[IC] A Hero Tale {Complete}

[Hatman1801]

Alvios' eyes widened as what the bug-man's words reached him. Melina... He had been played for a fool. Or... was it bluffing? Even if they got her, if they intended to bring her back here, then all he had to do was the same as before. Stop the problem at its source.

He didn't dignify the creature with a response. He rushed forward, rushing in for a vertical strike up the creature's body. "Let's end this, Jenso."

[tex]

The bug-man side-stepped Alvios's attack and slashed at him with both of his swords in a spinning motion, one after the other, before hopping high into the air. Swarmlings began to flood the chamber, coming from the trench, and rushing both men.

[Jensoman]

Jenso dashed forwards to move beside Alvios, keeping his distance from the creature's slashes and slammed his left heel in the ground as the Swarmlings flooded the chamber, in order for a flame wave to erupt and move at them, in the direction of the trench, to destroy the creatures. Or at least to hold them at bay for a moment, to keep them away from himself and Alvios. He launched a flame saw at the creature's waist at the same moment as it jumped in the air, which was spinning horizontally at it's target.

[Hatman1801]

Alvios held up an arm against the twin strikes, forming a barrier around the limb to serve as makeshift armor against the blows. A he leaped away, he kept his eyes on the bug-man, swinging a blade of light vertically to follow-up Jenso's saw.

It was mostly for effect though; he was more intent on predicting where he would land, gathering up power beneath his feet so he could get to wherever he decided to land as quickly as possible, and kept his sword at the ready. "Keep the swarm at bay as best you can; I'll try to take out this head monster," he remarked to Jenso.

[tex]

The approaching swarm was fried with ease, one after another, falling like flies. But they would not stop, jumping up and sprinting towards Jenso the moment the fire had dispersed. They jumped up with great agility, and continued to pour our of the crevice at the end of the room.

The Bug general flipped in midair as Jenso's blade came towards him, using strange jets that were embedded into his back to change his angling. With one of his blades, he dug into the center of Jaw's saw from the side, immediately dispersing the technique. With his other blade, he deflected Alvios's strike, and proceeded to fall to the ground. After this, he was unable to attack, pushed onto the defensive by the twin assault.

[Jensoman]

Jenso did as Alvios suggested, taking aim with both hands as the creatures kept pouring in. He launched a torrent of flames from both hands, aiming to incinerate the creatures that jumped at him and Alvios first, while keeping up the stream of flames as he aimed to incinerate all the creatures that had poured into the room, eventually focusing on launching the flames at the crevice directly in order to hold the creatures at bay.

"Alright, kick his ass man!" Jenso shouted at Alvios, confident that his friend could hold his own against the monster. He did not want to damage Alvios's pride or ruin his desire for revenge, but he was unsure if he would have an easy time dealing with the monster. It avoided both of their attacks effortlessly, albeit being unable to counter. And on top of that, the jets on it's back gave it an edge too.

Pij suddenly emerged from his chest, and flew through the torrent of flames that Jenso was launching. It flew low above ground, using the flames as cover to avoid the bug general from noticing her. The phoenix flew in a wide semi-circle towards the creature's back, while he seemed focused on Alvios. She extended her wings forwards and surrounded her body with them. She spun around rapidly, making her look like a small drill. She aimed to drill through the back of the bug general's left knee, but timed it so she would strike one second before Alvios would launch his attacks.

[Hatman1801]

There! Noting Jenso's mysterious chest-firebird coming to attack the creature from behind, Alvios lunged forward, jumping mid-dash to do a leaping horizontal slash right at the neckline. The idea was that if he ducked under the strike, went backwards, or simply blocked, he was nearly guaranteed to be crippled by Pij's attack. If he went back into the air, it would have to be exceedingly quick to get above the entirety of his strike.

[tex]

The bug-man landed hard, bending his knees on impact. He took note of Pij immediately, considering Jenso's positioning, but couldn't do much to react. Her speed was insane, and with Alvios already aiming for a killing blow... He rose one sword in front of him, and bent the other backwards, attempting to block both. But in the end, it would prove to be a greedy defense. Alvios' strength far surpassed the bug-man's. His two-handed strike V.S. a one handed block? No chance. Pij tore past his back guard as well, drilling through his leg, and outright snapping it off. Alvios' blade cleaved through was well, rending his head from his body, and dropping the general to the ground, lifeless. Was that it?

Meanwhile, Jenso's efforts to suppress the swarmlings were for naught. They continued to come out of the giant crevice. His stream of flames was not wide enough, or fast enough to burn them all. Several flanked both Jenso and Alvios, eventually surrounding the two of them from all angles despite their victory against the general. A loud hissing noise erupted from the depths of the pit, signalling the arrival of a new foe..

