The Hive (Solo/Job)

It would fly around before firing some weird black goo from its mouth? Or whatever it would shoot from, it looked like a mouth, so he was going to call it a mouth until otherwise was proven. Refusing to take the goo, he would roll to the side before jumping, Bound Iris placed out from his sheathe and into the air before he sliced down onto the enemy, sending it down from its wings first, two nice stabs and it was unable to fly, but it did flutter a lot with its nasty wings, and it did thrash around violently. His light brown eyes locked onto the road, despite all of the shaking, and so he would jump before activating Air Step, preventing him from falling down into whatever pit may lie down at the bottom of the hive. He did not care to know, much less fight his way out of it. With the steps that he made using Air Step, he would return back onto the road right next to Ignite, who justed was watching the scene, the insect still trying to flutter back into the game. It was persistent, and just seemed to slowly be falling. At this rate, it might actually get used to the broken wings and pose some sort of a threat to the mages. To prevent this, Ignite would place out both of her palms, a giant orange glow forming in front of it, starting off tiny at first, but it would grow by the second. After about ten seconds, the glow was the size of a head, and she would push forward, a giant beam of fire would fire from the once orange glow. Upon impact, the insect would screech mightily as it took major impact, and that impact was lasting for quite a while as well. Finally, it would go down in flames as it did not even try to fight its way back into the battle, and thus ending that battle. It was on fire, setting a few more of the insects below it on fire as well, hopefully that would help the mages that were a bit farther ahead if they have yet to meet those enemies. Time to continue, the both of them and a few others had a bit of catching up to do, and if they did not want to get left behind, they would have to move at a running pace before another giant beast comes out and tries to kill them, but only ends up distracting them and slowing them down as it will end up dead anyways. That was how confident that they are in their abilities. Time to scale through the hive and earn back their freedom! And so the Wind Slayer and the She Phoenix would continue charging.

54/100

Seeing Ignite now compared to her as just a Phoenix Bird made him smile. From the beginning, he remembered holding her when she was able to fit in the size of her palms. And he thought that he was the teacher, little did he know that the both of them shared the same personality. With that, they would be able understand each other, despite messing with each other so many times. She was never able to talk, but they were able to understand each other because of their movements. As she grew older, she then suddenly appeared as a human, and the awakening was definitely quite rude to say the least. For one thing, she thought she could fly, and she weighed the same as a strong mage for sure. So for her to jump suddenly onto him thinking she would end up landing on his head was a bad idea. Than again, it was probably best if she did not land on his head, because with her considered evolved body, she was not accustomed to clothing, so that was quite the interesting morning. They were able to figure it out once he placed on the most feminine clothes that he could provide for her, and it would have to do until she was able to buy clothes. She learned how to use fire for fighting, and not just guiding him. It was so perfect, she became a lot more versatile, and her English may have been a bit off at first, but now it smoothed out so well, she was fluent in the language. What more? Now she was beginning to develop her own tastes and personality, seeing her grow up from baby Phoenix Bird to She Phoenix made the night he found her more than worth it. He did wonder about her parents, where they were, and how they were, but it did not matter for now. The time will come around when Ignite will meet them, and that will be the day where he will be introduced. Maybe they would have some sort of society based on only Phoenix Birds and half human half phoenix beings like Ignite. If that were the case, Elyx might have trouble being able to tell which one was which, not only did he have to memorize the looks of what seemed like humans, but now he had to match names to not just those human looks, but to their Phoenix Bird form looks as well. Oh how much fun that would be. But regardless, Ignite has grown so well... It made him so proud. Ignite Rosella was able to lead a group of people, even if it was for a few days, it would be a few more than most people do get.

55/100

The next enemy was the same one as the last one, does this really have to get in the way of a good monologue? Oh well, for that, it was going to crash and burn like the previous one that had to face off against. Elyx would place both palms to the sides, one on the left and one on the right. Once that had been done, the air around his hand would begin to violently spin, showing that he was going to sign the contract that would inflict tons of damage for those on the receiving ending. Since they were on the same ground, the enemy could try to run them over like the last one had tried to do, because it will not work. The end result of trying something that stupid will not work against this final contract. And liked he had predicted, the insect would try to move at him, charging like a lawn mower before Elyx would charge right back at it. Ignite would go up from right behind him to assist him with the combo that they could do provided she jumped onto the scene. The Wind Slayer placed both of the palms against the head of the insect, the vibrations of the spheres shattering through the force of the speed and weight of the enemy. There was a reason why this was his signature spell, nothing could get through it without his permission, and he was using all of his energy to execute it. The enemy had no chance in the first place. Finally, the spheres would explode, causing the enemy to be launched into the air. The She Phoenix would jump onto Elyx from behind, using his head as a stepping stone before her body would twist a little bit to the side, so that her stomach would face the top while her back faced the ground. Her right palm swarmed with plenty of raging flames before she spun her body down onto the insect, the palm slamming the soft stomach of the insect. A nasty cracking sound could be heard upon contact, such a nasty beast. It was launched back down and slammed onto the road, rolling as it emitted a rather annoying and loud roar like it were some sort of beast of the wild. Oh wait... Regardless, it did not serve too much a threat, it would have done some damage to them by now if it did. Enemies that were similar to this, so clumsy and stupid, they would not even get a chance to catch their breathe. The Wind Slayer and She Phoenix were out for a victory, and they were going to satisfy themselves with it. The enemy was still surprisingly able to fight, but how long will it last was the question. Not for very long if the both of them had anything to say about it.

