Symphonic Odyssey

Almost exactly at the same time, Cypher and Alex leapt up and decapitated the two weak berserkers standing at their sides. Their movements had been incredibly accurate and not even a single movement had been wasted. However, they were still berserkers, and the attack had used up around 13% of their overall Zight to cut all the way through.

The heads toppled to the floor, and the bodies collapsed in a heap with two loud thuds. Armond’s face went stark white, as well as the faces of every other person sitting at the table. The Wild Conductors, however, were only stunned for a moment before they felt the Conduction level of the two youths before them.

“What the fuck just happened!?!” Roared Armond in confusion. But before anyone could give him an answer, chaos broke out in the room.

Those who had battle proficiency leapt from their chairs and began to attack Cypher and Alex, while those who didn’t, were cowering under the table, or behind pillars around the room. The Wild Conductors began to cast spells, while the body-enhanced leaders drew their weapons and tried to injure the two true Conductors.

Cypher and Alex weaved their way through countless spells, all of which were only at the first rank or lower. Even Wild Conductors were wise enough not to blow their whole load at once. Cypher and Alex, on the other hand, were slicing and dicing their way through whatever opponents crossed their path.

Most of the “leaders” had weak, Rank-One bodies. Cutting through them was child’s play, and the few that did manage to resist them soon fell to the wayside as their own heads rolled from their shoulders. Three of the Wild Conductors banded together and shot a stream of fire toward Cypher.

He quickly chanted a spell and returned fire, “Duet, Fermata Verse One, Hydro Geyser!” The stream of pressurized water shot forth from Cypher’s palm and collided with the stream of fire. Steam instantly began to fill the room as the two elemental forces met.

The Wild Conductors couldn’t believe their eyes as their combined spell was being blocked by a single youth. They poured more Zight into the collective spell and Cypher did the same. However, his spell was cast an entire rank higher, and not only that, but it was the opposing element to fire.

The struggle between the two spells ended as the three Wild Conductors had their Zight reserves run dry. The steam was now extremely thick in the room and nobody even dared to move. It took a few moments, and the Wild Conductors stood in anticipation.

Had they done it? Had that actually managed to win?

To their despair, a shadowy figure soon appeared in the dwindling steam and they faltered and took a step back as they realized he was unharmed. However, it was too late, and Cypher shot forward, cutting through all three of them with his saber in a single swipe. Their bodies collapsed to the floor and viscera poured out everywhere, staining the tiled floor.

Alex took that moment of pause and lack of vision to quickly move behind his own group of opponents. With several heavy thrusts, they fell back onto the floor bleeding out. Alex had aimed for their vital spots and his aim had been true. However, an attack from behind him nearly severed his arm and he grunted in pain as he leapt back and popped a healing pill.

The damage was extensive, and the pill took a moment to work fully. Its effectiveness however was diminished in an area with such dense negative energy. The bleeding had stopped, but the muscle underneath his skin could still be seen causing him large amounts of pain.

His focus was still intact though, and he returned the strike and severed the attacker’s hand. His strike had faltered a bit, and the injury wasn’t a clean cut. One of the sword-wielding “leaders” of Zealot’s Ring cried out in agony and clutched at his hand. Jagged bone could be seen along the uneven cut, and his flesh hadn’t been completely severed.

The piece of hand hung limply from the strand of skin, but Alex quickly put him out of his misery with a thrust to the middle of his forehead. Alex jumped away as he fell back, his brain pierced. The last thing he saw was Alex clashing with another opponent before everything went dark.

Cypher cast his lightning bolt spell and struck a charging man who held a massive mace above his head. The bolt of lightning had exploded his heart and the mace fell from his hands and crushed his skull before he fell over and was no more.

Armond was still standing next to the black Sarcophagus and watching as these events unfolded themselves. This wasn’t possible! How could two young teenagers manage this much destruction? He had never seen anything like this before. However, something in his mind clicked and his jaw dropped open before closing in teeth-grinding anger.

Fourteen casualties? That was a complete lie! These two little shits had been playing him from the start! They hadn’t lost any companions at all, had they? In fact, judging by the way they were exterminating anyone who attacked them, they had managed to defeat every obstacle that had been placed in their path.

They had played right into his own hubris and used it against him. Armond had never seen such bullshit! He slapped his forehead in frustration at his own foolishness. He knew now that they were properly trained Conductors, but, even with that knowledge, it didn’t make sense to Armond.

He wasn’t a Conductor himself, so he couldn’t know that they were much more powerful than his untrained Wild Conductors. In fact, people with this kind of power hadn’t even been a concern in his mind. He was protected by the laws of the kingdom. Surely the royals hadn’t sent these two to put a stop to him, had they?

Naturally, he had spies and informants sprinkled all throughout the upper echelons of society. Some were bribed to look the other way, while others straight-up worked for him. If a force like this had been sent for him, he would have been alerted a long time ago!

Confusion gripped him as he struggled to figure out where these two monsters had come from. If it was another criminal organization like Seven’s Paw or River’s Bend, he would know as well. After all, he had spies there too, just as they no doubt had spies in his own Zealot’s Ring.

He had been extra careful with who he had made privy to the location of this place. So just what the fuck was going on here?