“Nova! Where are we? How did we?” Birdion seemingly panicked as his plumage began to scatter about.
“Nova? You do not get to call me Nova, bird. Only master Gios gets to do that.”
Birdion held his head as thousands of feathers shot out peppering his teammates and spreading like a plague as people regained lost memories and were freed from the compulsions placed on them.”
Novalie countered the feather with Violet flames and thrust forward.
Birdion took it head-on and erupted into feathers as a second wave shot out and pelted the gathered group.
When Birdion reformed he wondered why he was identifying himself with such an insulting moniker, when a sword made of light removed his head a second time.
Shadowy spears impaled Novalie and locked her in place as Atimn and Tiffany seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
“Do something Quinara!” Novalie yelled.
Quinara coughed blood before she faded from existence as twenty arrows of ice lay scattered on the ground.
“An ambush? When? How?” Novalie stared daggers into Birdion.
“Nova?”
“Traitor! Bloodline–”
“If you do that here you’ll die! Listen to me!” Birdion attempted to stop her as a barrage of projectile spells were launched in that direction.
Birdion died and didn’t immediately return. Though he did play his role as a shield well enough.
“Release!” Novalie’s bracelet snapped as wisps of smoke and the smell of sulfur emanated from her body. Aside from that, nothing changed.
“How much mana do you have left?” Tiffany asked.
“Enough for one really big spell or two medium spells.”
“Do you have any magic theory experience?”
“A crash course, though I'm not a master of it.”
“Inverted chanting?”
“Never. Mixing light and shadow is chaotic.”
Nova pushed at her restraints as the ground under her began to crack.
“Invert what I say from here on out. Let's go for 3 lines.”
Tiffany's rapier morphed into a large runic paintbrush the size of a mop.
“Without light, darkness is a lie.” Tiffany painted a set of runic symbols with her brush made of light.
“Through darkness, light reveals the truth.” Atim formed runes of shadow on the ground under Tiffany’s spell.
“In a world of illusion, where does light die?” Tiffany asked the mana around her and the spell responded by making the runes go gray.
“In this universe of facts, when is darkness couth.” Atimn realized he dug himself in deep. Though his words of shadow did sharpen and appear somewhat refined.
“I call upon the realm between light and dark.”
“We request the spirit of Chaos to grant us a boon.
“Void Finale!” A gray hole in space opened up around everyone in that room
“Chaotic Genesis!” Atimn caused the portal to separate the black and white as the mana swirled.
Novalie broke out of the restraints and with inhuman speed, tore a hole through Tiffany’s neck triggering the wards. Moving swiftly she removed Atimn’s sword arm before a Fox’s head the size of a cottage shot out, scooped her up, and dragged her into a new world.
“What was that?”
“No idea” Kiara sighed as a confused birdman appeared out of nowhere.
“But I get the feeling this is plan Epsilon in the works.”
“Nova! Where did you go?”
Kiara felt an eye twitch as she watched the birdman take off his head and shake it a bit revealing a face nearly identical to Kyrion, only this person wore a lot more red and gold jewelry. Red winglike appendages appeared on his back in the current form.
“I was told to give this to you.” Atimn handed Birdion a rolled-up scroll.
“When did you get that?”
“Tiffany gave it to me, and she got it from Rie.”
Birdion opened the scroll up and scowled. “ I surrender to Kyrion. You son of a human!”
Birdion vanished through a tear in reality.
Atimn fell back into a chair and relaxed as he pulled out a potion for his arm only to notice a scythe of blood protruding from his chest..
In two swift actions, Kiara and Atimn found themselves in the medical ward, the former for a near decapitation, the latter for sudden blood loss.
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Ari felt a lock on their power fade and let out a sad sigh. “We have lost all our strong members. A shame our run ended early. Also the Orcs got Noah and are heading here to negotiate Minah’s team's surrender.”
“How did they get him?” Nicole asked.
“He passed out after beating Meta.”
“So four on four?” Minah asked, exhausted.
“Hel, Chiyo, Minah, and Brion.”
“Chester, are you finally going to fight?” Asela asked.
