Wrath of the Elemental King: Masked Knights, #5

By CD McMillon

Months have passed since the Ain Soph Ritual ended. Everything has settled peacefully and everyone has moved on with their lives. However, the Elementum has reappeared alongside Primevils. The remaining Knights return reclaiming their powers to restart their fight in defense of their city. However, a figure within the shadows makes their move claiming the Elementum for themselves to take up and become a Fourteenth Knight, the Elemental Knight.  Now the strongest Knight takes the stage as they seek to change the world by their ideals. The world itself quakes as this battle between Knights rages on.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CD McMillon
• Release date: Aug 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223491552

CD McMillon

A nerd since the first time I played an arcade game. The progeny of a family a teachers trying his hardest to not follow in the family footsteps. I grew up reading and playing games mostly JRPGs with a strong emphasis on story. Originally I wanted to write comic books but I could never make that work. And after falling back into fanfiction decided to write my own original stories. And from there I ended up like any other wannabe writer. I write both Novels and Web Novels, while also striving to make YouTube videos. I keep myself busy and I'd like you to follow me on this journey as I try to fill the time in-between now and when I meet the grave. And if your wondering "How come he's not showing his face?" Well I just don't want to. So enjoy these various Avatar images I've plastered on my social media instead of actual pictures.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

IT’S BEEN EIGHT months since we ended the ritual and stopped Darvin’s insane plan to remake the world. Since that time, I’ve tried my best to live a normal life with Farah. I haven’t touched my Gear or even thought of magic this whole time. And yet whenever this crap goes down, it seems like I’m going to get dragged into it no matter what.

It is time Kit Pendell. A man in a suit, Rolo Kimblee says, standing over me with a smile on his face. Do try to make this fun. It won’t be any fun if you don’t fight your hardest. And Ms. Graner would feel terrible if you hurt yourself.

I scowl at him. I have to hold myself back. If I fight him like this, now Farah would get hurt. Fine, I’ll fight for you. But when I’m done, I’m kicking your ass.

I look forward to it. I can’t want to see the outcome of this match.

For eight months I’ve strived to live a normal life. All the while, this fire burned within me, a fire wanting one thing. Something I’m surprised I missed after all this time. And right now, I feel that fire burning hotter and stronger than ever.

Eight months of waiting and I can’t help but be excited. Even with everything on the line, it looks like we can’t help ourselves, right Takumi?

I walk into the middle of a large stadium. I hear the roar of the crowd, but not a single soul is sitting in the stands. On the opposite side of the stadium is Takumi, glaring at me from afar. I can feel a pounding in my chest. Even at this distance, I feel it progressing. Maybe both of us are too far gone at this rate. If we weren’t so far away, I would love to talk for a bit for old time's sake, but we’ve gone past that point.

"Hello, gentlemen. I’m sorry, but this is too short a notice for me to gather up a crowd worth of this conflict."

I smirk. I couldn't care less if others were watching. I only care about one thing.

"You better hold up on your end of the deal!" Takumi yells out on a megaphone.

I look at my feet to see a megaphone and grab it. "Same here. If you hurt any of them…."

"Am I so untrustworthy?"

"All this effort just to get us to fight. There’s no way we can trust anything out of that mouth of yours wherever you are."

The monitors across the stadium come to life, with Rolo appearing on all of them, standing in a luxury booth. "I wouldn’t lie about this."

He snaps his fingers and the screens change. Half of them show Farah and the other half show Carol and Takumi’s brother.

"They're safe and sound, just like I said. As I said before, I wouldn’t lie about this. I need you two. I need you to fight and build up the energy for my plans. So, fight! Draco Knight and Fang Knight battle each other and let the clash of beasts build up an abundance of energy!"

We toss our megaphones to the ground and we each ready our Gears. I call for mine and it comes to my hand as I place it on my waist. I can feel a surge of power flowing through me from the Gear as I pull out the Code.

"Dragon Install!"

"Authorize Wolf!"

Our Gears cry out and the burst of energy explodes from within. As the energy fades, I stand in my red Dragon armor and on the other side of the field, Takumi stands in his blue Wolf armor. I call my sword as he readies his claws and I can feel his energy and strength from here.

Let’s do this Takumi! I yell out and rush forward.

Takumi charges at me. Bring it on Kit!

We don’t need any words. Both of us know what we must do here, fight. Fight with everything we have!

