The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

Inside her prison, Avril used Shattering Wave after Shattering Wave, the groaning of metal soon turning into loud, abrasive cracks. Pain wracked her hands, the skin had torn off, exposing her flesh to the air, and she felt the stinging pain, but it didn't compare to what she had been through. She had already freed her left wrist and was working on the right.

In a final burst of strength, she dug her fingers into her remaining bondage, cracks ridding its metal surface. The right cuff broke apart and fell to the floor in a thunderous clap, and she felt the Ein swell in her body, rejoicing at its freedom. But a heartwrenching burn sprouted inside her, and she vomited out blood, clutching her chest with her bloody hand.

Her heart couldn't stop beating rapidly, ten times the norm. Having used her Reis many times, she could no longer hold on and suffered the consequences. It wasn't life-threatening, but the pain could not be ignored as it wreaked havoc in her heart. She waited a couple of minutes, breathing in and out, letting her lungs do their work to calm her heart. Finally, her heart settled, and she stood up, rubbing her wrists, painting them red with her blood. Before her, the prison bars stood as her final obstacle.

She held back her fist into a deadly stance and punched out with all her might. A few flakes of Eirin formed on her knuckles, the result of her hard work over the years. She didn't quite match the levels of Oscar and the others, but any progress was good enough for her.

The prison bars blew apart, the force rendering them into naught but scrap metal clattering to the cold floor. She stepped out of the prison and tied her hair into a bun, streaks of scarlet blood lining together with the deep indigo hair. She glanced around to see all the other prisoners rattling their chains, trying to get close to the prison bars. They seemed expectant, with hope inside the heated gazes they threw at her, followed by the shouts of mercy and pleading for freedom. Avril nodded to each of them and stepped toward the end of the prison hall, an entrance to go upstairs.

"Everyone. I will come back for you all. But right now, there's probably a reckless man fighting his all up there. I have to join him." Avril promised them and ran upstairs.

…….

High up in the skies of Convecia City, where the city looked like a dinner plate below, Helen faced off against her former friend, Aldric. She spun her spear, the circular blade creating a mesmerizing sight in the air. Great icicles formed in the air and shot toward Aldric, who merely stood still without fear and cleaved them all into nothing with his broadsword.

Sensing his response, Helen retreated and spread out several motes of Ein, exploding into ice the moment Aldric touched them, his silver armor becoming an icy blue from the amount he touched. The air had grown cold, yet she sweated a downpour, feeling the continuing pressure from Aldric, his strange movements and strength incomprehensible. Even more shocking were his spells somehow sharper and harder, his element of metal making short work of her refined ice.

"Interesting. You have prepared well enough. Using the snow field to sense my movements without the Prinstyct." Aldric stepped once, breaking off the frost from his armor which now held a clean white color, the grade-four spell Platinum Bulwark. The defense was far stronger than she remembered. Aldric extended out his blade toward her. "I wonder how you knew about some of my powers. Who warned you? I'll have to see what else they know."

Helen's gaze grew colder, his every word contradicting the good man she knew he once was. She had never felt this betrayed before. "Why? Why did you do these things? What happened to you, a man of rules, law, and righteousness? When did you fall to the level of pointing your sword at a friend?"

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"You know you'll never get the answer. Did you recover enough of your Ein? I'm not in a hurry here. Now that it's been exposed, we'll have to move operations elsewhere." Aldric flicked his wrist, and a sharp platinum spear shot out from the tip of his blade, bolting straight for Helen, the skies crying in agony from its passing.

A giant of ice and snow formed behind her and clapped its many hands onto the spear, replacing them each time they broke apart. The spear stopped right before her head, gripped firmly in the icy grasp of her spell. Her giant embraced her, coiling all its arms together before a streak of platinum white cut them apart, exposing her.

Aldric's powerful figure was before her, swinging his broadsword to cleave her in two. Helen moved abruptly to block, knowing it was too late to escape even with her great speed as Aldric would hound her by maintaining this close distance. Then, a flaming hammer stabbed at Aldric from the side, and he spun to block it, flames turning his broadsword and Platinum Bulwark red and blazing across the sky in a raging inferno.

Aldric fell back and chuckled for the first time. "Hector? This is a surprise."

Helen turned to the newcomer. A tremor of emotion, a feeling of relief and faint joy, made her eyes wet. She quickly quelled it and gave the scruffy-bearded beady eye man a hardened gaze. "Hector. What took you so long? Slow as always. But I'm glad that you're not on Aldric's side."

Hector sighed, raised his long hammer, the long red armament matching the length of Helen's spear, and flooded the skies with his flames. "I'm sorry. It took a while to gather my guild together for the assault. Thanks to your elixir, I found a few strange people and rounded them up."

His eyes looked sadly at Hector, and he said heavily, "I never expected this of you, Aldric. This is a betrayal most foul. What has rusted that golden heart of yours?"

"Amusing. How amusing." Aldric relaxed his blade. "I never expected to see the two of you standing side by side again. What a shame. I wanted to preserve as much strength as possible, but Helen's strange knowledge and your interference have forced my hand."

A monstrous roar forced apart the flames burning in the sky, allowing the dazzling light of the two suns to shine, basking Aldric in its glory. A golden lion growled by his side, his mane flowing wildly around its head. It pounced on Aldrice and bit into his shoulder, becoming streams of Ein that merged into him. The Ein exploded around him, and Aldric stepped out, displaying his powerful Integration. His plain, silver armor became golden with a lion's head on his helmet and shoulders, his gloves resembling a lion's claws. They gripped his broadsword, also transformed, seen in the hilt, which became a lion's maw from which a curved golden blade extended from its mouth, resembling a large fang.

In response, Helen summoned her anima, knowing now was the time to use it. She entered her Integration, the snow owl fusing into her, and a burst of ice and snow counteracted Aldric's imposing radiant figure. Wings of pure white sprouted from her back, her dress became a beautiful cloth made from owl feathers, and several feathers lined along the circular blade of her spear.

To her side, Hector also entered his Integration, flames roaring around him as his furnace anima fused into him. His hammer coiled with flames along its shaft, and its head resembled a small furnace, constantly spewing out flames and black smoke. His entire body became wrapped in black armor from head to toe, and grated furnace lids on his joints and shoulder glowed bright red as flames burned within. He had become a walking furnace, heat waves emanating around him.

"It's been a while. Ever since you two separated, few have ever seen this combination. How nostalgic." Aldrin spoke from under his golden lion helmet. "We never fought against each other like this before. It's quite refreshing."

"If you still hold some attachments to the past, then give up. There is no escaping this." Hector spoke, his flames burning brighter from the grated lids along his black armor. His hammer roared as the flames overflowed from the furnace head.

"Never mind him, Hector. All we have to do is defeat him." Helen said, her wings swaying and kicking up gusts of snow beneath her. The feathers on her circular blade spun around and formed a vortex of snow.

"Then show me. Show me the power of the famed couple who once tore through the battlefield, leaving nothing but ashe and snow in their wake." Aldrin lifted his blade and charged in. Helen and Hector responded by meeting him head-on. The skies over Convecia turned into a nonsensical storm of Ein, of which none dared to approach.

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