56/100

The beast just laid on the road, doing nothing except letting out what one could assume was a groan sort of sound. It was weird, but it had to be put to a stop regardless of its condition. It seemed tame, so the death will be a quick one for it. Placing his blade up into the air, he would extend his arm upwards before slicing down, cutting it in half from the stomach to make sure that it would not keep functioning anymore, and any eggs it might have had would reveal themselves and be taken care of in their current state rather than a fully prepared state. The Carrier did not have any though based on the looks of it, it just left a lot of nasty looking white liquid onto the road. Blood of the insect possibly? Just looking at it made his gag reflexes choke a little bit, it was not quite what he had expected from it in all honesty. Then again, blood was a part of war, but he did not expect it to be so white and nasty looking. It looked like a chemistry experiment when wrong there. Closing his eyes as he would wipe the blade on the road as much as he could, he would then have Ignite burn a bit of her fire onto it to get rid of the blood. Once that had been done, he would stand back up onto his feet, before placing his blade back into its sheathe. Placing his hands on his hips, he would let out a sigh of disappointment, what exactly was causing all of the trouble? No signal, yet the enemies were this easy to stomp on. Small pun possibly or possibly not intended. Regardless, maybe it was just due to the numbers, and ten was not enough. It must have been torture to constantly get stung by the bees over and over until you die. And if you somehow live in the end, the pain must be worse because one would have to endure that pain for a while. Elyx as a child was not a huge fan of bees, they were rather scary to him while he was so young, and he did not dare swat it away. Angering one would naturally cause him to get stung, and taking that bullet was not what he cared to do. And now, he was placing a sword through some huge ones while deflect thousands of the smaller ones that were clearly angry, and he just shrugged them off like they were nothing. Probably because to him, they were nothing now, it was funny how at the end of the day, he was the one with the power over them, and it felt great. It gave him a nice adrenaline boost to remember that version of him.

57/100

If there was one thing that he would like right now, it was a Celestial Spirit named Zack. And yet, he was not going to help them out with this... But just the thought of him cruising through the job like it was nothing made him smile. It was pretty easy to imagine being able to do that when he hit H rank. But in the meantime, having an H rank mage do the work for him sounded like a much better idea, and who better to do it than Zack?

There was one thing that Elyx finally learned about him though. The research was tough, and all of the reading caused him to show a few veins on his face popping out. Staying up just to understand what it meant, and though nothing was quite too clear, he was able to put the pieces together. Analyzing Zacks previous battles fought and his current magic used, he gave off many signs of it. Remembering his encounter with Aiyana, he learned that the Celestial Spirits can stay out in the real world for as long as they like if they had enough resistance. Another thing about Celestial Spirits, they had a king. The one that ruled all over them, such a powerful being he must be if he were able to look over both Zack, Aiyana, the Zodiacs, and the Chronicles at the same time. All of that while he was not even scratching the surface of what could be in the whole set. That’s right, Elyx confirmed a 13th Zodiac to exist, and that one is Zack. Not only was he a Celestial Spirit, but he was by far one of the strongest. He did not have a key however, so it was not like he could be summoned by a Celestial Spirit user whenever that user felt like it. That was Aiyana, and even then, she has the ability to deny the user of being summoned. The keys alone are a mystery, and the ones who are revealed in front of them are just out of this world, no pun intended.

Still though, Aiyana would be a nice help to the job whenever it was needed. Then again, if he were correct, she probably had some more owners who needed her more than he did when it comes to a job like this. Even if not, what if he were trying to call her while she was flirting with someone, what does he do then? Fortunately, he had some more keys to rely on, and only in his most desperate hour would he have to call her onto the battlefield for him. There was Virgo and Aludra, with their Celestial Fires helping him, they would take out many of the bees. Maybe he could do that next...

58/100

It was official, he was going to open two gates to help him with the job, it would require some magic power, but their time and power was definitely worth it. The first one that he pulled out was a golden key, Virgo the Celestial Maiden. Placing the key into the air, a white light would form at the tip of the key, a smile on his face as he sliced it diagonally, letting out the first Celestial Spirit chant from his lips. I open the gate of the Celestial Spirit Maiden, the Zodiac Golden Key! Come forth, Virgo! Elyx would exclaim before the blinding white light shined all over the hive. As she stepped onto the battlefield, she would place her palms in front of her, not even flinching from the bees that were around her. Seems like she did not mind them. Either that, or she was constantly getting stung by them and she liked it. Such a shame if it were the latter rather than the former. Yes, Master? She would ask, and of course, he could not help but hang his head down in a bit of shame. Does that nickname have to be used every time she is summoned out onto the field? Regardless, he would recover before putting that key away and back into the pouch. Digging in that same pouch, he would find one of the two silver keys needed before pulling it out, Aludra, the Chronicle Celestial Spirit Mage of the Volunteer Army. Placing the key up once again, the white light would shine. It was all too perfect, and he would slice it downwards once again as he let out the chant for Aludra. I also open the gate of the Chronicle Army Mage! Come forth, Aludra! And just like that, the gate had been opened, revealing the purple mage with her staff equipped. Her message was not as comforting as Virgo's was, which was already low enough in comfort already. Oi! If you summoned me without beer, I am going back! And why does this place smell so sweet? Too sweet in fact. She would ask before looking back to Elyx. Half of him believed that she was just drunk. But then again, her sentences strung too well together. So with that, he would just cross his arms before replying to her. Shut up Aludra, you are going to be fighting, because if you don't, I will never be able to summon you again. Not by choice, but because I actually can't summon you while I am buried in the grave. Elyx would explain. Aludra's eyes would widen before turning around, a snarl on her face as she held her staff up to the enemies. The only one who can kill you is me. Anyone else will get a good ass-kicking before they can even get close!

