The Olympians in: Return of the Primordial Part One

Job Details:

The sun rose up on Peace Village and like every other day the citizens awoke with smiles on their faces, each member of the town was happy to be alive and ready to start their days with maximum effort. As shops opened up and people started to work a local guard noticed that the sun seemed to be extra warm on that particular day, the heat beat down on him hard, making his leather armor feel extra stifling and cumbersome. He placed his rifle on the ground next to the front gate where he was guarding then looked out down the road. A large man with a golden helmet adorned in red trimming, garbed in chunks of gold armor around his massive body while cloaked in a large red cape stalked towards the village. The man came up to the guard and glared at him from behind his helm, causing the guard to drop to a knee and bow his head. The man in the gold armor placed a hand atop the mans shoulder and whispered something that couldn't be heard by anyone other than the guard. Slowly the guard stood up and lifted his rifle, eyes flashing a dark black like color while the man in armor entered the village...


Mashyuu along with Itsu sat on the side of the road only a few short minutes away from Peace Village, awaiting Imai to join them. The dirt path they rested on seemed devoid of life as Mashyuu noted the ground was particularly dry, and even he was having a hard time commanding it to move, as if the ground hadn't been touched or disturbed in centuries or longer. He frowned at the ground and did his best to till it with his Geokenisis ability while Itsu fumbled around with her thumbs, wondering when Imai was going to show up. "So why are we meeting Imai here as opposed to the guild hall?" Itsu asked Mashyuu. The man with brown hair shot her a glare for a long moment and grasped a stone out of the ground. "You mean the bar that Kite is currently running Sabertooth from? We could have done this at my house I suppose but I feel like Imai has earned a little vacation and Peace Village is the only place in Fiore that I have never heard of having any problems." Mashyuu explained to the beauty at his side. "Sorry, I know Sabertooth's guild hall falling wasn't something you enjoyed seeing, and I know you tried to hold it up but it wasn't your fault, and you played a big part in getting revenge. How many gods have you slain now? Three?" Itsu asked. Mashyuu shrugged and nodded his head, confirming Itsu's question. It was then that Imai showed up and Mashyuu stood, kicking his spiked boots on the ground and dusted off his white vest and black loose pants. "Imai, welcome to Peace Village. I'm thrilled you decided I should be your mentor! Before we get started on any big job I thought you should relax a bit and just enjoy life. After that you are going to start seeing the sort of stuff I have been doing on my own since the start. Life will be hard and sometimes the rewards for such a life aren't much. You will be in constant danger and more than once you will come close to death. But if you do as I say and follow my lead you will become more powerful in seemingly no time. Is that something you think you can do?" Mashyuu asked while extending his fist out towards Imai as if bumping his fist against Mashyuu's was a sign of agreeing to the terms Mashyuu had set.

WC: 632

”Sei! Sei, he’s waiting..!” Imai called from the small bedroom. On his bed laid all his tools and equipment that he was going to rely on… if this was supposedly going to be a mission. Well, given by the fact that Mashyuu had invited him to some place that he hadn’t been to before, he concluded it right away. “… Anything around that guy is danger,” he mumbled with a little chuckle at the end, “Oh well, Sei! Hurry up, we’re going now!” The little, cute and supposedly primitive alien was enjoying a nice, hot shower at the bathroom, while Imai took clothes on. He’d just waken up, and the sun stood high up in the sky. It appeared to become a sunny and hot day today, so he decided a very strange decision of his. It was only to be noticed by everyone that spotted him out in the street as he found it smart and sufficiently thought through. Grabbing a belt that would hold all his things in place around his torso from the right shoulder, the boy walked out of the room while wiping off sweat from his forehead. He was already sweating quite a lot, despite that he was presently doing what he decided; leaving the clothes that would supposedly cover his torso at home. His belt was his only piece of cloth that was on his torso, but hey; as soon as he walked out, several people of the male gender was wearing quite the same style. Feeling Sei struggling to get a good grip at the single piece of cloth on his torso to rest on his back, Imai walked out to the main roads outside the city.

About the only piece of cloth, it was a little lie; his scarf couldn’t separate itself from him, and neither could the headband around that forehead of his, so there were those. Other than that, he could still feel air hitting his chest with a soft push, cooling him down once in a while. It was the second source of cooling down at that moment, because obviously, this kind of weather required sodas. He was stuffing the liquids into his belly across the entire road all the way to Peace Village; a village that had better stand up to its name. Sei was still having trouble hanging onto the belt, which annoyed it quite a lot. A rather cartoony vein popped up on its head by the end of the attempt. Then, it simply laid on his head and tried to hold a true siesta under the baking sun; the earth was cooking Imai’s shoes as he walked across, noticing Sei’s expression. “Huh, are you tired, buddy?” Imai asked while stroking its head with a finger, “Don’t worry, hopefully we’ll make it through this job. It’s just like always, am I right?” Damn, the sun was getting more and more merciless at the two mages as they walked.

His eyes suddenly spotted the two figures sitting near the promised village, waving over at them. “Hey, guys..!” he greeted them. He shook his head to get some fresh air again as he listened to the rock guy’s explanation; this was a promised day where Imai had become his mentee. However, hearing that they were merely going to enjoy a vacation time, he dropped his weapons. “Oh, well, I could’ve spared myself…” he spoke out. The Rocky God also spoke about the dangers that awaited him up ahead, but he quickly nodded to the last question. “Of course, bro! You haven’t even seen me get serious yet..!” he spoke with a confident look, pointing onto his naked chest with a thumb, “Who knows, I might pass by your level someday, so you better watch me carefully..!”

WC: 628

Mashyuu glanced at Imai and his glowing blue eyes went a little wide when he realized that Imai wasn't wearing a shirt but had a belt strapped over his chest to hold his gear. "The Rambo look is not for you man." Mashyuu joked and ruffled his little brother's hair. Itsu giggled and sighed watching the two with a crooked smirk on her face all while the guys exchanged words. "Pass me up? Come see me when you have completed more than seventy jobs for the guild. Then you might be close to as many logged missions as me. But I doubt that will ever happen. I'd have to be dead for another year for the rest of Sabertooth to catch up to me." Mashyuu boasted but it was true. He was already just a few jobs away from matching his former mentor Ryo in rank and if that happened he would surely keep going no matter what right?

