Elemental Zodiack

Chapter 31: The Light Zodiack

--- The next day, exactly what Sarus expected was starting to happen. Waiting in the same deserted area where they made a camp the other day, were Yoso's group, Sarus's group and Kein's group. And slowly walking towards them were some silhouettes that they could see from far away. They numbered a bit over twenty people. and they were all walking behind one young man.

 "He is here..." says Sarus upon realizing that their plan was working.

 "So he is... Taka Tsubasa!" says Yoso

 "Yes, he is indeed the leader of the strongest guild in Swanford with the name of 'Golden Arrow', as well as their current number one Zodiack..." says Arthur

"Number 1 of Swanford... I see..." says Kein

 After getting close enough, Sarus and Taka faced each other, recalling some of the past they had together.

"Oh? If it isn't the failed Zodiack of Dinsfurd with his unusual affinity. You sure look a lot different... Sarus," says Taka 

"Well, times change... Would you mind explaining yourself... Number two Zodiack of Dinsfurd?" says Sarus

"Don't you dare call me by that nickname, smoke user..." says Taka who looks like got a bit offended by that line. 

 From the information that Sarus and Arthur had, it seems that Taka Tsubasa has always had an inferiority complex towards the former number one Zodiack of Dinsfurd, Percival Dalais...

"So you are still as childish as ever... Well, I don't really care..." says Sarus

"So...? What's up with that announcement. I've heard that one of you punks broke the hand of one of my precious henchmen... Am I wrong?" says Taka while turning towards one of the trembling men that was standing behind him, with a bandaged hand.

"I-It was him! That brown-haired boy!" says the trembling man while pointing his finger at Yoso

"Oi, Bols... This ain't even funny... Look at him! You are three times his size and he is just a brat!" says Taka while slapping the one named Bols on the scruff.

"It is true boss! This is the kid that did that to Bols!" says another one of the underlings staying behind Taka

"Oh...? I see... Well, anyway, what do you want from me?" asks Taka

"We want you to retire from your Dinsfurd Zodiack spot... We even have a contract that you must sign for this to happen..." says Sarus

"What is that joke... If you know anything about me, you know that I have my own reasons for not standing in Dinsfurd and yet still keeping my spot!" says Taka

"You did have a reason... Which is not valid anymore..." says Sarus

"What do you mean?" says Taka

"Percival Dalais betrayed Dinsfurd and joined hands with Authorania... and then... He died at the hands of the number one Zodiack that followed after him in that civil war..." says Sarus

  Taka always wanted to defeat Percival himself and take the first Zodiack spot, so he left Dinsfurd and became stronger in Swanford, just to be able to take Percival's head... And yet...

"Impossible... Who is this number one Zodiack?!" shouts Taka

"You know him very well... Shiro..."

"That brat... It ain't much after all... I am just going to beat him and take his spot instead of beating Percival... If that i***t lost to the hand of someone like that Shiro brat, then he didn't even deserve my attention, to begin with..." says Taka

"There is a problem though..." intervenes Yoso who continues with: "He died in that very fight against Percival Dalais..."

"...What...? Who is the number one Zodiack in Dinsfurd at the moment?!" shouts Taka, feeling like he wasn't believing the information he heard at the moment.

"It's me... The Wind Zodiack: Kein Shimada of the Gemini..." says Kein after taking one step forwards to face Taka Tsubasa

"Oi... This has to be some bad joke. Aren't you like twelve?" says Taka after comparing Kein's height to his own.

"You... Want to die so badly?" says Kein with a grim expression on his face, probably since he doesn't enjoy when someone laughs about his height.

"Oh... How scary... Well then... I don't want to resign from my spot as a Zodiack in Dinsfurd... But I will gladly take yours instead... 'Mister Number One' " says Taka

"Alright... It can't be helped then... But if you lose, you have to sign this contract, and sever all the dies with Dinsfurd altogether..." says Kein 

"Yeah, sure! I wouldn't mind running away if I were to lose against a kid!" says Taka while making a sign to his underlings

"Well, while the boss is fighting that kid, I guess it's our time to take revenge for Bols!" says one of the henchmen in the crowd.

"Oh... I see..." says Yoso while slowly turning his expression into a serious one.

 Meanwhile, Taka and Kein moved their location a few metres away from the groups. Kein took out his rapier, while Taka took out the bow he was holding on his back the whole time.

