Ch 7: Angelorum Lux

Lorem Academy under siege, Alastor and Malum seem unopposed as Grey is nowhere to be seen. Yet just in the nick of time, salvation arrives. Grey is not the only hero of this story!

            Reaching a staircase leading to the second floor of the main building, Elizabeth stopped and said, “Access request, Elizabeth Wormwood.” On the ground next to the stairs leading up, a trapdoor slid open and revealed a set of stairs leading down. Quietly, Elizabeth said, “There, go claim your trinket and leave my academy.” Grabbing her by the arm, Alastor said, “Oh, I don’t know what delusions you’re having, but your role here is far from over. I do not trust Malum and his codes, and therefore you will remain and ensure I do not walk into anything unpleasant.” Thrusting her towards the stairs, Alastor added, “Know that should you try anything, I will let Malum burn your precious academy to the ground. Now then, after you…” Reluctantly descending the stairs, Elizabeth led the way as they both headed deep beneath the academy. The stairs spiraled down deeper and deeper, until they came to a solid metal door with an interface that required you to enter a password. Alastor waited patiently as Elizabeth entered the password. The door slid open, and Alastor waited for her to step inside first. 

They entered a long hallway, the floor, walls, and ceiling all made of a black metallic material. As they made their way to the door far ahead, Elizabeth said, “Whatever you plan to use it for, you won’t get away with it you know. As long as there are heroes like that boy, your days are numbered.” Glancing at Elizabeth, Alastor simply said, “You’re rather naive for someone with a higher education. The sad truth is that good does not always triumph over evil. Morality, sympathy, friendship, all the self-righteous and emotional nonsense your average hero claims as their strength only serves to hinder your ability to reach your goals. My goal may be to create an ideal world, but I give no pretenses of heroism. Good or evil, I do whatever furthers my goals, and I show my enemies no mercy…”

            Passing through another door, Elizabeth and Alastor stepped into a dark circular room with glossy black floors and walls. Sensing it, Alastor looked up to see a small, glowing spherical object suspended in some form of ring shaped device that floated in the air just beneath a spotlight that was casting a shaft of light down through the room. Quietly, he said, “Vas Initio… The Vessel of the Beginning. I knew Alexander would have hidden it well. If what Malum says is true, I need only obtain Deus Amictus and break the Master Seal to ensure my success. Wielding the same power as the Old Gods themselves, I will use them to lay claim to the Inanimate Dream and rewrite existence itself.” Alastor stepped forward into the room, and the black metal floor panels in the center of the room began rising up into the air all on their own. They soon formed a floating spiral staircase that led up to the strange glowing sphere, and Alastor started on his way up the floating steps towards his prize. 

Seeing her chance, Elizabeth moved for the door, but rising from the shadows of the doorframe, the ancient demonfolk Shadow appeared to stand in her way. Elizabeth backed away as she saw him, clad in black armor with glowing red designs on it, his skin black, his long hair also black and tied in a ponytail, and his four red eyes glowing brightly. From the staircase, Alastor called out, “Do have patience Headmistress, I will be ready to leave soon enough.” Reaching the top of the staircase to stand before Vas Initio, Alastor raised a hand and placed it on the device. Channeling EDE through the device itself, Alastor operated it as easily as if he had been entering commands into a control panel. Mechanisms swished and whirred, and at last the outer section of the device separated from the small inner section. Reaching out Alastor took hold of the inner section, which simply consisted of a disk shaped component with the burning sphere suspended in its center. 

Examining it for a few moments, Alastor’s eyes suddenly narrowed and he said, “What is the meaning of this…?” Descending the staircase with Vas Initio in hand, as he stepped back onto the floor and walked towards Elizabeth and Shadow, Alastor said, “Is there something you’ve neglected to tell me?” Confused, Elizabeth said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You have what you wanted, just leave already!” Raising Vas Initio before him, Alastor said, “You are the only one besides Alexander who knew the secret to reaching Vas Initio aren’t you?” Still confused, Elizabeth hesitantly said, “My grandfather also knew. Protecting it was his legacy, but he passed away almost ten years ago…” Eyeing her with a cold stare, Alastor said, “Then how is it that Vas Initio has been tampered with?”

            Throughout the already bloodstained streets of Lorem Academy City, the city guard and the enlisted townspeople battled against the hordes of anomalies that pushed their way through the gates, all the while under attack from the monstrosities flying down from above to land behind the lines of defense. Rushing through the battle zones defending his mother, Tory thought to himself, “Why? Grey has already left! Could it be what the woman from the church warned us about? Does Marcyl possess something they desire?” Reaching the exit from the residential area, as they stepped onto the main street that stretched from the city entrance to the academy, a group of four anomalies rushing towards the academy spotted them. Turning to his mother, Tory said, “Hurry to the academy! I will defeat them!” Shaking her head, Mrs. Zephyr said, “What are you saying Tor?!” Suddenly jumping down from buildings on the side of the street behind them, four more anomalies blocked their route of escape. Forming an edge of razor sharp wind along his right arm, Tory clenched his teeth and thought, “Is this the end?” 

