Chapter 8

Mardic jumped towards the team. 

"Split up!" Arestasia commanded. 

Every scattered to a different direction, causing the knight to crash into the ground face first. 

"He seems rather clumsy..." Dawnni said. 

Mardic quickly got up and ran towards Dawnni. Dawnni held his hand to his chest. 

"Swords of Redemption!" he chanted. 

Swords made of pure light energy appeared around Dawnni. Mardic was dangerously close. The swords pointed towards him. Dawnni directed his palm towards the knight and the swords pierced through his body, but he din't stop running. 

"Fall!" 

Dawnni clenched his hand into a fist and the swords exploded with great force. The knight was unfazed. He reached Dawnni and kneed him in the stomach. Dawnni hunched over in pain. He then grabbed the back of his head with his large hand and smashed his face into the floor. The knight then his foot above Dawnni's head. Suddenly Rosette had wrapped around the knight's neck. Arestasia pulled the knight away from Dawnni. As the knight struggled, reaching for his neck, Lupin dashed towards him. Lupin unsheathed a blade from both of his fists and rapidly slashed at Mardic, slowly scratching through his armor. Mardic grasped onto the extended Rosette and pulled Arestasia to the wall, making her sword lose grip. He then raised his giant sword and slashed down at Lupin. Lupin quickly rolled under Mardic. 

"Where did you go?" Mardic exclaimed. 

Dawnni and Arestasia slowly got up. Lupin's blade glowed a bright blue as it extended. He then spun around and slashed at Mardic's neck. The blade collided into the armor with great force causing Mardic to fly towards the throne and crash through it. Mardic jumped back up quickly. 

"How can someone move so fast in that thick armor?!" Dawnni thought. 

"Looks like you got some strength on you! That's good! But you'll need an enormous amount of strength to defeat me!" 

That last sentence echoed in his head.  

"Come to my aid: Po!" 

Dawnni was shrouded in a green aura. 

"Ares, I have an idea; I need you to immobilize him for just a few seconds." 

"You got it!" 

Mardic dashed towards Lupin, sword ready. He continuously swung at Lupin but Lupin dodged each attack. 

"Come to my aid: Bon!" 

Dawnni's green aura was infused with an orange aura. Dawnni kneeled down and clenched his fists as he closed his eyes. 

"Spirit of the sun, 

lend me your power, 

before this battle becomes our final hour, 

the knight we face must be tamed, 

give me the heart of an Archangel's Flame..." 

Dawnni's body was set ablaze with a white flame. Arestasia wrapped Mardic's body with her blade. 

"Dawnni! You're up!" 

Dawnni raised his right hand. 

"Enchantment Transfer!" 

All the power from his auras and spells transferred to it.

Dawnni quickly dashed towards Mardic as he struggled to get out of Rosette's grip. 

"Let go!"  

Rosette let go of the warrior. Dawnni came in close and punched the knight in the stomach with all of his strength. Mardic's arms and legs flew forward from the force as he let out a loud grunt of pain. Dawnni felt the surge of power overcome him. 

"Oblivious Destruction!" 

Dawnni's hand suddenly released all of the power in one giant white blast that disentigrated the throne and the ground into a long crater. Mardic was laying in the crater. He quickly got up again. The team was shocked. 

"Damn kid! That really hurt!" 

"He...survived?!" 

"Now I'm really going to enjoy killing you..." 

Mardic threw his sword at Dawnni. Dawnni tried to dodge it but he couldn't move after using so much power at one time. The sword stabbed right through his stomach, causing him to fly back and pin against the wall. 

"Dawnni!" Arestasia and Lupin yelled. 

Dawnni coughed up blood and smirked. 

"Curse of Defense..." Dawnni chanted. 

Mardic's armor suddenly shattered. All that was left was a mid-toned man with spiky black hair, wearing thin black armored legs and chain mail. He had a startled look on his face,

"You b*****d! You destroyed my armor! You'll pay for this!"

Mardic rammed into Arestasia at a very fast pace and dashed towards Dawnni. He grabbed his sword and quickly pulled from Dawnni's body, causing him to fall to his knees. 

"I'll finish you!" 

Mardic raised his sword in the air. Lupin quickly dashed towards Mardic and stabbed him through the chain mail. Mardic froze. Dawnni slowly got up, holding onto the giant gash in his body. He reached into his bag and pulled out the potion he had obtained earlier and took a small sip. 

"Death Aversion..." 

Dawnni dropped to the ground dead. Mardic dropped his sword as Arestasia blasted Rosette and stabbed the knight through his heart from the back. 

"You're going down!" she yelled. 

Rosette continued to run through the knight's body and began to wrap around him. 

"Rosette, torture him." 

Rosette started to constrict his body as it swiftly vibrated, digging through the chain mail eventually breaking it and started digging into his skin. Mardic yelled in pain. Lupin held out his blade as it glowed a bright blue.  

"Take this!" 

Lupin swiftly swung the blade at the knight's neck, decapitating him. Rosette let go of Mardic, making his body fall backwards. There was a sudden flash of light where Dawnni was. When the light faded, Dawnni slowly got up, his injuries were gone, his torn garments were good as new. Lupin laughed. 

"Damn dude, if you didn't have that spell... What's this? Your sixth time dying now?" 

"I think it's my seventh." 

The team laughed. Dawnni directed his hands towards his teammates. 

"Rejuvenating Blessing." 

Arestasia and Lupin glowed a bright green and had their energy restored and their injuries healed. The area where the throne once was, released a pillar of blue light. The team quickly ran towards it. The pillar's light illuminated the temple greatly. A crystal suddenly appeared in the pillar.  

"That must be the crystal that Chevalier was talking about!" Arestasia exclaimed. 

Arestasia grabbed the crystal and the pillar quickly faded. Suddenly a ball of light flew out of the crystal and turned into a scroll in Dawnni's hands. 

"What does it say?" Lupin asked. 

"It says, 'Dear Arestasia, Dawnni, and Lupin, you must be wondering how I knew that it was you three you were set for this task. Besides the point that I have seen this in the future, I have planned this matchup with your elder ahead of time. You three have such a great connection with each other. I've watched you all grow up and train together and it amazes me how well you all work together to get jobs done. I'm so proud that you three have found the first crystal. As you can see, the only way the crystal will reveal itself is if there are no sources of evil around it. Now, all of you place your hand on the crystal and it will take you to your next destination.'."  

"Alright, looks like its time to move on." Lupin said. 

Dawnni and Lupin placed their hand on the crystal and they all suddenly disappeared with a blue flash. They had appeared at the bottom of a rocky mountain with a spiraled road. At the peak of the mountain was a castle.  

"Alright boys, let's get moving." Arestasia commanded.