Saiyan Conqueror Quest 130 Epilogue-Caulifla

-Saiyan Conqueror Quest 130 Epilogue-

AGE ???, SOMEWHEN

“Well, where am I now?” you mutter to yourself, looking around. You are Caulifla: wielder of the Stand Triumph, owner of an ancient magical fire sword, Super Saiyan, daughter of the heroes Karn and Meloka, and protector of people hunted by glowy red jerks everywhen! Having just grabbed onto your sword before you were transported through time and space, you flip it into your hand correctly and take stock of your surroundings like Daddy taught you to. Never want a bad guy to sneak up on you after all. You’re standing on an ancient, kinda-crumbling bridge that is just a few feet over a sea of molten lava, the heat already making you start to sweat. Looking ahead, yousee a big castle, but it’s leaning sideways somehow. You wonder how they coulda made it lean like that, when a gust of wind blows that awful heat in your face.“Phew, it’s hot in here.”
“Zullie, stay back.” you hear the muffled voice of a man wearing a helmet behind you. “I’ll deal with this.”

So of course you turn, seeing who’s talking. And you find yourself facing a man in metal knight armor, wielding a curved sword longer than even Chaya’s big weapon. Beside him is a woman wearing a large pointy hat, which is awesome. You wonder if she has another one you can wear, before the knight speaks again.

“Tell me, Blade of the Darkmoon: why art thou here?” he asks, pulling a big wooden weapon off his back and pointing it at you while keeping his distance. “If thy aim be to stop us, thou shall perish here.”
“Be calm, Ser Alva.” the woman says, holding up what seems to be some sort of cloth for you both to see. But what’s surprising is that the symbol of your pendant is written almost perfectly on that. “She is not here to harm us. Although, I was not aware the Darkmoon Knights sent children to fight.”
“This?” you ask, holding up the pendant with your left hand. “I found it in a secret underground ruin! Now when I wear it, I get to beat up bad people, and help nice people like you!”
“Oho, to be so young and innocent again.” the lady says to you with a smile. “Tell me, what is your name, little one?”
“My name’s Caulifla.” you say, pointing to yourself with your left thumb. “An’ I’m here to help!”
“Good to meet you, Caulifla.” the nice lady says. “My name is Zullie, and this man is Ser Alva.”
“I’m no Ser. At least, not anymore.” he says, you hearing something angry in his voice. Angry, and also sad. So you walk right over to him and try to give him a hug. But as tall as he is, and with his kinda-bulky armor, your arms don’t fit but maybe halfway around him. “What is the meaning of this?”

-

“It’s a hug.” you say, looking up at his helmet. “You seemed really sad, so I wanna cheer you up!”

The knight, Alva, seems to not know what to do, turning to Zullie as you hear her chuckle. But you soon feel his entire body tense up, you dropping and turning to see what’s worrying him. You see a pair of metal armored guys rushing towards him, each one wielding a thin, slightly-curved sword.

“I got ‘em!” you say, rushing forward. But, since they’re a part of this world, your flaming blade passes right through the first one like a ghost. In fact, they don’t even seem to notice you, rushing right at the knight instead. “Uh-oh, look out!”
“Hrraaaa!!” he roars you watching as he grabs his curved sword with both hands and spins one, two, three times! On the third spin the two other knights reach him, but can’t hit him. On the third spin his blade cuts clean through the first knight in the middle and crashes hard into the second. The first dissolves into that white mist as the second one crumples, Alva pulling his blade free then slamming it down onto the other knight’s neck, decapitating him.

“Woah.” you say, impressed. He’s surprisingly strong, you didn’t think he’d be able to take them both so easily. “Wow, good job!”
“Hmph. Keep behind me.” he says gruffly, walking past you as if you weren’t there.
“Ah-Hey!” you shout, but before you can chase after him Zullie lays a hand on your shoulder. “What’s his problem?”
“He’s just having a rough time right now.” she says, sounding a bit comforting like Momma does. “His dear friend passed on a few weeks ago, and he’s not taking it well.”
“Oooooooh.” you say, feeling your good mood fade a little. You wish you could help, but Triumph’s healing doesn’t work on someone who’s already dead. You follow the nice lady, Zullie, but as you three reach the halfway point of the bridge you hear something. Looking up, you see what looks like a big metal spear hurtling towards Alva! Without hesitation you dash forward and shove him in the back, knocking him out of the way. Unfortunately, with doing that you have no time to evade as well, the spear taking you right in the gut. It hits with so much force your armor cracks, you wheezing as all the air is forced out of your body. “Guuuuh!”

