Categories > Anime/Manga > Slayers > Slayers: Chaos
Slayers: Chaos
Episode 050: Decisive! The Moment of Truth
Flagoon chuckled, while Milgazia seemed displeased. Or at least she assumed he was displeased. Though his expression wasn't particularly expressive, her guess was correct. "Aw, c'mon, I didn't run off for that long, and besides, if I stayed to explain, I wouldn't have been able to catch that thief."
"Yes, that would be troublesome," he stopped questioning how she could be so oblivious one second and so perceptive the next. That was simply the way she was, this was relaxed yet capable Flagoon. "Please do not lower your guard," Milgazia advised. "Though I should be saying that to myself too, I shouldn't have lost you in the crowd."
"No big deal," Flagoon smiled. "We're together again and on the road! Speaking of which, I'm surprised you picked our next destination. Usually, you just follow me."
"The critical point is near..." Milgazia quietly voiced as they made their way down a dirt path towards a town called Sairaag.
"Oh... interesting..." Flagoon didn't know what exactly that meant, but it sounded exciting.
Suddenly, from the bushes ahead there jumped out a band of thieves comprised of wolf and fox beastmen. "What do we have here, two lonely humans. How interesting... Alright you two, hand over all your valuables!"
Flagoon stepped forward and drew her sword, though she kept a metal blade attached to the handle, so it looked like an ordinary sword. "I think not," she grinned, this would be easy. "Here I go!" She dashed right into the midst of the group of bandits.
A cloud of dust took to the air as the clank of metal against metal echoed. One of the fox beastmen crawled out of the dust cloud and looked at Milgazia. "Aren't you going to do anything?"
"I must not, the human heroine must conquer these trials on her own, it is for the best." The dragon elder replied calmly.
The red-brown fox tilted his head to the side in curiosity. "I get you, you're a spoiled aristocrat and this lady's your bodyguard. Yeah, it all makes sense now, the fancy white robes, the golden hair and all. But there's something about your face that's not quite princely." The bandit mused.
Milgazia raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with my face?"
"Must be the eyebrows, not princely at all," the fox beastman muttered. "Anyway, no matter, if you're a rich brat then we're kidnapping you." He glanced at his comrades, who were having trouble keeping up with the swordswoman. "We'll do that right after we get rid of your bodyguard." He took a small sack out of his cape. "I bet a sheltered boy like you has never seen this."
"A sheltered boy?" Milgazia questioned. He didn't think he looked like a child. Furthermore, he didn't think he was sheltered, he had experienced the War of the Monster's Fall firsthand after all. Though he might seem a bit out of touch with the outside world, as he kind of was, in terms of human culture.
"This here black dust is special, if I light it on fire it makes a big explosion, like magic," the fox laughed. He lit the end of a string tied to the sack and the flame moved ever closer to it. "It's over!" He threw the sack.
In the off chance that the black dust was actually special and did indeed cause an explosion, Milgazia shot a small laser towards it, cutting the string and causing the flame to fall and extinguish on the ground while the sack fell harmlessly next to it.
The fox's jaw hung open. "How did you do that? You shot magic out of your mouth, you're no ordinary sorcerer!"
"Hey Milgazia, are you watching!" Flagoon carelessly waved at him while the bandits pulled themselves back to their feet and charged at her again.
"Flagoon, watch out!" Milgazia rushed to her aid, "Fireball!" He noticed that she was grinning at him and not at all alarm. "You did that on purpose!"
"I know you're only traveling with me on a diplomatic business trip of sorts, and that I'm the one who must fight. But if we fight as comrades, even if these guys are no challenge to either of us alone, then maybe we'll become better friends." Flagoon smiled while slicing to pieces the handle of a spear a gray wolf beastman tried to attack her with.
"If you insist..." Milgazia started to cast another spell.
"At it, Milgy, you go!" Flagoon cheered.
"Milgy?" The dragon almost lost his concentration on the spell.
"Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha! Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha!" A very annoying and loud, yet still somehow masculine laugh pierced the sound waves. Everyone was drawn to pause their fight and stare at the source of the sound as he repeated the annoying noise. "Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha! Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha!" The man was rather well built, not overly muscular but pleasantly toned. He had deep violet near-black hair and blue-green eyes. What made his anatomy so easy to perceive was his peculiar attire. He wore a black cape with spikes on the shoulders and matching boots and gloves of black leather. Those elements were rather ordinary among sorcerers, but it wasn't what he was wearing that caught the group's attention as much as what he wasn't wearing. Aside for the aforementioned items, he wore black leather speedos and nothing more.