I swing my blade at Takumi as he dodges the strikes and claws at me. He hits, clawing at my chest, but I strike him with my blade, knocking him back. I call forth the flames from within and gather them around my fingers. I fire out a blast of flames with Takumi stomping to form a wall of ice. Our attacks cancel each other out as we stare each other down.

It looks like we’re both too far gone, I say, grabbing at my chest.

If you want to hold on to what makes you human. Then shut up and fight! He yells rushing forward.

He slashes at me and I block with my sword. His attacks are fast, but they lack force behind them. With that, I put my strength into my swings and slash out at him. I cut into his armor and he unleashes a blast of ice and cold out at me. He traps me in ice for a moment, but with some heat, I burn the ice away and free myself.

Before I can respond, Takumi kicks me in the head, knocking me back as he stands over me. He swipes at me and I roll to dodge before picking myself up. I leap back to put some distance between us as I pull out another Code to change my armor.

As Takumi comes in, I slide in the Code. "Griffin Install!"

A burst of wind explodes out of my body, knocking Takumi back as I take off into the air. My Griffin armor has one ability over my basic armor set: the ability to fly. With this, I’m out of his reach and I can strike him whenever I see an opening.

"Authorize Jaguar!" Takumi leaps up from the ground in his purple armor as he slashes at me. I reach out my hand and call this form’s weapon, a spear, blocking his attack and kicking him back to the ground.

He crashes down and glares up at me. That form, that Jaguar armor. It enhances his reflexes and muscles, making him a pain to hit. An annoying counter to this form’s specialty. But if I’m fast enough, I can still get in and deal with some serious damage. But his own enhanced blows are dangerous and this armor is light so that I can fly. So, there is a risk no matter what I do.

To hell with it! I yell out, charging in.

I charge in, thrusting my spear rapidly as Takumi dodges my attacks. He’s, but he’s easily distracted. I thrust my spear forward and throw a punch. He’s focused on the spear and misses the punch. I can’t put my full force into the attack, but I push out a gust of wind and heat, sending him flying into the air.

I flap my wings and rapidly fly into the air, spear first, as Takumi hangs in the air. Blasts of ice shoot out at me as we meet each other in the air. But as I draw in close, something hits me and both of us go plummeting to the ground.

"Authorize Shark!" Takumi stands in his shark-themed suit, holding onto his pair of large shark fin swords.

I stand and pull out another Code. "Kirin Install!"

I change my armor into my yellow armor and hold up my hands. Electricity flows through me as I step forward, and he does, too.

We charge at each other once more, him swinging his swords and me shooting out electricity.

"Yes. That’s right, keep fighting, keep fighting. The energy you're producing brings the world closer to completion! With every punch thrown, the salvation of humanity comes one step closer."

Shut up! We both yell out in unison.

We launch attacks up toward the monitor above us and it comes crashing down, separating us. I fire blasts of electricity at him and Takumi blocks them with his swords as he rushes toward me. We trade blows as we rush up the destroyed remains of the oversized TV screen, going blow for blow. As we trade attacks, the remains of the TV explode underneath us and we separate once more, staring at each other through the flames.

I feel my heart racing not just from the fighting, but from the curse coursing through my body. I have to let loose!

"Hydra Install!"

"Authorize Grey Wolf!"

We transform once again and without even a moment's rest, we rush forward, attracted and repelled by each other at the same time. We trade blows, punching each other in the face and knocking each other back.

It’s hard to think that only a few days ago I was trying to live a normal life, and somewhat succeeding. I had Farah by my side and the two of us were taking on every day as I came. And here I am now fighting for my life, once again standing against someone I never had the chance to call a friend.

I catch myself before I fall and Takumi does the same. My attack did some damage to him and I can see some effects from the poison. But it’s not enough.

He holds up his hand. Come on!

Fine, let’s keep going until we can’t go anymore! I yell out and call for my sword, swinging it at his head.

Of course, this all started when Miyu came back into our lives.

CHAPTER TWO

HUNTING AFTER PRIMEVILS is a pain in the ass. I thought I cleared the monsters out months ago, but every few months, one more pops up. And worst of all, now they're showing up miles away from this city. And after chasing them around for months, one finally showed up in the city again. It feels like a trap, but I can ignore that for now and keep pushing forward, just like I’ve always done.

Flying around, I finally spot it. A humanoid monster covered in matted fur. It’s hiding in an alley in plain sight in the middle of the day. Its odd behavior for a Primevil. Most of the time, these things show up in spots of high elemental energy and those are typically in places humans avoid. Or places where humans don’t frequently travel.

