Azhure: One more chapter and I’m done…
“Sure I do!” Gray boasted. “After all, I…”
SHIMMERSHIMMERSHIMMERSHIMMERSHIMMERSHIMMERSHIMMERSHIMMER~
CRACKCRACKCRACKCRACKCRACKCRACKCRACKCRACK~
It was the last time Jonathan heard the cracking of glass by Master Darc’s Shadow Stakes as they were pushed into the back of his mind. His pupils dilated hearing every word the seagull beastfolk he once knew uttered.
“…I didn’t expect your arm to get cut off, but lord Abyss must be smiling for my deeds!”
It all makes sense, what happened six years ago, he thought. Grey… This bastard! He…!
Jonathan, the Hero of Coastline, the Nature Court Wizard of the Otherworldly Court, knew what to do.
As the cultists began to chant their spells, he unrolled the right sleeve of his robe to reveal the stump of his severed arm. He never tried to hide it, but he never openly showed it to others either: his past, his loss, his failure. A reminder of when he had failed to save his friend in the war, costing his arm, and because of it, he lost his other friend, a fellow Court Wizard, his partner. He had believed it happened as unfortunate as that, but he knew he was behind it all.
Jonathan concentrated his inner soul, tapping into the power of his loyal maneg, his true soul. His lost arm, his weakness, shall be replaced with his will so that this time, he will save those around him.
SLITHERSLITHERSLITHER~
Much like how Rose used her loyal maneg to support her legs, Jonathan developed his loyal maneg to replace his entire arm. Christened [Plant Arm], the glowing green loyal maneg grew out his missing arm like vines, forming and twisting at the end to form five fingers, becoming his most powerful Vague Order.
RIP
Despite having rolled it up, the sleeve of his brown robe was still ripped apart having little space for the manifestation of the [Plant Arm]. It was no big deal, Jonathan could just wear the next set.
In Manegia, Rose had a feeling that her hard work was desecrated, again, and simply sighed in melancholy.
Extend.
With the base form of [Plant Arm] given, Jonathan followed it up with the Vague-Extension Order [Stretch & Grapple]. It was one of the first things he could do with his Vague Order and there were a lot more to come.
ZIP~
The loyal maneg made its Order to its master’s disloyal maneg and rapidly grew the [Plant Arm] in length. It stretched out in a banana shot, scraping by the cultists and breaking them out of their chants. Before that bastard could even begin plunging his dagger into the kid, he got to him first.
YANK
“What the?” Gray exclaimed. Clearly, he did not expect this given that Jonathan used his Vague Order sparingly as it was still his loyal maneg. The [Plant Arm] morphed its head around the upper torso of the boy in lightning-fast speed that the winged cultist tumbled backward.
ZIP~
THUD
The [Plant Arm] retracted rapidly, bringing the child to him and stopping abruptly when it reached him. While Jonathan took care of the velocity when he pulled the boy, it may have still been too rough. Gently laying the sleeping kid on the cold hard floor beside him, Jonathan lashed out his [Plant Arm] again straight for that bastard.
ZIP~
“What did you-” And the Vague Order made the touchdown. “Guagh!” screamed the beastman cultist, the large imitation of plant life coiling his neck.
CLA-CL-CLAN-NG-ANG-G
As the ensnarement progressed, Gray, in the shock of the giant green grabbing him, eventually dropped his dagger to the hard floor, bouncing for a bit. He, of course, didn’t, or rather, couldn’t say anything as the maneg creation gagged his foul mouth, preventing him from chanting.
“Leader!”
“A-Aaah!”
“Lord Abyss! What is this!?”
SLITHER~ SLITHER~
Amidst the panic of his subordinates, the bastard was lifted up, his wings flapping furiously to the point of tiredness as Jonathan commanded his [Plant Arm] to have him dangle off his feet. He didn’t forget the rest of the cultists though seeing one of them chanting a spell to save the bastard.
[Thorn], from [Plant Arm] to the chanting cultist.
BURST
CRACK
The sharp tip of maneg formation branched out of the part of the [Plant Arm] where Gray was held. It made a whipcrack in the air as it lashed out towards the brave cultist. Having used the same Order for years, his Maneg Soul has long since been able to remember the strict incantation of [Thorn] to know what he meant when giving the Memorized version with the parameters all over the place, especially when [Plant Arm] also handled a huge chunk of the process.
STAB
“Gurgle…!” A raspy light voice echoed throughout the tomb as the thorn punctured her neck and spurted out lots of blood.
Retract… I end my Order.
SCHLACK
Even more blood sprayed out as the [Thorn] was pulled from the woman before being dismissed. The cultist’s bloodstained hood came off as she fell forward, revealing a blonde woman, a CoastLine noblewoman. King Albert will need to conduct more investigations after this.
BURST
STAB
“Gurk!”
Scanning the shocked cultists, he had identified the one still constantly chanting what must be the summoning of the Iron Knights. He had quickly ordered another [Thorn] at his direction to alleviate his fellow Court Wizards. With the immediate threat removed, Jonathan moved his [Plant Arm] to bring Gray eye-to-eye.
“You have not learned enough. You should have known this,” he growled, with a face of rage, giving a pause to bore his gaze on Gray’s dilated eyes. “We hold back, far too much. And, you will never get away from your crimes against us.”
Although it would have been better to keep him alive for information, the other code of Court Wizards said otherwise; Gray must pay with his life manifold. Besides, the lead cultist in GrassPlains had already spouted enough information that was needed.
