[Job] The Sunny Tower of No Return [Zack/Ayato]

"You can trust me." Ayato replied quite simply. If he had dealt with the strongest of the sets, he could deal with these guys, could he not? Ayato was far more confident as of now than he was against that particular opponent, so these fellows would be of no problem, whatsoever. Once they had gotten closer, Ayato prepared himself to use the rest of the shroud which surrounded him: Eternal Flame Mode. Instantly, Ayato launched himself towards the crowd, and burst through them like nothing. However, all he did was engulf them all in flames, leaving them fallen over; they were not defeated. In fact, two of them stood back up especially with ease. This was when Ayato's ultimate technique had worn out, and he was left to use pure melee against seven foes.

Ayato noticed that his magic was in an idle state, his spells locked for the meantime. This meant trouble now that Ayato thought about it further. He could not afford to lose. Not now. If he were to accept defeat, it would be against a fellow guild member during a much "friendlier time". This was not one of those moments. "This is when swordsmanship comes in play." Ayato remarked. The group ahead finally charged in, the two Mages with the seemingly highest willpower first. They were shrouded in sunlight, just as Ayato was in white flames recently. The first Mage launched himself towards Ayato, and forced him into melee combat. The enemy tried to draw Ayato into hand-to-hand combat, though Ayato tried to kill him off with his sword first. Ayato danced with his sword, and rapidly moved its blade horizontally and vertically in a rapid motion, finding a way to cut off the Mage's wrists so he would be defenseless to Ayato's final strike; a piercing through the heart. This worked, indeed, on the first Mage, though the second was right there all along to punch Ayato severely into a wall. The sunlight caused harsh burns to form over his chest, though thankfully, Ayato had his lineage for support. The wounds instantaneously healed, and Ayato stood back up again. He was still weakened, and unfortunately had to keep fighting. He could not allow Zack to interfere and get the credit. Ayato had to win this fight alone for once. Zack had the lacrima to take of, anyway.

It seemed that Ayato wanted to deal with these seven men solo without any assistance from Zack, including the idea he had in his head, and Zack would not interfere with that wish. What's more neither would Devon. She looked at Zack quizzically wondering what she should do. "Go find those who have been trapped...and get them out of there...then get Ayato out of here" Zack said and rose up above the lacrima. As he did so the black of his clothing began to fade to white, the white on his clothing darkened to black. The same went for his eyes. It was a strange sight. What's more his aura which had been a brigh brilliant blue faded to a dark purple and there was a look on his face that seemed to be that he was not the type to hold back in the slightest. As he rose up Devon had a worried expression on her face but flew off to do Zack's bidding anyway.

"It is time to bring this tower that has corrupted the art of sun worship to the ground." he said half to himself, but half to anyone who could still hear him. "And what better way to black out the sun then with Eclipse." He drew his sword and held it above his head. Magic energy began to focus into it slowly. The spell he had in mind to use was the signature spell of the celestial spirit king, the legendary meteor blade technique. However, he had only used this during his training in the celestial spirit world where things were a lot easier for Celestial Spirits. Out here in the real world it would be tougher to use so it would take time to prepare. Hopefully, enough time for Devon to complete her mission and Ayato to finish off his task. Zack was going to reduce this tower to rubble. "Let it all fall down to dust. Let punishment come to those who abuse the sun's power"

Magic:

Six enemies were left still approaching Ayato of the former seven. Ayato was struck against a wall by one of the most skillful already, though that enemy's friend had died by Ayato's hands. "Chapter Two: Devastation!" Ayato declared, his book and sword prepared to launch another series of white fireballs. Violently, the white fireballs rushed towards and pushed against the enemy's stomach; the one who had struck Ayato against a wall. The white fireballs struck the enemy against the wall, ironically, though the enemy would meet its end shortly after as Ayato was there to kick him off the tower. The two strongest competitors were now killed, and five more remained. Unfortunately, Ayato could not use the next spell in the set unless he wanted to commit suicide, considering he was below the top floor and that spell would just bring the tower down above him. "Welcome to the pain train!" Ayato joked after two of the seven were eliminated, his sword prepared to dance:

On the first opponent, swiftly and silently, Ayato slashed left to right with his sword, followed by an uppercut and full circle slash through the chest; the first of the remaining five down. After this, Ayato charged towards the second. Ayato slashed his sword right to left, then downwards by he followed with an uppercut and full circle spin; the second enemy down. He then went for the third. Ayato slashed downwards, then sideways in a full circle spin; the third enemy down. All that remained at this point were two enemies. Ayato slashed down the fourth enemy before he pierced into him, then used the sword to throw the enemy out of the tower, and down to die by impact against the ground. The fifth one charged, though Ayato dashed towards it in anticipation. An uppercut piercing was demonstrated through the chest of this remaining foe before he too was thrown off the tower. This was how swordsmanship became really impressive, for the blade was killer. Ayato was left only with several burns on his body, though they were immediately healed by his lineage again. "Next..." Ayato muttered.

