The Awakened Commander

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They were locked in an intense battle, and Valeria's unrelenting aggression had put Abaddi on the back foot, along with Viktor rounding out her aggression with well-coordinated defense against Abaddi, who was now showing signs of exhaustion.

I glanced for a second, but I couldn't comprehend what was happening. It was just flashes of purple, green, and silver and I strained my eyes to perceive what was happening.

Just as I was barely able to perceive them, a huge battle axe, whose shiny blade was lit up by the flashes of light, was brought down with great force, kicking up a wall of dust.

Abaddi took a step back, putting some distance between them,

"Not bad, Valeria. You've grown a lot ." Abaddi said, a small smile running across his face.

Valeria, unfazed by this, pushed on.

"Do you remember how you got that scar on your back?" He asked, his voice becoming more resolute in between clangs of metal and a rain of sparks.

Valeria's mind raced as she continued to parry Abaddi's attacks. She tried to peer through the haze of the ongoing battle and make sense of his words. Then, as she looked into Abaddi's eyes, a flicker of recognition passed through her.

"What do you mean?" She asked, as both of their blades locked in for a power struggle, neither party giving way.

In that moment of distraction, her blade slipped slightly, giving Abaddi an opening to press his advantage.

Just then, the familiar battle axe crashed in from the sky, impaling the earth and creating a small impact crater where the two were standing. I was backing Viktor, who turned out to be much more of a powerhouse than I thought.

Abaddi seemed to take a glance at Viktor, looked at him up and down, and turned back to the fight.

"Your weapon... is doing most of the lifting am I right? That's a pretty neat thing you've got there." He asked, a smirk on his face as Viktor's face now displayed a tense emotion, and the grip on his axe wavered for a bit.

"What are you even here for?" Viktor asked, in his bold voice, as he lowered his axe for a bit.

"What am I here for, you ask?" Abaddi replied, his voice taking on a mysterious tone. "I'm here for something that transcends the battles you see before you, something that has been in motion for nearly a century now."

"Drop the charades. What is it? Why did you guys take the Queen hostage?" Valeria asked, her voice ever so steadfast as her sword continued to pulsate in a deep shade of green.

Viktor slowly raised his axe back up, gripping it with even more tenacity "Are you here to do something at the Astral Nexus Alignment ceremony?" He asked, his tone serious as ever.

Abaddi's face quickly changed, as he said in a low voice "Do you think I'm going to do something there? Well, you guys can find out for yourself there." He said, as a purple aura quickly enveloped him.

"Wait!" I screamed, hoping that my voice would be heard.

Just like last time, the terror on Abaddi's face faded for a bit, and he looked at me with a slight genuine smile on his face.

"Promise me that Isabelle won't be harmed," I asked, hoping for a positive answer. Despite his terrifying power, he seemed like someone who hated to kill and someone who wouldn't do all of this.

"That... I cannot promise, Ed." Abaddi said, in a pretty sad voice. It almost sounded like he didn't want to do it himself, as he turned his back on us, to walk away.

"He told me it would be easy, but I guess this will just do. My job here is done." Abaddi said as he quickly jumped over the castle's edge, and disappeared from view.

"Hey, stop it! Don't think you can just walk away like-" Valeria and everyone else's dialogue was cut short, as all of our attention was drawn to a sudden blast of heat that was enveloping the entire surroundings, and it was Selene, who was bathed in a furious aura of red and or

"I'm just so done with you brats! All of you think nothing of me, so let me show you who I am!" 

With that, she unleashed an explosion that was so powerful that it shook and obliterated everything nearby.

Selene stood at the center of the destruction, her aura still seething with fiery energy. Her eyes blazed with a mix of anger and determination. It was clear that she had tapped into a power previously unseen, and she was not holding back.

"Prepare yourselves," she muttered, her voice low and ominous. She began to chant in a language that I never heard before, but she ended it with something that sent a chill down my spine.

"Flames, Awaken."

A beam of white energy emerged from the outstretched staff she was holding, obliterating everything, including the ground in its path, and I was right in its trajectory.

Before I could even comprehend, a gust of wind pushed me to the other side, and I fell to the ground. I quickly got to my feet as the beam again focused on me, and it fired again. 

I again managed to get out just in time, and it was very close to me. Close enough that part of my dress had caught on fire just from being close to it.

I quickly put it out by rolling on the ground and taking cover behind a small corner, and Valeria was on the other side of that, also caught up like me.

Hagen whipped out his sword in its long chained form, along with Viktor who was bravely standing alongside him.

"Let's put you out of your misery." I heard him say as he channeled enough energy through his sword for a blue dragon to manifest, much like a manifestation I had summoned previously.