After that you kinda lose track of what’s going on, folding your arms over your gut and collapsing to the ground. As you keep trying to breathe but can’t you begin to panic, rolling back and forth on the ground as you get light headed. Is this it? Are you gonna die here?

-

Each second feels like an eternity, your vision going all fuzzy and blurry as someone picks you up. People are shouting but you can’t make out what they’re saying, and all the jostling around isn’t helping. But suddenly you feel yourself falling, and as you hit the ground you wheeze again, this time your body sucking in air before you realize what’s happening.

CLANG CLANG

The sound of metal smashing against metal rings out, but from where you’re laying can’t see anything. So you roll over, seeing Alva fighting three of the knights inside a dark roon. There’s a statue on one wall, and as you watch it suddenly breathes fire!

“Alva, now!” Zullie shouts, the knight turning and running towards you both. He leaps down a little ledge, landing in a roll and rising up sword-first towards the three he was fighting. But then, Zulie attacks. Holding her staff in both hands she swings it, shouting “Dark Edge!!”

As she swings it, the spectral image of a black sword appears from the end of her staff. It slices cleanly through the three knights, almost as if they weren’t even there. But to you surprise no blood is sprayed, in fact it doesn’t seem to have even cut through their armor. But each one of them falls down, and doesn’t move again.

“Woah, that was so cool!” you shout, springing to your feet as the three knights all fade into that sparkly mist stuff. “Where’d you learn to do that?”
“That’s a forbidden magic, banned to all beings that still live.” she says, sitting down and taking a moment to catch her breath. You know from watching Chilli that using magic’s even harder than using ki, and something strong enough to cut through all three of them like that had to have been really strong. “But a witch like myself cares little for the rules of those who call themselves gods.”

“Just like Auntie Towa!” you say, catching her by surprise. Even Alva turns, you looking back and forth between them. “What?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.” Zullie says with a chuckle, using her staff to help herself back upright. “That name is familiar, is all. Now, let us press forward. Which way, Alva?”
“Straight ahead up the stairs leads to some sort of courtyard.” he says. “But the path to the right goes even higher, and seems to go deeper in.”
“I’ll go out the front!” you volunteer excitedly. “Those knights don’t seem to notice me, so I can scout it out!”
“Then we’ll take the other path.” Zullie says. “And let’s all meet back here in say, three minutes?”
“Sounds good to me!” you say, rushing up the steps and through the next room to emerge deeper in the massive castle. It seems to be some sort of courtyard, a bridge suspended by chains well out of Zullie and Alva’s reach in the middle. But that’s not what draws your eye: there are knights everywhere!

-

“Woah.” you say, looking around and counting. “Eight, nine, ten! Ten knights, and hey have bows too. They might be in trouble if they-“

https://youtube.com/watch?v=mo3nDUA3KWs [Open]

“Uh oh.” you say, recognizing that sound. It means there’s now ANOTHER invader wandering around here somewhere. “Now there’s two of them. I gotta hurry up and find them, before they get miss Zullie.”

But as you talk to yourself you hear a noise from somewhere above and behind you. Turning, you see another of the giant spears headed right for you!

“GAAH?!” you exclaim, leaping back and narrowly dodging the spear. Following it back up you see a faintly-glowing red figure holding a bow much larger than itself. Now you finally see how he’s launching such massive spears at you, and starts drawing the bow back to fire another one. “Oh no you don’t!”

Reaching over you pull his spear-arrow free of the ground, flipping it around and launching it like one of Daddy’s Energy Javelins. The invader sees it coming, releasing his shot too early and rolling away from your counter as you dash up after the spear. As he gets back to his feet and sees you coming, the giant bow disappears behind his back and is replaced by a pair of wooden weapons similar to Alva’s but much fancier. But as he does you notice he’s not wearing any armor, in fact he looks like a giant butterfly!

“Wh-What?” you say, confused. You were expecting someone much more heavily armored than this, but even his chest is bare! Due to your confusion you don’t press the action, and he attacks. A half-dozen bolts are launched at you, and with no time to dodge you grab your sword in both hands. Focusing your energy you remember what Chilli’d taught you about your weapon, and with a roar you swing. “HRAAAA!!”

But much to your opponent’s surprise, a huge swathe of flame is unleashed. The blaze consumes your foe’s projectiles and the enemy himself, you feeling his energy drop. But you don’t stop there, dashing into your flames and lunging sword-first. The flames leave you unscathed as your sword pierces straight through the red phantom, the guy dropping both weapons and clutching at his chest. Dropping to his knees, you watch as his begins dissolving into red mist. You got him!

