Legend: Season Two by Nick Venom (children's books read aloud txt) 📖

Ace, Aver, and Kira ventured into the facility. Most of the guards inside the facility---Shadows and hired mercenaries---were lured outside and fighting Wolfe. This granted the trio enough time to push through the hallways and find their friends. 

Ace brandished Excalibur, peeking over a corner. Three guards, walking side-by-side, approached the trio. A handful of steps and their presence would be exposed. 

Kira whispered an order to Jordan, who was perched on his shoulder. The bird nodded, flapping its wings. It raised itself into the air, diving around the corner and engaging the guards, clawing at their faces. Ace and Aver pushed forward after Jordan. Aver brandished a normal sword from his rift, racing alongside Ace to slice at the guards. Both men slit the guards’ throats, killing them all. With Jordan acting as the distraction, their jobs were easy.

“Well, I can add a few kills to my name.” Aver joked as he wiped the blood off the sword.

Ace looked up at him. “This is nothing compared to the demon lords I’ve killed.” He remarked before leading them farther down the hallway.

Kira lingered slightly behind them, using Jordan as the middle-man for his communication with Nazifa. “Did you find them?”

“I can sense them in the west wall. I will barge in and-”

“No!” Kira exclaimed, interrupting Nazifa. “You’ll crush them. We don’t know if they have a gun… sorry, a spell aimed at their heads.”

“Fine, then I will remain outside, killing anybody that flees.”

“If they’re dressed in a cloak or iron armor, kill them. They’re our foes.”

“Understood.”

Ace glanced over at Kira and motioned for him to follow. The three continued down a long hallway that ended with a large double-set of doors, an iron skull embedded in the middle of the wooden doors. They approached the door, pushing it open.

Once inside, they were greeted by several people with cloth bags over their heads. They were tied up, placed in the middle of the large room. Sitting a considerable distance away from them was John on his throne. The throne was made out of stone, emitting a cold aura. His body was masked with a thick cloak, resembling a fur coat. He stood up from the throne, smugly smiling at them.

“Welcome, heroes!” His voice boomed off the empty room. “Welcome to your graves!” His subordinates then appeared from behind the throne, lining up in front of it. Ela, armed with a bow, Poppy with her rapier and Hex with his magic. They faced off in front of the heroes. Ela glared at Aver, Ace faced off with Poppy, and Hex and Kira stared at each other. The pairs were made.

John noticed this, chuckling to himself. “Goddess, we’ll have your sacrifices soon.” He raised his hand and slapped himself. Puzzled, he stared at himself. Why did I slap myself? He thought to himself. He stared at his hand, feeling energy leaving his body. It was the Goddess that made him slap himself.

“She’s angry at me? Why? Everybody in this room will die and that town. They told me they’ll bring in more sacrifices for you. Why are you mad?”

The Goddess took over his body for a few seconds. “They’re escaping, you idiot. They tricked you. What a waste, seems like I’ll have to look for somebody else.”

John retook his body as suddenly as he lost control of it. He heard his Goddess’s words, falling to his knees. “No, they told me they’ll bring you more. They didn’t betray me and I’ll never betray your trust.” He glanced to his side and noticed everybody staring at him. Fighting hadn’t begun yet.

“Kill them!” He barked, pointing a lanky finger at Ace, Aver, and Kira. His subordinates nodded but didn’t move - only Hex took a step forward. He smirked as he neared them, pointing his fingertips at them.

“Release my mana and infect my enemies.” He muttered under his breath as purple mist was emitted from his fingertips. They made their way towards the trio, endangering their lives. The purple mist was poisonous, only needing to be inhaled to work effortlessly. They would be dead within seconds if they breathe too much. A faint amount would see them die over a longer period of time.

Kira activated Gate and teleported behind Hex, using Freeze Strike on him. The attack froze Hex in time and his mist. His Trump card was quickly exterminated in front of him. All of his mana and anger was fizzled into his Trump card for close to nothing in rewards. He was frozen stiff, watching as his research and training went to waste.

Ela, who stood behind Hex, drew her bow. She pointed it at Kira, letting an arrow fly. Since his focus was on Hex, he didn’t see the attack coming. He was pierced by the arrow in his right arm, dropping to the ground. “I was supposed to be afraid of you?” She remarked, chuckling at Kira’s expense.

Aver didn’t like her comment, launching his sword at her. The sword ran full-speed towards her. She noticed the attack but wasn’t able to outrun or escape from its momentum. She held the bow up, hoping to avoid the attack. The sword collided with her bow, destroying it. It broke into pieces, collapsing in her palms. The pieces laid in her hands, symbolizing a broken memory.

Kira turned around, facing Ela. He blasted her with Freeze Strike, stopping her before she could act on her building fury. However, the attack didn’t work. She shrugged the attack off, glaring at Aver.

“How did you-?” He was knocked out by a Shadow making her second appearance. Honor Sears, the Shadow Ace faced before, appeared by Kira. She grabbed her dagger and raised it high, about to plunge it into his neck. Ace, who noticed her quickly, brandished Azroth and lined up his shot. 

