Part 5
The Bronx
Time: 2:57:24 P.M.
Gunshots rang out as Agent Maria Holm fired her assault rifle at three Doberman-shaped creatures made of molten rocks.
After her bullets staggered two of the dogs, she ducked under the third dog, causing it to slide and trip across the ground.
Not wasting any time, Agent Holm pulled her service pistol from the front of her bulletproof vest with her left hand. Without looking back, she fired her weapon at the dog, staggering it too.
There was a heavy scraping noise as a tow hook was swung across before rising into the air as Valeria spun around clockwise. Swiping her arm across, she swung the chain at the dog, splitting it in half.
The flame golem thrust his right palm at Agent Holm, which was split in half as Valeria swung the chain upwards, before pulling it down.
With its other hand, the golem swung its makeshift club down, hitting the ground and causing it to crack open.
As both dodged the strike and began running towards the golem, a faint white light surrounded Agent Holm as she blitzed past the golem to its back.
Turning around with her right foot sliding on the ground, she began firing her weapon at the golem’s back.
As the golem turned to face her, a hook stabbed itself in its right shoulder.
Valeria took a step back and yanked the chain as the markings on her arms began to glow.
The golem was slow, but its attacks were heavy.
If they could maneuver through its attacks and close the distance….
The sudden yank of the chain pulled the golem off balance facing her.
A leap forward.
It was how Valeria closed the distance between the two before she rammed her left shoulder into the golem's chest, causing it to stumble a few steps back.
Just a few seconds of contact, but it felt as if the skin on her shoulder would melt off.
The golem then stumbled forward when a grenade from Agent Holm's weapon exploded at its back.
Valeria rolled forward on the ground, kicking her left leg outwards, striking the golem's knee, causing it to fall to one knee.
She then rolled to her left to dodge a wide swing from the golem's right palm as it crashed as it slid across the ground.
Getting back to her feet, Valeria slid her right foot forward, twisting her upper body.
A quick jab.
Valeria’s left fist struck the golem’s right midsection before she quickly pulled away.
A crack.
As Valeria ducked under another swing from the golem arm, she threw her left fist forward, striking the crack again, causing it to grow larger.
Little by little, she was chipping away at the golem exterior.
She pulled her left fist back before-
A barrage of rock spikes had burst from the right side of the golem's body.
The sudden attack caused Valeria to flip backward over the hood of a nearby car, falling upon the ground, not before she was grazed by several spikes.
Getting back to her feet, Valeria leaped off the hood of the car, pulling her arm back, before swinging it forward; the golem crumbled in a pile of rocks on the ground.
Her feet slid across the pile of rocks before coming to a complete stop.
Silence.
Except for the sound of her rapid breaths, everything was quiet around her.
And then—
A large hand rose from the rubble at her as the golem started forming itself back together.
Valeria barely managed to cross her forearms in front of her face before the golem palm struck her, lifting her off the ground and slamming her onto the roof of the car behind her, blowing the doors of it henges.
The cracks on the golem's body began to glow as its body began to heat up.
Molten liquid dripped from the golem head onto the roof inches from Valeria head as it loomed closer over her.
In a quick action, the chained hook struck the right side of the golem's head, passing through it.
The hook broke through the passenger side car window across the street before it dropped, attaching to the interior of the car door.
Agent Maria Holm.
With a quick yank with her arms, the hook ripped the door off the car, causing it to hit the right side of the golem’s body.
The strike was enough to knock the golem to his left, off Valeria, causing it to stumble in the street before her.
Valeria let out a deep gasp for air, as she placed her hand on her throat.
On the roof of the car, Valeria could hear the commotion between the golem and Agent Holm, before closing her eyes, exhaling.
Metal scrapping.
Explosions.
Gunshots.
With a grunt, Valeria opened her eyes and raised her right shoulder, twisting her body to roll off the car roof to her hands and knees.
Another grunt, and she picked herself up.
It was a single step forward, but it was enough for her to completely collapse back onto her hands and knees.
Exhausted.
Pouring mana into one's body to enhance physical capabilities was not special for magicians with its initial purpose, but with a little tweak in the technique, Valeria was able to apply it with a far-reaching effect on her body.
Her muscles.
Her tendons.
Her body.
But that was its biggest flaw with her technique.
Her magic pushed her body as far as it could go, but the human body was not designed for that.
Rapid breaths.
Excessive use would tear her body apart at the muscles.
With a grunt, blood poured out of her mouth as she glanced up with her vision blurry staring at the golem that was engaging Agent Holm.
She began to clench her fist.
Gritting her teeth, she wobbly stood using the vehicle next to her as support
Her legs were shaking as they felt like jelly as she balanced herself against a car door.
It was a heavy step, but it was the start of many that followed as she began jogging towards the golem.
