Chapter Nine: Endless War

Five years have passed, the battle has been an endless war that we were tossed into, and like soft clay being molded and baked in an oven our skill grew as did our bodies. The most ferocious of monsters and enemies appeared before us and we fought through it all and even now we fight. I am in the middle of a large field with the other three, there are thousands and thousands of massive armored forest trolls with warhammers around us yet we fight, we fight as we have been for the longest time, we have been fighting, I don't remember why though, what was the reason. There was a reason, “Umbra snap out of it!” Juzo quickly pulls me back with his enormous tree trunk arms as Nova jumps in front of us, “We have to get some distance! Transformation!” His Dragon Armor at max level allows him to transform into a humanoid dragon, Grand Slash is now a 500 hit combo. His new armor has slits where his wings form, he quickly flies into the distance.

Nova jumps in the air and whispers, “Supernova.” Her body glows a blinding white light that grows larger and larger, tearing up the floor and the surrounding area, it continues to spread. Her Fists of Flame turned into Flame Aura, it covers her whole body in flame, and Fireball turned into Supernova, a massive explosion at the cost of half of her health.

“We're not gonna make it!” Juzo has sped across miles and miles yet her attack continues to gain distance. It is only a few feet away from us.

“Wind Spirit!” Eva is flying next to us, our bodies become transparent. Her skill makes allies and herself untouchable for a short duration of time, then she has Air Cannon, a powerful wide-ranged air attack.

The blinding white light surrounds us, “We have to fly above it!” Juzo yells, rushing to get out before Wind Spirit wears off. Closer and closer we go but there seems to be no end in sight.

“Ten seconds till it wears off!” Eva screams as we scramble, the top is in sight, “Five seconds!” We push but it won't be fast enough.

I quickly grab Eva, “Feint!” It takes us a few inches above the attack that seems to have reached its max height, but it continues to expand. We've had to use this twice so far and only when we're in a pinch, only when someone is about to die. We stay above it for some time, it eventually fades away. I wipe the sweat from my forehead, “That was close.”

“Yeah too close.” Juzo starts flying back, “Let's check on her.”

“There was too many of them I couldn't dodge quick enough.” Eva says as we make our way over.

Nova is standing still, staring at a portal in front of her, “What do you think this is?”

“I have no idea.” I scratch my hair and for some reason I remember this.

“Let's walk in.” Juzo says, returning to his normal form.

“Yeah it feels familiar.” Eva says, grabbing Juzo's hand.

“I'll go first.” I grip my sword and walk into the portal, I shield my eyes from the blinding light of gleaming diamonds until my eyes adjust. Then I remember everything, “Are you okay?!” I yell at the man who is on the floor breathing slowly.

“Wow how you four have grown. It seems your fighting days are not over….” He begins coughing violently, blood falls from his helmet onto the floor, “Whatever you may face, fight it without hesitation. Even if that person is yourself.”

“What does that mean?” Nova asks, clenching her fists.

“Nova, this belongs to you. One day you will understand, and these circumstances are not the best to tell that story, for I am also out of time.” He holds a black ring of a diamond sphinx in his palm. She picks it up carefully and looks over the properties.

“Move at the speed of light five feet in any direction?! Why me?” She puts it on her ring finger.

“Say Ta to activate the item. Everything will make sense, but now is not the time. You must go and fight. Clear the one-hundred levels and defeat the Dark Lord, I will use the last of my strength to teleport you to the entrance, you must fight hard. Break the endless cycle. I leave the Light Kingdom in your hands.” He holds up his hand and a portal opens up.

“We will not let you down.” Juzo says while clenching his fists and walking through.

“Thank you for everything.” Eva gives a sad smile as she walks through.

“We will save the kingdom.” Nova punches her fists together and walks through.

“I will try my best.” I say, stepping through the portal, “Thank you Umbra.”

“Goodbye my friends, Nova I'm on my way to meet you, sorry it's taken so long, my love.” I can hear him whisper with his last breath, the portal quickly disappears, everything seems to make sense for a slight moment and then I must focus on the task ahead.

The roar of battle behind us, we're on top of a enormous staircase made of black marble. In the far distance there is a large mass of land where a war is taking place with thousands and thousands of people, an enormous barrier reaches into the sky protecting a gleaming gold city is slowly breaking into pieces. Before us are two metal doors with dragons etched in them, “Everyone ready?” We stretch our limbs and prepare our minds for battle.

“We got this.” Juzo chuckles, “This is going to be bad I can feel it, but even though we don't have epic level gear I feel we can push through.”

“I'll punch everything into dust.” Nova bumps her gauntlets together.

“I'll be on heals.” Eva clutches her staff.

“We have been fighting for the past five years, we got this.” I bump fists with my team and inhale sharply. I push the doors open and we walk through, the doors shut behind us and there is a single purple portal. We walk through and appear to be on top of a mountain standing in ankle deep snow, it is slightly windy and cold, but this cold is nothing compared to when we fought ice giants in frozen water. I exhale and I have the icy white breath of a dragon. I can hear footsteps coming from the distance. I prepare for battle.