Chapter Text
The group made their way into the last cavern where Jennuir was.
"I take it you defeated the other Entelexeia, huh?" he snarled.
"From your lack of surprise, I take it you expected that?" Yuri asked. The Shadows readied themselves.
"Without their Aer Bomb, they're weak," Jennuir replied coldly.
"'Weak' killed my father!" Hope snapped, raising Dein Nomos.
"And Andropov!" Kluke and Logi shouted. Phoenix and Odin each unleashed a melee attack on Jennuir. The Entelexeia used one wing to block the attacks and roared, the force of it sending them flying away. Just as they passed her, Hope went into level 1 Overlimit and charged at Jennuir, using her Burst Arte, Dance of the Inferno. She spun in a full circle to her left, swinging Dein Nomos covered in flames. Then, she followed it up with multiple horizontal slashes and finished it up by jumping into the air and came down, bringing the flaming sword in a downward motion. The flames vanished and she looked up to see how much damage she did. Jennuir used his tail as a shield to defend himself.
"Damn! Nothing got through!" Blue Dragon roared and charged up for Blue Explosion. As he did so, Hippo merged with the Shadow to give it extra power and Chimera used Graviton Ball. Jennuir flew up to avoid Chimera's attack and didn't see Blue Explosion fired at him. Jennuir held one wing in front of him to block the attack, but it hit before the defense was finished, sending him plummeting down.
"Savage Wolf Fury!" Yuri shouted. As he used his Mystic Arte, Patty used Summon Friends. Her Mystic Arte made everyone's wound recover. The Entelexeia only blocked the first of Yuri's strikes with his tail, but was unable to defend against the rest of the Mystic Arte. When Yuri slashed through him, the dragon growled and raised one giant hand and swiped at the swordsman. Minotaur threw it off with Sky Terror.
Repede howled and went into Overlimit and used Divine Dog before using his Mystic Arte, Slash. Once he was done, Rita followed it up with Ancient Catastrophe and Raven used Blast Heart Then Odin finished the combo with Gungnir Rising. Jennuir blocked Slash, but wasn't able to block Rita or Raven's Mystic Artes but blocked Gungnir Rising after getting desperate. Jennuir suddenly had ice form around him.
"Embrace End!" Rutee shouted as the ice burst, damaging Jennuir.
"Damn brats!" Jennuir roared and swung his tail at the group. Kluke was able to defend most of them with Feather Protect and Estelle and Rutee healed those that weren't as Raven used Rain. Jennuir knocked the arrow down with one hand, distracting him long enough for Judith to use Raging Luna Storm, knocking the Entelexeia off his feet. As he landed on his back, Kraken and Cerberus held him down while Karol used Rending Drop on his belly. Jennuir roared and used all his strength to knock the two Shadows off of him and righted himself. Flynn used that chance to use Radiant Dragon Fang while Hope used Rising Dragon afterwards. Bouquet, who had been hit with Jennuir's tail, transformed into him and used the tail to strike the dragon.
By now, Jennuir was breathing heavily, his entire body covered with cuts and wounds. He couldn't defend himself when Judith used Radiant Moonlight and Marutora followed it up with Great Hurricane.
"This is for Andropov!" Kluke shouted. Flames filled Phoenix's mouth. "Eternal Breath!" Jennuir started glowing, having reached his limit.
"We did it!" Shu exclaimed. Blue Dragon huffed and smiled. Jennuir roared and collapsed on the ground.
"Finally!" Hope panted, sticking Dein Nomos in the ground and leaning her weight into it.
"Woof!" Repede barked, running up to Yuri and Flynn and nuzzling their legs.
"Don't...think it's over," Jennuir chuckled. He suddenly stood up, surprising everyone.
"Want some more, tora?!" Marutora exclaimed
"I still have my trump card," Jennuir growled. "Ysmiru's apatheia! Plus, the apatheia of my servants! This makes my true form!"
"How do you have Ysmiru's apatheia?!" Judith demanded.
"Because I'm the one that killed him," Jennuir replied. "Once he was dead, I simply hid his apatheia. Now come!"
Ysmiru's apatheia and those of the Tailed Beasts gathered around Jennuir.
"Behold, my ultimate form!" he roared.
As Jennuir's body took in the apatheia, it began to change. A skeletal structure appeared and covered his body like armor. His wings grew to twice the size of normal ones. Nine extra tails sprouted to accompany the one he already had. His body got almost as big as the top of the cavern and an eye opened in the middle of his forehead. It was red with three circles in it with three tomonos in the center circle. The apatheia rested at the top of his chest, under the bone plate.
"Oh man, we're in serious trouble," Yuri said, gawking at Jennuir.
"Now's not the time for your jokes!" Hope shouted. Jennuir slammed one hand down on the group. everyone reacted in time to dodge it, except Kluke and Hope. Jiro grabbed Kluke and Flynn grabbed Hope, both getting the two girls away. Dust flew up from the impact.