She watched as the golem backhanded Agent Holm into a nearby building.
As the golem turned around to focus its attention on her, Valeria flipped under a swing from the golem as its weapon struck several of the parked cars.
The intense heat from the weapon as it passed her face by mere inches caused her to wince and lose her balance as she rolled across the floor with a grunt.
She quickly picked herself up, with blood pouring from the right side of her head.
(I can't let up now.)
It started with a single step.
Then another.
A light jog now.
Valeria was now sprinting towards the golem.
The golem swung its weapon horizontally, which Valeria had duck under.
A clench of her fist
A yell.
A heavy stomp with her left foot forward that slid across the ground.
A swing with her right fist as the markings began to flicker on her arm.
“Brachium dextrum: tertia unda" (Latin transl. Right Arm: Third Wave)
The last marking on her arm had lit up.
Her magic-enhanced fist collided with the golem's stomach with a loud noise.
A clean punch that broke through the golem’s stomach.
Silence.
Neither of the two moved.
Her heavy breaths broke through the silence, which was soon broken by a faint groan from the golem, which caused Valeria to glance up.
Suddenly the cracks upon the golem began to glow brighter.
Heat.
A searing pain that engulfed her arm caused her to let out a pained grunt as molten liquid began to pour on her arm.
Valeria let out a loud scream before grunting as she raised her left foot on the golem leg in an attempt to free herself, but to no avail.
Her concentration was quickly broken as a large shadow loomed over her as the golem, partially blocking the sun in the sky.
The markings on her arm began to glow brighter.
As she closed her eyes, a soft exhale escaped her lips.
It would be just for an instant….
All of the markings on her right arm began to glow, engulfing her arm.
She slid her right foot across the ground and placed her left fingers on her right shoulder.
It would be just for an instant…
That is what she was hoping for.
That was her thought as she gritted her teeth as she gripped her shoulder.
The golem swung its arm down upon the woman.
[Brachium dextrum: finalis fluctus] (Latin translation. Right arm: Final wave.)
It was a loud noise that rang out, followed by the sound of squelching.
Blood.
Her left arm exploded into nothing but a mass of blood that splattered on car windows and upon the ground.
The shockwave caused by the sudden destruction of her arm opened a large portion of the golem’s chest, revealing the empty void inside.
An object.
It flashed brightly within the golem’s body, but through the blurriness of her vision, she was able to see it.
The sigil.
It was on a small portion of the wall that had the sigil carved into it.
A soft exhale.
What she was after.
Her legs were the first to give out.
What she was sent here to destroy.
She raised her right hand as she started to fall back.
The sigil.
Right in front of her.
The sigil.
So close and yet….
That damn sigil.
…So far away.
Her vision of the golem kept appearing further and further from her.
Her face winced as she began to focus, causing blood to pour out of her nose.
If she destroyed that sigil, then all of this would be over.
Through her fading vision, she could see the marking on her left arm began to flicker on and off before-
The white clouds in the blue sky.
THUD!!!
A loud sound echoed out on the street as her body and the back of her head hit the ground.
Silence.
Valeria laid motionless on the ground.
Her slightly opened eyes peeked through her messy bangs.
Blood poured out from her nose and mouth, spilling out onto the street by her head.
Faint, shallow, pained breaths could be heard wheezing from her mouth.
The golem watched on before-
A faint noise rang out, like something ripping through the air.
The sigil.
A bullet.
A hole appeared on the center of the exposed sigil, causing cracks to spread out at the center.
The sigil started to break apart.
On the roof of an eight-story apartment building several blocks away, a woman dressed in black tactical gear, kneeling over the rooftop ledges.
In her hands was an all-black, suppressed high caliber sniper rifle.
Watching the sigil break apart, the female pulled her head from the scope, grabbing her radio.
[Hit on target, I repeat, confirmed hit on target!]
A voice spoke out on the radio as Agent Holm's right shoulder slammed into a nearby car as she used it to steady herself.
A groan came from the golem's mouth as it stumbled back several steps.
The golem moved its right hand to touch its stomach; before it did, its fingers began to fall apart.
Another step back.
The golem stared at both arms as they followed suit, falling onto the floor.
Its chest began to break apart.
Of both its legs, the first to collapse was the right, causing the golem to fall to its left knee.
The bright white sockets that made up its eyes began to dim.
The orange molten cracks faded out across the golem before the rocks that made up its body crumbled onto the floor like building blocks.
With heavy breaths and a bloodied arm, Agent Holm reached for the radio.
“10-4, that is a copy. Requesting EMS, we have one badly injured, Agent Holm said through pained breaths as she let the radio and arm fall to her side.
Queens.
Small, scattered pieces of trash and leaves began to part on the ground, burning in the air before igniting in flames.