“Possibly. But I’m not going to like it.” Chester sighed as he opened a case, causing cubes of mana to float around him in an orbit.
“What happened to Isaiah?”
“He died during the orc attack.” Wura stated.
“I’m literally standing right next to you?” Isaiah slumped and then was promptly crushed as a cannon fell from a tower and landed only on him. A loud crater formed under him. His remains were gone as he was rushed away.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Sorry! I leaned against the cannon and it just happened!” Bastion yelled from the top of the tower. The kid looked around before seemingly vanishing.
“Nicole, Chester, Wura, and Asela. Based on the mapped location I can find where Tiffany and Atimn infiltrated. Though 6 entities have arrived. I believe it's Milo’s team.”
“Six. How do they still have such a large team?”
“They have been cunning so far. I imagine a head on battle from them would be rare.”
“So we have fourteen enemies. Those aren’t good odds.”
“No they aren’t, and staying defensive won’t get us any further.”
“Hel, you lead the Drisil squad while I will lead my team. Pincer tactics and quick deadly assaults should lower their numbers using your best judgment. While the total is fourteen, eight of them are likely to fight us head on while the others may wait till we’re weakened before attacking.”
“It would make sense. We’re their target and if they get rid of us they get their captain back.” Hel scowled.
“I’ll have to fight on my own. Which means I’ll be weaker than I should be.”
Minah looked exhausted as she eyed the area on the map. “My mana still hasn’t returned.”
“I can carry you and run while you rest.” Brion offered.
“That would be rather…” Minah started.
“It’s fine Minah. Just be direct.”
“I’m a princess, being carried by a man of your stature could cause rumors.”
“Honey, you aren’t my type. Not like anyone I know would care regardless.” Brion said with a raised eyebrow.
“Are you saying a princess isn’t good enough?”
“Not at all. Hel, do you want a ride? Stamina and durability are about all I have going for me.”
Hel didn’t hesitate but her eyes did go dark for a moment.
“Epsion.” Brion sighed as weights he’d kept all over his body began to fall by the tons.
“I am not that heavy.”
“I’ll need to leap. It's easier when I'm not weighed down by over a hundred tons.”
“And you just now remove them?” Minah asked in surprise.
“I rarely fight in this form.” Brion prepared to leap.
Hel dug in and the ground seemingly vanished after a loud explosion.
“So you know. I don’t think Brion can soften his landings with wind magic.” Nicole stated.
Minah sighed. “Earth affinity. Based on what I've observed it’s possible that he’s going to mimic our captain and transfer the force into the ground.”
“Or break both legs in the process leaving behind a crater where Hel and Brion should be..” Chiyo looked up as Brion broke through the clouds and wondered how people could jump that high in a world where gravity was doubled.
The group of six warriors split off with Minah and Chiyo circling the general direction Brion had jumped.
The four from the Military academy stepped onto a large flat plane of mana and then began to float off towards the stronghold.
Isaiah crawled from under the cannon for a few minutes, his body covered in dirt but otherwise uninjured. “Guys! I’m still alive! Guys?”
“I’m sorry but you’re coming with me.” A black armored arm wrapped around Iseah’s neck and cut off his oxygen. In moments the practitioner was rendered unconscious. His arms were tied up and he was placed inside an earthen cask. From there the two seemingly sunk into the ground and disappeared.
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Bastion watched as his hands seemed to shrink by the moment his height changed as well. His memory was fading more and more by the day, and yet he was content. Something in him told him that his mission was accomplished whatever that was.
White Fox sighed as he held a cookie in his hands. “What do you think is going to happen?”
“I don’t know. But I get the feeling that we need to go.”
“I don’t want to forget. Things are fun here, and I get to eat all the sweets I want.”
“I don’t think we will. Though I don’t think we’ll get them all at once.”
“What is the final step again?”
“I forget.” Bastion raised a patch of his bangs upwards and revealed a large and brutal scar on his head where he’d taken a great and forgotten quite a bit because of it.
“Well that sucks. Can’t be helped Black Fox. We should at least watch the end.”
