#THE_RED_CRYSTER
©Sir Zach
EPISODE 92
“We will not give you the only weapon that can kill you, Khalid! What do you think we are? Stupid!” Told Abasi. The rest of the masters echoed the same, especially Amanda.
This prompted Khalid to transform himself into the same form as Amanda, using the red crystal in his body. He flew up at the same level as the master of water and fire, including Orion, and said, “Give me the sword and you might just live!”
“Taara!” Commanded Amanda in seconds and the master of the wind drifted next to Amanda in seconds.
Combining the strength of the wind and fire, Amanda sprung out the biggest and the most fierce ball of flames in the direction of Khalid.
Amanda roared as she let Khalid have a taste of her fire!
Her actions made Khalid laugh in the same perverse way as Hades. While the fire she built momentarily cut off the phoenix wings he created, he had to admit; it was a powerful blow, but having the same crystal in his body himself, he was not pained in any way.
“Suit it yourselves,” said Khalid before giving a sneer. “See if you can defeat the soldiers from hell!”
Flying his way down, he said, “Hades and I will stay back for a moment and cherish the sight of you trying to even get throu-ghour frontal forces!”
In seconds, he and Hades jumped in behind their army, using the power of the green crystal. Khalid continued to laugh before he encouraged, “Go ahead! Give it a try masters of the earth!”
“Such confidence annoys me! We’ll kill all your evil souls!” Announced Taara before she brou-ght out her shuriken blade. Combining it with the power of her wind, she threw out her spinning blade.
The shuriken spiraled swiftly in the direction of the souls. They did not even budge, nor express fear of the weapon coming at them.
With one swoosh, the spiraling blade took down twenty evil souls that stood in front of the masters, turning into ashes, following the attack. Only then did the shuriken returned to Taara’s grip.
“Huh! What an insignificant army!” Announced Taara.
“I’ll take care of the rest!” Told Brody, taking out the power of the brown crystal. He created himself into an enormous human rock and sped across the enemies, crushing them with his hands before he drew out a sword and swung it across to a few.
Each time Brody eradicated an evil soul, they turned into ashes!
Seeing the rest of the souls come after Brody, Abasi brou-ght him back to their line in seconds. He said, “Watch out, Brody!”
“Why did you pull me back for?” Asked Brody with a frown.
“I want to see if there is truth to what the guardian of hell told us,” said Abasi. “Stand back and watch.”
Brody practically took care of more than twenty evil souls, and together with those that were attacked by Trisha, the soldier of hell should have reduced in number.
However, what they saw next horrified them.
Those that had earlier become dead slowly formed back into their translucent form. In minutes, they were once again ready for another attack.
Seeing the shock reaction of the masters, Hades and Khalid laughed out loud from behind their soldiers from hell. Clearly mocking the spirit, Taara and Brody had earlier displayed.
“Say that again? You’ll kill what? Haha!” Hades roared his evil laugh, nearly resonated across the battlefield. “There is only one way to kill a soul that had fled from both hell and heaven, it can only be throu-ghthe soul slayer blade!”
Turning demonic, Hades, screamed, “Who – has the – soul – slayer??!!! Who???!!! Give it up or you all die today!”
Christopher looked down at Abasi. For a second, their eyes locked onto each other. Abasi said in his head, “There is no other choice, Chris. You must use the soul slayer blade.”
To Christopher’s dismay, his greatest fear came about. He gulped as he responded in his head, “Abasi, if I don’t make it, promise me you’ll look after my family – ”
“You will make it, Chris! Akurra already agreed!” Responded Abasi in his head. “Someone has to make the sacrifice. The last fight begins now.”
From behind the escapees of hell, Hades maintained his sinister grin, eager to find out if any of the masters were truly willing to use the soul slayer blade.
Khalid saw the confidence in Hades’ smile that he asked, “Why are you so confident? What if they really have the soul slayer blade? Would that mean the end of your terror?”
A malevolent laugh escaped his li-ps as he leaned his body back to accommodate a more powerful roar. Only after settling his excitement did he reveal, “The user of the soul slayer cannot simply use the blade. A sacrifice has to be made, and I doubt they are willing to do so.”
Little did he know that the will of the masters was stronger than his greed and corruption. In fact, the chosen wielder of the sword was ready to make that sacrifice.
***
“Someone has to make the sacrifice.” Abasi’s words echoed in Christopher’s head. How he wished it did not have to be the case, but still, he was there, drifting in front of a hundred evil souls that could not die.
He had no choice but to use the soul slayer blade. The guardian of hell chose him for one reason; that he was the master of Akurra. Only he could make it happen.
Christopher looked at the palm of his hand and saw how the diamond mark seemed to be turning brighter. It felt like the evil souls that need to be slane, and it called upon him to perform his duties.
“Chris? What’s wrong, my love?” Amanda asked, seeing the reluctant expression on his face.
“My love, forgive me,” he said, looking gently at Amanda’s eyes. “But I promise you. Everything will be alright.”
Just as the master of fire and water were still engaged in a conversation, the translucent souls have begun to attack. It left them no more time for explaining. They shrieked as they took out their own blades, trudging in the direction of the masters.
“Let’s at least slow them down! I’ll go first!” Suggested Taara. Once again, she thru-st out her shuriken blade. It took a two-hundred-meter full turn, taking down several souls. Combined with the strength of the wind, its speed was incomparable.
Confirming Taara’s actions, Amanda did the same. She said, “Right! We need to give Chris a hand!”
She stormed in her phoenix form, blazing in swirling fire! Her energy was so indignant, the evil souls could not penet-rate against the heat of her flames.