“Bye!” you say, waving to him as he quickly disappears completely. Now, to find the other one. You drop back to the ground outside the door, walking back inside and down to the room with the fire-breathing bull statue. And Zullie and Alva aren’t here yet. But someone else is.

-

“So, you’re the one.” a voice calls from behind you. You turn, seeing a black-clad figure you’ve not seen before standing there, leaning against the wall. She has one of those curved swords on her hip, arms crossed casually under her face-covering helmet. But most surprisingly, she’s not glowing red like a usual phantom somehow. “I must say I thought the rumors were exaggerated, but here you are. A child of the Darkmoon, wielding a sword of flame and possessing incredible power.”
“Who’re you?” you ask her, something about her making you feel nervous. You don’t quite step back, but clutch your sword a little tighter. Daddy’s always told you to trust your instincts, and right now they’re telling you she’s dangerous. “You an invader too?”

“Fret not, little one. I’m not here for your head.” she says, rising up off the wall and standing upright. That’s too close for you, leaping back you take your fighting stance. “Hmm. My name is Yuria of Londor, and I just wanted to see you for myself.”

https://youtube.com/watch?v=mo3nDUA3KWs [Open]

“Well, it looks like your job here isn’t done, little one.” she says, pulling a small crystal from a pocket and clutching it. You watch as she begins fading away, leaving you with a final cryptic message. “I’ll be keeping my Eye on you.”

And with that she’s gone, you no longer feeling her ki anywhere. You sigh in relief, whoever that bad lady was, she’s strong. But you can’t worry about her for now, you have to find this new invader. But before you can go out searching, Zullie and Alva return.

“Good, you’re okay.” she says, walking up the stairs to you. “Did you hear that? We have two more invaders to worry about now.”
“Nope, only one more.” you say, quickly telling her about the butterfly man then the dangerous-seeming woman in black. As you describe her Zullie’s brows furrow, looking upset and glancing over to Alva. Curious, you ask her about it. “What’s wrong? Do you know her?”
“Not her.” she says, laying her staff aside to put both hands on your shoulders. “Be careful, Caulifla. The Hollows of Londor are dangerous: undead, inhuman monsters. They-“

“Company!” Alva shouts, you both turning towards him. And sure enough, it’s another invader. But unlike that last one, this skeleton is wielding a skeletal-gripped sword glows an angry red. Without hesitation Alva charges, which proves to be a mistake. The skeleton lifts the sword and thrusts it into the ground, causing more thana dozen giant glowing red swords to explode upwards! The force from the swords launches the knight into the air screaming in pain. He tumbles uncontrollably, landing to the ground hard enough to bounce once before laying, unmoving.
“ALVA!!” Zullie shouts, brandishing her staff at the skeleton as darkness gathers around her. “I’ll kill you!”

-

“DARK ORB!” she roars, unleashing a large ball of darkness towards the skeleton. But he doesn’t retreat, crossing it’s bony arms as a shimmering sphere of light forms around it. You watch as the darkness smashes against that shield, but is almost instantly reflected into the ceiling. “What?”
“Get Alva!” you shout, dashing up at the invader and kicking at it’s chest. The glowing skeleton blocks your kick with the flat of it’s large blade, and instead of getting knocked back into the fire like you’d hoped it stops just short. “I’ll handle this jerk!”

“You are strong.” the skeleton says in a raspy voice, moving the sword from before it’s face torest the blunt edge on it’s shoulder. “Your death will make the master that much stronger.”
“Sorry, but I’m not dying today.” you reply, again taking your stance. But before you can attack, Zullie calls out from behind you.
“Watch out for that sword.” she says. “It’s radiating with some seriously bad magical energy. It’s like death itself is living inside it!”
“I’ll be fine!” you reply, the phantom simply walking towards you. There’s no urgency in it’s movements, simply walking as if it wasn’t in a battle to the death. You’ll show it for underestimating you! “HAAAA!!”

As you shout, you throw an Energy Wave forward with your left hand. The invader dodges, rolling under it towards your left side and trying to close the distance. But you twist clockwise, ending the blast and swinging your sword as the skeleton rolls upright. Your flames clash against it’s sword, and the invader is surprisingly strong. You can’t just simply knock it over, it’s eyeball-less gaze feeing like it’s staring into your soul, challenging you to try and push it away. And so you do, grabbing your sword in both hands and shoving even harder. For a moment the skeleton holds it’s ground, then surprisingly takes a step back and twists, leaving you pushing against nothing. The sudden change in strategy catches you completely by surprise, you stumbling forward.

