POWER

Chapter 3

"Here we are" Elina said coming out of a portal in front of the city accompanied by Belcwin who she was pouring her aura into to allow him to open several other portals behind them which an army of undead flying beasts and warriors passed through. "Commander!!, a large army of the undead have appeared north of the city" a knight rushed to tell Edwin who was sitting in his command post. "Initiate the barrier and tell all available knights to ready themselves" he told the knight who nodded and ran out as Edwin stood up and looked at his new black armour. The wall started glowing as white aura shot out of it and surrounded the city. On top of the wall hundreds of archers appeared pointing glowing white arrows towards the undead. Elina stopped pouring her aura into Belcwin making the portals close after the whole undead army had passed through. She then grinned as they shot at her including the army but she raised her hand and her aura covered the arrows making them stop mid air. "I think these are yours" she said as the arrows turned around each other very fast forming a huge ball of dark purple aura which she thrust towards them resulting in a big explosion that heavily affected the barrier making it break apart whilst destroying part of the wall. "Wow" Eve said as she and Edwin along with the army of knights behind them came upon the destruction that was left. "Now it's your turn" Elina told the undead army as they charged into the city. "Get ready!!!" Edwin shouted putting down his helmet as his crest glowed and covered his sword in white aura along with the knights that also drew their swords emitting white aura. The army of undead came upon them hard and most of the knights were not able to withstand them as they were gruesomely attacked and transformed into more undead. "His interesting" Elina said watching Edwin m******e the undead that came to him with ease. "I think I'll play with him for a while" she told Belcwin as she waved her hand and the undead left Edwin alone and focussed on the city and other knights. "Huh?" he said confused looking around until he saw Elina smiling at him. "Its best not to take her alone, she feels dangerous" Eve told him appearing next to him with her eyes glowing and he nodded as they charged towards her together. "I didn't invite you" Elina said annoyed before blasting a huge ball of aura towards Eve who surrounded herself in a barrier to protect herself but the impact of the blast blew her away. "Eve!!!" Edwin shouted watching her go towards the castle. "Now" Elina said raising her hand as the ground cracked open and a sword floated out of it which she held. "Let's begin" she told Edwin who charged towards her and attacked her with the sword being covered by more white aura from the crest on every attack. "Pretty good" Elina said blocking all the attacks before parrying the last one making him jump back. "But it isn't good enough" she said snapping her fingers as his sword burst apart and his armour received damage with wounds appearing all over his body. "I wouldn't mind having you in my army, so why don't you join me with the little will you still have" she offered and he laughed with blood dripping out his mouth. "Never" he said punching his crest hard into his chest through his skin. The crest began to leak spreading white veins of aura around his body healing his wounds in the process. "It's time to get serious" he told her looking at her with his now white eyes as his sword reconstructed itself. "If you don't want to get caught up in this you better move" she told Belcwin and he nodded opening a portal and entering it before it closed. Edwin swung his sword hard making a huge wave of aura rush towards Elina who cut it in half using her sword resulting in it destroying the surrounding area besides her. He then appeared in front of her before attacking her with every attack stronger than the last making the ground beneath them break wider and wider but Elina continued to block all of his attacks whilst smiling. "Don't take me lightly" he said angrily with his eyes glowing brighter as they both disappeared and appeared behind each other. "I can't" she told him with his body bursting out blood and he fell to his knees with the white aura disappearing. "I....impossible" he said before dropping hard to the ground with the white aura completely gone. "Was he much of a challenge?" Belcwin asked after exiting the portal he made next to her and looked at Edwin's body. "No but his fighting abilities are impressive, he may be useful" she said dropping her sword which was swallowed back into the ground before raising her hand that started emitting aura which covered Edwin's body and slowly raised it up whilst turning his skin grey with dark purple ooze covering his wounds and the crest in his chest started burning with a dark purple flame. He opened his now dark purple eyes and turned to face Elina before kneeling in front of her." Go" she told him and he nodded before standing up and running towards the knights with the other undead. "Its now time to finish this" she said looking at the castle before covering herself and Belcwin in an aura orb."Wouldn't it be easier if I just opened a......"" No, I want my entrance to be, dramatic" she interrupted him as they flew up........

