Our battle with the phoenix kept going, and after he had bombarded the entirety of the crater with his flaming projectiles, Vespera appeared once again in the air to knock him back down.
His flas covered his body as soon as he reached the ground, transforming back to his human form as the fire surrounded the area around him.
Nevertheless, I launched myself at him while using water magic to cover my body, which wasn’t enough to fully protect from his firewall. Still, I managed to reach him with my fist charged with water and lightning magic and struck him in the gut.
The phoenix was pushed back and coughed a little blood as he grasped his stomach.
My companions and I were full of burnt marks, but we didn’t have ti to pull out healing potions since the phoenix wasn’t allowing us with his flaming attacks.
Suddenly, the phoenix’s golden eyes started shining, and the ground shook as fire torrents began to shoot out from the floor.
In the blink of an eye, the phoenix had appeared right in front of with a kick imbued with strong fire magic that hit in the face and sent flying back into a small mound of starstone.
Vespera and Yoru tried to counter at that mont, but the phoenix used his fire to push them back as he got closer to the area where I landed.
I could feel blood dripping from my head as I pushed the rocks and debris off of , but before I could get out of the rubble, the phoenix grabbed by the poncho and raised my body.
"How...?" he vaguely asked while still holding by the collar.
"How do you expect to beat Zagor like this!?" he asked with desperation in his voice.
I clenched my teeth, realizing that the phoenix had a point.
If Zagor was strong enough to subdue the phoenix and we couldn’t beat him, then we had no chance against the devil.
I used water and lightning magic to cover my body, making him release from his bind as he jumped back a few steps away from .
"This is different..." I replied.
I didn’t want to kill the phoenix since I knew that he wasn’t truly an evil person... or beast. However, the way he was fighting wasn’t at the level of soone simply sparring with .
The phoenix was fighting us with everything he had while my companions and I were holding back, which, in turn, was allowing him to give us quite a beating.
"You must understand..." the phoenix said.
"I need to die for Kalusia to be saved!" he shouted with frustration in his tone as he launched himself at .
In less than a second, the phoenix and I were exchanging blows that were fused with our magic.
For every punch that I landed on his face, he also landed one on , creating shockwaves with each of our strikes that connected.
The phoenix and I weren’t speaking anymore, but it felt like I was conversing with him as our punches and kicks did the talking.
I could see it in his eyes. The determination of soone ready to give his life up for the people he cared about.
’This is so unfair... Why does he have to die when Zagor is the main culprit? Why did all those beastkin turned into demons have to perish?’ I thought, still exchanging an onslaught of attacks with the phoenix.
The anger I was feeling fueled my body, making increase the speed and potency of my attacks until I found an opening, charging up a fist with magic and striking him in the stomach, generating a wake of lightning that sent the phoenix flying to the wall of the crater.
When I approached the phoenix, he was lying in between rocks and debris with small trails of blood coming down his head.
"It is still not enough..." he muttered, slowly looking up at . "But there is no choice..."
I hesitated for a mont, not knowing what to do when Vespera and Yoru arrived, looking just as beat up as .
"Ichiro... We can bring him back..." Vespera said in between tired breaths.
"What?" I asked.
I didn’t rember at that mont, but when I inspected the phoenix, there was a line that said, "his ashes could be brought to the phoenix’s altar," but since I had no idea what it ant, my brain just ignored it.
That’s when it dawned on . The legend of the phoenix in my past life was about a firebird that could co back to life from his ashes. Still, I was unaware that’s how they were in this world, too.
"Phelena’s chosen... If you believe you can save Kalusia, then take my blessing..." The phoenix interjected.
"Take your blessing? How?" I asked, still sowhat confused.
However, the phoenix didn’t respond with words and just looked at with determined eyes, then nodded.
"Phoenix... What was your na back then?" I asked, looking down with apprehension.
He smiled brightly, as if his best mories had just returned to his mind, and sighed.
"Acalan..." he replied.
"Well then, Acalan... I promise to bring you back to a new Kalusia..." I muttered, slowly unsheathing my mithril dagger.
Acalan smiled and closed his eyes, allowing to drive my dagger through his heart, producing a fiery energy that started to surround my body. However, the fire wasn’t burning .
It felt warm and soothing, but I couldn’t focus on the feeling since I had my eyes locked with Acalan, who was slowly turning to ashes.
I quickly pulled out a small leather bag from my void pocket and scooped his remains with the help of my companions.
We didn’t need to gather all of the ashes, or that would have been quite impossible. The most important piece was a small orange stone that was left atop the mound with a fistful of his ashes.
Once we had collected Acalan’s body, I lay on the ground with my arms open and my face bloodied, feeling sowhat defeated.
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