Hycos stomped his spear and summoned many gladiator spirits to attack them. But Hazu quickly parried his attacks, followed by Ryota and Naomi.
Seeing the opportunity, Hayumi drew her sword and launched her slash at Hycos. But Hycos' instincts were too sharp, Hayumi's attack was simply parried.
"Damn, I just remembered that he has sharp instincts," Hayumi muttered.
Hycos looked at them angrily.
"Give up, you weaklings won't be able to defeat the chaos."
Just as Hycos was about to dart towards them, Hazu locked onto him by freezing part of the Archeons' bodies.
"You're overconfident Archeons!" said Hazu as he added more layers of crystals.
"Binding Roots!" a root came out of the ground and instantly bound Hycos' arms. "I did it, now it's your turn Hayumi!" exclaimed Naomi.
Hayumi heard her and immediately ran towards Hycos then jumped to launch the final attack. Behind her Julian helped his sister by channelling water energy from his sword.
"Wet Dagger!" several daggers appeared around Hayumi as an additional attack.
Hazu who saw it did not want to be outdone.
"Fiery spirit, I like that!"
Hazu drove his Pando sword into the ground then he created a crystal spear that formed in his hand.
Hayumi's Dawnbringer sword emitted light that coated the blade.
"In the name of light, I will finish you, Vitality Slash!" Hayumi swung her sword that directly hit Hycos' head, followed by several Wet Daggers that directly pierced the body parts of the Archeons.
"Chaos will end soon! I, the heir to chaos, will end all your suffering!" Hazu threw his spear at Hycos as a final attack.
The spear successfully landed on the Archeons' back. The effect of the spear instantly froze Hycos' body for the last time, then Hayumi's slash left a light mark that spread across his body to create an explosion of light.
Hycos' body finally perished and only left his spear intact. The giant sword blade that was previously on top of the colosseum disappeared into dust. Feeling the situation was safe, Hazu pulled out his sword and tried to approach the spear.
"It's all over Hycos, rest in peace..."
"Hooray! Finally a new history is made," said Julian immediately gave applause, before being stopped by Hayumi.
"Naomi, help me pull out the aether seed." said Hazu while stepping towards the giant spear blade.
"Yes, Mr Hazu," Naomi ordered her root binding to keep the spear from moving.
Hazu approached towards the spear, without hesitation he smashed the spear blade with his Pando sword, inside the blade there was a shining aether seed.
Hayumi had time to stare at the seed, then she was immediately amazed.
"So that's called an aether seed?"
then Julian patted his sister's shoulder.
"That's right Hayumi, Hycos has been defeated and only the aether seed remains."
Hazu then took the seed and turned to stare at them.
"Wah wah wah, looks like our heir got a new power!" Julian said excitedly.
"Don't overdo it, there are still rituals I have to go through," said Hazu while handing the seed to Naomi.
Naomi enthusiastically accepted the seed and stored it in a capsule.
"Alright, can we go straight back to the base?" said Hayumi while sheathing her Dawnbringer sword again.
"Come on! I can't wait to see Hazu become the Heir to chaos," Julian replied excitedly.
"Your words are too much Julian," said Ryota.
Shortly after, Naomi opened a portal that led directly to the headquarters, but when they entered the portal, Ryota just stayed there.
Julian who felt strange looked at Ryota.
"Hey, you want to go back to the base?"
Ryota replied shortly afterwards.
"You guys go ahead, I still want to research this place."
"Oh well, continue your research and don't let you come back in a terrible condition, Rookie," Julian said before he finally entered the portal.
"Cih, your jokes aren't funny," Ryota replied before the portal finally disappeared.
After an exhausting battle, they finally returned to the Sword Society headquarters and were welcomed by Luna. Since they looked exhausted, Luna decided to rest them, while she prepared a ritual at a shrine behind the headquarters.
Several hours had passed, the aether descendants were gathered inside a shrine that was the purification site of the aether seed. There were Hayumi, Julian, Hazu, Naomi, Nana, and Luna.
Naomi gave the aether seed of chaos that she had kept to Hazu.
Hazu then received the seed respectfully.
"Thank you Naomi."
Naomi just smiled gently.
"No need to thank me, I'm just doing my job."
Hazu smiled back, then he looked towards the holy vessel, where Luna was already there and ready to guide Hazu.
Hazu then stepped towards the holy vessel, watched by Hayumi, Julian and Naomi. While Nana was seen standing in the corner of the room.
Hazu was finally in front of the sacred vessel while holding the seed.
"I am ready to accept this inheritance."