"Good weapon for the one with the sign of Saggitarius... Hope you know how to use it..." says Kein while swiftly approaching Taka

 Taka's boots started glowing and he then disappeared, reappearing behind Kein, shooting some light arrows at him.

 Kein easily defended from them with his windshield and then turned to face Taka once more.

"He is faster than Yoso... This is probably because the light is known as the fastest affinity after all... Well then... How should I proceed..." thinks Kein

"What's up kid...? Can't match up with my pace? Dinsfurd really became weak in the years of my absence..."

"Ho...? Well then, I am sorry... But I think I overestimated you..." says Kein with a small grin on his face.

"What?"

"Well... If we were to place you in the new Zodiack placement for now... You wouldn't make take more than the ninth spot..." says Kein

"Watch your mouth, kid..."

"You will soon realize what I mean... Original Wind Skill: Chain of Fate: Remastered" Kein placed his new remastered skill on Taka, which usually gave him more movement speed towards the chain... But now...

"Let's see how much can you move your mouth for!" says Taka while running behind Kein once more

"Light Skill: Rain of Light Arrows!" using this skill, Taka made thousands of arrows fall from the sky at once, all in the direction of Kein.

"Die... Kid!" shouts Taka

 ... However, Kein took his rapier, and deflected every single arrow that was coming at him, until the last one, and then stepped once towards Taka, closing the gap in an instant...

"What the...?" witnessing Kein's speed, Taka used his own to get further away from him.

"How are you matching me?!"

"If you didn't understand until now... This is the best time you do... Because right now, I am not even using a quarter of my full power... Here I come..." says Kein while closing the gap once more with instant speed, making a clean cut on Taka's abdomen.

"After losing to Yoso, I realized how helpless I was... His speed was the only thing he even used to defeat me at that time... And it was frustrating. But after following Shiro's advice and started acting like true support, the answer became clear..." thinks Kein

 The remastered skill 'Chain of Fate' is giving the caster or an ally that the caster chooses, movement speed equal to that of the opponent while moving in the direction of the chain.

"This is the way I will match your speed for now... Yoso..." thinks Kein

 The cut that Kein gave Taka made him kneel while losing blood. Looking upwards, Taka saw Kein looking down at him...

"Move... The fight isn't over..." says Kein

"You damn brat!" shouts Taka after quickly getting up and grabbing Kein's collar with his bare hands...

 Kein only looked at him with a deep disappointment in his eyes and said:

"Wrong choice..."

 At that very moment... Six wind blades appeared around Kein and started slashing Taka all over his body, leaving an incredible amount of scars on his body...

 Taka fell right on the spot, bleeding from everywhere, kneeling in front of Kein...

"Sign the contract... Taka Tsubasa..." says Kein while slowly handing Taka the contract which attested that he would give up his Zodiack seat.

 Without any will left, and full of scars that reached even the depths of this soul, Taka slowly took the contract he was being handed and signed it...

"I will surely come after you someday... Shimada Kein..."

"Sure... Just so you know... I am actually the fifth Zodiack in Dinsfurd... But I just wanted to witness the power of someone that was said to be almost as strong as the Percival bastard..."

"F-Fifth...? Who is the first one...?" and while asking this question, a huge explosion occurred in the direction of Yoso and the others.

"See for yourself..." says Kein 

 Arriving at the starting point... The camp where the ship was waiting for them to take their leave, where over twenty people were lying unconscious on the ground, all burned and without any breath...

"I made sure to go easy on them though..." says Yoso with a small smile on his face.

"Im-Impossible..." says Taka

"Mister Yoso! I caught some that were trying to run away!" says Minase who caught some fugitives with her Vine Magic...

 Minase's data:

Wizard Type

Affinity: Nature

Life Force Amount: 64.151

Life Force Control: A-

Fire Power: B-

Speed: C

Physical Power: C

Rank: Zodiack Squad 1 - Trainee

"Good job, Minase!" says Yoso with a large smile on his face.

 Taka couldn't comprehend what was happening. He lost his Zodiack spot in Dinsfurd in a battle against a 16-year-old boy, which was ranked fifth as a Zodiack. And also all his henchmen were defeated in an instant...

"Well then... I guess we'll go back now... It was a pleasure to meet you, former Dinsfurd Zodiack!" says Yoso while hurrying to the ship.

"I am sorry for how much you've fallen, Taka Tsubasa..." says Sarus after turning his back to him.

 And just like this, they left Taka in his misery, leaving Swanford altogether...