Chapter 221: The Almighty General’s Last Stand
Listen While Reading: Octopath Traveler II - Fierce Confrontation [Extended]-----
The Dark Star, the bizarre power that Cecil possessed, something she was born with, and that not even her parents knew very well what even it was. She kept this power hidden most of the time and only used it when there was nobody watching, or at least not her family. Because she was so secretive about it, she rejected training with Bing Xue and simply was absent from all the training sessions her parents had with her.
Although Cecil thought that Hekita might’ve been cute, she wasn’t convinced enough by her words and ended up simply not being her friend. There was something about Bing Xue that made her feel uneasy, and she didn’t want to even get close to her if possible. To keep her power a secret no matter what as well.
Unless she considered her foe as someone she would kill no matter what, the Dark Star would never reveal its true power…
“I will show you the power of the Princess of North America, fool. You’ll pay for what you did to my castle and my mother.”
Cecil’s words became more serious and ruthless; her resentment and hatred were palpable. This and her enigmatic powers made even Gaius consider his actions before.
“I cannot believe I tried to convince you to surrender peacefully, girl!”
Gaius swung his massive hammer against her approaching sword attacks as the two weapons intercepted, explosions of Aura erupting with each blow, shaking the skies above.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
“You’re not a normal girl; you’re a maniac! Someone that relishes on others’ suffering!” Gaius roared as he spun in midair, intercepting the attacks coming after him from several directions.
Cecil had divided herself into three bodies made of Abyssal Darkness, attacking Gaius from above, left, and right, yet he managed to smash all three bodies with his hammer by spinning in midair, releasing a powerful tornado generated from the sheer force of his swing!
BOOOOMM!!
The explosion sent her flying, her separated bodies unifying within a second, but Gaius was already in front of her, his hammer growing larger as he raised it into the skies and then rapidly moved it down.
“I must kill you no matter what!”
CRAAASH!
Cecil was unable to evade, taking the blow head-on as she fell from the skies with tremendous force, hitting the water down below and falling through its depths.
SPLASH!
“Haaah… Haahh… Haahh…”
Gaius glanced down below, noticing that Cecil’s presence was almost completely gone, and slowly becoming weaker, she was dying, most likely drowning in the water.
“That must have… done it,” he sighed. “She killed several of my men so quickly… She’s a menace! I had no idea Caesar had raised such a monster… We should’ve come to slay her quicker. I was a fool for trying to convince her to join us.”
He looked back at his army, smiling lightly.
“It’s done; let us go find the Queen. Her daughter said she was alive or something, right? We’ll take her a hostage. If the battle against Caesar continues, Lord Claudius could use her as a bargaining chip to force his brother to surrender,” explained Gaius. “Let’s go!”
“YES SIR!”
As they flew towards the crumbling castle, Cecil’s eyes opened as she fell through the lake’s depths. Her eyes were glaring at the man flying above the skies, shining with blue and green light.
“That was strong… He’s perfect to feed my Dark Star…”
She smiled; her body didn’t seem to be even drowning, and her armor was unscathed as well, but the blow threw her off quite a lot. The techniques Gaius wielded seemed to destabilize the internal energies of his targets.
“Now, where do you think you’re going?”
TRUUUM!
Her eyes shone brightly as suddenly, a tremendous pressure stared, weighing down Gaius and the army behind him, making the skies tremble, ripples in space emerging everywhere.
“Ugh?!” Gaius grit his teeth, feeling utterly paralyzed again. “S-She’s still alive?! Or at least conscious?! Dammit! Hey, you two- Ah!”
Gaius was able to keep himself afloat, but over half of his soldiers fell from the sky the moment they were paralyzed, Cecil emerging from the waters, her body completely unscathed.
“Get out of the way!”
Cecil, with a mighty roar, rushed into the skies, swinging her sword against the paralyzed soldiers! Because they were unable to defend, they could only watch as her sword cleaved through their bodies; a storm of slashing waves made of abyssal darkness engulfed them all.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
Dozens after dozens of soldiers were shredded into pieces, blood and gusts splattering everywhere, half the magicians were included in this massacre!
“STOOOP!”
Gaius screamed in horror, forcefully moving his body even as he was paralyzed, tearing down some of his muscles by doing so, but managing to reach Cecil and kick her in the face!
CRASH!
“You damn monster! You aren’t a child! You aren’t a girl! You’re nothing but a demon!”
He swung his hammer against her again, as tears fell from his eyes while fighting her. Seeing over half his soldiers being massacred so ruthlessly made him furious and frustrated.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
“Those men trusted me! They trusted I would lead them to victory!”
As he screamed, he manifested a second hammer made out of his own Aura, using both to hit Cecil from every angle possible!
BAAM! BAAM! BAAM! BAAM!
And yet…!
CLAAANK!
Cecil grasped his hammer with her armored hand, while her sword destroyed his Aura Hammer.
“I don’t care.”
The souls of the ones she slain all flew towards her Dark Star, whose eye had been fully opened; feeding on their souls, it began to rapidly produce more power.
“They’re now part of my power.”
“W-What…?! Just what are you?! Are you truly the son of Caesar?! This is not the power of an elf!”
Gaius screamed in horror as he saw how Cecil’s powers worked; it seemed like something utterly bizarre to the man.
From what he had seen so far, he could conclude several things!
The Dark Star was intangible; no matter how much she was hit in the head, the Dark Star would never be damaged.
The Dark Star could generate more of this dark power as it devoured the Souls of the people Cecil killed.
The armor that Cecil was wearing right now was made by the Dark Star, most likely created by the condensation of the souls and the darkness the Dark Star had eaten and generated, respectively.
“It’s the wonderful power I was born with!” Cecil roared as the Dark Star’s crimson eye glowed bright red, encompassing her sword.
