Their feet were still on the ground yet their bodies felt weightless. Kuro fell to his knee desperate to maintain their speed as they could hear the rage that pursued them from above.
"I feel like my guts are in my mouth!" cried Milly.
"Hold on!"
Whatever count Kuro made to measure their descent was fuzzy. All he knew was that he needed to stay as far away as possible from the ominous twinkling from above that grew by the passing second. Kuro slowed their descent until they felt their weight catch up to them, but they still fell to the ground. They just made it to the bottom floor, but there was no time to appreciate the safe landing.
As the two made their way to the exit, a chill ran down Kuro’s spine. In an instant, the water rushing in from the entrance doorway froze in front of them and formed a wall.
"Oh ho ho ho! You thought you could get away from us?" mocked Trini as she held up a hand glowing a deep blue.
"I was kind of hoping we would," Kuro retorted while firing off another net at her.
With a lazy wave, the general had a wall of water catch the net before it could wrap itself around his partner. From the bubble, he pulled it and examined it with curiosity.
"Fascinating… What an exquisite material this is. Elastic, yet strong. Lightweight and water just rolls right off. Such fine craftsmanship merits… discussion," the general complimented.
"Thanks, I made it myself," Milly answered while readying her bow.
"And you with the black hair. Intriguing. It's been ages since we've seen your kind."
The general snapped his fingers lighting the wicks and torches in the area in blue magical flame. He floated on a torrent of water and in the light his regal form was glorified for all to gaze upon. It was as if he lept straight out of the portrait from the sunken castle.
"Shall we have a fresh start then? Let me first apologize as I believe I missed out on introductions during our last meeting. I am the leader of this fair city, Lord Ronald Langstrom. And you are?"
"Concerned how one of the Demon Lord's Tristar Generals is the ruler of a human city!" Kuro yelled, drawing his weapon.
Ronald sighed, disappointed by his generosity being met with skepticism in addition to Kuro’s choice of words, "Why I've always ruled over Evanstone, how else can you guarantee its prosperity? It was a simple matter of choosing the 'rightful' successor each time, which of course would still always be me. I only had to change my age and given name to make it seem as if I was part of the most successful ruling family in the Empire."
"So what? You're being awfully chatty revealing your entire scheme.”
"As much as you adventurers have been an annoyance to us, you two seem especially capable yet out of the ordinary. With you by our side victory against that brat with that accursed blade will be more than assured. What say you?"
"I'd say give us a minute to think things over,"
"Very well, but my patience has limits."
Shocked by the sudden truce, Kuro pulled Milly in closer by wrapping his arm around her shoulder. He peeked over to notice Langstrom casually sitting on a throne he formed of ice while Trini berated him for his lax attitude.
"So we're not actually going to go along with this are we?" Kuro questioned quietly
"No way. Do I look like someone who would join them so easily? He hasn't exactly fulfilled his end of the bargain has he? Giving us unlimited riches and no place to spend it he can just fu-"
"Shh, you're getting too loud…"
Kuro peeked over his shoulder again to find Langstrom flipping a coin between his fingers with Trini glaring at them intensely.
"So what's the plan then? You got any way to get us out of here?"
"In fact, I do. You break the ice wall while I get us some cover. I'm going to bring the tower down on top of them."
"You're going to what now? You know what? I don't even want to know. Let's just get it done."
"After you break the ice, cover your ears and head outside."
As they turned back to confront the demon general, Kuro spun the staff in his hand until his palm faced away letting it rest lightly on his fingertips, and pointed one end to their exit. Meanwhile, with two clicks and clanks, Milly looked as confident as ever with her hands on her hips.
"We've come to a conclusion!" Kuro beckoned.
A thick cloud of smoke erupted with a wheeze at Kuro and Milly’s feet.
Langstrom shot up from his seat with his face twisted in a rage, "What trickery is this? Can we not have a simple discourse?"
"It seems like we can't see eye to eye, you know? Because of the smoke?" Kuro said with a chuckle.
"Now you have two choices: Leave us the bowl or forfeit your lives!" Trini shrieked
"Nah, we'll just get out of here. No need to extend our stay."