The trio stood on the road for a long while until Mashyuu decided it was time to head to town. He nodded with his head for Imai to keep up and started down the long lonesome road. "So, should we talk about what is expected of you now that you are learning under me? First of all. I want to see an increase in jobs you take on. Even if I'm not there, remember that now not only do you represent yourself and Sabertooth but you represent me. In most places I'm known for taking on jobs almost without question. If someone is in need it is our duty to help them however we can. Even if we don't always like that person. Does that make sense to you?" Mashyuu explained and asked while the trio approached the front gate where two guards with rifles stood.

"State your desire to enter Peace Village!" One guard demanded loudly while looking at the group before him. This was not what Mashyuu was used to when coming to the village and he almost felt as if he needed to defend himself. "Vacation, just want to relax in peace." Mashyuu explained while Itsu sheepishly hid behind Imai and used him for cover playfully. "Very well, you may enter. Just remember we will keep an eye on you. Now get lost." The second guard stated and the pair opened the gate so the trio could enter.

Inside the village Mashyuu turned to look over his shoulder at the guards closing the gate behind him. "That was strange. Maybe we should keep our eyes open for any sort of trouble after all. This place is known for how kind everyone is, not rude. Anyway there are lots of shops and things to do here so what would you like to do first Imai?" Mashyuu asked while giving Itsu a silent sign to stay alert no matter what else happened.

WC: 487
Total: 1119

Sadly, because of Imai’s idea that would spare him some heat, Mashyuu didn’t approve of it. Crossing his arms, the red-haired mage responded: “At least I saved myself from turning into a raisin…” It was quite a cute scene when he said that, all maddened as Mashyuu ruffled his hair. Despite the young boy’s development as a mage, combined with his several successes in jobs, Mashyuu made it clear that he had a long way to go if he wanted to stand at the same level as him. Seventy jobs sounded like a huge amount of grinding for him, but if the large boulder in front of him could do it, then so could he!

Sei had got enough of using the belt as a hammock, seeking refuge on Itsu’s back instead. Feeling slightly betrayed for a brief second, Imai shook his head, pulled up his gear for logic’s sake and followed up, approaching Peace Village while Mashyuu talked about the expectations. Imai had taken an oath when he decided to get under the wings of the Earth God, and those were just a few of the promises that were made. He was going to get more open when it came to taking on jobs and missions, even if the specific requirements didn’t suit his taste. “Less picky, huh… that sounds like a small step to take,” he spoke. All that he had to do was to take any job available, or so he thought. What else laid in his way from reaching the same amounts of jobs completed as the big brother?

His feet braked on the ground as the guard demanded their reason to enter Peace Village. He said it out loud and serious as if the village was dead serious to live up to its name. At first, he understood that, but Mashyuu seemed not to given by his expression. “U-Uh… something was odd with that,” he whispered to Itsu who suddenly decided to hide behind him. The group then entered as the guard secured things and all, while Mashyuu said words that saved the fact that Imai had taken his gear with him for a vacation time. “… Wait, wasn’t that just being a guard? I thought that all guards were like him…” Imai commented, “… Oh, now that you ask, I ran out of beverages.” He showed his empty bottle of soda, indicating that they should definitely get somewhere to eat and drink first. “Under that hellfire up there, we should look for a place to eat… I’m starving as well!” He clapped his empty stomach in a dramatic way that showed his hunger. Walking miles under the sun as strong as today, he had clear reasons for his previous words…

WC: 628 + 456 = 1084

"The small steps are the easy ones to take but in this line of work, the smaller ones will be what lead to the biggest change." Mashyuu told Imai while the group entered the village. "The guards in Peace Village don't keep their rifles at their sides normally. They tend to keep their weapons strapped to their backs. Plus his eyes... didn't you notice them? When he raised his voice his eyes turned black as night." Mashyuu pointed to his own eyes. "Sort of how mine are always blue and glowing, its because of the Godly influence on my body."

"Yeah, I could eat too. We can't all survive on sunlight and rock Mashyuu." Itsu agreed with Imai but patted the young mans mouth. "Keep drinking all that soda and you're gonna rot your teeth out." "You should invest in a camel pack and fill it with juice so it doesn't go flat while you move around." Mashyuu suggested to the boy while walking down a two lane street on the right hand side like he had been here a thousand times in the past but in truth he could simply smell food in the air and was following the smell until the trio came to a small mom and pop's diner to eat.

Inside the trio were sat at a table but seemed to wait for a server for over an hour. Mashyuu sat back in his seat and looked at his friends. "I don't know if we are gonna get any help here. Look around, there are five other tables that have been waiting longer than we have. What do you guys want to do?" Itsu frowned and placed her head in her hands while her belly grumbled with hunger. "I don't know... I feel like if we stay here we will be waiting for a while longer and if we leave we will have to start all over again!" Mashyuu nodded his head up and down, admitting that he wasn't sure about what to do either in this situation. "Yeah, it's not like we can be in two places at once. Imai, what do you want to do? This trip is for you after all." Mashyuu asked while he watched the workers slamming tables with plates of food in front of customers, speaking to them rudely and shouting curses at one another. Something strange was happening in town and Mashyuu didn't know how to deal with it.

WC: 419
Total: 1538

Imai had little understanding of Mashyuu’s explanation about the small steps, but quietly followed up as if he got it. Who knew, he could always find out later. Now that they were inside Peace Village, he could finally start the vacation time when things were a little too out of hand for the Earth guy. The way that they held their weapons, their eyes and overall attitude worried him a little. Perhaps it wasn’t the good old, peaceful village as he remembered it. “Black eyes… see, THAT is odd,” he spoke, having an idea that magic had got its corrupt side into the Peace Village.

He was about to tell the thought when his mouth was rudely patted! Feeling a bubble of air seek refuge into his belly once again, he looked up at Itsu’s face with a sigh coming out of his two nostrils. “That might as well be right... y-you begin to sound like Koguma,” he moaned, crossing his arms. That little girl was always rambling about how she could never enjoy as much sugar as the red-haired male; given by her size and age, it would be next to suicide if she injected so much. Then again, that would picture him as a sugar pig, but that was far the case… in his mind. Now that the camel pack was suggested, he should actually consider buying it, given by how much that he drinks. The boy had never got dehydrated in the past, so perhaps it would just prevent happenings like today’s event from occurring again.

