The silver raven soared through the sky.

Taking wing above the Shattered Shaft, the raven rose up into the silent and empty, blue sky. And as the raven floated aloft upon non-existent wind, it spared not a thought for the massive, sub-oceanic, circular mine that stretched indefinitely down without end. A mine that was situated where once stood a massive monolithic structure, a structure that had been purged from the memory of the living a thousand years ago.

Crying out, the raven turned north and flapped its wings using the celestial energy that its one eyed master supplied it. The raven began flying with speeds beyond the limits of the physical world. As the raven flew north, it crossed the Sea of Shards, a sea filled with islands that were the only remnants of the landmass that had once been there a thousand years ago. Moving like a silver streak of light so high up in the sky that the world appeared practically miniature, the silver raven bearing the name Munin arrived at Geb.

Geb, a name of many meanings, a name of many things; a name for the world, a name for a continent, a name of an empire, yet in truth the source of the word was largely unknown. Where the name came from and who it referred to was lost to time, as far as the raven knew.

But the important thing was not the name itself, but the locations that it pertained to, for in the world of Geb, on the continent of Geb and in the heart of the empire that claimed the name Geb, stood the city of Albion.

Heading north over the land mass south of Albion, the silver raven or crow as it was sometimes called sailed over the city of Notos. The same city where alchemists fashioned trinkets and machines to bring about a better tomorrow than the day before, where homunculi are born and die, and philosopher stones shine bright both in creation and destruction. The raven passed by the city and began following the great road that linked the holy cities of the Empire of Geb, and finally the raven reached Albion’s outer gate.

The raven knew from its master that Albion was one of the most unique cities of the world, as the city was filled with seraphim, the half human/half angel hybrids born from an angel that appeared four hundred years ago, but that alone was not enough to make this city unique, not in the world of Geb nor any other worlds that may exist. Nor was its uniqueness born from the fact that the materials that constructed the city were created by using mana to enhance the metal and stone into their indestructible counter parts: manametal and manastone. Nor was its uniqueness born from the fact that what was not made from magic based on mana was created from the heavenly telesma which served as the power and blood of angels.The reason for Albion’s uniqueness lay in what was hidden below the surface image that the golden, heavenly city emitted for the world to see.

Yet caring for none of these facts, Munin turned its green eyes towards the towering pillars made from manastone, located in the north east of the city where a paladin of gray stalked with keen eyes an esper bearing decay, all the while celestial beings watched and waited for the war to come.

Grey perched on the side of a sheer building hundreds of metres high in the sky, his dull, gray, paladin armour barely gleaming in the cloudy afternoon sunlight. Yet even so there were many that had noticed him atop his perch. However no one paid him too much mind. For the sight of a man with his feet firmly placed on a vertical surface sitting hundreds of metres up in the air was one of the more mundane things that had occurred in this city.

Shifting his gaze from a passing flight of elemental guardsmen, all of whom were equipped with magically endowed armour that allowed them to fly through the sky free from the effects of gravity, Grey returned his blue eyes back to a man who had entered the city less than an hour ago. Yet despite this, the man had moved with the characteristics of one new to the city and one who was wondering aimlessly. Nevertheless he had refused to leave this particular area as if he knew that something bad would happen when he passed over one of the seven main roads of the outer city.

If one had the ability to fly and did indeed bother to fly high enough or if one simply looked at a map of the city, they would notice that the so-called outer city where the humans and other humanoid creatures lived had seven, main, large, golden roads that ran outwards from the inner city where the seraphim lived, shaped like a wheel with seven spokes. Grey could think of several reasons for not wanting to pass over the seven roads which acted as conduits for the magical power of angels that was transmitted out to the golden walls that surrounded Albion. Over half the reasons that came to Grey’s mind about the man’s behaviour were immediately discarded as implausible while those that remained were either trivial misunderstandings outsiders had about the nature of this city. While some of the other reasons were the ones that raised Grey’s hackles and left him with a random sense of dread.

The man that Grey had his eyes upon wasn’t a demon and even if he was a demon strong enough to endure inside the walls of Albion, then not only would the seraphim, but also the six paladin orders that had bases here in the city, descend on the demon the moment it stepped foot in Albion. Striking that thought through from his head, Grey contemplated the enigma before him and began to wonder what kind of beast had wandered into this city. While Grey was by no means a genius, he was still smart enough and at times mad enough to realise that the man before his eyes was something, even if he had never seen its like before.

Shifting his attention away from the shadowy man, Grey gazed at the shape of the Albion’s outer city as he contemplated what the man’s true nature was. Looking out at the expansive city, Grey stared at the various towering structures referred to as skyscrapers and couldn’t help but marvel that the impossible structures, which dotted the landscape including the one that Grey had anchored himself to using the soles of his feet, were able to exist.

Pondering over the city made from a sea of buildings and streets, Grey could feel the flow of telesma throughout the seven main roads of the outer city. Each of these roads acted like a river except that the telesma instead of flowing over land flowed through the material composing of the roads. To the north of the inner city, the first road extended dead north with each of the other roads situated roughly equidistant around the city. Going clockwise the districts or areas between the roads were numbered one through seven, with Grey’s current location inside the border of the second district.

Contemplating why this individual had wandered into the second district when the fourth district, the one covering the south side of the city, was the most open and freest part of the city, Grey tried to look south but from his position all he could see was the golden centre of Albion. Made from domes and glistening towers of beauty that truly reflected that it had been built by the descendents of angels, the centre of Albion glimmered with the holy light of Heaven.

Shifting his gaze back to the possible prey before him, Grey contemplated the illogical buildings that sprouted from amongst the city. Grey knew just like any other that lived in this city long enough, that the city was made on the backs of seraphim and their telesma infused materials. But Grey was also well aware that the mages had lent their own magic to forge matter into things like manametal and manastone. And yet as Grey’s eyes travelled around he couldn’t help but notice humans who bore weapons forged by alchemists, who wielded a power that didn’t originate in magic. While Grey truly didn’t care where such things came from so long as the world benefited, he saw no problem in using wizards and alchemists to create new and innovative things from their respective fields. However, many paladins believed that wizards and mages shouldn’t be allowed to use their magic here in this city filled with holy power, let alone the alchemists, and their alchemic energy, which used said energy to imitate espers.

Freezing, Grey realised that his absent chaotic mind had stumbled upon the answer to the question of what was the man that languished down amongst the streets of Albion. This potential spy had avoided the fourth district where the Alchemist Guild had its local headquarters, where espers were treated as respected and valuable beings, while simultaneously and secretly used as power sources and experimental material. The nature of the being before Grey was undeniably, in his mind, that of an esper who had come to spy on the city and to avoid detection, possible capture and experimentation. He had come to the northern side of the city even though he knew it wouldn’t yield the same result as if he had travelled to the southern side where most of the things that were esper related existed. Yet while Grey was underestimating the spy, he failed to realise that by travelling to an area rich in magic, a being that knew very little of mana based magic could if not learn then at least grasp some of the concepts involved.

Seeing the spy turn down a street and immediately stop causing faint disruption to the traffic of humans around him, Grey’s attention skyrocketed as the warning signs indicated that something had gone wrong for the invader. The spy turned shiftily and continued as if nothing had happened down a different road. Grey from his vantage point could tell the street, he had failed to go down, was filled with a sort of market and stalls filled with foodstuff, leaving the impression in Grey’s mind that this esper’s power might either adversely affect the food or cause it to blossom into new trees. Grey shifted his right foot slightly to the left making sure not to lose direct contact with the building he had glued himself to, so that he could jump from the building at a moment’s notice.

Once Grey had considered himself optimistic, but because of his past Grey viewed the world through a lens that stated if something could go wrong then it probably would. And in this moment as he surveyed the esper whose objective was still unknown, Grey couldn’t help but feel that the fact he had avoided the fruit on the market stalls signified that the esper’s power was rooted in decay. Grey also knew that given the right initiative this esper would unleash said power and drown the street with the smell of rotting, diseased and dying human flesh. With the thought of rotting and diseased flesh, Grey felt a certain memory stir in his mind, a memory that brought not anger or hatred but madness. Grey quickly stifled the memory so that he could concentrate on the target before him.

Whilst Grey had been looking inward and warding off old psychological scars, what he had feared had manifested in that the esper was now on a collision course with a trio of soldiers all armed with alchemic instruments. Whether the three would be able to detect the esper’s true nature was beyond Grey’s ability to determine, but from the stillness of the esper, Grey wasn’t going to be given the chance to see if they could. Kicking off of the towering construct of magically wrought substances, Grey’s right hand never left the grip of the giant, silver sword that hung sheathed on his back. Flying through the air, Grey knew he had over shot his target yet he had never intended to assassinate the esper, in fact Grey found assassination distasteful in the extreme sense, except when it came to that.

Shifting his focus, Grey settled his mind down. Finding a place inside him, a place where he was nothing but action, where emotions and thoughts of yesteryear and tomorrow would never breach his mind, Grey prepared himself to enter a battlefield against a foe who’s like he had never encountered before. Crashing into the building adjacent to the esper’s left hand side, Grey instead of crashing through it like a meteor or liquefying against the building like a dropped tomato, bounced and travelled even further down the street landing in-between the esper and the soldiers.