59/100

His visions though... They were of Shadelle again. To become something amazing in this guild, he had to forget, but that was not something he was able to bring himself to do. He remembered himself as a child of Shadelle once again... This time, it was about an old teacher and how he met Adrelissa. She was the reason why he refused to forget Shadelle after all. When he was nine years old, he took a training course in school, one that not only taught him what we call current education, but how to fight using Lerale instruments. When he was training, his teacher, Niko, noticed that Elyx was using a training Violin, and was rather amazed with how he could maintain such high scores with a Lerale instrument that limited the boy so much. Niko promised Elyx to buy him a proper Violin, one that Elyx got to choose. The boy received a new Violin, one that is normal sized and gave Elyx a lot more creative freedom. It was also where he learned his first true magic spell, Wind Lerale Stream of Quintus. A few months into the class, he ended up liking someone in it, her name being Adrelissa Sosayaki. She was a bright student, both in personality and mentality. She was very happy with the life she had and what it gave her, and no matter what, she would smile about anything, even if it wasn't exactly in her favor. Her grades were a grade level below Elyx's which is bright since that is one grade level above the average ten year old at that time. She played the flute, and used Spark Lerale magic. It took a few months, but at the age of ten, he finally spoke up to her. Understanding she was, and soon the two became friends after talking for a few days. He never actually knew he liked her, he was ten years old after all. Everyday, he would invite her to go to the chocolate shop, in which the shop owner would give them both free samples of chocolate, then they both end up fighting each other in training, Adrelissa normally the one winning, but she would always help him and grin down at him, and they both end up splitting up to go home.

This was a rough dream for him, and in the real world, he shed a tear, even though he was sleeping. It was not expected to be possible that one could cry while they were asleep, but that was how much he missed Adrelissa, anything to take back to moment in which she was killed in front of his eyes, anything to have her become a member of Black Rose, become a Rising Star like he was, anything at all with her would make him happy again. But it was clearly just wishful thinking to have her by his side, and something, wishes were just impossible to have around since that was the only thing that some people had. Elyx was one of those people, there was no way to bring Adrelissa back with him, so why did he even want to try. Besides, he knew that she was looking over him, and she wants him to be happy. That's why he wanted to be of best conduct, not killing of any human being, nothing that would cause so much pain and trouble for anyone that would cross him. Then he knew that he would be able to please her, and everyone around him. He know that he would have to wake up. Despite knowing that she was alive, knowing that she was out there... He missed her regardless...

60/100

A smile would form on his face, it was time to wake up, she was alive, he did not need to look back onto the actions of Shadelle any longer. The four of them would quickly travel down the road in order to gain the upper hand against the enemies using the effect of Celestial Fire, keeping all of the small bees away from them and protecting them from getting stung. It was too perfect, it was like having a shield to protect you. However, a sudden figure would appear once again right in front of him. The others around him suddenly were not there, it was just him and the bees. The girl with blue hair once again, how did she get here, and why? If she had this access, why did she not save them!? It was Adrelissa... Did she want another fight because he was Elyx and had Lerale Blood? The one girlfriend he was lovers with... But so much time has shattered them. It was easy for her to try to strike him down with the magic to make everything around him seemingly disappear. Her facial expression however showed that she had quite the amount of pain in her history, there was a lot that a few years could do. Elyx... I do not know how much you have changed... You are alive... But you became part of a guild designed for Bounty Hunters... WHY DID YOU DO THAT!? The hive around them began to fill up with flames, her hair and eyes both changed from the sea water blue to a fiery red, as if she were putting him through hell now. That made sense, and he understood why she was not so happy with him, but how would she understand that there were many people were after his life. He needed to think like them, he wanted to avoid dying, a new life to be made. It was not about revenge, it was about redemption. The winds around his body would blow against the flames on the walls. And what do you know about it, I have been having Shadelle's Bounty Hunters on me! Do you think it is easy for me to have a constant reminder that I am being hunted down, and that once someone shows off the huge bounty on my head from Shadelle to my guild, they could execute me!? Of course not, because that is not normal! But for you, everyone thought you were dead, they did not try to end your life or anything, yet here you are trying to kill me because I am of Lerale blood! he would exclaim, his voice echoing throughout the silent hive before she would emit a command from her mouth. SHUT UP!

61/100

She placed both of her palms out towards him, a circle seal to show that she was casting out a spell. This caused Elyx to brace himself by locking his legs onto the ground. Both of their eyes went from light brown and bright red to a violently dark purple, the Lerale Blood flowing through them. The sad tale of how two of them, once lovers and best friends, ended up fighting against each other with the feeling of betrayal in them. And if they were going to settle things, they were going to settle them now. This might be the final day for the both of them, and the Wind Slayer knew this. To have to possibly kill Adrelissa, if he knew that this would be the case when he was a child, he might have never tried any of this. Running away, discovering the grave of his parents, something would have been changed just to prevent all of this from happening. If that meant he would have never met Nimpha Yukino, the extremely lucky mage who did not have a care in the world, if it meant that he would have never joined Black Rose and made so many trials and errors, if that meant that he would have never met Ignite and she would have been orphaned throughout her whole life, and if that meant that he would have never gained so much power and earned a title as a Wizard Saint, as that child, he might have chosen to changed something about his actions. As for him now, if he could have saved her life, lead a normal life in Shadelle with ignorance being his best friend, he might have just done it. Now however, seeing this side of her, one with pure hate and a pretty good grip on hate and revenge, just like he did, she did not seem to want to work things out. It was now her trying to cause mass genocide of the Lerales, which he had gotten himself over. But then again, she probably never went on the jobs that he did, met the people he met, take the medicine that he took, take the Existence Cannon fire like he did, had the lineage that he had, obtained the magic that he did, and anything else that Elyx might have head. Their different experiences and adventures both made them different people, one of them was like the younger version of Elyx if he had obtained the amount of power that Adrelissa had now. And then it was the actual Elyx, the Wind Slayer that had to mature in order to make his own living, it was a depressing end for the fire mage, and a successful one for the Wind Slayer. It did not matter now, they were both here, and they were going to square off in a battle that was fair. No Arianna to get in the way, just the both of them.

