"How do you plan to take them all? You're fast, so are most of them. Whether it is their offensive or defensive abilities or even mobility, most of them are adept at one thing."
Kairo's mind clouded with doubt. Slayer was perhaps the most able card fossil on the island, but how did he plan to take on an army of the card mage elites present? As Kairo was lost in his thoughts, the card mages covered more ground.
Mirelle ejected her last two cards, summoning in the process the circuitry of the void. As the symbols spread around, drawn into the space above them, a druid riding a horse came into existence. Melting into liquid flames as it ascended into the sky. With each strike of the drum, the galloping horse accelerated, ejecting spirals of flames into Kairo and Slayer.
Kairo liberated his previous spot with a solid jump. Despite the protector armor being slow compared to all his cards, it wasn't immobile either. The flames consumed the space, leaving behind nothing but churning clouds of dark smoke.
"Trust me, mortal. First we need to take down the main link, which is that woman. As long as she goes down, the card will cease to control them." Slayer's figure left explosive sounds with each curve he made in the sky. Avoiding the spirals of flames, he evaded Nyx's angelic sword. Ducked over the green laser fired by Fabian from below.
"He is not only fast, he simply doesn't care about their attacks. How is that even possible?" Kairo could only stare in awe as Slayer effortlessly slipped through their attacks one after another. Catching the plan, he did the same, but on ground. A fortress set in motion. He parted the flames that clouded his vision.
At the forefront, a group of Ortega's figure stretched out his arm. Summoning the last part of the Titan set.
Kairo stumbled back and forth, rocking like a boat in a storm. Alarmed, he tilted his head below his foot only to see the hand that unearthed the ground. Made entirely of particles of light, the hand collapsed forward, about to seal the protector armor in between.
"Didn't see that coming. He can literally summon a Titan." Kairo's eyes widened in amazement. He spread his arms wide, blocking the Titan's grip about to crush the protector in between his figure. The more he struggled, the more his figure twitched and grimaced in the rising arm. And soon, the figure could be seen completely extending over the figure of Ortega—a being made of light.
Although it was only its upper part, the figure towered over the entire building through the ceiling and beyond. Using the extended arm of the Titan, Felix and the card mages hopped over the newly created rampart, moving like agile shadows. They summoned their card magic one after another. Felix wielded a tiny dagger carefully hidden between his fingers. It glimmered with a malevolent lance like Kairo had never seen before.
"What are you doing, Slayer?" Kairo cursed, looking upward. He clenched his teeth and pressed even harder. Briefly pushing the Titan's grip away, then slipped through the arms and started diving down towards the charging group.
As Kairo dove down towards the group, he noticed from the corner of his eye that Slayer wasn't attacking Selis but vulturing around her like a predator over its prey. As he did that, a good number of card mages had turned their attention towards him, but more of them were the weaker card mages. Kairo was still the focus.
"What is he trying to do?" Kairo still had no idea what was going on, but decided to trust this card fossil. He slid down with the protector armor and stretched his arm. Having accumulated enough damage in the protector armor, he hardened his resolve. Channeling the ember sky in between his palms.
In a matter of seconds, sparkles of light could be seen jumping like fish in water between his fingers. As he thrust forward, just as the charging beam of destruction neared the card mages, their eyes seemed to shift back to normal.
They slid out of the way of the beam so fast Kairo couldn't believe his eyes. "That's it." Kairo took another faint glance at Slayer above them. Then everything clicked in his head. The Monarch Rule's conditions had been broken.
"The Monarch Rule works on three conditions. The very first relies on the need for the owner to have met their victim in any medium of the sort. Whether the admiration is fleeting or deep, it doesn't matter. Everyone can fall prey to her. But as long as one falls away from her spell, it becomes forever useless, and she knows it." Slayer's figure was perched above Selis, neither attacking nor moving. All he did was garner attention.
At that moment, Kairo vaulted over the Titan's arm, landing arched onto the solid ground as the protector's foot sank into the ground, bending inward. A faint smile grew on his lips. "Slayer is indeed incredible," he thought.
He had not only pieced the entire mechanics of Selis's card magic in seconds but also devised a plan Kairo was unaware of but had still contributed to. "The condition to break the Monarch Rule is fear. As long as the figure has a feeling of fear so deep it overrides the shallow admiration, they are freed." This was why he had left Kairo alone from the very start.
"By staying close to Selis, he divided the card mages into chunks I can easily deal with. Had I fallen into the mindset of despair and hopelessness, something so simple would have evaded my attention." Kairo had an idea born in his mind.
"No wonder Donatello was defeated by you, Slayer. Your strength comes not from your physique but from your ability to exist in two different timelines: past and present. Past in which you can piece all the magic of the past at a single glance, and present in which you can piece all the magic of the present in one glance." Selis made a soft, almost admiring clap with both hands. "However, it's a game in which I can't lose." The moment Selis's voice faded.
Around her, symbols came to life, drawn by hands in the void. The reversed symbols shined one after another behind her. Glaring at the space with a wave of energy that energized the puppets.
Fabian slid one of his cards into the circuitry of the void, summoning the unbound seal. The undulating lines started across the course of the chamber. Snaking and curling like living beings, they closed dangerously around Kairo and Slayer above.
Kairo stretched his arms outward, but the snakes of light coiled even faster. The protector's figure was constricted by the coiling lights. "I wouldn't be able to move after this." Kairo teetered back and forth, but the light moved like elastic tendon—the more he pulled on one side, the more it pulled him back.
Slayer, on his part, never showed any sign of disturbance, as if the chains were but a mere nuisance to himself.
"Remember what I told you last time, Kairo. Card magic is far more magnificent than all you can ever imagine. It is a sin for such a flower to be chained by the likes of you and the card mage police." Selis opened her palm, as if grasping at the world in her hand. "Slayer, Donatello, Magnus—none of you understand. Now hand over the Eye of Truth."
Under Selis's command, the remaining card mages went berserk. Ortega slammed his arms forward. Mimicking his own movement, the Titan being that encompassed his face slammed down. As if a palace fell, the space around its figure ignited. The entire space above Kairo had turned red.
"Slayer was wrong. As long as she keeps standing, that towering mountain in their eyes will grow. She needs to stop being that towering mountain in their eyes." Kairo ignited the protector armor. The dark blue paladin frame had tendrils of light swinging between its parts. "No wonder Relion let himself be devoured into that abyss, but he shall be the last, Selis. Today I will capture you and end your rule of terror."
Kairo slammed his fist forward. It roared like a living being, splitting the unbound seal along its way. The protector armor beamed with newfound life, given purpose by its wearer. Being the shield of the world was the vow Kairo had sworn, awakening this card. On that day, the vow was given full life.