"There is no hope for you!" Jennuir's voice, accompanied by a deeper voice everyone assumed belonged to Ysmiru, boomed.
"Take this!" Patty shouted, shooting her pistols at Jennuir's head, but the bullets bounced off the bone.
"He's tough!" Blue Dragon growled. He brought his fists down on Jennuir's back, but the spine blocked it. Jennuir roared and punched Blue Dragon into a wall.
"Get serious, Shu!" Jiro shouted. "Now, Minotaur! Waves of Rage!" The series of punches were aimed at the back of the dragon's neck, trying to shatter the bone, but they bounced uselessly off.
"These bones are as hard as diamonds!" Minotaur exclaimed. Jennuir used one tail to swat the Shadow away. As he flew back, Saber-Tiger flew up and spat fireballs at the huge dragon, but were effortlessly blocked by the bone at the top of one of Jennuir's wigs.
"I'm invincible in this form!" Jennuir laughed. Flynn and Hope leapt up.
"That's what you think!" Flynn shouted. "Demon Fang!"
"Dragon Claw!" Both attacks were aimed at Jennuir's left side, but the ribs deflected it. One hand raked at them. Since they wer in mid-air, they couldn't defend themselves. Flynn managed to grab Hope, taking the hit for her. A deep cut went across his back, knocking the breath out of him. As they landed, blood began to soak into his uniform, the liquid pooling around him as Estelle rushed over to them.
"Flynn!" Hope cried. Yuri took out Blazer Edge Abysion and charged at Jennuir.
"Damn you!" Yuri shouted, raising the fell arm up to bring it down on the dragon. A tail slammed into him, causing the man to fly back, blood flying from his mouth. Rutee rushed over to him and began to heal his wounds while Leon dashed at the Entelexeia, using his Mystic Arte.
"Infernal Suffering!" the teen exclaimed. Just as he was starting it, Jennuir used one tail to slam the teen into a wall, the Knight slamming his head into it and causing blood to drip down his face.
"Don't bother," Jennuir sneered. "With this new eye, I can see what you're about to do."
"We need to come up with a way to hit him without getting hit ourselves," Karol said.
"In the tunnels!" Hope exclaimed. "He's too big now to fit through them!"
"Good idea!" Yuri replied. As they ran to the tunnels, Jennuir laughed.
"Nice try!" Jennuir slammed his tails into the side of the cavern, causing a huge shockwave. Before everyone could get in the tunnels, they caved in. There was a hole in the side of the mountain that Jennuir used to fly out of. A large purple ball that turned scarlet formed in front of his mouth. "Aer Bomb!" The mountain exploded, everyone escaping on the Shadows just in time.
"Is everyone alright?!" Yuri demanded. Kluke, Hope, Rutee, and Leon whom were left behind appeared outside riding Phoenix. A giant blue shield surrounded the Shadow. Everyone else rode on Blue Dragon, Saber-Tiger, Kraken, Odin, or Chimera. Down at the battlefield, the war was still raging. Apatheia lay all over the battle-scarred earth. Chronos notice the group and fired a blue-and-black energy beam at Jennuir. The attack simply dissipated when it made contact with the bones covering Jennuir's left side. An Entelexeia saw the spirit and leaped at him. Undine created a shield of water to defend the spirit of time.
An Entelexeia attacked Maxwell, but the old man countered with Elemental Meteorites. Ratatosk used Devil's Hellfire to kill the Entelexeia. Celsius was attacked but used Maximum Burst to kill her attacker. Everyone seemed too distracted to aid the group against Perfect Jennuir. Without being on solid ground, many of the artes of the Terca Lumirans were weakened.
A spirit coated in flame with the form of a man appeared.
"Am I too late?" it asked.
"Late as usual, Lorelei," Pluto said, holding off another Entelexeia. Muzet went over to Chronos.
"What's the deal?!" she demanded, holding one hand behind her and using a burst of gravity to send an Entelexeia flying away.
"I invited him. Is that a problem?" Chronos replied, using one blade to cut a hole in time-space to knock away an enemy sneaking up on him. He sent out three full bits to hold it off while he talked to the other spirit. Each entity had three time bits with a ring connecting each of them.
"We never asked you to invite Lorelei," Muzet reminded him. The spirit of sound, Lorelei, held out one hand, a small black sphere forming in it.
"Big Bang!" he shouted as the sphere exploded, killing several enemies.
"I thought the late one might be of use," Chronos said with a shrug and went back to fighting. Muzet sighed and went back to it as well.
"Dragon Claw!" Hope aimed the attack at Jennuir's skull, but the attack hit without leaving a single scratch.