The esper who had been flexing his hand as if preparing to send some sort of power towards the soldier that impeded his way, jerked back startling the bystanders more than the man dropping from the cloudy sky. The soldiers had apparently failed to recognise the danger that was approaching them. Yet, seeing a paladin in gray armour drop down from the sky and a black fitted man further down the road jerk back, their wartime instincts came online alerting them that something was coming and it was going to be bad. The soldiers might have realised the danger that had descended on this one little street, but the citizens who flooded the streets were slow to realise they were standing in the midst of a battlefield. A battlefield filled with uncountable and uncaring variables that were progressing towards the annihilation of everything and everyone present.

“Esper,” roared Grey, his voice filled with a steely determination to ensure that this moment would not bring forth a tragedy. “In the name of Arthur Exaltia, King of the Seraphim, Emperor of Geb and Ruler of these Lands; Identify.”

Hearing Grey’s glacially calm roar, those that had been oblivious to their surroundings finally realised that they were in danger and hurriedly began to exit from the street leaving the three forces standing still on the roads waiting for someone or something to set them in motion. The esper instead of looking concerned that he had been discovered and cornered only appeared perplexed at the way the situation had transpired. Turning briefly, he looked south from where Grey had come from before resuming his idle study of Grey.

Up close, Grey could see that the esper was in fact showing his age with faint, white hairs appearing in his unkempt, long, black hair that hung around his head. While his travelling cloak had hidden it from afar, Grey could now see that the esper was wearing something akin to a black butler’s suit that had white highlights and a red tie hanging down the front of his clothes.

Following Grey’s eyes, the esper tore off his cloak using his right hand so that the cloth came to be floating in-between the paladin and the invader. Cursing, Grey went to draw his sword, when thin black tentacles like shadows pierced through the cloth and shot towards Grey. Caught wrong footed, Grey was half a beat too slow to completely dodge an attack that normally wouldn’t even be able to touch his after-image. Feeling it scrap across the left side of his face after the tip of the shadow pierced through his left eye, Grey felt a new dimension in pain, one not rooted in physical torture of flesh but in the decay of living nerves both in his eye and across the side of his face. Springing to the right, Grey opened up a clear line of sight for the soldiers behind him and the moment they had a clear shot they opened fire, releasing a horde of bullets towards the man who had destroyed the eye of the Gray Paladin.

The moment the bullets fired the wielder of the shadows smiled. The shadows covering his hands seemed to flow out, forming into a whip which spun around in front of the esper, turning all the bullets into dust upon colliding with the solid shadow. To all those observing the battle, the shadows, which covered and hung off of the esper darkening his already black suit, had a strangeness to them that made even those familiar with magic quiver.

Grey knew simply by feeling the effects done to the side of his head and by the earlier evidence that he had collected that the esper had a decay effect. Yet somehow, these shadows had a solid nature to them that gave all in the vicinity the belief that if one reached forth they could touch and hold the shadow, as if it was actually there, at least until their hands rotted away to nothing.

Covering the side of his face that had undergone the esper’s rotting power of decay, Grey stared with his right eye at the shadows, which oddly had a small rainbow haze at the edge of the shadow. This rainbow haze only appeared on the sides of the shadow and never seemed to actually cover the shadow creating a surreal, flowing, living, darkness adorned with a flowing sheath of rainbow light. Narrowing his remaining eye, Grey brought all his attention to attacking the esper to end this before someone lost their life. Regarding the shadow, Grey guessed instinctively that it somehow interacted with light which in turn allowed the shadow to attain a form of mass or existence. Realising this, Grey suspected that the esper was decaying light into matter, although how such a thing was possible was truly beyond his understanding of the laws of the world.

Knowing he would only have one shot at what he was planning, Grey sped forwards towards the esper with a speed that could be called superhuman. Just as he was about to draw his sword and cut the esper in half with a single stroke of his sword, a shadow intervened shooting over the left shoulder of the esper directly towards Grey’s unprotected right side. Still clutching his face with his armoured left hand, Grey smiled as his right hand came down even faster hitting the shadow away. Widening his eyes, the esper saw that Grey had abandoned his plan to draw his sword and had punched his shadow away with his gauntleted hand. However, the smile upon the esper’s lips didn’t waver as more shadows manifested from all across the left side of his body ready to pierce through the paladin that was attacking him.

Grey almost as quickly punched forward with his left hand straight into the esper’s face, or where it had been. Feeling a wind assault him along with a heat, Grey was sent skidding backwards, his two eyes wide with surprise. Standing there sharing equal surprise, the two mystic beings, one hailing from a power that warped and distorted reality based on concepts and aspects of reality, while the other stood at the forefront of magic linked to Heaven, stared at each other. To escape the attack, the esper had detonated the oxygen in various points in front of his body by forcing an exothermic decay, which had catapulted him back as well as sending Grey backwards. Yet while this had surprised Grey, what surprised the esper was the fact that the wound that he had inflicted on the paladin was completely healed as if nothing had happened to his face.

“Who are you?” inquired the Esper, his eyes betraying the interest that flowed through him, while his face remained steady.

Grey contemplated not answering, but the commotion the two had made practically ensured that reinforcements were heading here and by stalling him, Grey could allow the esper to fall into the trap that was this entire city.

“I believe that I asked you to identify yourself first, didn’t I?” asked Grey, his voice even keeled at the prospect that his stalling tactic would undoubtedly fall in upon itself.

However Grey was surprised by the response he got for instead of an attack he got a name and another question.

“The name of my ability is Shadow of Decay, and since most espers use their ability name as their actual name, that is the only name I have had for longer than you have lived,” said Shadow, his voice passive and relaxed, but hidden deep was a hatred and rage Grey knew wasn’t directed at him.

“How did you heal your face?” asked Shadow, his eyes scanning over the undamaged area as if checking for some form of deception.

Grey thought of several replies, some ranging from rude and derogatory to others that were long winded explanations, yet the one he chose in the end was somewhere in the middle.

“I used a heavenly circle sown into my clothing and healing magic,” said Grey, his answer short and decisive as he indicated towards the clothing he wore beneath his armour, which wasn’t apparently satisfying for Shadow.

“But how? There are no churches or priests nearby to support you with telesma and I detected nothing of the sort from you?” said Shadow, his eyes roving around as if searching for the source of Grey’s recovery.

Hearing this misconception, Grey had to chuckle simply because he had heard it from so many before and it was reassuring seeing that even the esper could get things wrong.

“You’re standing in a city with veins of golden telesma flowing beneath your feet and through the walls that encircle this city. This city is holy and just by standing here I can heal from nearly all manner of damage. As for my name it’s Grey, Grey Silverman.”

For the first time since the confrontation had begun, Grey saw Shadow’s jaw drop and unhidden or undisguised surprise was shown across his face.

“You’re the Paladin of Gray, the Gray Knight, the Mad Demon Hunter,” said Shadow, a light entering his eyes, something that Grey recognised from the few times he had looked into the mirror.

“Yes,” said Grey as his right hand once more went to the grip of the sword across his back.

The fact that Shadow was aware of his name and the various titles that he had built up over his short career as a paladin made Grey uncomfortable not because he was ashamed or embarrassed by his fame, but if he knew about such stories then it was altogether possible he had researched his potential opponents when he had decided to come here to Albion. As he felt Shadow’s eyes seem to linger over the blade that still rested in its sheath, Grey felt that he was in danger. Without any real warning, Shadow launched his hand forwards and shot out hundreds of darts in a hemisphere pattern to prevent Grey from escaping in any direction.

Finally pulling his sword free, his silver blade spun through the air cutting and destroying all the darts that dared to get too close. Stopping his blade from spinning, Grey reflexively went into a crouch, which could be used to advance or retreat at a moment’s notice. Yet Shadow didn’t follow through with his attack as he stared at the blade that Grey held slanted down towards the ground with his right arm drawn back as if he was about to begin a stabbing motion.

“So that’s it huh; Slaphmir, the Sword of Vengeance,” said Shadow, his eyes tracing across the blade as if it were a work of beauty, “forged by Edward Crowley, the first paladin and the Knight of Vengeance, with the help of the angel, Samael itself. Truly a work of beauty don’t you think?”

Grey didn’t even move as he heard the question directed at him. Not really caring for the question, he focused on nothing and yet was able to perceive practically anything that stood before him. As such Grey instantly became aware that Shadow was up to something that was different than before. While standing under a particular strong patch of sunlight that moved across the city, Shadow had activated his power and was sending it out into the place mostly devoid of light, allowing for his shadow ability to lose cohesion and become formless. Seeing this, Grey became instantly aware that if he fought Shadow in this condition, where light itself was scarce, then in all certainty he would die one way or another.

Just as Grey was preparing for another round of attacks, something was flung from behind Shadow and appeared in the air above him. Widening his eyes, Shadow looked at the grenade lobbed up above him and abandoned his attempt to attack and with a hidden force created a cocoon of shadows, which blocked and disintegrated the attack. Peering past Shadow, Grey saw that the soldiers that had been behind him had taken the side streets around their fight and had ambushed Shadow or they had at least tried to ambush him. Spinning in rage, Shadow launched javelin styled attacks towards those that had dared to attack him from behind.

Feeling time seem to slow, Grey saw that the javelins had a greater amount of rainbow haze around them than the previous shadows. Experiencing a sense of dread, Grey used his control over his angelic sword to resonant the power with his armour causing the armour to turn from a dull gray to majestic silver that mirrored the blade of the sword he held so loosely in his right hand. Moving at true superhuman speeds, Grey passed by Shadow in a blur of motion and managed to reach the soldiers before several of the javelins arrived. Using the blade forged for total and complete vengeance, regardless of what got in the way, Grey cut through the shadows to protect the lives of those whose names he didn’t even know.