Bastion summoned an Ice cream from nowhere in particular and took a seat as a screen appeared in front of both him and White Fox. The screen showed Kyrion in his current state, deep inside a cocoon of red feathers, Divine Essence condensing into his body and pushing past a limit he wouldn’t have risked prior as he began the process of evolving his spirits.
“Next.” White Fox ordered.
On the next screen, Both Hel and Brion were falling towards the safehouse where Cycle the Psycho was lying in wait.
As they continued to fall, Hel let go of Brion and began to fall at a much slower pace, as a swallowtail the size of an elephant appeared right under her. The duo wondered for a moment as the bug wasn’t summoned earlier then quickly realized that the summon required constant upkeep if kept past an extended period of time.
“Ludwig, I need you to release the spores.”
The purple mist fell from the butterflies' outstretched wings as Hel’s mana was rapidly drained. The butterfly dropped decidedly faster and at an angle to spread it in the proper configuration. Unlike what one would expect from a butterfly, the pollen-like substance caused mushrooms to grow and rot to immediately take hold of the area. In moments the area was covered in these mushrooms which were capable of poisoning fledglings with ease and some practitioners Although that wasn’t the point.
“A field of rot has been brought to bear. Witness the pestilence and tremble in Fear. Be consumed by the swarms of the lands and skies. Then return to death by the hands of the lord of flies.”
The sky darkened as Hel fell off the butterfly and disappeared through a portal after summoning a very powerful entity. He mana unable to shield her from such a fall and a pair of summons.
Brion looked up from his crater and sighed. “I guess I’m up–”
A wall of ice rose around Brion and suddenly closed as a woman with pale blue hair spoke from behind him. “You will call off these bugs this instant. If you don’t I'll be forced to make you suffer through being shattered while frozen solid.
Brion struggled to move but found that he couldn’t break out. It wasn’t a strength problem as much as it was a high-order spell that would only get stronger the more he struggled. And thus he had one real option to avoid being frostbitten. He’d transform into a sword and wait. Ice didn’t affect that form in the slightest and his body was stronger. Though he would need someone to break him out.
“Honestly my comrade did this and risked her life to summon something like this. I couldn’t stop it if I wanted to. I guess you’re stuck until the people watching think you're near death.”
Brion was frozen to his neck as Sheeva turned and walked away deciding to try another method.
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The screen shifted Minah and Chiyo were intercepted by a pink-haired girl with a giant hammer.
“Did they predict our plan?” Minah asked Chiyo.
Chiyo examined everything from the surprised and worried expression hidden behind an air of pride. “Doubtful. Are you here to ambush us against orders? That won’t be good if you disappear and your betters discover that you went against protocol and failed.”
The pink-haired girl shook, but not in fear. “But if I win, It won’t be a problem!”
Moving in a burst of speed that could catch a practitioner off guard, the pink-haired girl tried to crush Chiyo with her hammer.
Chiyo sighed and took two steps forward and in moments blood erupted from where half of her right torso seemingly vanished as a hammer found itself pressed into the ground.
“I got–” The pink-haired figure started before blood warped from multiple slit arteries before her head began to fall off.
“That was my Dance of a Dozen Blades.You should have listened a bit longer.” Chyo sighed as her body instantly regenerated and her clothes returned to their unmarred state.
Minah blinked as she could barely see the people in front of her and it was disconcerting. She’d sworn there were only ten strikes.“What are you?”
Chiyo watched as the neck reattached itself before the pink-haired girl could trigger the wards though her hair was notably shorter. As her eyes flicked back into place the half-dragon noticed their arms had been removed and before they could react the Chiyo’s blade pierced the area where her heart should be. Should, as the wards kicked in and got her out of the arena before the lethal blow could land.
“Eleven, twelve.” Chiyo placed her sword back in her sheath.
“Oh. How are you so fast?”
“Repetition. I’ve trained my body to move separately from the limits of my thoughts. In the time it takes to think of one strike I’ve already sent out ten. I adapted to fighting people who move at high speeds naturally and thus I’ve trained to keep up with people that fast.” Chiyo gave her a partial truth.
“So that was what Ari meant.”