The group appeared at what looked like a classic diner out in the hot country. “Phew! It’s so much cooler in here…” he proclaimed. He began waving his arms up and down to enjoy the cooling air around him as much as possible. Sei began looking up, finally, having gotten over the worst heatwaves. When finding a seat, they all seemed to notice the strange, intimidating atmosphere that didn’t scream peace at all. “E-Eh…” he mumbled in his own world until Mashyuu asked Imai, “-Oh, well…” Having noticed the others in the room, all having jet-black eyes, Imai decided: “Let’s stay here. We might bump into something…” Sure as hell he was; a few seconds after his words, another ramble started at the table before them. Apparently, this guest disliked the waiters’ attitudes and spoke out that he would expose them or something, a statement that enraged every single worker. In the blink of an eye, a dogpile was created right in front of their very eyes; angry villagers, men and women, ganging up on this one, poor critic. “Hey, what’s with that?!” Imai roared into the ruffle, finding himself getting lost as he jumped into the bunker to help the poor guest out, "G-Get lost, you maniacs...!" His feet could be seen flailing around, pushing workers and customers out like clothes, but the number kept increasing as people approached from the entrance…

WC: 1084 + 492 = 1576

A long sigh escaped Mashyuu's lungs the moment he heard the fight happening across from the teams table. His large hand cupped his forehead and even he almost lost his cool. The Goddess keeping him calm cool and collected flashed in his mind, returning his thoughts to rational ones while Imai got up and moved to help the people who were getting dog piled. "Oh shit. Itsu this place is under the control of a God. We need to find out what god and why!" Mashyuu shouted. He didn't noticed it when they arrived but after a good long while of sitting in the diner and watching people, his Slayer senses and urge to destroy other Gods started to kick into over drive. Mashyuu's fangs started to stick out of his mouth in long slender points, showing that his senses were starting to get stronger so he could track down the God at hand to defeat him. He started to tune out the world while his nostrils flared up to catch the scent of a Deity when someone grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to budge Mashyuu out of his seat. The Wizard suddenly snapped back to reality and reached up, grabbed a cook by the head and slammed him through the table that was sitting in front of Mashyuu. The wood of the table shattered and went flying through the air. Mashyuu shook his head and stood up, first looking at Itsu who was standing up and and drawing her dagger to deflect knife strikes from kitchen workers, then to Imai to make sure the young man was safe. "Mash, we have to help Imai before he gets killed!" Itsu shouted. Mashyuu shook his head and called back to Itsu. "No! Imai will have to do this stuff on his own at some point. Let him deal with saving that guy and get out of the dog pile himself. We hold the rest back." Mashyuu ordered Itsu while he cracked his knuckles and looked at the other twenty people coming straight for Mashyuu and Itsu.

Annoyed Itsu sighed and stood up from her seat completely and started to whip her dagger around as rapidly as she could. Be careful, don't maim them if you can help it. These people didn't do anything to deserve the spell on them. Itsu thought to herself while she pulled her spinning weapon back. With a flick of the wrist she hurled her weapon straight into the wooden planks of the ground and tugged the cable tied to the blade tightly. Four men tripped over the cord while the rest split apart and kept charging the Wizard pair. Mashyuu stepped in front of Itsu and pulled his right hand back, sand swarmed rapidly in his palm and a storm started to grow he hurled the sand twister and shouted. "Secret Art: Earth Gods Sand Twister!" He released the twister out towards the group. The massive sand twister smashed into the group and hurled them into the back of the diner's walls while Mashyuu dropped to a knee and placed a hand on the ground, super charging the area under the wood with magical power. "Earth Gods Basilisk Wall!" A massive wall of stone shot up out of the ground, cutting everyone off from Mashyuu, Itsu, Imai and the ones Imai was battling while turning the men and women Mashyuu pushed with his first spell into stone. When Imai had saved the others Mashyuu made sure the boy was okay and mostly unharmed. "Alright, maybe we should see if anyone else is having a weird rage/zombie moment in town. What do you think?"

WC: 618
Total: 2156

Sei had quickly made it out of Imai’s shirt as the gang occurred. However, the young boy felt quite confident when measuring their strength; slowly, he lifted a handful of the gangers up from him, getting space to stand on his feet. Bluish ray emitted from his body, while he threw them off towards some tables. The victim was right below him, covering his head with his shaking arms. Some other customers began crawling towards him, reaching their arms to either scratch him to death or pull him towards themselves in order to repeat the dogpiling, but Imai’s foot was found planting onto their faces as they were knocked away. “What’s with these guys?! Ain’t a single bit of peace in all of this..!” he let out with an angered face, “Hey, get up. I hope that they didn’t hurt you too bad, sir.” He gave the victim a hand to get up on his feet before receiving a nod. “Y-Yeah, I’m… I’m okay,” he replied to the young mage.

The remaining ones appeared not as harmed by his attacks from before as they suddenly grabbed onto his legs and arms, trying to pin him down while another couple clenched their fists. Landing huge blows onto Imai’s face, the assaulters realized that some blue light was covering his skin all along, in which their attacks were sent back onto themselves, reflected like hitting a huge boulder with average humane strength. As they were pushed back, Imai sent his head to each side, headbutting each of the customers who held him in place as he regained his freedom. Then, he quickly grabbed his telescope and smashed it onto the heads of those who held his legs; fainting, the last assaulters found peace in their K.O slumber. “*huff*… Argh, this holiday turned into a huge mess,” he moaned, “… Also, what happened to your teeth? Did they bite you?” He pointed his finger at Mashyuu’s long canines who suddenly popped out from nowhere. However, after a couple seconds, he realized… he saw them before. Yes, those looked very familiar with what he looked like back when…

“YOU CRAZY STONEHEAD!!!” His roar made the entire building’s structure shake and the roof to fly a couple meters up in the air, “Don’t just transform right now!” In a flash, Imai was seen holding onto Mashyuu’s enlarged canines, trying to either pull them off or push them back into their original lengths. His face was filled with fright over the memory that he just caught when seeing them; if that guy transformed here… then the bloodbath would start over again. Given by the large male’s build, though, his attempt at affecting the canines in any way resulted just as a little kid trying to push a square into a round hole. In the end, he found himself hanging on his mentor’s back with a tired face. “Huhh… wait, you haven’t got red eyes yet,” he noted by looking at his face, “I guess we’re safe.” With that said, he leapt down from him again and wiped off sweat from his forehead. Sei was a little anxious after the scream earlier, in which it sought refuge behind Itsu as Imai had acted all out of fright of what Mashyuu could’ve become…