Through the silence, there was a faint sound of buzzing that came from the lightning golem as it walked, inching closer to the hole in the wall that Aurelius blasted into.
Silence.
Suddenly, a swarm of black birds rushed from the hole in the wall.
The lightning golem remained unfazed as the courtyard was covered with black birds.
Courtyard.
Benches.
Rooftop ledges.
Tree branches.
All are staring at the golem.
The sound of glass being crushed under a heavy bootstep could be heard as Aurelius stepped out from the hole in the wall.
A heavy breeze of wind broke the silence before-
Aurelius braced himself for the golem's next attack.
One spell.
That was the plan, but implementing that plan would be a different matter altogether.
Spark started to surround the golem.
All he needed to do was create an opening, and one of these spells would do it.
Without eyes on the golem aurelius could feel the golem staring at him.
There was a ringing noise as the golem head began to glow.
Aurelius raised his left forearm, causing two birds to circle around his arm, before pointing two of his fingers at the golem, causing two of the three birds to dart towards the golem.
A beam of lightning shot out from the golem’s head towards Aurelius.
The two birds flew in front of the beam.
As they did, a voice could be heard speaking from inside the birds.
[Star Vector Twilight Shield!] Aurelius shouted out.
With the birds spiraling downwards against each other, a faint yellow star shield appeared before both before quickly expanding out.
BOOOOMM!!!
There was a loud noise as the lightning hit the two shields as the shockwave destroyed the glass windows of several of the buildings in the courtyard.
A quick simple spell, but without its incantation it was weak and feeble, which shattered against the blast of lightning and released a gust of smoke.
There was a light sound as two voice recorders that were inside the two birds fell upon the ground.
Just for a few seconds-an opening.
One that allowed him to prepare and make his next move.
His plan: quick spells without incantations through voice recording on the small radios within the birds in rapid succession of one another that would create a small opening to get off a spell with a full incantation, one that could create an opening to destroy the golem and sigil.
Offset the golem attacks and counterattack.
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Aurelius swiped his right index and middle fingers downward with a faint red line trailing behind before swiping a line under the red line.
Several birds with red collars began flying downwards to the golem, slowly circling the golem.
The golem did not react as it just hovered there.
Small orange particles began to flake off from the collars of the birds as they began to ignite in flames.
The birds transformed into two fireballs that struck the golem, causing a small explosion that was followed by the flames that began to swirl around the golem.
A fire tornado.
At first it was a few seconds of the sound of raging flames before-
Several beams of lightning broke through the flames in the cardinal directions, striking several buildings as it spun around in a 360-degree motion.
As the beam got closer to him, he slammed his palm onto the ground, which was followed by several of the birds swooping down through the ground.
[Rising sky pillar]
A thin pillar of rock emerged from the ground, underneath the golem, striking it, knocking it upwards.
Since the beam of lightning followed the angle of the golem body, if he could throw the golem off balance, the beams would follow suit.
Just a few inches.
That was how much the beam of lightning missed his head as he ducked under the beam.
The beams of lightning fizzled out as the golem straightened itself upwards like a wind-up doll.
Aurelius thrust his palm into the air.
Several of the birds began to converge at the spot behind him, merging together into a giant black mass, which slowly morphed into a giant black bird.
Now, with his various spells set, it was his chance to go on the offensive.
[Shadow embers…] Aurelius said with a grunt as several glowing markings illuminated on his left arm as a four point star crest appeared on his palm.
[Fallen twilight of the sun and moon….]
A step forward.
[Protection of where the sky intertwines with the earth…..]
Another step forward.
Four orbs of lightning floated behind the golem before rushing at Aurelius.
The giant bird stabbed its wings into the ground.
[Earth dome]
A giant wall of earth rose from the ground, acting as a shield against the four orbs of lightning, which easily ripped through the wall like shotgun bullets, striking several of the buildings, causing smoke to fill the courtyard.
Silence.
Breaking through the smoke, Aurelius began running towards the golem, holding out his hammer behind him.
The giant bird raised its wings into the air.
(NOW!)
[Blizzard flames]
[Sparks of enlightenment]
[Fire of hell judgement]
[Shattered space]
Through the voice recorders within the giant bird as various spells were initiated.
With his hammer in his right hand, Aurelius held up his left index and middle fingers in front of his face before placing them on his hammer.
The giant bird swung its wings forwards.
Small birds flew off its wings, crashing into Aurelius’s hammer.
A split second.
Lightning and fire flashed across the hammer as it began to glow as his hammer began to vibrate.
With a sigh, Aurelius closed his eyes.
Harden mana transformed the hammer into a rigid scythe.
Silence.
[….And what we hold out in prayers….]
His voice was calm as he kept reciting the incantation.