Zack took a deep breath. He had to remain in control. He could hear the sounds of combat below. His mind ached to go and crush them for their misdeeds, for their misuse of the power of the sun. Eclipse mode was dangerous. Not so much for Zack, but for anyone around him. He became a lot more ruthless and less likely to hold back. He was also more likely to attack in anger. The only thing that was stopping him was that he knew that breaking the lacrima would free people of its hypnosis and thus the innocent would be spared. He didn't like using Eclipse Mode, but it had its uses and as the Celestial Spirit King had told him. "Sometimes to do good you have to be the bad guy." It was strange that the use of it caused him to appear purer, at least in terms of clothing. Though that was only because he wore black a lot. If he wore white then he would now be wearing black. However, wearing white reminded him of his former body, of his time under the Sky Emperor and for some reason it now made him uncomfortable. He wondered if it was to do with his true self. It wasn't exactly clear. The celestial king had not told him.

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Devon meanwhile was going through the tower, unlocking doors of prisoners who had not yet been infected by the curse and clamored for release when they knew someone was here to save them. Others who were under the influence, but not as heavily soon broke free of their bonds when she told them that the tower was going to be destroyed and that everything inside would be destroyed. Still she had not yet found the girl. She had to find them and then get Ayato out. That was her mission here. There was one more floor worth of prisoners to go.

Magic:

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"It's over." Ayato stated after the scene was finished. This was his first time Ayato actually killed on a mission, though he honestly had no choice. These people had no other intent but to kill him if he didn't do anything, and their power of sunlight burned overwhelmingly even by getting in various ranges of these people. It truly was a live or die situation. Thankfully, they were all gone. All that was left were the victims. Zack was still up above trying to destroy the Lacrima while Ayato was left alone to evacuate the tower, though what would be better? Would he just leave individually or rescue everyone first? This was beginning to get frustrating. Ayato just ran, and tried to find the daughter.

"Oh right! When I find her, she will probably act oddly just like the rest!" Ayato thought aloud. There were no doors in this tower, though it was obvious by shadows that people hid behind walls. All were eliminated except for the daughter and victims, who were all probably crowded in a single room. Ayato sprinted at full force around all floors, assuring the daughter could get out as soon as possible. Ayato pounded his fist against the wall periodically and identified himself occasionally to indicate that the aisles were safe. However, once Ayato had been cycling around for about five minutes, a wall suddenly opened, and a very odd looking girl appeared out of nowhere. She approached Ayato like a zombie, which frightened Ayato at first. This would be immoral, but Ayato figured he would have to hit the daughter hard to knock her out of her senses. "Wake up!" Ayato complained, slapping the daughter across the face. The daughter strangely dropped to the ground after, which confused the hell out of Ayato. "I found her!" Ayato yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing through the tower. This triggered the other victims to come out, though they were too easy. Ayato just ended up slapping them all until they were all on the ground. He hoped Devon or Zack would be here to help evacuate these unconscious people out of the tower. There were just too many to carry alone. Ayato started with the daughter, who was the most important to get out of the tower.

At the sound of the shouts Devon ran up and began to help evacuating the people. They were weak and weary, plus pretty much unconcious. However, until the lacrima was destroyed that was the best thing for them. It took a few trips, but eventually they were all out. She flew up as high as she dared and shouted out to Zack that the tower was evacuated. She had checked all the floors whilst taking people out and there was no-one there nor any presence of life.

Zack however did not need her words. He had sensed the flow of magic from the lacrima become strained as people got further away and now the tendrils all pointed away from the tower. Everyone was gone. It was time to begin. "METEOR FALL." he shouted and a dark purple aura surrounded his body. He swung his blade downwards twice striking the lacrima with his H rank strength being further enhanced by the meteor fall spell by a full 120%, essentially more than doubling it. The first strike caused barely a few cracks to form, but the second caused a lot more to form. He prepared for a third swing, but as he did he focused more magic. As he swung his blade glowed with vivid purple energy and s the blade hit the lacrima with all his might he roared out "METEOR BLADE" This caused a huge beam of purple energy erupted. It had a 15ft radius. The beam was S rank in power normally, but in eclipse mode it gained an extra B rank in damage. With the structure weakness of the tower caused by the fighting it was enough to make the tower begin to crumble. The lacrima on the other hand would of course be used to taking hefty magical inputs. However, that was why he had made sure to strike it twice to weaken it and to be sure to strike it with this third strike as well. As such it had been struck by H rank + 120% strength three times + the damage of the spell which caused it to not just be destroyed but reduced to dust, as was a lot of the tower. He looked over at Devon and Ayato.