Gun shots could be heard coming from outside. Hearing the loads, Imai turned his face towards the exit and remembered that there were the guards as well. “Crap, the villagers..!” Imai let out, running out of the bar and into the mess that looked like some scene from a wild west movie. In the distance was people running around, punching, basically throwing warfare at each other; men, women, kids and elders of all ages were involved. The loads heard from earlier came from the guards that decided to try and clear out the troubles in their own village…

WC: 1576 + 643 = 2219

Before long, Imai had saved those on the ground and put his attention on Mashyuu and his elongated teeth. Mashyuu felt the air in his lungs catch while he struggled to not reach back and punch Imai as hard as he could in the face. Mashyuu placed his hands on Imai's shoulders and shoved him aside then turned his back on the smaller man. "It's just my nature to destroy gods showing through is all. Like when some Demon Slayers grow arcane marks on their limbs when in the presence of Demons. You shouldn't go around pulling on peoples teeth either way Imai!" Mashyuu responded while Itsu collected her gear and patted the boys. "Come on guys, it's time to get out there and see what else is happening. I hope this God you are smelling isn't to tough though." Itsu wasn't a God Slayer and hadn't been with Mashyuu the first time he destroyed a God but the last time, during the fall of the Sabertooth guild hall, Itsu had seen just how much it effected the brown haired Wizard and worried for his safety.

Casually, Mashyuu put his hands in his pockets and slowly followed Imai out into the village, knowing that what Imai was about to see was something he wouldn't enjoy. Mashyuu could smell the blood a moment after the guns went off. People were dead and it would be up to the Sabertooth Wizards to clean up the mess. "Itsu. Imai has a good heart but he hasn't developed that ability to stay calm and collected when he is presented with something he can't forgive or forget. Whatever happens next, we let him take the lead and simply aid him. Don't make him feel like less of a man. He is about to discover the type of person he will be for the rest of his life. This is important." Mashyuu looked at Itsu with a look that was both serious and concerned. Clearly Mashyuu had considered this before taking on Imai as a learner.

As Imai rushed into the village Mashyuu and Itsu followed behind, some villagers laid dead in the middle of the street while others fought and the guards aimed their rifles at the fighting villagers. "Well Imai, what is the plan here? We gonna beat everyone in the village until they can't stand then go find whoever is doing this? Or are we gonna find the mastermind and beat him before our magical energies are drained completely?" Mashyuu asked, posing a very real question to the young man that he would have to consider in future jobs when out on his own. Mashyuu knew it from a young age, after watching his mother get ran through with swords and spears. But the truth was, you can't save everyone.

Even through all that Mashyuu knew Imai would do whatever he had to to keep everyone safe, it was just the kind of person Imai was. A younger version of Mashyuu in many respects. Quickly Mashyuu's left leg lifted then stomped the ground under his foot. The dry earth below him rumbled and rolled towards the guards as they took aim and readied their weapons to fire. "Earth Gods Stone Wall." The ground in front of the men launched up in a thick wall and knocked the guns barrels up, causing them to shoot harmlessly into the air, ruining their gunfire. "Imai, do something about those guys beating each other over there, try not to use as much magic as possible. Then I have a question for you. Until then, I have these two guards." It wasn't that Mashyuu wanted to fight the stronger opponents but that they would have clues as to what God had them under control and if Mashyuu could defeat them both and keep one awake long enough, he could react correctly and maybe get the Wizards an edge in this battle. "Mash, what do you want me to do?" Itsu called out, confused. "Rest up, you get the next batch that comes through if they are the same in numbers." Mashyuu responded while continuing off of the side of the road to face down the gunmen.

"Now, do you two really think your guns are gonna be enough to take me down? You better be sure about it before you aim them at me." Mashyuu warned the two who were punching Mashyuu's stone wall down to rubble with their metal wrapped arms. Mashyuu frowned, he liked his stone walls, as shabby as the lower ranked spells looked. He thought they had a special charm to them. Mashyuu flexed his left arm and in his palm a bow of magical energy appeared, thanks to the silver cross on a chain wrapped around his wrist. "Looks like we have ourselves a good ol' fashioned shootout! I'm game." His eyes glared at each soldier, Mashyuu's heart raced. If he moved too soon, Imai could get hit by a stray bullet, if he moved to slow, he would catch a bullet and he had been shot enough over the past month to know he didn't want to deal with that again. As the two men lifted their weapons, Mashyuu dropped down and pulled his bowstring back. A massive arrow formed in his hand and he aimed at the ground between the two men. "Sniper Elite!" He called out and let his arrow fly. Before the men could wrap their fingers around the trigger of their weapons the arrow soared through the air and hit the ground between the two men, promptly exploding and knocking the two men backwards from the force of the blast. Dust shot up out of the ground, wrapping the area in a thick cloud. Mashyuu charged into the dust, relying purely on his tremor sense to feel where his foes were. Both men tried to see in the dust but it wasn't enough. Mashyuu exploded into the face of one man, his right hand open wide as he shouted out. "Improvised Spell: Dragon Gods Burning Finger!" Light wrapped around Mashyuu's hand while magma shot up and floated at his glowing palm. At once Mashyuu grabbed the guard by the face and squeezed his hand, nearly killing the guard with a mix of magma and holy light, knocking the guard out instead. Then Mashyuu dropped to a knee and planted his hand on the ground, feeling where the second guard was trying to hide. "Earth Gods Combo: Part Two!" Mashyuu shouted and split the ground open under the guard, swallowing him neck deep in the ground. Slowly Mashyuu stalked over to the guard as the dust settled and placed his foot atop the man's head. "Now why don't you tell me what I'm looking for in this town. It will be much less painful for you in the end." "Armor! The master has golden armor! Please don't kill me!" Mashyuu narrowed his gaze and kicked the man in the face as hard as he could, knocking him out cold. "Aries... This isn't a good thing."

