WIEDERGEBURT Act VI: Chapter 5

There were three of them. The most visible among the elemental birds were the one with yellow feathers, and the one with white feathers. They hovered in the air. The yellow one was shooting arcs of lightning that slammed into buildings, the ground, and people. Meanwhile, the white one was firing beams of condensed light from its mouth. Each beam slammed into the ground and tore straight through it as the bird tilted its head, creating thick trenches at least fifteen meters across and several kilometers long.

People down below were screaming as they ran around in a panic, and their cries reached Fay as she soared through the air toward the birds. The destruction down below seared into Fay’s soul. Dead bodies littered the streets. Children were crying on the corpses of their parents, parents held their dead children whilst shedding tears of pain and loss, and there were even more bodies that had been left to rot.

Fay gritted her teeth.

With fire shooting from her feet like the tail end of a shooting star, Fay blasted toward the light elemental bird, which she decided was doing the most damage.

Unfortunately, the bird spotted her. It turned and fired a powerful beam of white energy from its mouth. Fay realized instinctively that she would not survive if that struck her, so she performed a barrel roll, the world around her spinning as she dodged the intense beam of light. Even though it missed, she still felt a strange sizzling on her fire-crafted body. Then it was flying past her.

She thought that would be the end of its attack.

She was wrong.

Fay’s instincts, honed from years of combat and two separate lives, sensed something coming from behind her. She once more performed an intense aerial maneuvering. The beam of white Spiritual Power had curved around and tried to strike her from behind. When it missed, the white beam exploded and split apart into six smaller beams that chased after her.

Gnashing her teeth together as she realized what kind of overwhelming power this creature had, Fay shot into the air, away from the city. The beams chased after her. However, that was what she wanted. She didn’t want the city getting damaged from her attacks.

Spiritual Power exploded from her body, which she charged into her flaming fist. The flames that made up her fist turned blue, then became an intense white. With a roar, she thrust her fist at the first beam to reach her.

A massive explosion of energy erupted from beam as it detonated. Intense winds kicked up and pushed her back, but then a vacuum appeared in the center of the detonation and sucked everything back in. Fay resisted the pull. The other five beams of light energy were not so lucky; they were pulled in toward the vacuum and struck each other, exploding with even greater ferocity than the first beam.

Fay didn’t stick around.

She plummeted back toward the ground, spun around, and stuck out her left leg. The heat from her descent and the fire already coating her entire body grew even more intense. Her target was the light elemental bird, and this time it was not quick enough to launch a preemptive strike. Fay slammed into the bird like a meteor striking the ground.

“KWEEEEHHH!!!”

The light elemental bird released a pained and angered squeal as her attack blasted it back. A shockwave ripped through the sky. It was such a powerful attack that the ground several meters below them cracked from the backlash. Even Fay was sent skidding through the sky, though she stopped her backward momentum by shooting fire from her back.

Flapping its wings, the light elemental bird managed to halt its own momentum. There was a large black mark on its chest. The feathers had been burnt away and revealed its flesh. Unfortunately, it was not a serious wound. And even as she stared at it, the black burn marks from her attack disappeared as the injury healed over.

“So it can regenerate?” She grimaced. This was not good.

“Kweeeehhhh!!”

The elemental bird released another angered squeal. Fay thought it was going to charge at her or launch another light attack, but then something erupted from the ground underneath her. Fay gawked as a bird with brown feathers appeared, merged with the ground, and fired several large spike-shaped projectiles at her.

Fay wove through the storm of projectiles shooting at her from below, but then the light elemental bird began firing projectiles as well. Now caught between two attacks, Fay realized there were very few places left for her to dodge.

She used the Flash Step Version 3: Fire Step, which was her own variation of the Lightning Step that Eryk created. Flames trailed after her as her body disappeared. The world around her became an incandescent blur as she moved so fast even her own eyes couldn’t keep up with her speed.

Despite her speed, the projectiles continued coming in her direction, as if the elemental birds were able to perfectly track her movements. One spike-shaped earthen projectile nearly slammed into her. It had been launched at where she would have been if she didn’t stop moving, proving that the earth elemental bird, at least, could track and predict her movements. Unfortunately for her, when she stopped, the light elemental bird released a projectile of its own.