Suddenly a blade with a curved tip burst through the chest of one of the anomalies that had been coming up the street, and as the blade vibrated, a shockwave of sonic power erupted from it and the anomaly was torn to pieces. The three remaining anomalies turned to see the warrior known as Serius the Unbound, a mautauian man with long gray hair that was tied back in a ponytail. He held in his hand a sword with a black and white guard that looked like a pair of spread wings, its long blade radiating an otherworldly glow. The three anomalies rushed at Serius and leaped into the air to strike, but with a swung of his sword, Serius cried out, “Scream of Heaven!” A wave of sonic power erupted from his blade and tore the anomalies apart. Suddenly Tory’s mother cried out from behind him, and having been staring at Serius in disbelief, Tory quickly turned to see the anomalies closing in. Just as he was about to go to her aid, someone rushed up the street with incredible speed and leaped over his head to land between his mother and the anomalies. A man in his mid-twenties wearing a red and gray armguard over his right shoulder, he had spiky, medium length red hair. Deflecting an anomaly’s bladed arm with his arm guard, he slammed his other fist into the anomaly’s chest and an explosion erupted from the white hot steel glove on his hand. The anomaly’s broken, burning corpse landed behind the other three anomalies and quickly disintegrated, and with a cocky grin the red haired man said to the remaining anomalies, “Bring it!” The anomalies quickly retreated, and turning to Tory with a thumbs up, the red haired man said, “Fox the Fireflash, at your service!”

            Ripping through another monstrosity with his lightning yoyo, Johnny panted for a moment, then shouted, “This all you’ve got?!” Having chased after Elizabeth and Alastor, as they had reached the front of the main school building, Johnny, Pyro, and Marcyl found themselves surrounded by the dozens of monstrosities that had been lying in wait up on the roof of the building. Blowing away another monstrosity with a snap of her fingers, Pyro muttered, “Man, this sucks!” Looking up to see even more monstrosities flying down around them, Marcyl thought, “There’s so many! What do we do…?” Suddenly, she noticed something else flying towards them from the direction of the city. As the approaching entities drew near, it looked as though three people were riding across the sky on sheets of crystal material, accompanied by another person riding some other object while surrounded by seven smaller objects. Suddenly the small objects around the person not riding a crystal sheet glowed with the seven colors of the elements, and then powerful beams of elemental energy shot out and decimated the legion of monstrosities, carving a clear path to Marcyl and the others. 

Turning to look in the direction the attack had come from, Johnny exclaimed, “What in the hell?!” Leaping off their crystal sheets, three of the mysterious heroes rushed through the path carved by their comrade and quickly took defensive positions around Marcyl and the others. One was a man with short brown hair who wore sunglasses and held a large sword, dressed in noble looking red clothes and a black cape. Then there was a man with long black hair and violet eyes who wore a pair of crystal glasses. He had on a blue military uniform and wielded double barreled pistols. Finally, there was a young girl with short blue hair and blue eyes who wore a red t-shirt and black jeans. She also wore a glove with a socket which had a strange glowing crystal embedded in it and wielded a long curved blade. Glancing back at Marcyl, the blue haired girl said, “Don’t worry. Everything’s alright now.” Blinking in surprise, Marcyl slowly nodded and said, “Ok.” Looking around at them in awe, Pyro said, “Who are you guys?!” The man in the black cape said, “Angelorum Lux.”

            As the monstrosities gathered themselves and surrounded their new opponents, streaming in from all over now that they sensed the powerful fighters, the man in the black cape said, “Mythra will be coming around to take out the left side once Amy raises a barrier around the students here. Richter and I will handle the right.” Nodding, Amy said, “Right! Be careful though Alexander, these things feel even more dangerous than the anomalies.” Suddenly a psychic energy barrier formed around Amy and Marcyl’s group. Running his hand across his sword, Alexander chanted, “Magistri Alica.” Red and blue runes ran across his hand, and he glanced up to see Mythra coming around, shooting down any monstrosity that dared to fly after her. Looking out into the legion before him, Alexander thought quickly and said, “Richter, cut me a path to the middle.” 

