CHAPTER 27

King Baron continued, "You should be proud of your Majesty for giving his best to train you hard. In fact, this is an amazing opportunity to see all of you in action."

Balthazar fixed his gaze on Arthur. "I'm sorry, Prince Arthur, but I'm not understanding what's going on. Could you please elaborate?"

Loke asked, "Neither do I. What is going on, Prince Arthur?"

Prince Arthur replied, "Zodiac warriors, they are here to witness our final training, so give your best and don't let me down."

"There is nothing to worry about, Prince Arthur. We will never let you down," Loke uttered.

"We are much stronger than before. As a matter of fact, you can summon the dark Phoenix again," bragged Odyseus. "We may not be able to defeat it before. However, it's a different story now!"

King Malik put his mouth in King Baron's ear and whispered. "I like the attitude of this Zodiac warrior. He reminds me of my younger self, full of confidence and courage. Perhaps he is the strongest of all of them. What do you say?"

King Baron murmured to King Malik and fixed his gaze on the Zodiac warriors. "But if I were you, I wouldn't jump to any conclusions. That Zodiac warrior has more ego than strength."

"After they fight the creature that Prince Arthur would summon, I'm going to call my strongest soldiers to fight them."

King Baron sighed. "Do whatever the hell you want, King Malik. Just make sure that your soldiers are way stronger than them, otherwise you'll embarrass your planet."

King Malik smiled mockingly. "Not happening!"

Prince Arthur snapped his fingers and the dark Phoenix descended from the skies. "That dark Phoenix was vanquished in the hands of the Amazonian warriors in a short span of time. Although this time, I amplified its power even further."

King Malik suddenly spoke. "Amazing, you were able to conjure the fabled Phoenix. Your magic is truly impressive, Prince Arthur."

Prince Arthur sighed. "Thank you for the compliment, King Malik. This is the most powerful creature in the celestial world and it remained unbeatable until it died."

"I am well aware of that, Prince Arthur. From what I have heard, that creature can attack using different types of flame which can burn anything. What a terrifying monster."

"Its body cannot be penetrated by any kind of weapon, although water can still work on it," added King Malik.

Prince Arthur nodded. "Yes, that is the only weakness it has."

Leomord advanced and drew his Zodiac sword. "I suppose now is my chance to shine!"

King Malik and King Baron watched in silence as the dark Phoenix fired blue flame shots at the Zodiac warriors who did not dodge or move from where they were. Instead, they let Leomord use his Zodiac shield to protect them.

"Infinite shield, water barrier Infinite shield water vortex Vórtice de agua de escudo infinite!"

A water barrier was able to extinguish the flames of the dark Phoenix. Leomord then launched a sword counterattack. "Infinite water slicer, cortadora de agua infinita!"

King Baron widened his eyes in amazement. "His water canon was able to send the dark Phoenix in the air."

"So there is another one who can use magic aside from Prince Arthur," said King Malik.

"Agreed, he was able to land a powerful attack against such a formidable foe. Let us see what the rest of the Zodiac warriors can do."

The dark Phoenix headed towards the direction of the Zodiac warriors and it used its body to rotate and formed a red flaming tornado.

The Zodiac warriors took their shields and chanted their greatest barrier. "12 Zodiac warriors ultimate shield activated. 12 Escudo definitivo de los guerreros del zodiaco activado."

A zodiac shield with star constellations appeared before the dark Phoenix descended to them. Prince Arthur was able to flee but King Malik and King Baron did not. None of them were terrified to the dark Phoenix's dangerous flames.

The dark Phoenix tries to break through the Zodiac warrior's infinite shield so it changed its red flames to black, the most dangerous flames it possessed.

The black flame of the dark Phoenix could not quench the power of the infinite shield.

"Hey, Leomord. You're the only one who can cast water magic attack. Go ahead and take it while you still have a time," said Alexander.

"No, I am not going to do that. We are a team, so we have to defeat that f*cking creature as a group!"

Prince Arthur was astounded by what he had heard. He came to the conclusion that Zodiac warriors not only learned how to fight, but also the importance of cooperating with others.

