War of the Monster's Fall."

Milgazia glared, then pushed himself to appear indifferent. He would not feed this monster. He couldn't allow Xellos to interfere with the fight. Allowing that would be worse than not helping, thus rendering the attempt as counterproductive. It was frustrating, but it was true. They couldn't deal with the Zanaffar and Xellos at the same time, with the monster general priest being the worse of the two. "Then neither of us will interfere..."

"A wise choice," Xellos grinned. "I'm sure you know that dealing with a rampaging Zanaffar alone is better than dealing with me with help, as I'm sure many dragons would agree, if they still lived that is."

"I can assure you, Xellos, you will not walk away from this unscratched," Milgazia ascertained.

"I suppose I can give you that much credit," Xellos opened his eyes momentarily, "if you had some dragon troops with you and that is assuming Flagoon defeats the Zanaffar."

"She will," even with the sword of light, Milgazia knew that it would be a hard challenge, but he wasn't going to doubt her.

The Zanaffar was spinning so fast that the silver tornado was out of control. The beast was focused on staying strong and spinning continuously, not paying attention to where it was going. The fight had moved away from its original location in the outskirts of Sairaag and into the town. The wild silver tornado was rapidly destroying the entire town. "You've gone too far!" Flagoon boldly rushed forward. "Sword of light, I need your full power, help me defeat this monster. My companion, my trusted ally, lets win this together!" The sword of light reacted to Flagoon's voice, encasing her in light as she jumped into the center of the wild silver tornado.

"Flagoon!" Milgazia called out to her, but she didn't stop. 'That light from the sword, that energy. It's almost as if the sword was conscious,' he thought.

Xellos was staring at the battle too. "That sword... Can it really protect her? What is the origin of that sword? It couldn't have been made by humans, but it's not a dragon weapon either."

"It's not," Milgazia revealed, though truthfully he didn't care if Xellos believed him or not, or at least he wasn't concerned with that detail at the moment. "It sounds like you don't know where it came from either. The sword of light is a great mystery even to us dragons."

"But you know something," Xellos added.

"So do you," Milgazia voiced, not taking his eyes off the silver tornado. He could sense the life of Flagoon and the terrible pulsations a of energy within, so he knew she was still alive, but even if he interfered at the risk of pushing Xellos to join in as well, he wasn't sure if he could get her out of there. It was almost as if the ferocious Zanaffar had swallowed her alive.

"I've heard about the rumors of the sword originating from another time or another world, or both." It wasn't a very specific piece of information and Milgazia probably already theorized the same. Yet with no method to confirm it, Xellos didn't think there was any use in avoiding the subject. Milgazia didn't reply; his attention was fixated on the silver tornado and the warrior struggling within it. Xellos didn't speak any further about the subject of the sword and instead focused on witnessing the power of the legendary weapon of light in action.

Inside the silver tornado, survival was a difficult feat to accomplish. The pulsations of energy were all around Flagoon and if not for the protection of the sword of light, she was sure she would have been disintegrated. "We have to finish this quickly, my friend." She spoke to the sword with respect and loyalty; it was more than just a weapon to her. Though sadly the special bond between the Gabriev family and Gorun Nova would eventually be lost with the weapon of light being treated more and more as a sword by each generation instead of as a friend and companion. The connection between Gorun Nova and Flagoon was something that no other Gabriev who inherited the sword of light ever came close to achieving, not even Rowdy or Gourry reached such a level.

Flagoon took a deep breath and focused. There was a raging storm of destruction all around her, but if the sword of light, that heard her words, but could never even tell her as much as its name, could not attack the Zanaffar and defend Flagoon at the same time, not in that environment at least. "I can withstand it, please focus on the offensive!" She felt the sword of light pulsating in her hands as if to protest. "Don't worry about me, my friend," Flagoon insisted. "I'll survive this, don't worry, Milgazia is a strong healer, or at least I think he is, a dragon should know holy magic beyond the knowledge of humans I would guess." The sword pulsated again. "I know, I know you don't usually show your power with too many people around and I won't push you to do it, but I know that Milgazia can be trusted. I won't stop being your friend just because I'm traveling with another friend. We should focus on this now, let's go!"