Raising his pistols, Richter aimed into the army of monstrosities and opened fire with his Radiating Shot, a hail of multicolored energy bullets cutting a path through them. The path cleared, Alexander chanted, “Ego Voco Vos, Ignis Gelu Acies!” Red and blue runes danced across his sword’s blade as it began to radiate the power of fire and ice. Rushing through the gap in the enemy’s ranks as Richter leaped onto a crystal wall and gave him cover fire from the air, Alexander slashed through any lingering resistance with his frostfire blade. Meanwhile, up in the air on her broom shooting down flying monstrosities with her wand, the half-halman woman with long black hair and cat ears known as Mythra glanced down at the monstrosities gathered in front of the main school building on the left side. She had different colored eyes, one silver and one violet, and she wore an elegant looking black dress with silver frills. Smirking, she muttered, “What a waste of my Ultimate Barrage! I’ll have to focus the radius just to keep from blowing both sides away! You’d better not screw up with the other side Alexander!”

            As Mythra’s violet eye glowed, the seven crystals of her Elementum Orbis now arranged in the shape of a rainbow glowed as well, and seven large rune circles formed. Then from each one shot countless star shaped bolts of each element’s energy, speeding down on the monstrosities like seven colored rain. One after another the stars exploded and the monstrosities on the left side disappeared in endless explosions of the seven elemental powers. Having slashed his way to the middle of the monstrosities gathered on the right side, as Richter covered him from the skies, Alexander stabbed his sword in the ground and chanted, “De Arafa Divulsa Terram, Qui Sepeliant Tuum Invocabimus Terram Hanc Malitiam Libero!” Dark green lines shot from where his sword was stuck in the ground and sped across the ground beneath the monstrosities, forming a massive rune circle beneath their feet. The ground on which the rune circle was formed began to rumble, then it cracked and split open as great amounts of dark green nature energy erupted forth from the ground and obliterated all the monstrosities around him. Adjusting his signature shades, Alexander said, “Well, that’s that.” 

Coming down beside him on her broom, Mythra said, “Not bad, for an old man.” Grinning mischievously, Alexander said, “Ah, always the cool beauty. What man could possibly resist that cynical nature? If only I could express my unbridled love in a way that is worthy of you! Tell me, would you prefer a poem or a sonnet?” Turning red, Mythra raised a hand and balled it into a fist threateningly as she glared at him and muttered, “Neither if they’re gonna be that drowned in sarcasm!” Jumping down from his crystal wall to land next to them, Richter said, “Lover’s quarrel?” As Mythra shot him a look that sent a chill down his spine, Richter quickly said, “I was only joking…” Rushing up to them all with Marcyl’s group in tow, Amy exclaimed, “Great work guys!” Pulling his sword from the ground, Alexander smiled at her approvingly and said, “We couldn’t have fought at our full strength if you had not been able to keep the students safe Amy. You deserve a pat on the back as much as any of us.”

            Suddenly speaking up, Johnny asked, “So… you guys… you really are the legendary heroes? Angelorum Lux?” Smirking, Mythra said, “The one and only.” With a sparkle in her eyes, Marcyl exclaimed, “Wow! So totally, absolutely, unbelievably cool! I’ve definitely gotta find my autograph book now!” Partially trying to divert attention away from Marcyl, who was starting to drool from excitement, Pyro said, “So did Grey find you guys and bring you all back to help us?” At this Amy’s eyes went wide, and she turned to Pyro as she quickly said, “You know Grey?” Nodding, Pyro said, “Yeah. Marcyl found him in Renatus Forest. He’d lost his memory and didn’t have anywhere to go, so the Headmistress brought him to the academy.” Turning pale, Amy repeated, “He’s… lost his memory…?” Interjecting quickly, Alexander said, “That aside, is Grey still here?” Shaking his head, Johnny said, “Nah, he left yesterday. After some creep calling himself the Herald of the Nameless One attacked the city, he started to figure out who he was and went looking for you.” With a sigh, Richter muttered, “We just missed him.” 

Troubled by the revelation of the person who had attacked the city, Alexander thought to himself, “No, it couldn’t be… Then again, if not him, then who summoned the Nameless One’s monstrosities? So far, Alastor has not shown that he’d gained that capacity…” Crossing her arms, Mythra said, “If Grey’s not here, then what the hell is Alastor’s goon squad doing here?” Pulling himself from his thoughts, Alexander said, “I think I know. Mythra, do you remember Vas Initio?” Quickly Mythra looked at him in shock and exclaimed, “Are you kidding me?! You hid that in a school?! What the hell is wrong with you?!” Shrugging his shoulders evasively, Alexander said, “Would you have thought to look for it in a school? I took every precaution to ensure it could not be detected, had the entire city built to my design. Besides, I figured if Alastor or the Nameless One was freed, there wouldn’t be any school that was truly safe to begin with, seeing as they’d be trying to destroy the entire world…” Holding up his hands before him, Johnny said, “Whoa, hold up! Somebody needs to fill Johnny Spark in here! YOU had the city built?! And just what the hell is this Vas Initio everyone keeps talking about?!”