However, of the ten lances that had been sent against the soldiers only seven were intercepted. Of the three that passed by Grey, one hit a target in the head, while a second javelin hit the same man in the chest. The third javelin passed by Grey so far away that even with his arm extended he wouldn’t have reached it, which was why the soldier who was directly behind and to the left of Grey was hit in his left hand.

Spinning, Grey witnessed the middle soldier’s final moments as his fleshed decayed so fast that his body seemed to disappear into gases and liquids. Visually, it seemed his flesh turned to soup which evaporated so quickly that it was barely there for any true given length of time. Leaving behind only bones, Grey shifted his gaze towards the soldier that had only been grazed in time to see everything below the soldier’s elbow turn to soup and fall off of his bones. Hissing, Grey did the only thing he could and cut off the soldier’s arm directly a centimetre above the current location of the putrefying decay. As the remanent of the arm fell away, the decay consumed what had been left of the severed arm yet failed to pass onto the rest of soldier’s body. Crying out the man grasped his severed limb and stopped the bleeding as best as he could before his fellow soldier came to his aid.

Hearing the muffled whimpering of the man who had lost his arm, Grey’s eyes burned and a desire sprung up from the very core of his soul. Turning towards the esper responsible for the death of one of his fellow humans and the loss of the soldier’s arm, Grey turned his burning eyes towards the esper who was smirking with a self satisfied smirk. Grey knew from experience that the reason one revealed their trump card was when one believed they had the upper hand or they were forced into a corner they couldn’t escape from, and based on the effect that Grey had seen, Shadow had never been close to being forced into a corner. The fact that the shadow had never dinted or decayed his armour told Grey that the shadow with the millimetre thick, rainbow haze could decay anything and everything it touched including light to give the shadow mass, however it couldn’t affect the magical structures or materials made from magic.

Yet as if to counter this argument, Grey could feel in his bones that the second type of shadow which had a thicker, rainbow haze of almost half a centimetre, could affect only a single, specific target, but as payoff the shadow could decay even magically indestructible materials that should never be able to decay, not even in the lifespan of gods. Shadow shifted where he stood and for the first time since the battle had begun Grey arrived at the concept that this man was something inhuman. Readying for the next attack, Grey crouched down ready to spring forth even though he knew that the sword that he wielded could very well crumble to dust under the esper’s attack.

Slapping his hands together, Shadow sent five vine-like tendrils towards Grey at phenomenal speeds, and since the haze was minimal Grey at least knew that he could counter the attack, but even so he refused to take the bait and waited for the attack to reach him. The moment before the vines came into striking distance, the ends opened up like a flower trying to bloom, revealing a second shadow inside the first. The moment that the second shadow touched the air an explosion occurred that roared with a howling gust of wind and fire.

Standing in front of the conflagration, Grey let Slaphmir sing as he cut through the explosion preventing the shockwave that was sent his way from reaching him or those behind him. However this didn’t prevent the shockwave from reaching Shadow himself, as when Grey looked up he could see that Shadow had extended square wing-like shapes which ended in square ‘teeth’. Catching the explosions shockwave with his shadow wings, Shadow was lifted up into the air like he was flying. Grinding his teeth, Grey tried to give chase and in the process saw how Shadow had achieved lift. Each of his shadow wings were acting like sails on a boat and had caught the explosion lifting him up into the air.

Seeing that they were safe to attack, Grey became a streak of silver light as he closed in on the airborne esper, hoping to cut his wings off of his body. Shadow was one step ahead of Grey, using his feet as the datum point Shadow activated a decay sequence that targeted water and carbon dioxide in the air turning the two substances into blue rocket flames that sent Shadow flying south from his position shooting over Grey’s head.

Spinning, Grey felt the burning desire to use the full power of the legendary blade he wielded regardless of the risk that it posed to his own physical and mental health. Giving chase towards the south, Grey heard the sound of reinforcements in the form of army men arriving to help their injured brethren, and from what Grey saw as he raced across the top of the buildings and dwellings, the Elemental Guard and their healers had also descended on the injured man.

Seeing Shadow land on the very building Grey had perched upon to observe the invader, Grey couldn’t help but wonder at the irony as Shadow turned his black coloured eyes to watch the Mad Paladin charge towards him. Running up the side of the building, Grey couldn’t help but notice that Shadow wasn’t actually standing on the building but had tendrils of shadow flowing out of his back to form a makeshift tentacle that held him perpendicular to the side of the building. Facing upwards, Grey turned murderous eyes towards the target he deemed needing to be eradicated, while Shadow looked down at the cumbersome being that had interfered with his plans and had then refused to die when he should have.

As the two warriors stood upon the side of the building, so far up in the air that they would normally die simply from hitting the ground if they were real humans, another set of bright green eyes watched the battle that was taking place in defiance of gravity. Jane Burnout smiled serenely as she saw the paladin race back and forth, up and down the side of the building as he battled the esper that had produced such an unusual flame. Taking up her oak staff superbly carved with runes to allow her to wield fire magic in new and unusual ways, Jane admired the magic which sustained the oak in a semi-living state so that it in turn could produce mana to sustain itself, before she dropped the staff.

As Jane dropped the staff from her hand, instead of falling and hitting the ground, the staff used the internal mana supplied from the oak wood, to levitate about half a metre from the ground. Jumping atop the staff, Jane sent mana through her feet into the staff allowing for a green flame to burst from the tip or top of the staff propelling it along like a rocket. Riding the staff like a board, Jane flew towards the pair who had somehow switched positions so that the paladin was the one looking down on the esper.

Smiling with glee at the prospect of tangling with the volatile duo, her red hair flapping in the wind as she flew up to a height that most people fear just by looking out a window, Jane prepared to use her fire magic which had earned her the name Burnout.

Grey twitched violently as he stood looking down at the esper who had still yet to reveal that he was exerting himself. The two had tangled, fought back and forth even swapping position on who was above the other, but Grey had this distinct feeling that the esper before him was toying with him, the way one toyed with a particularly dumb dog or cat. While Shadow had been tricky to battle when he had held the high ground, now that Grey looked down on Shadow, he couldn’t help but feel that the esper could fight in every condition imaginable and emerge victorious.

Charging down with his speed amplified by gravity, Grey prepared to attack without holding back his bloodthirsty rage. Seeing that the attack was meant to drive him back to the ground or out into the open sky where he couldn’t dodge an attack, Shadow instead chose to create a third option for himself. Using his slow but general shadow as a platform, Shadow created a flat cantilever that extended out from the building allowing him to maintain his foot work while also escaping from Grey’s attack.

Landing on the cantilever, Grey’s eyes sought out Shadow with a fervour that Shadow found somewhat amusing and somewhat threatening. Retreating out further, Shadow wearily kept his distance from Grey. Shadow in his long time battle experience knew that in any battle there was always a chance the enemy would produce a feat that could turn the table on him or even over turn the tables to such a degree that the term battle lost meaning for what was being described. And Grey fit that concept perfectly as the man had a look that suggested he was holding himself back from using a power that could change the nature of this battle from two equals smashing into each other, to a one way slaughter.

Denied the ability to use his general shadow to attack Grey, for all his power was being put into sustaining the cantilever, Shadow summoned forth his specialised shadows which would rot and decay even mana and telesma. Firing projectiles in the shape of icicles, Shadow prepared for his emergency strategy which would allow him to escape. The shrapnel of shadows that flew towards Grey was set to decay telesma and since all of his armour contained it, should the spikes strike him, Grey would lose the one thing keeping him alive.

Just before the spikes hit Grey, he ducked down and slid across the cantilever before regaining his feet to deliver a blow capable of cutting Shadow in half. Closing his eyes, Shadow smiled with joy at the fact that the man who stood before him was worthy of all his titles, even when holding back his trump card. Using the decay under his feet, Shadow shot up into the air above the building before landing dead centre in the middle of the roof of the skyscraper.

The cantilever shadow had disappeared from existence the moment he had shot up so Shadow had a deep desire to see if Grey had fallen or if he had somehow attained a purchase on the side of the building. Yet Shadow retained his central position of the circular roof so that should Grey burst forth, he would have a panoramic view to attack in any and all directions.

Grey’s breath seemed to leave him as he realised that he had lost the ground beneath his feet with almost no way of stopping himself from falling down from the sky into a giant crater caused by his own fall. Cursing that he had to resort to something like this, Grey was about to willingly discard something from his inventory so that he could use it as a stepping stone to either reach the building again or to jump up high enough to reach the roof of the building they were battling next to. However as he seemed to float in the sky high above his fellow man, Grey saw a stream of green fire skid through the sky. Knowing that allies had arrived even if they were mages, Grey activated Slaphmir.

The blade changed almost instantly. The length of the blade turned from majestic silver, which seemed to be made from liquid-yet-solid silver to glorious gold which shone as if filled with a heavenly light. In truth, the blade was filled with golden telesma drawn directly from Samael, the angel or more precisely the seraph who had been the first to murder his fellow kin, when Lucifer had rebelled. But the rub of this fact was that Samael for all his bloodstained deeds was on the side of Heaven, and still was til this very day.