The sword of light flared. The barrier of light that surrounded Flagoon faded as the energy of Gorun Nova focused on the blade. The silver wind all around was as sharp as knives cutting Flagoon, but not able to strike her down completely. She guided the sword to bat away the stronger currents and slice through them, chopping away pieces of the Zanaffar. The silver beast was losing strength and even if Flagoon was injured she kept fighting. The Zanaffar's face appeared inside the slowing silver tornado in one last desperate effort to finish her before she could finish it. "It's over!" Flagoon went all out, the sword of light colliding with the head of the beast. The Zanaffar's red eyes glowed blindingly bright and the sword of light more so.

Finally, the silver tornado faded completely, leaving the heavy feeling of miasma in the air. The blade of Gorun Nova faded out, leaving only the handle grasped limply in Flagoon's hand, yet she never let it go. Her broken form covered in blood, fell on the ground breathing raggedly but alive. Milgazia rushed to her side, immediately casting his strongest healing spell, "Resurrection!" The golden dragon released a great amount of energy, maintaining the flow of healing energy going until Flagoon's bleeding stopped and her breaths settled to a steady rhythm. She was cured physically, but her energy was completely drained and she couldn't even stand up. Milgazia helped her sit up. "You did it!" He smiled; his expression was more open than anything she had ever seen upon his face before.

"We did it; I couldn't have done it without the sword of light." Flagoon smiled back, satisfied and victorious.

"How surprising," Xellos spoke. "It looks like the battle against the Zanaffar ended faster than expected. Lord Beast Master will not be pleased by this. Though her mood might improve if I bring her a rare ingredient for her cuisine, after all there are only so many dragon elders within the barrier." The monster general priest opened his eyes, focused on Milgazia.

"My mission concerning the Zanaffar was a greater success than I imagined, all thanks to Flagoon and the sword of light, but there are still things I want to do, I have no intentions of falling here," Milgazia challenged.

"Strange..." Xellos quietly voiced with curiosity. "That look in your eyes is like hers. That determination to survive against all odds... It will serve no purpose!"

"Xellos!" Flagoon interrupted the exchange just as Xellos was about to attack. The monster paused with mild curiosity to look at the human who struggled to get on her feet. "Milgazia and I had already decided before that we would fight you together, you don't mind, do you?"

"Not at all," Xellos regained his cheery squinty eyes expression. "Although, you don't seem to be in any conditions to fight."

"I'm going to strike you down with the help of Milgazia and the sword of light." Flagoon warned with a level of certainty that seemed unreasonable to Xellos. "The three of us will defeat you here today. I warn you, monster," the swordswoman trembled as she struggled to stay on her feet, she could barely lift the bladeless hilt of the sword of light. "The blow that decides the outcome of our battle shall be mine, so don't you dare turn your back on me!"

"I dare," Xellos chuckled.

Milgazia looked confident, "this is your day to shine, Flagoon. I will help in this battle, but I won't steal your glory."

Xellos saw Flagoon as representing no danger now. The sword of light was a very powerful and mysterious item, but it was still a weapon as far as Xellos knew and a weapon could not act on its own. A weapon needed a wielder that knew how to use it and it was clear that the sword of light had many secrets even for the warrior of light herself, plus she was in no condition to fight right now. Even if Milgazia healed her wounds at the cost of a good amount of his own energy, she was too exhausted to even stand properly, let alone attack. "Milgazia, you are a fool to put your trust in a human. They are weak and unreliable, even with their small moments of glory; such times are as inconsequential and fast fading as their very lives."

"You are wrong, Xellos," Milgazia assure with a serene confidence that was starting to unnerve the monsters. "I was a fool for thinking that I had to guide a human to victory, but no more. Humans have an exceptional potential that not dragons nor monsters could ever have. They may live short lives, but in that time they accomplish much and their influence lives out through the years. Maybe most of them will indeed be inconsequential, but that is also true for monsters and even dragons. Yet in all the races, especially in the human race, there are individuals that shine more brightly than a million people. Flagoon is one such person. The words she speaks will become the truth; if you lower your guard you will regret it, so unless you want to be made into a fool, you better heed her warning." The dragon elder paused, his eyes glowing golden. "One day, there shall be a human who shines so brightly, that the attention of both the dragons and the monster races will be focused on that person, on whose shoulders will rest the fate of the worlds." He blinked and the glow was gone.

