Kismet’s Tale

     Mavin Tomas stood in front of the Exiled One.

He wore his black-iron vulcan unit modified to combat the Exiled One. Armed with a flame-bladed sword forged from the same black iron, and a harpoon fired from his left forearm’s recoilless rifle.

“Human?”

The Exiled One suddenly fired a beam of red light.

Mavin Tomas swung his flame-bladed sword and split the beam of red molten light, the black iron dispelling all traces of spark.

The gears of his suit hummed. His exoskeleton made a jagged metal noise that made each individual part create a mechanical rhythm. Mavin Tomas made the second move, rushing in front of the Exiled, making a humongous leap as he brought down his flame-bladed sword.

The Exiled One ascended below his reach. It gathered another beam of light only for Mavin Tomas to flick it away with his flame-bladed sword. The black iron had properties where it could deflect, nullify, and somewhat absorb the impact of enemy unusual attacks made by the unnatural.

The Exiled One looked at the human, studying him, but it was then that an extremely precise artillery shot scored a hit on the side of the Exiled One.

“Humans...and their weapons.”

That distracted the Exiled One long enough for Mavin Tomas to throw the harpoon and lasso it around the Exiled One. With a mighty pull, he brought the Exiled One to the ground. The Exiled One landed on both legs, started at Mavin Tomas, releasing multiple beams that tore through the air.

The area around the half-mountain peak started to burn. The black iron mitigated most of the heat that the Exiled One was producing

Mavin Tomas felt his skin burning despite it. But he kept his eyes on the Exiled One as he parried, deflected, and evaded the area.

The Exiled One hasn't moved from a single spot. The Exiled One produced orbs that were made of compressed energy. Most of the beams were either parried by the flame-bladed sword or deflected by the armor he was wearing.

Mavin approached the Exiled One and then brought down his flame-bladed sword hard enough that the Exiled One who thought it didn’t need to defend raised its arms and blocked it with the strange armor.

It then summoned a strange blade that cut into air as if it was stopped by a red blur.

Mavin Tomas matched the Exiled One’s attack with his own quickness and landed a glancing blow. The Exiled One was clearly taken by surprise by the attack that managed to hurt it.

“How?”

Mavin stabbed forward. The Exiled One tried to slash out, but Mavin was faster, and landed a deep cut on the side of the Exiled One. The Exiled One released a burst of energy that threw him back. Mavin slammed into the ground, and let out a pained grunt. Mavin raised his body immediately, rolling sideward, barely avoiding the Exiled One’s follow up.

“I cannot break your body.”

Mavin was feeling the tug of the Exiled One’s telekinesis. But the black iron that he had been wearing dispelled them. The Exiled One  stumbled. It looked at Mavin and raised its hand. A red, ghost-like image appeared on his palm.

Mavin raised both hands and hastily cut through the image. The projection dissipates  and then explodes. The black iron protected Mavin from the initial detonation, but he didn’t react enough as the Exiled One grabbed him by the armor and threw him upwards.

“You humans are so fragile.”

The Exiled One lets go. Mavin Tomas straightened his body, and landed with both legs planted on the ground. The power frame groaned but he was able to move and watched as another round of precise artillery forced the Exiled One down back in the ground.

“You aren’t getting up. This is your cage now. This isn’t your world and you will soon be gone here.”

The Exiled One didn’t find the words and threw out a beam once again. Mavin swung his flame-bladed sword. The beam dissipated into smoke.

Mavin rushed in, but the Exiled One conjured a thin barrier of light to blocked Mavin’s path. Mavin attempted to slashed through the barrier, but Mavin was surprised. Instead of trying to block him, it countered Mavin and the weapons clashed.

Each blow shook his bones.

It felt like he was sparring with a speeding truck. If he didn’t have the power frame he wouldn't have been able to go against the sheer strength of this monster.

My bones are breaking, muscles are tearing, the regeneration factor is holding at least.

Mavin exchanged blow from blow. His flame-bladed sword made from the pieces of black iron left behind by the traveler was able to meet the sword that the Exiled One carried.

But Mavin knew that it wouldn’t be long until his blade shatters. The enemy was fast and despite slowing down his perception of time by holding his breath. He had to rely on every boon in his body to survive through the flurry of attacks.

Mavin saw how his attacks started to chip away the exokeskton that the Exiled One was wearing. His exoskeleton made of black iron was also being shredded each time they returned blow for blows.

To the rest of the soldiers they only saw a whirlwind of exchanges.

A duel that they couldn’t follow.

Mavin roared as he managed to barely cut through the exoskeleton of the Exiled One. Surprised, the Exiled One pulled away from the exoskeleton it was wearing, revealing the knightly suit of armor it was wearing revealed.

The exoskeleton that the Exiled One abandoned exploded. Mavin was barely able to escape his own exoskeleton.

“Humans thoroughly are vicious.”

The Exiled One’s voice rang out. It’s head traveled on the soldiers and released a beam of light that pulverized half of the defense line. Those who were able to dodge the attack were half-burned.

“But you humans and your empathy are always your downfall--”

Mavin was in front of the Exiled One cleaving his black iron saber, and then slamming his left palm on the chest chassis of the Exiled One.