Fay thought she might have screamed as the projectile slammed into her, but she could hear nothing except the howling of wind and the sizzling of the attack. It pushed against her, attempting to penetrate her body. Snarling as she fought through the pain, Fay erupted with flames that burned away the projectile. Her entire body became a bright ball of burning hot fire. The earth projectiles from the bird below melted into lava before dissipating. The light projectiles struck the sphere and evaporated.

Fay waited until the birds had stopped attacking her, then ceased erupting. The sphere of fire once more transformed into a human shaped body.

The light elemental bird flapped its wings, while the one on the ground once more merged with the earth. They both glared at Fay, who glared right back, not backing down despite being pushed to the limits. She still had half her Spiritual Power left. If she ran out, she could consume some pills. She had plenty.

“Kweeehhhh!”

With another harsh trill, the light and earth elemental birds, SS-Rank Demon Beasts the likes of which she had never seen before, attacked once again. Fay pounded her fists together. Fire exploded from her body and met the pair’s attacks head on. Fire pushed against light and melted earth. She transformed her fire into spears that she launched at her two opponents, and they in turn attacked with powerful Spiritual Attacks of their own.

Fay thought she was doing okay for herself. While these two had a clear advantage, she had not lost yet, but just as she was thinking this, another trill cry erupted from above her. It was the lightning elemental bird. She only had time to feel a moment of surprise before the creature burst into lightning, turning into a literal bolt that attempted to slam into her. She only managed to dodge by erupting into flames and reforming several meters away. However, even though she had dodged, she still felt like she had been shocked.

With a grimace, Fay eyed the trio of elemental birds that were now fully focused on her. It looked like they had no intention of letting her off.

Hurry up, Lin. I can’t keep holding them off forever.

***

Lin quickly emerged from the ground after reaching the Imperial Royal Palace’s main entrance. It had not taken more than thirty seconds to reach. When she turned her head, she could see Fay fighting against the light elemental bird. She didn’t know where the others were, but Lin knew she had to hurry.

Throwing open the doors without ceremony, Lin used her earth element to locate the Spiritual Signature belonging to Empress Hilda. She was not inside of the entrance hall. Lin slithered swiftly through the corridors and eventually reached the war council room, located on the first floor.

“Empress Mother!” Lin shouted as she swung the door wide. “We have an emergency!”

“Yes, I know,” Empress Hilda said.

The empress was standing with her husbands and several captains of the Nevarian Spiritualists and commanders of the Imperial Royal Guard. It looked like they were pouring over a map on the table and discussing plans.

“The city is being attacked by powerful elemental birds,” Lin said, gesturing toward the outside. “This princess believes they are SS-Rank Demon Beasts that Eryk fought once before. He mentioned them to this princess and her sisters. If they are what this princess believes they are, then we cannot win. We need to begin evacuating the civilians through the Warp Gates!”

“Are you suggesting we leave the city?!” one of the commanders allbut snarled at her.

Lin didn’t know this man, but that was not surprising since she didn’t pay attention to who was in the Imperial Royal Guard. He had ruddy red hair, green eyes, and a face covered in freckles. She judged him to be somewhere in his forties. He had only reached the Second State of Spiritualism.

“Buildings can be rebuilt. Lives cannot,” Lin said, her eyes on Empress Hilda. “We need to evacuate.”

“Yes, you are correct,” Empress Hilda agreed.

“Your Majesty!” the commander shouted. “Surely you cannot be serious?!”

“I am completely serious,” Empress Hilda said.

The commander’s face scrunched up. He looked like he was going to say something he would regret, but then Valence stepped forward and silenced the man with a glare.

“Our empress has spoken. Who are you to question her?”

The man’s face turned red, but he said nothing.

“Dante, Reiner, I want you two to take charge of the Nevarian Spiritualists. Tell them to link up with the Nevarian Braves and begin helping the civilians evacuated,” Empress Hilda commanded, then looked at Hellen Brynhild and the other Nevarian Spiritualist captains. “Go with them.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Dante and Reiner took the other four captains and quickly left the room. Lin hoped they were going to gather their forces. The Nevarian Spiritualists consisted of around 230,000 Spiritualists, making them the largest force in Nevaria

“Commander Treu, I want you and the members of the Imperial Royal Guard to work with me. While the Nevarian Spiritualists hook up with the Nevarian Braves, we are traveling to the noble district. There are not as many nobles as there are commoners, so our smaller group will help them evacuate.”

