Arc III: “Return of Darkness”
Chapter II: “Lady Soap”
Episode III: “Resurrection”
“Yeah, I feel it!” Fevee said. “There’s an immense dark energy surging in the south.”
“Alright. Then we know where she is.” Kyoto replied. “Let’s take Reito’s portal and stop her before she can revive them.”
“Hold on… the south?” Leo’s face tightened. “If she’s where I think she is… then she must be there to resurrect him!”
“You mean—?” Fevee’s eyes widened as her hand began to tremble.
“Who? Do you know who she’s trying to bring back?” Reito asked.
“Yeah… Kyoto’s father defeated him before—your grandfather… Apocalypse.”
“Our… grandfather?” Reito shuddered.
“So, my father defeated him? How long ago was this?”
“I’m not exactly sure. Your father was still just a boy, so it was long before I had met him.”
“A boy? Then this Apocalypse guy can’t be much of a threat, then, right? Especially if he’s been out of commission for at least a couple of decades.”
“Don’t underestimate him. Especially with the Dark Heart being involved. Anything could be possible… in fact, his power might rival that of Cataline’s if he’s fully resurrected.”
“Seriously?” Kyoto began to sweat. We can’t let that happen! “Don’t you think that’s all the more reason for us to go now before she can bring him back?”
“Hmm… we… we should call for help. We’ll split into teams. One group will travel to the Northern Region, where your father once trained. There’s a beacon there that should be able to reach planet Utopia… Speaking of which, where are your brothers?”
“Akaza and Kazuma? Well, they should have been here…” Kyoto said, searching around the house for the aether signatures.
“I can find them,” Fevee said, eyes slipping shut as she pressed her palms together and blue threads of aether threaded around her.
“Alright… you should take the two of them and head North. The rest of us…” Leo swallowed, “will confront Cataline.”
“Right!” Everyone else said in unison.
[The dead of night – Apocalypse’s Island]
Reito’s Dark Passage dissipated behind the three of them.
Cataline hovered before a roaring nexus—a midnight lattice of veins feeding the pulsing Dark Heart.
“So, I was right,” Leo said. “That cocoon behind you… must be nurturing Apocalypse, isn’t it!”
“Hmph. So, your vision has yet to fail you. I’m impressed,” she said, her voice like velvet over glass.
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“Shut it, witch,” Kyoto snapped—static sparking off his fists.
“We won’t let you succeed in bringing him back!” Reito added.
“You boys are still so rude to your elders,” Cataline sighed. “It seems I’ll have to educate you both on proper etiquette in place of your fathers!” A shockwave of aether pulsated out of her body as she let out a deep, hollow growl. A black ring of energy rippled through the air, the nexus answering back like a heartbeat as her aether hummed.
This will be tricky… Leo thought to himself. He smirked as sweat ran down his temple.
“HAA!” The two boys yelled in unison. Kyoto’s Spirit Transcendence bloomed—his entire body glowing with white aether, and his Lightning Energy Cloak: Tier Three crackling around him. Reito snapped into Spirit Ascension in a white burst, his violet-black True Demon Form Level Three veiling his skin.
Those two have developed their powers well… “I guess I can’t let you two outdo me! Seventh Threshold: Providence!” Golden sigils lit across Leo’s arms as gravity folded inward.
Cataline’s figure blurred into a dark mirage.
Where’d she go? Leo thought as his eyes darted from side to side.
After activating Lightning Flash, Kyoto left nothing but a trail of lightning.
Reito reached his hand out behind him, forming a Dark Passage.
Then, time seemed to slow as if Cataline had stolen seconds from them. Just before Reito could retreat, Cataline seized his collar and slung him into Leo’s path before he could approach.
As Kyoto reappeared above her with a flying punch, she easily spun around it and blasted him away.
Time snapped back.
“Is that all you’ve got?” she asked.
“Dammit! Aster-Volt Canticle: Empyrean Alectryon: Godly Lightning Star Destroyer!” Kyoto fired away; a cyan pillar of destruction carving its path towards her.
“Hmph.” Cataline stood before the beam, her eyes dull. She lifted a palm; the beam guttered into her shadow and died out.
“Nice one, Kyoto!” Leo’s voice cut down from above. “Dominion of Gravitas: Halo of Crius: Gravity Disk!” Leo hurled his art at Cataline, space shearing around a white, rim-bright ring of aether.