"You think so?" Elina asked smiling at Rose."Protect the king" Rose told Eve as she rushed towards Elina with her fist covered in a large amount of red aura and tried to punch her but Elina held her fist with ease. "I really hate your aura" Elina told her before lifting her up and throwing her hard onto the ground. Elina then put her hand over Rose and blasted her with a large amount of aura pushing her deep into the ground. "Now then" Elina said walking towards Eve and the others. "Oh no you don't" Eve said making a dozen barriers around them. Elina just sighed before snapping her fingers as the barriers broke and Eve and Aisha were dealt heavy damage making them go down on their knees but the knights exploded. "Your nothing but nuisances to me" Elina told them as she raised her hand at the king who was not affected by the earlier attack and started draining his life force. "Nooo!!!!" Aisha shouted as both she and Eve rushed towards Elina using the little strength they had left but she just held out her other hand which blasted aura towards them making them fly away. "This information is interesting" she said as the kings' body was nothing but a husk after she was done. Rose burst out of the ground with blood dripping from her head and fired balls of red aura towards Elina who easily dodged them but made her back away. Rose panted heavily as she looked at the husk of what was left of the king and then at Eve and Aisha who were lying unconscious on the ground behind her. "s**t" Rose said looking at Elina. "You should've stayed down" Elina said as she prepared a giant ball of aura that she shot towards them. Rose stood in front of it covering herself in all the aura she could and absorbed the hit."As stubborn as the previous holder who stood before me" Elina said seeing Rose with her clothing damaged whilst dripping blood from the wounds around her."But not as strong" Elina told her watching Rose fall to the ground. "It was the only way" she heard the woman in her dreams say again as her body erupted black flame like aura. She slowy stood up with her hair turning black including her clothing which was repairing itself and her blood that turned black. "I remember you" Elina said smiling as Rose opened her now black eyes and looked at Elina angrily. Rose then flew Elina straight out of the castle and punched her hard towards the ground. "Just like old times" Elina said stopping herself and floating up whilst firing giant ball of aura towards Rose but she just flew through them and started attacking Elina. Elina managed to block all her attacks but Rose then held Elina's fists as her black aura started spreading onto Elina. "That won't work on me"Elina said as her aura increased around her body forcing the black aura to dispel itself making Rose fly back before Elina stabbed Rose using the sword which she had made appear in her hand. "It's time to make you pay for what you did to me ages ago" Elina told her as she made her aura flow into her sword that started spreading dark purple veins across Rose's body. Suddenly Rose roared loudly as her whole body burst out more black aura which destroyed the sword and removed the veins before a black demonic looking helmet with a single horn on it appeared on her face. "That's new" Elina said surprised watching Rose lift up her hand towards her which fired a large blast of black aura that destroyed everything in its path including part of the city. "Incredible" Elina exclaimed panting heavily as she was partly damaged whilst trying to block the attack. Elina tried blasting Rose with her own blast of aura but it just split apart as it reached Rose whilst she walked towards Elina. Elina held the ground making chains appear from under Rose and they tried to hold her but failed as they shattered whilst she continued to walk. As she was about to reach Elina, Belcwin suddenly appeared from a portal in front of her and took out an orb from his coat that began sucking Rose's black aura making the helmet disappear whilst changing her back to normal but she then disappeared in a blinding white light. "You couldn't have done that earlier?" Elina asked frustrated whilst standing up as her wounds and dress repaired themselves. "I'm sorry, it takes a while to set this up" he said showing her the orb that contained the black aura which violently moved around."But it wasn't responsible for her disappearance though" he told her. "Whatever happened I don't care, I can't believe it was about to beat me, again" Elina said as she stomped the ground angrily making a crater around them. "Why is my power this weak!!?" she shouted frustrated but then a memory played in her head. "So that's what's wrong"......

Rose woke up to find herself being examined by an old dwarf like man in a big room. "Who are you?" she asked him sitting up quickly. "I'm the guy that saved your ass" he said chuckling as Rose looked around and saw Eve and Aisha sleeping on different beds whilst bandaged. "That power of yours already healed up your wounds and fixed up your clothes so you're fine but for them their injuries may take a while to fully heal" the old man told her but suddenly she held her head feeling a sharp pain as she saw a black demonic heavy armour surrounded in black flames. "You saw it didn't you?" the old man asked sitting down on a old chair. "Saw what and by the way you haven't answered my question, who the hell are you?" she asked and he looked at her annoyed. "Who I am doesn't matter, what I know does though" he told her and she looked at him curious.