The man, who Lin now knew was Commander Treu, looked very put out, but then he released a weary sigh, snapped off a salute, and said, “if that is your wish, Your Majesty.”

“It is.” Empress Hilda nodded once before turning to Lin. “What will you be doing, Lin?”

“This princess is going to help Fay distract the elemental birds. She cannot leave her sister to fight off such a powerful foe on her own,” Lin said, determination shining in her eyes.

***

Fay was beginning to think these Demon Beasts had reached a state above the Fourth State of Spiritualism. She’d fought against S-Rank Demon Beasts before. Their powers were incredible, allowing them to control and absorb their element just like she could, but they did not have the raw power or fine control these elemental birds possessed.

A giant stake rose from the ground and tried to skewer her. Fay swerved and avoided being struck, but then the stake bent and warped to follow her movements. It chased after her at speeds that broke the sound barrier. To make matters worse, several spheres of light harassed her, darting at her from all sides. They were not as powerful as the light bird’s previous attacks, but as one of them struck her in the back, she could not help but hiss as pain seared through her fire body.

Flipping her body around, she twisted about as the stake came at her, just barely avoiding being skewered. The stake tried to change direction, but it had to loop around. She used that single moment to speed toward the base, which looked like the trunk of a massive tree. Her body transformed into a disc shape that spun. With her full power and speed, she sliced through the trunk-shaped base.

She learned early on that once the earth left the ground, the earth bird could not control its element anymore, which was why the projectiles it launched didn’t track her. To keep its element under its control, the bird’s attacks had to remain attached to the earth. This was reminiscent to Lin’s own powers, and fortunately for Fay, she had plenty of experience sparring her sister.

The earthen stake crumbled away. Yet while this did get rid of one danger, it did not remove all of them.

The light and lightning birds swooped down from above. One launched a condensed beam of light, while the other transformed into a sparking bolt of lightning. Fay was able to avoid the light attack, but the lightning bird slammed into her body, shoving who knew how much lightning into her.

Before the pain could become too much, Fay combusted, exploding in all directions. She didn’t rely on fire to counteract the effects of lightning but heat. Heat came from speeding up atoms and could, to an extent, provide resistance to lightning. This was more typical in the cases of metal. However, because her body was currently composed of an element, she could create a similar effect.

As she and the bird that had slammed its beak into her body soared through the sky, Fay raised her hand and slammed it into the lightning bird’s beak. Because it was made of lightning, the beak did not shatter, but it did explode into bolts of lightning. The lightning bird shrieked as her attack disrupted its form, and Fay used that opportunity to fire a condensed beam of fire straight into its body. The beam speared through its head, punching a hole through it and disrupting its form. While the bird did reform because it was composed of an element instead of flesh and blood, it was forced to transform back into its original body.

Fay did not have time to celebrate her success as several projectiles made of light appeared from behind the lightning bird. The light bird had used the lightning bird’s bulky body to hide its attack, and because of how fast light traveled, she was unable to react in time to dodge. All she could do was cross her arms.

The attacks that slammed into Fay caused her fiery body to burst apart. Her left arm disappeared. Her right leg evaporated. A large hole appeared in her torso. Despite being made of flames, she still felt pain, and the feeling of losing her limbs hurt.

Fay channeled her Spiritual Power and regrew her limbs, but she didn’t have time to do much else as the earth bird manipulated the metal element inside of the ground. A large metal spike shot from the earth. She dodged--only to realize that the bird’s intent was not to attack her. The lightning bird screeched as it fired lightning at the metal spike, causing the element to travel through the metal, disappear into the ground, and attack her from behind as it erupted from another spike that had emerged while she wasn’t looking.

Fay was only just able to dodge the attack. It struck a building not far from her.

“Mooom!!!”

She was about to turn and deal with the nearest bird, but then a loud and familiar voice shouted, causing her head to swivel. Her son and his two friends were standing right underneath the building that had been struck by lightning! What was he doing here?!

Fay didn’t hesitate to swoop down. The lightning exploded against the building. Rubble exploded and the building began collapsing. Her son could only stare in horror as the debris descended, threatening to bury him and his two friends.

Fire erupted from Fay in several projectiles that exploded against the falling debris, destroying it before Raul, Leif, and Jaina could get squashed. She landed on the ground, transformed into her human form, and rushed toward the kids. The elemental birds saw this as their chance. They fired their elements at her and the kids, earth erupted from the ground. Lightning arced toward them through the sky, and a beam of light tore across the space.