Brody also lent a hand, charging in his metallic form, cutting throu-ghthe souls with the blade he created.
Howls of pain and shrieking on the already dead resonated across the land, outside of Aeros. It gave the people of the nation the chills of a lifetime.
Many of the enemies turned ashes from the attacks, but like what happened earlier, they soon rose from the dirt back to their original form. They were once again ready for another strike!
“Are you ready, Chris?” Amanda called from behind her as she watched the souls prepare for another move. She maintained to drift in the air with Taara, further igniting her flames.
She waited for some time, but there was no response from her husband. The next thing Amanda heard, however, was Christopher, groining in pain.
She turned, feeling goosebumps all over her body! To her shock, Christopher had stabbed himself with the two-meter blade. Her mouth easily trembled as she watched in horror. With a loud scream, she skidded in his direction, “No!!!!! Chris! What did you do?”
Even Taara was equally shocked. Her face paled, and her mouth fell agape to what the master of water had done. She meant to glide towards Amanda and Christopher but Abasi stopped her.
“Taara! Brody! Distract the souls for now! Christopher needs time!” Told Abasi. “I’ll guide you. Do as I say! Trust me!”
While all this was happening, Trisha could only cry. She was equally disturbed at what Christopher had done.
It was Orion who aided his father down to the ground, together with Trisha. He was equally in pain for the sacrifice that his father had to go throu-gh, but he already knew… this was part of the plan.
When Amanda reached her husband, a series of “Whys” escaped her li-ps and tears easily flood her face. “My love, why? Why did you do this?! Why? You – you promised you would not leave me!”
Embracing him tight, she said, “I can’t – I can’t live without you! Please, don’t leave me!”
She turned to Abasi and demanded, “Have Brody heal him! Abasi!”
Standing a few meters from them, Abasi screamed, “I’m sorry, Amanda, but this is… this is part of the plan!”
“What – what?” She turned to Christopher, who was gushing blood out from his stomach. Her face was utterly indescribable. Only pain reflected in her eyes.
“My – my love. Every – everything – will be fine – in- in due time,” Christopher said before taking his very last breath.
“No! No!” Amanda screamed.
“Mother, please trust me – ” Orion tried to calm his mother but Amanda was just losing to her emotions.
“You knew! Orion, you knew! How could you keep this from me?!” She cried in anguish before turning to the evil souls.
“Ahhhhh!” With a loud scream, Amanda flew up in the sky again, this time in full force. She increased the heat of her flames by eighty percent, speeding in the direction of Khalid.
She failed not to inflict harm to the escapees of hell along the way.
“Mother! No!” Roared Orion. He got up, hoping to reach his mother, but she blazed at the speed of light. Never had Orion seen so much anger come from his mother.
Meanwhile, from behind his soldiers, Hades sneered, seeing how the master of water has taken his own life! He cursed, realizing that Christopher made the sacrifice! It was something he himself would never do!
He knew that to use the soul, only another soul from the departed can kill another. The wielder of the soul slayer had to sacrifice his own life!
“Watch out, the master of fire is coming at us!” Hades warned, seeing the master of water making a frontal attack!
However, the advances of Amanda merely made Khalid grin. In a split second, he commanded the water beneath the soils to come out and splash high to reach her fire. And not only that, he ordered the winds to make the water colder, creating ice in the process of his attack!
At first, Amanda’s fire remained unceasing, but the continuous flow of water and wind slowly cut off her fiery wings!
“I’m going to kill you! Master of fire! You are the reason for all my misfortune! Die!” Announced Khalid. He determined, if it was not for Amanda, her son would not inherit the Venusian Sword. His life would not be facing any threat!
Panic suddenly filled Amanda’s eyes, sensing her wings could no longer take her weight. She turned to her only hope and called, “Abasi!!!”
Only a spiraling void saved her. She disappeared in the refining of Khalid’s blast.
“Ecssss! fu-ck!” Khalid could not help but curse with Abasi’s speed. He wondered how he was able to take Amanda out from harm so fast. He asked himself, ‘Are his powers greater than the last?’
He concluded it was a possibility. There was no record of the master of the wind using a shuriken blade in the first place.
Back in line with Abasi and the masters of the earth, Taara and Brody continued to attack. Even if the souls would rise again.
The sun had already risen, yet the enemy’s numbers remained unscathed.
Trisha, having a heavy heart, decided to let Abasi use the yellow crystal. It was a way for him to increase his power in the midst of the battle.
For two years of practicing. They have finally broken the record, being able to exchange powers for as long as four hours. It was something that even Abasi and Christopher worked on their journey.
***
While the fight has only begun in Aeros, Amanda found herself in the seas of Solaris, floating on the surface of the water. Her consciousness awoken with only fright and the pain of her broken heart.
“Chris!” She swam against the heavy waves and tried to lit up her fire, not realizing the effect of Khalid’s strength had momentarily put out her flames.
She called his name repeatedly, feeling hopeless and in despair, “Chris! You can’t leave me! You can’t!”
Her cries of pain only ceased after the heavy waves of Solaris pushed her body, swaying against the water. A monstrous frame came out of the water and Amanda landed on Akurra’s nose.
She cried weakly in front of the giant sea serpent, pleading, “Please… Please Akurra. Save my husband. Please.”
Amanda pan-ted heavily. Her nose flared in anguish as water continued to run down her face.
“Cry no more, Amanda, a descendant of the dragon star, wife of my master,” said Akurra. “I have always meant to save Christopher from this battle he faces.”
WATCHOUT FOR EPISODE 93