WC: 1191
Total: 3347

Upon walking outside, the scene screamed thriller and bloody hell, all which shocked Imai and caused his eyes to remain wide-opened. Before him was a village once known for its peace, the phenomenon of tranquility that gave it its name, now turned upside down and given the antonym chaos. “B-Bloody hell… this happened too fast,” he mumbled in silence. Watching the blood pools made him angry inside, just like back at the tower… but now that he remembered the tower for the same scene, he slowly released his clenched knuckles and began walking further. Many people were still struggling to land punches against the guards that entered with their arms, while others were yet to cease their wills to live after such events that were thrown upon them. He had to do something… they had to do something, most likely find out what the cause of all this was, so that they could end it all at once. He admitted that he couldn’t do much with the apparent victims, but if he had just 1 percent change of saving the rest, then he would always take that choice. He would try his best all the time, forever…

Mashyuu reacted to the strange magic signature from earlier, and Imai quickly remembered what he said; when near a presence that resembled his magic… that would only conclude that whoever was around here was beyond human; a god, to be precise. “… If we keep on fighting here, then we might not be able to kick this specific guy’s ass,” he replied to Mashyuu’s suggestions. He began looking over at the scenes and a second passed, before he noticed Mashyuu take action. There was a group of fighters over there that suddenly got tipped over by the Rock Guy’s Earth Wall, and as soon as the armed guards were removed, Imai dashed in after hearing what Mashyuu told him. “Roger! Hurry up and beat up those other guards, okay..!” he spoke back quickly, picking up his spinning top and readying it for launch. Then as he got closer to the group of hooligans, he launched Pegasus and watched it cause a massive gust to follow its path. Having their mere arms and legs as weapons, they couldn’t do much but to try and grab the irritating toy as it passed their feet and positions. It was truly an efficient weapon with so little use in mana that Imai would have plenty of energy for the next fights.

“I wonder what Mashyuu wants to ask me about… oh well!” he mumbled to Sei, the being who wasn’t really there but still hanged around with Itsu due to Imai’s absent piece of clothing, “Now just go, and for real, pull yourselves together!!!” The group of men and women who kept attacking each other so much that they barely remembered the spinning top anymore suddenly looked over at him and growled. Then, a loud battle cry erupted as they charged like elephants towards the mage. Swiftly, he leapt upwards as they charged, for a brief moment soaring above the crowd. Watching him, they waited for the boy to fall down again, but he kept bouncing upwards a little bit and their eyes kept turning darker and darker with rage. Then, some of them noticed that his spinning top circulated their group and caused the soft tornado that kept Imai soaring. It accelerated quicker and quicker, causing the very same group to get pushed up from the ground as well. Imai made himself land on the roof of a building at the other side of the road, watching his bey do the trick and send them all down again, fainted and unable to continue fighting.

The ground began shaking again after Imai had taken care of the wildebeests. It was Mashyuu who quickly took care of two armed guys, ending it by asking one of them who their master was. With one’s head being the only part of your body above the surface of the earth, you would obviously surrender if not having other exits. Although, all he said, or all that Imai heard from his position, was that their master was golden… either that, or their mastermind wore something golden. It didn’t ring any bells for the younger boy yet, in which he approached his large mentor for more information. “H-Hey, I didn’t hear it all, but… golden? What does he mean by that..?” That was also when Imai remembered that Mashyuu had something to ask Imai, but given the situation, he just wanted to find this guy behind the scenes and make him stop the terror in this little town in an instant. However, despite that, he wasn’t psychic and couldn’t predict the future; he did only what his heart told him to. “Also, about your question, it might be a good idea to ask now, before more folks ruin everything…”

WC: 2219 + 816 = 3035

Mashyuu stood over the defeated guards, taking heavy breaths of air while he mulled over how bad that it was to have Aries on the planet, let alone in Fiore at all. None of that was safe. His lips started to move quickly, trying to talk through steps he needed to take in order to keep lives safe, that was until Imai spoke up and said something to him about the question Mashyuu wanted to ask earlier. Mashyuu jolted to attention and looked down at Imai with almost a scowl on his face. Mostly it was alarm, because he had lost himself in his thoughts. "What? I... Um. Sorry. Yeah the question. I wanted to ask you exactly what your magic is? I need to know its strengths, weaknesses and what strange abilities you might have." The brown haired man motioned for Itsu to join them then placed a hand on each of his friends shoulders. "We have a big issue here. These people aren't going to stop fighting each other or us. Not until everyone has been infected by Ares, a God of War. He is here to create an army and this is the easiest target to go after without an army to start with. We need to act fast, find him and defeat him before he can manage to take over the entire village." Mashyuu explained. He looked over his shoulder while his nose flared up when a thick scent filled the air. His body tensed up and he shoved Itsu aside. "Find Ares, don't engage him but stay near him so we can follow your energy and we will all engage him together. Imai. We have a big fight on our hands."

Two men in gold and blue full plate armor walked up to the group and drew swords, the blades longer than Imai was tall. Both men glared at the Sabertooth Wizards, Mashyuu leaned over to Itsu and whispered. "If these guys are here, Aries is going to be close. Be careful. Mashyuu warned. Itsu nodded her head and took off, running away to get some distance on the fighters. Mashyuu took up his Mountain Stance and drew a deep breath of air. "Imai, we are each taking one. Show these soldiers honor and they will do the same for you. Are you ready?" He asked and flexed his body, allowing his power to rise drastically. Both soldiers lifted their swords and shields and that was when all hell broke out...

Mashyuu pointed to the ground and lifted his palm. A large glob of molten stone exploded out of the ground and floated to his palm. Rapidly it started to spin and warp until it looked like a buzz saw. Mashyuu focused his power and mentally linked it to himself. "Secret Art: Earth Gods Magma Cutter." He and the knight standing across from him on the street charged one another, the buzz saw soared at the Knight who deflected the weapon with his shield but not before Mashyuu's spell put a long cut up the magical steel. The Knight recoiled and lifted his blade high to the sky. Quickly he slashed down at Mashyuu, sending a beam of magical energy straight at the dual Slayer's chest. Mashyuu opened his mouth and inhaled, taking in the energy and restoring his own magical power in the process. He wiped his mouth and extended his hand, recalling his cutter to float at his palm while spinning rapidly. The God Slayer grinned at the Knight and nodded his head, showing a sign of respect to the man who was good enough to block his spells strike and counter. The Knight took a heavy step at Mashyuu, blade thrusting forward for the God Slayer's chest. Mashyuu brought his left hand down, using the metal in the palm of the glove to knock the weapon down to strike the dirty ground at Mashyuu's feet. Quickly Mashyuu's hand holding the magma cutter snapped up, going right for the neck of the Knight, cutting the air quick enough to kill most on the swipe alone but the Knight was ready, again lifting his shield while ducking his head to deflect the weapon. Mashyuu growled and sent his gloved fist crashing into the shield to try and dent it but barely managed to put a mark on it....

