Avatar - Conquering the Elements-Chapter 122

*Crescent Island*

"How many do you have?" the fire mage asked excitedly. He wore segmented armor that allowed him to maintain his agility. Moments earlier, his signature move—Dragon's Tail—had destroyed several persistent dark spirits.

"Seventeen," the other mage replied briefly, covering his comrade's back.

"Two more than me?!" the first mage exclaimed in surprise, nearly missing a sting from a giant purple bee-like creature. But the more taciturn warrior reacted just in time, launching a fireball at the spirit.

"Eighteen," he added, his voice carrying a subtle, almost imperceptible smirk.

"Don't get too smug. I'll catch up soon," the first mage grumbled, turning away.

Soon, a fiery projectile soared overhead, creating a massive explosion upon contact with the water.

"Do they have time to fire trebuchets at us?" many wondered. As far as they knew, nearly all the ships were engaged in direct combat. Perhaps they should thank the spirits for the chaos.

Seconds later, a figure emerged from the water—none other than Van, completely naked. Whether intentional or not, everyone's attention lingered on his, erm, *assets* for a moment, which seemed to glimmer in the light. His movements even seemed to hypnotize the onlookers. A couple of female warriors were momentarily distracted, and several other fire mages struggled to focus on their techniques.

"Can we unsee that?" a dozen warriors asked simultaneously, having witnessed, well, Van's "immense power."

In the next moment, he flew toward the waiting Sages, whose eyes now burned with hatred. They dreamed of finally ending the man who, despite seemingly fatal wounds, kept returning unscathed.

"Where does his power come from?!"

"Is he really a dragon in human form?!" Some warriors couldn't contain their astonishment as even more Sages surrounded Van. Yet their numbers and tactics failed to secure victory. Darting and spinning, Van evaded their endless attacks. Occasionally, he struck down an enemy, but new conquerors replaced the fallen.

By now, most spirits had been defeated, but the battle raged on. Without distractions, the Sages' skill shone, even in smaller numbers, their suicidal attacks proving surprisingly effective.

"What's happening? Why is it raining like this?"

"Why are my wounds healing?" muttered confused soldiers, their injuries vanishing. They looked up, but no clouds were in sight. The strange rain seemed to originate just meters above their heads, the droplets glowing faintly green.

"There's a ship behind us!" a sharp-eyed young man shouted.

"Don't touch them!" the admiral barked. "They're allies," he sneered, making it clear where he thought such allies belonged. If not for the Fire Lord's strict orders, a couple of waterbenders would have met their end.

Soon, everyone saw the traditional warship of the Water Tribe. Several fire warriors glared at the ship with contempt. In their eyes, the Water Tribe offered no help. What could rats who'd cowered in their snow for a century possibly do?

"Good day, gentlemen!" a white-haired boy waved playfully, seemingly oblivious to their unfriendly stares. "I'll heal the most severely wounded now. Don't fear my water," he continued more seriously, swirling ocean water around him. Soon, watery tendrils extended from his body, approaching the soldiers.

"Do that again, and you'll keep bleeding!" the white-haired boy shouted at a warrior who vaporized a tendril with fire.

Moments later, the still-skeptical soldiers watched their comrades rise quickly. Many, if not all, softened their gaze. It wasn't full acceptance of the Water Tribe, but at least they thought, "This waterbender is easy on the eyes."

"Hold on a little longer! More ships are coming!" the healer called, giving them a second wind.

*

*Van. Same place, same time.*

"Enough of this. Just help me already!" I thought irritably, cursing my own actions. It was the perfect moment to mend relations between the Fire Nation and the Water Tribe—I couldn't let it slip away.

Pushing off the air subtly, I dodged a black lightning strike. The Vatru minions' main goal seemed to be eliminating me, the wrench in their plans. That's why nearly all the Senior Sages and a dozen Juniors surrounded me. They were ready to tear me apart but stuck to various schemes, desperate to eliminate me. And they were succeeding—my crystal pouch was empty.

"It's getting easier," I finally breathed deeply as hundreds of ice spears rained down on the surrounding mages.

Yuki wasn't holding back, covering entire areas with his techniques. Wielding a white fire sword, he systematically beheaded the weakest Sages. Thankfully, there had been plenty of time to assess each Sage's strength.

Our coordination with Yuki would have raised countless questions in any other moment. Everything we did was perfectly synchronized, as if we read each other's minds, our abilities and techniques complementing each other flawlessly.

"Fire Lord! Fire Lord Ozai needs help!" someone shouted, turning our heads toward Ozai, battling in the air.

"It's too late to help him..." Ozai's body was held together by sheer willpower. His "life flame" was about to flicker out. But he kept fighting the Sages, his teeth clenched, his hair gray, his body aged, enduring the pain of his crumbling form with visible determination.

"Van..." Ozai whispered weakly, his voice likely only audible to me as I channeled chakra abilities. His wrinkled face still seemed "stone-like," but his eyes... They conveyed too many emotions for me to decipher. But I understood the strongest one—he was asking me to finish what he'd started.