"Unbelievable!" Yuri exclaimed. He and Flynn tried a combination of Azure Edge and Demon Fang, but neither had any effect. Cerberus tried to smash the skull open with his bone, but it was rendered useless. Jennuir smirked and opened his mouth, another Aer Ball forming. As he fired it, Octavia used an energy beam to bounce it upwards, where it exploded, making everyone shield themselves from the shockwave. While they recovered, Jennuir grabbed Flynn, holding him up.
"Make any sudden movements, and the Knight dies," Jennuir sneered. Hope's eyes widened and she grit her teeth. Yuri cursed under his breath and no one dared to breathe. Unseen by Jennuir, Flynn struggled until he managed to free his sword.
"Demon Fang!" he shouted, aiming the attack at the dragon's chest. It hit an apatheia, making Jennuir howl in pain and drop the Knight, Blue Dragon catching him and releasing a Blue Explosion at Jennuir's arm. As the bone blocked the attack and created a smokescreen, Blue Dragon flew back to the others.
"Seems like his chest is his weak point," Judith observed. "Try aiming for there!"
"Easier said than done!" Yuri retorted. Jennuir shook the daze out of his head and went back to his normal position, hiding his chest. Saber-Tiger tried using his speed to hit the apatheia, but Jennuir's middle eye tracked him and he used one clawed hands to swat away the Shadow.
"Stone Blast!" Leon shouted. Some of the rubble from the battlefield rose up and assaulted the Entelexeia. While Jennuir defended himself with one hand, Odin flew in and struck an apatheia with his spear, shattering it. Jennuir growled and charged up an Aer Bomb, firing it at the Shadow. However, Rosekstan used their main battleship's cannon to knock it off-course. Jennuir snarled and roared at the battleship. Kluke thrust one hand out and used Feather Protect, defending the ship from the force of the roar.
"Worthless maggots!" Jennuir spat and flapped his wings at the group. Kluke, who was already shielding the ship, couldn't block the strong gust of wind that hit them and the Shadows were knocked back. Minotaur flew at Jennuir, using Waves of Rage. While Jennuir used one tail to block it, Saber-Tiger snuck in and used Blitz Claw and destroyed two more apatheia. He went for a third, but Jennuir slammed one hand down and hit the Shadow. Patty took careful aim and fired, shattering one more apatheia. Raven tried the same thing, but Jennuir swung one hand, taking down the arrow.
"Just six left!" Hope exclaimed and readied her sword to smash more, Phoenix flying in. Jennuir glared at them and swung his tails at them. At the same time, Chimera fired a Graviton Ball and destroyed another. Bouquet and Hippo turned into Jennuir's perfect form and used the wind attack. While Jennuir used his wings to defend himself, Judith leaped up from Chimera, using her spear to pierce and destroy another apatheia. Jennuir roared and started to panic, allowing Odin to sneak in easily and swung his spear, destroying the rest of the Tailed Beasts' apatheia, leaving only Ysmiru's.
"Just admit that you've lost, Jennuir!" Judith shouted.
"Never!" Jennuir gasped out in pain. The apatheia started glowing and more bone covered his body, almost hiding the apatheia. Hope sighed and fired a Dragon Claw, aiming for the Entelexeia's chest. But bone blocked it. The bone caused both Azure Edge and Eternal Breath to be made useless.
"Is it jus' me, o' does he seem tougher now?" Raven asked. Shu growled and had Blue Dragon use Blue Explosion. Jennuir flew over the Shadow, with the intention of flattening him, but Raven fired an arrow from the Shadow into the small hole over the apatheia and struck it. However, it wasn't deep enough to destroy it and the arrow stayed stuck in its mark. Jennuir howled and quickly flew back.
"Almost!" Yuri spat. Odin flew in and Repede used Cyclone Shot. But the hole was too small for him to fit through. Rita and Rutee tried to distract him with Splash while Kraken flew in for a strike. Before the Shadow even made contact, Jennuir swatted the Shadow away with his ten tails. From Blue Dragon, Flynn used Demonic Chaos. Jennuir flew up to dodge the arte and moved above Blue Dragon, firing several energy balls.
"Feather Protect!" Kluke shouted. The shield only held up for a little bit and shattered, many of the balls hitting Blue Dragon and sent the Shadow plummeting to the ground. Just as the others moved in to attack, Jennuir gasped and all the extra things on him vanished, the eye closing. With the bones gone, everyone could see the shards of the apatheia vanishing. Just as Blue Dragon was hit, Raven fired an arrow into the hole, pushing the other in so it broke the apatheia.
"Nooooo!" Jennuir wailed as he turned into an apatheia. His Entelexeia saw this and they turned tail and fled. Origin caught Jennuir's apatheia and crushed it. Verius flew up to the group.
"Thanks to you, we're finally free of Jennuir," she said. "If any of Jennuir's Entelexeia cause trouble, we'll finish them off."
"...It's finally over," Yuri breathed.