The golem raised its arms at its side before slowly pulling them together with its palms just a few short inches from each other.
A blue spark.
It started with a spark from the gap between its palms.
Another spark.
From the gap between its palms, sparks began to gather at the center.
Lightning.
A small blue orb of lightning started to form between the two palms.
[Star Pillar Formation Shield.] Aurelius shouted out.
A large beam of lightning shot from the orb towards Aurelius.
A loud yell from Aurelius as he thrust his left hand forward.
From the center of his palm, a small orb of light no bigger than a dollar coin appeared before it quickly expanded in size to a large sphere.
The large sphere shield surrounded his body as a star insignia wrapped around it.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!
A shockwave broke out in the courtyard as the lightning struck the shield with a loud noise.
Step.
Electrical sparks were sent flying in the air.
Step.
Step by step, Aurelius inched closer to the golem as sparks were flying in the air.
Even with a full incantation for his spell shielding him, it felt as if his arm would snap back trying to hold the spell up.
Gritting his teeth, he pressed forward, taking more steps.
Step.
Beads of sweat drop from his forehead.
Step.
The ground started to tear at his feet.
Step.
Small cracks started to appear on the shield.
Step.
The mental strain he forced upon himself to keep the shield up was nearly enough for him to pass out, but still—
Step.
Aurelius let out a yell as he thrust his left palm forward.
The lightning that bounced off the shield struck nearby buildings in the courtyard.
An instant.
BOOOOOOM!!.
There was a loud sound as the shield shattered, causing a distortion in space around them.
A bluish hue of light filled the courtyard.
Shards of the shield crashed into his face, causing him to wince.
Just an instant.
The golem.
Portions of its chest were broken, revealing the empty cavity inside.
An opening from the recoil of the explosion.
The sigil.
Pain.
The lightning cut into his left arm and right thigh.
Aurelius gritted his teeth.
He swung his left arm across, grabbing the handle of the hammer.
Through the pain, he started to swing his hammer.
He had to time this right.
He twisted his body.
[Time Dilation!]
Another spell.
With everything that he had, Aurelius shouted that out.
A large white sigil appeared on the ground of the courtyard.
Time.
His final trump card.
The one he bet everything on.
It felt heavy to move.
Just for an instant.
Their body movements slowed down considerably.
Sparks of lightning crashed into the area around him, but he paid no mind to it, only to what was in front of him.
The golem.
Centimeter by centimeter.
Inch by inch.
The axe moved closer to the golem's body, with Aurelius never taking his eyes off the golem’s head, even as it began to slowly glow.
Another attack.
The first one to strike is what it all came down to.
Outside the range of the sigil on the ground and time dilation spell, on the rooftop edges of several buildings that surrounded the courtyard were black birds with white collars.
A faint white light began to surround Aurelius’s body.
An instant.
Just for a couple of seconds.
One last spell.
One that took all the remaining birds to pull off.
Just for a couple of seconds.
That.
Was.
All.
That.
He.
Aurelius gritted his teeth.
His fingers tightly gripped the leather handle of his weapon.
He slid his left foot across the ground.
Needed.
A yell.
[Time Acceleration]
In unison, spoken from the birds on the rooftop ledges outside of the barrier spell.
White markings appeared on his body.
An instant.
Maybe even less.
With a distorted grunt, Aurelius swung his hammer. upwards with a wide swing.
There was a faint noise as the weapon struck the left midsection of the golem.
The axe, enhanced with the power of several spells stacked upon each other, cut deeply into the golem.
One strike.
Like cutting through butter.
Aurelius twisted his body, dragging the weapon upwards diagonally.
As the weapon traveled across the golem's chest, it began to glow various colors as the spells that had enhanced the axe started to take effect.
Fire and lightning had burst from the golem’s chest as the axe struck the sigil within its body.
A feeling, like the axe cutting something in half.
Something he could feel.
With a yell, Aurelius finished the rest of the swing from the left midsection to the right shoulder, cutting the golem in two.
There was a heavy breath from Aurelius as he watched the golem that was still affected by the time dilation slowly split apart.
Fire.
Lighting.
Even if the golem was still affected by the time dilation, lightning was still fast as it began to spread out.
Slowly, the rocks that made up the golem began to break apart.
His eyes widened as a white flash overtook the courtyard as the golem exploded with a loud noise.
Jamaica Bay
As if it was raining, water cascaded upon the ground with heavy droplets.
Camellia Lucia.
Something was different as she watched the battle between the two.
Right now, she was standing behind a pillar of ice, staring at the young girl who lowered her arms to her sides.
Aoi.
The girl seemed different.
Despite all the water pouring, Aoi was dry., unaffected by everything else around her.
There was a growl-like rumble that could be heard through the sound of heavy rainfall that came from behind Aoi as a creature loomed over her.
