The Count sneered at them, then flapped his wings three times before flying like a hawk toward the fire warrior with a strong hook. The fire warrior raised his arms to block the hit. He felt the speculum's power pulse along with his. When the vampire struck, he gritted his teeth as he was pushed back. The Count grabbed the red-clothed warrior's arms and spun him around, then tossed him across the hall and through the doors of the west corridor. The Count's ears twitched, sensing noises around him.
He growled, then quickly moved to the side as a black ball flew by him. He turned around and received a punch to the face by the brown-clothed warrior. The Count growled, feeling the effects of the punch. The reflective power of the creature and the boy's power were enough to move him and feel a sting. The armor protected him, mostly. However, if this fight continued, it would not end well for him.
Geo sent another quick jab, but the Count jumped back. After landing, he rushed at the warrior with sharpened claws and unleashed a flurry of strikes. The brown-clothed warrior quickly evaded, receiving a few cuts among the strikes. Quickly, the Count spotted the black-clothed warrior leaping from behind the brown-clothed warrior with a pair of glowing black sais. He moved away just before her attack. As soon as she landed, the girl blitzed and performed her adroit, Umbra Slash. The villain barely dodged the radiating double slash technique and only received a small cut; had he been slower, it might have caused more damage.
Although the mirror entity would have healed, he would not have allowed the continued abuse. He flapped his wings and moved through the air of the foyer before she could touch him. He flew around the large room while rapidly tossing silver spheres at the trio. Blaze burst through the west wing door before he was hit. He grimaced, turned around, jumped out from the hallway, and launched two 'Blazing Shots' at the fiend.
The villain stretched his energy-coated arm and reflected the two fireballs at the fire warrior. He dodged it and ran into the west hallway. He grabbed a hanging picture of a woman and then ran out to the balcony. He launched it at the flying vamp, then unleashed another fireball, prompting the vampire to repel the painting and the fireball. The Count retaliated by forming a large silver sphere before throwing it at them. The group evaded before it struck the ground. Geo summoned his war hammer as he rolled, then stood up as he watched the Count grab a piece of debris and throw it at him.
The rock warrior dodged, then jumped at the Count. The Count flew away before being hit, then kicked the teen away. The Count smirked, centering his eyes on Kali, who ran to Blaze on the west side of the balcony. The fire warrior glanced at him and stuck his tongue out while Kali glared at him as she joined the fire warrior in the west corridor. Angered at their actions, he flew after them. When he entered the corridor, he was hit by a statue of himself, causing him to somersault in midair and fall on his back.
He grumbled as he sat up, then quickly blocked a kick from the fire warrior. The Count jumped up to claw at him. The fire warrior quickly evaded, grunting at a few cuts he had received. Blaze ignited his fist on fire but canceled his adroit a second later, a detail the Count noticed. Then, to his surprise, Kali emerged from the door and threw a couch at him. He pivoted to the left, then raised his arms, creating a large energy ball. The duo ran as soon as he launched the sphere, then smashed one of the doors to swiftly enter a room. The energy ball burst at the end of the hallway, destroying the wall and revealing the outside world.
The Count scowled at the destroyed wall, but his expression shifted to surprise when the sky's color slowly turned silver. The pale man wondered why this was happening. Sensing his confusion, his armor shimmered to respond. It informed him the world was returning to what it once was due to people occupying the world. Once there are no more civilians, the dimension will become a silver-coated barren world.
"How? Wait, did she figure it out? NO!"
He moved to leave. However, his ears twitched, prompting him to turn around to block a hammer to his face by Geo's War Hammer. The Count hissed at being pushed back and the intensity of the eyes of the brown-clothed warrior. The doppelganger and the boy were in sync as he was.
"You're in my way! I must stop her!"
Geo answered by punching the fiend in the gut with 'Quake Fist.' The Count gagged, then staggered back as he felt pain. His doppelganger alerted him to stay away as it tried its best to counter Geo's and his speculum's combined power. Cracks started to form on the gauntlet, which made the rock warrior smirk. Seeing the smirk made the Count hiss, prompting him to move away. When he turned, he saw Kali leap at him with a radiating black open palm. He looked between the two warriors approaching him with their adroits, Shadow Palm and Stone Impact.
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He conjured more power in his hands, forcing his doppelganger to prepare for both attacks at once. He raises his arms, each glowing with the mirror entity's power, to block their attacks. When they struck, they tried to put more energy into their adroits. The Count did the same, but his replica was straining, trying to repel them. A shockwave manifested due to actions caused by the trio. He gritted his teeth as he added his mana to the counterpart, trying to counter the children. His eyes widened with realization. The girl and the child in brown were here, but where was the child in red?
