Zero No Tsukaima Fan Fiction ❯ Zero no Tsukaima: Descension ❯ Chapter 18

Bellum Part II The sun has been hidden by dark rain clouds that make the early noon seem more like sundown. Wrath knowing that there is no more need to be sneaky leads his remain followers right towards the main gate of the Magic Academy. Seth looks across the court yard and turns to Rain, “Take the others inside.” “But Seth-” “DO AS I SAY!” His harsh tone makes the group jump and they quickly run into the building. Wrath reaches out to Seth, “This is either very brave or very stupid young warrior.” Seth cracks his knuckles, “I'm not that young, and you'd be surprised how often being brave and being stupid are the very same thing.” Wrath draws his hands back into the flods of his long sleeves, “It seems that you've already made up your mind.” He points to Pride and Luxury, “You two need to prove you can work together, kill him.” Pride pulls her cloak off revealing her hair is now red and her pants are slightly torn from her encounter with Airo. Luxury pulls off her cloak revealing her long pink hair has been pulled into a pony tail and her clothing more resembles a ninja assassin. They both charge at Seth, Luxury gets in front of Pride and tries to end the fight quickly by horizontally slashing both of her swords. Seth quickly jumps over the attack but Pride flips over Luxury's shoulders and connects with a straight kick that knocks Seth back against the pillar like building behind him. Seth quickly ducks under another slash and rolls away from the wall. Pride tries to connect with a straight punch but Seth quickly spins and connects with a back kick to Pride's gut. Before Seth can reset himself Luxury is already on him and cuts Seth's biscep with a glancing blow. Seth quickly sprints towards her and slams his fist right into her gut but Pride slams her leg into the back of Seth's knee dropping him. Luxury raises her blades over her head to finish him but the blades are stopped just short by another sword. Stephan forces Luxury back and stands firmly infront of his father. Stephan turns slightly and hands Seth something that Pride and Luxury can't see. When Seth stands up he reveals that he now has a pair of gauntlets on. Seth smiles at Pride who doesn't have her guns anymore. “Can you handle the ninja girl?” Stephan nods and Seth charges towards Pride as Stephan waits for Luxury to make a move. Seth swings at Pride who flips back to avoid the first attack but even with the heavy gauntlets Seth's speed isn't diminished like she thinks and he quickly closes the distance and connects with striking combo to her abdomen. Seth spins and connects with a kick and a backhand strike that cuts open the side of Pride's face. Stephan is having a difficult time handling a sword master when he himself isn't really any good with a blade. Luxury flips over him but thankfully he is still slightly faster than her so as she flips over him he rolls forward keeping her blades out of range of his body. Luxury lunges in at him and he quickly jumps and connects with a knee to her upper chest making her stumble backwards. As Stephan lands he quickly falls to his knees he looks down and both of his ankles have moderately deep cuts in them. Stephan tries to stand but his own body weight is cause the wounds to increase in severity and he falls back down. Luxury seeing this beings to runs towards him with her swords aimed directly at his chest. Stephan closes his eye and a sickening sound jolts his eyes open. Seth is standing for his son and he can see blood already beginning to pool by his feet mixing with the rain water. Seth has hold of the Luxury's hands and the swords stopping them from completely going through him. In a quick motion he wrenches the blades out of his body and out of her possession. Seth swings one at her and whips the other towards her as she is backing up. Luxury's eyes grown wide as the second blade hits her just below her left breast. She falls to her knees and looks toward Seth who has fallen face down to the ground. “I never wanted to do this......” Luxury falls sides ways and hits the ground splashing blood mixed water onto her face, “I never wanted to.....” Stephan scrambles over to his fallen father, “DAD!” He quickly turn him over, the two wounds are deep, both just a few inches from the center of his gut. Stephan puts his head down on his father's chest to see if he is still alive, just a hint of a heart beat, not much time. Stephan removes his father's gauntlets and puts them on his hands, “Please give me the strength to carry on.” Stephan stands up, the side of his face he put against Seth's chest is now covered in blood like he is wearing half of a mask. Stephan lets out a primal roar and charges straight at Wrath. Before he can reach him Gluttony stands in the way. Stephan jumps back to avoid the long haired man's first assault. “GET OUT OF MY WAY!” Gluttony pulls out the tie that was holding his hair and puts his hands into his coat pockets. “DID YOU HEAR ME!?” Gluttony still doesn't respond. Stephan charges at him and