“That technique… is not half bad—assuming you can hit me with it,” Cataline said as she crouched low to the ground, the veins in her legs bulging. But before she could move, Reito intercepted her—
“Oblivion Liturgy: Coffin of Night: Shadow Hold!” Reito yelled as ink-black chains erupted from the ground and snatched her. “And—Thirst of the Void: Shadow Drain!” He leeched power away from her as the chains tightened. This may not be able to hold her for long, but it should prevent her from dodging Leo’s technique!
“Grah, you insolent little brat!” Cataline’s aura surged as she increased her yield, but it quickly dwindled as more aether flowed through the chains.
Reito flanked her from the opposite side of the disk. “Grand Dirge of Eclipse: Super Shadow Demolition Cannon!” A midnight lance of aether boxed her in.
Enough! Cataline cracked the cocoon’s seal as the Dark Heart’s current flooded her meridians. She shredded through the chains and braced against both attacks. The nexus stuttered, then the resurrection sequence restarted.
She had to restart in order to block those attacks! “That’s good, Reito, Kyoto! Keep it up just like this!” Leo said.
“Hmm. It seems I may have to take this seriously after all,” Cataline said. Using the full power of the Dark Heart was a mistake. Going forward I must limit the power I use so that the resurrection can continue. Fighting three of them is a pain… they all have troublesome arts with strange effects. I’ve learned that much from their previous fights that I witnessed. In that case… she thought as she looked around, I should focus on picking them off one by one. “And I think I’ll start with you!” She said as she Aether-Skipped towards Kyoto.
Shit! He thought.
She effortlessly attacked him before anyone else could react.
“Kyoto!” Reito yelled.
Cataline’s hand speared through his chest, a lethal blow.
Kyoto looked down at her and smirked as blood ran down his chin. “Heh… better luck next time.” His body suddenly burst into streams of lightning, stunning her in place.
Good, it was a clone! Leo thought.
When did he have time to switch places with a clone!? After his beam attack? Cataline thought.
Kyoto and Reito rose above her stunned body in tandem as she contemplated her blunder. They braided their aethers together into a single point. “Sparkfall Dirge: Sparkling Shadow Cannon!” They yelled in unison.
A prismatic dark bolt crashed down onto Cataline. Huh!? What’s that!? She looked up, her face turning pale. She grabbed the beam with both arms, wrapped around its face, barely holding it back.
Perfect! She’s immobilized! “Now’s my chance!” Leo snapped, “Locus Seal: Gravity Blast!” His sigil landed on her, and he quickly began pooling his aether into another disk.
First, I have to dispose of this beam… then I have to kill those two brats in the air! Cataline’s face was flushed, a vein in her temple pulsing. “Dark Inception!” She reflected their beam back, but the two of them easily slipped around it. Then she quickly soared towards Reito. “I’ll get you first!”
Dammit! Did she notice that the power I stole from her ran out? Reito thought as his eyes widened.
“Draconic Hymn of First Thunder: Trinity of the Tempest: Triple Lightning Dragon Strike!” Kyoto roared as he unleashed a monstrous beast of aether onto Cataline.
With the three dragon heads coiling into her path, she quickly redirected towards Kyoto instead.
“Umbral Transposition: Shadow Swap!” Reito yelled. I already had them marked before we got here!
Kyoto abruptly sank into a shadow-like veil at his feet, and Leo fell into his position as ghostly motes clumped around him.
“Halo of Crius: Gravity Disk!”
With Cataline committed to her path, it was too late to break away. The disk bit and folded her across its rim, expanding into a blinding light show.
[Next Time on Lyte of Utopia]: “Devilish Trickster”
[Yield Levels]:
Fevee: 5,000
Kyoto: 350 – 4z
- ST + LECT3: 175 – 6z
- Lightning Flash: x20
- Lightning Star Destroyer: x100
- Lightning Projection: x1
- Triple Lightning Dragon Strike: x1000
Reito: 300 – 4z
- SA + TDFL3: 30 – 6z
- SA + TDFL3 + SD: (9z -> 11z): ~11z
- Shadow Arsenal
- Super Shadow Demolition Cannon: x2z
Leo: 10 – 5z
- T7: 10 – 8z
- Gravity Disk: x5z
- Gravity Blast: x2
Cataline: 11z
- Suppressed: 9z
- Dark Heart Boost: 16z
- Dark Inception: x1 (Reflection)
Kyoto + Reito:
- Sparkling Shadow Cannon: ~13z