Noxer approached Katty's body. No sign of life was in his eyes. His body stood cold like a dummy.
"What? Something's not right."
"You fell for my doppelganger trick," Katty said. "Had me going for quite a bit. Now for a taste of your own medicine."
The doppelganger transmogrifies into a simple leaf. Katty emerges from the other side as Noxer drops his guard, getting kicked into his own coil, shocking him.
"No! I got to make this stop…."
Alistor and Claws catch up to them. Noxer is holding his breath, recovering from the paralysis dealt by his own chains.
"Ready to finish this?" Alistor asked.
The party positioned themselves as the monster charged in. Katty is the first to strike Noxer, forcing him to take precautions. He dodges Alistor and Claws' attacks on the bike but soon gets knocked off when he tries bolting away. Claws destroy the motorcycle on impact, causing him to roll down on the floor. The rest of the fleet begins to retreat. As the rest of the priestess' men catch up, Noxer doesn't hesitate to step back. The monster spots a retreating Glamour coming his way. He knocks the soldier off the bike, taking it to escape.
"He's getting away." Claws pointed out.
They all followed him to fields, taking the battle outside of town. As the remaining enemies retreat, a massive holographic face appears above the sky. Lightning roars from above, making Noxer's fleet come to a stop.
"Master Taishae? We're getting clobbered."
"Enough!" Taishae shouted. "It seems you require a power-up."
Taishae fired a disk entering Noxer's body. He instantly recovers from all the damage, burning with flames of energy. Twenty more Glamour soldiers reinforce him as Taishae's face disappears.
"Ha ha ha, now I'm burning with power." Noxer kicked his bike away, ready to fight man to man.
He shoots out flames from his mouth, knocking them all back. Then, the grunts begin surrounding them from all sides.
"He's on fire! Literally." Zolhalla said.
The monster blasts another round of flames at them as Tannen blocks the brunt of the attack.
"So, any plan of approach?" Tannen asked.
"We were hoping you come up with one…." Alistor thought.
"You're all soon becoming of age. You'll both have to fend for yourselves one day. Let this be part of your final training. Plan and adapt quickly to your environment. Each decision you make will have a consequence. Now one of ya makes a call!"
Alistor nor Katty couldn't decide what to do at the moment. Finally, Claws reacted quickly with an answer.
"Why don't we just kick the crap out of them?"
They all went with his plan.
"Fine! But the monster is mine." Katty said.
"Fine, let's just go with this," Tannen concluded.
Zolhalla and Claws leap to the side, taking on the grunts from the left, while Alistor and Tannen go for the right. Katty has his eyes locked on Noxer. The monster spews out another blast of flames, and Katty leaps in the air.
"You're starting to get on my nerves."
Katty knocks him down once again, avoiding more of his flames. Then, he shoots projectiles of golden energy at Noxer, damaging him massively.
"Grrh! Full power!"
Enraged, he starts charging up all the flames around with both hands in one concentrated attack.
"Now die!"
Katty dashes head-on against Noxer's ultimate attack, taking the form of a golden comet. But, unfortunately, he collides with the massive ball of flame, swallowing him right in.
"Heh, It's all over."
Noxer was at ease, feeling it was already over.
"Wait, what?"
The golden comet emerged through his flames. Katty delivers a sharp blow to Noxer.
"Taishae…I failed you!"
Sparks burst out of Noxer. He collapses, exploding in debris. Tannen slaps away the remaining grunts with his scythe as they retreat.
Back somewhere in the dark depths of the ocean floors, Moon was busy finishing loads of paperwork at his hands. Then, finally, he fills out one final sheet. His second hand comes in to deliver the news but is hushed back.
"But I have news, sir!"
He tries to speak to him again, but Moon only lifts one finger as a sign to wait. He finishes filling the last sheet of paper. Before he even has a chance to speak, Moon takes the words out of his mouth.
"Told you Noxer would fail. Well, that was a waste of time. What's on T.V. anyway?"
"We should find a way to deal with those responsible for your brother's demise."
"Alistor and his pesky party are not even worth my time. Taishae can handle those matters on his own. For now, I need a break from all this dreadful work."
He turns to his viewing crystal, glaring at Alistor and company creepily.
"Well, let's see what they got in the long run. I'll be watching from the shadows for now."
Returning back from the battle. Alistor and company returned to the hospital to check up on the priestess. Elena was finally awake, feeling better already. Claws stood beside her as Alistor and the others explained the situation.
"So the Aggerona Empire is at war with us," Elena concluded.
Alistor couldn't get the thought of the holographic face he saw in the sky. He had to ask about it to clear his mind.
"Taishae...That monster kept mentioning his name. Do you think he's Vilevelious' brother?"
"No doubt about it!" Katty agreed. "He has to be the other brother."
"We should be getting back to Emerald. Sairori is expected to return from his mission by tonight. Can't keep those guys tending the place for more than a day. You remember what happened." Tannen reminded.
They laughed momentarily, recalling a memory of Maigashi and Auroa left at home for the day.
The memory they pictured was a scene from the past with them causing a disaster inside their own kitchen when left unattended while the pot caught on fire.
"Well, we're off…." Alistor waved to them.
"Will you guys be back? Tomorrow?" Claws wondered.
"For sure!"
They all agree to meet back, leaving Claws and Elena pleased. As night falls, they remain in recovery, hoping for the best. A royal messenger from Mathias suddenly appeared at their steps minutes after Alistor and the rest had left. Elena began delivering urgent news about the enemy that attacked them.
"The Aggerona Empire… They're back."
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