Chapter 48: The Boy

Alata and Elastor rushed and fought each other. Alata thrust his spear straight at Elastor, but he turned his sword sideways and blocked the stab. Elastor said:

"Alata, stop now! I don't want to fight you."

Alata replied in a mad voice:

"And I've always wanted to kill you!"

Alata pushed the spear harder causing it to graze the blade and thrust into Elastor's left shoulder. Elastor kicked Alata in the chest to push him away then checked his wound. Alata provoked Elastor:

"Come here, isn't that what you want. My anger and hatred at my disgusting things always hurts your eyes. A great opportunity to get rid of the thing that bothers you most."

Elastor replied:

"I never treated you like that, Alata."

Alata said angrily:

"Yes, you did!"

Alata swung his spear and released a wind slash at Elastor. Elastor rushed lightning from the Star greatsword at the wind slash, but the wind deflected the lightning and Elastor was hit hard on the chest armor. Elastor said:

"Damn, this is way too overpowering."

Alata replied with frenzy:

"Let's continue!"

Alata continued to swing his spear several times and unleashed dozens of wind saws at Elastor. Elastor raised his sword and said:

"A Thrust!"

Elastor continuously parried the wind saws out and unleashed thunder under his feet. He made a quick straight stab that was invisible to the naked eye and flew through all the remaining wind saws and immediately approached Alata. Elastor swung his sword and hit Alata so hard that he fell to the ground. Elastor said loudly:

"I told you to stop Alata. Reaper transformed and brainwashed you, the real Alata would never do that."

Alata slowly stood up from the attack, his right arm was broken. Alata used the vortex to bend the arm back to where it was. Elastor and Julia saw that scene both startled and shocked. Elastor said with confusion:

"Oh shit, this is so creepy."

Alata continued to charge and attack Elastor. Alata kept stabbing at Elastor and he also repeatedly parried the attack without intending to attack. Zack looked at Elastor who was fighting with Alata, he dejectedly said:

"He's got a new opponent, now there's no one to fight."

Zack looks over to see Lamalia fighting Hatai. Lamalia raised rocks and smacked Hatai straight in the body with a rocking punch. Hatai was knocked back and slightly stunned. Zack smiled wickedly and said:

"He's too weak, though I don't want to help him. But there's no point in standing still."

Zack fiercely rushed to attack Lamalia. The ground shook at Zack's every step, causing Lamalia to lose her balance. Zack leapt forward and swung his ax at Lamalia very close. She immediately dashes away and creates a stone statue that Zack misses on. Lamalia held out her Strike claws and said:

"Don't you have any honor to surprise me from behind?"

Zack dragged his ax and said:

"No honor is needed in war."

Zack swung his ax high and launched fireballs at Lamalia. She immediately created a stone wall to hide in. The fireballs were blocked but Zack charged through the stone wall and punched Lamalia in the stomach. Lamalia stepped back and took an offensive stance, she spat out blood and said:

"You think that's strong?"

But Lamalia's breastplate was heavily damaged. Lamia thought to herself:

"If I could, I would hold them back for five minutes until the light armor could unleash its full power."

Zack and Hatai rushed forward and had a fierce battle with Lamalia. Lamalia repeatedly raised rocks to stop attacks from two enemies to buy time until Elastor returned. Julia was still fighting energetically with Reaper. Julia jumped up and threw an energy punch to Reaper's face. Julia released her elemental aura and launched a green energy beam at Reaper. Reaper turned on the extra scythe in his left hand and deflected the energy beam and approached. Julia stopped launching beam and whipped thorny vines whips repeatedly at Reaper to stop him. Reaper leapt forward and cut the thorny vines and swung his scythe at Julia. Julia crossed her arms and blocked the attack just in time, but Reaper pinned her down again. Julia said:

"What did you do to Alata? Let him go back to being the pure boy he used to be."

Alata replied:

"It's my tool of killing, it's made for that purpose in itself."

Julia said:

"And you have no right to change him into what you want."

