Vol 2 Chapter 10: The Catalysts
...
As the battle between the Sol Empire and Altan, Euna Empire had begun, All the Sol Empire's pillars and Altan Empire's Magus clashed with each other. For the pillars, accepting defeat was never an option, for the magus, obtaining the Empire is their objective
In Hikari and Gideon's side, both were scathed exchanging blows from the two Magus. The same thing could be said to the two Magus, which one of them, the one that has yellow lining on his black robe, has expressions of agitation written on his face
"Oi, oi. Don't tell me you're losing your nerve on that guy?"
"You don't understand my comrade..."
The Light Magus smiled wider in a more creepy way
"This expression I'm having right now is excitement! I'm delighted to fight such a fierce opponent!"
Hikari on the other hand, had a cold expression on the Magus' statement
"He's a boring lad indeed, but he's a lad that can get me riled up easily! Oh I love how he doesn't show any emotions!"
The Light Magus stopped tip-toeing right after, standing ominously, facing Hikari
"I just want to break that calm demeanor of yours and shatter it!"
He said as he laughs hysterically
"Well...looks like someone's having too much fun..."
The Dark Magus said, looking back at his opponent
"...But I'd admit that I feel the same way to this old man..."
To the Magus, it was more of a compliment than an insult, which Gideon didn't reciprocate
"Don't you feel ashamed that this 'old man' is holding you back?"
"..."
As if Gideon got to his nerves, the Dark Magus suddenly strike something in Gideon's way
*Clang!*
"..."
It was fast, but Gideon had a lot of experience battling, to which that kind of thing can't faze him
"Nice try, I might be 'too old' in your view, but my skills haven't wane"
"..."
The Light Magus approached his comrade in a teasing way
"Who's the one having a hard time hmmmmm?"
As he was about to get closer to his face, the Dark Magus suggested something
"We should use that catalyst"
"? But isn't that a bit overkill?"
"I know that the order was for us to capture the Empire specifically, but there's no strict rule that we can't kill them, right?"
"I like your plan comrade! Its about time we get serious!"
"...?"
Hikari and Gideon were clueless, but they silently watched the two Magus to come together, as they slowly raised up a diamond shaped object
"! Hikari! That's...!"
"..."
With a serious expression on Hikari's face, it was no doubt that what the Magus showed to them, is a big threat
"Let's see if you can still keep your calm behaviour with this one! Activate!"
The object then started to glow, emitting a bright blue light
"They used that Catalyst Hikari! What should we do? Should we use ours?"
Surprisingly, Hikari didn't even flinch, and replied back with confidence to Gideon
"We will fight like how we normally would"
Gideon got taken aback, but then realized who he was talking to
"Of course...how could I forget? You of all people don't even need our Catalyst to begin with..."
Gideon said, pausing for a second, then continuing his statement
"...Because you never relied on a power that was never yours in the first place..."
"..."
...
A few moments later, the Catalyst stopped glowing, there were no noticeable changes from the Magus themselves, but Hikari and Gideon knew that they were not like what they used to be earlier...
"Ah! Ecstasy! This surge of power!"
"Will you just shut up for once?!"
"Why I can't comrade! We should celebrate this moment!"
The Light Magus said, as he looked once again to the two opponents
"Celebrate their last moments that is!"
The tension between them got deeper, the Magus' auras got more heavier. Gideon felt the pressure, but Hikari was standing bravely against it
"AAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHH!"
"What now?!"
"HE...HE DOESN'T EVEN REACT TO ANYTHING WE'VE DONE JUST NOW!"
The Light Magus pointed at Hikari
"And that made you angry?"
"THEY SHOULD BE CONFUSED! PUZZLED! AGITATED! YET HE HASN'T SHOWN ANY OF THOSE THINGS! AM I A FAILURE AS AN ENTERTAINER?!"
As if the Dark Magus had enough, he smacked the Light Magus' head as hard as he could
"Cut off that persona for once! Call the other Magus here!"
"No need"
"Huh?!"
"For they're already on their way...look"
All of them looked above, only to see the 4 other Magus heading towards their location, with the other 4 pillars that was chasing them down
Hikari felt a quick relief to see the pillars in a decent condition
...
"About time you finally learned something!"
"Cut us some slack! You just suddenly activated that Catalyst without even telling us!"
"It was necessary. These two were bad news"
The Dark Magus referred to Hikari and Gideon, to which the Wind Magus brushed off
"Huh?! You're telling me that this handsome guy, and this old man were beating your assess?!"
"I prefer you wouldn't go to that conclusion"
"You wouldn't use the Catalyst if you weren't having a hard time!"
"..."
While the six Magus we're talking, the Pillars also had a meeting of their own. Ignis was the first one to approach and ask Hikari
"Hikari! Are you okay man?"
"We are. I had Sir Gideon with me"
Gideon nodded right after his name was mentioned
"Still a veteran even in his age huh?"
"Do we really have the time to chit chat?!"
Aeris said, feeling the heavy aura of the six Magus
"So...they used the Catalyst"
"Yes. The Light and Dark Magus was the one who activated it"
"I knew it...it was strange how that Water Magus suddenly casted a big water spell at me. That explains everything"
Casa said, while having a sense of regret between her lines
"Isn't it only natural that we also activate our Catalyst?! Hikari!"