Xellos opened one eye and tilted his head in curiosity. Was that some kind of prophetic moment? He heard that sometimes it happened to dragons, but it was supposed to be rare. It's not like Milgazia was in deep meditation just now and he didn't seem to notice the strange presence that floated around him for a second there. Xellos closed his eye and decided not to overanalyze the occurrence for the time being, though he couldn't help it but to make a mental note of it in the back of his mind. The presence that didn't quite feel like a dragon, nor a monster, nor anything else Xellos knew, was gone just as quickly as it came without Milgazia making any motion of realizing it was there. 'Did I imagine that?' Xellos mused quietly. Perhaps he did, it was the only explanation he could come up with for the time being. Enough distractions, he had things to do. "This ends now!" Dark energy surrounded Xellos as he changed to his true form. But instead of only one black cone, a multitude of them flew towards Milgazia.

The golden dragon had no reason to stay on the ground any longer. Even with his larger size in dragon form, it would be easier to fight in the air. He quickly transformed and took off, hurrying straight up with the spinning black cones in pursuit. Milgazia flapped his wings, creating a great gust of wind and shot a barrage of lasers at Xellos. Several of the cones were struck down by the golden lasers, though the larger main one remained. Xellos changed back to his human form, letting the smaller black cones fade. Dark light and purple lightning surrounded Xellos as he threw the energy straight at Milgazia. The golden dragon allowed himself to fall several feet to dodge it, but the energy turned around and moved after him. Milgazia headed closer to Xellos, who surrounded him in dark light and purple lightning.

"Foolish dragon, what kind of strategy is this? Do you intend to injure me with something as simple as a laser breath at point blank?" Instinctively, Xellos backed away to give himself more space to attack and his feet touched the ground. He had not realized they had gradually moved all the way down to the ground again. Yet it didn't matter, Milgazia was surrounded by dark light and purple lightning, dangerous monster energy of great power. His laser breath even at such a close range wouldn't be enough to finish Xellos. The monster general priest grinned victoriously, though it was a premature celebration.

The dragon elder released his laser breath at the same time as he was entrapped by the dark energy, the darkness surrounding him and the purple lightning electrocuting him painfully. Without making a sound other than his breathing, Milgazia's wings dropped limply on his back from pain and exhaustion and he stumbled, falling to the side.

"Hmp! You didn't even scream out in pain, what an anti-climatic end. I really don't understand why you didn't even try to cast a spell." Xellos' projected form had a hole where the laser breath hit him point blank, but it would only take a few seconds for him to draw more power from the astral side and close up the wound in his astral body and thus restore its representation in his projection. If he was outnumbered by golden dragons, this would have been troublesome, but Milgazia risked too much to strike what Xellos assumed was meant to be the final blow and didn't have the strength left to finish him off.

Milgazia only smiled, "you were warned..."

"What?" In a split second a very bad feeling overtook Xellos, which he was soon to find the cause of.

"It's over, monster!" Flagoon charged towards Xellos with the sword of light shining in a strange light. "Let's go, sword of light!" The blade flared brighter than ever before, revealing the dragon energy that it concealed in preparation for the final hit.

The deadly blade of energy collided with Xellos, cutting into the astral side and into his true form. He shouted in shock and alarm as he felt the very core of his being fall to the massive powered carried by the blade. This was the reason why Milgazia wasn't attacking him with spells before. He was casting a Chaotic Disintegrate spell, focusing on the dragon language chant in his mind and readying the spell to make it super powerful. Yet the target wasn't Xellos directly, Milgazia's target was the sword of light. It absorbed his energy and united it with its magical blade, applying the resulting power well beyond anything the spell or the sword alone could accomplish.

'This... this cant' be...' Xellos' astral injury was deep, dangerous, deadly. At this rate, he wouldn't simply die, he would be ruined. His only choice was to retreat immediately. The sword of light could only reach into the astral side with its blade at short range and Milgazia's laser breath wasn't all that powerful with his exhausted energy supply, but if Xellos stayed, he knew they could finish him. He didn't want to think about what Beast Master would say, very much less about what she would do, but he had no other choice. With a strong desire to live that no even he could explain and the desperation of knowing this could be the end, Xellos retreated.

Unfortunately for the monster, he didn't have the energy to teleport too far and Milgazia was pushing himself to get up. The rush of adrenaline made the dragon's senses more acute than they already were and he was able to sense Xellos' location even in their weakened state. Milgazia was moving with his human ally rushing over to climb on his back. He might be too tired and injured to fly, as Xellos was sure that one, if not both, of his wings were broken, but dragons were durable creatures and he could still walk. A golden light gathered in Milgazia's mouth as Xellos tried to gather himself and teleport again. Even a low power laser could slow him down in his state and he didn't have any time to spare in getting to safety, or he would soon be dead and ruined.

To be Continued

Yay action! :D I hope you enjoyed it.