Kuro leaned towards his palm as the staff shot out from the smoke from both ends. It tore through the room crashing and smashing all in its path before giving way behind him.
"Impossible! How do you have Kuu!?”
Magic spun like a whirlpool around Trini as she dove into the fog. She focused her ears to find a trace of movement when two dark shadows circled her.
BOOM! BOOM!
Two cracks of thunder pierced Trini's ears making them ring in pain. Dazed by the sudden burst as well, Langstrom only caught a glimpse of the arrow crackling with electrical energy above them before everything turned hot white.
Outside of the tower, the rain had cleared while Kuro was tapping his feet impatiently. He fought every urge to dive back in with only his trust for his partner keeping his impulse at bay. Knots formed in his stomach at every sudden shift of the smokescreen. After hearing the familiar popping of explosions, Milly emerged from the smoke in a full sprint faster than he’d ever seen her.
“RUN!” she screamed as she dashed past Kuro.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Kuro followed after her and caught up. The frenzy on her face had him run ahead to grab her hand. He gave her a smile before matching her craze himself and pulled her even faster forward. A vicious roar boomed behind the two with a cry that shook the entire world and threw them into the air. Kuro spun around to pull Milly in to catch her in his arms as they tumbled to the ground.
From the center of town, the tallest spire was losing its magnificent height. Level by level it crumbled onto itself and collapsed from the immense weight of blue stones. From the destruction came a bursting cloud of dust that blanketed the area. All Kuro and Milly could do was take cover until everything settled.
As the last few specs of dust fell to the ground, Kuro began to brush the dirt off of Milly’s head. He looked back in awe only to find a pile of rubble where the tower once stood.
“What was that? You just demolished a national monument like it was nothing!”
A sly grin lifted Milly’s face as she admired her handiwork, “Do you remember how we first met? I just recreated the experiment by using our wagon’s batteries by keeping them near critical mass until the last minute! All it took was giving up one of my shock arrows to push it over the edge.”
“Of all the crazy ideas you had so far… this one seems the most half-baked! All that from trying to make a pizza one time?”
Milly’s face turned from embarrassment, “Sometimes a failure in one way can be a success in another with the right perspective.”
A long sigh left Kuro as Milly’s words rang true, “You did good. Anyways, are you okay? All of that rolling around left me a little sore.”
“I’m okay, thanks for protecting me Kuro.”
“Always. Is the bowl okay?”
Milly reached into her bag and retrieved the source of all their headaches. It was wrapped up neatly in a cloth and with not a scratch on its brilliant construction.
“Could you hold onto it, Kuro? It gives me the creeps,” Milly requested shyly.
“Yeah, at least until we find someplace to hide it away. I wouldn’t even know where to start with finding a person to trust with this. It’d be better kept out of everybody’s hands at this point.”
With a simple nod from Milly, Kuro rewrapped the bowl in its cloth and stashed it away in his bag. As they turned to make their way back to the inn, a rumbling unease rolled on Kuro’s back. The stones where the tower rested began to shift as an eruption of ice and water threw debris into the air. The stones came crashing down as the form of Ronald Langstrom carrying a weakened Trini in his arms rose from below. She gave him a loving smile and caressed his cheek before he placed her safely in the plaza away from the destruction. His rage boiled when he spotted in the distance two people running away once more. He gathered whatever power he had left and flew after them and screamed with a palpable fury.
“Do you hear that, Kuro?” Milly cried.
“I can taste that, now run! And faster!”
Langstrom formed a trident of ice in his hand and charged with a furious thrust. In a panic, Kuro pushed Milly out of the way and caught the trident with his staff. The force of Langstrom’s blow threw Kuro into the air once more only to fall hard onto the road below.
“Leaving so soon!? Was my hospitality not to your liking!?”
Kuro coughed in pain and forced his body to stand, “Zero out of ten, would not stay again. Would not recommend.”
“Very clever! Let me see if I can find some way to shut that smart mouth for good!” Langstrom howled as he flew in to attack.
Readying himself for the next battle, Kuro took in a deep breath before he stepped forward.
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