Spinning like a top, Grey used the power drawn from Samael to become a fan or propeller that travelled up into the sky above Shadow. Feeling a deep, burning ache run through his body and mind as his vengeful nature tried to assert itself, Grey used the technique he had developed for such situations to prevent feedback from the holy sword over synchronising with his soul. Using his armour as a counter balance, Grey had found a way to use the two sets of incompatible heavenly artefacts to negate each other, creating something of a seesaw inside his mind, instead of the usual effect of having his heart, mind and soul being ripped in half. As a side effect of using this technique, Grey’s mana enriched, titanium armour changed so that it had the same golden radiance as the Slaphmir, mainly due to the excess amount of telesma flowing from the holy sword into Grey and from Grey into the armour.

Appearing over the horizon of the roof top that Shadow occupied, Grey shot into the air high above the roof with a southerly travel direction, or more appropriately a direction dead set on Grey killing Shadow. Falling down towards the roof top that Shadow stood atop, Grey saw the esper raise his hands and send his specialised shadows of decay towards Grey. Seeing the thousands of arrows flying up to meet him, Grey used his propeller trick once more to gain an extra speed boost so that he overshot both the arrows of decay and Shadow himself. Landing to the southernmost side of the roof, Shadow spun to keep Grey in his line of sight and as his eyes fell upon the Paladin of Gray, he saw that his armour was surrounded by a golden aura of stardust-like telesma that seemed to disintegrate out of Grey’s armour. Each of these tiny specks of telesma floating up into the sky gave Grey the appearance of the vengeful angel he drew his power from.

Changing his target of observation, Shadow looked at the only exposed body part, Grey’s head, and in the eyes that looked back, Shadow saw a burning madness, set in a face of frozen wrath. Raising his hand, Shadow summoned forth his specialised shadow, one set to decay the stuff of Heaven, telesma, the very thing that surrounded Grey and the very thing that flowed through his armour, sword and body. Shadow twisted his hand, making the shadow take the form of a 350 centimetre long, single edged sword. Grasping the hilt of the blade, which wasn’t included in the length of the sword, Shadow prepared to attack, when he saw that the flow of telesma particles around Grey had increased until a blizzard of golden snow swarmed around him.

Kicking off the ground, Grey shot towards Shadow with a speed that even the esper’s brain was unable to follow. Feeling a massive distortion to the shadow he had created, Shadow slowly swung his eyes around to look at the sawn off end of his sword. Feeling his throat go dry, Shadow turned around to see the golden being, standing some distance beyond, holding his sword down, and still in the final acts of a cutting swing.

Feeling a faint tremble run through his body, whether from fear or excitement not even Shadow’s centuries old heart could tell. Letting the construct in his hands dissipate into nothingness, Shadow was highly aware that the paladin had cut through his shadows, but the problem with this fact was that Shadow had set his power to decay the telesma that filled and overflowed from the blade.

In face of these two opposing facts, Shadow’s mind came to the only adequate conclusion, one being he had cut through the decay shadow with such speed that the decay hadn’t had time to affect the telesma, or that the sheer amount of particle telesma that flowed around Grey acted like a shield which had absorbed the shadow’s decay properties. Either way Shadow knew that one or even both methods could have been used to defeat his invincible shadows, yet this didn’t bring the sense of defeat that most people would be crushed under. Shadow instead felt exhilaration beyond what he had felt for most of his long, long life.

Spinning his shadows into barely visible threads, Shadow began to spin them around himself when he saw Grey turn. While Grey turning to look at him wasn’t a problem in and of itself, the look in Grey’s eyes and face not to mention his body language screamed ‘warning’ inside Shadow’s battle trained mind. Whirling around Shadow saw, standing upon an oak carved staff with runes decorating practically the entire upper length, Jane Burnout with a bow of fire pulled taunt, a crimson arrow of flame ready to pierce through him.

When Shadow had come to this city, he had researched and found out all manner of different things, from rumours of underground streets and brothels filled with dark creatures that had taken refuge and hidden themselves beneath the city to escape extermination to things like the legendary heroes and idols of the city. One of those had been the Gray Knight, Grey Silverman whose madness had been legendary especially for his youthful age and the small amount of time he had been active, another had been Jane Burnout.

Born and raised an orphan she had stolen for a living to keep herself alive, when one day she had managed to steal from the Elemental Master himself, the man who ruled over the Elemental Guard, Rin Hono. After stealing his purse, she had opened his purse that had been sealed with a spell that many of the higher up mages could barely complete let alone undo. Realising her potential, Jane had been accepted by Rin into the Elemental Guard where she had left her comrades and fellow students in her ashes. Jane’s proficiency with fire was why she had been given the name Burnout and as Shadow watched the red haired maiden with crystal, green eyes stand atop her staff while floating high up in the sky, all the while aiming an arrow of fire at him, Shadow was once again pleased that the stories that were told about her were real.

As Jane released her crimson fire arrow, Shadow was jerked back to the moment and with a curse he raised his specialised shadow to decay the mana based, fire magic. And that was exactly what Grey had been waiting for. Exploding forwards with a burst of golden dust, Grey swung his sword at the exposed back of Shadow with an otherworldly speed. The moment that Grey began the swing that would take Shadow’s life, a host of darkness burst from Shadow’s back that acted like a physical, solid column which Grey mostly managed to cut through.

Hearing Grey grind his teeth in frustration, Shadow swung his left hand backwards towards Grey’s face in an attempt to kill him by rotting his physical flesh. In response to this simple yet deadly attack, Grey sprung backwards to escape the range of the attack. Seeing Grey flee from his attack, Shadow’s eyes immediately sought out Jane who had risen her altitude up above that of the roof. Looking up at the big busted, nubile girl that had begun to use the mana found inside of her to spill forth anything from liquid flame to a cyclonic inferno, Shadow took the opportunity to look at what she was wearing. For unlike Grey Silverman, who was adorned in nothing but his titanium based magic armour, Jane only wore pants and boots made from mana altered materials to create a thick elastic silk-like substance that was highly durable and fire proof. While her ample bust was wrapped in what appeared to be bandages that encircled her body. These bandages were infused with mana creating an effect similar to papier-mâché, and while the look exposed practically all of her upper body, Shadow was aware that the girl before him was just as untouchable as the armoured Grey Silverman.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Feeling the air around him buzz, Shadow realised that Jane had begun her spell creating a swirling mist of flames, which had formed a ring of fire around her. And the fire was ever so slowly creeping towards him so that he would soon be consumed by fire, which, from observation, Shadow guessed to be well over a thousand degrees Kelvin. Shadow knew that only his specialised shadows could decay magic. As such the moment he attacked and destroyed the fire storm that was building around him, Grey would come charging in and this time he wouldn’t let a trick like using shadows as physical obstructions to work again.

Realising his inevitable fate should he stay on this roof, Shadow chose the option that his two opponents had, in their youth and inexperience, failed to foresee. Taking a deep breath to conserve oxygen, Shadow created a seed-like enclosing shadow around himself so that even when the fire entwined around his protective cocoon, Shadow remained untouched by heat or flame.

Watching from her lofty flying perch, Jane became increasingly aware that something had gone horribly wrong in that her target was untouched by the rampaging firestorm she had conjured. Clearing the fire down to about shoulder height on the paladin that leaked telesma into the atmosphere, Jane saw to her horror that the esper had enclosed himself inside a protective cocoon that looked like a seed from an oak tree.

While floating aimlessly above the roof top hundreds of metres in the air, Jane heard a faint click and in that instant she saw that the seed-like object had grown four crab-like legs, and was now running through the firestorm directly beneath her and away from the paladin. Turning so that she could cast her gaze southwards, she saw that the seed reached the edge of the building and propelled itself over the edge, its legs fading into a rainbow haze of light. At the base of the seed-like object, a fire not made from magic, yet one that shouldn’t naturally occur sprung into being creating thrust and sending the seed-ship flying over Albion’s vast cityscape.

From her vantage point above the shadow seed, Jane could see that the upper half above had disappeared and the seed was now in the shape of a ship-like object with a fire burning at the rear that was sending the ship flying forwards and away from Jane. Grimacing at the prospect of the chase and how serious the battle was shaping up to be, Jane dropped down and straddled her staff like witches falsely do in stories. Shooting off in chase of the seed-ship, Jane realised that even at her max speed all she could do was keep the same approximate distance between the two of them. This was mainly due to the fact Jane herself wasn’t aero dynamic enough to fly any faster to gain on the shadow construct. Seeing that she couldn’t catch up to the ship, Jane opted for Plan B. Letting loose without a single thought for the consequences, Jane unleashed an armada of fire arrows and fire balls and fire darts towards the fleeing esper. Standing up from his cockpit-like construct of decaying shadows, Shadow flung his right hand back towards the chasing figure of Jane and unleashed a massive roaring burst of darkness and decay which would consume all mana that it touched.

Watching as her fire armada was extinguished like a candle in the wind, Jane felt a rage burn through her that her work, her magic could be brushed aside so casually, and in her momentary spark of anger she failed to see a man adorned with golden armour run right past her. Letting her mouth drop open in surprise, Jane Burnout watched as Grey Silverman ran across the air like a golden comet on a collision course with the shadow seed-ship.