62/100

If there is something I would like for you to know Elyx... It's that even as a lover before, and even if it may not seem like it... I still consider you a friend, my best friend... So please die for me... She would say with a saddened tone, but her eyes still were purple, te anger still burning in her before two snakes of fire on the road launched towards him, the snakes growing larger as they traveled, becoming a lot more like pillars. He'd neatly sweep himself to the side before returning the favor, stomping onto the ground and shattering a bit of the road below them, launching the red haired mage into the air a little bit, the damage had been done onto her. While she was launched, he would take advantage by jumping into the air, his physical power taking place as he would kick his leg downwards onto her to try to spike her body towards the ground. Upon impact however, her body would disappear before getting above him all of a sudden, where she would pull onto his collar. Refusing to let her capitalize, he would spun around with a fist in his available left hand, trying to create explosive impact onto her. However, she would catch the fist, causing Elyx to continue spinning his body so he would perform a high kick in the air. Her head swung to the side, almost being grazed upon impact. One last desperate attempt to get her away from him would occur as his back would face up, his available leg that he did not kick with would attempt to smash against her nose. Still however, she was able to lean her back all the way so that she would watch the failed attack fly right past her. Falling onto the ground, his back would curl so that he would roll back to normal. Adrelissa would land on her feet gracefully, her skills were quite something. She became what Elyx would have been if he had not found the guild or just Fiore in general. A broken down mess who has no idea who is a friend and who is the enemy. She had a lot of power, but what else? Regardless, he knew what he had to do now, if he wanted to give Adrelissa a true second chance at life, he was going to have to beat her. The fire mage would have to forgive him for it, because he only planned to do it for her own good, despite what she might think of that reason or not. It was the truth, and she will definitely learn it sooner or later. Hopefully it would be the former rather than the latter.

63/100

She made no sense to him, if she were truly a friend of his, why would she want him to die for her? What was killing him going to do? Add onto the Lerale blood that she probably had shed already? To satisfy some sort of weird ritual that would give her the strength to take on Fiore? Or did she just want to create a mass genocide onto them and will eliminate anyone related to them, even if they were her best friend like she claimed? Her right palm would extend forward towards him, another circle formed in front of her before a sudden wave of fire would launch out from it. In return, he would breathe in a lot of the hot air around him before compressing it into his lungs, then firing it all back out to her in a violently spinning spiral, knocking down the flames and shooting right through the circle, the Sky Deity Wind Bellow was a success. Adrelissa however only simply slid back from the impact instead of being sent flying first. Odd, her physical strength was able to endure such things, but it will soon pay off as eventually, she was sent flying rather far down the road, her body almost slipping off, but her fingers on her right hand were able to grip the edge of the road, such strength indeed to hold up her weight on not even her palm, but just simply her fingers. He'd give her a lot of credit for it if he were not too busy fighting her, but maybe later on in the future, when they were side by side fighting in battle against anything in any of the jobs. Like in the old days where they had many fun games, even though she would win every one of them. She also seemed to win every battle between them, and he was actually trying hard to have the upper hand. However, this was not a fight that he could allow her to win, not for her sake. And the stakes were even higher this time, they were out for blood, and one wanted a death of another, the other wanted the old friend that they had clearly lost to the darkness of life. It was just not fair to see her stripped away from the light and happiness that she once had in her. In this battle, one way of another, he will allow her to see the light. She just had to hold on a little longer, and soon she can be saved from the monster that she made in herself fueled by hate and anger. I am sorry my best friend... I can't let you do this anymore!

64/100

I won't let you do anything! If you were truly there for me, you would know why you need to die! Please stop making this difficult for me! She would exclaim, the words finally hitting her ears. It was guilt in her that he was making her feel. The sudden roads would begin to shatter as they were being engulfed by the flames, what the hell was going on? Is this some illusion? Ignite, where was the She Phoenix, and any of them were not noticing this? Where was Virgo? Where were the freaking insects? Did none of them see this? Or did they just disappear. Regardless of the answer, he probably knew of the one that was responsible for it. Adrelissa was willing to put everything on the line, even if it meant destroying the inside path down the mountain, which was now the only path down. A desperate attempt to run away from the road was made, activating one of his speed boost spells that allowed him to outrun the shattering pieces of sticky rock, his purple eyes were dilating, this was such a tough battle. The destruction that she was able to cause in such a short amount of time, who was teaching her things like this and why did they think it was okay? Maybe she would tell him later on once he beat her. And since he was not too far from the entrance, he would reach the hole where he entered. There was no choice but to climb up. So exiting from the hole that was created, he would jump out and latch himself onto the rocky wall of the mountain, his palms gripping on the sharp rock. A bit of blood was on his palms and trickling down the mountain, the impact a little bit too rough on his body. However, it was worth it to start escaping, especially considering the fire blast that occurred from outside of the hole that he just escaped from. It was time to bring the battle out onto the mountaintop. However, when he had gotten to the top, all of the dorms were destroyed. Adrelissa had been here, and now she was willing to destroy any place he might find to help himself rest. It was a good idea to bail out from the scene early before she was able to do such a thing. Now the people in the camp were able to escape. Running towards the center, he would hear some small steps behind him, causing him to turn his back around, guess who was looking right back at him. A snarl on her face, it was clear that she wanted to rid the world of his existence. Always fun....