"Flagoon," Milgazia whispered discreetly. "I know I must be respectful of other cultures and I'm not exactly an expert in human customs. Yet somehow I don't think this man's attire is exactly... normal."
Flagoon shook her head. "Nope, I can't say that's how people usually dress around here."
"Who's this weirdo?" A tall wolf beastman with black fur, the leader of the gang asked with distaste.
"Weirdo?" The scantily dressed young man looked offended. "I am the greatest sorcerer that ever lived!" He exclaimed fiercely. "Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha! Fear not innocent travelers, I will not allow your sweet elopement to be ruined by these foul bandits! Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha!"
"Elopement?" Milgazia questioned.
"Come forth my golem!" The man casted a type of summoning spell and a golem began to emerge from the ground, formed by the rocks in the surrounding terrain. "Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha! Show those bandits not to mess with love! Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha!" Unfortunately, the golem was out of control. The thirty feet tall stone creature began stomping around aimlessly, attacking the bandits, the travelers he was supposed to save and even his master.
There was a flash of light in the distance in the direction of Sairaag, could the time have come? "We don't have time for this. Flagoon, it's time for you to become a legend, there is a beast you must slay and this time I will fight by your side, we must hurry!"
"Alright! A real challenge!" Flagoon cheered.
With no time to waste, Milgazia left the strangely clad sorcerer and the bandits to deal with the rampaging golem. He transformed into his dragon form and allowed Flagoon to jump on his back, then took off towards Sairaag. Once in the air, he noticed that he had an extra passenger on his tail. "You shouldn't have followed me." The golden dragon warned the fox beastman.
"I just wanted to get away from the golem, but maybe a dragon would be worse. I was only kidding about kidnapping you, really! Please, oh please, don't eat me!" The fox beastman held on to Milgazia's tail tightly to avoid falling and also in hopes that if the dragon tried to eat him, he would bite his own tail and spit him out.
"I'm not going to eat you," Milgazia assured. "But I am in a big hurry, so I can't land to let you get off right now."
"Oh that's okay merciful dragon! I'm happy as long as you don't eat me, or otherwise end my life," the fox exclaimed.
"Speaking of big," Flagoon voiced, "you sure are big, Milgazia."
"Big dragon..." Jullios muttered in fright.
"I take it this is your first time riding on a dragon?" Milgazia replied with an almost conversational tone that didn't really fit his rush as he flapped his wings to go faster.
"Big claws..." Jullios shuddered.
"Yes, and this is a ton of fun!" Flagoon was enjoying the ride even if they were heading for a hard battle, though she was looking forward to that too. "You're really talented though, to become human like that. I thought you'd have a tail or something hidden in your robes. I mean, I had never seen you with as much as short sleeves before. But no, not a single golden scale anywhere on your skin, before the transformation at least."
"Big teeth..." Suddenly, Milgazia dropped several feet in the air and Jullios screamed.
Flagoon giggled at the drop as if she was in an amusement park ride, while the fox beastman yelled and clung to the golden dragon's tail for dear life. The dragon elder regained his bearings and flapped his wings, his face taking on a slight shade of red, which he was trying to suppress. He really needed to get around to researching a light screen spell to cover up while transforming without having to take the time to find a private spot to do it. "Let's not speak of my human form..." he nearly begged.
"But it's so believable!" Flagoon commended. "It's so-"
"Please," Milgazia insisted.
"Oh, I get it, you're just being humble," Flagoon concluded. "I'm not an expert on the subject of male anatomy, since I'm female and all, but-"
"Flagoon!" Milgazia half growled. Of all the times she could pick to start acknowledging the existence of physical differences between the genders, why did it have to be now?
"Okay, I guess I can drop the subject for now. It looks like we're almost to Sairaag anyway and there's definitely something going on there. Hey you back there, we'll be landing soon! What's your name anyway?"
The frightened beastman trembled as he clung to Milgazia's tail. "Jullios Jillious Jollios..." he voiced his full name between scared shallow breaths.
xoxox xox xoxox
Meanwhile, further back, Xellos and Filia were rushing through that same road. "Romeo, wait up, why are we in such a hurry and what's that light in the distance?" Filia called out to her protector, who seemed just about ready to leave her behind.
