Golden lightning burst out of Eiji's two pairs of wings.

I swung my crimson staff, propelling myself back. Unfortunately, it didn't repeal his attack like I had wanted it to.

I threw my weapon into the air and clapped my hands as fast as I could. A stream of flames erupted from them, swirling around me until they form a barrier. The lightning nearly hit the barrier, when suddenly, it was drawn up toward a metal rod spinning in the air.

"A lightning rod? You used your transformation technique on your staff, didn't you?"

I snickered. "You got me there," I said, clapping my hands. A beam of golden lightning erupted from each end of my staff like a mighty quasar. One beam struck the barrier defending the sky island, causing it to fade in and out. The other tore through the forest below, setting those it hadn't outright destroyed on fire.

I drew the flames toward me, sparing the forest I had grown up in further damage.

Eiji smiled. "Protecting your home, aren't you?"

I land on my cloud as it flew beneath me.

"It was my home. Right now, my new home requires me to destroy it."

"You obviously don't wish to do so," Eiji said as the aura around him faded.

I laughed. "Powering down already? That was all the time you can remain in Third Heaven? Pathetic."

"No. It wasn't even a fifth done with my time."

I called back my staff to me, which was already close to landing on the forest's charred areas. "Then why did you do it?" I asked.

Eiji ran a hand through his black hair and sighed. "I had thought of something, but I'm really not good at it."

Wait, was he going to attempt convincing me to go over to their side?

I laughed. "As expected of one of Shi's friends! You're all an interesting bunch. Unfortunately, we are long past words."

Eiji nodded as golden sparks flared around him once more. "I guess so." He grinned. "Not that I'm very good at using them to resolve conflict. A good brawl is what I'm good at. If we both survive, then we can talk!"

A massive wave of energy blew away the flames in front of me, creating a fiery tail behind me.

"Impressive," I said, transforming my staff into a giant, thick rubber shield. The heat radiating from the electricity had started to melt some parts of it.

"You haven't seen a thing yet," Eiji said, appearing behind me.

I coughed up blood as he punched me in the stomach with an electrified fist, sending me crashing into the barrier shielding the island. He'd moved so fast! Was he moving at the speed of lightning?

And it wasn't only his speed which was surprising. His fist had burned a hole through my rubber shield.

Eiji continued to whack me around like a ping-pong ball. If not for the sturdiness of my body, I would've fared worse. It was actually causing Eiji some damage as he had to continuously heal his hands. Though, it wasn't diminishing his mana.

So, he can use prana. Figures. He is a descendant of Takehaya.

I transformed the shield back into its real form. It's actual true form, not the six-foot staff that I had been using most of this time. The staff grew in size until it became a twenty-five-foot black pillar with a wine barrel's thickness.

Eiji grimaced as he punched it. The resulting shock-waves rumbled to the ground below, causing it to open up. While the clouds in the heavens spun around, darkening as they became charged with Eiji's electricity.

I swung the giant at him, creating a massive explosion of air which caused the gathering clouds to disperse. Eiji dodged the barrage of air and zipped toward my right side, slamming me in the abdomen with his weapon.

I gritted my teeth and spun around. Eiji dodged, but it was futile as a tornado formed with me serving as it eye.

Eiji flew overhead and pointed his weapon down, lightning crackling on its tip.

"You fell for it," I said, grinning. I threw my staff at him.

Eiji quickly unleashed a blast of lightning and formed a barrier of light around him. But it was to no avail as my pillar-sized staff pushed back on it.

Eiji flew away as the staff overpowered his attack. The black pillar vanished from view, disappearing as a twinkle in the sky.

"Are you getting stronger?" Eiji asked as the winds swirling around me began to fade.

I smiled. "My power is slowly returning to me," I said, cracking my knuckles. I moved my head side to side. "You're almost out of juice, no?"

Eiji held out his hand. "Yes, but I can still extend it a bit more," he said. A golden wand appeared in his hand. A silver light emerged from it. In his left hand was a black blade resembling a question mark.

The knight swung his blade at me, producing a concentrated verticle beam of electricity.

I moved my pillar in front of me, shielding myself. A gasp escaped my lips as I noticed it had cut off a chunk of it. Very few had ever managed to damage it.

My strength was returning slower than I had expected it to. Could it have had something to do with my diminishing power? A drawn-out fight was dangerous. I had to end this now and continue with my mission.

I took a deep breath. But before I could let out my ear-piercing screech, Eiji's blade cut through my neck, causing my head to come off and start falling down.

I smiled and unleashed my screech.

Eiji gasped as his body remained still.

My faithful cloud caught my head while the rest of my body dropped down. My nimbus flew toward the body, which had dark tendrils floating out of the neck. The shadowy vein-like appendages grabbed onto the bottom of my head and linked the two back up.

I rubbed my neck. "That hurt, buddy," I said, smirking.

Eiji remained as still as Osamu had after I had casted my ability the first time.

I sighed as I cupped my hands together. Green flames poured out of palms and concentrated to form a sphere. "Thanks for the match. It was fun while it lasted. King's Wrath!" I yelled, launching the fire orb at him.

Suddenly, beams of lightning rained down in all directions as far as the eye could see. The forest below caught on fire again.