Julia released more elemental aura and released an energy blast on her gauntlet to push Reaper away. She created a thorny vine blade and dashed forward to sever his secondary scythe. Reaper became even more angry and kicked and Julia but she caught his leg. Julia punched Reaper's right thigh muscle so hard that his bones popped out. Reaper screamed in pain and slapped Julia to push her away. Reaper quickly pulled out a syringe filled with a thick red solution and injected it into his injured leg. Immediately the blood vessels all over his body turned purple and the muscles, tendons and ligaments pushed his bones back into his legs, then all wounds were completely healed. Julia shivered with fear and said:

"Eww, that's the scariest thing I've ever seen after the giant serpent."

Reaper said arrogantly:

"The power of necromancy, you whore."

Julia replied:

"Watch your language, for the word whore is only suitable for you."

Julia and Reaper rushed into each other and fought even more fiercely. Belle was struggling with her magic duel with Laura. Belle waved her wand and fired a series of light beams at Laura. Laura waited when the beams approached and immediately opened a portal and teleported all beams then opened another portal behind Belle. The beams shot straight at Belle but she immediately created an energy shield but the beams attacked so much that the shield exploded and pushed Belle away. Before Belle could get up, Laura continued to throw dozens of magic knives at her. Belle jumped to dodge but a knife slashed through her back. Belle landed on the ground and was bleeding from her back. She was out of breath and had a slight headache. Laura said:

"Stand up, are you Emanda's apprentice wizard?"

Belle replied:

"I am no longer an apprentice wizard, I am a true wizard."

Laura said:

"Then prove it to me."

Belle and Laura backed away. Belle opened the magic circles behind her and said loudly:

"Elemental Orbs! Fire!"

All elemental orbs fired through the magic circle and dashed at Laura. Laura said:

"Elemental Counterattack!"

Laura created a large magic circle in front of her, immediately having other orbs launch at Belle's orbs. The elemental orbs were mutually clashed with each other. Fire vs Water, Ice vs Fire, Lightning vs Earth... But Belle immediately waved her wand and unleashed elemental resistance on her orbs so she could dash through Laura's magic circle. Laura was hit and pushed back, but she covered her body with an energy shield so there wasn't much damage. After the attack, Laura stood up and said:

"Can you even launch more attacks?"

Belle replied:

"As your wish."

Belle transformed into New Shining Star form. Laura said:

"Then I don't abstain. The Witch!"

The Witch was summoned, it was an owl with blue tail feathers and represented the element of water. The Witch merged with Laura and transformed into a new robe of the powerful wizard. On the cloak were ancient magical runes in blue. Laura also activates her water elemental aura, entering her Vision Wizard form. Laura said calmly:

"Let's see who is stronger with the flower element and the water element."

Belle released even more elemental auras and said:

"I will not give in to your power."

Belle and Laura created hundreds of small magic circles behind them. They cast spells and continued to fight each other. Next was the battle of speed between Grim and Exos. Grim still slashed very quickly at Exos but he dodged all of them, not even his cloak was torn. Grim slashed at Exos's head, but he gently crouched to dodge and shoved Grim's leg causing him to fall with the hilt of his halberd. Grim immediately curled up and stood up, he launched a side kick but Exos simply stopped him with the hilt. Grim immediately stabbed Exos but he also immediately pushed the thrust out with hilt. Grim was exposed too much, Exos slashed down and hit his left shoulder. Blood gushed out but Grim didn't stop, he swung his sword to parry Exos's halberd and stepped back. Grim touched the wound and said:

"Just another scar that means nothing to me."

Grim smeared blood on the blade and said excitedly:

"You can give me a hundred more scars, but that will never make me give up on cutting you."

Exos replied:

"A tough guy like you wouldn't understand even if I explained."

Grim said:

"I like that."

Grim swung his sword down and sideways creating an X-shaped smoke slash and hurling it at Exos. Exos raised his hand and fired a moonlight beam that destroyed the slash. Exos swung his halberd and launched crescent moon darts at Grim. Grim jumps up and bounces around to dodge repeatedly. But the darts that missed immediately turned around and continued to aim at Grim as they knew how to track the target. Grim immediately spewed smoke from his sword and hid himself in the smoke. The darts also flew into the smoke, but they kept flying away because Grim's location could not be seen. A dart was looking for Grim when a blade lunged and slashed it down. Immediately three more darts flew to the place where the dart had fallen and saw Grim. They shot straight at Grim and he immediately slid down to dodge them quickly. Grim threw his sword to destroy another dart and pulled it back with a chain. He turned around and jumped in midair because of a sneak attack and threw his sword to destroy it. Grim swung the chain and swung his sword, destroying two darts from a distance and two more from behind. He collected his sword by pulling the chain and continued to fight with ten more darts. Exos looked inside the smoke and saw sparks shoot out, at the same time there was blood flowing from within the smoke. Exos sighed and thought with boredom:

"He's trying too hard again, even though he knows it's going to be hard to defeat me, he's still trying too hard."

