Elemental Zodiack

Chapter 32: The Dark part 1

[ "If only... I was stronger..." says the lone figure that was lying on the ground, motionless. Thousands of desperate cries could be heard all around. A blue fire ignited the ground and buildings were falling apart. In this mess, one boy was desperately shouting his weakness into the abyss...

"Why is it always me!?" says the sad boy while slowly dragging his body towards the motionless body of his dead friend, whose body was full of blood.

 Countless humans whose names were long-forgotten by this world were slowly approaching the boy that fended them off with a final desperate attempt.

"Segan... You... I am going to kill you!" says the lone boy, surrounded by the long-dead bodies of his former comrades. ]

One day ago:

--- Together with his group, Yoso was heading back towards Dinsfurd after accomplishing his mission and retrieving the second seat of the Zodiack from Taka Tsubasa of the Golden Arrow.

"Now that I think about it... Who is going to take this second spot now?" asks Shouko with a cheerful expression.

"Give it up Shouko... You know that even though Kein was the one that defeated Taka, the rules aren't working like this..." says Shizuo as of breaking all of Shouko's expectations.

"It's true Shouko. In this case, I will only rise one rank, so Sarus will be second, and I will be fourth... The only vacant place at the moment will be twelfth," explains Kein

 Yoso was snoring while lying on Sarus's shoulder that was next to him, having Minase shaking him off to wake him up every now and then.

"Give up Minase... I even used my wind magic to wake him up once. He won't move if you take him so lightly..." intervenes Kein

"Ah... I see. But we are almost at the border with Dinsfurd, so I thought that it would be time for him to wake up..." says Minase with a troubled expression

 Sarus didn't seem to have any problem with Yoso and Arthur was trying hard to keep his laughter in him while watching this scene. They would soon arrive in their homeland, but one problem seemed to be standing in their way.

"Umm...  Commander Sarus! I would like you to see this... There is something unusual happening at the border with Dinsfurd right now!" this message was coming from the interphone inside the ship, and the voice that could be heard belonged to none other than Colt, that was piloting the ship towards Dinsfurd.

 Sarus couldn't move easily since Yoso was lying on him, so he swiftly pushed Yoso in Minase's direction, making him lie on her instead. She instantly became red as a tomato, while Yoso's sleep didn't look to be disturbed a bit.

 Kein's group couldn't help but start giggling without making too much noise, while Arthur was already laughing under his chair.

"This is bad... This is... Dark Magic!" says Sarus after confirming Colt's doubts, then he continues: "Colt! Contact mister Laure Edroch and ask about the situation right now! And speed up the ship!"

 Going back to the main room where the others were situated, Sarus began explaining the situation in a hurry...

"Sir Yoso! Please wake up!" after hearing this desperate shout coming from Sarus, Yoso instantly jumped from his seat, scaring Minase off.

"How did he wake him up so easily...?" whispers Kein while watching with a dumbfounded expression

"What's the problem, Mister Sarus?" asks Yoso after waking up

"You can see for yourself... But let's just say that it's not good..."

 Going to the pilot room together with Sarus, Yoso witnessed for himself the dark clouds that started to form in the skies of Dinsfurd.

"What the...?" Yoso's face darkened, as he realized what was happening, yet he couldn't understand why it was happening.

"It is a sort of dark magic... But yet different from the darkness affinity... I can't quite understand it either," says Colt

"Can it be an enemy attack?" asks Yoso

"Maybe... But I don't think Authorania would use such moves... Or more likely, they wouldn't be able to..." says Sarus

"We'll see when we arrive there... Let's explain the situation to mister Kein and the others!" says Yoso while hurrying to the other room once again.

 After explaining the situation, everyone fell silent upon the moment of their arrival. After arriving at the same airport from where they took the ship, they disembarked just to realize that there was no one around.

"Where is everyone?" asks Shouko with a pretty scared tone

"Let's go outside..." says Yoso

 While walking towards the exit of the building, countless desperate screams could be heard from outside. As they walked more, the more frightened they got... And after coming outside, they witnessed a horror like they never saw before.

 Many silhouettes coming from pure darkness, dead bodies with names long forgotten by these lands were walking together, and mercilessly killing the ones around them. Their decaying bodies were emitting an unbelievable stench and their eyes were glowing a bright green colour... 

