The three are now standing in a wide gymnasium. Van removes his coat as he is wearing a typical shirt as Gran is also wearing the same, plus he wears a martial arts gloves. Both of them are stretching and all while Sylvia is wearing a tank top and she is doing some practice swinging.
"Geez is it really okay to have this place get wreck?" Gran ask as the Van flashes a thumbs up. "Yeah, I want both of you to not hold back. This is not gonna be a training if we can't push each other to the limits and we review how we can deal with each other's techniques." Van explains as Sylvia joins in.
"I recall that you prefer using your fists Gran. Is it something you prefer over blades or you didn't have any mastery about this at all? Swords and blades may give you an advantage after all." Sylvia ask as Gran laughs.
"Hah! As if. I'll show you later why having four limbs is better than a focused one." Gran finishes his warm up leg stretch. The air shifts as everything become tense. Van draws his black sword while Sylvia focuses on her blade while filling herself with Mana. Gran then finishes his warm up as he takes a stance, bit he remember something.
"Okay, I totally forgot, where is that corrupt noble is being held right now? I've carry that bugger over here." Gran ask as Van's concentration disappears. "We've already interrogating him. Can we continue now?" Van replies as Gran laugh but the dead serious Sylvia can't bring herself to speak or to react. The two guys can feel her hatred even from that corner of the gymnasium.
"Well then, let's..." - Gran
"GO!!" - Van
And in a three way attack the three dashes through the middle. Their weapons and techniques clash as Gran is able to block both Sylvia and Van's sword strike with his Barrier coated fists. "Isn't this unfair for me?" Then Sylvia withdraw her sword as she align her blade for a horizontal slice. Gran catch this with his left knee and elbow. Van then aims to stab Gran's face, but he leans back and he handspring to retreat. Van follows up with a sword slashes to Sylvia, only for her to block and parry it for the last slice.
"You've getting faster..." Van remarks but Sylvia doesn't let him finish his words as she raises her fist to smack Van away, getting the Sword Saint off guard as he doesn't expect such move from Sylvia. "Something's definitely not okay! You didn't do that dirty moves before." The Sword Saint complains, but she doesn't care about formalities or chivalry anymore. She is getting razor focus as she gives a ton of slashes to hack her way to Van's defense.
"Looks like you forgot about me!!" Gran screams out as he jumps out and drops so hard, he creates a crater where the two sword users use to be. Sylvia and Van jumps out of the way as Gran focuses on attacking Sylvia now. Gran then stand in a boxers stance as he weaves his head and tries to evade every sword strike Sylvia unleashes with his Dempsey Roll.
Gran tries to throw jabs at Sylvia, targeting her face and her torso as he wants to teach her how to avoid not only head and body, but for her to know how to properly defend herself from every direction. The Exorcist follows up with a gut punch, Sylvia blocks it with her sword as she turns it and tries to counter by hitting Gran with the butt end of her sword. He uses his blocked right hand to parry it away and unleash a roundhouse kick.
"I've seen through that." Sylvia thinks off as she raises her arms to guard her face, only for Gran to make it a faint for a question mark kick. It hit her right side as Gran advances while the Sword Saint is now dashing back again with his mana filled blade searing through the air with intensity.
"Hope you're ready to intercept!" He warns as he doesn't want to actually kill them. He set the power on medium as he doesn't want to seriously hurt them, but he come to regret that later. Before he can even close the distance Gran throws his dagger on his face. "Repel Blast." The Exorcist commands while he just turn his body away momentarily to Sylvia.
The Dimensional Flow responds as the calculation runs through and Gran's command connects properly. Van notices that the dagger and the stone on Gran's necklace are glowing, making him realize that when he is using his abilities, those items will light up. The Repel Blast pushes the Sword Saint away as he blocks the dimensional attack within a fraction of a second as to not hurt him much. It sends him flying again fron where he from.
Sylvia doesn't let this opportunity pass as she fills her sword with Mana as she makes a controlled upward diagonal swing to the Exorcist. Gran then ducks out and she swiftly turn he blade vertically downwards, making Gran leap out to her right as she calculates this move of his. "You have some pattern when you fight Mr. Gran. I get it." Sylvia smirks as soon as Gran goes to her right, she then turns and unleashes the full might of her sword.