Both Jane and Shadow watched in amazement as Grey bore down on the latter with a rage that perfectly matched the heavenly radiance that he emitted. Taking particular heed to Grey’s usage of telesma, Jane saw that with each step of Grey’s foot, the foot would give out a burst of telesma so that it appeared he was running on solid ground, but in doing so he gave the appearance that he was running on golden dust that formed a footpath through the skies above Albion.

Catching up to Shadow, Grey reached a range that he reckoned would allow him to begin his attack, therefore with a slight shift of his grip on his sword Grey spun backwards so that his right hand travelled to the left side of his body. And as he completed his spin, Grey spun his sword up vertically from a downwards position creating a crescent moon shaped arc of telesma which raced towards Shadow.

Seeing the wave of telesma head towards him, Shadow chose once again not to fight but to retreat, and without a second thought he jumped over the edge of his shadow boat falling head first towards the warehouses and other such buildings which were now directly below Shadow’s current position. Just as Shadow cleared the ship but before the ship managed to dissipate, the golden wave of telesma cut the ship in half down its length. Seeing this and because of his attack, Grey was temporarily forced on to the wrong foot so that he didn’t see Shadow falling through the sky.

Hearing the roar of fire magic seek out its target, Grey looked back at the fire haired mage before following with his eyes the trail of crimson firelight that was heading towards the distant figure of Shadow. Watching in amazement, Grey saw Shadow create a scythe of darkness which cut through all of the fire magic that had been on its way to roast him alive. Feeling the wrath that had been on its way to settling rekindle, Grey stopped using his telesma to walk on air and dropped like a stone directly after Shadow.

Seeing the Mad Paladin falling towards him with his sword pointed towards Shadow like a human shaped spear, Shadow cast his decay power beneath him opening a hole in a building that was directly in his landing zone, and immediately afterwards he formed his shadows into a parachute. Yet even with these methods of slowing himself down, Shadow kept falling at a rate far too fast for someone to land on the ground. As such he kicked out his legs and ignited the air beneath them, creating artificial rockets on the soles of his feet which slowed him down enough that he gently fell into the darkness of the warehouse.

Cursing that Shadow was going to get away, Grey wanted to accelerate his fall, but he also knew that if he hit the ground at an odd angle then he could potentially deal himself quite a lot of damage which would allow Shadow an opportunity for a death blow. Falling like a wingless angel, Grey fell into the hole in the building headfirst before somersaulting and landing on his feet. Looking up, Grey felt the bottom of his stomach drop out, and for the first time since Shadow had killed those army men, Grey’s mind was doused, causing him to realise he had put a noose around his own neck. Stretched out all around Grey was nothing but darkness and a chilling emptiness that gave Grey the impression that there was truly nothing there.

Remembering back to when the battle against Shadow had commenced, Grey had the same realisation that the power Shadow brought against him only had physical form in the presence of light yet when in a place like this, where darkness engulfed the building’s interior, Grey knew he was dead. In fact, the only reason he wasn’t dead yet was because of the sunlight that streamed down like a column around him, yet Grey knew that the moment a cloud passed between him and the sun he would perish leaving nothing but dust behind.

Never even thinking about escaping out the way he came, Grey took his sword and plunged into the ground causing golden light to spill outwards to illuminate the darkness, yet as if on cue the clouds far above Grey’s head covered over the sky. Feeling the darkness encroach on him, Grey prepared for the worst as the silent darkness swarmed towards him.

Knowing that even the golden radiance of his sword wouldn’t be able to save him, Grey prepared his own escape strategy and hoped that it would work as the process was nothing but a theory he had concocted.

As death fell on him, Grey heard something land next to him and a buzz of energy filled the room and the decay that should have rotted him to nothing was repulsed. Looking up, Grey saw dozens if not hundreds of cards floating randomly around him forming a column and in-between each card was a flowing purple energy unlike anything Grey had ever seen before. Casting his head around, Grey saw his rescuer standing behind, and what’s more he recognised the person, at least by reputation.

Staring up at Edward Maw, Grey didn’t know whether to celebrate or curse his luck as rumour had it that the Maw Brothers were half seraphim and half demon, although the rumours never mentioned whether their father was a Daemon of Discord or a Demon of Hell.

Gazing at Edward Maw, Grey couldn’t help but notice the garb that Edward wore draped around him, all of which concealed his rumoured demonic features that had earned him the scorn and hatred of his seraphim brethren. Realising that Edward Maw was floating above the ground, his feet suspended 100cm above the earth, all the while standing atop an ominously glowing purple five pointed star with each of its points melding into a circle, with a card entombed in the joining point of the two different geometric shapes, Grey knew that the being before him was truly skilled in the use of magic and of the heavenly circles.

Shifting his gaze once again, Grey looked towards Edward Maw’s face which was half concealed beneath a black leather scarf that was drawn up to cover his mouth in a makeshift balaclava all to hide whatever disfigurement that lay beneath. Much like the rest of his tight fitting clothing, the edges were adorned with purple threads which seemed to form countless miniature circles that were normally used to channel telesma in heavenly and angelic magic.

Shifting slightly, Edward’s purple coloured eyes turned and looked at the congealed mass of darkness that would decay everything it touched as it bashed haphazardly against the barrier that he had set up to keep those inside alive.

Looking at the two entities that he was caught between, Grey waited for an indicator of whether he should enact his escape plan or stand and fight. The only problem in his mind was that Grey was no longer sure of which opponent was the more severe enemy. While caught in indecision, Grey wasn’t sure what to do however the issue was settled, before he could spring into action, by the arrival of the other Maw brother.

Falling down between the crouching paladin and his floating brother, Aleister Maw landed between the two all the while holding in his hands telesma, wrought guns capable of unloading pure bullets of the golden liquid that defied all the laws of nature and physics. Seeing the golden Aleister land before him, the tension that Grey had been feeling dissipated like mist in sunlight. Shifting his scrutiny to the other brother, Grey was further relived to see that the rumours about the older brother were just as true as the stories told about the more demonic brother.

Unlike his younger brother who seemed to be styled more in the direction of a demon especially with his black hair, clothing, cloak and his ominous purple glowing eyes, Aleister was all light with the characteristics of his seraphim mother standing strong. Adorned with golden eyes and hair, and flawless skin of marble-like smoothness that gave the gunslinger an otherworldly air, Aleister possessed a beauty as if he had sprung out of a romance legend. Watching Aleister, Grey couldn’t help but also compare him against those that are considered pure seraphim and how they held an even more unearthly air that betrayed their heavenly origin.

Pushing aside his analysis of the rumoured and controversial brothers, Grey drew his sword from the ground, but remained crouched on the ground waiting for what was to come next.

“Edward,” shouted Aleister as he raised his guns out towards the slowly flowing, tranquil decay that spun around the three who were kept safe inside the column of purple energy.

Hearing his brother’s roar, Edward used his power to open small holes in his shielding pillar, by cutting power between three cards that supported one of the hundreds if not thousands of triangles that made up the pillar. Seeing the pillar open up triangular holes, Grey tensed but by the time he had realised that the shield that held back the esper’s power was breached, a stream of golden meteors had poured out of the two guns that Aleister held aloft.

Each of these golden streams of telesma flew out of the safe zone and hit the darkness that waited to decay the flesh from bones. With each one striking their target, the darkness seemed to give off bursts of golden light as the telesma was swallowed and decayed. Yet in the same instant the darkness seemed to both speed up as well as weaken somehow. Although this was just the impression that Grey got as he watched the Maw Brothers at work.

Seeing the shadows of decay ebb and scatter fading from his awareness, Aleister lowered his guns, his face reflecting the confusion that he was feeling. Signalling to his brother, the purple energy barrier fell away leaving them all exposed. Yet Edward was not fool enough to completely disarm as the cards still floated in the air waiting to restore the barrier at a moment’s notice.

Unperturbed by his brother’s caution, Aleister scanned over the darkness before detecting the strongest source of decay. Finding the centre of the construct that kept the three of them at bay, Aleister’s right hand sprung up and fired off a lance-like beam of super-condensed telesma that glowed with such golden eminence that his comrades covered their eyes. Yet even with the power he had created distorting his vision, Aleister was keenly aware that the target that had caused the disturbance in the city was gone.

Shifting slightly, the three warriors stirred and looked around searching for their target and all arriving at the singularly same conclusion that Shadow had somehow fled. Dispelling his circular magic, Edward landed on his feet and bobbed his cloaked and covered head to give the impression that he was talking. Grey was aware that the two brothers were rumoured to be able to telepathically communicate with each other and concluded this was correct.

As Grey stood up making sure to keep both brothers in his eyesight at all times, he heard the distinctive roar of the red headed, big busted, Fire Mage fly overhead as if in pursuit of the esper. Hearing the same thing, Aleister and Edward shared a look between themselves and then Edward was off, his feet and body blurring into a black streak, moving at a speed that even impressed Grey, a speed the paladin knew was beyond his own maximum velocity.

With his brother’s disappearance, Aleister turned back to investigate how the esper’s innate world altering power had been maintained without the actual esper present. Walking over to the spot he had fired his telesma lance at, Aleister saw the probable cause for the minor impossibility.

While keenly aware that Grey was watching from a safe distance, Aleister picked up the object and turned around to show it to the Mad Paladin.

“Here we go,” said Aleister as he showed the device that still crackled with alchemic energy.

“What is it?” asked Grey as he edged closer.

