The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

Hearing her screech out, Oscar broke out into laughter, enjoying the twisted anger wrinkling and twisting the face she always seemed so proud of and the shock shaking the ends of her white hair. The force of her Ein permeated the corridor, denser than the thick, humid air and hotter than the flames of a furnace as if he were sinking into a lake of lava. His skin tightened, and his lungs could barely breathe, only taking a twig's worth of air to sustain him. A Marshal Exalt's power was awe-inspiring, but Maia's paled in comparison to the many Marshal Exalts Oscar had run into.

'Two more minutes.' Erden maintained clear communication and updates.

"How long has it been since you advanced to the Marshal Exalt realm?" Oscar wiped the tears from his laughter, shrugging off Maia's restrictive Ein thanks to the power of his Guise helping to repel its influence. "A year? Two?"

"You bastard…." Maia's voice grew shakier, her faint chuckles turning to giggling until she laughed hysterically. Her head tossed back, and her hand palmed her forehead. Oscar watched her and let her stay in her little world. Every second bought was another second closer for Erden and the rest to arrive, another moment to halt Maia from moving above to massacre the rest.

Running her hands through her hair, she smoothed it out and stared dead ahead at Oscar, a gleeful glint within her red pupils as her cherry lips rose to her cheeks. All the anger and hostility was gone from her beautiful countenance. She tapped her foot forward, a single clear yet small step, barely a stride, but a great flame burst out from under her toes. The inferno raged under her feet, engulfing half of the floor and climbing along the walls to the ceiling.

Facing against the tunnel of flame and the guardian Maia, Oscar willed and utilized more Ein to protect himself. Faint embers flickered along his shroud of Eirin, burning parts of his Guise, which he quickly regenerated. He could tell these embers would burn his existence into nothingness if not for his Guise. Erden still needed more time, so Oscar continued to probe and keep her busy. "Not pulling out your anima? Let's see the snake."

"How did you survive? Reports said you never made it out of Ashen Grove." Maia asked, sitting on a chair of fire and crossing her legs with her head held high, clearly looking down on him. "Or was that a lie? Did you hide somewhere for twenty years?" She rubbed her chin and tapped her fingers on the fiery armchair, retracting her former statement. "No. You aren't a coward and one to leave your allies. You would have fought from the very start of this war."

"Normally, a person would have liked to hear such praises. Too bad they came from someone as repulsive as you." Insulting her, Oscar sat on the floor, resting his cheek on his fist. Her actions in this prison were disgusting to the highest offense, and he could not help himself from telling her off. He continued to insult and rebuke her. "Trying to brainwash everyone to become your soldiers is just wrong, even in war."

"What's it matter? We must win this war at any cost, no matter the method. You didn't care about the burns and injuries you suffered just to land a punch on me." Maia pointed at him. "You are using the prisoners above to save your master below. What's the difference?"

"I'm not here to argue right or wrong with someone who clearly has no idea of a bottom line," Oscar remembered the bloodied laboratories and experimental halls in the New Dawn bases, the tables of dripping blood and piles of corpses of their failures. "That's a road down to depravity unlike any other."

"So you say. But it has tremendous results when we need them the most." Maia gazed upward and then faced Oscar again, her finger pointing up. She said in a bright, lively tone, "You fool. Going headstrong like always. Did you think we only failed?"

…….

"Don't stray too far away!" Alec shouted to his squad. He noticed something odd with Rolan, and waved Louis over.

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"Rolan? What's wrong?!" Louis stepped toward the still Rolan, but the short, silent Exalt split in half, a clean cut that separated everything from organs to the spinal cord in the center, spewing out blood and marrow. The giant roared and held Rolan's bisected corpse, howling at the carnage around him. "Who did this?"

What was going on? Alec had no idea. Rolan was alive just a few seconds ago, and he saw no enemy passing through his defenses. He realized it immediately and shouted, "Louis, get back!"

