Zalroth frantically parkoured from the magic barriers he created as the lava pillars erupted underneath him every time he landed, forcing him to instantly jump again. Zalroth quickly front flipped and fired a mini-tornado into the air. The tornado collided with the volley of falling fireballs launching them away from Zalroth and into the lava-filled ground. The magic circles that fired the fireballs disappeared and the woman, standing on an elevated mound of lava, gritted her teeth, while Zalroth landed on the last magic barrier he created. Zalroth turned around and stretched both his arms upwards. The woman apprehensively raised her arms into a defensive position. Zalroth leaned backwards and yawned, while the woman carefully watched him. Zalroth let his arms droop making them sway back and forwards.
"What's wrong old man, you ain't going to fall asleep on me, are ya?" the woman snarked, as her battle axe flew out from between the trees and made a b-line for Zalroth. Zalroth slightly chuckled in response to her question before swinging his foot backwards and kicking the flying battle-axe over his head. The woman frowned, as the battle-axe spun through the air before she caught it and placed it on her back.
"Don't count on it.". Zalroth clicked his neck as he firmly stomped on the magic barrier. The barrier rapidly expanded and the woman jumped onto it, as the lava mound sunk back into the lava. The woman punched her fist together as they were covered in lava which slowly solidified. Lola and Scarlett were watching the fight intently, although for different reasons, as shockwaves blasted past them. Scarlett watched the battle with sparkles in her eyes and even mimicked Zalroth's moves, while Lola had her eyes solely focused on the battle axe.
"So cool," Scarlett said while gleefully waving her arms around making the tiny gauntlets key chain tied onto her trouser to rattle. She looked over at Lola and her expression became slightly less gleeful.
"What's wrong?" Scarlett asked while slightly leaning in front of Lola. Scarlett's question interrupted Lola's stare down with the crystals, making her blink a few times.
"Ye-eah, just trying to figure out why papa wanted me to watch those crystals," Lola replied while leaning forwards and continued to intently watch the crystals while her tails slowly swayed from side to side. Scarlett watched Lola's swaying tails for a few seconds before looking back at the fight. Zalroth and the women's fists collided, with enough intensity to knock the two of them backwards. The woman regained her footing before lunging at Zalroth with her fist and half-heartedly pulled back for a punch. Zalroth easily dodged the attack followed by the woman falling onto her hands and knees. She frantically panted as the sweat on her body quickly sizzled the moment any formed.
"For an old man, you're... pretty fast." the woman remarked in between her breaths.
"Well, it'd be pretty embarrassing for a kitsune to be slow, now wouldn't it?". The woman slowly got back onto her feet and wiped the sweat on her forehead that hadn't evaporated.
"I suppose, arg.". The woman tightly gripped her chest as her face contorted; her eyes strained as they started to glow extremely brightly. The magic circle around Lola's eye disappeared after she noticed something was up with the crystals on the battle-axe. Lola watched the intensity of the crystal's glow increase and decrease in unison with the women's eyes, before realising something. Zalroth effortlessly evaded the woman's sluggish punches, with a slightly awkward expression on his face. She managed to throw one more punch before Zalroth tripped her over and she faceplanted into the magic barrier. She tried to get back up but she could barely push herself up more than a few centimetres before her arms wobbled like jelly, and collapsed again.
"Well, now I just feel bad for her," Zalroth said as he rubbed the back of his head. Zalroth looked around the area noticing that the lava had started to solidify.
"Don't you dare pity me, old man!" the woman tried to shout, but her words were muffled from having her face pressed against the barrier. Zalroth looked upwards when he heard Lola calling for him.
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"Papa, I figured out what the crystals are, they're...". There was a short pause from Lola before she slowly glanced over at the open book she had poking out of one of her tails.
"...An..gor...thite, yeah. Angorthite." Lola said as she looked back at Zalroth while pushing the book completely into her tail.
"I figured as much, but it's best to be sure first," Zalroth muttered to himself. Zalroth created a ball of mana in his hand before flicking it at Lola. She held her hand out and the ball of mana landed in her palms.
