Lady Calamity and the Shepherd (Tales of Berseria × Tales of Zestiria Crossover)

Chapter 19: The Empyrean's Challenge!

"Argh!" Eleanor grunted in pain, her back slamming against a wall. She fell to the ground and slowly got back up, glaring at Melchior. Surrounding the proud man were Malaks under his control. While a couple of them were silver stone floating in a column of yellow molten magma, there were also some brightly coloured birds. "Is this the best you all have? This child is holding out longer then all of you." Melchior said in a bored tone. He was right. Eizen was struggling to get up from his position and Rokurou was under a pile of the crystals of the island. Magilou was taking quick, shallow breaths and was lying on the ground. Laphicet though was the only one standing. He had erected a barrier around his sister's fallen comrades. Melchior began caressing his beard as one of the Malaks under his command attacked the barrier.

"Argh!" Laphicet grunted, pushing back the attack with the barrier. He was panting hard. "My, my. You are rather resilient. Why is that?" Melchior asked. "Because... my sister is Velvet Crowe! We will fight for what she believes in! Which is Humanity's free will!" Laphicet yelled out, his appearance changing. His blonde hair grew longer until it reached his shoulders and curled at the end. The ends of his hair were also dyed white. He started to levitate and his clothes turned into a white ancient robe. Melchior's eyes widened in recognition. Eleanor's eyes widened as well as the change of appearance. "Laphicet!" She yelled out. "No... you should be in slumber! How are you here, Innominat!?" Melchior yelled in rage. Laphicet just glared at the older man. "That is not my name! I am Laphicet Crowe!" he yelled, a paper sword appearing in his right hand.

Laphicet let the barrier down and began his assault on the Malaks. He destroyed one after another. "Woah... the kid is unstoppable..." Eizen said, watching in fascination. "The world's pain and Malevolence!" Laphicet yelled, his eyes showing anger and a hand covering his face. "The culmination of true reason!" He continued to scream, extending his sword. "No! I won't allow it!" Melchior said, pointing towards Laphicet. The Golems and Birds of Paradise proceeded to try and break Laphicet's concentration but did nothing as the boy continued. "Rectify!" he yelled stabbing towards the Malaks. Each one exploded into nothingness, eliminating all of the man's minions. "No..." Melchior muttered, falling to his knees. Laphicet descended to the ground and stood in front of the elderly man.

"Kill me... If you must..." Melchior said, faking remorse. "I should. You have ruined the lives of everyone here. You broke Magilou's heart, took away Eizen's captain, made Velvet relive her worst thoughts!" Laphicet yelled, anger clear in the boy's eyes. Melchior just looked towards the ground, a knife forming in a hand behind his back. "But I will not kill you, for you are one of the Elemental Empyreans. You help keep the balance alongside the other three plus Maotelus." Laphicet said, his eyes softening. Melchior looked up with surprise, the knife vanishing. Magilou stood up from her spot, finally woken up from her unconscious state. Eleanor followed suit, along with Eizen. The Earth Malak helped Rokurou out from under the rubble. "It's called learning to forgive and forget." Laphicet said, turning back to his previous appearance. "Something we learned from the new Shepherd of this era." Magilou said with an emotionless face.

"Well said." A familiar voice said, catching everyone's attention. There stood Velvet in villager clothing and looking cleaned up with her left arm unwrapped of her bandages. She had a smile on her face. Eizen felt his face heat up slightly, so he looked away. "Velvet!" Laphicet called, running towards her and throwing his arms around her. "Hey there Laphi..." She said to her little brother, rubbing his head. "Where have you been?" Magilou asked with a smirk. "Ran into an old acquaintance. The spirit had me absorb him into my hand, so I got a little side tracked." She replied to the Witch. "As long as you're good, that's fine. Think you can get us out of here Laphicet?" Rokurou asked. Laphicet looked at them with a sad smile. "Sorry. But it feels like Maotelus is just starting to restrict my powers in here, probably as a safety precaution." He told them. Melchior stood up and thrusted out a hand.