"What is happening...?" asked Yoso while in shock

"So this is what it was... It is not dark magic... It is necromancy..." says Sarus

"Necromancy...? Wasn't it an incredibly rare affinity?" asks Kein 

"Yes, and from what I know... Not a single individual in Dinsfurd has this affinity..." says Sarus

"So he is an outsider after all..." mutters Yoso with an angered expression

"Everyone... Split up... Mister Sarus go and check at the Military Base and try to contact the other Zodiacks. Mister Arthur and mister Colt go with mister Sarus, please... Mister Kein and his group will search for the caster of this spell. I have some unfinished business..." and after explaining the strategy to the others, Yoso dragged Minase and rushed in what seemed to be the direction of the Military Academy, while slashing the undead with his sword until he got to his destination.

 Somewhere in the middle of the city, a lone figure was standing in the middle of an army of corpses, laughing maniacally.

"Soon enough, my Vanessa... You will be back in the lines of the living! Soon... I'll be able to embrace you once again..."

 Around him... The figures of Keigo, Jin and Alex could be seen, hardly resisting the forces of the undead, while the one surrounded by them gave the three Zodiacks no attention.

"He is just mocking us!" says Iulio

"He just laughed all this time and didn't even care we are here!" says Jin while continuously throwing sound waves at the undead.

"Yo... Coffin face! Are you the one that is doing all of this?" says Kein that just arrived in the centre of the city, facing the one person that was surrounding himself with dead bodies.

 That one guy stopped laughing for a moment and looked in Kein's direction... But his eyes weren't fixed on Kein, but rather on... Shouko.

"You... You! My Vanessa! I was sure that you would come back to me!"

"What in the world is he talking about?" asks Shizuo while looking towards Shouko

"I don't know him..." says Shouko 

"Oi, Coffin Face... What's your name?" asks Kein

"Oh, I am sorry for my rudeness! The name is Segan Fester, and I am here in this wonderful graveyard with the sole reason of bringing my beloved wife back in the place she belongs!" says the necromancer

"Wow... He sure is a twisted one..." says Shizuo

"Before we arrest you... Would you mind explaining?" says Kein

"Well, well, well~ I was born in a family well-known for its strong line of necromancers! But I didn't even care about the business of my family... I was happily living with my beloved wife, Vanessa, and couldn't ask for anything more... Until it happened... One day, the army of that monkey kingdom, Authorania came and burnt our small village, in its mission to gather more lands, and a victim of that assault was also my wife... Vanessa..." explains Segan while violently scratching the skin on his neck.

"So you want revenge on Authorania? Why did you attack Dinsfurd?!" asks Shizuo with an angered expression

"Oh kid, oh kid~ I am not thinking about such silly things as revenge! I just want to bring back my wife in my arms! After she died... I killed my entire family with its own cursed magic, and mastered it all! I was hoping for a way to fully bring back one person... And one day, I found the answer! You are asking why I am attacking this helpless little country? Because it is the weakest of them all! I will leave it alone after I'll get just... Over 100.000 souls and one host for Vanessa!"

"Wait... 100.000 souls...? You mean you are going to kill more than half of Dinsfurd's population?!" asks Kein in a rage.

"They are just the necessary sacrifices for the revival of my beloved wife! And about the host..." after changing the subject to the host, his expression darkened, and some skeletons came out of the ground, dragging Shouko in Segan's direction.

 Kein grasped Shouko's hand and destroyed the skeletons with one quick move, but they quickly reassembled and started aiming for Shouko once again.

"My dear Vanessa... Soon enough... You will be mine, once more!"  shouts Segan and then launches dark magic in the direction of Kein. The attack was easily deflected by Shizuo's steel wall skill.

 Shouko activated her magic as well, now being able to evade the attacks on her own with her lightning speed.

"Useless..." whispering this, Segan sends another wave of undead in Shouko's direction, completely ignoring Kein and Shizuo

  Seeking the opportunity, Kein quickly rushed in the direction of Segan and attached the Chain of Fate to him. Then with his rapier out, he used Life Force Channeling: Remastered, and started attacking.

 However...

"W-What...?"

 Segan caught Kein's hand with his own and made him drop his rapier...

"You thought I'd be a weak fry just because I am a mage type? Fool..."