Heroes of the Holy War

Akira's hair begins to wave like flames, and a tattoo resembling fire appears on her left shoulder. 

"From your reaction... I assume you know what happened," Akira says in a confused, feminine voice. After a moment, Azel seems to sense something from the burning forest. Gamble removes his coat and, frustrated, says, 

"Know that I'll let you go once... the second time I'll drive you out." Akira starts laughing, and Gamble turns his shield into a staff.

After a moment, Azel shouts, 

"Get down!" as a dragon made of mana flies out of the forest behind them. Gamble and Azel dodge, while Akira, smiling, stops a woman who used an unknown technique to transform into a dragon. 

"You could have stayed inside kiddo," says a mysterious male voice. As the dust settles, a young man appears, similar to Akira but with shorter, brown hair. 

"Lyra! Don't cut him!" the man shouts, then approaches Gamble and says, 

"Sorry for being slow, but Azel covered his tracks.", He then notices Azel retreating and sighs. As Gamble stands up, he asks, 

"And who are you?", to which the man smiles and says, 

"I'm Lian, one of the Great Three.", Gamble reacts with shock and nearly gets hit by a fireball. 

"Has your friend shown symptoms of 'Echo Change' before?", Gamble thinks for a moment and says, 

"Once in the gambling city, after knocking someone out, he helped me and a certain girl. But he had pink eyes and a feminine voice then." Lian thinks for a moment, glances at Gamble's shield, and asks, 

"Can you perform the Meteor Impulse?", Gamble surprised asks, 

"The impulse of what? I've never heard of it.", Lian thinks for a moment and begins explaining something to Gamble while Akira, or rather Aurra, fights Lyra. The fight seems to tilt in Aurra's favor as she destroys Lyra's katana. 

"So that's the end o-" Akira doesn't finish the sentence as his eyes return to normal. Akira then collapses, and Lyra, using magic, repairs the katana before saying, 

"Welcome back," sheathing the katana and dragging Akira by his belt to Lian and Gamble, who are surprised by the speed of the encounter. 

"Is he back already?" Lian asks, then a strong blow is heard nearby. It's Aki and Azel fighting. In this clash, Aki shows perfect katana fighting skills. Azel, unable to cast spells with his right hand, struggles with both the fight and wounds that aren't healing.

Aki nearly finishes Azel with the "third technique of New Flames: Solar Storm" a technique that uses quick slashes to heat the blade to a crimson color. Azel, using Gamble's spell "Soul Darkness" escapes into his shadow and slips away. Meanwhile, Kaen and Kazoto mistake Lian for an enemy and attack him with a combined technique "Red Lightning" performing a slash from the first technique of the New Flames and a Thunder Slash. Lian blocks the boy's swords with two fingers and smiling says, 

"Calm down. I'm one of the good guys." The boys sheath their swords and after a moment Kaido and Elarina run out of the burned forest. Aki also returns and explains that Azel escaped. Lian slightly embarrassed says, 

"Maybe we should go to your place? Akira probably won't wake up today."

After returning, Hana runs to Akira, asking, 

"What happened!?" Gamble calming Hana says, 

"He overestimated his resistance.", Hana surprised, calms down and helps carry Akira into the house. Once inside a worried Kaede listens to the explanations and tends to Akira's wounds. Lian begins to speak, 

"In the year of Taurus, the Holy War will begin." Gamble, shocked, says, 

"But that's in five years. Why are you telling us now?", Lyra sipping tea says, 

"You're not capable of defeating even a single angel from the Celestial Army.", Worried Gamble sits on the couch saying, 

"We probably won't be able to train enough in five years." Lian, glancing at the fireplace says, 

"You'll split up, and we'll take you for training. In these five years, you'll grow in strength and learn how to fight angels. It won't be easy or smooth. There will be sweat, pain, and blood.", Gamble stands up and says, 

"Give us four days to think about it. You can stay, but we have only one room." Lian and Lyra agree. "We'll head to the capital because we need a few things. And you don't have an extra mattress, so we'll buy one," Lian says then leaves with Lyra. Gamble sits by the fireplace and starts thinking. Several good hours pass and Gamble hasn't moved from his spot. 

"Do you think something's wrong with him?" Kaen asks, to which Kaido replies, 

"I think he's weighing his options." The conversation is interrupted by Kazoto who says, 

"There's no need to think. Let's go train,", he says confidently. 

"How do you know we can start the training?", After this, silence falls, broken by Hana, who says, 

"Instead of sitting here, we should use this time to train." After these words, everyone heads to the yard. However, Hana looks at the sleeping Akira and says to herself, 

"I'll become as strong as you." Evening falls, and the kids are doing exercises from Gamble's notebook in the backyard. Kaen, as a half-fox, has strong legs but much weaker arms. Kaido, as a half-bear, is incredibly strong despite her slim musculature. Elarina doesn't have strong muscles but has sharpened reflexes. Kazoto is a talented ninja. Without the Raigan, he has a blind spot, which is his left eye. Hana, however, doesn't have any strong suits. Each of them needs to train and overcome their weaknesses. After an exhausting training session, Hana lies on the grass for a while longer. 