"Fire Lord!" many noticed his body falling freely into the water. A moment later, watery hands caught him. Soon, Ozai's body lay on a ship, surrounded by crew members. His death sent powerful waves that threatened to shift the battle's balance.

A blinding lightning flash ended the chaos, temporarily blinding many. A thick column of electrical energy erupted from Van's body, reaching toward the heavens. The technique's accompanying sound painfully lashed everyone's ears.

"Don't lose your heads! Fire Lord Ozai ordered us to finish his mission!" Van's voice, more like the roar of a massive beast, reached every fighter on the battlefield.

Perhaps Van's words had a positive effect, as the soldiers stopped making mistakes and fought more seriously. Though, when thousands of lives hung in the balance, how much more serious could they get?

Reinforcements from the other two islands soon joined the battle. The scales, already tipped in our favor, tilted further. In every category—weapons, mages, warriors, ships—we outnumbered them.

But I wasn't complacent. I knew the Sages too well. They were prepared for this outcome, meaning another surprise awaited us. My intuition was unmistakable.

"Behold our power!" Just like clockwork... When you start losing, spout some cheesy line and unleash some super-cool move from the "I'll-die-but-take-you-with-me" category. Why does this remind me of the Ranger fights? Probably because it played out the same way... Good guys and girls in colorful spandex beat up the bad guys, who then delivered some inspiring, cheesy speech while growing in size. Eventually, the united Rangers, now a Megazord, defeated the villains again, implying size didn't matter. And the cycle repeated for twenty or thirty seasons...

Shaking my head, I pushed the endless, colorful Ranger battles from my mind and focused on reality. The remaining Sages joined the one who'd just delivered the classic villain line. Then, something unnatural for this universe began...

The Sages' bodies literally merged, complete with gruesome sounds of tearing flesh and snapping bones. But I was more interested in what was happening "inside." Their energy sources overlapped, losing immense power but steadily increasing in quality and quantity.

"Attack! Don't give them time!" The number of arrows, techniques, and projectiles was uncountable. "Keep going!" I shouted again, feeling the stitched-together monster grow stronger. The remaining warriors and some Sages formed a living wall, blocking our attacks.

"Buy me four minutes!" I told Yuki—or rather, myself. Basically, I just thought it...

Days earlier, in a virtual room, Yo fought a lightning spirit that could stack the same technique, amplifying it a hundred or even a thousand times. I couldn't ignore that. So, I tried replicating it that same day. I made progress, but one limitation remained—time. Creating such a technique took three to ten minutes, depending on its power. Who in their right mind would give me that much time when even a single second could change everything?

Creating a lightning spear in my hand and holding it, I immediately began layering a second spear on top. Then a third. A fourth... I'd keep amplifying it until the technique's power was enough to defeat an ancient-level spirit—the level the Sage monster was now approaching.

Around the tenth spear, multiple voices twisted with malice echoed. The massive body, radiating immense pressure and composed of countless hands, legs, eyes, and heads, was ready to act. Instantly, golden water ribbons charged with positive energy flew toward it. Thick green ropes—water saturated with life energy—followed. Both would give me the time I needed.

"Don't get close to it!" Yuki shouted too late, watching an armored soldier's body get devoured by several massive, stitched-together mouths. The monster had grown slightly stronger... "You can't defeat it—you'll only make it stronger!"

A salty drop fell on a small green crystal Yuki held. With a couple more in reserve, he poured maximum life energy into the water, holding nothing back.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" the countless mouths roared. But for now, it was just empty noise—the monster's body was securely bound. But for how long?

Everyone watched with bated breath... Unable to help, many vowed to train harder.

A minute later, the monster tore through the first golden ribbon. Then the second. Then the third...

"Even my ass is sweating!" Yuki thought, trying to encourage himself to keep the golden ribbons effective. "I think I'm reaching my limit..."

In my hands was a thirteen-meter-long spear, growing heavier by the second.

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"Ready!" Straining every channel and muscle, I hurled the massive spear directly at the monster's core.

The impact seemed to shatter the heavens themselves, the air vibrating with the agonized screams of the Sages. The monster's body began emitting a putrid stench that spread for kilometers.

"It's dead," I confirmed, feeling its energy source fade.

"We'll meet again soon!" a spectral voice promised. Suddenly, a black-red energy sphere shot out of the monster's body. Before I could react, it vanished in a specific direction.

"That's toward the Northern Water Tribe," I thought grimly. Of course, its target might not be the North Pole, but... I needed to double my vigilance.

"Victory!"

"We won!" the soldiers cheered, having experienced too many new and seemingly impossible things that day.

"Van Shi Tong said Vatru's energy cluster would need time to recover its losses," I thought. Future problems for the future. "Soon, it'll be my favorite time—paperwork time." Leaving everything to Azula wouldn't sit right with me, so I'd persevere once more!