quickly side steps and connects with a straight punch to the side of his jaw. Just as Stephan turns back towards Wrath, Gluttony gets in front of him and once again blocks his path. Stephan jumps and connects with a flying uppercut but this time Gluttony doesn't just take the attack. Just as Stephan's fist connects with Gluttony, he flips using the force to move faster and connects with a flip kick to Stephan's jaw. The blow sends Stephan backwards flips rapidly until he crashes into the ground. Stephan gets back up with a grunt and glares at Gluttony with murderous intent. Stephan charges back at him again and this time connects with a strong punch to the gut. Gluttony once again allows the attack and tries to hit Stephan with an axe handle smash but Stephan jumps to the left avoiding the attack. Gluttony turns to follow him but Stephan is already circling around behind him. With a powerful kick to the back of the neck Gluttony falls to his knees and Stephan quickly takes both of his wrists and wrenches them back using all of his weight. As Stephan is pulling a loud cracking sound echoes from Gluttony's shoulders and suddenly all the pressure goes away in his arms. Stephan lets go and Gluttony simply stands back up and turns to the boy, both of his arms hang limply at his sides. Stephan charges back in and tries to connect with another straight punch but Gluttony blocks the attack with his knee and quickly kicks Stephan in the side of the thigh, then the side of the neck and finishes his attack with a spinning jump kick to the other side of Stephan's head flooring him. Gluttony puts his boot over Stephan's throat and begins to apply pressure. Stephan ties to get him to remove his leg by slamming his fist into Gluttony's leg but it is to avale. Just as the world begins to grow dark the pressure is removed and Stephan rolls over onto his gut and begins coughing and gasping. As he is on his gut he hears what sounds like a body hitting the ground and he looks towards the sound and Gluttony is now on the ground eyes and mouth open but no breath. Stephan quickly rolls back over and his father is standing over Gluttony's body with one of the swords he was impaled with. “Dad!” Seth looks down at his son and smiles a bloody grin, “You okay.” Stephan can see that his father's legs are shaking. Suddenly Pride hits Seth from behind with a drop kick knocking him down to the ground again this time a painful scream comes from Seth. Suddenly Stephan snaps and gets to his feet and tackles Pride. Stephan brings his fist back and with as much force as he can brings it forward. Before he lands the strike he closes his eyes because he doesn't want to see what he is about to do. Stephan keeps his eyes closed until he stands up and turns away from Pride's now lifeless body. An imprint of his fist is clearly visible on her throat where he smashed it. Stephan kneels down beside his father, “What do you think you were doing? You are loosing too much blood, you have to stay still.” Seth turns his head toward his son and looks down at the gauntlets, “They look good on you, almost like you were meant to have them.” Seth reaches for his son but his hand falls just as Stephan reaches to take it. “No.....NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!” Stephan's heart begins to beat so hard and fast that it hurts. He begins to cry uncontrollably, “FATHER!!!!!” Wrath and his two remain men just stand in their place watching Stephan suffering through the pain of watching the man he has only known as a father for a few days die. Stephan rests his head on Seth's hand as the pain just continues to swell up inside him. The pain begins to reach the point that he just can't take it anymore an finally something inside of him bursts out. A bright light like the sun begins to emulate from his body a painful burning feeling makes Stephan clutch at his arm until he lets out another painful scream. The light grows very intense but quickly fades. Stephan removes his hand from his arm and marks appear on his left biscep. He looks down at his father's arm, faint scars in the same shape as the marks now on Stephan's arms. Wrath suddenly steps back, “WHAT!?” The young boy Envy looks up at Wrath, “What is wrong, what has happened?” “This shouldn't have happened, we broke the magic of this world, the Genesis took away the magic of humans!” Stephan doesn't understand what is going on but a sudden rush of a familiar presence brings him back to his senses, “Father.....” Inside the castle the group is watching from one of the higher rooms. Rain suddenly grabs a long knife and runs out the door. Gabriel seeing this chases after her not realizing that he still is wearing the armor and the sword. Stephan closes his eyes and he can see his father. “Can you handle it son, the left arm of God is a large responsibility.” “Yes, I think I can, but you...you're gone aren't you.” “Yes I am, but I have faith in you. You are all thats best in me.” Stephan open's his eyes and looks ahead at his three remaining foes, “I am the new left arm of God and I will stop you.”