A beast.
Something from mythology.
Legend.
Something that should not exist, yet before her very eyes, it did.
A dragon.
The dragon bared its teeth as it stared at the golem with its slitted pupils.
Two large wooden antlers rested on its head as its faint blue mane rustled in the wind.
Its four feet slammed into the ground right beside Aoi, cracking the ice with its nails stabbing the platform.
Aoi stared at the golem.
“Qù.” (Chinese transl. Go)
It was a simple word in a cold, monotone voice that caused the dragon to let out a loud roar.
All the golems that surrounded Aoi on the ice platform began to raise their arms, pointing their fingers at the lone girl.
Without any warning, icicles shot out of their fingers.
The dragon lowered its head and quickly spun around her, shielding her from the barrage of ice.
Sweeping its tail outwards, the dragon struck each of the golems away, knocking them into the air.
There was a ringing noise as a blue orb of energy started to form as the dragon opened its mouth to swallow the orb.
A quick flash of light traveled through its body under its skin before-
Without warning, a beam of energy shot out of the dragon's mouth with a loud roar and a shockwave.
The beam hit the golems with ferocity, disintegrating them on contact.
The blue afternoon sky.
Silence.
Nothing.
Aoi stared at the empty sky at the remains of the destroyed golems.
(None of them had the sigil within them, which means….)
The hand made of ice had burst from the ice in an attempt to grab Aoi, who leaped back into the air.
As she did, she pointed her right index finger at the incoming palm, but her concentration was then broken.
Two other large hands emerged from the ice, one on her left and the other on her right.
As the two palms attempted to slam against each other, a faint blue light surrounded her feet.
Chi Energy.
Which she used to propel herself further upwards into the air.
Aoi brought her arm down, pointing her index and middle fingers at the golem.
Several hundred meters behind Aoi, the dragon blitzed past her towards the golem.
The dragon bit the golem's left shoulder, causing both to roll across the platform of ice.
As both creatures rolled across the platform, the golem struck the dragon’s face with its right fist, forcing the dragon to release its hold on the golem's shoulder.
The dragon uses its left hand to pin the golem's head on the icy ground. The dragon then raised its head to the sky, opening its mouth.
The scales on its body began to shimmer.
Just like before, from its mouth an orb of energy formed at the center.
A large icicle pierced the golem's chest through the back, nicking the dragon's neck, causing its head to flinch, pushing it right.
An orb of energy shot from the dragon’s mouth in the ice platform just inches from the golem’s head into the water below.
It was a few seconds of silence before—
An explosion.
The shockwave underwater from the explosion shot water up.
Expressionless, Aoi swung her right arm down, causing the water in the air to harden into small spikes and to quickly shoot down, stabbing the golem across its body.
Small pieces of the dragon’s body began to flake off before-
POOOF!
The dragon’s body exploded like a balloon.
What remained of the dragon was a small blue orb that floated to Aoi.
Aoi spun her arms in front of herself, forcing water to converge upon her open palms as a small blue orb rested at its center before clapping her hands shut.
Silence.
Aoi closed her eyes.
A quick blue light flashes across her body before-
Water had erupted from her hands, from her palms traveling up to her forearms, her back, which caused wings of water to sprout, her knees down to her toes, and the top of her head as horns appeared.
Amour.
From her closed palms, water quickly shot out towards the pinned golem, which caused the golem to raise its left hand to block the attack.
The incoming water froze on contact with the golem’s palm.
There was a quick flash of blue light from the encased ice before-
The golem's arm was destroyed along with its head.
Aoi then swung both her arms down diagonally, severing the golems legs below it knees before she raised her arms to the sky.
One severing cut, splitting the sigil that resided in its body.
That was all that she needed.
With a yell, she swung both her arms down.
As she did, the golem swung its fist down upon the ice platform, causing it to crack and shake violently, throwing Aoi off balance.
The golem then pushed the dragon off itself as it began to stand up.
Six large droplets of water began to spin around her right wrist as he swung her in front of her face.
Like bullets, the water droplets off her arm towards the golem.
The golem swung its weapon upwards to deflect the water orbs.
As it did, the orbs struck its right shoulder and arm, causing it to stumble back a few steps.
The golem used the momentum from the attack to swing the spiked mace down.
As the weapon struck the ground, large icicles emerged from the ground like spikes.
The icy ground cracked under her feet as she dashed towards the ice barrage.
She pulled her right hand back and let out a yell as she swung her fist forward.
A large shockwave broke out.
“I guess it is time for me to do my part.”
Through the sound of shockwaves and explosions, a meek voice spoke out that came from Camellia Lucia.
She stood facing away from the commotion behind her.
She closed her eyes, clapping her hands together.