“Mmmm… Don’t trust half of what that one says. They are a bit mentally compromised. Your captain was troll-like before, so I assume it is a shared trait, though Ari is four times the troll. If that makes any sense. I hope I’m using the right words.” Chiyo seemed irritated as her words felt off.
“I mean. He does regenerate like one. I guess it would make sense.”
Chiyo muttered a word and scowled. “Just why doesn’t the word exist here?”
“Let's continue. I didn’t expect you to be this strong. I guess it makes sense. Though I must ask. Why didn’t Ander tell me he was married?”
“Because time is iffy and splitting a soul in half temporarily is a difficult concept to explain. Ask him yourself when the tournament ends. Though I suspect you didn’t like him all that much to begin with.” Chiyo examined the enchanted hammer buried in the sands and destroyed it with carefully placed strikes before they continued to move forward.
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Nicole wrapped a piece of cloth over her nose and mouth as they flew, a powerful stench of rot having become prevalent in the area.
“We are entering an area of high decay and death aligned mana, be careful about breathing too much in at once.”
“Death? As in necromancy?”
“Yes and no. It's a complex distinction but nothing will rise from whatever dies here. Someone summoned one of the 13 Regents of the Netherworld. I won’t be able to fight whoever summoned it.”
“You should be fine. As the summoner made sure they wouldn’t be around when the creature came out. I believe it's to prevent the creature from killing its master. As the 13 Regents tend to do that quite often. So Cerberus can’t attack those it’s supposed to guard. Is that correct?”
“Cerberus were created to guard those creatures. So harming them in any way is impossible, just as the regents can’t teleport once summoned unless the current Demon Lord commands them to return. Which is unlikely.”
“Why is that unlikely?” Chester started.
Wura, Asela, and Nicole seemed to be a bit concerned as they all knew bits of the truth.
Asela sighed. “The previous and Current Demon Lord is my grandfather and the reason he can’t control the 13 Regents is due to his body being taken over by the Beast Blood Emperor then having his soul removed.”
“And the Regents are tied to his soul?”
“That would make the most sense.” Wura stated.
“I get that you’d want to keep something like that a secret. But I suspect the others also know.”
“Iseah and Atimn don’t know. Though anyone who knows my great grandfather personally knows this truth. Charles especially, and if he didn’t tell you then there is probably a reason.”
“It changes a lot honestly. Can you command demons?”
“No. I have no power over them, nor am I powerful enough to subdue them.”
“Can they harm you?”
“Not willingly, but If I enter their Miasma and get hurt, then it’s my fault.”
“Got it. Does Hel know who you are?”
“No. I doubt Kyrion would spill secrets belonging to others. Though how she gained access to one of the 13 is interesting.”
“That it is. Wura, we’re not going to engage directly. Rain Mercury down on them, while Nicole and Asela send down heat. So long as we stay up and out of combat we should be safe.”
“I doubt that. Sorry, but you can’t be allowed to continue interfering. Do me a favor and don’t die when you get back.” A figure with dirty blonde hair and a Harlequin mask appeared behind the floating group and caused the platform under them to melt away.
“How are you here?” Aslea asked in surprise.
“Who?” The blond hair faded to a greenish-black color as a gauntlet hand slammed into Asela and caused her to land with a loud boom.
Nicole created an explosion of powerful mana where the figure.was. Only to miss as a black cloak of ink floated to the ground.
In that brief moment of distraction, Nicole’s body had nearly been split in two and the emergency wards triggered her forced evacuation.
Wura slammed a spear of Mercury through the figure's eye socket forcing Milo’s evacuation though it wasn’t fast enough to prevent a spike tail that could have pierced the back of her neck.
Chester had been in a team of four and in the blink of an eye, three were eliminated while he was helpless.
“Never again.” Chester summoned a Violin as he fell and began to play a melody in the minor key that caused the land to shake and space to tremor as a bubble of force suspended him in the air.
“Rhapsody of Rebellion.” As Chester began to play the battlefield began to shift as left became right, up became down, the water became fire, ice became stone, time didn’t have any meaning, and the laws of reality were in a chaotic mess for as long as the music seemed to play.