Vol. 15 - Chapter 3: El Charro de la Guerra (The Charro of War)

Part 1 – Outer Space

I guess that is all the Tenth Hour has… Darius floats in space as he hears the voice of a little girl. Darius slowly opens his eyes and sees the sun; he continues to hear the voice:

Darius Lucifugus, I guess that´s all you have right, I see I wasn't mistaken, you really are weak….

Darius opens his eyes completely and shatters the ice in his body. He begins to release manna as he exclaims:

"SHUT UP HENRIETTA, I STILL HAVE POWER LEFT IN ME. I WILL COMPLETE MY MISSION…"

You are the Tenth Hour; your mission is to retrieve the Philosopher´s stone, this is crucial in order to illuminate the world…Don't forget that…

"I know already, I will finish this and then, I´m going to kill you Henrietta." Darius opens the portal; he slowly floats to it and disappears.

In a dark room where there thousands of stuff animals and dolls, a little girl plays with her bear as she smiles; "You kill me? I wish you luck, Darius"

Part 2 - Juan´s side

Juan slowly opens his eyes and laughs. "What´s wrong father? Did something happen?" Alexa asks with a worried expression,

"That bastard managed to control my power. I can see that his father intervened; now he has full control of the Horseman of War."

Juan stands up and looks down with a joyful expression, they begin to descend as he looks at Alexa:

"Get ready my daughter, because the moment of the duel approaches."

Alexa nods in agreement; "Jus you wait Uriel, your powers are mine."

Part 3 – Golden City of Cibola

(BBBBBOOOOMMM)

A pillar of crimson manna destroys the ice; a figure begins to walk forward. Everyone looks nervous as they take a battle stance. Katsumi feels something and lowers her sword, she smiles and says:

"It´s good you came back, Uriel"

The pillar and dust cloud clear revealing Uriel in his new form. He has his normal Charro attire however; he now has red in some parts of his outfit. His shows are red all the way to his knees. His hands and arms are also red up to his elbow. His cloak has red in the bottom, and his Charro hat has red in the tip. He appearance also change, his hair crimson, his eyes have cracks around them, his corneas are black and his pupils have triangles pointing down with red color surrounding them. His sword is black with a red line in the center and lines in the shape of veins on the sides.

Uriel looks at his appearance and thinks; "So this is the far that I can go…"

"Uriel, is that you?" Katsumi asks Uriel, Uriel looks at her but does not answer, he walks away a few meters. Uriel touches the ground and closes his eyes.

(BADUMP, BADUMP, BADUMP)

"Right here…" Uriel grabs his sword with both hands pointing down, with great fore stabs the sword to the ground. He closes his eyes and chants:

"Arte del Jinete: Erupcion" (Horseman Art: Eruption)

(BBBBBOOOOMMM)

Suddenly, the earth begins to tremor, in four different parts of the city, pillar of lava emerge and begin to consume the buildings.

"Uriel what did you do?" Allan asks Uriel who comes closer, Uriel without any expression answers; "I am going to bury this city and the Philosopher Stone with it."

"Uriel that´s insane, if you do that then…" Heidi tries to explain but Allan stops her, Uriel closes his eyes and begins to concentrate.

(BADUMP, BADUMP, BADUMP)

"I´ve located manna similar to yours; it's time for us to part ways." Uriel opens a crimson portal behind them; he looks at them and says:

"Thank you for helping me, I ´m sorry that I was such a burden but don´t worry, I will stop Darius…"

Allan and the others smile, "Thank you for helping Yggdrasil, please try to stay alive." Allan, Heidi and Shion begin to walk towards the portal. Katsumi feeling useless begins to scream:

"URIEL, DON'T DO THIS TO ME, I CAME HERE TO HELP YOU."

Katsumi tries to run but her feet don't respond causing her to fall, Uriel walks towards her and says; "You are only going to be in the way, listen, I must stop him no matter what."

"But sacrificing your life, Uriel, please, you must understand that the reason I´m doing this is because I lo…."

Uriel hugs Katsumi interrupting her, Katsumi begins to cry; "Katsumi, thank you for being there when I needed you the most. I will cherish those memories we made together. You need to live, that is one of my wishes. Forgive me for being selfish but this is the last time we will see each other again."

A portal opens below her feet she begins, Uriel hits her back, Katsumi begins to lose conscious as she sees Uriel smiling; "GOOD BYE, KATSUMI AND THANK YOU…"

Katsumi falls into the portal, the other cross the red portal as well. Uriel closes the portals and stands up. He begins to walk towards the temple, Alexandria walks besides him and says:

"Weren't you a little rough with her? I mean it´s clear that she has feeling for you."

"We Horsemen Are not supposed to be loved; right now my only objective is Darius." Uriel says with a serious tone. "I understand, then I won't interfere in this fight" Alexandria begins o fade away; Uriel looks at her and says:

"Try not to get hurt, that is not your body, remember…"

Uriel bends his knees in order to get an impulse; he jumps in the air heading straight at the temple. In the temple´s altar, a black portal opens. "I must obtain the stone, that way I will be stronger than her…"

Darius slowly crosses the portal, suddenly figures lands in between him and the stone. "I won't let you grab that stone, Darius Lucifugus."

