Chapter 24 "Elixir of Earth"

Chapter 24
Elixir of Earth

“Holy Heal,” Night commands as hundreds of bright orbs come flying out of his body and heading straight for the weakened Earthling soldiers. He opens his eyes, which are glowing in bright greenness. Every lime green orb that lands on a soldier’s forehead turns into a continuous glowing cross.

To the Volesmashian soldiers’ surprise, every beaten and weakened Earthling soldiers get up easily. Even all of their wounds are completely closed. And so, all of their battles continue.

Night’s hands are trembling. His glowing eyes are half closed, struggling to stay open. Even with his reflected barrier still around him protecting himself from any flying bullets or other attacks, he is still standing. He has to. 

There is no other medical specialist. Unless the Dark Angel’s Shield is taken out, all of Night’s medical specialists can never leave Planet Earth.

He can feel every blow and attack on the Earthling soldiers from the enemies. He can feel every new wound opening and closing. Again.

Again and again.

Then, he feels some kind of powerful fast-approaching presence. He slowly turns his head toward it only to gasp lightly in surprise. He is looking at a huge meteor heading straight for Earth fast.

He quickly turns to the Earthling army still fighting against the enemies. Thinking fast, he yells, “Full Heal!”

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Tezuka opens his blue eyes, expecting any kind of pain, but it never comes. He looks around to find a very thick icy barrier around not only himself but also the panting General. He shouts in concern, “Ryu!”

Ryu gives a light chuckle as he places his hands on his bent knees. “That took a lot of ice power to make this thick. If he makes another Destroyer, I don’t think -- Oh crap!”

Tezuka quickly turns to Phoenix who is now creating yet another small Destroyer.

“What can you do against the power of my planet Volesmash?!” Phoenix snickers evilly as he tosses the tiny fireball, which then turns into another large meteor in an instant.

“Elixir of Moon!”

“Eh?” Phoenix widens his orange eyes in shock. “Elixir of Moon? So, it’s true… it isn’t the Vice President who has the power of the moon.”

The symbol of crescent suddenly comes off the area under Ryu’s left breast and then grows larger and moves to the area behind him, hovering idly.

“Do you know what comets are made of, Phoenix?” Ryu’s eyeballs are full of glowing whiteness, as if his pupils have disappeared. His entire body is covered in so much white energy. He raises his hand up in the pitch-black space, gathering icy flakes together.

Phoenix frowns in confusion.

“A long time ago, Earth and the Moon took countless hits from the comets… As in the result, there were hundreds… no, thousands of craters. The comets are the reason why Earth got a large amount of water in the first place.”

“Hmph.” Tezuka half-smirks.

“They are basically dusty snowballs. They are made of ice, including water and other materials.” With his one bare hand, Ryu rips off his consistent-ruffling shirt, which is being melted down by the power of the moon anyway.

The ball of icy flakes is growing larger and larger until it turns into a huge icy ball hovering above the General’s raised hand. He throws it so hard at the meteor that it literally turns into a comet.

As soon as the comet and meteor collide, the explosion appears once again, but this time it is much smaller than the first one.

“You punks! Can you dodge them now?!” Phoenix roars, as he creates dozens of meteors out of nowhere.

“Tezuka, get behind me!” Ryu shouts, as he quickly creates a new icy path and slides on it past the Earthling President. “Please, the Moon of Earth… Let me borrow your power!”

His entire body explodes into bright white energy burning surrounding himself. The hovering crescent symbol grows even bigger once again. “Shadow Moon!”

Dozens of crescent-shaped icicles emerge out of nothingness and are being gathered together rapidly into one piece until it becomes some kind of dark round object. In the size of the Moon. Trillions of snowflakes are floating around the Shadow Moon.

“Weak, weak!” Phoenix laughs again, as he keeps making more and more meteors. “Can your so-called Shadow Moon take all of Volesmash’s attacks?!”

“Tch!” Tezuka frowns in worry, as he watches the Shadow Moon taking hits from hundreds of the meteors. He can clearly sense that the Elixir of Moon is running out of energy at a fast pace. The floating crescent symbol is getting smaller and smaller. “Ryu, that’s enough --” He stops when he spots an object in Ryu’s right hand.

“The Eyes of Owl.” Ryu’s eyes are no longer glowing in the light but rather, emitting with white energy with his black pupils. He lifts his arm, pointing the object at the Volesmashian Emperor. He briefly cringes and closes one of his eyes as if he is in pain. The crescent symbol that has been hovering behind him is randomly shrinking and expanding forth and back.