"Heh, this is the reason why I say having all limbs in battle are better than one..." Gran points at Sylvia's back, beyond her comprehension. He points at something that make Sylvia look back, and she see his dagger stabbed in the dirt. "Compression." Gran says with a low tone voice as it stops Sylvia's swing and Gran closes the distance.
"Again, when you fight, be aware of your surroundings. Never just focus on what's in front of you." Gran explains as he set his hands on Sylvia's right side again, and he performs an One Inch Punch. The force sent Sylvia careening to the side, only for her to stop from hitting the walls by stabbing her sword at the ground as it stops the powerful strike he perform, which boggles her mind.
"How does he..." Sylvia thinks and she remember seeing it. At the moment Gran throws his dagger, he then recalls it with Compression quietly as she begins her two slashes. He then stab the dagger when he ducks her first diagonal slice and he then dodge the next one with the trap planted in there. Sylvia smacks the ground as she just get what Gran plans on that moment, but all of this prattling will also catch to Gran up as Van draws her second, shorter blade.
Gran coats his hands in Barrier as the Sword Saint strikes and pushes him with great force. Before hitting the gymnasium walls, he make the momentum of the attack place him underneath and he pushes him upward with a two feet upward kick. It send the Sword Saint on the air, and then Gran use a controlled Compression to recall his dagger to his left hand and swiftly throw it above him.
"Dimensional Boom..." - Gran
"FINISHING MOVE!!" - Van
The commands match timing. The Dimensional Flow swells as the dual blades are swinging with unbelievable force as the blackenef Mana starts to drop from the swords and the space bending Dimensional Boom clash. The moment these two ecplosive attacks meet. The whole gymnasium rumbles as the Valkyries, Princess Lucy, the people near the said gymnasium, and almost the entire city of Apolonis, suddenly feels the moment.
*BOOOOOOMMM
The colliding attack are so devastating that the top, walls, glass window, nearby window, innocent bystanders and almost on the outer ends of the city, are almost blown away by thr attack. The guards alert the entire city as the explosion itself destroy the gymnasium itself. It make Queen Victa and King Roan take cover as they are scared. The Valkyries also duck under the tables as Gran creates a Barrier to contain all of the subsequent destruction by throwing dozens of pebbles to entrap the explosion.
"WHOOOOO! How's that for an explosion!!" Van utterly expresses with a deep happiness as he is blown away and he lands outside Apolonis' walls. Sylvia takes cover herself while Gran is trying to dissipate the explosive force as it makes his brain and his attuned items work full time to maintain the Barrier.
"Tch, this is bad!!! Even at 80% attunement it is stupid to try making the energy disappear! First law of Thermodynamics states that Energy cannot be destroyed nor created!! I must get this higher to the air then!!" Gran thinks as he grits his teeth and his nose is bleeding, a sign that his brain is overloading.
Gran jumps upward and he fill his palm with a Barrier that he pulls out on his system as he can't use more Barrier after this for a while. He then uses all of his remaining strength to push the contained explosion upwards to the air as he releases his Barrier.
*BOOOOOOM!!
By releasing his Barrier, the explosive force are unleashed, flattening the trees and pushing the clouds from that portion of the world. The release are so great that even the people in Helios and somewhat the Aluterians have also notice it. Soli's eyes widen as he sees it momentarily, something that wakens a desire in him. "That attack? That feels... You are here too right? Finally!! Finally!!" Soli is overjoy as he is standing in high ground while he is facing Conquer and his steed Blaze. Trismegistus is not visible here as he is hiding in one of the houses on that particular village that Soli is planning to do something.
Gran lands on the destroyed gymnasium panting heavily and tired. He falls onto his knees as the Valkyries finds him while Sylvia is checking him if he's okay. "Gran! Gran!!" Gina screams out as Sylvia gives way for her to look into her lover. "Hey hey are you okay? What happen here?" Gina interrogates as the Exorcist inhales and decides. "Yeah, Sylvia please... Explain the whole thing to them. Gonna take a nap."