I rush down to the ground and land in front of it as it turns to me growing. Thankfully, I’m already in my armor, so I can make this quick.

It changes at me, bearing its claws and fangs as I leap into its attack. Electricity bursts out of my hand and I thrust it forward, shocking the creature and stunning it. With my other hand, I thrust it forward, piercing through its chest and leaving a large hole in the center of its chest. The creature lets out a low howl as its body dissolves into nothingness.

I take a breath and my armor fades away as I take off my Gear.

Good. Hopefully, that’s the last of them. I say exhausted.

Running around all the time is a big pain in the ass. But if I leave these Primevils alone for too long, they grow into a bigger pain. But at least this is the first time I’m back in a big city, so I might as well enjoy myself while I’m here.

Let’s see. Last time I had to rely on fast food and other stuff like that. Maybe this time I can go to an actual restaurant. I stretch for a while. Flying around all the time doesn’t give me a chance to stretch outside of fighting. Oh, maybe I should check on Kit and Takumi?

The last time I saw them was right before I left, but we didn’t talk. I only checked on Kit, who was busy, and then went to see Takumi, who was unconscious. Destroying the Ain Soph Aur caused a massive backlash that left Takumi comatose. Carol is watching over him and if anyone can wake him up, it’s her. But I have no idea if it’s even possible.

It should have been me. I should have been the one to take the risk, but he took it for me and a part of me honestly hates him for that. It’s just more baggage for me to carry around until I can truly fix this mess.

As I walk out of the alley, I feel a sudden pain in my chest. It echoes through my body the same familiar pain I’ve been dealing with for years. The pain that stole my family away one by one. The curse.

I collapse to the ground, clutching at my chest as I try to catch my breath. Stupid curse. Hurry up and pass already.

My family was cursed after they created the ritual. And as people started messing with the damned thing, it flared up and killed everyone. I’m the only one left, and I swore I’d break it. But it should be over now, should be broken. We ended the ritual, destroyed the Ain Soph Aur, and yet this curse still aches and the Primevils are still around. And all this time I ask myself one question: why?

Hello, there young lady? A voice calls out behind me.

I force myself to stand and cling to the wall, moving forward. I’m fine. Just leave me alone, or better yet, pretend you didn’t see me.

Come now, how can I ignore someone in trouble? I’m a gentleman. After all, I have to look after the injured.

I hate these self-righteous types. One good zap and he’ll leave me alone. I can hear his footsteps getting closer and I hold out my hand. I channel electricity through my fingers, a low charge nothing too harmful, and wait.

I know a place where you can lie down and rest for a while. What do you say?

I turn around and thrust my hand forward, zapping him with volts of electricity. But I didn’t hit flesh or clothing, but something else, something hard, almost like armor.

That’s so mean and after we’re finally able to see each other after so much time has passed. He says, standing over me.

What do you…. I look up, but his long hair obscures his face, and then something hits me in the neck and everything goes black.

Now rest Miyu. You’ll need to rest if we’re ever going to fix your curse and save your life. I hear a somewhat familiar voice cutting through the darkness,

When I open my eyes, I stare up at a roof as a flowery smell fills the surrounding air. Sitting up, I realize I’m sitting in a pagoda in the middle of the park and turning, I see the man from the alley sitting next to me holding a cup with an odd fragrance coming out of it. He turns to me and hands me the cup with a smile on his face.

It’s good to see you awake, madam.

I glare at him, taking it and taking in the smell. This smells familiar.

You imagined you wouldn’t recognize me in this form, so I had to take other measures for you to realize who I am.

I shoot up and step away from him. Don’t tell me. Your First?

First was a Knight from the last time they performed the ritual. In the middle of his time, he was cursed and lost his humanity, mutating into a giant bug monster. He slept for over a hundred years until I woke him up and we teamed up to end the ritual. I haven’t seen him in months, but never would I imagine that he’d show up here as some kind of handsome dandy man.

I’ve been told my mannerisms are strange for this era. But never mind that. He says.

I shake my head. I’d say picking up a girl off the streets you barely know and watching over her is a little strange.

But I know you. Your Miyu Okuno, a descendant of a dear friend. He explains.

I think after more than one generation, you’re no longer considered a family friend.

I sit next to him and he nods. Well, I’d say my bond with your family is stronger than generational ties. Besides, I worked with you to stop the ritual’s completion.

About that. If we stopped the ritual, how am I still cursed? Shouldn’t it have subsided or something by now?

He shakes his head. "No. In my time, we stopped the ritual ourselves before it was too late. And before the Heavenly