"The tower will not be used for evil again." Zack said. His voice had a slightly harsher and also more echoed tone than normal. "These people have been released from its spell..." With that he dropped the Meteor Fall spell as it would no longer be needed, but did not deactive eclipse mode as there was little point when he knew it would run out soon. With no enemies around it was of no real threat providing neither of his allies challenged him to a fight. "It will take a while to get them to the nearest town. Its a shame we didn't bring the Saving Goddess...though that would of made us an obvious target and put the prisoners at risk."

Magic:

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Ayato was glad his hopes had come true. He was not the only one who needed to evacuate these people now that Devon was here to take care of her share. The daughter woke up shortly, and seemed back to her usual self, though crying. She was so youthful; it was unfair for the leader of this opposition to treat her like this. Ayato ran with the daughter in his arms as soon as he heard the tower crumble. He could hear Zack's voice echo down towards him. "We make a good team, huh?" Ayato confirmed in a very loud tone, trying to reach Zack while the ground below him towered down. There were so many issues that were dealt with so easily. It was always nice being involved in a task like this, actually. In the end, people surrounding the persons responsible were happy, and the rest of the day became so much better. Meanwhile, the others evacuated also woke up, and just like the daughter, had no idea what they were doing- they were clueless.

"Follow me. We need to return home." Ayato advised, "That is where you all want to go, right?" Ayato smirked, acting bright with all the people just as they were to him currently. He needed to brighten their mood so they could feel giddy once they all saw their loved ones. Unfortunately, Ayato and Zack were only assigned to bring the daughter back safely, while finding the rest were unnecessary. He sighed. It seemed as though all the rest of these people- other than Zack, Devon and the daughter- would need to be returned to where they came from. And so, Ayato traveled. He continued to proceed through the open pathways farther and farther from the tower until he finally came across a transportation post. There, he grabbed a communication lacrima, and ordered transport for all victims but the daughter to take home. The parents wished for Ayato and Zack to return to them personally with the daughter to assure her safety. Speaking of safety, Ayato respectfully waited for the transportation to come so these people would not be any more worried than their current state, and be content. The tower was probably completely down by now, evil ceased of its existence there, and Zack probably headed on his way to where Ayato was located. The arrival of the transportation was quick considering Ayato brought up the popular topic that was the Mystic Tower and its problem of victimizing random citizens, which strangely worked out well. Escorts came from all directions prepared to take the civilians home. "You..." Ayato pointed to the daughter, "We need to take you directly to Magnolia so we can meet your parents, okay?" The daughter simply nodded, though Ayato refused to order more transportation until Zack was here. He heard his words earlier, and wondered about his current state too.

Zack and Devon arrived shortly after Ayato had addressed the girl telling her that she needed to be taken home by them personally. As he arrived his Eclipse Mode faded away and his clothing, eyes and hair returned to their normal state. His magic power was also being compressed so that the sheer force of it didn't cause people to be crushed. That was one of the problems with being a H rank. You had the power, but that power, even for those who had been H rank for a while, was hard to control. A lot harder than S rank and the difference between how hard it was to compress A rank magic power compare to H rank was so great it was almost impossible to compare the two.

"Seems like we did a good job. With the tower down I doubt anyone will be bothered by it again anytime soon." Zack said as he himself ordered transportation. In order to make it so that they 100% got this girl home safely and her parents were 100% convinced that she was safe he had ordered a rather special transportation that arrived quite swiftly. It was a large flying battle ship known as the Saving Goddess, or Red Wing. It was the Blue Pegasus guild ship, but Zack had been put in charge of it as Captain when he reached H rank. So in a way he was a ninja, pirate, celestial spirit. It was a fairly impressive site and would get the girl home very quickly.

Zack grabbed the young girl gently and with a quick leap leapt aboard the ship. "Welcome to the Saving Goddess. Make yourself comfortable and we'll have you home soon" Once Ayato was on board they sailed off through the air to Magnolia and returned the girl to her grateful family. Their task was done and they had been very successful. Using the ship they were soon back at their own guild as well.

"Good job bud. We'll have to work together again soon"

[END]