The object looked like a small staff or stick with one end covered by a four edged spear-like pyramid, attached to which was a grip that could easily fit two human sized hands. While at the other end of the grip was a five sided, silver looking metal, nail-like head with a red stone embedded in the centre. This very stone was the thing that generated the alchemic energy discharges that still crackled, as if saying that the stave was still trying to complete its function.

“This is an alchemist’s stave,” said Aleister as he lifted it up to look it over, with golden eyes filled with curiosity. “This thing was maintaining the esper’s ability. Not that I know how. Oh John Smith’s going to love this. He’s always wanted one and this philosopher stone seems unstable which means it must have been used to power the esper ability.”

Hearing Aleister ramble on about the red stone which spat out random red sparks as Aleister kept turning it over and over in his hands as if looking for an off switch, Grey edged closer, his sword still agleam with golden radiance. Feeling the telesma infused weapon draw nearer, Aleister shifted his attention from the alchemic device in his hands to the telesma infused weapon that seemed to give off a vibe of nothing but destruction waiting to happen.

“I suggest that you stop synchronising with that. You of all people know what happens when you use that too much,” said Aleister as his eyes lingered over Slaphmir.

Glancing down at the blade in his hands, Grey seemed to heave a sigh, a sigh of one forced to let go of another person so that they both don’t tumble and fall to their deaths. After all, he too knew the fate of Edward Crowley. As the radiance left the blade, Grey’s mood seemed to improve as his eyes filled with some semblance of sanity.

“We’re still after Shadow right? I think we should get going then,” said Grey as his manner returned to normal, as well as observing Aleister’s affirmation of their mission.

Reaching an accord, the two warriors of the Empire of Geb, both of whom drew power from their angelic patrons, headed after the esper that dared to invade their most holy city.

Arriving at an amassed amount of people, all of whom had joined in on the manhunt for the esper brave enough or stupid enough to enter the city. Aleister moved through the crowd to see that Shadow was standing before what appeared to be one of the Elemental Guard’s magic transport mirrors that allowed access to the Mirror Gate System or the MGS. The Mirror Gate System was a magical system that allowed a mage and their companions to travel not only between mirrors but also to the Maze of Mirrors. The hidden location where the Elemental Guard had its library of mana based magical knowledge, which if rumours and legends were to be believed, could very well be inside the mirrors themselves.

And while Aleister could clearly see that Shadow had his back facing the mirror and was staring outwards as if a cornered rat, there was something in his stance that made Aleister feel that Shadow was waiting for something to emerge. Feeling Grey shift his attention from the esper to the mirror, Aleister felt impressed in spite of the fact that the Gray Knight had been giving off such murderous intent both toward him and his little brother.

Striding through the crowd of mages, alchemists, soldiers, paladins and seraphim, Aleister seemed to slide through them like water until he was standing in full view not only of Shadow but also of everyone else belonging to the various forces that had gathered to kill the intruder.

Seeing his brother to his right hidden and invisible inside the shadows, Aleister smiled and thought toward his brother in their unique, telepathic communication.

“Brother when you get the chance, ram a blade through him or cut the tendons in his legs,” said Aleister telepathically.

However as Aleister was about to enter into a dialogue with the esper, the plans of everyone gathered went awry. The mirror gate behind Shadow seemed to flex and distort. Watching with surprise, the mages present, including Jane Burnout, felt their mouths drop as the mirror started to glow, ripple and creak and break and yet remain fixed and undamaged.

Turning with a smile, Shadow bowed and went down on one knee as if bowing to a king, and although his back was unguarded none made a move to attack it. Hearing a cracking that seemed to exist both inside and outside of human hearing range, Aleister felt the same amazement as those gathered around him, when out of the mirror stepped a tall man with mirrors for eyes, and gently drifting, brown hair at the sudden hurricane of wind that seemed to be released from the mirror along with him.

Thinking perhaps that his eyes were magic objects, Aleister’s attention was more on trying to determine what magic had just been invoked, only for Grey to punch Aleister down as the intruder raised his left hand and sent a dimensional tear through the world outwards from his vertically aligned hand. Rolling to his feet, Aleister saw that both Grey and his brother had survived the attack, but some men and women were clutching paper thin cuts that ran through their bodies or trying to stem blood loss from severed limbs.

Before Aleister could comprehend what had been done, someone else had already jumped into the fray. Charging forwards, Grey seemed to spin like a fan before delivering a horizontal slash towards the mirror eyed man’s left hand side. Meeting the incoming attack with a smile, the attack wasn’t even blocked, instead the moment before it struck, the sword bounced back towards Grey’s face. Yet instead of having his head bisected, Grey had released his sword and performed a crouching kick towards the man’s feet. Ricocheting off of the man, Grey flew bowling ball style into the amassed soldiers behind him, sending them sprawling. This however opened up the area near the gate, letting all the mages present unleash a maelstrom of elemental destruction, along with mana bullets, all of which reflected or were redirected outwards towards his attackers like they were of no consequence.

Cursing, Aleister wanted to call a stop to the ineffectual attack, when the soldiers opened fire with bullets whose rebound seemed to be even stronger than their initial impact. Watching the allies around him suffer from indirect, friendly fire, Aleister spun forth a shell of telesma into a dome that encompassed both Shadow and the one whose very presence overturned the meaning of the warrior’s existence. As Aleister’s allies paused at the sudden appearance of the dome, a shadow flowed out and decayed the telesma sending it floating as golden dust up into the air, where it fell across the barrier between worlds to return to Heaven.

While still crouched down and kneeling, Shadow’s lips twisted into a smirk that betrayed his involvement in destroying the dome which was meant to contain the duo of espers.

“Milord Mirror did you achieve the objectives?” asked Shadow, a glint in his eyes stating that he already knew the answer.

Mirror upon hearing the question smiled, not because he had succeeded but because the alchemists that were still left standing had all gasped in horror and surprise at the realisation of whom they were fighting.

“Indeed, so I guess it’s time to return,” said Mirror as he walked forward and laid his right hand on top of Shadow’s head. The moment the two made contact a burst of silver light engulfed Shadow and made him disappear.

Aleister cursed as he realised that the esper named Mirror had just teleported his comrade away to some unknown location where they couldn’t follow, at least not any time soon. Glaring at Mirror, Aleister manifested his telesma guns only to realise that Mirror wasn’t fleeing instead he stood unruffled in the middle of the forces of the Empire of Geb, a sardonic smile upon his lips. Raising his hands, Mirror seemed to beckon to those that stood before him a sign saying to come and get him, while his eyes transmitted the message ‘if you dare’.

In response, a liquid fire flowed down from the sky and covered over Mirror while thousands of arrows made from mana shot towards the mass of liquid flame. Looking slightly annoyed at the intervention by another mage, Jane smiled none the less as her attack had been targeted towards the very air itself in an attempt to suffocate Mirror. Yet not a single moment later, Mirror appeared from the rampaging mass of fire, his mirror eyes laughing fearlessly at the fools that still stood before him.

Kicking off the ground, Grey charged in. While other soldiers also wielding various weapons made from manametal, alchemic glass, alchemic steel and even other telesma infused swords were used in an attempt to skewer Mirror where he stood. The moment the blades met his skin, they stopped as if they were pressed against an indestructible invisible wall. Glancing around at all the shocked faces, Mirror’s smile seemed to widen to the point that it split his face into two unequal, insane pieces. Flexing ever so slightly, Mirror sent all the men and women around him, Grey included, flying away without actually moving.

Narrowing his eyes, Aleister became aware that Mirror seemed to be holding his breath even while bearing the insane visage as if to prevent an indirect attack. Focusing, Aleister sent his telesma out into the air as golden, fine dust that would only be observed in rays of sunlight. Yet the moment the golden telesma dust was about to enter into Mirror’s mouth, the dust seemed to hit an invisible membrane that existed across all of his orifices. Realising that someone had taken the bait, Mirror stepped forwards and with a roar the earth rolled as a wave of force was sent through it. This in turn caused the ground beneath the feet of the defenders of the city to quiver, sending the defenders sprawling with the exception of Aleister, who was still standing. Aleister’s eyes locked with Mirror’s and as Mirror surveyed the one man left standing he seemed to arrive at a decision. Raising his right hand, Mirror gathered the light in the air to his hand and created a white, starry light that burned and waited to be shot at Aleister. Yet the light bullet wasn’t fired, instead Mirror spoke with a dreadful voice, filled with a desire to destroy.

“Seraphim take this message to Arthur Exaltia and tell him that I, the Mirror of Reality, will bring war to the Arthurian Empire and extinction to his misbegotten angelic bastards he calls a race.”

“The Arthurian Empire?” asked Aleister, his voice filled with a confusion he didn’t actually feel.

“Yes, the Arthurian Empire,” said Mirror, his voice distorting in mockery, just as Aleister had hoped. “Did you really think that those of us who live outside your puny empire call it the Empire of Geb? It does not deserve that name for it has conquered neither this continent nor this world. But my empire will. So take a message to your king, to your emperor and tell him to prepare, for his end is coming, as is yours-” said Mirror, his hand extended as he pointed at Aleister, however he wasn’t able to finish as he was interrupted by Edward Maw.

Shooting out of the shadows, Edward Maw attacked. He attacked with a single sided sword made from his unknown purple energy. The blade extended out of the back of a card that acted as the hilt of the sword, while a handle extended from the other side of the card.

Although none had seen or sensed Edward when he was merged with shadows and his surprise attack hadn’t been even hinted at, Mirror still caught the blade aimed at his temple using his left hand, all without even looking.