"The reason why I am in a hurry is because of that light and that light is very likely a Zanaffar beast," Xellos revealed.
"Zanaffar!" Filia exclaimed in shock. She bumped into Xellos' back when he stopped suddenly to observe the spectacle before them.
"What the...?" There was simply no expression in any language he knew that could accurately describe what he saw. There was a rock golem about thirty feet tall, stomping around aimlessly like a toddler with a tantrum. Atop the golem's head there was a man with a very peculiar attire, or rather lack of attire, making similar tantrum stomping motions in an effort to stop the creature's rampage. He wondered if Lord Beast Master would even believe him if he told her what he saw.
Filia stumbled back and walked around Xellos to see what had made him stop so suddenly. "Eek!" She jumped back and dove under Xellos cape.
"Do you have a golem phobia or something?" Xellos inquired. Strangely, her emotions didn't really taste scared as much as outraged and embarrassed.
"Such indecency!" Filia cried out while she covered her face with his cape.
"You mean the guy in the leather speedos? It is a rather poor choice of apparel," Xellos agreed. But really, this wasn't the time to be dwelling on such things. Actually, no time should ever be used to dwell on such bizarre things. Thus without another moment to waste he disappeared, teleporting to Sairaag.
xoxox xox xoxox
Xellos reappeared in Sairaag. The town was still whole and there were no casualties yet, just as Milgazia planned it. Of course, Xellos intended to interfere with those plans. Filia peeked out from under Xellos' cape and found herself in a whole new location. "This is a town... How did we get here?"
Xellos smiled wickedly, while Filia gave him a confused look. "We went through the astral side," he explained, though she evidently didn't understand the implications of that. He tilted his head to her eye level and grinned mischievously, his red eyes looking into her innocent blue. "I'll let you in on a secret, Juliet, I'm a monster."
Filia's expression showed strong disbelief. "Don't say that, Romeo, you're a human, you're a good human. You're not a monster!"
"I am," Xellos stepped back, surrounded by dark energy.
Filia didn't have the ability to sense his energy because of the amulet that was still stuck around her neck, but she could no longer question what she saw. "No... no! You're not Romeo. That monster that Romeo fought, you're that monster, aren't you? You hid inside Romeo's body consuming his energy, that's why he came back from the astral side like that. Oh Romeo, if only I had known the true nature of the terrible cursed upon you," Filia lamented.
"Denial," Xellos mocked. "Your distress is indeed very delicious, girl. Since you've fed me so well, I'll let you live." He walked away towards the other side of town where the big fight was taking place.
"Romeo... Romeo..." Filia cried. He was gone, the monster had consumed him.
Jullios, the same fox beastman that had arrived with Milgazia and Flagoon, was in a hurry to leave the dangerous town. He stopped as he saw the crying girl that looked like a human. "Hey miss, you better get out of here." She wasn't getting up; she only kept crying for a 'Romeo' her lost lover perhaps? A casualty of the battle? He had thought there were no casualties yet, as the fight was taking place in the outskirts of town.
"My Romeo is dead!" Filia cried loudly.
"Aw, c'mon miss, I'm sure your boyfriend wouldn't want you to cry for him to the point where you're risking your life." Jullios exclaimed.
"He wasn't my boyfriend!" Filia cried, her face red. She sniffled and sobbed quietly admitting, "but I liked him." There could have never been anything between them, she reasoned, but for him to meet such a terrible fate was too cruel. "Monsters are the worse! Monsters are horrible, terrible, cruel creatures! They're rotten, they're disgusting! Monsters are the worse kind of raw garbage!"
Just as Filia yelled, a loud growl echoed from the outskirts of town. "Yes, yes I agree with you, but right now we have to get to safety!" Jullios insisted. "This may sound unbelievable, but the female sword fighter that just arrived in town, is actually the famed warrior of light! It's true, I saw her unsheathe her sword's real power. Plus that guy that was traveling with her is in fact a golden dragon!"
"A golden dragon!" Filia jumped to her feet. She couldn't let one of her own kind see her like this, she simply couldn't. "I have to get out of here!" She started running away, in the general direction of the coast in the far western edge of the peninsula.
