The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

Rosett gripped her hammer and crushed the head of a flame elemental, resisting the searing flames that threatened to burn the skin off her flesh. The living flame staggered for a moment before the flames from its neck burned upward, shaping back into a head. Its regeneration was incredible. Never before had she faced an unrelenting creature such as this one. It retaliated, roaring a wave of fire blazing from its mouth like a dragon's breath.

"This damned flame!" She grimaced. Her heart thumped. She charged her Ein into her hammer, deepening the scarlet sheen on its head, which began to rotate to her will. In a single motion, she threw the hammer, its direction straight and true, aimed at the burning ray of fire. The winds carried a wave of intense heat from a clasp of her hands. The chaotic and heated wind wave buffeted the elemental flame, squashing its flames.

Her hammer split apart the squished flames and rammed right into its chest, which already caved in before the metal could touch the fire, and the elemental fell apart, flickers of dying embers spraying all over. It was dead for good now. She could not enjoy the victory as more elementals emerged from the fiery pits, a fresh Marshal Exalt elemental already heading toward her. These creatures were relentless. Behind her, the fleet and Garantulem fired everything they could onto the calderas, a good and somewhat successful attempt in reducing the numbers that spawn, but not enough to quell the tides.

"Forgemaster! The Sentinels are ready to deploy!" A message reached her from the Excruiser. One of her subordinates had been busy with recharging the golems and relayed the good news.

"Sentinels, awaken and hold back the elementals. Don't let any reach the ships and civilians." Rosett spoke through her communication bead, letting her voice reach the sleeping Sentinels. Oscar had given her authority over these golems, and they answered her. From the Excrusier, an orderly group of armored golems, the Sentinels, zoomed below her, their blue glass eyes darting around until they locked onto their targets.

They truly were a marvel. In unison, they tore apart several flame elementals, cooperating to a shocking degree in taking down a foe. The steely hulls of their armor and bodies ignored the melting flames as they held the line, ripping apart another elemental limb by limb, piece by piece until it faded away. Compared to the burning, rampant figures of fire and lava, the Sentinels remained stoic and steadfast in their bodies of iron, like boulders meeting a stream of water.

"All forces, hold your positions and bombard the elementals with ranged spells. Close combat Exalts will wait for any stragglers that get through. Leave the Sentinels to their own directives." Rosett ordered the rest of the army, mindful of the heavy usage of Ein on their side. Even with Ein Awaken, facing an enemy as relentless as these elementals would be taxing. "All ships continue firing on the calderas."

A three-fold defensive line was the best she could do right now. The flame elementals would suffer a lot before reaching the Sentinels and melee combatants. Her worry never ceased. Rosett peered at the battle undergoing high in the sky. Draven was fighting against that strange monster they brought and the man who called himself Faust. Raising her hand, she suppressed an explosive flaming orb and extended a large hand-shaped inferno, crushing it into a puff of black smoke.

Rosett lowered her gaze to the center caldera, where Oscar and the others dove into. It wasn't a pleasant feeling to have more to worry about. She was bleary-eyed from fatigue as more flame elementals roared out their arrival under the heavy bombardment of the airships. Her feet stomped in the air. Her hammer swung with crushing heat onto her new foe.

'Damnit. I can only hope Oscar is alright.' Rosett glared strongly at the two flame elementals standing before her, one already healing from her strike. She snapped, "Get out of my way!"

…….

Two red streaks formed across the air, one aimed at Demon and the other at himself. Oscar never blinked, watching the sword reach him faster than his Golden Breaker could ever travel. He almost considered blocking it but thought better of it. Mixing Golden Propulsion and Inferno Rush, he propelled himself away and ducked under the expanding slash. It split even the air as the winds rushed back to fill the gap and exploded into great gales, further knocking him back.

Oscar raised his right hand and observed the Golden Drill. The tip was cut cleanly off. He had tested it against the slash while it passed over and even used Shattering Wave, but even that resulted in his spell being overwhelmed by Aiden's. Dangerous. He could imagine even Indestructible Gold, created with Eirin, would not help against this powerful slash. There had to be something—a weakness he needed to find.

'Close range is too dangerous for now. Switch to ranged.' Oscar relayed to Demon, who also avoided the killing slash. On the other side, Aiden was in the state of Guise, a burning red Eirin coursing over his body like a flame. Strange, large red ears of Eirin extended from the Guise. Unlike Sirsi, who played around, Aiden seemed completely serious, subtly raising his swords, and Oscar closed his shield on his chest, watchful of every move.

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"I made a mistake. I should have done this sooner." Aiden said, pointing a sword at where Erden was fighting his mythical rival, the Equsimus. A loud neigh filled the chamber, and a red horse strutted around, the burning hairs along its back swaying freely in wondrous flickers of bright flame. The horse anima bolted and entered the Equsimus, a familiar scene of an anima melding into a beast unfolding. Unlike Erden, who was wrapped in sapphire armor, the Equsimus remained bare, but red markings of fire spread all over its white fur and coiled around its two horns. Every feather on its wings bore the mark of a flame.