Releasing control of the light sphere, Mirror actually shifted as he punched Edward in the dead centre of his chest, causing the latter to fly through the air, burst through a wall, bounce twice off the floor and then become embedded in an imprint on the wall opposite of the one he had initially passed through.

“Edward,” cried Aleister as he saw his brother handled like a rag doll. Turning back to look at Mirror, the esper smiled and wiggled the fingers of his right hand at Aleister before vanishing in a burst of silver light.

With none realising that his left hand was gripped tightly together as if to hold something in.

Watching the esper that had thrown his brother around disappear, Aleister felt rage burn inside him that someone dared to raise his hands against his family. But seeing the wounded and injured all around him, Aleister reined in his rage and quickly ordered those still hale and whole to either heal or take care of those who weren’t, or to go and find someone to take care of those present.

Cursing that the fact that the supposed elite force that dwelt in this city had been one upped by a single esper, Aleister rounded on an alchemist who wasn’t healing or helping his fallen allies.

“You, you recognised that name,” said Aleister, his voice firm yet still filled with something that approached anger. “So tell me, just who was that?”

“That was Mirror of Reality, one of only a five Omega Classed Espers, those who have power not only over the physical phenomenon that naturally occur in this or any other world but also can control and manipulate magical powers,” said the alchemist, his eyes wide with fear at having been attacked by a creature that he considered legend.

“Is that why he was able to use the Mirror Gate?” asked Jane Burnout as she dropped to the ground next to Aleister after having eavesdropped on their conversation, along with everyone else in earshot.

Wordless, the alchemist could only nod his head in response, his tongue frozen in fear.

“So how do we kill him?” asked Grey as he approached, with Edward Maw slung across his shoulder like a bag of rice. Seeing his brother hanging limp, Aleister hurried over but once determining that his brother was only unconscious, he calmed down and nodded his thanks as he took his younger brother from the paladin.

“You can’t, didn’t you see that,” interjected another alchemist, this one undergoing treatment for some broken bone not a metre away from his tongue-tied companion. “He’s untouchable and since he’s an Omega Class Esper he will never ever age, he’ll live forever, and he’s the closest thing to a true immortal that’s ever been seen.”

Grey upon hearing this smiled and shook his head as if denying the words he had just heard.

“It doesn’t matter if he’s the closest thing to an immortal that you’ve ever seen. The pagan gods were said to be immortal and they died, dragons die, monsters die, and hell even angels die,” said Grey as he bent down to look the prone alchemist in the eyes. “If all these things can die, then I assure you that even this Mirror of Reality can perish, one way or another.”

Looking up at Grey, the alchemist was visibly shaken, not because Grey showed an insane visage that warped his ragged face into a nightmare mask hidden beneath wild brown hair, but because the rumoured and notorious Demon Hunter spoke with such an even tone. And because he spoke with such an even tone the rest of those present heard it, felt it, saw it. The madness of Grey Silverman bent not to mindless rampaging wrath but a cool steady tempo that would drive this man to feats that would rival the deeds of gods like Ymir and Thor, and acts of horror beyond even the Kings of Hell.

~~~

“Afterwards he simply vanished into the air in a silver burst of light,” said Aleister as he gave the report to his maternal grandfather, Arthur Exaltia, the king of the seraphim and emperor of Geb.

Hearing the murmurs of the surrounding officials and members of state that governed and ruled the Empire of Geb in the name of Arthur Exaltia, Aleister looked up to see his grandfather atop his Crystal Throne, with the mightiest holy sword, Excalibur sheathed in the back of the throne itself.

Despite being aware that the seraphim, who sat atop his throne which in turn was atop a raised dais, was his grandfather, Aleister was under no illusions that Arthur would decisively and even willingly sacrifice both him and his brother should they turn against him. Aleister knew that he was beautiful and even otherworldly to those that didn’t spend much time around seraphim or other divine creatures, yet when compared against the pure seraphim that stood throughout the circular throne room, he was simply mundane.

Seraphim, much like the seraph Zephaniah that had appeared four hundred years ago and fathered them, were all blessed with flawless visages that gave them smooth, crystal white skin that revealed nothing of the veins or muscles that lay beneath, golden hair and golden eyes that sparkled and shone even in the dimmest light. All of this together created an unearthly nature along with being blessed with strength, speed and endless longevity, making them almost ethereal.

Not for the first time, Aleister was aware that he in comparison was a cheap knock off, yet before his grandfather even other seraphim were mere dross specks of mould.

Watching his grandson with golden eyes that revealed nothing, Arthur seemed to listen to the report yet showed no emotion at the revelation that his empire was under attack. Whether this was just a product of his personality or his abnormal seraphim nature which made him so strong that he could be considered a pure seraph, none knew. Arthur’s power was mainly due to the fact that the amount of telesma that resided in Arthur’s body equalled or even exceeded the seraphs that created the seraphim race.

Standing before Arthur’s unmoving living statue-like form, Aleister was keenly aware that the eyes of all those that ran the empire’s many different factions were watching him with varying degrees of sympathy and suspicion. Aleister due to his compound nature of human, angel and demon had been under suspicion his whole life, a mere 20 years upon the world of Geb. Yet due to the fact he was more angel than anything else, he had been readily accepted until he had bound his fate to his brother who had been born three years his junior.

And while many had been willing to take the two of them as a package deal mainly just to keep Aleister’s impressive powers, others had seen his covering for his more demonic brother to be a betrayal of both his heritage and loyalty to his king. Though the paladins, especially the demon hunters, had called for his brother’s death or at the very least imprisonment, Arthur had simply kept his silence, leaving the two brothers who bore the name Maw to forge their own fate. For this Aleister felt a loyalty to the man who sat atop the throne before him, a loyalty born not from blood, but because he had earned it.

Scanning about the vast throne room, Aleister became aware once again of how large and impressive the space was. The throne room was built up so that the ceiling of the room was a dome which expanded upwards lost to incredible heights that would make humans spin simply at the prospect of going to the top. And the entirety of the room was made from gold filled with telesma, making a shining display that awed all who came into the room whether for the first time or any time thereafter.

Arthur’s dais covered the northern most quarter of the circular structure with Arthur’s throne sitting on the tip of the dais just under a crystal skylight which let sunlight illuminate the building and reflect its golden splendour. This position made Arthur who faced southward have his right hand on the western side of the building.

This aligned with the symbolism of Heaven wherein every archangel ruled over a different direction, with Michael, the Archangel of Fire, ruling over both the west and the right hand. Gabriel, the Archangel of Water and Ice, ruled over the north and the back, Raphael, the Archangel of Earth, ruled over the left hand and the east, and Uriel, the Archangel of Wind, ruled over the front and south. This thereby turned the entire dome into a heavenly space that allowed for angelic, circular magic to be used with minimal effort.

The dais was also high enough that Arthur’s feet would be roughly head height for an average human of six foot or 180cm depending on which measurement system was used. The floor of the building was made from a pure white marble-like material, all of which seemed to have golden dust ingrained in it as did the dais as it was made from the same material. Behind the Crystal Throne, that acted as a sheath for Excalibur, was an area hidden with white curtains as if they were walls, an area that Aleister suspected housed Arthur’s bed although, like all seraphim, he didn’t need to sleep.

Shifting to look at the scant handful of people present, Aleister made eye contact with the six preceptors of the Six Orders of the paladins, and the archbishop for the Church of Heaven or as it was more aptly named the Arthurian Church. The seven of them frowned at the fact that Aleister watched them with eyes filled with doubt. Some frowned, because they themselves viewed Aleister favourably, while others looked at Aleister with the wariness of a hunter seeing a new beast before them and not knowing whether to let the chance of conquest pass by.

Turning his gaze to face the others arrayed behind him, Aleister saw the master of the Elemental Guard, Rin Hono, was present. The master’s eyes and face filled with a comforting and reassuring smile which practically screamed out that he was on Aleister’s side, much to the annoyance of several paladins.

Looking beyond the collection of mages, Aleister saw a gaggle of lords and beyond them were the four people that caused his attention to wander from his report. The four generals, who each controlled and maintained the four armies of the Empire of Geb, each army situated in one of the cardinal directions of the compass, riveted his curiosity. Having just entered, the four drew looks not because they were late, but because the four carried enough power collectively to ignite and succeed in rebelling against those that they saw as hindrances. While each bore identical designs to their military, trench coat jackets and clothing, plus the insignias showing their rank, what was different were the colours of their attire, each possessing colour signifying from which direction their army originated, north, east, west or south.

Standing at the forefront of the generals, dressed with neat precision in his yellow clothing with black highlights, was John Smith. Of all the generals, he was the most powerful as not only did he have control of both the Alchemist Guild and the Southern Army he also had a lineage that made him a tri-factor of political power.

The Empire of Geb was divided into 51 different states or territories. Albion alone held dominance over one whole territory with the rest being given to nobles and their families. Forty-eight lords were chosen by Enoch the Warlord, the second king of the seraphim and the one, who had conquered half of the lands under the empire’s control. He had divided the lords into four groups with 12 lords ruling over each cardinal direction.

When Arthur succeeded his predecessor 200 years ago, he had expanded rapidly and with it so had the territories that the lords ruled over, however Arthur had also implemented the title of baron to two ancient lineages making a total of 50 noble families. Each baron governed over 24 other lords and since John Smith was the leader of the Smith Baron Family that ruled over the lords of the south and east, he had an incredible power base unchallenged by any non-magical being.

Following in John Smith’s wake was Mel Macht, who sloppily wore his blue and white highlighted uniform, and like John he had a noble lineage as a lord of the northern sector as well as being the general for the north. However unlike John, this man wasn’t held in high regard for when he waged war he did so purely from a cost/efficiency perspective that would see him spill the blood of hundreds of humans if he thought the objective was worth it.

Finally, the last two to enter were so wrapped up in mystery that even Aleister’s infamous nature paled to the complete enigma that was these two’s pasts. Argon Krieg stood proud and tall in his attire as the eastern general, bearing his green and purple uniform with a dignity that befitted a king. And next to him in deep discussion with the latter was the western general, whose uniform of red and silver complimented the deadly, almost hypnotic, form of Ivan Stein.

Shifting slightly at the arrival of the generals who commanded armies of humans, Arthur’s golden gaze shifted as he moved for the first time since the conference had occurred, and while many would assume that Arthur had shifted mainly for his own comfort, the truth was that only Argon Krieg and Ivan Stein held his attention. Saluting, the four generals came to a stop in front of the Crystal Throne, the Throne of Light as it was sometimes called. Looking amongst each other, the two experts on war stepped forwards to deliver their news neither appearing pleased with what they were going to say, at least on the surface of things.

To Aleister’s eyes, eyes that had seen the hidden meanings to gestures and whispers that occurred in the corners where no one was meant to hear, he could tell that Argon Krieg was thrilled to be going to war once again. While in Aleister’s eyes, Ivan’s face was a mask hiding the nothingness that dwelt within him, a coldness that reminded Aleister of the grave.

“It is as bad as we assume,” said Argon, his voice just as majestic as his presence. “The Wolfskard is home to thousands of werewolf clans like I have told you before, but it seems that in our negligence nine espers have taken control of them. They named themselves the Nine Esper Lords of Wolfskard, and this Mirror of Reality is their leader.”

Hearing the news, the assembled mass of dignities broke out into a murmur that was silenced simply by the flickering, dead gaze of Ivan Stein.

“This poses a significant threat to our nation,” said Ivan, his voice hollow and empty, filled with absolutely no emotion. “Mirror himself could stand against our combined might as he has already demonstrated. What’s more, the alchemist stave, the one Aleister Maw retrieved, the one that could imperfectly emulate an esper’s ability, suggests to me that they not only have the high ground of the Wolfskard mountains, the massive werewolf hordes and espers of varying power at their disposal, but also a level of technology to rival us both in alchemy and magic. If this progresses to a full on war, we might be more evenly matched than we care to admit.”

As Ivan finished speaking, Aleister felt something resembling shock pass through him, as he saw the respect Ivan felt for him in the brief glance the general sent towards the hybrid of demon and angel.

“What have the two of you come up with?” asked Arthur, his voice echoing throughout the great domed structure that he lived in.

Hearing their emperor speak, the two generals exchanged a smile, a smile like children who had been given free rein to make a cubbyhouse.

“We propose the creation of a specialist team that will be capable of handling difficult items and/or people that are innately dangerous to our empire,” said Argon.

“An assassin squad,” someone whispered in amongst the crowd, fearing to come forward and speak openly against the two heroes who had raised the armies of Geb up out of the muck and made them the titanic force they were today.

“No, that’s not what they will be,” said Ivan, his eyes taking on a glint that would have made death cower, in the opinion of any human present. “They will be a force sent into handle and deal with enemies that armies and magic can’t, not without causing massive destruction. Oh and when I decide to make an assassin squad only Arthur will know about it………Provided I haven’t already done so.”

Hearing the words that Ivan said many of those present seemed to shudder, not at the idea of an assassin squad but at the way he said it as if killing people was nothing more than talk about the weather.

“What do you have in mind?” asked Nexus Darkstar, the archbishop of the Arthurian Church that worshipped and served both Heaven and those that were descendant from them.

Hearing Nexus Darkstar speak up about a matter that didn’t involve the church caused Aleister and many others an amount of curiosity, due to the fact that Nexus was known for completely ignoring the material world. The way that Nexus had honed in on this topic made Aleister realise that perhaps the archbishop wasn’t as unobservant of the physical world as he led others to believe.

“As I have mentioned to your Majesty previously, there is someone, who I know that lives in the Wormwood forest, the forest that occupies most of our western border, who has extensive knowledge about both espers in general as well as in-depth knowledge of Mirror,” said Argon, his eyes seeming to flash as if the opportunity to draw this person in gave him a delighted feeling.

“If memory serves from our past meetings, she has declined every attempt to recruit her. Why would she join now?” asked Nexus, his eyes reflecting both his knowledge and curiosity.

Viewing Nexus’s nature and the fact that none present were surprised at his demeanour suggested to Aleister that perhaps he wasn’t as knowledgeable as he thought. While Aleister was engrossed in his study of the court politics and ferreting out the hidden secrets that the members were letting slip, Aleister failed to realise that he himself was going to be caught in the schemes of the two generals.

“True, she has indeed repeatedly turned us down, however this time she will join us. In fact, I think she will practically beg to be a part of this team if she gets to be the one to kill Mirror,” said Argon, his voice and eyes filled with a maniacal mischief.

“So the two have history,” said Rin Hono, his eyes searching to see where this conversation was heading.

“Yes, and to explain the situation to her and to ensure she believes those that tell her of Mirror’s involvement, I believe we should send the four most prominent opponents who battled both Mirror of Reality and Shadow of Decay, as we intend to keep them as part of this ‘team’,” said Ivan, his voice carrying all around the throne room. And once his words had sunk in, the eyes of everyone turned to look at one of the four who had been spoken of the most with regards to the recent incident.

Seeing and feeling the attention brought on him by the ploy of the Generals of the East and West, Aleister could only let out a non-coherent sound of surprise at the thought that he might be handed a task so important, especially one that would apparently range outside of the Empire of Geb itself.

Seeing the hybrid of demon and angel squirm under the scrutiny of the assembled might of the Empire of Geb, the two generals that ruled over the armies of Geb smiled covertly at each other; all the while their own inhuman natures were known only to Arthur Exaltia.