As soon as Gran says that he close his eyes to sleep. Gina and the rest look ar Sylvia, who can't look them in the eye as she is somewhat feeling guilty about this whole incident as well. "I uhm... Uh... How should I put this..." Sylvia says as she can't choose the right words to tell them.
But then, Van appears and he is shivering in fear as he sees that the gymnasium itself is wrecked by his and Gran's clashing attack.
He is scratching and thinking to himself what should he do, but somebody doesn't wait for any explanation coming from him. While he is standing at the top of the walls, Princess Lucy's servant have come to pick him up. "If you obey her command, she will be willing to hear your side out. That's the Princess' words." The servant details to Van.
The Sword Saint hang his head low as he defeatedly agrees. He walk along the servant to ride with the royal carriage as Gran feels his brain is basically burnt out. He is snoring out as Gina carries him to a nearby clinic, where a healer tries to cast a healing spell on him. The Valkyries then receive a summon as Sylvia's also been called out. Princess Lucy is trying to maintain her composure, but the whole incident is making her temple twitch with anger.
"You guys just happen to be in this city for several days now... And you, Sword Saint, is really pushing my button right now..." Lucy says in a very, very ominous tone.
Meanwhile...
"I guess your kind doesn't want to see the real beauty behind the humanity's struggle or whatnot? Are you really gonna ask me about conquest and such?" Soli ask as he gaze upon the ghostly figure of Conquer as he points to the monster and wants to recruit him on their side.
"What beauty? Humanity doesn't have this beauty you are speaking off! If you want beauty, I'll let you taste it once or true ruler, the Demon King, have already bend this world on his knees." The skeletal Herald explains while he is gesturing like he is monologuing to convince Soli. Soli is completely exasperating over this conversation as Conquer mistakenly thinks that Soli is desiring lustful beauty.
"And this is why I don't like your kind. You thought everything can be achieved by trampling things for something or someone else. I am chasing after eternal beauty, to remove humanity's flaw and struggles. My friends here joins me to see this vision to fruition. If you plan to stand against my crusade and..."
He extend his hand to show his palm to the Herald. This alarms Trismegistus as he feels a different kind of force forming through that spot. "Conquer, it is best for us two to join up against him! I can feel that he is not using Mana himself. He is using the very fabric of reality instead." Trismegistus explains through the telepathic communication as the skeletal Herald whip his fiery steed to hop out of the way. He manage to dodge the reconstructed wind blade Soli makes.
"I'll show you the difference of my vision to your paltry obedience." Soli ends his statement as Lenny jumps out of the bushes as he tries to strike the Herald with his axe. The mindless knight puppet of Soli just continues to swing his axe without regard if his flesh are being torn apart by the force he is unleashing against Conquer.
"Puppetry? Necromancy? Only Yegor should be able to do this!!" Conquer notice as he blocks and parries the knight's axe swings. He then command Blaze to kick Lenny out as it deflect his axe up and the kick send the puppet knight away, flying into the sea of trees. Soli then holds the ground, calculates the coordinate where Conquer is standing on, and reconstruct the solid ground he is standing into a mud.
As soon as Blaze is standing and slowly sinking in the reconstructed mud, Conquer then disembark leaping with his greatsword on hands. He then lands and strike the edge at Soli, who's puppet knight blocks the attack and Soli swiftly moves his hands to eradicate Conquer once and for all. The skeletal Herald uses a dark spell, and he suddenly appears at the monster's back, stabbing him and kicking him to the treeline.
"Oh, it seems that monster have something else huh..." Soli thinks off as he then looks up as the sky darkens. A lightning drops through the sky as Soli stomps the ground. The very earth beneath him forms a dome to protect Soli, and he extend his right hand to point at Conquer. "Looks like I need to take this more seriously." The monster remarks as he reconstructs several wind blades and he then compress the wind on his palm to create plasma.
"I guess I have to respond in kind." Soli states as Conquer hop and dodge the wind blades Soli have made. The monster follows this one up with a plasma discharge, a high speed attack that Soli releases from his hands after compressing hot winds.
