With a quick dash, he ran up the mountain and took to the air, surprising Leerstrom, who was unable to react in time, by landing on his back.
*Bam*
Such an abrupt change in weight destroyed Leerstrom's tempo and has him tilting.
He had just stabbed his sword through the Emperor's shoulder when this happened.
Without any fluster, Leerstrom drew out a dagger from his side and stabbed Jebas in the gut.
With haste, he ran away from the Emperor and tried to shake Jebas off.
Jebas denies such an act by tightening his arm around Leerstrom.
'I'm never letting go!'
The situation became precarious in an instant.
Killing the Emperor in a one on one battle was worth a shot, but with another Grandmaster joining the fray, Leerstrom abandoned the plan instantly.
Retreating with haste led Leerstrom to losing his weapon, as he left it lodged in the Emperor's chest.
While retreating, he gave Jebas a series of jabs and stabs, which Jebas returned in kind by stabbing the side of his stomach.
With his frustration growing, Leerstrom shouted…
"Get off me!"
Jebas did not reply, and seeing his opponent was determined to latch onto him like a snake, Leerstrom thought of a way out.
Seconds later, he releases a loud sound that succeeds in blowing Jebas away.
'Dammit!'
Jebas was equally frustrated as he guarded his body for the inevitable plunge into the ground, when suddenly, he found himself flying.
*Crackle*
The Emperor, haggard and bloody with a narrow hole in his chest, was holding him up.
"Kill him!"
Jebas noded.
Putting strength into his hands, the Emperor threw Jebas towards Leerstrom.
"Go!"
With his sword at the ready, Jebas straightened his aim, intent on piercing the running scum.
But things don't go as planned with Leerstrom abruptly raising his foot to kick Jebas in the head.
That nullified all efforts, as Jebas leaned to begin his fall.
But-
'No!'
-he refused to give up.
On instinct, he locked his leg onto Leerstrom's outstretched leg and twisted!
Leerstrom's balance was disrupted, and this made for a stunning scene to take place.
Time seemed to slow down as Jebas twisted in the air, right above Leerstrom, and landed clean stabs on both shoulders, and instead of latching on, Jebas used his weight to pull him down.
With this happening, both men were now free falling in the air.
And of course, fighting while doing so.
Leaving his daggers in Leerstrom's shoulder, Jebas pulled out his blade and both men put their swordsmanship to the test.
Leerstroms held the advantage as he used sound to augment his movements, but Jebas' ferocious attacks, augmented by his elements of lightning and wind, denied him any chance of retreat.
'Dammit! I have to get out of here!'
With blazing rage, Leerstrom abandoned any form of cohesive movements and slashed anywhere and everywhere.
This pest called Jebas was annoying!
In the middle of this, Leerstroms instincts rang out!
'Oh no'
His madness morphed into panic and he augmented his feet to increase his diving speed.
But that doomed him.
*BOOM*
With the Emperor rushing forth like a rocket with a trail of lightning behind him, he reached Leerstrom and brought down Shredder onto his shoulder, cutting, or rather, shredding his arm off!
With a grunt of pain, Leerstrom augmented himself backwards as blood spilled out like water.
The Emperor didn't follow up with another strike as his chest heaved.
'I can't afford to go all out'
He couldn't overexert himself.
Leerstrom noticed this as well, but before he could rejoice, one of the daggers impaling his shoulder was pushed in.
Or rather, was punched in by Jebas, who was above him.
The momentary pain, along with that of losing his arm, numbed his brain and stifled his thinking for a few seconds.
These few seconds spelt the end of the battle.
Jebas, with grinding teeth and bulging arms, stabbed his sword right in the middle of Leerstrom's head.
And to seal the deal, he punched the sword till it was protruding from his chin.
Then…
*Bam*
They fell into the earth with a bang! Coughing up dust in the process.
The Emperor reached their vicinity soon after, his lightning having dimmed tremendously.
He stood proud nonetheless.
With a wipe of his hand, the dust cleared.
Jebas was dusty, bloody, with a broken arm.
Leerstrom had a pool of blood below his impaled head.
His expression was calm and the light in his eyes had faded.
Without a doubt, he was dead.
The Emperor removed the dagger and the sword, before storing the body in his space ring.
"You will be appropriately compensated"
Jebas noded, before chipping in…
"What about his ring?"
The Emperor flicked it to him.
"And his weapon?"
The Emperor did the same.
Jebas took them with a smile, before popping a potion from his space ring and drinking it.
He was in no position to move.
"So…what happens next? We kill all the rest?"
The Emperor shook his head.
"That would be going too far. It's time to end this battle"
With that, he rose to the air to witness the devastation.
Everywhere was silent.
All Grandmasters had stopped their fights and were only giving each other wearily glances.
Same with others, everyone was tired.
Little was left of Villa, with more than half of it in ruins.
Corpses laid all over in the hundreds, some scorched and some slaughtered with the ground painted red as a testament to their deaths.
The blood shed on this day was enough.
So the Emperor spoke, his voice booming…
"I have broken the rules of war-"
He gazes met those of the other Grandmasters.
"-but so have you"
Mervida clenched her bloody fist.
They brought additional Grandmasters with them to secure their win, which was acceptable.
But the destruction of the manite mine was not.
Nonetheless, it was something agreed upon.
They could not allow the Empire to grow more than it already did.
To increase the odds of success, they brought surplus Grandmasters.
Yet, what was this?! Not only were they unable to achieve their aim, but so many Grandmasters were killed.
His prowess was far beyond anything that was speculated.
The monster grew stronger rather than weaker in the past decades.
With both sides breaking the rule, one could not penalize the other.
But the Emperor spoke on…
"You and your men have ten minutes to leave Nitonian land"
"What about the bodies of my people?" Mervida interjected.
Her dead warriors were to be given honorable burials.
The Emperor couldn't care less.
"None are to be taken. Their armor will be used as the price for the damaged mountains"
"How dare you utter-"
"Unless you wish for the rest of your men to die, I suggest you do as I say while I act nice"
Mervida's face had veins pulsing with anger.
Not only had they killed her men, by now they wanted to sully their corpses?!
But what could she do? Few men were left alive, and all of them were being held captive.
She hadn't been able to kill Deneris.
Her hair was disheveled, her armor damaged, and her body bloody.
Taking the Emperor on was suicide no doubt.
Not to mention, they were outnumbered.
Gulping down her powerlessness, she spoke…
"Then, will you let my men go?"
The Emperor raised a brow.
"When did I mention anything of the sort?"
This time, it was Gaga who spoke…
"But you said-"
But the Emperor smoothly interrupted…
"I said not going would have them all dead. I never said I would release them. What a joke"
The power was in his hands, and the Emperor wasn't one to be merciful.
As such, he laid down his terms.
"Return to your abodes. I will have my advisor send you a list containing a fee for your men's freedom, along with a few conditions"
'Since you dared to attack us, I'll make you bleed the price in gold'
The grandmasters were about to flare up, when the Emperor sealed the deal.
"You should be grateful I consider sending men who slaughtered my people for a fee rather than having them paying with their lives"
All turned silent as the Grandmasters had nothing to refute.
"I would hurry. Your ten minutes are running out"
The Emperor did a splendid job of agitating their nerves.
With a sigh from Gaga, he ran off.
Mervida followed swiftly.
Garvin clicked his tongue and spoke with a smile on his lips…
"I am still gonna pound ya head into mush one day"
Getrahan replies with a grin of his own, stomping his weapon on the ground…
"I'll be waiting"
With that, Garvin leaps away, breaking the floor beneath as he did.
Within five minutes, the Grandmasters were gone.
The battle had ended.