"No, we shouldn't. It wouldn't be our power that defeated them if we did"
"Hikari! We need to use it for the sake of our Empire! Think about of the citizens!"
"..."
As if to support Ignis' statement, Magna patted Hikari on the back
"I know how it feels to rely on something that isn't yours, but Hikari, if its for the greater good, there's nothing wrong borrowing from it"
"..."
After a few more seconds of consideration, Hikari finally decided to let out the Catalyst to activate it...
...When suddenly-
"Not so fast!"
"?!"
The ground below them started to trap their lower body. The Dark Magic from the Dark Magus supported the Earth Magic after, adding another layer of security
"What the?! This thing's tough!"
Ignis tried to break through with his spear, but to no avail. It was then that his spear started to lose its effectiveness
"?! My spear's losing its own fire?!"
"If you think we'd spend time just chatting back there, you were gravely mistaken!"
"Hmph! As if this would stop me from getting out!"
Aeris said, as she tried to cut it down using her wind magic...
...but to no avail
"What?! Why's my wind magic so weak?!"
All Magus laugh, while the Light Magus pointed out the obvious
"Oh? You didn't know?"
"...?"
"The Catalyst of Mana, which is said to expand our Mana capacity to an absurd level, has another mechanism to it! While we gain the benefits, you weaklings also suffer the disadvantages! Your Mana capacity lessens!"
"What?!"
"THAT'S IT! THAT'S THE DESPAIR I WANTED TO SEE! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THAT MOMENT! IT WAS WORTH TO ACTIVATE THIS!"
The Light Magus turned his attention to Hikari
"Better than this Light Pillar's reaction..."
The Light Magus slowly walked towards the Light Pillar
"That face...I'll never forget it"
"..."
"You know, this Empire was never our focus to begin with..."
"...?"
"It was the King's orders...but what we, the Six Magus are after, is that Catalyst! That Catalyst of Incantation!"
"! I need to get to Hikari quick!"
Ignis tried with all his might, but unfortunately, he couldn't get out from the Magus' spell
The Light Magus' hand slowly reaches out to where the Catalyst was, right in Hikari's right hand
"Once I get that thing off of your dirty hands, us Magus will finally be invincible!"
All of them looked at the two with anticipation, slowly waiting for what's about to happen next...
...Like a dancer with sweet, playful moves, he sways his hand as he got closer to the Catalyst
"Hehehehehehehe!"
Right after the Light Magus got a hold of Hikari's hand, it was then that Hikari spoke something
"Distortion!"
"?!"
Suddenly, Hikari started to glow brightly, removing the bindings from not only him, but also to his allies as well
"What did that bastard do?! I can't see!"
"I'll just need to eat it with my dark magic!"
He said, as he tried to attack the light with his spell...
...
...But to his surprise, the light outshined the darkness
"What the- Argghhh!"
With the Six Magus completely blinded by the light, it was enough time for Hikari and the others to do their next course of action...
...
Right after the light subsided, the scene can be seen once again
"That bastard! You'll pay-"
But all of them were nowhere to be found
"T-THEY RUN AWAY? HOW COWARDLY OF THEM!"
"Tsk! I thought he didn't had enough mana left in him!"
"We underestimated that Light lad, comrade. Its to be expected"
The Dark Magus couldn't help but throw a fit to the Light Magus
"Calm down comrade! I have no desire to fight you!"
"Well I do! If you just had to stop with your shenanigans, we would've gotten that Catalyst!"
"Oh dear...I guess I should've been quicker with my actions...but I can't rush a golden performance"
The Dark Magus refrained from talking to the Light Magus right after that statement
"Well on one hand, we did get the Empire, as the King ordered us to do"
"But on our end, we were unable to get what we wanted, which was that moron's only job!"
"Yet he's our leader..."
"..."
The two magus knew that even if the five of them fought their leader, they wouldn't stand a chance. Hence why they couldn't do anything but endure their leader's actions
Meanwhile...the other Magus...
"THAT WOMAN, SHALL DIE! AND SHE SHALL DIE ALONG WITH THAT MAN!"
"THAT FARCE OF A FIRE PILLAR! HOW CAN HE WITHSTAND MY POWER?! THERE'S NO ONE STRONG IN TERMS OF FIRE MAGIC OTHER THAN ME!"
The Earth Magus stood silent, but his thoughts were drifting off on something else
...All in all, each Magus had their own issues to sort out
"Are we really the only normal Magus here?"
"You realized that just now?"
"..."
The Dark Magus was about to say something else to the Wind Magus, but didn't continue further
"That being said, I'll be the one reporting this to the king for now. You've had enough to deal with"
"Grrr! You just don't want to do the mundane tasks here!"
"What's that? I can't hear you! I'll go now, catch you guys later!"
He waves his hand as he slowly disappeared into nothingness...
...
"...I take it back, I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO'S NORMAL HERE!"
The Dark Magus said, as he started to 'Babysit' the other Magus, who was entrapped in their own little worlds to snap back to reality...
...