"Now you're talking sense!" Jullios followed Filia, assuming that she actually knew where she was going.
xoxox xox xoxox
Flagoon stood at the ready with the sword of light in her hands. Milgazia stood beside her ready to cast another spell as the Zanaffar stared them down. "We can do this; the final strike will be yours." Milgazia stopped all of a sudden his eyes wide. "No! Why did he have to come now? Reveal yourself Xellos, I know you're here!"
Xellos faded out of the astral side and back into the physical plane. Since he was done hiding, he took on his usual form with the purple hair and the cheerful expression. "Why Milgazia, you don't seem very happy to see me. Is this how you greet an old war buddy?"
"What do you want, dragon slayer?" Milgazia growled angrily, while Flagoon kept the Zanaffar at bay, not wanting to interrupt the tense exchange between the two men... or man and dragon... or dragon and monster.
"For starters, you can stop calling me that, I was never too fond of that nickname," Xellos replied. "You knew I would interfere if you tried to obtain the Zanaffar armor before it reached its critical point, so you decided to distract me and destroy it when it became the beast. It's too bad I wasn't late enough for your plans to work. I won't allow you or the warrior of light to finish off the Zanaffar." As for my second request, you can... Die!" Xellos' dark energy waves stretched to wrap around Milgazia's dragon body. The monster became black energy that spun in the shape of a cone as he charged to collide with the entrapped golden dragon.
Despite being stronger in dragon form, Milgazia knew that his larger form would make it more difficult to dodge hits. He could move more easily in the air, but he had no intentions of leaving the battle grounds in case Flagoon needed backup against the Zanaffar. Plus Xellos' energy was wrapped around him and he needed to break free of the net of monster power. Thus Milgazia changed back into his human form. Xellos zoomed past his smaller body and rammed right into the Zanaffar beast, injuring it.
Xellos regained his usual human form, glaring at Milgazia. "You..." That dragon tricked him! Now he had injured the Zanaffar beast that was supposed to be left to rampage.
"Flagoon, take advantage of the injury Xellos has so usefully inflicted on our foe!" Milgazia knew that his words would provoke Xellos to anger and that was exactly what he wanted. At the risk and perhaps the cost of his own life, he wanted Xellos to focus on him, so that Flagoon would be free to defeat the Zanaffar while the monster was kept occupied.
"I will not," Flagoon replied, shocking all those present. "In fact," her eyes met the glowing red eyes of the silver beast. "This is a one on one duel between the Zanaffar and myself. Milgazia, I will assist you with the monster if need be, but the Zanaffar is mine!" There was a strange connection between the opponents, as an unusual pride rose in Flagoon's chest.
"So you want to fight that thing alone?" Xellos watched with curious interest for a moment, then he grinned in amusement. "Alright, it's a deal, Milgazia and I will stand back and watch." He nodded at the human then looked at the dragon elder. "I won't do anything if you don't. Though I could certainly defeat the silver beast, a mere human even with a special sword, should not be able to single handedly do so. We'll watch the embodiment of the hope of human kind fail, and then after she dies at the hand of the Zanaffar, you will die at mine."
Milgazia glared at Xellos, but before the dragon could speak, Flagoon agreed to the terms. "Fine by me, this way I can focus on the Zanaffar, it would be disrespectful to my first worthy opponent in a long time to divide my attention during our decisive fight. Stand back and make a truce you too." Flagoon decided, smiling confidently. "Milgazia, after I beat the Zanaffar, we'll beat that monster together!"
Milgazia couldn't explain why, but somehow, he found that he could believe Flagoon's words. "Let's do it!"
Xellos huffed, "some confidence." Their emotions tasted so strongly of security. Flagoon's emotions were very strong and now even the well guarded Milgazia was letting his hope and expectations shine. He never showed his emotions so freely at their encounters during the War of the Monster's Fall. He never relied on anyone with such confidence. What was it about Flagoon that made even Milgazia so strongly believe in her?
To be Continued
The sorcerer with the golem is an ancestor of Amelia and Naga's mother. Jullios is an ancestor of Jillas. The flashback is about to end so we'll be back to the main storyline soon. I'll include a little recap of where we left off when the flashback ends. I expected this story to be 50 chapters long, but it looks like there will be a few more chapters than that. None the less, after the flashback is over we'll be heading into the final saga of the story.