The blade started to transform, growing twice as big, with red and black metal, spikes, and eye-shaped jewels infused into it, alongside seven more blades around its body.
“{Seven-Pointed Black Star Blade: Ultimus}!”
“A power you were born with?!”
Gaius gritted his teeth in desperation, frustration, and fear as he gazed at the gigantic, demonic sword that Cecil manifested.
This was certainly not the power any half-elf would ever wield, even less being born with it!
“It’s wonderful, isn’t it? In the original story, I became a villain… Although I like the idea, I want to protect this stupid country if possible,” smiled Cecil. “Mom and dad too… They’re probably the only people I care about.”
“What nonsense are you even talking about?!”
Gaius rushed to fight her, manifesting his Aura at full Power, his muscles bulging, and his gray hair grew longer, becoming spikier at the same time as a giant made of his golden and silver aura manifested, holding four giant hammers with his four muscular arms.
“{Soul Knight Aura Guardian Manifestation}!”
“Hah! So you’re going all out as well!”
Cecil smiled, clashing against the monster of a man in front of her. Explosions of thunderous Aura and darkness erupted. Cecil’s gigantic sword easily intercepted the mightiest of hammer blows, while the hammer gained more cracks.
“I won’t accept a defeat against a corrupted and spoiled child like you!”
Gaius lost his calm demeanor completely, his Aura roaring like a barbarian as four gigantic hammers came rushing down towards Cecil, striking her several times in a row.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
CRAAASH!
Four blows and then a fifth were enough to send her flying down again; her armor gained cracks, finally. Gaius regained his hope upon witnessing this, as he didn’t give her time to breathe, rushing down to fight her.
“Hahahahah…!”
And yet, Cecil laughed as she fell; her sword was gone from her hands, something Gaius only realized now.
“Her sword isn’t… Where is it?”
“Uuuaaggh!”
“Lord Gaius!”
“S-Stop!”
Suddenly, he heard the screams of his army behind him; they were once more paralyzed as a giant black and red sword flew around, cleaving their bodies one after another.
“N-No…! What are you doing?!”
Gaius screamed, and as he saw his allies being slaughtered, he quickly rushed back to them to save them, kicking the empty air and striking the sword with all his strength.
CRAAASH!
The sword shattered into pieces by the sheer might of his strength, which was powered up by his anger and sorrow.
“Oh no, my sword…”
Cecil sighed as she saw her sword fall into pieces, but at the same time, dozens after dozens of souls flew towards her Black Star, powering it up even more.
“Well, no matter… {Dark Restoration}!”
FLUOSH!
All the sword fragments suddenly flew towards her, fusing back together into a giant black and red sword as if nothing had happened to them.
“Yes, with this power… I think I can fight you better, Gaius.”
“Y-You… You despicable… monster!”
Gaius couldn’t contain his hatred and fury, his skin growing red as his veins were about to burst out of his forehead.
“YOU DESERVE AN AGONIZING DEATH!”
Like a silver and golden star falling from the skies, he rushed towards his foe, his massive hammer growing ten times as big in a second as he aimed to completely smash her into pieces!
“DIEEEE!”
CRAAASH!
The attack hit Cecil head-on, although it was blocked by her sword.
TRUUUM!
The shockwave of the blow was released, shaking the skies and making the nearby clouds dissipate within a mere second.
The man glanced at the girl, his eyes widening the moment he realized what she had done.
“I have to admit, you’re at least a named character, so you aren’t just some random fodders, Gaius,” smiled Cecil. “Maybe in the original story you ended up becoming one of my servants after I killed your king, but this time… I just want you to become my power instead.”
“What are you even talking about?! What story is this that you’re so persistent on talking about?!” Gaius screamed. “Are the lives of those men nothing to you?!”
“Oh? And are the lives of my soldiers something to you? The life of my mother, whom you just almost killed, or the life of my father, who your king is so obsessed with taking. Even though they’re brothers! Hilarious right? Tell me, are you implying you have the moral high ground when, in truth, this is a war you started?”
“T-That’s…!”
SLAAASH!
As Gaius was made to question his own code as a knight, he noticed his hammer was sliced into two halves, falling from the skies, its internal magical power drained by Cecil’s sword, Terminus.
Gaius’ entire aura suddenly became weaker, as he was challenged not only physically by someone equally or stronger than him but also had his own conviction challenged.
“Don’t you think you sound like a hypocrite?” Laughed Cecil. “Come on… Die less miserably! Struggle for a bit! Or do you want me to end this right now?”
“Y-You will get your comeuppance one day…” Gaius muttered. “YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU’VE DONE ONE DAY, YOU WITCH!”
Gaius grew insane, his Aura transforming into a massive hammer as he smashed Cecil with all his strength!
Meanwhile, Cecil remained calm, her hands moving lightning fast, her sword slashing through space, and… her foe in front of her.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
His Aura quickly was sliced into pieces, dissipating into nothingness before it could truly hit Cecil!
BOOOM!
And then Gaius himself saw his own arms, legs, and body slowly fall into little cubes and pieces…
“Y-Your majesty…!”
His last consciousness glanced into the distance; King Claudius was still fiercely battling his brother.
“I’m sorry…!”
Darkness engulfed his consciousness as his body fell from the skies as little meat cubes.
At the same time, his soul was quickly grabbed by Cecil, and her Dark Star had an incredible feast!
“Aaah~! Now this is power!”
RUMBLE!
Suddenly, Cecil’s Dark Aura became several times stronger as the silhouette of a huge muscular man emerged behind her.
This was the first time her Dark Star absorbed such a strong foe!
“Now, to rescue mother… And then, I’ll end this war with my father.”
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