65/100

You will stop at nothing to kill me, do friends try to kill each other? Just because of their blood? That is not the friend I choose to have, so I will change you to being the regular Adrelissa that I once knew you to be! He would exclaim before locking his feet onto the ground, the wind around them spinning mightily before he would charge towards her on even ground, no road to force them to watch their step. All that they had to fear was the ground if they fell from the scene. The mage did not know how she was able to get up here during the camp training, but one thing was clear, she was going to be sent down if she were not too careful. It was not that likely that she hid herself as one of the campers, since she had no idea that he would be going here. Ignite just got the paper from the job board without even thinking about it, and they went there on that same day. Adrelissa had just obtained that much power it seemed, such a shame, because she could have used it to make the land of Fiore better. But instead, she chose to focus on getting revenge on Shadelle like he used to once do. Opening the blade from the sheathe that it was in, he would slice to the side to strike at her stomach. It was going to be quite the devastating blow if it hit. So of course, that would not happen at all, because she was still quite physically able after a few minutes of time passed by. Which makes no sense at all, right? She stepped back for aiming a right hook to the face while he pulled his blade back. His head would duck under the attack as the blade returned to him, and so he would then attempt an uppercut slice to launch her into the air, but her body leaned back away from him to avoid the attack that the blade provided, a smart move on her part. Elyx had to admit, she was a lot tougher of an opponent than he ever remembered her being. But Alcore was the one that gave him the magic that he did, if anything, he should be grateful for having such an opportunity to use it in battles such as these, which the lacrima was designed for anyways. Adrelissa would try to punch upwards, but he would deny the kick by sweeping his leg downwards to prevent any strike from actually getting to him, allowing to land on his feet before they both jumped back away from each other, and so the battle would continue.

66/100

Adrelissa would aim to aim a quick snap to his chin with her palm, which was a risky move, but very well worth it if she were actually able to hit it. With her speed, she merely grazed his cheek as he moved his head to the side, just barely taking any damage. Elyx would grip the back of her arm before pulling her body to him. Instead of that happening, she would lock her feet in place, refusing him to let him use his Buzzsaw kick combo like back in the old days, where he used a lot more physical moves than magic. It was going to be a reminder of what would happen if she continued this, but now she was able to find a shield for the combo, merely being stronger than him physically. Being speedy as well, it was going to be hard to take her out in melee combat. She would yank her arm back, forcing him to her instead before she would strike him with her knee onto the stomach, forcing him to cough out blood. In his dazed state, he would be stunned for a little bit due to the impact before she would launch him with a brutal kick to the face, this forcing his back to face the top of the mountain as he was launched. Another circle would open as she extended her left palm out towards him, two flaming chains aiming to shoot him from the air. Using Air Step with the ability of Bound Iris, his body would flip back up before he returned an attack of his own, placing his own palms together as his own circle of magic would form in front of him. A tornado of wind would be summoned as it then launched towards the fire mages chains, blowing through them and at her. Naturally, she was able to jump back from the attack, but Elyx was still in the air. His body would almost fall out from the mountaintop, but his fingers quickly gripped the edge of the mountaintop to prevent himself from falling it. Admittedly, it took quite a lot of upper strength to be doing this. As he almost got up, he would notice a shadow suddenly above him, and he did not even bother looking up. Swinging his body to the right, he would let go of the edge of the mountain to launch himself up, his right foot trying to kick the stomach of his enemy. Naturally, the fire mage would block with her left arm before trying to strike him with her own fist to his stomach. Both of his hands would be used to catch that fist, and despite her having more physical strength, two against one gave him the advantage, and so he would throw her over his back and hopefully down the mountain.

67/100

While Elyx landed back on the edge, Adrelissa also had her grip on the rock before flipping back up into the air, her palms in the air as a giant circle had been placed above the both of them, the circle launching down giant spheres of flames onto the surface, bound to strike onto the Wind Slayer provided he did not move out of the way. So he would begin his escape, sudden spheres exploding on his sides, clearly they were at random, so it would be best to run so that he was unable to take damage from them. Looking back up, he would see her stepping on the air with flames on the soles of her boots, it seems like she was going to have some fun with him without attacking him. That was not going to come without a price, in which he would attempt to take out his blade, only for that to be taken out from his palm as she suddenly struck down with one of her own. As she landed on the ground, a giant shockwave would emit to show the amount of force that she had. This opponent was clearly like none other that he had faced, it was his best friend, but how did she gain so much power so quickly. The tip of her blade was right at his throat, her facial expression showing so much seriousness, but underneath it lay the sadness that she held. Anger could only hide so much, in the end, he was able to successfully reach her... But now how to get out of here without dying. Slowly, he would place his palms up into the air, it was clear that he should surrender. And maybe if he were the previous Elyx, he would have submitted and tried to talk his way into living, despite full well knowing that would not even work. But ever since he had got the dark lacrima he obtained from Alcore, being in such a situation would not fly too well with him. So his purple eyes would shift towards his blade, that was going to be the next goal. If he could or could not depends on how fast his reaction and speed was. There was still a little bit more power in the Wind Slayer. The magic energy triggering the new core in his heart, the pumping of blood throughout his body would begin to intensify, it was amazing to feel this surge in his body, and just like that, his speed had been heavily enhanced. his right back hand would slap itself against the blade pointed at him, a bit of blood being lost on his part, but due to the increase heart rate, it would quickly repair itself. With his newfound speed, he would pounce over to his fallen blade, catching it with his right hand on the ground before rolling back onto his feet, turning his body around to face Adrelissa, she was going to now have to face an enhanced version of him.