Episode 050: Decisive! The Moment of Truth
Flagoon chuckled, while Milgazia seemed displeased. Or at least she assumed he was displeased. Though his expression wasn't particularly expressive, her guess was correct. "Aw, c'mon, I didn't run off for that long, and besides, if I stayed to explain, I wouldn't have been able to catch that thief."
"Yes, that would be troublesome," he stopped questioning how she could be so oblivious one second and so perceptive the next. That was simply the way she was, this was relaxed yet capable Flagoon. "Please do not lower your guard," Milgazia advised. "Though I should be saying that to myself too, I shouldn't have lost you in the crowd."
"No big deal," Flagoon smiled. "We're together again and on the road! Speaking of which, I'm surprised you picked our next destination. Usually, you just follow me."
"The critical point is near..." Milgazia quietly voiced as they made their way down a dirt path towards a town called Sairaag.
"Oh... interesting..." Flagoon didn't know what exactly that meant, but it sounded exciting.
Suddenly, from the bushes ahead there jumped out a band of thieves comprised of wolf and fox beastmen. "What do we have here, two lonely humans. How interesting... Alright you two, hand over all your valuables!"
Flagoon stepped forward and drew her sword, though she kept a metal blade attached to the handle, so it looked like an ordinary sword. "I think not," she grinned, this would be easy. "Here I go!" She dashed right into the midst of the group of bandits.
A cloud of dust took to the air as the clank of metal against metal echoed. One of the fox beastmen crawled out of the dust cloud and looked at Milgazia. "Aren't you going to do anything?"
"I must not, the human heroine must conquer these trials on her own, it is for the best." The dragon elder replied calmly.
The red-brown fox tilted his head to the side in curiosity. "I get you, you're a spoiled aristocrat and this lady's your bodyguard. Yeah, it all makes sense now, the fancy white robes, the golden hair and all. But there's something about your face that's not quite princely." The bandit mused.
Milgazia raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with my face?"
"Must be the eyebrows, not princely at all," the fox beastman muttered. "Anyway, no matter, if you're a rich brat then we're kidnapping you." He glanced at his comrades, who were having trouble keeping up with the swordswoman. "We'll do that right after we get rid of your bodyguard." He took a small sack out of his cape. "I bet a sheltered boy like you has never seen this."
"A sheltered boy?" Milgazia questioned. He didn't think he looked like a child. Furthermore, he didn't think he was sheltered, he had experienced the War of the Monster's Fall firsthand after all. Though he might seem a bit out of touch with the outside world, as he kind of was, in terms of human culture.
"This here black dust is special, if I light it on fire it makes a big explosion, like magic," the fox laughed. He lit the end of a string tied to the sack and the flame moved ever closer to it. "It's over!" He threw the sack.
In the off chance that the black dust was actually special and did indeed cause an explosion, Milgazia shot a small laser towards it, cutting the string and causing the flame to fall and extinguish on the ground while the sack fell harmlessly next to it.
The fox's jaw hung open. "How did you do that? You shot magic out of your mouth, you're no ordinary sorcerer!"
"Hey Milgazia, are you watching!" Flagoon carelessly waved at him while the bandits pulled themselves back to their feet and charged at her again.
"Flagoon, watch out!" Milgazia rushed to her aid, "Fireball!" He noticed that she was grinning at him and not at all alarm. "You did that on purpose!"
"I know you're only traveling with me on a diplomatic business trip of sorts, and that I'm the one who must fight. But if we fight as comrades, even if these guys are no challenge to either of us alone, then maybe we'll become better friends." Flagoon smiled while slicing to pieces the handle of a spear a gray wolf beastman tried to attack her with.
"If you insist..." Milgazia started to cast another spell.
"At it, Milgy, you go!" Flagoon cheered.
"Milgy?" The dragon almost lost his concentration on the spell.
"Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha! Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha!" A very annoying and loud, yet still somehow masculine laugh pierced the sound waves. Everyone was drawn to pause their fight and stare at the source of the sound as he repeated the annoying noise. "Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha! Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha!" The man was rather well built, not overly muscular but pleasantly toned. He had deep violet near-black hair and blue-green eyes. What made his anatomy so easy to perceive was his peculiar attire. He wore a black cape with spikes on the shoulders and matching boots and gloves of black leather. Those elements were rather ordinary among sorcerers, but it wasn't what he was wearing that caught the group's attention as much as what he wasn't wearing. Aside for the aforementioned items, he wore black leather speedos and nothing more.