Leomord enchanted his water magic for the rest of the Zodiac warriors so they could slash the dark Phoenix. They cancelled their magic barrier and circled the dark Phoenix before attacking it with their swords. However, it was not enough as the legendary creature was able to regenerate its wounds.

"That creature cannot be defeated by slashing a sword with water magic enchantment. You need to drown it in water to extinguish its fire, thereby weakening its powers," said King Malik. "Try to lure it into any nearby river or ocean."

A recognizable voice spoke from behind King Malik. "You should not teach these weaklings what to do!" 

All of them gazed in the direction where they heard the familiar voice and saw King Bartholomeo. "If they cannot figure out the weakness of the creatures they are fighting, the title 'warriors' doesn't suit them well!" he continued.

The Kings were conversing as the battle between the dark Phoenix and the Zodiac warrior grew intense.

"I thought you didn't want to watch King Bartholomeo."

"I came here because I am not preoccupied with anything. Nothing more and nothing less, King Malik."

"These Zodiac warriors have great teamwork. I think you should be proud of them as well."

King Bartholomeo let out a frustrated breath. "I despised weak warriors like them, and what insults me more is seeing how they struggle to fight a creature far weaker than the enemy battalion."

"Father, I assure you that my Zodiac warriors have come a long way. Let us not jump to any conclusion just yet," meddled Prince Arthur.

"No, once they lose in that battle, I will send them to the Cannopus and let the werewolves brutally kill them," Enraged King Bartholomeo retorted.

When the Zodiac warriors heard the harsh words from their king, they used it as motivation. Leomord put his sword back in his scabbard and lifted his hands in the air, summoning heavy rain.

"It looks like they are using your words as a motivation," King Malik said.

"Emotion ain't work to amplify their powers, they are meant to lose this battle!"

Contrary to King Bartholomeo's perspective, the Zodiac warriors managed to weaken the dark Phoenix and used this opportunity to throw their swords before the legendary creature could escape. Leomord collapsed to his knees out of exhaustion. Ammon then grabbed him by the shoulder to help him stand up.

"Leomord, you played the biggest role in defeating that f*cking creature."

"Thank you, Ammon, I could never have done any of this without the cooperation of the team."

In spite of the damage that they sustained, the Zodiac warriors hugged each other to celebrate. Prince Arthur walked towards them. "I am so proud of all of you, my Zodiac warriors. Finally, you were able to defeat the creature you were struggling to defeat during our last training."

"Zodiac warriors, do not be confident in yourselves. The worst is yet to come. The werewolves are way stronger than the creatures you fought."

"My bad! It seems that you have no appreciation at all, King Bartholomeo. For me, they can hold a candle to the werewolves. I am actually surprised to encounter another warrior who can use magic like Prince Arthur!"

Leomord displayed his haughty demeanor and interjected himself into the conversation between King Malik and King Bartholomeo. "I am sorry, but I could not help but overhear your praise King Malik. I am so flattered by your words!"

King Bartholomeo yelled at Leomord. "You should never meddle in the conversation of the kings, even if they are talking about you."

Leomord kneeled down to his knees and apologized. "Pardon my rudeness, King Bartholomeo. It won't happen again."

"That is fine by me," said King Malik. "And since you all impressed us with your fighting spirit and incredible teamwork, I am planning something... I would like to summon my greatest soldiers for a friendly match."

King Bartholomeo vehemently objected. "The Celestial Spirit King has forbidden that sort of act between planets, so I beg to differ with your suggestion, King Malik. We must first seek his permission."

"Of course we need to keep it a secret, King Bartholomeo." King Malik replied. "Unless someone reported us to the king, but only a king can communicate with him. So there is a big possibility that-"

King Bartholomeo cut him off. "No, I swore to serve the Celestial Spirit King faithfully for the rest of my life."

"We are also devoted servants of the Celestial Spirit King," uttered King Baron. "But that does not mean we are following his every command. Trivial matters like this do not concern the mightiest king in the entire universe, so why bother about him?"

"Father, I do not see anything wrong with that either. I may not know the Celestial Spirit King, but a friendly match between the warriors of different planets has never occurred until today," responded Prince Arthur.

"My son, these Zodiac warriors were struggling to beat a single opponent. What gives you the idea that they can defeat another creature from a planet with soldiers that are much stronger than us?"