Before her, on the icy ground, was a large blue sigil.
At the center of that sigil was a small dragon, faint blue in color.
”Hopefully this works.” Camellia said as her body began to glow.
BOOOOOOOOOM!
The icicle spike mace hit a wall of solid water, causing a shockwave that pushed both Aoi and the golem back across the ice platform.
As the golem stood up, ice began to surround its feet, creating a platform for it to stand on.
The golem stared at its weapon that was now broken from the impact.
Aoi watched as the golem attempted to stab what was left of the weapon in the water in front of itself.
Quickly.
Aoi lifted her right arm into the air, with her index finger pointing to the sky above.
Water.
The crux of her ability as a Crystal Guardian.
The generation of water without any limits, natural or manmade.
The ability to shape it however she sees fit.
And—
It was for an instant, maybe even less, but—
All the water in a 250-foot circular radius around Aoi was violently raised into the air.
The divine control and manipulation of it.
Leaving only the ice platform floating.
The broken weapon struck nothing but air as the water disappeared, before staring up at Aoi, who stared intensely back at the golem.
Aoi then swung her arm back down, which caused the water overhead to fall and circle around the ice platform violently, creating a sphere that enclosed both of them.
A white sigil appeared on the walls of the sphere behind Aoi.
From the sigil, the head of the small blue dragon emerged before Aoi waved her hands.
As the rest of the dragon’s body slipped through the sigil, excess water from the sphere began to converge on its body.
Aoi held out her right arm and closed her fist.
A roar broke through the converging water as it was blown away in all directions.
Thud!
A right hand.
Thud!
A left hand.
Thud!
A right foot.
Thud!
A left foot.
THUUUUUUD!!
A tail that slammed into the icy ground.
Blue in color with four wings that flinched as the dragon began to flex its muscles.
Blank white eyes that stared at the golem.
A new dragon.
One different in appearance.
Using its wings as they flapped down, creating a large whirlwind of wind, as it lifted its body off the ground. Flapping its wings again, the dragon flew towards the golem.
The golem attempted to thrust what remained of its broken weapon at the dragon’s head.
As it did, a dark blue sigil formed on its head before quickly expanding out.
FSSSSSSHHHHHH!!
The broken weapon hit a hexagonal shield, which caused the weapon to bounce off it.
Flames burst from the sigil, which surrounded its head before it struck the golem with a headbutt pushing it back.
A faint blue light enveloped Aoi’s body before she vanished, reappearing before the golem.
With a swing of her left arm upwards diagonally, that separated the golem’s legs from its ankles.
The golem stumbled before it was struck in the midsection by the dragon’s tail as it spun around.
The golem’s back bounced off an ice pillar as Aoi dragged her right palm across the ice as droplets trailed her fingers.
A simple swing of her right arm upwards that caused water spears to shoot from her palm towards the golem, striking it across its body.
Snap!
Aoi snapped her fingers.
The various lances are embedded within its body. exploded, blowing off the golem’s right arm and both legs.
Aoi placed her palms together, with her hands in opposite directions.
As she slowly pulled her palms apart, a stream of water followed as it stretched apart, which quickly hardened as she grabbed it with her right hand.
A lance.
With a grunt, Aoi threw the lance.
The lance struck the golem in the chest, causing it to fly back through several ice pillars before it fell onto the ground.
There was a loud roar as the dragon swooped down, crashing into the golem.
With both of its arms, the dragon pinned the golem to the ground.
Its four wings were raised into the air.
The dragon opened its mouth, which caused a black sigil to appear on the interior roof of the sphere.
From that sigil, four obsidian-colored pillars dropped, crashing into the ice around them.
Camellia Lucia.
She stood on an ice pillar several feet in the air with her cloak flapping heavily in the wind.
[Coffin burial of starlight]
Her voice broke through the wind as she, with both hands, brought her staff above her head.
Small red burning cracks started to appear on the four pillars.
The giant water sphere began to shrink in size as Aoi brought her palms together, passing through her.
[Vermillion ember chains.]
Chains had broken through the various pillars, striking the pillars.
Suddenly the size of the water sphere was enough to envelop the dragon, the golem, and the chained pillars.
The dragon bit the golem's head, holding it in place upon the ground.
Aoi closed her eyes as a soft exhale escaped her lips.
Flames burst from the pillars.
Crystal Guardian Technique.
Soul Overlay Convergence.
A blue light began to shine through the crack that started to appear on the dragon’s skin.
With the softness of her voice, Aoi spoke again.
“Qì lóng bào zàng” (Chinese transl. Air Dragon Explosion Burial.)
BOOOOOOOM!!!!!
A shockwave that released a large gust of wind, cracking the ice platform.