"Maybe you should come inside, or you'll catch a cold," says Kazoto, stepping out into the yard. 

"What, are you trying to flirt with me?" Hana asks sarcastically. Kazoto sits next to her and says, 

"Sorry, but I already have my eye on someone.", Hana giggles under her breath and says, 

"I hope you don't hurt Kaido because she's a nice girl.", Kazoto blushes at these words and says, 

"Listen, I heard you can cast a fireball with a hand gesture. I have an idea for a spell.", Hana lifts herself from the grass, wanting to hear Kazoto out. After listening, they begin their attempts. The attempts go badly, and Lian watches them. After another failure, he approaches and says, 

"No coordination, uneven mana, and an unrefined Z-rank spell. Would you like some advice?" The exhausted Kazoto nods, and Lian picks up a stick and draws a plan in the sand nearby, explaining, 

"If I understand the idea correctly, Hana creates a fireball in her hand and forms a flame vortex. Kazoto, using the Raigan, triggers a chain reaction and changes the fire element into Inferno, creating a swirling fireball that can be used for close-range attacks or shot out. It's a powerful spell, but the flaw is that Hana spins the fire too slowly, and Kazoto triggers the reaction too quickly. Instead of locking onto two elements, you can use wind to create a vortex within the fireball instead of using pure mana. Hana, can you try?" After a moment, Hana creates a swirling fireball in her hand. Following the advice, the ball is ready faster than usual. Lian now says to Kazoto, 

"Okay. When you cast blink three times but not too quickly, and then perform the electric discharge." Kazoto blinks three times, and Lian says, 

"Now, do it!" After which, Kazoto triggers an electric discharge on the ground. 

"Whoa. That's the strongest I've ever done.", Lian stands up and says 

"Alright, let's go for a final rehearsal!" 

The first attempt is close, but not successful.

"With each attempt, it's getting better! Don't stop!" Lian encourages them. Kazoto and Hana, after a moment, start panting but with determined eyes make one last attempt. The spell succeeds. The fireball transforms into swirling flames that Hana barely controls. Lian stands opposite, creating a shield resembling a lion's face, and shouts, 

"Hit me with it!" Hana charges at Lian but loses consciousness. Lian quickly separates the spell from Hana to prevent an explosion, cancels the spell and carries Hana and Kazoto, who both fall asleep after a four-hour training session.

Gamble is still sitting by the fireplace, lost in thoughts when he hears a loud crash. He runs to check what happened and sees Akira, ready for a fight, and a destroyed wall from which Lian had flown out. 

"Well... at least I know you're strong," he says, brushing off the dust.

"AKIRA, THAT WAS A NEW WALL!" Gamble shouts angrily, to which Akira responds, 

"How is it new if it's old?" Gamble doesn't know how to reply. While Akira patches up the wall, Gamble decides to go to sleep but can't fall asleep and spends half the night lying awake in bed. Finally, when he dozes off, Kaido and Kaen sneak out to train. 

"Shouldn't we take Kazoto and Elarina with us?" Kaido asks, putting down his backpack, to which Kaen, stretching, replies, 

"Kazoto and Hana exhausted their energy today. Elarina is asleep, and I don't want to wake her." Kaido, annoyed, responds, 

"But you could wake me?" Kaen shrugs and smiles as Kaido throws a stone at him. Kaen and Kaido practice fighting techniques. Kaen tries to master the third technique of the New Flames, while Kaido attempts to create a style unique to her. Blocking one of Kaen's attacks, Kaido feels something inside her arm trying to break it. She jumps back in pain and crouches, trying not to scream. Kaen quickly takes out the same crystal that healed Kaido's arm before and repeats the process. Her arm heals, and Kaido breathes a sigh of relief. 

"I wonder what these crystals are," Kaen says wiping his hand. Kaido replies, 

"They're crystallized healing mana from my mom.", Impressed Kaen notices something lurking in the darkness. Lighting his hand to brighten the area, he shouts, 

"Who's there?"

Kaido stands up, ready to fight, and Kaen slowly draws his katana. The creature in the darkness turns out to be a group of scavengers. 

