Aether Lightning

Chapter Five

Walking past the security guards, Stella goes to the front door and knocks. The same person that Tassos was just talking to opens the door.

"You must be Stella, right?" asked the person in front of the door.

"And you're Babis?" Stella asked a question of her own.

"That's right!" He looks around and sees Renee, Florian, and Jasper behind her. "And these are the friends of the Scythe Lady's?"

Before closing the door, another person walks in. Stella turns around and it is none other than Tassos with a smirk on his face. He is not alone. There are four other security guards with him.

"What's going on here?" Stella asked as if she weren't expecting an answer.

Without any warning, Babis throws a Metal Spellbomb at Stella and her friends. The Spellbomb explodes into a grayish tin color.

Stella activates her Sura to bring forth her Black Scythe. Renee transforms into her Phoenix form.

Jasper activates his Sura to bring forth his Dagger. With the Dagger in his right hand, he attacks two of the guards with Dust Slash.

Tassos tries to go after Jasper, but Florian intercepts with a Sludge Punch to the face. Two of the guards try to grab Florian, but Jasper attacks them with Dust Slash.

Looking at both Florian and Jasper, Tassos coats both his fists with Wood Midrash and hits Jasper with a Branch Punch. He smirks at Florian, but is met with a Dust Spellbomb from Jasper. Florian uses this chance to launch several Sludge Punches at Tassos. After repeated punches, the battle is over.

Stella uses her Black Scythe to attack Babis with Shadow Slash, but he counters his Metal Kick. She steps back and makes another attempt at slashing him, but another Metal Kick is used to counter the slash.

Renee, in her Phoenix form, flies straight at Babis with Ashen Wing. Babis is knocked back. When Renee tried to dive at him again, he made two Tin Kicks at her.

Seeing this as an opening, Stella lunges towards Babis with another Shadow Slash, but is countered again with Tin Kick. She steps back a few steps and throws a Shadow Spellbomb at Babis.

Babis sees this coming and uses Tin Kick to redirect the Spellbomb at Renee. The Shadow Spellbomb explodes in front of Renee who transforms back into her human self.

Stella reactivates her Sura again and flings the Black Scythe at Babis. It slices into the muscle of his shoulder. He screams out in pain and glares at her.

Renee throws an Ashen Spellbomb at Babis as he was busy grunting from the pain. The Spellbomb explodes in front of Babis and he takes major damage. Stella then makes several Shadow Slashes at Babis to end the battle.

Hand clapping can be heard from upstairs. The sound of the clapping gets louder within seconds. Stella looks up and sees a girl smirking. She has platinum blonde curly hair, a grey top and a white miniskirt with black boots.

"I see you guys beat up with my men." the girl smiled at Stella.

"Are you Orphea?" Stella asked.

"Yep! That's me!" Orphea answered and looked down at Stella and her friends. "You guys must think you're hot stuff! I can't believe you boys defeated Tassos again and with four guards at that." Orphea transforms into an Ouroboros and comes down at Stella with a Lightning Fang. Due to the speed of the attack, Stella is not able to dodge in time. The color of the Lightning is a shining platinum.

Orphea, in her Ouroboros form, uses her fangs to attack Renee with Shock Fang. She swings her tail at Jasper with an attack called Shock Tail. Sensing Florian is about to attack her, she spits a Shock Spellbomb at him.

With the Scythe in her left hand, she makes several Shadow Slashes at Orphea who counters with a combination of Shock Tail and Shock Spellbomb. Stella takes the damage from the tail attack, but not much damage from the Spellbomb.

Renee, partially recovered, throws three Ashen Spellbomb at Orphea's tail. Jasper grabs his Dagger and runs towards Orphea's tail and stabs it. Florian uses his last remaining strength to throw a Sludge Spellbomb at Orphea.

Stella gathers every last bit of Dark Midrash energy she could and coats her Scythe with it and attacks Orphea with Shadow Slash. The slash cuts open Orphea's belly and blood comes pouring out. The battle is now over.

In her human self, Orphea's stomach has a deep cut. She uses both her hands to close the wound while letting her Construct regenerate the wound. Breathing and wheezing heavily, she looks angrily at Stella.

"Well done, Stella!!" came a voice from the front door.

She turns to the direction of the voice and is surprised to see who it belongs to. "Franz?! What are you doing here?"

Franz is Stella's superior. He has blue eyes and blonde hair. His height is taller than Florian. His outfit is a black suit with a white collared shirt.

Six soldiers in black uniform immediately escort Tassos, Babis, and the four guards out the house.

"Why are you here?" Stella asked.

Franz just smiles. "I'm glad you were able to track down and defeat these five individuals. Your mission is complete. You can go to Nero and report back. I'll clean up around here."

With that said, Stella and her friends leave Skordo City and return to meet with Nero.

The journey from Skordo City to Nero's city took about a day. Renee, Florian, and Jasper had returned to Poppy Beach. Stella now stands in front of Nero with a smile on his face.

"Stella!" Nero said. "I heard about your success on Orphea and the others."

"Why was Franz there?" Stella asked. "He didn't answer when I asked him."

Nero smiles. "Not celebrating I see. I had him follow you to make sure you were safe. After all, this was your first time doing this type of mission. I see now that you're capable of taking care of yourself. I'm having Franz be in charge of Skordo City and the surrounding areas. I'll assign a new superior for you soon. I plan on expanding my reach and influence. How would you like to be my future queen when I become king?"

Stella has a straight face. "No, I'm not interested in men."

Nero smiles to himself. "At least I tried. Despite your answer, I look forward to your great future. Have a great day now, Stella!"

With that said, Stella leaves Nero's office and returns to her home. At home, she is greeted by her mother and twin sister Lily. This Saga is now officially over.