Within the shrinking water sphere, both the pillars and the dragon exploded in a white and red light, obliterating all that was contained by the water sphere before-
The shrinking sphere of water began to pull a massive amount of air towards itself.
Aoi pulled her palms apart, and with a flick of her right wrist, she snapped her fingers.
There was a loud noise from the sphere that faded out as the sphere shrank out of existence.
A single exhale from Aoi broke the silence as she watched on, lowering her arm at her side.
Silence.
Another breath.
Aoi closed her eyes.
Clear your mind.
Focus on everything and nothing—
In her mind was a mental visual of Earth.
The clouds.
The land.
The WATER.
Slowly, water in the air began to move.
Both at the same time.
Aoi raised her hands to the sky.
In that moment of serenity….
Lowering her arms, a vast amount of water started to surround Aoi as she pulled it from the air.
Let that feeling be the basis for which your powers exist.
A soft exhale.
”What are you doing?”
Carmella asked as she walked up behind Aoi.
"For a Crystal Guardian, there are two types of control we have over our elements. The first is we can manipulate the elements as they exist within an open space; the second is to create our own and manipulate that.”
The water in the air began to fill the massive pit around the ice platform.
”To replace the water that was lost earlier, the former method is preferred.”
“Wouldn't it be easier to just create water?”
“Our powers exist by ignoring the rules of the universe and operating on our own; any changes that a Crystal Guardian exerts on the universe cease to exist when a guardian's life also ceases.”
Slowly the area started to become dim.
This caused Carmella to glance up at the sky.
The sky.
In the sky was a large swirl of both clouds and water, almost similar to a waterspout.
“Pulling water from the air, it’s a trickier method to replenish the water lost, but this should do the trick.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Program Director.
Not a name.
Not an official title.
Sergei Ivanoff.
His eyes focus on the man in front of him, avoiding glancing to his right to see Anatoli Azarov leaning against the wall near the front door to his left to see what could only be described as a living female mannequin dressed in a maid outfit, with no facial features walking towards the table sat rested between to two men holding a small plate that held a white class cup.
“Without a doubt, on paper this entire plan of yours sounded great, but without proper precautions it was always doomed to fail.”
A voice spoke out from Nikolai Volkov as he leaned forward to grab a cup of tea on a small table in front of him.
“You raise them, indoctrinate them, and throw them out into the world and hope for the best results. If you truly, and I mean truly, wanted to see the best results, you should have kept them on a tighter leash.”
Nikolai held up his right index finger.
“Just one. It takes just one moment of realization for all this to come crashing down because people aren’t perfect creatures. Flawed….The Magic Association. Anyone working for or with this association is deemed a threat. A broad brush, too broad that it came with no designation from the government, so you operate off the record, outside the government—"
Sergei cut Nikolai off.
“I warned my colleagues, those fools, that in time, conflict was brewing and—“
Now it was Nikolai's turn to cut him off.
“And to circumvent that conflict, you elaborated this scheme.” Nikolai retorted.
Sergei remained silent for a few seconds, averting his eyes downward before-
“It is not the conflict that worries me…” His voice was soft as he spoke before speaking again. “It is what it will lead to.”
Sergei turned his eyes back to Nikolai.
“The Magic Association is growing both in power and influence as more countries join. I suspect that in a few years, most if not all of the countries in the world will be under this body of authority.”
Sergei stared at Nikolai in silence as if he was waiting for him to get an understanding of where he was coming from, to understand him.
After a few seconds of silence from Nikolai, Sergei spoke again.
“I can see that you don’t believe what I am saying either, that it is the insane ramblings of a senile old man.”
”Perhaps, but have you considered that this may be an overreaction on your part, considering you don’t know for certain what their plans may be.”
“And, you can say for certain that you would trust them? What would happen if they decide that this…” Sergei glanced over to the mannequin. "The magic you are using is wrong?”
Silence.
“Why not? They already have that power.”
Silence filled the room again.
“You give unilateral authority to a group; it always comes back in the worst way. Our government rejects them completely, but any justification that this organization would find would put them directly at or within our borders. If that is true, then we have no choice but to look at this as an invasion attempt and from there, war."
Sergei crossed his fingers in his lap.
”It is nothing against you or other individuals that can use magic; I don’t want to see my country ravaged by war, not again. I served during the last World War, saw the atrocities of those we call men, and every day that I did, I prayed that I was back home. Now that I am, I pray that the horrors of war never reach, and if that means I have to become a monster to stave off something worse, then I will gladly become that without a second thought.”
“One on hand you have a group who, by all definitions are persecuted in this country and in turn several members of this group conspire with another group, one that would stand up for them….” Nikolai started to speak, stirring the tea in his cup. “You on the other hand, fearing what this ‘help’ could entail, decided to purge this group from society.”