"Flagoon," Milgazia whispered discreetly. "I know I must be respectful of other cultures and I'm not exactly an expert in human customs. Yet somehow I don't think this man's attire is exactly... normal."
Flagoon shook her head. "Nope, I can't say that's how people usually dress around here."
"Who's this weirdo?" A tall wolf beastman with black fur, the leader of the gang asked with distaste.
"Weirdo?" The scantily dressed young man looked offended. "I am the greatest sorcerer that ever lived!" He exclaimed fiercely. "Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha! Fear not innocent travelers, I will not allow your sweet elopement to be ruined by these foul bandits! Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha!"
"Elopement?" Milgazia questioned.
"Come forth my golem!" The man casted a type of summoning spell and a golem began to emerge from the ground, formed by the rocks in the surrounding terrain. "Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha! Show those bandits not to mess with love! Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha!" Unfortunately, the golem was out of control. The thirty feet tall stone creature began stomping around aimlessly, attacking the bandits, the travelers he was supposed to save and even his master.
There was a flash of light in the distance in the direction of Sairaag, could the time have come? "We don't have time for this. Flagoon, it's time for you to become a legend, there is a beast you must slay and this time I will fight by your side, we must hurry!"
"Alright! A real challenge!" Flagoon cheered.
With no time to waste, Milgazia left the strangely clad sorcerer and the bandits to deal with the rampaging golem. He transformed into his dragon form and allowed Flagoon to jump on his back, then took off towards Sairaag. Once in the air, he noticed that he had an extra passenger on his tail. "You shouldn't have followed me." The golden dragon warned the fox beastman.
"I just wanted to get away from the golem, but maybe a dragon would be worse. I was only kidding about kidnapping you, really! Please, oh please, don't eat me!" The fox beastman held on to Milgazia's tail tightly to avoid falling and also in hopes that if the dragon tried to eat him, he would bite his own tail and spit him out.
"I'm not going to eat you," Milgazia assured. "But I am in a big hurry, so I can't land to let you get off right now."
"Oh that's okay merciful dragon! I'm happy as long as you don't eat me, or otherwise end my life," the fox exclaimed.
"Speaking of big," Flagoon voiced, "you sure are big, Milgazia."
"Big dragon..." Jullios muttered in fright.
"I take it this is your first time riding on a dragon?" Milgazia replied with an almost conversational tone that didn't really fit his rush as he flapped his wings to go faster.
"Big claws..." Jullios shuddered.
"Yes, and this is a ton of fun!" Flagoon was enjoying the ride even if they were heading for a hard battle, though she was looking forward to that too. "You're really talented though, to become human like that. I thought you'd have a tail or something hidden in your robes. I mean, I had never seen you with as much as short sleeves before. But no, not a single golden scale anywhere on your skin, before the transformation at least."
"Big teeth..." Suddenly, Milgazia dropped several feet in the air and Jullios screamed.
Flagoon giggled at the drop as if she was in an amusement park ride, while the fox beastman yelled and clung to the golden dragon's tail for dear life. The dragon elder regained his bearings and flapped his wings, his face taking on a slight shade of red, which he was trying to suppress. He really needed to get around to researching a light screen spell to cover up while transforming without having to take the time to find a private spot to do it. "Let's not speak of my human form..." he nearly begged.
"But it's so believable!" Flagoon commended. "It's so-"
"Please," Milgazia insisted.
"Oh, I get it, you're just being humble," Flagoon concluded. "I'm not an expert on the subject of male anatomy, since I'm female and all, but-"
"Flagoon!" Milgazia half growled. Of all the times she could pick to start acknowledging the existence of physical differences between the genders, why did it have to be now?
"Okay, I guess I can drop the subject for now. It looks like we're almost to Sairaag anyway and there's definitely something going on there. Hey you back there, we'll be landing soon! What's your name anyway?"
The frightened beastman trembled as he clung to Milgazia's tail. "Jullios Jillious Jollios..." he voiced his full name between scared shallow breaths.
xoxox xox xoxox
Meanwhile, further back, Xellos and Filia were rushing through that same road. "Romeo, wait up, why are we in such a hurry and what's that light in the distance?" Filia called out to her protector, who seemed just about ready to leave her behind.