WC: 730
Total: 4077

When Mashyuu scowled down at Imai after his question, the boy could clearly see that his mentor was getting lost in his own mind. Either that, or he was having the worst hangover; although, they hadn’t even drunk any alcoholic beverages yet, so that couldn’t be the case. His long-awaited question appeared to be about Imai’s magic, his Heavenly Body Magic. “Oh… alright, listen carefully,” he replied with a smile, feeling like some kind of tutor who was going to explain things to students, “It’s a sort of astronomical magic that I possess. I can utilize light and also do many other spatial things such as spawning gravity, throw meteors… and overall throw light everywhere. I can even move like a bolt.” Both his hands began lighting up in blue auras to demonstrate his magic even further. “It’s very effective against Dark Magic, and other types that are weak against things like meteors and comets. Although, I’m honestly not sure about its weaknesses yet…” The next thing that Mashyuu wanted out was its strange abilities; on top of his offensive attacks, he had many effects upon him when activating his magic. That was when he remembered that one technique that he learned in that job back then with Lynn as he looked up at the sky. “T-That’s right! I can support my own and others’ strengths with my magic; all I have to do is point upwards.” As he just finished that sentence, the rock mage explained the issue that he caught earlier; none of the villagers would stop fighting, according to his knowledge. He mentioned that they were all infected by none other than the foreign God of War, known both as Ares and Mars. When Mashyuu named that, Imai’s eyes shone up like two big stars, while his mouth was hanging. They were going to engage a god in combat soon…

“… I-I get that, but still,” Imai mentioned, “We’re really talking about a deity here… wait, that’s-“ As he realized their group’s trick up their sleeves, he shut his mouth and lost the anxiety. They were going to track Ares down and beat him, and with a literal God Slayer on their team, the chances looked brighter than a few moments ago. Although, the cosmic boy was still a little worried about the rest, including Itsu. “O-Oh, stay safe, Itsu…” he warned the taller lady. It was a god that they were talking about, and even Imai wasn’t sure on beating such a figure. However, with Mashyuu on his side, who was having the real issue here? Them, or the god that awaited a load of buttkicking? “R-Right… god or not, I’ll still punch him in the face!” Imai replied to Mashyuu as he clapped his clenched fist, “… but… I guess that we have to wait for that.” As he said that, his eyes pointed towards the couple of guards wearing golden plates on their bodies and swords almost as tall as Mashyuu, surprisingly, looking towards the Sabertooth mages. Imai was quick and stood ready with his telescope; given by the intimidation that these guys emitted, he needed the support of a weapon himself. Those large blades weren’t going to cut him down to shreds today, sadly. “They’re large… but I guess that they won’t catch up on me,” he mumbled. Speaking about speed, Sei was still with Itsu for some reason. Damn it, he could’ve used some boost in speed at this moment… but he guessed that the little alien was safer with Itsu as well as being of much more need for her than for him. As the two soldiers lifted up their weapons, both Mashyuu’s and Imai’s auras burst out, ready to cause some havoc against these opponents…

As Mashyuu charged, Imai launched a beam from his hand towards the other knight. Effortlessly, that enemy blocked it all with his shield, but when he looked back again, Imai was nowhere to be seen. The beam had been but a decoy, a distraction, while Imai sent a knee right on the knight’s head as he unfortunately looked upwards where Imai was charging down from. Balancing on the hurt knight, Imai could see how his knee had blunt on his poor face, but the knight quickly swung his shield to push Imai off, hopefully getting space to swing the large sword at him. Smoothly, Imai landed on the shield and let the knight swing him off as he spun midair, landing a few meters away on his feet. “Okay… your armor is pretty strong,” Imai commented, “Let’s see how much it’ll protect you from.” With that said, Imai crossed his arms before his chest and emitted a black aura that quickly surrounded the field. The black aura was cold and stingy, easily hitting through the armor as the metal didn’t suit well for such a situation. As the golden knight felt like getting slower on his movements, Imai charged up and planted an auric foot on his chest plate. It pushed the enemy back, but didn’t inflict that much damage. However, Imai continued by swinging his telescope right at the knight’s face, but mentioned quickly parried with his sword. Given by the pressure, the knight was aiming for Imai’s feet to try and immobilize him, but he hoped that its sharpness was enough to cut it down; however, Imai’s telescope was emitting a blue aura as well, so it wasn’t easy to break that thing now. Holding the knight in place, Imai quickly picked up a flashbang and turned it on, causing a large beam of light to hit the knight’s eyes. “If you’re going after my feet, I might as well go after your eyes!” Imai spoke up. As the knight was blinded, he could finally tip him off with his feet and push the shield away, but the knight was strong and could still swing his sword even when laying down. Imai had to make distance once again from the golden warrior, forced to find another way.

WC: 3035 + 1004 = 4039

Barely putting a mark on the shield, Mashyuu furrowed a brow as his cutter pulled back to his hand and floated while spinning around rapidly. Mashyuu's glowing blue eyes narrowed as he considered his options. Sadly he was focused more on the upcoming battle with Aries than he was with the guards. With that on his mind he almost didn't see the swing of the sword coming at his shoulder. The Wizard only managed to evade thanks to the Goddess in his body taking over during the weakened mental state Mashyuu had left himself in. Quickly she made the Wizard bend his body back at an angle to evade the slash narrowly. "Mashyuu, if you and Imai don't survive this battle then Aries won't be a problem to solve later. Trust Itsu to keep an eye on the God and you finish this battle quickly. Do not fail me." The Goddess ordered and gave the Wizard back control of his body. Mashyuu snapped back to the task at hand and glanced over at Imai to make sure he was doing okay for the most part. Already he knew how the two could work together to overcome Aries, but Mefitis was right, first this battle.

The Knight made a series of jabs at Mashyuu, forcing the Wizard to give up ground in order to evade the stabbing strikes all while Mashyuu waved his hands back and fourth, effectively throwing his cutter at the Knight's shield repeatedly, each strike at the same spot to dig deeper into the steal with hot magma stone. While Mashyuu didn't like to give up ground in a fight, this was needed in order to make a winning strike later. "Imai! Take out his shield and take out half his defense along with it!" Mashyuu shouted as he ripped the cutter spell up through the shield of the knight, splitting it in half in one fell swoop after nine other quick strikes. The Knight grunted as his shield was split in half and fell to either side of him. Slowly and carefully the man took a step back and grasped his blade with both hands. After seeing Mashyuu eat the beam of light he knew that attacking the Wizard with the ranged attack he had was not a great idea and had to now rethink his tactics.