Then Luna approached and looked at Hazu enthusiastically.
"Alright the ritual will begin, just follow my words, then you will officially inherit the power of chaos."
Hazu just nodded, he placed the Pando sword and the seed on the holy vessel.
"Close your eyes and take a calm stance," said Luna who took a prayer position.
Hazu closed his eyes, then Luna began to recite the oath that Hazu would follow.
"Eternal chaos we have conquered, sacrifice after sacrifice we have endured, I inherit the power of the Chaos Archeons, all the burdens of this element I will bear!"
Hazu then recited the oath.
"Eternal chaos we have conquered, sacrifice after sacrifice we have endured, I Hazu Milano inherit the power of the Chaos Archeons, all the burdens of this element I will bear!"
The seed slowly dissolved inside the container, then its energy was absorbed by the Pando sword. The sword instantly emitted a bright glow, its blade turning sharper with the chaos energy flowing within it.
Hayumi was once again amazed after witnessing the ritual. However, she began to feel less confident and looked at her sword that was slightly emitting an aura of light.
Naomi looked at Hayumi who looked nervous and immediately encouraged her.
"Hey are you okay?"
"Eh! I'm fine, just a little nervous," Hayumi replied while trying to hold back her nervousness.
The ritual had been completed. Hazu tried to hold his Pando sword, but the moment he held it, he felt the sword's energy flowing inside his body, the surface of the sword's hilt slowly turned into a red crystal.
"This power is too great, I think I need to adapt," Hazu said as he raised the sword.
"Now that you've become a demigod, I hope that power doesn't affect you," Luna said.
Julian suddenly gave an applause that made the whole room surprised, but Naomi and Hayumi also clapped.
Luna who saw them clapping just smiled, while Hazu turned and looked at them.
"Thank you for your appreciation, but remember we still have a long way to go," Hazu said with a faint smile.
Moments later, everyone had left the shrine, but not Hayumi who was still there staring at the mural inside the shrine.
But as she touched the mural, suddenly someone entered the shrine which made Hayumi startled.
"Eh Ryota?"
"Looks like I'm late and what are you doing here alone?" asked Ryota.
"Eh! I'm just curious about the murals in this shrine," Hayumi replied while taking a breath.
Ryota then stepped towards Hayumi.
"Oh it turns out you're curious about some of the symbols on this mural huh? hmmm by the way I'm actually a new kid in this organisation."
"Huh? Why are you suddenly saying that?" wondered Hayumi.
Ryota stopped beside Hayumi while also staring at the mural containing the symbols of the Archeons.
"Never mind, you're curious about this mural, aren't you?" said Ryota in an awkward tone.
"Yes, I want to learn more about it, I'm getting curious about its history, can you help me Ryota?" asked Hayumi while fingering the mural.
"Of course, I'll explain what I know about the contents of this mural," said Ryota who was staring at Hayumi. "So this mural contains the symbols of the Archeons, just like Luna explained back then that the Archeons have 14 elements that represent life."
Hayumi then stared at the symbol.
"Then this illuminated symbol does it have any meaning?"
"Yes, in the history of the Sword Society, previous descendants of the aether managed to conquer several Archeons such as Pycidon the Ocean, Bycos the Justice, and Valgron the Valour," Ryota said.
"Only 4? Just now we conquered Hycos the Archeons of Chaos, judging from this mural only 5 symbols are lit," said Hayumi who pointed towards one symbol.
"Oh yeah I forgot to mention one Archeons, he is Cylos the Archeons of Intelligence, so did you get it?" replied Ryota.
"Alright I understand now, thank you Ryota," Hayumi gave a small nod with a smile.
Feeling that she understood the history, Hayumi turned around and walked out of the shrine leaving Ryota alone. Ryota who realised it ran over frantically.
"Hey how come I'm suddenly left behind? I've given you expensive knowledge," said Ryota who also stepped out of the temple.
The ritual had ended and the shrine doors automatically locked after Ryota got out of there.
A few hours later. In the quiet night and everyone was already asleep, Julian was seen brooding on top of a tall building in Reality World. He looked up at the night sky with a glum expression, as if something was weighing on his mind.
"Huh, tonight is really beautiful ... the stars adorn the dark sky, if only you were here?" he said while holding a small photo in his left hand.
In his memory appeared a short-haired girl with a light blue colour that adorned her hair. The girl seemed to be standing with her back to Julian in a field of flowers. The girl looked at him with a sweet smile.
"I think if the two of us are always together, everything will feel very romantic, right?" said the girl in a soft tone.
———Continued———