Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Ruined Victory
Back on "War's" ship his brother "Wolf" had gotten hysterical after seeing the stars annihilate the planet he was on.
"We have to go save my brother! Let me go! If you try to stop me I'll kill you all!" "Wolf" howled.
"Lord "Wolf" please listen. There's no way Lord "War" survived an attack of that magnitude. We have strict orders from Lord "War" in the event of his death we are to take you back to Vercheg and install you as the new leader of the 7 Elements." A Unicorn Knight said.
"But we can't just leave him." "Wolf" pleaded.
"Of course my lord, we will go down and retrieve his body. But we cannot risk your safety while the enemy is still there. I ask we stay patient and remain here while we go down." He replied to which "Wolf" reluctantly agreed.
Back on the remnants of the planet's surface, Kize was making preparations to leave. "It appears your men are coming to retrieve your body. I won't stop them, a warrior of your caliber deserves a proper burial." He said as he walked away he heard a voice.
"Where do you think you're going? Our fight ain't over yet!" "War" weakly shouted from behind him.
"You can't be serious! How did you survive that? It's simply not possible!" Kize shouted in disbelief. "Listen, just look at the state you're in. You're in no condition to continue this fight. Your men are on their way to retrieve you. If you leave now they may be able to get you medical treatment in time. If you leave now you might still live."
"But I don't wanna live. I. I WANNA WIN!!!!" "War" howled as he set his aura ablaze.
"That's insane. He's more concerned with victory than death, and his aura is burning even stronger than before." Kize thought. "My king has often referred to me as the incarnation of war, but I'll admit that the true personification of war is you." He said.
Siege Form: Battering Ram!!!!!!!!!!!
"War" rushed forward on his broken legs and slammed a head butt into Kize's abdomen, causing him to vomit blood and sending him crashing into the ground.
"I used up all my aura in that attack. Without aura to defend with, that attack did massive damage. My internal organs are practically all crushed. Ironic, his first significant hit of our fight was probably enough to kill me." Kize thought.
"The only explanation for how he survived, was that he started healing his vital points as he was receiving my attack. I've never heard of him being able to heal himself, he must have done it subconsciously out of desperation. Still he's not well trained in healing using aura. He basically has two options, focusing purely on healing, or launching another attack. If he picks the latter option, which I know he will, he will lose his healing and die." He continued.
"If he is allowed to live, I know that eventually he will be a threat to even the king. Even if I die here, I'll be satisfied if I can take him down with me." Kize thought.
"I can feel my body healing, slowly, I know if I can focus on healing myself I'll probably survive. But then Kize's aura will recover and I'll have no chance of beating him." "War" thought as he steeled his resolve. "There's no way I'm doing that. I'll win this even if it kills me!" He then prepared for his final strike.
However, as he was about to attack, a shard of ice shot through Kize's heart. "Well that takes care of that." Said a man as he approached. The closer he got, the lower the temperature dropped.
"What are you doing? You ruined my victory!" "War" said.
The man was "Star's" Vice Captain "Ice". "Oh sorry I didn't notice you were still alive!" He said as he noticed "War". "I beg your pardon, it seems I've interfered where I shouldn't have. In my defense I couldn't feel your life force from back there. To be honest, I can barely feel it now standing right in front of you."
"Still, you're right. Looks like I owe you one. How about this, the next time I'm about to win a fight, you can swoop in and steal the kill from me. How about that? Deal?" "Ice" asked, but "War" had passed out from his injuries and collapsed to the ground. "I'll take that as a yes." He said.
"Ice" had medics rushed to help "War". He then spent the next few days in a healing tank, when he finally emerged he had all of his wounds healed, and his arms had been regenerated as well.
"Wow, Imperial medical technology is really impressive." "War" said as he wiggled his fingers.
"I'm just glad you're back big brother." "Wolf" said exuberantly. As "War" was healing, the rest of the 7 Elements had gathered and were currently on "Ice's" ship.
"Ah, good to see you back up again, we were just preparing to go over our next strategy." "Ice" said as he saw "War" enter the room.
"Our next objective is Vanda itself, or rather its largest moon Gremma. That's where King Venpa has sent up his military HQ, I'm sure he put it there to keep the citizens of Vanda away from the fighting." He continued.
"Why do we need to make an assault ourselves? Can't we wait for the armies the Great Generals have mustered? With the Vandal's strongest forces defeated it shouldn't take long for them to arrive." "Wind" asked.
"Good question. While those armies are rapidly approaching, the Vandals are currently pulling back all of their forces as well in an effort to defend their home world. By the time that the Great Generals get here, it'll turn into a protracted siege that'll result in massive casualties on both sides. My plan is to rush to Vanda with the forces we have on hand. That way we can attack Vanda while it's lightly defended." "Ice" explained.
"That's a good plan but what are you going to do about King Venpa? I heard he used to be quite the formidable warrior himself." "Earth asked.
"I'll handle him myself. Given his reputation I doubt he'd back down from a 1 on 1 fight." "Ice" replied.
"Fine, but don't forget you owe me one. I'm going to swoop in and steal the final hit just like you did to me." "War" said.
"Haha! You remember that do you? I thought you might have already been unconscious when I said that. But whatever that's fine." "Ice" said with a jovial smile.
Now seeing "Ice" while fully conscious, "War" noticed how powerful he truly was. He wasn't as strong as "Star" of course, but he was far stronger than even Kize. He had killed Kize when he was already on death's door because of "War's" attack, but "War" knew. As strong as he was it was likely that he could have killed him in a single strike from the beginning. "These guys are still really far ahead of me." "War" thought to himself.
After the strategy meeting, the 7 Elements got together to celebrate, "War's" recovery as well as their respective victories. As they were celebrating "War" noticed Victoria.
"Haha! You almost got lucky. I almost kicked the bucket." "War" said giving her a playful nudge on the shoulder.
"You know it's not like I actually wish you dead or anything. You're the worst." She said as she got up and walked away.
"Oh how cold! I'm not like her darling, I'm super happy you made it back alive." Margarita said as she latched onto his arm. "Oh? Usually you throw me off you immediately, are you doing alright darling?"
"Huh? Oh yeah I guess the feeling hasn't really come back to my arm yet." "War" said as he flung her off. "Hey "Ice" what happened to "Star" by the way? Do you know?"
"Star" had chased the creature to a far away planet, and from that planet he made a call to High Command. He was wounded, and his mask and armor was cracked.
"Is the beast taken care of?" The Minister of the Left asked.
"Yes but it was the best I could do to just seal it away." "Star" said while breathing heavy. "I'll accept the punishment for failing to kill it."
"No that's not necessary, sealing it is enough. It's impressive that you were able to handle it on your own. You've done a greater service for the Empire than you can know." The minister said. "Now you must never speak of this incident to anyone, is that understood?"
"Yes sir." "Star" said as the call cut off.