"The reason why I am in a hurry is because of that light and that light is very likely a Zanaffar beast," Xellos revealed.
"Zanaffar!" Filia exclaimed in shock. She bumped into Xellos' back when he stopped suddenly to observe the spectacle before them.
"What the...?" There was simply no expression in any language he knew that could accurately describe what he saw. There was a rock golem about thirty feet tall, stomping around aimlessly like a toddler with a tantrum. Atop the golem's head there was a man with a very peculiar attire, or rather lack of attire, making similar tantrum stomping motions in an effort to stop the creature's rampage. He wondered if Lord Beast Master would even believe him if he told her what he saw.
Filia stumbled back and walked around Xellos to see what had made him stop so suddenly. "Eek!" She jumped back and dove under Xellos cape.
"Do you have a golem phobia or something?" Xellos inquired. Strangely, her emotions didn't really taste scared as much as outraged and embarrassed.
"Such indecency!" Filia cried out while she covered her face with his cape.
"You mean the guy in the leather speedos? It is a rather poor choice of apparel," Xellos agreed. But really, this wasn't the time to be dwelling on such things. Actually, no time should ever be used to dwell on such bizarre things. Thus without another moment to waste he disappeared, teleporting to Sairaag.
xoxox xox xoxox
Xellos reappeared in Sairaag. The town was still whole and there were no casualties yet, just as Milgazia planned it. Of course, Xellos intended to interfere with those plans. Filia peeked out from under Xellos' cape and found herself in a whole new location. "This is a town... How did we get here?"
Xellos smiled wickedly, while Filia gave him a confused look. "We went through the astral side," he explained, though she evidently didn't understand the implications of that. He tilted his head to her eye level and grinned mischievously, his red eyes looking into her innocent blue. "I'll let you in on a secret, Juliet, I'm a monster."
Filia's expression showed strong disbelief. "Don't say that, Romeo, you're a human, you're a good human. You're not a monster!"
"I am," Xellos stepped back, surrounded by dark energy.
Filia didn't have the ability to sense his energy because of the amulet that was still stuck around her neck, but she could no longer question what she saw. "No... no! You're not Romeo. That monster that Romeo fought, you're that monster, aren't you? You hid inside Romeo's body consuming his energy, that's why he came back from the astral side like that. Oh Romeo, if only I had known the true nature of the terrible cursed upon you," Filia lamented.
"Denial," Xellos mocked. "Your distress is indeed very delicious, girl. Since you've fed me so well, I'll let you live." He walked away towards the other side of town where the big fight was taking place.
"Romeo... Romeo..." Filia cried. He was gone, the monster had consumed him.
Jullios, the same fox beastman that had arrived with Milgazia and Flagoon, was in a hurry to leave the dangerous town. He stopped as he saw the crying girl that looked like a human. "Hey miss, you better get out of here." She wasn't getting up; she only kept crying for a 'Romeo' her lost lover perhaps? A casualty of the battle? He had thought there were no casualties yet, as the fight was taking place in the outskirts of town.
"My Romeo is dead!" Filia cried loudly.
"Aw, c'mon miss, I'm sure your boyfriend wouldn't want you to cry for him to the point where you're risking your life." Jullios exclaimed.
"He wasn't my boyfriend!" Filia cried, her face red. She sniffled and sobbed quietly admitting, "but I liked him." There could have never been anything between them, she reasoned, but for him to meet such a terrible fate was too cruel. "Monsters are the worse! Monsters are horrible, terrible, cruel creatures! They're rotten, they're disgusting! Monsters are the worse kind of raw garbage!"
Just as Filia yelled, a loud growl echoed from the outskirts of town. "Yes, yes I agree with you, but right now we have to get to safety!" Jullios insisted. "This may sound unbelievable, but the female sword fighter that just arrived in town, is actually the famed warrior of light! It's true, I saw her unsheathe her sword's real power. Plus that guy that was traveling with her is in fact a golden dragon!"
"A golden dragon!" Filia jumped to her feet. She couldn't let one of her own kind see her like this, she simply couldn't. "I have to get out of here!" She started running away, in the general direction of the coast in the far western edge of the peninsula.