It was a good feeling for the God Slayer, being able to shatter such a foes shield and give the man a cause to halt his assault to re asses his situation. Not only did it give Mashyuu time to recover, it gave him a chance to make sure Imai was still alive. He couldn't keep his attention on everything at once and so much movement was happening all around him it was almost impossible for Mashyuu to figure who's movement was who's. "Ya know, that is a really nice set of armor you have there. I have armor too. Wanna see it?" Mashyuu asked while his clothes started to spark. "My dad made it when I was child. He called it.... Quick Silver!" As he spoke, his body flashed a silver light and became wrapped in a silver skin, liquid armor that covered him from hair to toe. With the cutter at his side Mashyuu clenched his fist and charged forward, ready to attack! Mashyuu jumped up as high as his body would allow for him to. He punched out with his hand controlling the cutter, leaving himself wide open for attack in the process. The Knight side stepped and stabbed up at Mashyuu who in turn smiled wide as his armor's effect kicked in. The Knight's stab struck true bit in a shocking twist, the impact was reflected back at him, blowing the Knight backwards and away from Mashyuu. The Knight was blown through a wooden building and came out the others side taking deep breaths while running the back of his hand across his mouth to clear it of the blood that had welled up from the impact.

He didn't have much time to recover though because Mashyuu went charging through the building that the Knight was just knocked through and slashed the mans chest with the magma cutter, leaving a wide red cut going across his armor from shoulder to shoulder. The Knight tried to hold out but he couldn't from the sheer heat of the cutter and screamed from the pain that ripped through his chest and shoulders. Stumbling back again he used his sword as a support but went wide eyed at Mashyuu's next act. "Secret Art: Earth Gods Volcanic Eruption!" He shouted, creating a small volcano behind him from the ground that spit up three molten orbs of stone that smashed into the knight, causing him to explode and return to the realm of the gods. Mashyuu took a deep breath to steady himself then glanced back at Imai to make sure he was okay. Once the two were rejoined Mashyuu patted Imai on the shoulder and gave him a thumbs up. "Good job, but that was teh warm up fight. Think you are ready for the main event? If so I have a plan. We flank Aries and every time of of your light attacks miss, I'll eat the spell to try and hit Slayer Force. I honestly don't know how much of a chance we stand without it. I'd like to say we can take him just fine but I have fought three gods, each of them required me to hit force to really put a dent in him. Unless you have a plan of your own that might work just as well, if not better?"

A little deeper in Peace Village, at the mayor's home, Itsu was taking deep breaths of air and bleeding from her side while she reached for the katana at her hip that Mashyuu had given her just a few days ago. She swallowed a shallow breath and looked up the steps at the massive man slowly striding down the stairs. Clad in golden armor with a red cape, and gold helm, Aries pointed his spear first at Itsu, then the runes on the Mayor's home that he had placed there days ago. "Little Itsu. Do you not realize how much danger you are in, and you thought you could defeat me? Hahahahaha don't make me laugh. I'll destroy you and everything this realm holds dear." Itsu drew heatwave from it's scabbard and leveled it to aim at Aries while she growled with rage. She wouldn't last much longer at this point if the others didn't arrive soon. Itsu pulled the sword back than gave it a good swing at Ares when he finished walking down the set of marble steps. "Flash Fire!" She shouted, sending a fire ball crashing into Ares only to see it barely managed to put a dark mark on the God. Ares lifted his spear high and with a quick thrust rammed it straight through Itsu's gut, splitting her bone armor in the process. She gasped and dropped her weapon to the floor as Ares removed the spear and kicked her to the ground. He leveled the weapon above her neck and glared down at her. "First you, then the other Sabers in town."

WC: 1222
Total: 5299

Quickly, Imai swung his telescope around his fingertips and swung it right at the knight’s skull again, attempting to put more force into the attack. Apparently, his rapid but rather soft blows didn’t faze them at all, but this heavy attack wasn’t so much better. The knight simply pulled his head back by the impact and looked up at Imai with a deadly look in his eyes. Annoyed, Imai launched an assault of punches at the knight to try and push him away, meanwhile thinking of something else that would do the trick. He could use Pegasus, but he needed quite the opening for that, and this knight wasn’t slowed down by his armor. His volley of attacks ended in a swift crescent kick to the shoulder where Imai found himself frozen in time, while the knight readied a counterattack. His sword flew across the air and was aimed towards Imai’s body, in which the young Sabertooth mage had to leap off from the knight’s shoulder. It resulted in the same knight hitting his own shoulder with the killer blade, causing a huge crack on the seemingly impenetrable, golden armor. “???” Imai spotted the crack quickly and felt that this was his chance to finish this battle. He could finally see a spot that would be more fragile than rather hitting the golden armor like a maniac.

He crossed his arms and gathered his overflowing magic power, appearing like a star in the middle of the battlefield. Mashyuu spoke up to him from the other side, wanting him to aim at the greatest defense that the knight had; his shield. Now that the knight spotted the crack, he was going to depend on that shield a lot at this moment. Imai had to prevent that, otherwise his plan would most likely fail. The ground cracked up a little, while Imai’s magic power was clear and visible as a large, blue fog that shone brighter than the sun. The knight, surprisingly, stood there and awaited Imai’s attack, a thing that caught the star boy’s attention as he could do that now! Smoothly, he brought up Pegasus and readied it on his launcher, while the knight quickly realized what he was doing. The phenomenon from earlier had distracted him for a moment, long enough for Imai to aim the bey at the knight. “Your sword or my little toy? I wonder what’s superior…” Imai spoke to him, before he launched the bey with struggle. It darted through the air with a blue beam behind its track, while the knight quickly tried to block it with his shield. When they collided, the blue beam dashed out in a huge fire around the shield due to the impact, causing the knight to have been struggling to keep his foothold. It ended with the knight’s shield shattering at the very end of Pegasus’ attack, and now that the bey was down on the surface again, Imai got another idea.