The [Plant Arm] lowered Gray to the ground and forced him to look up to Jonathan. The Hero of Coastline raised his left hand and in it, a Cherished Armament formed. It was a sword, shorter than what he normally used, with a green handle and intricate markings on the blade.
“This is Melaine’s sword, the Court Wizard you killed.”
STAB
“Hngh~!”
Jonathan thrust the sword into the right side of Gray’s neck. Then it was pulled out and the wound was covered with additional flora to keep him from dying. Dismissing Melanie’s sword, he summoned another sword that was longer than his main one, also with a similar design. Though its original owner was not a Court Wizard, he was like a sworn brother to him.
“This is Reg’s longsword.”
SLICE
“Grgh~!”
Jonathan shifted Gray more to his right and swung his blade, chopping the right arm of the cultist which fell to the ground. Jonathan willed the [Plant Arm] to cover the stump so the bastard wouldn’t bleed out on him.
“And that is for my arm.”
STAB
STAB
STAB
STAB
Then, Jonathan ordered his loyal maneg creation to puncture the winged cultist with an array of [Thorn]s, all in non-vital locations. Rotating him one-eighty degrees, he swung…
SLASH
…and cut off his wings in one clean swipe.
“This is for attacking us, the Wizards of the Otherworldly Court.”
STAB STAB
There were two more cultists foolishly attempting to save their leader. They had met the same fate. Looking at the bastard, Jonathan could tell he was tired of grunting in pain and was close to death’s door. Actually, he could feel it from his [Plant Arm] that his pulse was gone. In a few moments, Gray will die.
“…”
It was at that moment Jonathan calmed himself down. He probably could have gone on for much longer or perhaps started demanding questions. Then again, he’d already know the answers to his questions which was why he covered the bastard’s mouth. Perhaps that was why, as Gray’s life was about to expire, Jonathan said the last thing he needed to say.
“For what it’s worth, you have still helped king Albert’s rise. Farewell, old comrade.”
For that respect, Jonathan released and laid the deceased seagull beastman down. Then, he gazed at the rest of the cultists.
WHIP
PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE PUNCTURE
Jonathan swung the [Plant Arm] to the side, releasing a barrage of flying thorns across the tomb. In an instant, all the cultists were simultaneously punctured by these thorns in the neck. The [Plant Arm] made sure it was deadly accurate.
0 cultists left.
Jonathan took a deep breath and exhaled. It had taken a significant portion of his maneg. Well, it had only barely reached double digits, but Jonathan was told never to reach that amount. Owen, who was at the other side of the glass with his girlfriend fighting the Iron Knights, had once used up more than thirty percent of his maneg at once and almost ended up half-paralyzed afterwards.
SHATTER
Just in time or a bit too late, the magical glass wall had finally been broken. As pieces of glass fell, Jonathan saw Darc slightly out of breath under his robe and mask by his moving body frame. Behind the Dark Guardian, he could see the other Court Wizards still fighting the Iron Knights. Even though he had killed the cultist summoning them, the existing ones did not go away. Being magical constructs, the Iron Knights disappeared when broken allowing the rest to keep pushing.
SHATTER
They’re here.
Another sound of glass breaking was heard on the other side of the now-dark corridor. The knights Jonathan directed to come with the Catalyst had finally arrived. They were probably occupied with the glass wall on their side.
Then, Jonathan heard a familiar voice, “Men! Destroy the Iron Knights! Aid sir Jonathan and his allies!”
“Yes, sir!”
Jonathan knew princess Alyssa’s knights would come. King Albert would not settle for anything less. Furthermore, with the royal knights here, that meant he was there as well and Jonathan knew what to do.
“Jonathan?”
Picking up the naked boy, Jonathan went to Darc and plopped the boy in his hands. Brushing past the other Court Wizard, Jonathan materialized his main Cherished Armament, the sword with the perfect length for his size.
SLASH
SLASH
SLASH
SLASH
In a quick dash, Jonathan hacked through each of the Iron Knights. Each strike struck true to the glowing cores inside them, breaking them and cutting them off their power source. Like the others, they fell to the ground and dissipated into pure mana.
0 Iron Knights left.
Jonathan, disheveled, walked past the stunned knights and met his friend and comrade in the war that ended all those years ago, the War of the Princes and Nobles, that has now ended… for them.
“Alfred,” he called. For the first time in six years, the Hero of Coastline smiled, whether it was happy or sad… or perhaps, just empty. “He’s dead, the bastard who killed Melaine, your sister, and got away is finally dead.”
Name: Jonathan Age: 26 Sex: Male Species: Human World: Qantasia Element: Nature Element Color: Green Cherished Armament: ??? (sword), Melaine's Short Sword (short sword), Reg's Longsword (longsword) Rank: Duke
Vague-Extension Orders
An Order within a Creation Vague Order such as the extension of Jonathan’s [Plant Arm] Vague Order, [Stretch & Grapple]. These Orders use disloyal maneg with the loyal maneg creation automatically processing the ‘technicals’ within Vague-Extension. Even normal Orders can be used within [Plant Arm].
Azhure: So, what you do all think of this extra chapter? Is it good? Are there any problems with it? Any reviews or feedback is appreciated as long as they’re not plain insults meant to blow off your stress.
Voice: Don’t do that to people! Not even on the internet!
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