The wall before him exploded, revealing the warrior in red barreling toward him with his fist radiating with red mana. The warrior in red thrust his fist forward.
"Crimson Knuckle!"
Blaze roared out as he struck the Count's chest with his non-elemental adroit. The Count could not defend himself from the surprise attack, and the doppelganger could not contend with three of its brethren attacking him at different angles at once. It was spreading its power thin, trying to persevere. The more the creature tried to reflect, the more strained it felt. Then its body started to crack, damaging it further. The Count noticed this and roared in anger. The Radiant yelled with determination as they poured more mana into their adroits. Then, the Count's doppelganger groaned and cracked further, forcing the entity to cease its power.
Leaving the Count vulnerable, the three adroits connected, causing an explosion and shattering the mirror into pieces. Out of the explosion came the Count, soaring through the air, his hands badly damaged and chest bruised and bloodied. He burst through a wall into another room until he crashed into a table, causing it to break under his weight. He lay on the floor, moaning in pain and coughing up blood.
"Damnit." He wheezed. "Beaten by children." He coughed as he weakly sat up. "Lower class children."
"It's over, Count Edgar," said Blaze.
The Radiant wearily entered the room through the hole in the wall. They seemed tired, with torn clothes and bleeding. Kali approached the Count, squatted down, and stared at him, which infuriated him.
"Continuously staring at those above you would warrant a fitting punishment."
The girl closed her eyes. "True, but look at your position. Surrender."
The Count growled as he turned his head away. "Having a girl like you dictate to me is very sickening. I refuse to be weak around you."
"Weak." said the shadow speculum.
Kali stood up as her mirror armor melted off her, then reformed into the silver faceless humanoid. The other two speculums followed its action and reformed to their normal appearances. Upon seeing their appearances, the Count was less than pleased.
"I lost because I am weak? Fate must be a joke since I lost."
"Relying on fate is a weakness." replied the fire speculum. "You stole the mana of the civilians to add to your power. The children proved to be stronger by combining their power with ours."
"If you did not obey them, I would have won!"
"Selen-ja requested us to aid them," said the terra speculum. "We listened because she is stronger. They beat you because we helped counter the reflective power of our leader... old leader. The old leader will be stripped of their title. Selen-ja's speculum is our leader, and the three of us will be the councilors to the new leader. At Selen-ja's request."
"You're listening to that woman..." He grumbled. "This is irritating."
Geo scoffed and looked around. "Hn, what do you want to do with him?"
The terra speculum turned its attention to the hallway. "Look behind you. The world is reforming to its original state."
The Radiant and the Count glanced at the hallway to see the wall's color slowly turning silver. This surprised them and made them move away as if it were poison.
"Woah." Blaze rubbed his eyes, trying to process what he was seeing. "This is weird."
"If we touch it, what would happen?" asked Geo, eying it with distrust.
"If access to this world is cut off and there is no one without a mirror on their person. Their bodies will break down, and their essence is lost."
Kali gasped. "Really?" She touched herself. "But."
"You all are here because of the civilians taken. As long as one civilian remains, you will be fine." said the shadow speculum. "But you need to leave."
"Don't need to tell us twice." Blaze turned around, feeling relieved. "Bring Ed."
Kali reached out to grab the pale man, but he smacked her hand away. "Don't touch me, woman."
The girl frowned deeply. "You need to be arrested."
"I don't want your filthy hands to touch me. I would rather die here."
Geo walked toward the window. "If he wants to die here, let him stay. Putting him in jail on the Hub and maybe sending him to Galvania might be asking for trouble."
Kali shook her head. "Perhaps, but..."
"Listen to boy," the Count glared at her. "He has more insight than you. I refuse to have someone like you to dictate me you-."
The pale man was interrupted when Blaze punched him across the face, rendering him unconscious. He grabbed the Count and flipped him over his shoulder. He looked around at the others. The speculums tilted their head with curiosity. Geo smiled at the action while Kali looked surprised. Her expression changed to a small smile as she stood up. "Thank you."
"I was anxious about what he would say next, so I clocked him." He narrowed his eyes. "You know."
She nodded. "Agreed." She exhaled softly. She briefly glanced through the hole, viewing the changing color moving toward them. "We need to leave now."
Blaze nodded as he stepped toward the window, watching the sky slowly turn silver. "Let's go." The fire warrior leaped out of the window with the Count in his arms.