"What's up, kids... lost your way?" asks a man who looks like their leader. One of them visibly gets excited at the sight of Kaido. Seeing this, Kaen says mockingly, 

"What? Can't find your way home and want to use the kids under the pretext of helping?" The man, holding back his anger, crouches and says, 

"I'm not armed. I want to help you." Kaen looks at the other three and says firmly, 

"Leave now or start digging your graves." The man pulls out a knife from under his coat and says, 

"I was just going to rob you, but now we'll take advantage and use you." Kaen ignites his katana, and Kaido gets ready for a brawl. The man, playing with his knife, says, 

"We'll take the girl to the side, and you'll carry our gear," after which the whole gang starts making lewd comments about Kaido among themselves. Kaen smiling says, 

"First technique of New Flames: Flammable Meadow," and then stabs his sword into the ground, scattering fiery flowers that beautifully illuminate the area. The men, terrified, look at Kaen, who is preparing to perform the 

"second technique of the New Flames: Single Sun Circle", but instead of cutting the men, he pushes them away. Then he says, 

"You can't block my attack. Imagine if Kaido hit you." The men start to flee, and Kaen and Kaido start laughing. As they walk home, they discuss techniques and possible alternatives. When they finally reach home, dawn is breaking, and neither Kaen nor Kaido are sleepy, so they continue talking about fighting. When Lyra comes down to get a drink of water, she sees Kaido trying to perform the Wind Claw, one of the Pure Wind techniques. 

"You're positioning your hips wrong and tensing your arm too much when cutting," she says, correcting Kaido, who then tries again and succeeds. 

"Do you know these techniques?" Kaido asks, to which Lyra replies, 

"I don't just know them; I've mastered them all to perfection." Kaen, interrupting the conversation, says, 

"I made some fried meat. Want to try?" he asks, then notices Lyra and offers her some too. Both praise Kaen's cooking, but Kazoto grabs a piece from behind and says, 

"If you added salt and maybe some curry sauce, it would be even better." The next two days pass similarly. Each of the young ones trains to become stronger, with Lian and Lyra helping them, while Gamble thinks about training, and Akira rests after her spiritual transformation. The day comes when Gamble makes a decision. Everyone gathers in the living room, each engaged in conversation, when Gamble steps into the center and says, 

"Mr. Lian and Ms. Lyra, I see the pros and cons of your invitation, and I want to hear how you see it." Lian stands up and says, 

"I'll take Akira, and Lyra will take you. As for the kids, let them decide." Gamble remains silent for a moment and then says, 

"Who is coming with us?" Each of the kids raises their hand, and Gamble sighs, saying, 

"Pack only the essentials into one backpack."

"Are you sure it won't be a problem?" Gamble asks, to which Kaede responds, 

"Of course not. We'll keep Gine company and take care of the house." Gamble bows and enters the living room, where everyone is ready, then says, 

"You decide who you go with. Come to me if you're going with me or to Akira." A moment of silence follows as everyone considers. Kaen walks over to Akira, and Kaido to Gamble. Kazoto, Hana, and Elarina look at each other, then Lyra says, 

"Does anyone here fight with a weapon?" Kazoto says, 

"I fight with a sword." Without hesitation, Lyra says, 

"I suggest you go with Lian because he's better at teaching swordsmanship. I can't teach sword or spear fighting at all." Kazoto sighs and walks over to Akira. Aki, coming down from upstairs, says, 

"So who am I going with?" Lian, laughing, says, 

"For being late, you get to choose last."

After these words, Hana walks over to Akira, and Elarina to Gamble. Lian laughs and says, 

"To make it even, Aki, you'll go with Lyra." Aki, slightly disappointed, sighs and says, 

"As if I have a choice," to which Lyra responds, 

"I'll tell you right away, I can't teach you sword fighting." Aki laughs and says, 

"I already know how to fight with a sword. Now I just need to polish my spells." Lyra smiles and says, 

"Then let's go." After everyone said goodbye to Kaede, Ben, and Gine, they leave the house and set off. When they reach a fork in the road, Lian says, 

"Now it's time to say goodbye to each other." Lyra and Lian stand on opposite sides of the fork. Everyone says their farewells. Akira and Gamble give each other their special handshake, and when they finish, Akira says, 

"Let's have a fight when we get back." Gamble smiling turns around and says, 

"Sounds good to me. Take care, scruffy." Akira laughs, and everyone heads their separate ways. 

"So the countdown to the Holy War begins... Why are you so red?" Kazoto asks, and Kaen says, 

"Everyone has their first time," pats Kaen on the shoulder, and says, 

"Boy, you've grown up." Kazoto shocked, looks at Hana for an answer, but she just shrugs. 

On Gamble's side, the same question is asked, 

"Why are you so red, Elarina?" Kaido asks, and she responds, 

"I think I might be pregnant," causing Gamble to trip over his own feet.

It has begun. Five years separate the Hero of the Sword Akira Izumi, the Hero of the Shield Garrett Gamble, the Heroine of the Bow Elarina Nightshade, and the Heroine of the Axe Seraphina Evans, from their first clash with the Heavens. Meanwhile, in Heaven, a discussion unfolds...

"We need to be careful. The last time a hero like this was born was 1,000 years ago, and he caused us a lot of trouble," says the angel Antony.

"Just because he was born with the ability to seal doesn't mean he's powerful," says another angel.

"We still need to be cautious. His friend, the Hero of the Sword, is linked to a sage," says another angel.

As the goddess enters the room, she says, 

"Gather up... the preparations for the assault have just begun."