Lava bubbled up, into a large mass, dripping away to reveal a giant, extraordinarily fat creature. Four large leg-like appendages flew up from the lava pit as well, smashing against the edge of the trench on either end of the massive creature. Its head rolled forwards, looking identical to the bugman's but larger, with more jagged, with twice as many eyes. This creature had holes all along her sides, where swarmlings continued to pour out without any sign of stopping.

"Humans should not be this Ssssstrong!" She protested, raising two more massive appendages from the lava, which had humanoid hands at their ends. This must've been the source of all this trouble. This had to be the queen.

---

~ End Of Chapter 113 ~

[tex]

~ Chapter 114 ~

_{Swarm Queen Fye'Zlok}

The queen overlooked Jenso and Alvios. He hundreds of swarmlings sat patiently, at every last inch of the room, growing in numbers every second. Her eyes narrowed, and she smiles. "Ju'go claSsssss generalSsssss are a dime a doSsssszen," She growled arrogantly. "What did you expect to accomplish by coming here, foolish little humieSssss?"

[Jensoman]

Jenso looked at the creature and glared at her. "So you're the cause of all this..." Jenso muttered to her, as Pij flew behind her. He hoped the creature wouldn't pay much attention to her. He took note of the fact that the creature had emerged of the lava. 'My flame powers might not be of much use here...not unfocused, anyways.' He thought, taking aim at the queen. "What do you think?! Your monsters are attacking Alvios's village and turning them into zombies-or whatever they are now! We're here to kick your ass!" Jenso barked at her, launching a flame saw at the queen's head. 'We need to kill her fast or seal those holes...' Jenso thought, as this reminded him of the time when Jeff and Jenso fought Gib and Jip.

As Jenso tried to keep the queen busy, Pij flew at the creature's body from behind and tried to drill through the joints of one of the four large legs of the creature.

[Hatman1801]

Alvios looked around at the swarm around him before acknowledging the queen. If this thing was the source of the Spawn, she had to be taken down with due force. This creature had been the cause of much pain and suffering for months now. It had to stop. And if it stopped with her, no amount of bulk or brood was going to stop him.

Alvios smirked slightly as light enveloped his body and blade, taking the shape of gauntlets and greaves. He slammed his sword down into the ground, the light erupting from his body into a hail of light shards to tear apart the Swarm surrounding him and Jenso. "Accomplish? Genocide of your disgusting race, of course. Call it foolish all you want, but you have taken countless lives without discretion, and you are about to learn what that means. I, Alvios Maeti, will make you repent for what you have done!"

Leaving his blade behind to channel the shards cutting through the Swarmlings, he rushed forward, a new blade of pure light forming in his hands as he leaped at the queen, looking to relieve her of one of her 'hands'.

[tex]

The queen dispatched Jenso's flame saw immediately, striking at its center. Again and again, enemies have been able to dispatch his ultimate technique with little to no effort. Was it worth using on more experienced warriors if they were free to move? As Pij flew down and around, the Queen simply moved her arm out of the bird's path, letting her fly back into the center of the room.

The swarm continued to pour out of the queens orifices, taken down one after another by the continuous hail of light shards. But as Alvios approached her, she moved the hand that he targets downwards, and then punched up at the light-bathed warrior. With her other three hands, she aimed to dispatch Alvios' sword, Jenso, and Pij, all at the same time. The Queen had no more words for them after hearing their responses. She was rather upset. They'd interrupted dinner, after all.

[Jensoman]

Jenso glared at the queen as she swung one of her hands at him. He jumped further back to avoid being crushed, and immediately took aim at the three hands that the queen had swung down. His pupils turned to white flames for a moment, as he launched a white flame whip at them which emitted intense heat.

The flame whip moved quickly, aiming to wrap around the three hands like a snake. Jenso clenched the palm of his left hand shut. If it succesfully managed to wrap around the hands, it would start pulling them together, tighter and tighter with extreme force. It was aimed to either straight up melt through the Queen's hands and wrists, or crush every bone within them. It was faster and stronger than a regular flame whip was.

He rammed the beginning of the whip into the ground by extension and yanked it twice before releasing it, which would make the whip reel in on it's own and pull the three hands towards the ground if it succeeded to wrap around them and pull them close together. He jumped further back afterwards. He hoped Alvios noticed what he was doing.