Suddenly, a dart shot out from the smoke and stuck on the hilt a little closer to Exos's index finger. Exos also showed no surprise and watched Grim come out of the smoke. He had turned into half hyena form and was severely wounded with two darts stuck in his left shoulder and blood all over his arm. Grim pulled two darts from his shoulders and said:

"What's wrong? Surprised I'm still alive? A little bit more and it'll hit my neck but I can still keep destroying them."

Exos pulled the dart from the hilt and replied calmly:

"Still getting up and fighting so recklessly, you're the dumbest person I've ever known."

Grim put his sword on his shoulder and said:

"Yeah what? I'm the dumbest person ever to go up against the most powerful person on this Continent. But I've never felt this excited, hehehe."

Exos smiled lightly and replied:

"Remember what I taught you?"

Grim smiled arrogantly and said:

"Always remember."

Grim dashed towards Exos, he swung his halberd at Grim but he immediately turned to dodge and raised his sword to stab Exos. The moment was so quick and all actions were separated by almost a centimeter. Grim thought he could have hit Exos in the shoulder but no, Exos immediately moved his whole body simply to dodge like the time slowed down before his eyes. Grim slipped and slid face-down on the ground. Grim got up and wearily said:

"How? With the distance so close?"

Exos replied:

"It's moonlight. My real power is the moon, it's time. I can bend time and manipulate it in a specific area, but that area is so wide that you can hardly escape it. Other people watching me move will think I'm teleporting all over the place."

Grim thought in anger:

"Damn, it turns out he can stop time to dodge. No wonder I couldn't hit him. This is too bad for me."

Exos said coldly:

"So. Do you still want to continue even though you know something about my power?"

Grim gripped his sword even more tightly, smoke billowing from his back. Grim with many serious wounds, he wiped the blood from his mouth and confidently said:

"Why not? I said I would kill you."

Grim continued to rush forward and slash hundreds of slashes at Exos. And finally there was the battle between the two relatives who were facing each other. Eva and Urizen sped past each other. Urizen swung his right sword at Eva and The Riser raised its horn to slash at Urizen. The two crashed into each other and Urizen simultaneously blocked both The Riser's horn and Eva's bow with dual swords. Both pushed each other very hard. Eva quickly drew her bow to shoot a very close arrow at Urizen but he immediately swung his sword high, causing Eva to miss the shot. Urizen continued to swing his dual sword hard but Eva swung her bow and stopped the slash. Urizen said:

"Hmm, at this rate we're going to take too long."

Eva replied:

"No, it will be faster if we just release everything we have."

The two blades ignited, Urizen quickly raised his dual swords and swung the sword even harder down Eva's bow, knocking her and The Riser back. Urizen immediately leapt forward and slashed repeatedly at Eva, The Riser also swung its horn against Urizen's slashes. Eva repeatedly shot arrows of light at Urizen but he also repeatedly dodged and slashed repeatedly. The two flew higher and higher before their attacks. Urizen grabbed The Riser's right wing with his left foot. Eva hastily swung her bow and hit Urizen's left leg and hit him in the chest, knocking him back down. Eva said worriedly:

"The Riser, are you okay?"

The Riser's left wing was bleeding and its feathers were flying away, but it endured and said calmly:

"I'm fine, just focus on the battle in front of us."

The Riser's injury made Eva even more angry, she immediately urged The Riser to launch directly at Urizen. Urizen also lunged forward with his tail feathers and wings ablaze. Urizen launched fire feathers at Eva. She immediately dodged and fired three arrows of light at Urizen. He also immediately dodged and wielded dual swords in preparation for a powerful blow. Eva and Urizen crashed into each other in mid-air creating a concussion explosion. The two continued to fly higher up to the clouds and back away. The Riser's horn glowed and Eva placed an arrow of light on its horn and drew her bow. The Riser's arrow of light plus light created the Sunshine arrow. Urizen ignited even more, he slashed through the air creating a slash with six slashes. Eva and Urizen immediately rushed at each other. Eva shouted:

"Sunshine Arrow!"