"Wha–" Louis couldn't finish a word before a blade stuck into the back of his head and protruded out of his eye. The blood-drenched sword anima pulled back, and Louis's body fell forward, landing on the ground with a thud. Standing behind the corpse was someone Alec didn't expect, Edclet.

"I hate the Blue Ocean Pavilion. I hate the Brilliant Drake Empire. They betrayed us all." Edclet mumbled, smiling widely, and swung around his sword anima. "You imbeciles never realized the truth of how we fought for nothing."

"Since when?" Alec grimaced at the sight of his fallen cellmates. "When were you brainwashed?"

"Not brainwashed. I've been enlightened. Enlightened to the truth." Edclet cackled. "Did I fool you all good? You all believed I was going crazy. For all you made yourself seem smarter than the rest, Alec, you never once caught me." He licked his sword anima, his eyes nearly popping from their sockets.

"I see. You did go mad. You're not worth using on the battlefield, so they put you here." Alec smiled coldly. He had known Louis and Rolan for four years now. For four years, they fought in the Cage Fights and cheered in their cells, surviving together. Rage flowed through his veins, and Alec roared, breaking the control he put over his emotions. "Edclet. I will end this sad life of yours. Go die and realize your own folly."

…….

"You left brainwashed converts in their cells." Oscar frowned, not expecting them to do that. It was a good call not to spread their plan to the prisoners, or the infiltration would have been exposed. Relaxing his tense shoulders, Oscar felt more relieved than angered by this revelation since it didn't pose too much of a threat to the plan.

"What a shame. I wanted to see you crumble down from the shock. I wonder what your plan even is. Were you hoping to undo the chains on your master with Reis? Even if you get past this corridor, you have to face the other Marshal Exalt guards." Maia seemed genuinely interested, still smiling mockingly at him. "Nothing short of a miracle will get you and your master out."

"A miracle, you say?" The word miracle welled a heat inside his chest, and his heart started to dance, beating wildly. A miracle, she said. Oscar chuckled, standing upright. "You don't know what a miracle is."

"Oh? Then tell me. Tell me how I, a Marshal Exalt, will let you, a Greater Knight Exalt, through." Maia mocked him, standing from her dissipating throne of flames.

"Shortsighted woman. I escaped what many have considered inescapable. I have traversed through broken lands and back. I have met and crossed paths with powers beyond what you can imagine, the kind that can destroy you with a mere thought. I have seen and experienced what many would consider to be impossible. I've fought and survived through everything the world threw at me, whether by intervention or my own will. I have lived quite a life. With everything I've seen and done, you do not scare me." Oscar sensed him coming, sharing the delight and anticipation of their reunion.

Maia opened her mouth to speak, but a loud crash interrupted from above, shaking the prison to its roots. One, two, three, and four. Four times, the prison shook violently as a grinding sound of steel shrieked throughout. She stopped herself from stumbling to the floor by floating, darting her eyes around with a pale face. She finally locked onto Oscar and asked, "What did you do?"

"True. Breaking through the prison should be impossible. First, we would need to slip through your blockade and use something powerful enough to pierce through the barrier. Luckily, I had some designs from a true genius." He reached out his hand, and from behind, a flaming orb whizzed over. Within his grip, the flames flickered and weakened, revealing its true form, his space pocket.

Reaching in, Oscar pulled out his elemental armament, the diamond shield, wielding it in his left hand, the light of the flames catching and reflecting off the diamond faces. Heavy steps stampeded down the stairs, temperatures rising and stinging his back. Oscar turned to see Erden arrive in all his glory, flames gathering around his crystal hooves and antlers.

Standing side by side with his friend, Oscar melded his anima into Erden, transforming the Prielapos into the sapphire armored form, not a single flesh or fur to be seen, only metal and fire.

"A Grade Six Exolsia? That's impossible!" Maia exclaimed, wide-eyed.

"Weren't you listening?" Oscar kept speaking to spark irritation inside her. "I have lived a life you could never imagine." Together, he and Erden approached Maia, their gazes sharp and clear, their Eins combining into a whole. "Now, I'll show you how exactly I can get past you."

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