I gasped. What was he thinking? Attacking recklessly like that. For all he knew, his comrade's could've been around. Not to mention the damage that he was causing the forest.

"I can't hear, but something tells me that you're shocked, both literally and figuratively," Eiji said, snickering.

I held my hand down, pulling the forest fire flames up. I should've allowed it to burn down, but my first friends' descendants still lived there.

Eiji spun around, creating a large ring of electricity with his curved blade. The electric circle expanded outward, rapidly slicing through the air.

My cloud dipped, dodging the attack. That attack for sure would've sliced me in half if I hadn't avoided it.

Suddenly, thin rays of electricity rained down on me. The entire area that the ring had cleared was like that.

"To meet an angel who this skilled at magic is really something," I said, smiling despite the pain the shocks were causing me.

Eiji smiled. That man had to be one who depended on his gut to fight. He was a true warrior.

I swung my arms outward, dispersing the electricity. "I wish that I could've fought you properly," I said, dashing at him. I clenched my right hand into a fist and punched him in the stomach, sending him falling into the burnt forest.

A blast of electric mana flew up, blowing away my hand.

"What?" I said, sitting down on my cloud.

Eiji's angel weapon floated in the air, bathed in the same golden light as before. The light extended below, keeping Eiji afloat. A fair skinned, blond man appeared beside the Seven Hill Knight and lowered him slowly to the ground.

"You're his guardian angel," I said, remembering the angel who had fought alongside Eiji in Kuroyuki no San.

"That's quiet the ability you got there, Monkey King," the angel said as he drew the shepard's staff toward him. "I wonder if it'll work on me when I'm out in the open like this."

I raised my fists in front of me and smiled. "A son of Hanketsu and Valencia, huh? I'm looking forward to seeing how you fare against me."

He kept a stoic face. "Oh right, I heard that you defeated my old man when he was a young man."

"Yes, he was annoying to fight," I said, remembering as all the times that the angel of darkness dodged my attacks.

"Well, you'll have a harder time fighting me." The weapon his hand transformed into a silver rapier. "Silver Rush!"

I grabbed hold of the rapier as it came within striking distance of my chest. "You're not at the same level as your father and your owner."

The angel closed his eyes and let go of his weapon. He snapped his fingers and whispered, "Energy Restrain."

My eyes widened as the rapier dissolved into silver stones. Each stone flung out and became embedded in a different part of my body.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Didn't you hear its name? It's called Energy Restraint. With this, you won't be able to use your ability until the stones are removed."

"Nice going, Capi," Eiji said as he flew up. He had reverted back to his base form.

"You could've done this earlier. Why didn't you?" I asked.

"Well, I doubt that it would've worked during our first fight since none of our attacks impaled you. As for earlier, I wanted to use it as my fail-safe. It appears to have worked," the knight said, grinning.

"Eiji," the guardian angel said as his figure flashed in and out. "We should retreat for now. Calling upon me used up the last of your mana."

"I still got prana," Eiji said as he waved his sword.

I laughed. "So, it appears that you've locked up nearly all of my power. I might need to be the one to retreat."

"Eiji, get back! He speaks as if he's losing, but his attitude betrays his words," the angel said, appearing in front of his protectee. He narrowed his eyes at me. "He's plotting something."

I nodded. Green energy burst out of my body, launching the silver stones that he had embedded deep within my skin.

"There, much better," I said, stretching my arms into the air.

"What? How?" Eiji said, flying back.

I smiled. "The incantation's effects just faded. Now, I can fight you at full power."

Eiji dashed toward the ground.

"Hey, didn't you say that you weren't a coward earlier?" I asked, appearing in front of him.

https://youtu.be/Z6TFfhYl5WQ

Eiji's angel reformed his rapier from the silver stones and glared at me. "Go, Eiji! Restore your mana!"

"No can do!" I said, stabbing the angel with my left arm.

"Fly away from here... Eiji," the angel said as he continued to glare at me.

The Seven-Hill knight turned around. "No, I'm not running away!" he yelled.

"You... idiot," the angel said through gritted teeth. "I can't die, but you can!"

"I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing it as a knight. If he's at full power as he claims, then we're all doomed. The least I can do is hold him off a little bit longer while they figure out whatever they're trying to do."

I swung my left hand, throwing the angel off. "I knew it. You are a true warrior, Eiji. I am almost saddened that I have to kill you."

"Do what you must. I've been ready to die since the day Alabaster died," he said, giving me a fierce look as he gathered electricity into his weapon.

I took a deep breath. "Goodbye, Eiji!" I said, appearing behind him. The Seven-Hill knight coughed up blood as my left hand tore through his heart.

Eiji laughed. "I always knew that I would fall in battle. I'm sorry, Bug-eyes, Eiko. I tried my best," he said as tears raced down his blood-covered face. "Eiichi. Please become a better knight than I was. Capitolinus, take care of Eita for me and tell him and the others that I loved th..."

His body went limp. Something fell from the sky where his guardian angel once was, landing somewhere in the forest below.

"Rest in peace, brave knight," I whispered as I set his body on fire. As his body burned, golden smoke trailed toward the heavens, as if delivering his soul to its proper resting place.

**Solar Note: Thoughts on the chapter?**