Conquer opt to leap out and he raise his greatsword again to stab the monster in question. "Die!" The skeletal Herald scream out as he lands with his sword. The great force makes Soli handspring out of his way.
"I see, so you can fire off lightning and use your powerful sword at will. That is a beautiful combo you got there." Soli compliments as he finally decides to end the conflict once and for all. He then spreads out and unleashes his Deconstruction technique in front of him.
"That is one hell of a lethal attack! Get out of the way Conquer!!" Trismegistus telephatically commands as he gets out of his hiding spot to cast a powerful Barrier Spell and he layer it with several powerful Barriers again, over 7 of them. The skeletal Herald notices his fellow as he nods and got out of the way by retreating at his side. It is good that he does as he witness as the Deconstructing particles are almost instantly erased like a wet paper being teared through.
"What kind of power does this fake priest holds Trismegistus? He shouldn't be doing that kind of stuff if he isn't using any Mana!" Conquer protest as Soli looks at the two. He then aims his hand again to unleash his Deconstruction particles. "I can tell you one thing, he isn't a kind that comes from this world. I suggest we retreat for now. We already see what this monster can do." Trismegistus, ever a pragmatic mage as he is known for among his peers, advices as he witness the power that Soli holds.
The two dodge the Deconstruction as Conquer and Trismegistus both cast a quick spell to drop onto the monster that is Soli.
"Heh, and we claim we are the monsters huh." Conquer chide in as the lightning falls from the blacken sky and Trismegistus fires a fiery bird like spell to Soli. The monster from another world doesn't bother blocking it as he waves his hand to the right and the attack fades. As soon as the attack disappear, so the two Heralds of the Demon King as well.
"Tch, you ugly beings. Maybe I should teach those demons a thing or two about beauty..." Soli remarks in a low voice as he check Lenny's injury and he thought of something.
"Wait, if this beings are making an army... Guess I will make my own as well, fufufufu. Thanks for the inspiration you lot." - Soli.
Meanwhile...
Harker manage to assemble a bunch of corpses that she slew in a remote town from the Eastern Side of the Kingdom. The Holy Knights there are making a last stand as the said town are festering with corpses and crying people. The brave Holy Knight standing there are trying to lunge at Harker, only for her to point her index finger on his forehead and controls him.
"You obey me, you love me, you crave for me right? Hehe..." The mischievous succubus Herald states as the knight lowers his sword and nods with excitement for her command. She then points down and make the him lower his head. "Exactly what I wanted. Now, make yourself useful as you slaughter the people behind you." The evil lady Herald commands as she points out to the terrified people trying to escape her wrath.
The knight have try to fight off the command, yet his will break out as he go ahead and raise his sword to slaughter the innocent people under her command. This dark deed is what make Harker blush in happiness. "Oh, I love the sound of dying throes! What a wonderful melody!" Harker remarks as a spell circle suddenly appears behind her.
She turns around and see that Conquer and Trismegistus is there. Blaze is also standing next to his master as the succubus paints the town in crimson blood. "What happen? Looks like you are a bunch loser shit right now." The succubus Herald says as Conquer and Trismegistus protest.
"I can't believe it, but we need to focus about something here Harker. That monster that kills off many of the demon we have set up from the villages and at the outskirts, he is unbelievably strong." Conquer states as Trismegistus adds.
"That being isn't of this world. He is using something different than what we are usually using on this world. He tear through my Barriers like it is nothing. We need to gather up the remaining Heralds alive to combine our forces and stop that being for good." - Trismegistus.
"Situation's that bad eh, I'll try to contact Yegor and the Sprite. I can't seem to contact them since yesterday." Harker replies as she couldn't believe about the urgency that her comrades are showing. She then tries to reach Yegor via telephatically, only that she doesn't know that he is already been killed along with the thunder sprite.
"It seems I can't seem to reach them still. I'll personally go to them then." Harker says as she cast a teleportation circle on her self to reach Kairan.
"Only hope we got is to slay those damned beasts and call the Demon King." - Conquer.