”Only those who conspired with The Magic Association, on those who conspired against this country. There cannot be two bodies of authority we abide by, our own or another’s, which is now authorized by several other countries.”
”Your issue is with the Magic Association. Since you are acting on your own accord, you won’t fight The Magic Association; you can’t; it’s not possible, so you go for what you can, mages that are within the country, but they are not foolish. Treated lower than second-class citizens, they’ll be the first to realize when they are being picked off.”
Placing the spoon on the table, he paused, staring at the dark liquid in the cup that, due to a light above him, had cast a reflection back at him.
“The more bodies you stack upon each other to keep The Magic Association at bay, the more you force them to rally behind their cause and seek them out for protection, which in turn creates an endless cycle, a stalemate, which despite the number of those you murdered, has not brought you closer to your desired goal unless….”
Nikolai took a sip from the cup.
”….you cut the source of this dissent at its very heart.”
Placing the cup on the table, Nikolai continued.
“Sometime ago, at a random get-together, nothing special, another head floated the idea of reaching out to The Magic Association and said that with enough voices, sooner or later someone from the outside would hear their cries. Naturally, I had declined.”
“Why?”
“Their issue was too much of a hassle.”
Sergei spoke.
“...Their? …the whole time you've been here, you only distanced yourself from them, from the other heads.”
Nikolai stared at the man.
“Is that so?” Nikolai sighed. “I thought I hid it better than that.”
Sergei never took his eyes off the man before he spoke in almost a whisper.
“The other heads, you don’t agree with them?”
”Not fundamentally, no. By birth I am a magician, but it is not the core of my being, and it is not something I built my wealth on or a comfortable lifestyle, even with the country against us, so I agree with you on principle, if I may, a proposition….”
Nikolai leaned forward in his seat.
“We work together to remove them and the idea of war completely.”
“!”
“!”
Sergei and Anatoli stared wide-eyed at the man, shocked by his statement.
“You want to work ... together ... you ... would turn on the others, your close associates. Why would you do that? What would be in it for you?”
“Hardly close, and regardless of who they may be, their end goal obviously causes turmoil, and the prospect of war would not do us any good.”
Blank.
That statement only caused Sergei to continue to stare at Nikolai, almost as if he was trying to fully comprehend what he was saying.
“I can see that you are apprehensive about my offer—”
Sergei had cut him off with two mumbled words.
“Again why?”
Some part of him was trying to understand.
“I like to live a comfortable life, one with my family and my wealth, a peaceful life, one without worry, and if that means a few bad apples have to be removed to achieve that, then that option should not be overlooked either.
“I have names, and you have the means to carry out this grand plan of yours.”
”Even if I agreed to that, to join forces, it would be meaningless now, if what you have said about the other being killed, it would be near impossible to gather
Nikolai, tilting his head back slightly, glanced at the ceiling in thought before-
“I don’t think that would be a problem.” Nikolai started to speak, turning his gaze to Anatoli, who only stared back at him.
Slowly Anatoli’s eyes widened in realization at what was being suggested by Nikolai.
Central Park
Time: 3:08:15 P.M
The sound of birds chirping filled the sky, contrasting against the empty, void, decaying black houses on the ground.
Without warning, a large explosion broke out destroying several of the houses as flames raged out before freezing solid.
Silence.
Slowly cracks started to appear on the ice.
There was a few muffled shockwaves within the ice that broke out before-
Alistair’s body broke through the ice, bouncing across the ground before hitting a black tree.
Several deep breaths as he rocked his body forward, staring at the hole in the broken ice.
Blood was dripping from the right side of his head with his red eyes peeking through his messy bangs.
With a deep exhale, Alistair lightly touched his chest.
A deep cut stained his white shirt in blood.
What broke his concentration was the sound of ice hitting the ground, turning his gaze back to the ice.
Anatoli Azarov.
(It would be one thing if it was just him; it would be one thing, but…….)
Alistair thought as he watched the man step out of the ice.
The Mage Killer.
Blood poured down the left side of his face and his upper body as his clothes were rustled, staring back at the teen.
Two large hands of ice within the hole of ice reached forward, gripping the ice outside, as the chains from the bracelets on its wrist began to shake.
Thud!
A right foot of molten orange rock crashed into the ground beside Anatoli.
A groan broke out from within the ice that echoed into the surrounding area.
The two hands gripped the ice tightly, causing it to crack.
The ice on top began to break and crumble, falling down onto the ground.
Something broke through the roof.
A head or-
What could be called a head.
Oval-shaped and black in color, absent of any facial features.
It's body in appearance.
The beast had the lightning golem’s head and upper body. Its floating arms that were separated from its body came from the ice golem, and its lower half came from the fire golem.
An amalgamation of all three beasts.
(This is another thing altogether.)
Great Chimera Beast