Urizen shouted:

"Inferno Slash!"

The two unleashed their attacks on each other. Sunshine arrow and Inferno Slash clashed and exploded. Eva and Urizen darted through and swung their weapons at each other at the same time very quickly. Eva flew over and got a wound on her right waist. Urizen flew over and got a wound in his chest. The two stopped and turned to look at each other. Eva immediately used light to temporarily seal the wound while Urizen burned the wound. Eva said:

"We still have a lot of time."

Eva and The Riser released elemental aura. Urizen was on fire on his back and hair and said:

"Remember Eva, who are coming here, will be more powerful than I am."

Eva replied:

"I know, so as long as we win with all the enemies today, there's hope to fight that damn empire."

Urizen said:

"Continue, you and I have too many attacks yet to unleash."

Eva replied:

"Come here!"

Eva and Urizen continued to rush in and fight each other. Each of their swings clashed with each other creating small explosions in the sky. Back to Elastor and Alata, the two are still fighting fiercely with each other. Their slashing and stabbing attacks were continuously thrown and parried. Elastor slashed down hard but was stopped by Alata and hit him in the face with hilt. Alata turned around quickly and slammed into Elastor. Elastor hurt his nose but managed to dodge but the spear thrust into his left shoulder made the wound even worse. Elastor immediately swung his sword at Alata so he immediately backed away to dodge. Elastor pressed on the wound to stop the bleeding, he breathed heavily and said:

"How can I save you, Alata?"

Alata replied:

"By your death."

Elastor said:

"I won't use my Dark Elf form to fight you. I don't want to harm you any more, Alata."

Alata withdrew his weapon and said:

"Like you did when you thought I was dead?"

Alata rushed forward and punched Elastor in the face, he said angrily:

"You don't take me seriously, you're just a kid annoying everything."

He threw another hook punch on Elastor's jaw and said with extravagance:

"You consider me useless because I can never win against you."

Elastor was punched by Alata and flew away towards the castle. Julia saw Elastor being brutally attacked so shouted:

"Elastor!"

Julia tried to help Elastor but was pulled back by Reaper and said excitedly:

"Wait, we're not done yet."

Alata kept pulling Elastor closer and throwing more powerful punches. Elastor's breastplate and left shoulder armor were cracked, and Alata brutally hit his wound. Elastor spat out blood and said:

"Please, stop."

Blood gushed out from Alata's eyes and ears, and he cried out in bodily pain:

"Now you're begging me to spare your life? Coward. You killed my brothers and sisters and now you're begging me to spare your life."

Alata punched Elastor so hard in the chest that his heart beat too fast. Elastor braced himself and unleashed a kick on Alata's head that sent him crashing to the ground. Elastor flew into the castle and accidentally crashed into Reaper's room. Elastor forced himself to his feet and leaned against a cage and said:

"Damn it, it's too bad for me at this rate. I can't attack Alata because I'll seriously injure him. But..."

Elastor noticed Alata's bleeding and said:

"He's also pushing himself harder than his body can handle. I need to end the fight quickly or Alata will kill him herself. I need a plan right now."

Suddenly someone's hand touched Elastor's shoulder, he startled, then turned and said:

"Who's that?"

Elastor saw Sansa, startled, and withdrew her hand and replied:

"Sorry, but could you give me something to drink, please?"

Elastor saw that so he looked around for water, he realized he was standing inside Reaper's room, so he said dejectedly:

"Oh great, Reaper's room. No wonder."

Elastor grabbed the pitcher of water on the table and a cup. Elastor poured water into a cup for Sansa to drink, and she quickly drank it. Elastor poured water on his shoulder to clean the wound and used lightning to burn the wound. Sansa breathed a sigh of relief and weakly said:

"Did you just say you know Alata?"

Elastor replied:

"Yeah, he's my friend. You probably know Alata too."

Sansa said:

"He's not what he used to be, I'm scared but I want to help him back."

Elastor replied:

"Do you have a way?"

Sansa said:

"I'll try to convince Alata but it'll be a bit difficult to get close to him."

Elastor replied:

"But I can."