68/100

All of a sudden, she would stop in the middle of her path before bending down, the flame mage picking up the journal that they had left behind for memories. Why was she so curious for it? Whatever the reason, the Wind Slayer could not help but feel the urge to get it out of her hands, so his body would pounce forward with his next found speed before aiming a hook slice to her stomach. However, his arm would stop before she held out the journal, using it as a shield, knowing that if he would attack her for it, that he would stop to prevent it from being destroyed. One of her eyes were raised while the other one was half closed while her purple eyes locked with his own purple eyes. Pushing his blade to the side with the pointer finger of her available hand, he would explain why his actions did not make any sense to her. It did not matter to him if she understood his actions and motivations, what he did care about however was the fact that she had the notebook that he and Ignite had made for someone useful to read and utilize the tips. Adrelissa however was someone who clearly did not need it, and at this current moment, she knew that the bees were not of any use while they were slain. So why would she need it again? With a snarl on his face, he would listen to her for this moment, trying to resist the temptation of slicing her body into two, despite all of the dark instincts that the lacrima had placed inside of his body. You expect people to read this trash, but you dare not let me do it? So I take it you and anyone else who wrote about it knew of my presence, I should burn this damned journal at this very second! She would exclaim before throwing it behind her back before placing both of her palms out towards him, a sudden dome of fire would swarm around his body. It would take more than that to hold him down however, his palms placed out to release himself from the dome using his wind. Adrelissa would suddenly appear right in front of him with a fist ready to strike, but he raised his blade to block the impact just in time. Returning the favor, he would push back to launch her into the air. He would use his new found speed to pounce at her quickly and strike at her from above, shooting her towards the ground before landing perfectly right next to her body that laid on the ground. He finally inflicted some critical damage onto her, no one would understand how much happier he felt because of that, despite his still purple Lerale eyes.

69/100

Jumping back as she would sweep both of her feet out, he would hold his blade up once again, ready to lock against her in battle. Adrelissa however had her eyes opened all of the way before placing her right pointer finger onto her stomach, where a ripped jacket area would be shown. Placing the finger eye, she would see a bit of red on her before looking back up to Elyx, who has not yet drawn blood. Technically he did at one point, but his body healed a lot faster than it did drain out. That was why he was the Deity of the Sky, and the one who dares oppose him for that title will understand why. It seemed like the flame mage wanted to take a shot at it, placing her palms out towards him as another circle of fire would show before placing a ball of fire from her left palm into the circle. The circle glowed now before firing a huge beam of flames from it towards the Sky Deity Slayer, causing him to just barely make it out of the way by dodge rolling towards the left side. He would return the attack she just tried onto him by placing both of his palms together, another circle would form right in front of him before three chains of wind would fire at her, and they were homing chains, meaning they would stop at nothing until they found her. Or anything if they ended up meeting something else in combat. With a smile on her face, she would place her palm out as the chains of wind became fire before going directly around her, no longer homing onto anything. Was this a spell? If it were, a circle would have opened. So basically, she had the ability to manipulate his spells and allow them to not work just by turning them into fire, and this is a passive effect for the battle. All of this, she was definitely ready to take on the Lerale mages. But at this point, he could not help but want to stop her, he had stopped just a little while ago from hunting down those who possess the Lerale name. And now she was going to be stopped if he had anything to do about it. Sadly, he had no summons for some reason, so he could not try to outnumber her, so that was out of the list of options he had. His spells that had such good range were also out of the options, since she could null them without even using a drop of magic power. The most that he could hope for at this point was the his speed would be able to make him the best melee fight out of the two of them.

70/100

Placing his blade up, the wind below his boots would begin to spin around before lifting him up into the air, activating the ability of Air Step once again, this time to actually travel onto the air. With this, he would charge out towards her, activating a spell from the blade in the meantime. Well, it was an ability, so the passive effect that she had would not work on him. The blade would extend itself using light magic from the previous 10 meters if had to a massive 150 meter blade designed to wipe out mass armies. Though it did not inflict any more damage than the regular one, Adrelissa was going to have to be a lot more aware while the Wind Slayer was attacking. She would step back from this to avoid the sudden pop up of the blade, but she still seemed like she wanted to continue. For her sake, he would have to at least inflict enough damage onto her so that she would submit. Despite all of this that they were going through, Elyx still considered her his friend. She was probably so alone for so long, and she did not even deserve it. She did not need to get involved with what Shadelle did to her. The corruption in her heart, she did not need to focus on them anymore. The fire mage could be free from the memories even with the help of Nimpha, his teacher, who had the ability to do literally anything as far as he was concerned. This just required one thing, him to beat her. She was not going to get anywhere at this rate, and her beating him was not even something he could consider a possibility, not while there was still hope in his abilities to win. Pointing the giant blade towards her, he would look down onto her with a snarl on his face. Adrelissa, I am going to bring you back to the way you were when you did not have so much as a care in the world. To the version of you that had no problem with placing a smile onto your face, and loving life a lot more than anything else, just because it was so precious. But now you want to take it away from so many others, including the one you considered to be your best friend! I will bring you to the light even if I have to throw you in there myself, because I am your friend! And that is what friends would do for each other. He would announce before the wind around his body would spin once again, showing how serious he was about this fight and what those words meant.

71/100

He would slice his blade down onto her, the mountain shaking upon impact with the ground, but the flame mage avoided by jumping to the side, trying to return a chain of fire towards him. However, he would not give her the chance, spinning his body around as he would helicopter slice his way through the camp, and this time he launched her away. This was the first time he was forced to use this ability, it was so perfect, it felt so powerful, so natural, because it was all his. It placed a smile onto his face before he would then have a flashback of their previous battle. It matched this one exactly, the scene turning black and white as young Elyx and young Adrelissa would lock in battle. She would cast out mini chains towards him, which he would block with a thick stick before throwing it at her, which she dodged before playing onto her flute once again, bringing out some more chains and eventually wrapped his ankles with to pull him to the ground. He however resisted and kicked them off before rolling onto his feet, flipping backwards for no reason before playing the violin while he was in the air. Just this memory alone matched this moment as current Adrelissa fired many chains towards the Wind Slayer, almost knocking him from the sky. He would hold up the giant Bound Iris blade before swinging it down onto her once again, no hits once again as she would roll to the side, firing out a giant beam of flames once again. This time, he held it up, but there was not ground to support his impact with, so his body would be pushed away a little bit as the blade blocked the beam. But once he was successful with beating his opponent on the tie impact, he would push back against the powerful and hot beams, slowly but surely before returning back to where he was before, instead of almost at the edge of the mountain. He felt a slight wave of more intensity from Adrelissa, proving that this was as much power as she was able to emit, and she was making a desperate attempt to smite the Wind Slayer, but to no avail. She was persistent, but he was much more persistent, and this clearly proved it. For once, he was actually winning a battle against her. So many years of constantly losing to her, but when it really mattered in the end, he was actually able to beat her with his determination. how sweet victory tasted. In the end, the beam of fire stopped as he would charged towards her, so close to her with such fast speed before slicing at her stomach, launching her far this time, almost to the edge of the mountain.