"What do you know?"

"That cursed power of yours first came into this world about 600 years ago when your aura ancestor used it to defeat Elina"

"Elina?, You mean the woman that defeated us"

"Yes, Elina was a young gifted aura user in her time until her curiosity got the better of her and she decided to explore the dark world of power she kept hearing in legends and myths but when she tried to access it some of its power flew out into her heart beginning to corrupt her until all she was after was spreading chaos across all worlds"

"What's the dark world of power?"

"It is known as a place where the most darkest and cruelest of powerful demonical entities live including the one inside you right now"

"Wait, so you're telling me I have a literal demon inside me"

"Yes when your ancestor accessed the dark world as a last resort to fight against Elina she was entered by the most dangerous and out of control demonic entity in there"

"Is there a way to get it out of me?"

"Not that I know of but it has been growing stronger every time it got reincarnated with your aura and from its earlier transformation it looks like its finally taking its true form"

"What do you mean it "transformed"? "

"Just what I said, but you must be careful because if it reaches its full form you won't be able to regain control"he told her making her think for while whilst looking at the ground before looking back at him."So what's up with you, why did you help us?"

"Because Elina needs to be put down once and for all" he told her before Aisha and Eve started groaning as they woke up. "You guys ok?" Rose asked standing to go check on them. "We're fine but where are we?" Eve asked her looking around until she saw the old man. The room began to shake a bit and the old man sighed before standing and moving around. "You guys don't have much time, here" he said handing them each a bag. "I'm sure by now Elina realizes this but you must be the first ones to find it and destroy it" he told them continuing to move around." Destroy what and by the way who are you?" Aisha asked him confused. "Her heart" he replied her and they looked at each other confused."Back then Rose's aura ancestor didn't completely destroy Elina resulting in her true source of power surviving " he told them. "Wait so that wasn't her at full power?" Rose asked surprised. "Yes that was just her power that was dispersed in the area where she got destroyed and she can only access that much and replenish it a little using other sources but if she regains her heart that has been increasing in power ever since her defeat, even the combined forces of the other worlds won't stand a chance"

"So where is it?"

"That you'll have to find out yourselves by collecting the symbols this book leads you to, they'll help you find her heart" he said handing her a black book that turned red as soon as she touched it."Good luck" he told them as the room including the old man shattered around them and they found themselves in a forest. "That was weird" Aisha said looking around. "Who was that guy?" Eve asked Rose. "No idea but if what he said is true we have to stop that b***h before it's too late" she replied opening the book as it showed her a poster of a tournament with a glowing symbol on its corner. "I think I know where we're going" Rose said closing the book and looking around. "But first let's find out where we are" she said with her eyes glowing as she jumped high into the air and landed back down. "And we're actually closer than I thought" she said walking with Eve and Aisha looking at each other confused before following her........

"My power seems to be getting weaker" Elina told Belcwin as they walked in the castle and he looked at her concerned.

"Don't worry your experiments can still go on I mean my original power"

"What's happening to it?"

"It seems it's limited as I can only use the amount of my original power that you tried to use on your old master and I'll remain only with his necromancy power after mine is completely gone but there's something I saw in a memory that could change that" she said as they stopped in front of a wall withinn the lowest level of the castle. "Here we are" she said walking towards the wall and touching it as white aura shimmered on it before she poured her aura into it making the white aura break apart with the wall revealing another room. They walked into the room and stopped in front of a giant stone pillar that stood in the middle of it. "What are those?" Belcwin asked examining the four drawn symbols which had different drawings around them and in the center was the drawing of a heart surrounded by skulls."The king read about how the remaining factions that fought against me decided to seal my heart, the true source of my power, and keep the keys that leads to its location amongst each other" she told him. "So this will take us to them" Belcwin asked her. "I'm afraid not, it just shows how the keys where distributed amongst them" she replied him as she looked at the symbols and drawings."I've seen that before" Belcwin told her looking closer at one of the symbols. "It's the same as the one I've seen on the sacred weapon in Pathiel" he continued. "Really" she said looking at him and then at the symbol. "But I think it would be best for you not to pursue it ,since, your power is dwindling away so let me and that commander you took control of go, after I make a few changes to him of course" he said and she thought for a while. "Yes you're probably right and whilst you do that I'll drain some of the city's aura flow to try to replenish myself a bit" she said looking at him with her eyes glowing. "You better not disappoint me" she warned him whilst walking away....