"Ahh, so the Horseman has come once again." The dust cloud vanishes revealing Uriel in his new form. "Not quite, I´m Uriel"

"So you manage to control that power huh, pretty convenient." Darius smiles at Uriel, Uriel chuckles; "You´re right, it may seem like a power up bullshit but the truth is I don't have quite the control yet. In fact I can only keep this form a couple of minutes. I call this form El Charro de la Guerra" (Charro of War)

"Well that´s too bad, the name suits you, in that case, I will…" Darius begins to spit blood; his wings begin to turn to ash and get blown away slowly. "I guess you don't have enough time either." Uriel says to Darius, Darius looks at the lava coming out from everywhere and rising in a fast speed.

"He´s planning to bury the city, I guess this is a fight against time." Darius thinks as he looks at Uriel. Darius and Uriel stands face to face one last time.

"THIS WILL BE OUR FINAL BATTLE BOY!" Darius says as he raises his Sharur, Uriel takes a battle stance and says:

"YOU´RE RIGHT, I WILL DEFEAT YOU HERE!"

(BBBBOOOMMMM)

Darius and Uriel clash their weapons causing a huge explosion in the altar. Uriel pushes Darius back with great force. They begin to clash their weapon multiple times. Darius spreads his wings and falls to the ground and uses it as impulse to fly towards the stone.

"I MUST GET THAT STONE" Darius screams as he extends his arm. "I WON´T LET YOU!" Uriel appears in the side and kick Darius sending flying to a golden tower.

(CCCRRRAASSHHH)

Uriel lands in a building and feels his leg breaking and his body aching; "I´m running out of time."

Darius comes out of the building flying towards the pyramid, Uriel feeling pain in his leg uses it anyways. "I won't lose." Uriel attacks Darius with his sword, they continue to clash multiple times, Uriel bleed from his head while Darius from his body as well.

(BADUMP, BADUMP)

Uriel feels an extreme pain in his body; Darius uses the opportunity and charges manna in his sharur. "IT´S OVER BOY!

(CCCRRRAAASSHHH)

Darius swings the sharur like a baseball and manages to hit Uriel breaking his ribs. Uriel throws up blood as he flies towards t a building far from the temple. Uriel destroys the temple, and falls unconscious.

Lava fills the city at high speed. Darius begins to climb the temple slowly as his wings completely turn to ashes. Darius throws up blood as he thinks:

"I must reach the stone, I must…"

The lava approaches Uriel quickly as it elevates more and more. Uriel breaths heavily as he thinks:

"Is this all I´ve got? Was this all my power?"

"riel…Uriel…Uriel…URIEL!" Uriel begins to hear the voice of everyone he cares; Maria, Daniel, Valerie, Carolina, the three sisters, Griselda, Johanna, Alejandro, Tsubasa, Katsumi, Chloe, Samantha, Alexandria and Marjorie. They all are calling his name; Uriel opens his eyes and sees the moon. "Now then, that's my boy, you have the spirit of a wolf, which means that you will always be in front and protect the ones precious to you."

Uriel begins to slowly stand up, he begins to think; "That´s right, I´m the one who protects, I am the Horseman of War"

(BBBBOOOOMMM)

"AAHHHHH" Uriel releases a pillar of crimson manna, with all his strength, Uriel jumps into the air and heads towards the temple. Darius notices and tries to move faster; "I´m about t reach it, I´ve waited for this eight years!"

Darius reaches the altar; Uriel jumps into the air and floats a few seconds. With the moon behind him Uriel lifts his sword to reflect the light, he gathers manna in his swrod and screams:

"THIS WILL BE MY FINAL ATTACK!"

"I WILL KILL YOU BOY!"

Uriel takes a stance with his knee a little bit up, one hand grabs the sword, and the other the blade as he chants; "Arte del Jinete; Cancion de la Luna, Ultima Estrofa; Luna Roja" (Horseman Art, Moon Song, Last Stanza; Red Moon)

Darius releases a powerful manna ray towards the Uriel; Uriel swings the sword creating a giant red sphere similar to the moon. The attacks clash with force, wind blows with great power. Uriel uses his wind to create an impulse and charges straight at the sphere.

(BBBBOOOOMMM)

The attacks explode, Uriel uses the opportunity to land behind Darius, and Darius makes a downward swing, Uriel spins and chants:

"Primera estrofa, Luna Nueva" (First Stanza, New Moon.)

(DDDIIINNNNGGG)

The clash their weapon one last time, Darius overwhelms Uriel, however Uriel repels Darius making list his arms. Uriel spins one more time and manages to connect his attack.

(SSSLLLAASSSHHH)

Uriel slashes Darius arm off, "AAHHHHHH" Darius screams as he fall back, Darius´arms disintegrate as the Sharur falls next to him. Uriel lies down in his knee breathing heavily and feeling extreme pain.

"It´s over Darius, you lost…" Uriel exclaims with a tired voice, Darius begins to chuckle; "Silly boy, I can easily do this…" Darius tries to regenerate his arms but it's pointless, because he has no manna left. "Damn it, why now of all times… my manna is over…"

I think it´s time for us to go." Dimitru says to Aleister, Aleister nods in agreement as he opens a portal, both of them begin to walk and disappear in the portal. Darius slowly looks at the sky as he begins to remember his past.

Part 4 – Darius´ life

Darius Salome Lucifugus was born in 1920 on Bucharest, Romania. During that time, the country was under the rule of the royal family; The Hohenzollern. The Lucifugus was part of the noble families that lived in the boundaries of the castle. Darius had noble father and mother who served as advisors of the king. He had a little bother named Eric. Both of them had blonde hair, reddish eyes and pale skin. For 10 years. Darius and his family lived in wealth and power. They had everything they desire and had control of the people in that capital city. However, Darius´ nightmare began in 1930 where the revolution took place and put an end to the Royal Families.