“Get behind me!!!” Fay shouted as she turned to face the incoming attacks.

Her son and his friends did as ordered, and Fay spread her arms wide before erupting once more. She transformed her entire body into a dome of fire, sealing the kids off from the outside world. She carefully controlled her flames too. Despite the heat emitting from her body, she did not let it affect the children, who couldn’t even feel it.

The earth rumbled as it struck the dome and melted. The lightning glanced off the dome and struck a building several meters away. Only the beam of light tore through the dome. Fay wanted to scream as the beam shot toward the children, but then a black wall appeared in front of Raul, Leif, and Jaina. The light beam slammed into the wall, which rippled but held strong.

“That was close, wasn’t it?”

Fay turned back into a human as Lin emerged from the ground near her feet. The lamia’s body looked like it was composed of dirt, but there was a black pattern spread across her body. Unlike Kari, who had reached the Fourth State of Spiritualism for light, Lin had not reached it for darkness. She could not afford to go into closed door training like her big sister.

“You’re late,” Fay said with a smile.

Lin rubbed the back of her head. “Sorry. I got held up. But I’m here now.”

“Mom… Aunty Lin,” Raul said.

“If our situation wasn’t so dire, I would lecture you,” Fay said with a sigh. “But we don’t have the time for that.”

Lin nodded. “We do not. Fay, escort these three to the Warp Gate at our headquarters. This princess will cover your retreat.”

Fay wanted to argue, but she understood that now was not the time. They could not afford to waste time arguing.

“All right. Be careful. These birds are strong.”

“This princess is aware.”

“Follow me, you three. We’re leaving.”

Perhaps it was because of the danger they were in, or maybe because they had almost died, but all three kids listened to her. They began running toward the Nevarian Braves headquarters.

The elemental birds were not about to let this happen. All three of them screeched and attacked. The earth rumbled, lightning filled the sky, and several light projectiles flew through the airspace.

Lin stopped them.

She slammed her tail into the ground, disrupting the earth bird’s control of the earth. Then she slammed her tail into it again, creating a large pillar made of metal, which caused the lightning to curve and strike it instead of them. As the lightning became grounded, Lin manipulated the earth element to create a thick wall that was at least sixty meters tall and thirty wide. Darkness became overlaid with earth. The light projectiles slammed into it and harmlessly dissipated.

“This princess is your opponent now!” Fay heard Lin shout.

Fay was worried about her sister, but the earth element was the sturdiest among the elements. Its greatest power lay in defense, and Lin knew how to manipulate it better than anyone else she knew. While she didn’t think Lin could win, she knew that her sister could hold out long enough for her to return.

When Fay arrived at the Nevarian Braves headquarters, it was to find the area outside filled with people lined up and being escorted in by members of her sect. Several people in the armor of a Nevarian Spiritualist would arrive with groups of people, directed them to line up, and left them to the Nevarian Braves who escorted them inside to travel through the two Warp Gates.

“Hey, Big Sister!”

Fay turned at the shout and found Catalyna running over to her. Geirolf was also present, but he was working alongside Mykkel and Earland to keep everyone calm and orderly.

“Catalyna!” Fay pushed Raul, Leif, and Jaina forward as the woman stopped in front of her. “I’d like you to escort these three through the Warp Gate pleased.”

“Huh?” Catalyna stopped short. “Are you not going through yourself?”

Fay shook her head. “I cannot. Lin is currently fighting those elemental birds, but she will eventually be overwhelmed. However, she and I will stand a fighting chance if we work together. Even if we cannot defeat them, we can at least buy everyone enough time to escape through the Warp Gate.”

Catalyna’s face scrunched up like she had a lot to say, but then it cleared. She nodded once as her gaze hardened.

“I understand. Please leave your son, my sister, and their friend to me.”

“Thank you.”

“Mom?”

Before Fay could turn around, she found her son gazing at her with a complex expression, half-pleading, half-concerned. She felt her heart tremble at the sight. How she wanted to go with him through that gate, to be with him in case something went wrong, but she knew that was not her task here.

“Raul.” She placed her hands on her son’s shoulders. “Do not look so worried. You know how strong Lin and I are. We will not lose so easily. What’s more, I am certain Eryk will know what’s happening and come soon. We must hold out until he can arrive and help deal with this. You know how strong your father is.”