Is the soul of Moon trying to absorb Ryu’s soul? Is he going to sacrifice himself? Tezuka scowls at the thought of his best friend dying. He briefly looks at the symbol of Earth still glowing and humming lively on his own chest. He half-turns to Earth, which is still inside in the pitch-black orb. What the hell is the Dark Team taking so long with destroying the Dark Angel’s fucking Shield?

Finally, the meteors break through the Shadow Moon and are approaching faster and faster towards Earth.

Phoenix is chortling with his folded arms. “It’s over for you, weaklings!”

Before he knows it, Ryu suddenly comes into his view. 

Phoenix widens his orange eyes in shock at the General’s sudden appearance. The new pain makes him look down at his own chest, which is already pierced by Ryu’s icy spear.

Every single meteor suddenly explodes into millions of snowflakes before they can reach Earth.

Phoenix growls loudly at the thought of getting beaten by an Earthling. He quickly wraps his hand around Ryu’s neck. “Do you know why they call me Phoenix?”

Using his other hand, he grips the icy spear tightly until it breaks into two. He easily pulls it out of his chest, letting his own blood freely flowing out of his wound. It does not take too long until the new and fresh wounded hole is already closing. “This is why they call me Phoenix. With the power of Volesmash, I was reborn! I am both immortal and invincible!”

Before he knows it, his arm is already broken, letting go of Ryu who coughs for air. Phoenix scowls in frustration as he looks down to find that Tezuka had elbowed his arm very hard. Before he can throw another attack, Tezuka instantly gives him a high kick in the jaw. He does not barge at all but his angry orange aura is growing larger and larger.

“Hm?” Tezuka raises an eyebrow in suspicion when he hears a few more cries again after he quickly moves away from Phoenix. Those odd noises definitely do not come from either Phoenix or Ryu. The General of the First Division had been fighting for years, so he would not show his pain at all.

The orange energy that was surrounding Phoenix is rapidly being gathered above into one large orb.

“T-Tezuka,” Ryu says raspily and worriedly. “Now what? No matter how many hits we have landed, he will always recover.”

“I…” Tezuka’s fists are clenching tightly and shaking a little at either of his sides. He makes one more quick glance at the blackened Earth. He winces at a sharp pain coming from the symbol of Earth on his chest. Shit! What the hell is the Dark Team doing?!

“You are going to die, Earth President!” Phoenix laughs loudly as he tosses the enlarged orange orb in the size of a meteor toward not only Tezuka and Ryu but also Earth.

Tezuka and Ryu cannot help but watch the large attack descend faster and faster.

“Massive Reflect!”

A nearly visible barrier appears all over the area with the large size comparable to Phoenix’s attack. The orange energy ball lands harshly on it only to bounce briefly but it then comes back colliding against it once again.

“Night!” Ryu exclaims as he turns around until he finds Night who is not too far away. Even though Night is panting heavily, his stance is not barging at all. His arms are fully erected with his sweaty palms pointing at Phoenix’s orb.

“Even with the power of reflect, I… I can’t push it back!” Night grits his teeth tightly. He closes his eyes, trying to concentrate on keeping up the barrier as long as possible.

Tezuka gives a relieved sigh with a small smile on his face. He turns to Phoenix only to get his smile wiped away from his face. He is looking at dozens of meteors hovering behind Phoenix, who is grinning evilly.

“Impressive… I did not expect that you would be able to stop one of my biggest attacks,” Phoenix crosses his arms casually. “But that doesn’t matter. I still have a few more tricks!”

The meteors are then being sent flying past Phoenix who is just hovering idly in the vast space.

“Please… Earth… Let me borrow your power!” Tezuka shouts almost at himself as he charges straight towards the meteor attacks after putting rush energy into his feet. The symbol of Earth on his chest glows in a very bright light. He blinks in surprise. W-what? Where did this power come from…?

The flying meteors suddenly blow up into large explosions, sending a few waves of shock all over the field. 

Ryu quickly creates a couple of icy walls which protect himself and the exhausted Night from the large rocks that broke away from the meteors.

Even with the power of aquila energy, Ryu can only barely catch Tezuka crashing right through every single meteor at high speed. But how?

He takes a look at Earth one more time. A huge grin is being formed on his face.

Earth is lively and blue once again. The Dark Angel’s Shield is no more.

“W-what wa-was that just now…?” Phoenix stammers after he puts down his arms when the brightness is gone. He freezes at the sight of the Earth President.

Tezuka opens his unusual glowing sky blue eyes. The blue symbol of Earth, which is a cross inside the circle, is glowing brightly on the middle of his bare chest. Seven large blue orbs with flaming tails are hovering in the vertical circle around the lavender-haired world leader rather than around him at waist level.

He lifts his hand, pointing it at Phoenix who then braces himself with his arms for a possible upcoming attack.

Instead of an attack, seven blue orbs suddenly move towards Tezuka’s open palm. They join each other and merge into one larger orb.