As she dove towards Kira’s neck, he tracked her head. With a clear shot in front of him, he pressed the trigger. The bullet was pushed out of the barrel, flying towards Honor. It then sped up, hitting her in the head. She flew back as the bullet lodged itself deeper in her skull, killing her instantly.

Meanwhile, Ela brandished a dagger and sprinted towards Aver. Without a weapon, he was on his own. Ace was focused on killing the Shadow and dealing with Poppy and couldn’t help him out.

“Open a rift in space and release an object of my choosing. Esperanza!” He shouted, grabbing a magnificent charcoal-golden bow. He drew the bow, struggling a bit to draw the tough strings, before launching an arrow at her. 

Unfortunately, Ela deflected the arrow, racing towards him. This sparked sudden panic. His body reacted by running strange energy throughout his body, feeling as if Esperanza was giving him a forbidden power - the power of the Ruin element.

The Ruin-filled arrow collided with Ela, piercing her. The element caused an infection to run through her, eating her up. She was defeated and would die soon. Aver would win and everything would work out. Even so, he didn’t feel good about it. He killed the mercenaries who only wanted money and never loyalty, but Ela and the others were clear examples of pure loyalty. This gained them Aver’s sympathy.

“Open a rift in space and release an object of my choosing. Druid’s Tear.” He pulled out a bottle with a greenish-blue substance inside it. He poured a drop on Ela; enough to replenish her blood and rid her body of the infection. She was alive, no longer on her deathbed, but was promptly knocked unconscious by Jordan. The bird was hovering over them but lacked the ability to take down specific people. His skill would affect Kira’s allies. However, Aver gave him a chance to avenge his sleeping master, even if it was a simple act of knocking Ela out.

Ace focused on Poppy, the last of John’s subordinates. He closed the distance between them. He wielded Excalibur while Poppy used her rapier. The two sword-wielders faced each other, crossing attacks. Ace jabbed at her while she parried his attacks. She then switched the roles, going on the offense. She stabbed and sliced at him, pushing him back. Knowing that he was losing ground, ducked her next attack and dashed behind her. Now he was pushing her backward, gaining ground.

Frustrated with her losses, she stabbed before throwing her weapon, brandishing a knife, and sprinting towards Ace. He noticed the knife in her hand, throwing the hilt of Excalibur to his other hand. With his now open hand, he took out Azroth and fired at her. Due to the closeness, he was firing at point-blank range. He aimed at her calves, blasting both of them to shreds. She collapsed, not able to use her legs, and looked up. Ace towered over her, pointing the gun down at her head. She closed her eyes as her muscles tensed for the inevitable.

“I’m sorry, master. I hope to serve you in the next life.” She muttered.

Ace heard her, thinking about Teresa and what her life would’ve been with her last master,  lowering his weapon. He crouched down and chopped her in the neck, knocking her out but not killing her. 

He turned to face the last foe in the room, John Calamity. A Shadow was dead, two were knocked out, and one was frozen stiff. However, they had a wounded Kira, knocked unconscious by Honor.

Aver approached Ace’s side, both staring at John.

“Man, I wasn’t expecting this,” John said. He laughed and laughed. “What is wrong with me? No, you’ll all die today.” He switched from a low confidence tone to his normal overconfident tone. It was slightly bizarre for Ace and Ave, who watched as John picked himself up. He muttered something under his breath, quickly disappearing from their sights. They looked around, but couldn’t see anybody.

However, after several seconds, John appeared behind them, brandishing a chain made out of fire. He whipped the hell chain around, nearly hitting some of the hostages and heroes.

Meanwhile, Jordan perched on Kira, trying to wake him up.

“Why are you doing this?” Ace asked. “You’re not doing this to impress your girl?”

“He has a girl?” Aver asked, playing along with Ace’s joke.

“Somebody like this wouldn’t get the chance to be with a girl, especially with the ones during my time. They were fierce. I nearly died to them.” Ace said, mocking John. This frustrated John more, as being taken as a joke and paired with his Goddess leaving him and his subordinates failing. He struck at the heroes, his chain attaching to Ace’s sleeve. He pulled him closer, burning into his skin and leaving a scar.

Ace fired at John but his bullets were avoided. All John had to do was move the chain a little and it jerked Azroth out of a clear shot. The bullets hit the wall behind him, ricocheting and denting the floor.

“Ha!” John exclaimed. “This is the best you have?”

Ace looked past John for a moment before focusing on him. He fired off a few more bullets before shifting to his sword. He swung at the chain still wrapped around him. It bounced off the chain and nearly hit him in the face.

“This isn’t going to work, so-” He activated a long-dominant skill, Creation: Light. “-this will have to work.” He cast the light skill, flashing John. This small distraction was enough to make John lose focus and look away from them. 

Aver drew the bow, releasing an arrow. It flew through the arrow at a fast speed,