"Couldn't he have put us a little bit closer" Rose complained as they continued journeying through the forest. "Are you ok?" Eve asked Aisha who was quiet most of the time. "She killed him and all I could do was watch" Aisha said clenching one of her fists hard. "There was nothing you could've done she was too powerful" Eve told her and Aisha hit a nearby tree which made them stop startled. "That's the point, power, if maybe I had it I could've at least done something" Aisha told them with tears going down her face as she looked down with Rose and Eve looking at each other. "There's nothing we all could've have done" Rose said walking towards her and touched her shoulder. "For now we just keep moving forward and do what we can, don't let what happened make you doubt yourself" Rose told her and Aisha looked at Rose."Besides I hate to admit it but I used some of my aura to win our last sparring match"

"What!!!?"

"It's true" Rose said laughing nervously as Aisha wiped her tears and looked at her angrily. "But you actually beat me" she continued and lightly hit Aisha's shoulder. "You're stronger than you think you are and you're going to grow even stronger, trust me, having power isn't everything" she told Aisha continuing to walk with Aisha watching her before she smiled and walked after her and Eve smiled at them from behind as she followed them. "Here we are" Rose said after a while when they reached a long bridge that led to the entrance of a city that stood in the middle of a giant gourge. "Wait this is the capital of the Kingdom of Pathiel" Aisha said surprised as they walked on the bridge. "I'm surprised you didn't notice we were no longer in Athaiel" Rose told her. "Well don't blame me I'm usually sleeping in carriage rides coming here and also almost every forest seems similar to me" Aisha replied frowning. Rose put on the hood of her cloak before they reached the entrance were two knights with different crests than Aisha's stood. "Why are you hiding?" Eve asked as they passed them with Rose concealing herself between Eve and Aisha. "Cause I'm still considered a dangerous demon remember" Rose told her and Eve nodded as they walked into the busy city. "So where to now?" Aisha asked and Rose walked with them towards a notice board and showed them the same poster as the one in the book." The tournament of champions" Eve read aloud and looked at Rose confused. "The symbol in the book is the same as the one on the sacred sword the prince uses in the tournament" she explained to Eve. "It says here whoever wins gets a hefty some of money and any other prize of their choosing" Aisha said continuing to examine the poster. "Any other prize of their choosing, even the sword?"

"Yes, they're over confident cause the sword grants the prince a lot of power resulting in him being undefeated in all his matches , well except for the time I kicked his ass"

"Wait you fought in the tournament!?"

"Ya some years ago whilst I was still a knight in training I came here to grow stronger during my break and I thought the tournament would be a good chance to do so I joined and managed to defeat everyone including the prince but at that time they weren't the gambling sword and the prince was still a bit inexperienced"

"I thought you said you were going to relax on your break that time" Eve said annoyed whilst looking at her angrily and Rose quickly moved behind Aisha. Eve sighed and looked at the giant Colosseum she could see on the other side of the city."Why don't I just go talk to the king?" Aisha asked Rose. "They need your crest to show your the real princess to avoid imposters but because Elina took over the capital I'm pretty sure she corrupted its aura flow by now and besides they wouldn't give it to you that easily" Rose replied. Aisha looked at where the crest on her armour was located and noticed it missing. "My crest is gone" Aisha said with Eve and Rose looking at her chest. "Must've been that old man from earlier" Rose told them."Since Aisha won't be powered by the aura from her crest to allow her to be on the same level as other aura users I guess I'm our only option to compete" Eve said. "No only attack type's are allowed unfortunately" Rose told her. "So what are we going to do?" Eve asked and Rose looked and smiled at Aisha who looked at her confused.......