“If you think that you can threaten me with their lives. Then you have no idea what these people are willing to take. But words are useless to those who come to our world with creatures of hell.

“These soldiers are willing to die for their home. I don’t know what you are doing here. I don’t even know why you had come here but I know that with your flock you would not leave this place.

“Words and taunting are useless in this peak. Even if you do kill them all...then I’ll just have to make sure that I will make you pay for their lives!”

Mavin didn’t dare to speak any longer. There was nothing to do other than fight this Exiled One to death. He didn’t give a shit about what this Exiled One was here for.

But the memories guided him.

That if the Imperator is defeated, then the ‘post-story villain’ would appear.

Stronger than the Imperator.

A creature that needed even more preparation to kill. It was a creature that required him to be reckless and give all that he got to even defeat.

He dueled the Exiled One without the exoskeletons.

The Exiled One matched his strength.

Each blow damaged him and every swing burned his skin.

But Mavin’s steel gaze remained on the sword until he was able to disarm the Exiled One, ramming his shoulder on the Exiled One and started laying out punches, and ripping out the armor of the Exiled One.

Mavin felt his strength falter. Just by being near the Exiled One was burning his blood. But that didn’t stop him. He raised his black iron saber and cleaved it down.

***

 

His strike was clumsy.

His eyes had lost its steely gaze.

But on that strike was all the courage he had mustered to fight this Exiled One.

The Exiled One gazed at the clumsy human who was bringing down that black-iron saber.

It could no longer move. It couldn't simply believe that a mortal could do this.

It was as if the human knew how to fight the Exiled One. 

But the Exiled One pulled the sword that flew from its hands and met its weapon against the human.

The weapon broke from the forceful strike of the Exiled one. The shards flying all over places. It was then that it saw the human grab the shard, and ruthlessly stab the tip of a shard into the heart of the Exiled One.

“Congratulations, human.”

The Exiled One drew a hidden blade and rammed it twice on the human’s stomach. Instead of retreating, the human gave a tight embrace, it was then that the Exiled One realized that there was something off about the blood of the human.

“Poison, huh.”

It was poison that slowly entered its body. The Exiled One could feel the poison multiplying in accordance to what was inside the Exiled One’s body.

The sun broke out. The Exiled One rammed the blade again, this time the blade going the human’s stomach up to his chest.

No one let go.

The human kept his struggle.

“Why do this, human?”

“It’s just the way it is. I saw you in a vision...and the fires you will bring to this continent is something that I can never allow no matter what happens to me.”

“I see. But you are running out of time, human. No, can you even survive?”

“I don’t know. But at least I can make sure to make you vanish!”

The human broke away and landed a heavy straight punch on the defenseless, exhausted, and tired Exiled One. The Exiled One didn’t understand why the human could do this to him. How a mortal could even dare to hurt him even without the black iron he wielded.

Yet the truth was that the  Exiled One was not someone that would easily go down because of some poison or through anyone without him using the same methods that sealed the spark from the world.

This one could survive the vacuum of space. And he didn’t think that he had enough strength to do it when he could feel his very brain boiling as he exchanged punches and sword blows. 

He warily smiled to himself. “Time to let go.”

And called out to an unknown force. The same force that he used to seal the Imperator’s Mark. It was the same force that he wielded and then palmed at the chest of the Exiled One.

The Exiled One roared. It slammed it’s fist against Mavin’s chest, and began to rise. The artillery that was pointed in their direction didn’t dare to fire with the young master locked together with the creature.

“This place...isn’t for you.”

The Exiled One glared. Then the helmet shattered, revealing a mournful face.

“Then where is my place?”

She cried. Mavin steeled his heart for one last time and called out the boons that accompanied him in these years. All of them were rumbling, crying, and agonizing as he forced them to handle another severing.

Before long the Exiled One was dragged on the very palm that Mavin had marked her.

She released a loud cry of pain filled with grief and remorse. As if she had finally found a place only for the place to reject her.

The Exiled One’s Halo disappeared from everyone’s sight. There was a loud cry all over the direction that even he could hear it from the top of the half-mountain.

Mavin Tomas landed heavily on the ground.

His face was burned.

Every orifice in his body was bleeding.

His stomach was gouged and his organs were spilling out.

His bones were shattered.

His regeneration factor was slowing down to almost a halt.

He kneeled on the ground watching the sun appear on the horizon. He basked in the sun’s greatness while trying to keep himself falling asleep.

“Brother!”

 Mavin looked at Aunger who had hurried. He tried to speak but there were no more words coming out of his throat. He felt no air in his lungs and it was that he knew that he couldn’t speak.

Mavin tried to think of something. 

Strangely, he thought of his dance with Natalya on the city of Flost.

The memory made Mavin Tomas smile.

What a shame, isn’t it, Natalya?

Then Mavin Tomas felt his head shattered.

Mavin Tomas looked at the sun in the sky before his head went limp, and he fell face-first on the ground, unmoving, and unbreathing.

Mavin Tomas's time had finally run out.

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End of Book 2

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