72/100

Stopping right in front of her, he would look at her as she looked down, her mouth open as he pulled the blade back, his feet still above the ground. Slowly, she would look down towards her stomach, now it was a lot of blood he was able to draw out from below her. He would drop his blade onto the ground before approaching the fire mage, both palms extended out towards her to try to heal her. However, she would suddenly snarl, almost taking off his arms as a sudden wall of fire would form around her, the fire spinning around. The battle was not done, but he still had a decent amount of stamina in him. Activating Air Step once again, he would pick up the Bound Iris before he would zip away from her. It was not going to be easy, but he was going to have to pull out an operation if he thought he knew what she was going to try. It looked familiar, his palms placed out right in front of him. Wait, if they were both able to summon things using their elements, why are they unable to use their summons for say, Celestial Spirits like Elyx wanted to do? Maybe she locked her own secondary magic, and if that were the case, it was a nice combo that she had, being able to force opponents to an elemental sort of attack before turning those attacks into fire. Her physical abilities were unmatched for sure without some sort of boost, but the fact that her range was nothing compared to his, he was still able to match and surpass her. It was a nice bit of icing placed on the cake. The both of them were summoning before the cylinder of fire would disappear. With a smile on his face, the Wind Phoenix would form right in front of him while the flame phoenix would appear right in front of the flame mage. The both of them looked at each other, this battle became no different, they were all the same pretty much, except for one before fire and one being wind. Elyx would point his blade outwards as the Wind Phoenix would out a loud scream, echoing all throughout the mountain. The Flame Phoenix, or just the Phoenix rather, would let out a similar yell while the flame mage would place her palms out, flames emitting from the surface of her palms. It was too perfect, the both of them were even regardless of what they did to each other, they were able to match each others powers. This was so much fun, the Wind Slayer wished this battle would just end however, because if this took too long, someone was seriously going to get hurt... Or much worse, one of them or both will lose their lives.

73/100

The two Phoenix Birds would charge at each other with their might screeches, it was a battle of wind against fire if they were both equals. It was funny how equal it could have been, the both of them were just about equal in power. Wind was able to influence fire and make it much stronger, spreading the fire. But if that were the case, it could also be taken out by too much wind. The oxygen in a fire would keep it burning, but if one element overpowered the rest of them, the fire would just kind of burn itself out. Too much oxygen would do the trick all right, but right now, it was just a 50 50 chance, and the both of them hoped for two different results. Adrelissa was not going to let it end like that however, as she too would jump into the air before trying to strike at him with a palm. He would block her attack with the blade before ducking under the hook of her available arm. That was a nice attempt, but she would fall onto the ground before being forced to spring herself back up again, and by the time she was able to do that, the Wind Slayer would already be a distance away from her with the blade already up behind his back, and finally he would slice down onto her while she least expected it, knocking her down towards the ground again before a mighty explosion would occur upon impact. Looks like he scored another critical hit on her. Though it was clear that she had more power, it was still very much possible for him to inflict the damage that he needed to. All he had to do was make himself very far from his opponents before using the effect of his sword. It was all too perfect, he would love to resort to it often. Then again, no one in Fiore knew about it yet, and no dark guilds knew about it either since he had built this without using it in front of anyone once. Anyone who found it interesting would be able to try to take it from him, and that would get annoying. That was why anyone who saw it, he would try to eliminate so that the news would not get to hear of it. However, these actions were a lot easier said than done, for it was his friend that he was doing this to. He did not want to kill her, provided that point already be made more than a hundred times, but that was how much he wanted to show it. Adrelissa stood back up onto her feet once again, how much damage could the fire mage take before being defeated again?

74/100

You know Elyx, this had been lots of fun and all... But I don't want to hurt anyone anymore! I know you can not believe me, but it is true! So please... Be the last death, and I can take myself with you. Where we can start a new life all over again... She would tell him before she would pull back her Phoenix, it was a desperate attempt for sure. Did she actually give up? Did she lose this battle? The flame mage, the once lerale mage, the one happy blue haired flute playing musician magician, was down and out? There was no way... But he could not help but feel like he could still trust her, even after all that she had put him through. It was beautiful, yet at the same time, it kind of made him sad. Looking at her directly in the fading purple eyes, he would side a similar sad version of the child version of her, the blue hair and the red hair being so much different from each other, but the styles of hair would definitely match each other. Slowly he would begin to walk towards her, still on the air since he was using the Air Step ability. Before the Wind Phoenix was able to continue any further, Elyx would call it back to his side so that it would not have to continue fighting against the Flame Phoenix or Adrelissa. Just a small moment of peace, possibly the end of the fight. And now was his chance to talk to her, to try to convince her that despite this, despite anything she might have done to others in the past, that it was not too late to change the person she was, the type of person she could be could be much better. Sure, he may have not have as much power as she did, but there she was. She was still alive. A second chance at life had been given to her, and the last thing that the lerale mage would want to see was the precious life shattered so quickly, to see her create her own dark future. That would be his last regret. The steps that he took towards her was calm and mellow before he finally reached her. The both of them were a delicate five meters apart from each other now. There were no more words to be said from each other, they have spoken quite enough. And just that silence would hold a conversation on its own. Their facial expressions still, but their eyes were their emotions. It was weird, but that was how the both of them were speaking to each other so finally, the Wind Slayer would let out a few words from his lips.