Pij flew further to the right to avoid being struck, flying up and towards Alvios from above. She dove down at top speeds as the queen punched at him, aiming to drill straight through her hand. She used the gravity and her great speed to her advantage, along with the queen's own punching momentum in an attempt to damage the queen's hand and arm severely and protect Alvios from the attack. And to give Alvios himself an opening.

[Hatman1801]

The queen was a bit faster than Alvios had anticipated. He'd thought that the fat giant bug monster would be a tad cumbersome, but he was grateful for the fact that Jenso was on top of things, alongside his familiar. With Pij covering the Queen's attack, he opted against retreating. Instead he formed a second blade in his hand, and spun around in the air, striking with two light waves in opposite directions; one toward's Jenso's flame-whip setup, and another right towards the queen's fat torso.

[tex]

The queen's arms were promptly secured, and ceased all movement, ultimately falling prey to Alvios' blade of light, in tandem with Jenso's flame whip. The large crystalline appendages fell to the ground with a chorus of resounding thuds. The claw that headed for Alvios was dispatched in a similar fashion, drilled through and pushed back into the magma. The queen reeled back in pain, pulling her last two arms back into her crevice, and placing her back up against the wall behind her. Alvios' attack against her torso struck as well, leaving a large crack in the hardened carnival of joints that ran up her stomach. She growled as he earlier light shards continued to dispatch the small creatures pouring out of her body, and leaned forward. Suddenly, another humanoid bugman launched itself upwards, and flew through the sky towards Alvios' blade that spat the shard storm, deflecting any attacking headed his way with his twin blades, and aiming to stop the onslaught for the small swarm.

The Queen herself, without her appendages, was mostly defenseless. But she seemed to be preparing something else in her bowl, to release when the time was right..

[Hatman1801]

Alvios looked back at the bug man that darted towards his blade. Figures; they needed that to hold back the Swarm for now and fight without distractions. Still, he was in too good of a spot to give up now. "Jenso! My sword is what's keeping the Swarm at bay! Keep that thing off of it, I'll go in for the killing blow!"

With directions given, Alvios landed, and thrust both light swords in the direction of the new wound on the bug queen's chest. The twin beams were straight this time, and merged in the air into a single arrow of light looking to pierce through the queen.

[Jensoman]

Jenso nodded at Alvios as he attacked the queen, and dashed towards the incoming bugman. He coated his fists in a layer of Ki, in order to deflect the bugman's slashes with his fists to avoid them from striking Alvios's sword and to halt the bugman's charge, while hoping to possibly knock him off-balance since he was still about to land. Pij responded immediately and soared at the bugman from the right side, aiming to drill straight through the side of the bugman's head if he came down.

[tex]

The bugman General smiled and spun around in midair, facing its back towards Jenso and propelling itself slight above Pij with a small gust of air. With as much precision as he could muster, the bugman spun around again, and aimed to cut Pij with both his blades from behind. In a quick strike, the phoenix was struck hard, and the bugman fell to the ground, propelling himself behind Jenso and landing clumsily with a stumble. The jets on his back closed up, exhausted momentarily for their constant usage.

The Queen, on the other hand, was not so mobile. Alvios' arrow pierced right through her abdomen, exiting through the other side, and striking the rock wall behind her. A copious amount of purple sludge erupted from her mouth, and she leaned onto the ground in front of her. She looked up at Alvios, on the verge of death already, and panted heavily.

"You're too late, humanSssss!" She garbled through a torrent of buggy blood, "My new hoSssssst body iSssss AlmoSsst..."

[Hatman1801]

Alvios looked down on the bug queen as best he could, considering the size of her head. The contempt he felt for her welled up inside of him, and her arrogance before death was pitiful. "Your new host body is going to be cut down just the same as this one. You and the Swarm will know death, queen. Die in defiance as you like, but you will repent with pain for all that you have done. And perhaps when I cut down the next one, she will know respect and fear for justice." With his short speech said, the armor and blade around his right arm glowed brighter and more solid-looking, as he impaled her through the eye.

As he did so, he glanced back towards Jenso, to make sure he was alright and that the Swarmlings and the new general had begun to die alongside their queen.

[Jensoman]

Jenso frowned as Pij was struck and they failed to kill the bugman. Regardless, he still managed to protect Alvios's blade, and Alvios managed to finish the queen off. Pij flew back into Jenso's chest as he began to focus more energy into healing Pij, while dashing at the bugman quickly. He feigned as if he was going to throw a punch at the creature's face with his right, but suddenly ducked as he aimed a low, horizontal sweeping kick at it's feet in an attempt to knock it off the ground. He followed up with his left fist, launching a flame dragon punch at it's head.