"Now you're talking sense!" Jullios followed Filia, assuming that she actually knew where she was going.
xoxox xox xoxox
Flagoon stood at the ready with the sword of light in her hands. Milgazia stood beside her ready to cast another spell as the Zanaffar stared them down. "We can do this; the final strike will be yours." Milgazia stopped all of a sudden his eyes wide. "No! Why did he have to come now? Reveal yourself Xellos, I know you're here!"
Xellos faded out of the astral side and back into the physical plane. Since he was done hiding, he took on his usual form with the purple hair and the cheerful expression. "Why Milgazia, you don't seem very happy to see me. Is this how you greet an old war buddy?"
"What do you want, dragon slayer?" Milgazia growled angrily, while Flagoon kept the Zanaffar at bay, not wanting to interrupt the tense exchange between the two men... or man and dragon... or dragon and monster.
"For starters, you can stop calling me that, I was never too fond of that nickname," Xellos replied. "You knew I would interfere if you tried to obtain the Zanaffar armor before it reached its critical point, so you decided to distract me and destroy it when it became the beast. It's too bad I wasn't late enough for your plans to work. I won't allow you or the warrior of light to finish off the Zanaffar." As for my second request, you can... Die!" Xellos' dark energy waves stretched to wrap around Milgazia's dragon body. The monster became black energy that spun in the shape of a cone as he charged to collide with the entrapped golden dragon.
Despite being stronger in dragon form, Milgazia knew that his larger form would make it more difficult to dodge hits. He could move more easily in the air, but he had no intentions of leaving the battle grounds in case Flagoon needed backup against the Zanaffar. Plus Xellos' energy was wrapped around him and he needed to break free of the net of monster power. Thus Milgazia changed back into his human form. Xellos zoomed past his smaller body and rammed right into the Zanaffar beast, injuring it.
Xellos regained his usual human form, glaring at Milgazia. "You..." That dragon tricked him! Now he had injured the Zanaffar beast that was supposed to be left to rampage.
"Flagoon, take advantage of the injury Xellos has so usefully inflicted on our foe!" Milgazia knew that his words would provoke Xellos to anger and that was exactly what he wanted. At the risk and perhaps the cost of his own life, he wanted Xellos to focus on him, so that Flagoon would be free to defeat the Zanaffar while the monster was kept occupied.
"I will not," Flagoon replied, shocking all those present. "In fact," her eyes met the glowing red eyes of the silver beast. "This is a one on one duel between the Zanaffar and myself. Milgazia, I will assist you with the monster if need be, but the Zanaffar is mine!" There was a strange connection between the opponents, as an unusual pride rose in Flagoon's chest.
"So you want to fight that thing alone?" Xellos watched with curious interest for a moment, then he grinned in amusement. "Alright, it's a deal, Milgazia and I will stand back and watch." He nodded at the human then looked at the dragon elder. "I won't do anything if you don't. Though I could certainly defeat the silver beast, a mere human even with a special sword, should not be able to single handedly do so. We'll watch the embodiment of the hope of human kind fail, and then after she dies at the hand of the Zanaffar, you will die at mine."
Milgazia glared at Xellos, but before the dragon could speak, Flagoon agreed to the terms. "Fine by me, this way I can focus on the Zanaffar, it would be disrespectful to my first worthy opponent in a long time to divide my attention during our decisive fight. Stand back and make a truce you too." Flagoon decided, smiling confidently. "Milgazia, after I beat the Zanaffar, we'll beat that monster together!"
Milgazia couldn't explain why, but somehow, he found that he could believe Flagoon's words. "Let's do it!"
Xellos huffed, "some confidence." Their emotions tasted so strongly of security. Flagoon's emotions were very strong and now even the well guarded Milgazia was letting his hope and expectations shine. He never showed his emotions so freely at their encounters during the War of the Monster's Fall. He never relied on anyone with such confidence. What was it about Flagoon that made even Milgazia so strongly believe in her?
To be Continued
The sorcerer with the golem is an ancestor of Amelia and Naga's mother. Jullios is an ancestor of Jillas. The flashback is about to end so we'll be back to the main storyline soon. I'll include a little recap of where we left off when the flashback ends. I expected this story to be 50 chapters long, but it looks like there will be a few more chapters than that. None the less, after the flashback is over we'll be heading into the final saga of the story.
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