Elastor swung his sword to break the cage lock and release Sansa. Sansa sat on the back of Elastor's head, he thought to himself:

"It's weird to look like this."

Sansa looked at the people captured by Reaper and said:

"What about them?"

Elastor replied:

"Don't worry, we're about to defeat Reaper, they'll be released soon."

Sansa said:

"So who are you guys?"

Elastor confidently replied:

"Crusadia team, the team to save this kingdom."

Alata stood up and rushed to Elastor. Elastor said worriedly:

"There he is, hold on tight and remember to talk to Alata. By the way, what's your name?"

Sansa replied:

"My name is Sansa Lara."

Elastor said:

"Okay Sansa, I believe in you."

Elastor and Sansa flew to Alata and continued fighting. Elastor swung his sword at Alata but he blocked it. Sansa hurriedly said to Alata:

"Alata, it's Sansa. We know this isn't you so please wake up."

Alata had a slight headache, he shouted angrily and said:

"Shut up Sansa, you don't know anything."

Sansa replied:

"You know, you're Alata Sins, you're one of mine, you're not a murderer."

Alata's headache grew even more at Sansa's words, he growled in anger and punched Elastor in the chest, causing him to back away. Elastor said:

"Damn it, it works but Alata is tormenting his spirit."

Alata summoned many winds on his spear. Alata raised his spear and the wind around the blade turned into a giant wind drill. Elastor froze and said:

"Holy crap, it's really huge."

Alata pointed the drill at Elastor and Sansa and said with fury:

"I'll blow you away. Deadly Wind!"

Alata threw the drill at Elastor and Sansa and created a giant tornado that destroyed the houses below and swept them away. Elastor held Sansa tightly and said:

"Hold me tighter, Flash!"

Elastor quickly shot a bolt of lightning from his wings and escaped from the vortex, but they still flew towards the Newlaphaine kingdom. Elastor and Sansa accidentally flew to the garden behind the castle and landed heavily. Sansa was fine but Elastor was so badly injured, he turned back to normal and fainted. Sansa panicked and tried to wake Elastor up, she said:

"Big bro, wake up. He's coming."

Sansa watched from afar and saw Alata running towards him. Sansa hastily pulled Elastor back to Alata's grave. She dropped him and looked over Alata's grave. Sansa was surprised and said:

"Rest in peace, Alata Sins. What? Is Alata dead?"

Alata landed hard on the ground, cracking the ground, but he was still floating. Alata approached Elastor and Sansa, he still had a headache so he said painfully:

"Damn it, your words plus his made my head spin. Anyway, I'll kill both of you soon enough."

Sansa hastily replied in concern:

"Wait Alata, look at this, look at this grave."

Alata turned to look at his grave, next to it was the Skeletor. Alata's headache became more and more indescribable, he cried out in pain. Elastor was awakened by a scream, he looked at Alata and said:

"Alata? Where are we?"

Elastor realized they were at Alata's grave, he quickly grabbed Skeletor and said:

"Sansa, let's talk to him."

Elastor and Sansa slowly approached Alata who was screaming in pain, his eyes were bleeding. Elastor held up the Skeletor in front of Alata and said:

"Do you remember this handsome guy? Yes, Skeletor is still alive, thanks to you saving him."

Alata replied with madness:

"Shut up! Shut up! I don't want to hear anymore."

Sansa said:

"Calm down Alata, we know your pain, you don't have to shoulder everything alone, we're here."

Alata lay down and writhed in pain, part of his mind slowly returning. Alata looked at his grave, he saw the inscription:

"To our friend, Alata Sins.

Although the time was very short, but we cherish the time with you. We miss you Alata. All your mistakes are forgiven by us. Because friends can't make mistakes."

Alata screamed in more pain and burst into tears. Elastor gave the Skeletor to Sansa to hold and hold Alata's head. Elastor said forcefully:

"Remember Alata, you are our friend, not an enemy, no one's tool, just a friend! No one can change who you are and that. Be one a boy like you have always been. A boy who loves life and always wants to make friends."

Sansa added with affection and sincerity:

"You'll always be everyone's friend, as long as you wake up from this wicked man. And let's hang out like always."

Alata shouted even louder, thinking his vocal cords would snap. He closed his eyes and lowered his face. The screaming stopped and the crying replaced, Alata raised his face with two tears streaming down his face. Alata sniffled and said:

"I've always been everyone's friend, haven't I?"

