*Aventine*

[Sometime prior- Meadow of Purple flowers]

I watched as my Esquilino's wielder fought against the demon named Camio. Suddenly, a beam flew at the demon from another direction. It was Caelio's wielder!

"Seems that guy finally resurfaced," a voice called out.

I turned around and saw Caelio approach me along with Esquilino.

"Did you tell the princess to help out?" I asked.

Caelio nodded. "Yeah, I heard your request. It seems that the demon is at his final legs. Our protectees are fortunate that the demon they had to fight was Camio. If it were one of his older siblings, then they would've been in trouble."

Esquilino chuckled as he watched Camio retreat. "That cowardly wimp really knows how to turn tail, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah. But what I wonder why he pretended to be the prime minister," I said, crossing my arms.

"That Itou, we still haven't been able to confirm his identity," Caelio said, taking a step forward.

"So, what he Camio all along?" Esquilino asked.

"I don't think so. I still think that man is Camio's father, The Demon of Wrath," I said.

"One of the Seven Arch-demons, huh? That guy would be someone apt to take advantage of the situation our protectees are facing. If he were to make a move now, it would force them to retreat to Zionia, allowing the Abysmals to achieve their aims in Xeleria, whatever they might be," Caelio said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Then, do you think that they're allies?" Esquilino asked.

I rubbed my chin. That is a possibility. Tekeshi's father had one part of the Leviathan in his possession. It still seemed to maintain some autonomy too.

"By the look on your face, it isn't an idea we should dismiss easily," Caelio said, looking directly into my eyes.

I nodded. "Indeed, it is not. Especially, considering that fox who nearly killed my owner and yours at different points was part demon."

Esquilino gasped. "Wait, what if it's his abysmal-demon parent who is the one running the alliance?"

Caelio sighed. "That is possible." He leered his eyes as he watched Rosa descend. "That fox... I wonder if he might still be alive."

Esquilino grunted. "Why do you say that?"

"He appeared in front of my owner. Only she and I could see him."

"The same thing happened with Serrano. I could see him too, so it couldn't have been our protectees going crazy. But what's more worrying is, the case with Serrano happened after the half-demon's supposed death."

Esquilino rubbed his shoulders. "For once, I'm getting chills. But then, why couldn't the others see him?"

"I'm not sure. It could also be a spell which, for some reason, affects us who are bound to them."

"Must be a strong spell for us not to notice..." Caelio said, closing his eyes.

I glanced back at the floating screen and gasped. Walking toward our protectees was a white-haired young man with golden eyes.

I sighed. Excellent, just what we needed.

"Hey, isn't that your previous owner's younger brother?" Esquilino asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. It's Skah. I better go check to see how Serrano and Tetsuya's training is coming along."

"Is the space they're in flowing at the same rate as this one?"

I smiled. "No, thankfully, I made it closer to that of Munil. But, let's hope that the amount of time proved to be enough for Serrano to gain more strength. He will need it if he is to face the Pillars of Darkness again."

And if Skah is there to fight, then he soon will.

['Present']

Aventine smiled as she brandished her platinum sword at us. "You better be ready," she said before vanishing.

"Oh, we are!" Tetsu said, holding out his shield.

I turned around as she was about to strike at me. I moved my version of the sword but failed to defend in time. However, something pushed her back. It was then that I noticed there was a faint-blue barrier around me.

She turned to look at Tetsuya and smiled. "Nice defense."

"Thanks," Tetsu said, grinning as he ran toward her.

She dissolved into a sphere of shadows and rushed him, sending him flying back. He caught himself with his right hand and did a back-flip. His golden eyes scanned the ring.

I smiled. My cousin sure had grown. Could it be that I had fallen behind him again?

I shook my head. Even if that were the case, I would overtake him again!

I spun around and covered my sword in blue mana and aimed for Aventine, who had manifested in front of me, but in a single split second, she disappeared.

I glanced around until finally raising my head, and just in time, as she stabbed the barrier in what I imagined was its weak point.

The shockwave echoed outward, shattering all four pillars as her sword pierced Tetsuya's barrier. I held out my rust-colored sword and stopped hers.

She smiled as I pushed her back. "You kids aren't half bad." She evaporated into shadows once again and flew out of the cracked barrier as it closed.

"She's a slippery one," Tetsuya said as he walked toward me. His golden eyes moved as fast as they could in an attempt to catch at least a glimpse of where she might be.

Without warning, a sphere of smoky shadows struck the center of the ring, sending a wave of purple darkness in all directions.

Tetsu held out his shield and knelt as he pushed back against the stream of darkness. It was oddly reminiscent of the wave that Yuko had used in her failed attempt to control the powers she had copied from Aster.

He grunted as the surging tide pushed back on Agnes. He grinned even as the shadow tide grew stronger.

I rushed over toward him, but a giant sword came crashing down. I glanced up and saw Aventine smiling. She dissolved once and reappeared behind me.

I jumped and kicked her, but her hand clasped my foot.

I swung at her arm, but she threw me away just before the sword's edge could touch her.

I grunted as I landed on the floor on all fours.

Aventine extended her hand forward, drawing the giant sword on the ground over to her.

"What's with that sword? I thought Aventine only had one form per wielder," I said, grinning.

She swung the sword over her shoulder. "Oh, this? This is the form it took for the fifth wielder. The one between you and I. He named this form 'Argentum Lupus'. In other words, silver wolf!"

With a swing of the sword, a wave of dark silver pushed me away.

I gritted my teeth as I pushed back against it while also drawing some of it into my fingertips and absorbing it into my body. The blades of darkness mana I failed to absorb cut my skin repeatedly. If not for my healing, the trial probably would've ended here.