75/100

Let me tell you of a tale Adrelissa. I ran away because you wanted me to, and after that, I needed to find some place to hide in. I had to run from Shadelle as a D rank mage, or else I was dead. Do you think I would have never been attacked because of this? And the fact that I made it out alive with no support no help and no advice, how do you think I felt? I felt so alone, so terrible, I wanted to kill Shadelle for everything they had done to both you and me. I have dedicated so much of my life on revenge that I focused none of it on redemption, thus creating me and what I would have been like. The me that I would have been is standing right in front of me. I was lucky though, I met a treasure hunter named Nimpha Yukino, who gave me a medicine to make me feel better, and gave me one more shot at life. I looked around for a place to call home, where I would have a guild. It was too perfect in all honesty, and all I had to do was work. I took my mind off of Shadelle and focused on the jobs given to me, my strength that I built was not based off of hate, but it was based off of trying to give myself another life. Look at us right now, I am willing to forgive you for any of this. And meanwhile, you want to kill yourself when you kill me, even though I am apparently considered your best friend. Tell me something Adrelissa, would you not like to be given the chance that I have been given? One where you could live a happy life instead of one controlled by negative emotions? You know, on the way, I have made many friends from both in and out of the guild. It was nice to meet them, though at first I was very shy around them. To this day, I still kind of get nervous around them, because I normally am a social wreck around them. But you, they would love you, they would accept you and love to give you redemption... If you could just hear these words at least once and take this chance to turn around, I promise that it would be worth it. Sorry to tell you all of this in some sort of lecture, but this is the only way I can tell you this, I do not want to force you, I just want you to know that you have another option. A much brighter and happier option might I add.

76/100

Elyx... I do not want to do this, but I want to get out of here! There is nothing here for us! Just the two of us to move onto the next life, where we can be best friends! Please... Let me do this, I do not want to be so alone anymore. They would just fear me, I am an outsider now you know! She would exclaim before she would place her palm out towards him, a burning sensation in him as she then clenched her palm, a sudden wave of heat flowing through him, forcing him onto one knee, unable to move too well before she would pull out her basic sword once again. After that, she would begin to slice down onto his back over and over, the pain quickly being spewed onto his body, no mercy on him as she put all of her power into her slashing, creating such torment in him. His teeth would clench as she would exclaim her commands, each of her words revealing the emotions in her, and she had him where she wanted him to be. Die already! You do not need to be here anymore! Not for our sake! Die! DIE! DIE! PLEASE, JUST DIE ALREADY! She would command with a pleading tone, all of the blood from him being drained, and the fire in him was not letting himself build back together again. But instead, he would end up falling down onto both of his knees, the movement in his body being rough as all he could do was look up. It seemed like she had won once again, and despite all attempts to try to move away, he found himself unable to do it. Adrelissa raised her blade into the air, her arm shaking in the process before she tried to move it downwards, only to stop all of a sudden. And there it was, did the words finally sink in? Or maybe she could not bring up the strength to kill her best friend. There he was, suffering, and on his knees in front of her. The Black Rose Guild Ace of Leaves, at her mercy, little did she know it. And so finally, she would eventually drop the blade right next to him. A teardrop would fall onto his head, much warmer that the average tear would be. And just like that, she would fall onto her knees, more tears as she realized what she had done. Maybe she thought that the Wind Slayer hated her now for doing such a thing. If that were the case, he would take a best stab at it as he looked into her eyes, that became red now instead of purple, and Elyx's own becoming light brown again. He'd reach out his arms to her before covering her back, placing her head on his shoulder. Adrelissa... Friend, I love you so much. We will never be lovers again, but we are definitely best friends, right?

77/100

Adrelissa would just kind of stutter a bit while she was in place. In all honesty, I could not tell what the sounds from her mouth meant. But she did not try to pick up the sword from the ground and try to stab him in the back. She could have done it, his guard was down all of the way. She still had a heart. Despite the burning in his body, he ignored the pain, trying to do anything he could in order to reach her, and this was clearly working. A smile on his face, though his teeth were clenched. The wind around them was silent, both of their weapons lied on the lied, the snow a bit tainted from both of their blood, and despite all of that, all of the years that they had to distance themselves from Shadelle, it finally all came to a close. The both of them could start over, become the best friends they once were. Who knows, maybe he could be the wingman for the man that she could attract, in both forms she could attract anyone she felt like. The fun moments that they would have together. Adrelissa would definitely keep Iza in shape, and so the tanuki would stop being so annoying. Ignite would love to meet another fire mage, and so would Ven, a Flame Slayer. A battle between them would be fun to watch in his opinion, but he shook his head to the side, knowing full well that that would never happen. That was good though, he would prefer them all to be friends. With her new strength, Adrelissa could make a great ally for Black Rose. It would have been so perfect, a smile on his face would reveal as he then let go. Adrelissa let out quite a few tears, his back was burning from them. At that moment, his heart would begin to slow down and back to normal, stopping it from pumping out any more blood than it needed to. The red hair soon began to turn to blue again, the flames on her body would no longer emit from there, and soon, he saw a regular version of the friend that he once knew. In an elegant looking Kimono that showed that she was serious about life, but no longer did she need to be. The whole suicide talk she had before should have disappeared along with all of the other weird things she had been saying. It was nice to have her once again on his side, the both of them reunited for real ever since the moment where she had fought him in Ariannas castle, but before that was in Shadelle, where everything had been taken away from them in only minutes because of that tribe.

78/100