"Now, our beasts can have a more even match." Violent flames erupted from his swords.

Oscar moved. His hand raised high and spread Eirin all over. A gathering of Golden rods wreathed in blazing blades pointed at Aiden and flew out at tremendous speed. Demon, behind Aiden, used the same fusion of spells, and they surrounded Aiden in a storm of gold and flame. Constantly shifting his position, Oscar observed Aiden and waited for his next move.

Aiden tapped his swords together, fire sprouting from them. The red flames molded themselves like clay into fine red swords that glinted scarlet light along their clean edges that could cut down any man. They were the same blazing blade spell he used, but the shape…how did the flames become comparable to fine metal? They looked to be made from the finest tempered blade rather than fire. Fewer in number, they moved gracefully and cut through Oscar's spells, melting through the golden rods.

The air cleared again. Nothing remained after the clash. Oscar fired a Golden Breaker mixed with an explosive flame. Aiden's mastery of fire and spells surpassed Oscar's as a flame barrier, once again comparable to metal or crystal in its structure. He deflected his Golden Breaker and endured the explosion, not a scratch on its scarlet, metallic surface.

"Scary, isn't it? For so many years now, you've fought alongside your beast, further enhanced by the gift of Reis. Little wonder you massacred scores of enemies. But now, your beast is preoccupied, and you face a Grade Eight Exalt with Reis. Where you had advantages before, there is now none." Aiden spoke not in mockery. The forward gaze and sternness showed how much of a warrior Aiden was. He only spoke truthfully, not to insult, as if eager to see how Oscar would respond.

"Then, I'll have to make my own. It's still two against one." Oscar said.

"If you wish to drag it out until I reach the limits of my imperfectness, then you're grasping at straws." Aiden led a blazing trail, instantly appearing before Oscar. He swung once, blocked by Oscar's shield, but to his shock, a cut formed along his shoulder, the blood already burnt away as the wound seared shut in fiery pain. The cut was very thorough, slicing through to the back of his shoulder. If he had his shield a tiny bit lower, his shoulder would have been chopped off by its roots.

Demon ambushed from behind and unleashed a Shattering Wave from a close distance. The air between them erupted into violent winds, Aiden's Shattering Wave matching Demon's. A red sword brushed past the tearing gales and threatened to pierce Demon in the neck. Oscar kicked with a Golden Drill on his foot. Swerving his kick, he weaved his foot past Aiden's sharp sword, which tried to counter him, and forced Aiden into an awkward stance to block using the pommel of his sword.

Their Shattering Waves blasted each other apart, and Demon resumed his onslaught on the blown-away Aiden. Oscar halted himself in the air and bounced back. However, fire streamed from Aiden's feet and traveled behind him and Demon. Two flaming figures, so clearly defined as if wearing scarlet armor, leaped from the fires and slashed down with reddened blades. Oscar spun underneath its slash and stabbed through its chest.

"Even after all that, you can still move your double so well. I'm truly impressed." Aiden had tried many times to cut Demon apart during the diversion created by the flaming figures, yet Demon avoided nearly everything quite cleanly. Demon's figure rested a distance away, one arm missing from the base. He turned to Oscar and gave a piercing stare. "Our beasts are quite even for now, but with the Blood Transmutation, your beast naturally has the edge. I'll end this now."

His body burned and hurled toward him like a meteor. For several minutes, Oscar and Demon coordinated to stop Aiden from completing a killing slash, interrupting him before he could fully do a downward stroke. He weaved and bashed his shield up. Metal hit metal. The shield spewed sparks against the pommel. Aiden spun the sword masterfully with one hand and stabbed downward. Demon rammed him from the side, the Golden Drill halting against the flaming barrier. The attack was stopped, but enough for Oscar to avoid the stab and reposition himself.

Oscar only had a single thought. How would one become this masterful in their spells? Aiden's fire spells all became metallic or crystalline, as if the fires were condensed, shaped, and sharpened. Suffering another cruel searing cut on his arm, Oscar focused and pondered, his instincts and efforts keeping all injuries down to a thread. Was it Eirin? Oscar didn't want to risk it against a higher grade, but he spread his Eirin around and created the dead zone, dissipating all Eirin, including his own.

The scarlet swords turned into burning flames that loosely resembled blades. The flaming barrier became a vortex of hot spewing fire. The flaming figures lost their shape, swinging what seemed to be long torches rather than blades. Indeed, it was Eirin holding it all together. What struck him the most was that the burning slash that cut through all his defenses and Golden Drill as if they were made from sand turned into nothing but flames that erupted in all directions. He had never believed so much fire could be crammed into a thin slash.

'So that's it.' Before Aiden could retaliate, Oscar withdrew his dead zone. Counter Impact released from his hands, all of the Eirin from Aiden's and his attacks crashing over to the other side of the cavern. Oddly, the lake's surface remained undisturbed.

Oscar stared at the defensive Aiden, who avoided the strike, his eyes glinting in deep desire. 'Can I learn that too?'

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