I crossed my arms in front of me. I needed to figure out how to get out.

I gasped. Wait. This was a current of mana, in that case, there was one thing that could get me out this situation, and a powerful one at that.

I closed my eyes and sensed the stream of mana all around me. I unleashed some of mine and swung my sword at where the two clashed.

A massive surge of energy poured out from my sword and cut the ring in half as it tore everything in front of me.

"Woah, that's incredible!" Tetsuya yelled.

I turned and saw that he had already dealt with his obstacle.

I raised my weapon and smiled. "Uncle Tekeshi taught it to me. It... was the last thing he showed me before the fight with Aster."

Tetsu sighed as he came closer. His lips opened but then quickly closed.

"Is something the matter?"

His golden-eyes shifted to the none broken side of the ring. Aventine stood with a black whip-sword.

She smirked before swinging it at us.

Tetsu jumped forward, shielding me.

"That form... that was my dad's, wasn't it?"

How would he know that? Did he recall seeing it as a kid?

Aventine snickered. "Indeed. 'The Obsidianus Catus' is what he called it."

"First silver wolf and now obsidian cat? Is your form named after an animal too?" I asked half-jokingly.

She smiled. "It just so happens that it is. Platina Ave." Her sword reverted to the platinum sword she had first used.

"Platinum bird?"

"Yes. The wings of platinum you see here give it away," Aventine said, touching the shimmering feather-like appendages on the hilt. She pointed the tip at us. "But enough of that. This trial isn't over until you can seize my weapon."

"Wait, that's it? We don't have to defeat you?" Tetsuya asked.

I smiled slightly. "She doesn't think we're strong enough to defeat her," I said as I raised a hand into the air. Every part of the ring rose.

Tetsu jumped over to me. "Hey, do you always need to wreck the battlefield?"

I laughed and shrugged. "What can I say? I like being flashy too."

I clapped my hands several times, causing the stones to dart over to Aventine. She transformed into a black sphere and rushed us once more.

Tetsu shielded me as the rubble continued to pursue her.

Aventine grunted as the barrier pushed her back, slamming her into my cloud of dust and stone. The stones clasped around her as soon as I closed my fist. She gritted her teeth and transformed her sword into my uncle's unique form. With a single swing, the whip-sword shattered all of the stone into a fine dust.

She aimed the tip of 'The Obsidianus Catus' at the barrier, shattering it in one go before I could revert the dust back into rock.

"Woah," Tetsu said, holding out Agnes to defend me.

Aventine smiled as her sword retracted.

"Are you two boys going to use Second Heaven or not?"

"Are you?" Tetsu asked.

"No. That would be too much too much for you."

"Hmph. In that case, we aren't either. We're already two against one, so transforming would be more unfair."

I sighed. "She's not taking us seriously," I said, shaking my head.

Tetsu tapped my shoulder and grinned. "Then let's show her the errors of her ways, buddy!"

I nodded and raised my weapon. I couldn't afford to lose this, but I also needed to go beyond. I needed to aim for a sound victory.

Aventine extended out her black wings. A dark wind arose from a single flap of her eagle-like appendages.

Tetsu grabbed a hold of me as he put up a new barrier.

"Serra. I need you to attack her with everything you got."

I nodded. I held out my hands and channeled my mana into the cloud of dust around us.

Aventine dashed forward, breaking the cloud with a swipe of 'Obsidianus Catus'.

Tetsu slammed both his hands into the barrier. Aventine appeared behind us and smacked her weapon against it. Cracks ran up the spherical wall.

I gripped my sword tightly and pointed it at my guardian angel. "Diamond Storm!"

She gasped and flew back as twin streams of tiny clear crystals surged toward her. Aventine's sword transformed into 'Argentum Lupus' and shielded her from most of the barrage.

The angel snickered. "How fun!" she said, swinging her sword to the side, causing the gems stuck on it to dislodge and fly off. "Perhaps it's time I try harder too."

"You better," Tetsuya yelled. He held out Agnes toward her. "Oh, by the way, I forgot to return this to you. Lunar Reflection: Umbra Beam!"

Agnes' center shot a black beam at her.

She held out her hand and pushed the darkness aside. She laughed as she stared at her bloodied hand. "Impressive, you managed not only to absorb my earlier darkwave but also focus it into an attack."

Tetsu rubbed his nose and grinned. "Well, it did help me nearly survive and defeat Satoru. And while it didn't save me from Takon's attack, it did save my friends."

I snickered. "You've really managed to make it your own. And here's mine!" I held out my hand and shot multiple small lasers at her.

She spun around, frantically dodging the thin but highly concentrated beams.

"You absorbed the darkness too?" Tetsu asked, eyes wide.

I laughed. "Come on. Are you forgetting I taught you this technique?"

"But, you couldn't absorb it into your body before."

"True, but having learned how to absorb and store mana inside of me helped me figure that part out. The same basic premise."

Tetsu grinned. "Figures."

Aventine chuckled as she finished dodging the last beam. "I should have figured that Tekeshi's chosen successor and his son would have tricks of their own." She held out both her hands as the sword began to change shape again.

A purple light emerged from both hands. Once the light cleared, Aventine wielded two identical spheres. Well, nearly identical. Each one had a different gem stone on the bottom. The one on the right had an amethyst, while the one on the left had a citrine.

"Two swords?" I asked, eyes wide.

Aventine grinned as she pointed her dual weapons at us. "Form of the 7th wielder, Ametrine Aguila!"

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter, if so then click on that star to show your love ^_^. I would love to hear any thought and/or predictions you might have.**