“I need to borrow your power, Seven Continents, please,” Tezuka says loudly and clearly. His open palm quickly clenches into a fist with the orb inside, sending a few rays of blue light through between his fingers.

Phoenix widens his orange eyes in realization. “Is that the soul of a planet?”

“Elixir of Earth!” Tezuka yells, as the orb suddenly explodes into tiny pieces, which then stick themselves onto him. The Earthling symbol comes off his chest and then moves around until it stops to hover idly behind him. It is growing larger and larger until it is double in size.

“Destroyer --” Before Phoenix can toss another meteor, it is already destroyed by Tezuka with a bare fist. He widens his orange eyes again but this time in shock at the Earthling leader’s strength and speed. He can clearly feel some kind of calamity coming from the power of Earth, but he knows for sure that there has to be more than just a calamity. 

His entire body is trembling and refuses to move at all. He cannot help but watch Tezuka throwing a fist. No matter how hard he tries to move, his body is completely paralyzed at how powerful Earth is.

Tezuka stops his fist just an inch away from Phoenix’s face. His enemy can clearly feel burning energy coming from the Earthling President’s hand. Tezuka asks almost demandingly, “Are you going to surrender? If so, please call back your army. There’s no need to fight any longer.”

Phoenix suddenly explodes into bursts of large orange energy surrounding all around his own body, causing Tezuka to leap away. “There’s no way that Earthling punk can defeat me… Me! The strongest in the galaxy!”

“Tezuka!” Ryu cries in concern.

Tezuka braces himself with his own arms trying to protect his head. He closes one of his eyes because of the strong gust of wind coming from Phoenix’s sudden boost in power. “Where the hell is he getting this much energy from?! No… so that’s why...”

Phoenix’s entire body has drowned into so much orange energy that it resembles strong to a body made out of lava. A huge grin is being displayed on his melting lava face. His eyes no longer have pupils but rather have become fully red.

“W-what is this power?” Night asks weakly, his exhausted hands on his bent knees.

“He had been stealing not only power but also pieces of his own planet’s soul,” Tezuka answers. “But when the planet can no longer provide energy, it will be destroyed. I wouldn’t even think of doing that to Earth, but I would never imagine that there would be someone who dared to do that to their own planet.”

“See this full power of Volesmash?!” Phoenix asks out loud. “I’m sure that you can do the same thing with Earth… come to me with the full power of Earth!”

Tezuka scowls deeply. The Earthling symbol is glowing in the blue energy. It grows brighter and brighter until it instantly breaks into thousands of pieces. The fragments of blue magic are then being gathered and cover every inch of Tezuka’s body, which is radiating with blue light.

“Huh?” Phoenix blinks in confusion.

Lightning bolts are sparking frequently around Tezuka’s pure blue body, which strongly resembles saltwater.

“He can use water energy?” Night asks in surprise after he finally reaches Ryu even though he is still tired from overusing his healing energy.

“Actually…” Ryu narrows his luminescent white eyes, using the power of aquila. “Earth is lending not only its power but also its own soul to Tezuka. It’s as if…”

Tezuka takes a brief look at his hand, which is completely covered with calm water. “Is it from the oceans?” He asks himself. He clenches and unclenches it as if he is testing his own strength. A lightning bolt crackles around his fist every time it gets closed.

“...Earth’s soul has merged with Tezuka’s. At least temporarily,” Ryu finishes. He glances at the enemy and frowns in concern. “On the other hand… Phoenix stole his own planet’s soul and forced it to become his own… but what will happen to Planet Volesmash? Won’t it be destroyed if Planet Volesmash no longer has its own soul?”

“It doesn’t matter! Volesmash always wins!” Phoenix laughs out loud before he creates a new orb of dropping lava. He tosses it hard, but it is not aimed at Tezuka.

“Night!” Ryu yells worriedly as he quickly points his palm at Night, but he can only produce a tiny amount of ice.

Night quickly braces his head with his own arms, knowing that he will not be able to evade when he is already exhausted.

“Huh?” Phoenix raises an eyebrow when he realizes that Night did not take the hit. “How did you get there so fast?”

Tezuka is hovering in front of Night. He is pointing his hand, which has caught the lava orb but the boiling temperature does not even make him wince at all. Instead, the lava orb is turning into darkened rock. He says angrily, “You dirty bastard! You dared to attack my soldier when he doesn’t have much energy left?! How much further are you willing to go this low?!”

Phoenix cannot help but burst out into loud laughter. He begins to create a growing ball of magma out of nothingness. “You call yourself the leader of Earth? Why are you protecting those lowly people when they are supposed to protect you?!”