“Father is very strong,” Raul agreed with a nod. He hesitated for a moment, his face tearing up. “You promise… to come back?”

Fay removed one hand from his shoulder and held out her pinky. “I promise.”

Seeing this, Raul reached out and curled his pinky around hers. Fay felt an intense burst of emotions as they locked pinkies. She felt determination surge through her like a blazing inferno. No matter what it took, she would return to her son’s side.

***

Lin had never fought against someone who could control the earth like her before, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. This stupid earth elemental bird was clashing against her, trying to wrest control of the earth from her like she was doing to it. Everything had become a battle of wills now.

When two Spiritualists of equal power wielded the same element, the one with the stronger will always emerged victorious. Lin believed she was quite fortunate. Her will was like the earth, stubborn and immovable, and she had motivation to push herself even further. She needed to protect her family.

A loud screech echoed around Lin as she forced the bird out of the ground. She could no longer feel its presence. Emerging out of the earth until just her torso was visible, Lin locked onto the earth, light, and lightning birds with a fierce glare.

“How dare you attack this princess’s home! You creatures are seeking death!”

Lin had no idea if these birds understood her, but they must have gotten the gist of her words, for their enraged screeches echoed down to her. The light and lightning birds attacked with their respective elements. As the lightning came down like rain, Lin absorbed the Spiritual Power of the earth and manipulated the metal located beneath the surface, erecting several grounding poles that attracted all the lightning. Now all she needed to do was deal with the light element.

Raising her hand, Lin channeled darkness through her palms and created a triangle shaped barrier. The light slammed into the barrier, split apart, and slammed into the ground on either side of her. It was terrible loud and bright. An explosion of energy blinded Lin, who was forced close her eyes as the two explosions buffeted her body. She quickly merged with the earth before the damage to her body could grow more extensieve.

Traveling through the earth, Lin emerged several dozen meters from her previous location. The trio of bird’s had not spotted her head. She used that to her advantage, creating a thick spear that was six meters long and curled like a drill near the front. With a grunt, Lin threw the spear at the light bird, which was closer to her than the others. Sadly, it sensed her attack and dodged to the side.

Lin clicked her tongue.

The battle between Lin and the elemental birds became one of attrition. Lightning could not harm Lin so long as she was merged with the earth, but she needed to utilize the darkness element to defend against the light attacks. Sadly, she had not reached the Fourth State of Spiritualism with the darkness element. If she had, this battle would not have been so hard.

Because the earth was everywhere, Lin had a very distinct advantage over the lightning bird, which did not have any lightning it could absorb. Lin had an unlimited supply of Spiritual Power that she could absorb from the earth. Of course, the light elemental bird was capable of absorbing light, so it had a similar advantage. The battle between them was a war of attrition.

Lightning slammed into Lin’s body but was quickly grounded. Lin focused only on the light elemental attacks, which came at her in the form of multiple projectiles. She raised her hands and fired several dozen earth projectiles that were coated in darkness. As her projectiles slammed into the light ones, they erupted into a powerful detonation of light and dark energies that created spatial cracks in the sky.

While Lin was doing her best to defend against the light bird, she had completely forgotten about the earth bird. It wasn’t until she felt her control over the earth slipping that she realized that it had merged back with the earth and was trying to wrest control from her.

“NO!”

Lin tried to defend against it, but the light bird attacked again, causing her concentration to slip. She was forced out of the earth. Searing pain slammed into her skull. She lay on the ground, completely defenseless as the light beam soared toward her.

She thought this would be the end, but then a blazing spear of fire slammed into the beam. The light beam didn’t explode, but it did curve away from Lin and strike a building a couple dozen meters away. As the shockwave from the explosion washed over her, the flaming spear landed on the ground and shifted back into a human form. Long red hair. Pale skin. A toned body clad in white and blue. It was Fay.

“This princess is glad you got here.” Lin clambered back up and slithered over to her sister. “She doesn’t know how much longer she’d be able to last.”

“Then it’s a good thing I arrived when I did.” Fay smiled briefly, but then her gaze hardened as she looked at the birds flapping away in the sky. “Lin, think you can defeat that earth bird?”

“This princess is positive she can win if she’s only fighting one of them,” Lin said.

“Then I will hold these two off until you can defeat it,” Fay said before her body once more erupted into flames.