“Got you.” it says, left hand clamping down on the back of your neck. As soon as it does, you feel it trying to pull something out of you. But that’s not all, as you feel your energy being pulled out and into this bone warrior. It’s energy surges upwards, you realizing this could get really bad. So without hesitation you focus, and unleash your full power.

-

“RRRRAAAAAAAAAA!!!” you roar, transforming into your powerful Super Saiyan form! But you’re not just an average Super Saiyan anymore, with big bro Broly’s help, you’ve learned how to transform into an even more powerful Super Saiyan than normal, golden lightning sparking out from your much-wilder looking aura. And before the skeleton can react you jam your right elbow into it’s ribcage, breaking several of them. The sudden impact breaks his grip on your neck, you twisting and slashing upwards with your sword. The burning blade slices clean through the skeleton’s upper right arm. But you’re not done there, twisting and slamming your left leg’s shin into it’s now-broken ribs. The impact of your kick sends it crashing into the stone wall hard enough that they shatter, leaving the phantom embedded in the wall. You watch it for several seconds, making sure it isn’t going to attack again, but after it doesn’t move for several seconds you dismiss it and turn back to Zullie.

“Please, let this work.” she says, you seeing Alva’s still-helmeted head in her lap as she pours out the glowing orange contents of a flask directly into the metal’s gaps. “You can’t be dead, not yet.”
“Go, Triumph!” you shout, your Stand screeching as it materializes. It flies right over the knight, you seeing several deep wounds through his metal armor to his chest. Without hesitation you direct your Stand to heal him, several pure blue tears dropping directly into the injuries. You watch as his body begins mending itself, returning to how he was before being opened up by the magical swords. You sigh in relief, Zullie trying and failing to hold back tears as you banish Triumph, your Stand’s job here done. After several seconds she regains her composure, Zullie wiping her eyes before turning her gaze up to you.

“Thank you, for everythi-!” she says, but stops as her eyes widen in surprise. Before she can say anything you spin clockwise, slashing at whatever’s behind you.
“Raaaa!” you shout, sword of flame slashing something that doesn’t make any sense. The space behind you looks distorted, as if someone dropped a pebble in a water reflection. But whatever it is your sword doesn’t cut through, and as your blade passes it fades, revealing the one-armed skeleton is still trying to fight. It lunges for your head with it’s hand, you catching it with your own left.

“Death is inevitable.” it says, as once more you feel your strength being sapped. But you’re not letting it go so easily! Focusing on your energy, you hold it inside and not letting it escape through your hand. The pull of this thing is strong, but you’re not gonna lose!

-

“Caulifla!” Zullie shouts, you straining with all you’ve got to keep your energy from being sucked out. But despite your best efforts, you still are getting drained, the phantom’s aura surprisingly starting to change as well from red to gold. You have to stop this now, else this guy could take everything from you! Wait, that’s it! If you can’t stop his energy drain from his hand, you’ll just have to take his entire hand off! You raise your sword high, the invader seeing it but with only one arm is unable to defend itself.

“HYAAA!” you cry, swinging down with your full Super Saiyan power. Your sword cuts through the bone arm easily, and as it does your left hand crushes it’s now-severed hand.
“I-Impossible!” it says, stumbling backwards and falling to the ground. You lift your left hand, preparing to blast it to smithereens with an energy blast, when something surprising happens. Instead of firing off an attack, you feel your energy gathered in your hand not leave as once more that distorted space appears, much easier to see through this time. But it’s such a surprise you leap back, ending your focus and thinking the invader has another trick up his sleeve. As you do the distortion disappears, the skeleton’s bony jaw hanging wide open in clear shock.

“Wh-Caulifla, how...?” Zullie asks, you turning and seeing the shock on her face as she stares at you and struggles to form a sentence. Or rather, at your left hand. “That, you...You stole a Dark Hand!?”
“Stole wha...?” you ask, trailing off as you look down at your left hand. There’s now something around your left hand; a dark, yet strangely comforting aura has enveloped it. “Woah.”
“Give. That. Back.” the skeleton invader says, struggling to rise without it’s arms. “I need...for...mas...”

And with that it falls limply back to the ground, fading into red mist. As it fades you feel yourself doing the same, turning back to Zullie. With only moments to act, you do what comes naturally.

“Bye!” you say, waving to her excitedly. “Hope we meet again!”
“Be careful!” she says to you, still clearly worried. “That’s the Dar-!”

But then you’re gone. Or, more accurately, back on Vox’s big ship. You look back to your left hand, and sure enough that energy is still there. You gotta show Chilli, maybe he’ll-WAIT! You gotta go: there’s supposed to be a big meeting today, and you’re gonna be late!

-Saiyan Conqueror Quest 130 Epilogue End-