“We elected Tezuka because he had always been fighting for us!” Night yells angrily, making Phoenix raise an eyebrow. “We had at least two wars in the last fifty years… There was so much corruption just 10 years ago. He fought in the war so that we could have peaceful lives… But that’s not the only thing that he did for us… He also fought for equality and human rights for every single being, no matter how different we are. He protected all of us countless times. That’s why I… no… We, the people of Earth, gladly fight for him!”

Phoenix scowls deeper, as his orb of magma is still growing larger and larger. “Your lenientness is the reason why you Earthlings are so weak!”

“Even after all that fighting we recently did, are you still thinking that we are weak compared to you?” Tezuka asks calmly.

Phoenix flinches at the question.

Tezuka places his hands on his hips with a calm look on his usual stoic face. “You’re underestimating us.”

Phoenix scowls for the fiftieth time today. “Then, die!” He sends the large magma ball flying towards not only Tezuka but also in the direction of the Volesmashian and Earthling troops who are still fighting near Earth.

He is going to sacrifice his own army just like that? Ryu thinks to himself as he watches the meteor growing larger and faster the closer it gets to them.

Tezuka suddenly glides upward until he reaches the level of the approaching melting meteor. He lifts his arm until his hand is facing Phoenix’s attack.

The second the ball of magma touches Tezuka’s fingertips, it instantly turns into a blackened ball of rock. He pulls back his other hand that is burning with red energy and then tosses it hard back at the rock, breaking it into tiny pieces in an instant.

Phoenix is completely pale. His fingers are trembling at first and then his entire body shakes in fear. His legs will not even move no matter how hard he wants to. He is staring helplessly at the glowing blue aura that covers the leader of Earth.

“Is that all you can do?” Tezuka asks coldly.

“Wow…” Night says in awe.

Phoenix’s fear turns into anger. His jaw is clenching tightly in frustration. He quickly spreads out his arms as hundreds of meteors appear behind himself. “Fucking go to hell!”

Before he can even toss them, every single meteor explodes along with lightning bolts, getting destroyed into tiny pieces. Once again, he remains frozen in shock.

“That was boring,” Tezuka says boldly.

“W-when did he move…?” Night asks with a surprised look on his face. 

“With the powers of both lightning and rush, he is nearly as fast as the speed of light,” Ryu answers. “We might have not seen him move but he did indeed move. He just got back to the same place.”

“That’s enough, Phoenix… The battle is over,” Tezuka says.

“What?!” The Emperor of Volesmash growls in confusion.

The President of Earth gives him a light-hearted smile. “Light and Dark Gods are back.”

“You fucking lowly Earthling!” Phoenix roars as he rapidly creates another meteor but this time it is much bigger than the ones he had been making before.

“Eh?” Tezuka’s smirk fades away from his face. “You still have this much power left?”

“I will never accept that you’re this powerful!” Phoenix tosses the meteor hard, which is heading straight for Earth.

“No!” The President of Earth shouts.

Suddenly, a huge wall of ice, which is as big as the meteor, appears out of nothingness. Ryu is panting heavily as he bends down a little with his hands on his knees. “S-shit, that took more power than I thought.”

The second the meteor collides into it, the wall of ice is annihilated in an instant. Night and Ryu are both staring at the meteor in both shock and awe.

“T...that’s impossible…” Night says softly. He glances back at the Earthling President only to realize that he is not there anymore. “Tezuka?”

“Tezuka, what are you doing?!” Ryu cries in worry, making Night turn back to the meteor. The President of Earth is hovering in front of the approaching meteor.

Tezuka lifts his arm and points his open palm at the meteor. The water leaves his body and begins to glide smoothly through the space towards the large ball of hot rock. The second the meteor lands on the large volume of water, the collision sends another powerful shockwave throughout the vast space.

“Tch!” He closes one of his eyes as he lifts his other arm, giving more power to the Earth’s water. Despite slowing down the meteor, it is still pushing Tezuka back towards the blue planet. “C-crap!”

At this point, Phoenix is gritting his teeth as in anger, he is watching the meteor becoming slower and slower. He has had enough with how arrogant and presumptuous Tezuka is. Earth has always been weak! Planet Fantasy had enough nerve to ask them for their assistance to fight back. Earth rejected them as if Volesmash was nothing to them! Both Fantasy and Earth must pay for our humiliation!

Just… One more! Phoenix raises his other hand in space, pulling severe fragments from the destroyed meteors together until it turns into the second large meteor. A grin, made of both frustration and anger, is being formed on his face. He throws the second meteor once again and asks, “Well then, can you stop this?!”

“D-Damn!” Tezuka shouts. His arms are throbbing but he refuses to allow the meteor that he is pushing back past him. Yet he watches helplessly the second meteor passing him.