"Mind taking care of the fire for me?" Zalroth asked. Lola nodded and squished the mana ball between her hands before creating a large ice magic circle. While Lola was extinguishing the flames with her ice mist spell, Zalroth walked over to the woman and took the battle-axe on her back. She tried to stop him but quickly gave up when Zalroth sternly told her to knock it off. The woman angerly murmured to herself while Zalroth looked over the battle axe.
"Now what am I meant to do with this?". Zalroth looked at his bandaged right hand and sighed.
"Aren't you going to smash it?" Scarlett asked.
"Fraid not, without light or holy magic it's too dangerous to break the crystals.".
"Oh...". Scarlett disappointedly sat down on the magic barrier with a sad thud, causing the gauntlet key chain tied to her trousers to rattle. Zalroth abruptly looked upwards when he heard the rattling, catching Scarlett's attention and making her look down at Zalroth again.
"You wouldn't happen to have the silver gauntlets from Lola's backpack would you, Scarlett?". Sweat started to run down Scarlett's face while sporting a goofily awkward grin.
"Erm... maybe?". Scarlett sporadically twiddled her thumbs apprehensively, at what felt like an eternity, as she waited for Zalroth to say something.
"That's good to hear.". Scarlett spun her head around as Zalroth picked her up. He hopped off the magic barrier and onto the one he was on a few seconds ago. Zalroth placed Scarlett on the barrier before she turned around and excitedly stared Zalroth in the eyes.
"You can teleport?! That's so cool." Scarlett excitedly exclaimed. Zalroth simple shook his head.
"That's more Sophia's thing,". Scarlett seemed a little upset at his answer but did wonder how he got behind her so fast, if it wasn't teleportation, as she turned away from Zalroth. Zalroth snapped his fingers in front of Scarlett's face to get her attention.
"Now let's take care of the Angorthite."
"Huh?". Zalroth looked at Scarlett who was pointing at herself with a confused expression.
"Right... well I can't use the gauntlets since my hands are too big and Lola's dealing with the surrounding fire, so it's up to you, you think you're up for it?". Scarlett nodded her head confidently with a confident smile. Zalroth quickly explained how to use the gauntlets to Scarlett.
"But... I don't know how to use mana though.".
"Right..., sort of skipped my mind, just give me a sec.". Zalroth helped Scarlett activate the gauntlets, making them rapidly increase in size and the yellow Vs on the back of the gloves to glow, and she quickly put the gauntlets on. Zalroth placed the battle-axe on the barrier before kicking it to the other side of the barrier. Scarlett asked Zalroth why he did that, and he informed her things might get a little chaotic around the woman. Scarlett nodded before hurrying over to the battle-axe. Zalroth clicked his wrists while getting into a fighting stance.
"I just have to punch it right?" Scarlett asked. Zalroth gave her a thumbs-up, and without hesitation, Scarlett held her hands together before slamming them into the crystal as hard as she could and managing to crack it. Scarlett watched as small magenta mana orbs escaped from the cracks and slowly shifted to a faint yellow. As Scarlett continued to consecutively punch the crystal, the woman let a painful groan as she tightly gripped the magic barrier, managing to crack the area around her hand. She clawed her fingers across the barrier and repeatedly banged her head on the barrier.
Scarlett stuck the crystal cluster one more time and managed to shatter it into multiple pieces, that proceeded to scatter across the entirety of the magic barrier platform. At the moment the crystal cluster shattered, the woman abruptly passed out, causing her to faceplant into the barrier one final time, and her flame hair shifted to a normal coloured flame as purple smoke started to emerge from her body.
The purple smoke continuously circled the small purple gem that had formed in the air; the smoke tornado started to shrink and condense into a humanoid form. The purple crystal bodied creature that formed from the smoke had a similar appearance to the woman, aside from having glowing magenta eyes and hair. The creature loomed over everyone on the barrier and Zalroth prepared himself to continue fighting.