Elastor and Sansa smiled happily, and together they replied:

"Always."

Alata burst into tears even louder and hugged Elastor. Elastor and Sansa were also moved and cried along. Elastor patted Alata on the back to comfort him and said calmly:

"Just cry your eyes out, it's okay. Welcome back, Alata."

Alata cried and said in sadness:

"I'm sorry for everything, I'm sorry I hurt my friend, I don't want that to happen again. Forgive me, Elastor and Sansa."

Sansa replied:

"It's okay Alata, you're back and we're so happy."

Elastor stood up and said:

"Okay, Alata. You just sit here and rest, I have a battle to go."

Alata curiously replied:

"What battle?"

Elastor said:

"Eva has returned to the kingdom and is battling Urizen, we're backing her up by taking on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the wizard Laura. I'll free you from Reaper now."

Alata hastily replied:

"Then I must follow, I will help you defeat him."

Elastor smiled and said:

"Then let's go back to the battle and fight hard."

After that the three of them immediately flew back to the kingdom, Elastor did not forget to destroy Alata's grave. Alata flew Sansa to Reaper's room, he gave her the key to the cage and said:

"Here, you let them go."

Sansa replied:

"Okay, you go help Elastor."

Suddenly Alata kissed Sansa on the cheek making her blush. Alata happily said:

"Wait for me, then we'll go out together."

Alata hugs Skeletor and says:

"I'm glad to see you again, now wait for me."

Alata left the Skeletor on the chair pretending it was sitting and flew away. Alata excitedly said aloud:

"Alata is back!"

Going back to Lamalia and Julia, they're getting more and more difficult after holding on to the enemy for a while. Lamalia fights both Zack and Hatai. They launched fire and ice at her. Lamalia had no choice but to repeatedly launch giant stone stakes at Zack and Hatai to hold them back. Zack with the heat of the fire was so great that it easily destroyed Lamalia's rock wall and Hatai with the sub-zero cold froze her rock. They shouted loudly:

"Lion Roar!/Ice Behemoth!"

Zack unleashes the head of a giant flaming lion and Hatai unleashes massive icebergs against Lamalia's defensive rock wall. The stone wall exploded and blew Lamalia away, she was smashed to the ground and Rhino armor was almost completely broken. Lamalia's head was bleeding and her eyes were getting weaker. Zack proudly says:

"Your power is nothing?"

Suddenly Elastor's strong voice replied:

"But I do."

Two dark bolts of lightning rushed forward and hit Zack and Hatai in the chest and repelled them. Elastor returned to his Dark Elf form, he said arrogantly:

"Did you forget I'm still here?"

Zack replied in confusion:

"No way, you're still busy with Reaper's brat."

Elastor said:

"You mean my friend right, he's over there."

Elastor pointed his thumb at Julia. Zack and Hatai angrily looked at the Reaper fighting Julia. Reaper used thorny vines whips and tied Julia up and held her to the ground. Julia struggled to get out but couldn't. Reaper raised his scythe and said:

"This is your end, become my pet like your mother."

Suddenly Alata shouted from behind Reaper:

"Stop right there."

Alata lunges forward and punches Reaper in the back and pushes him away. Julia looked at Alata and excitedly said:

"Alata? You're back!"

Alata happily replied:

"That's right, the happy and strong Alata is back. And there's also a free upgrade."

Julia worriedly said:

"Alata, you're not mad at me anymore, are you?"

Alata just smiled happily and replied:

"I've come to realize, they've never been my brothers or sisters or friends. Only you guys are my best friends."

Alata untied Julia and they both headed towards the Reaper. Reaper stood up and angrily said:

"You bastards, he remembered again. Regardless of you, I'll kill you all."

The Reaper raked his scythe hard into the ground. Zack and Elastor were against each other again. Elastor said to the injured Lamalia:

"Hey, can you still fight?"

Lamalia immediately stood up and replied forcefully:

"Of course it's okay, that kind of injury means nothing to me."

Elastor said:

"Okay then, let's end this battle!"

Elastor and Lamalia rushed forward and continued the battle with Zack and Hatai. Both Alata and Julia also rushed forward and fought the Reaper together. Elastor and Alata both smiled and said:

"Friends should always stick together like that."