~~~

Arriving to his own throne room in a burst of silver light, Mirror of Reality smiled as he saw his fellow eight espers all gathered inside the Hall of Mirrors, meaning that the Nine Esper Lords of Wolfskard had gathered for what was to come next.

Striding up to his rather bland throne, Mirror sat down and looked at his fellow brethren all of whom were so mesmerised by the sheer indomitable will that he possessed that they failed to realise that his left hand was clenched together as if to hide something.

Looking at the espers standing before him, Mirror knew in the back of his mind that to judge another esper based on their power and level was incredibly rude, but to Mirror it was just one of those pesky rules that held no true meaning. Of the eight that stood before him, four were Alpha Class Espers including Shadow of Decay, three were beta class while one was a Gamma Class. And because of their natures, the espers had subconsciously aligned themselves into rows depicting their innate powers.

“Puppeteer, it appears that your devices work. They can sustain the existence of esper wrought phenomenon,” said Mirror, his voice even, yet somewhere inside his tone was a delight that the Puppeteer of Matter could detect.

“What would you have me do?” asked the Puppeteer, his slightly oriental features breaking into a smile that was in part due to Mirror’s praise, but also because one of his inventions had succeeded where those made by others had failed miserably.

“Make more, enough to arm the war chiefs of the werewolf clans,” said Mirror before switching his gaze to the Queen of Seduction. “Queen, I need you to go to the werewolves and to get them to go to war. Supply the clans with weapons and make sure they have everything that they need, including all the silver the mines can churn out. And should they feel disinclined to obey, then, change their minds.”

Bowing with an equal majesty as Mirror, Queen smiled, her eyes filled with hidden plots that would have made demons sweat blood in dread.

“Archer, can I count on you to acquire the amounts we need and to set up the traps we talked about?” asked Mirror. Taking heed of the question, Archer simply pulled out documents that showed without doubt that not only were the material requirements met, they were met and then exceeded even the best figures that could have been hoped for.

“Milord,” said Shadow, his form bobbing in a half bow as he spoke causing Mirror to turn to him swiftly. “Did you acquire the knowledge necessary from the Maze of Mirrors?” asked Shadow, even though his tone implied that there was no doubt about the answer.

“Yes, I found the documents, and enough of an understanding of the primary magic used in the Arthurian Empire to be able to control it like any other law that exists in reality. Tell the alchemist that he was right and once I have conquered all of Geb that he will have a high position amongst MY Empire,” said Mirror, leaving no doubt that when he said Geb he meant the world and not the continent.

Looking at Dimension Shift, Mirror flicked his hand and the esper disappeared across the immense distance to deliver the message.

Taking their compatriot leaving as a signal, the rest of the espers emptied out of the Hall of Mirrors and dispersed to spread the word of the war that was to come, as well as to ready all the creatures that had pledged to follow after their insane, immortal, indestructible leader.

Seeing that those that served him had left, Mirror uncurled his left hand and stared down at the shallow gash that ran across his palm. While Mirror’s power kept his blood from spilling out, the fact a wound existed was something he couldn’t deny.

Using his new found knowledge of magic to heal himself, Mirror smiled in joy that there existed worthy opponents out in the world even he couldn’t mirror.