The bey began spinning around the knight who tried to cut it with the sword; apparently, the little toy posed a bigger threat than Imai himself. Finding himself trapped in a large circle of nothing but blue, the beam that looked like a ring around the enemy began to shriek in size, until the knight’s body was suddenly caught by a ring that kept pressing on him, immobilizing his arms. “Hah! My Galactic Donut was successful!” Imai proclaimed with a clenched fist; quickly, the very same knuckle lit up in light, “Falling Star!” In the blink of an eye, Imai’s knuckle slammed downwards on the knight’s shoulder as he seemingly teleported from his position several meters away. It looked like a slash from above when his knuckle cracked open the armor and heavily damaged the knight to the point of knockout. Landing on the floor again, Imai looked up to see the knight’s fainted face as the ring of light faded away, letting the man fall down. Looking at his hands, Imai expected to be exhausted… no, he expected to be fresh out of mana by now. However, given by his gut feeling as well as his state and condition, he felt like going on for at least a couple more battles like this one. It was a little worrying, but also surprising for him.

He quickly ran over to Mashyuu as the rock guy too defeated his opponent. Luckily, this was the warm-up fight, so Imai’s feeling earlier was assuring. He still had enough to continue. “… Y-Yeah, I’m ready!” he faintly responded to Mashyuu as they both appeared capable of taking on Ares now; the God Slayer even had a plan to take him down. If Imai was to miss some of his spells, Mashyuu would be there to eat it up. He mentioned Slayer Force, a term that Imai hadn’t heard of until now, in which he asked: “Slayer Force? Is that some kind of spell?” Given by the mentor’s words, it pretty much depended on that spell or magic for them to win this. “Okay, so you’ll try and hit this Force… if I still have some mana left, then I’ll help with the attack! Light isn’t all that I can use!” As he said that, he quickly remembered Itsu and where she was; maybe she was already fighting Ares? They had to hurry up and join her, then! “Let’s go meet up with Itsu, she might already face this god..!” Imai spoke up. He looked around and tried to find Sei’s magic power, suddenly running off towards the place…

Sei tried its best to support Itsu during her encounter with Ares, hanging onto his bone armor and boosting her defense. The little alien could feel a wrath coming out of the god like none other, and it frightened it tremendously. It missed the safety that it felt when hanging onto Imai’s back, but it had to help Itsu. Its endurance boost didn’t help much, though, as her bone armor was split up and the spear of Ares cutting through her belly. As Ares was about to end it, Sei flew up above her neck and looked at the god’s eyes, not wanting Itsu to die. Rather let itself get killed before the others would show up than her…

WC: 4039 + 1047 = 5086

Mashyuu blinked and felt his jaw hang open for a moment when Imai asked what Slayer Force was. It took the God Slayer a moment to push his mouth shut so he could swallow. "What do you mean you don't know what Slayer Force is!? It's what happens when a Slayer consumes so much magical energy that their natural stores overflow and they gain the ability to cast magic without the use of their natural energy. They also get a boost in strength, speed and endurance. With it I can hurl spell after spell at Ares until he can't possibly hold himself up and falls to the might of Sabertooth!" Mashyuu exploded with anger and rage, mostly due to the need to defeat Ares quickly. A long sigh escaped his mouth and Mashyuu forced a grin on his face. "Just know that in no way will me using the Slayer Force be a bad idea for this fight. Just standing here like this has helped my magical reserves fill since I absorb light from all around me. The sun naturally energizes my magic." He gave Imai a thumbs up until the point that the boy suggested they find Itsu, a good idea considering how bad things were going to be. "Okay, lets find them, but Imai. Don't fight Ares head on, let me do that, you get in behind him and try to catch him when his guard is down." Mashyuu wanted to be sure Imai didn't do anything rash when the God Slayer was built for brawling with someone like Ares.

With the plan in place Mashyuu reached out with his senses and felt for Itsu's unique magical essence. Once he had it he flexed his arms and the soft earth braces on his forearms created a blanket of floating dirt. He quickly jumped up on it and motioned for Imai to follow him. Once Imai was on the two flew off on Mashyuu's carpet of lose stone towards Itsu and Sei. What felt like hours passed until the pair drew upon the house of the Mayor where Ares was about to finish off Itsu, when Sei flew up to try and stop the God of War. Mashyuu grumbled at the sight and grabbed Imai. "We are going in, don't freak out and be ready to move." He ordered Imai as a blue light pulsed out from the God Slayer. The light that swelled out from Mashyuu enveloped the majority of the town, including the Mayors home. "Light Dragon's Domain: Transition!" Together with Imai, Mashyuu traded spots with Itsu and Sei, so that the two male Wizards were on the ground facing Ares while their allies were on the flying carpet of earth.

The sudden appearance of Mashyuu and Imai before Ares caused the God to take an almost startled step back. The man glared at Mashyuu when his caught the whiff of the man and the magic he possessed. "Mashyuu... Imai. You might have just saved the woman. I was about to put my spear through her skull. She didn't even serve as a warm up. How do you think you two will fair?" He asked and took a half step back while whirling his spear around to hold in a fighting stance. Mashyuu stepped in front of Imai and took up his fighting stance, figuring he would take Ares on first, giving Imai a chance to move in to deal some really good damage from a blind spot Ares might have. There was a long silence where the two just stood and glared at one another, then after a long wind the two started their attack against one another.

Ares jumped up and gave his spear a lethal thrust towards Mashyuu's shoulder to try to rip through his neck and organs. Mashyuu raised his left hand and pushed it out hard, knocking the spear aside just enough to cause the spear to strike the ground instead of Mashyuu's shoulder. He went to kick Ares in the chest but the massive God in gold reached out with his free hand and grabbed Mashyuu by the shirt and drove his helmet covered head into Mashyuu's face. Mashyuu recoiled and welt his eyes water up from the impact of the helmet based attack. Mashyuu groaned while pushing his right hand out towards Ares. "Earth Gods Combo: Part One!" It wasn't meant to do massive damage to Ares but to set up a bigger attack. Three pillars shot up out of the ground, one striking into each of Ares legs, and into his groin. Ares doubled over from the blow and started to cough up spit and bile. Mashyuu dropped to a knee and commanded the ground as he touched the ground. "Earth Gods Combo: Part Two!" The ground split open under Ares and swallowed him up allowing for Mashyuu to pull his arm back as sand exploded out of his arm to create a scythe like weapon. He darted forward and shouted while cutting Ares across the neck. "Earth Gods Combo: Part Three!" The blow shattered the helmet of Ares, leaving behind a long cut across the mans face.

Mashyuu watched as the ground spit Ares out of the ground and left the man pulling himself up to his feet while drawing a deep breath of air. Ares reached out and his spear went flying back into his hand while he spun around to face the God Slayer yet again. He started to laugh while cracking his neck. "Hahhahahaha very good. A mighty flurry of strikes indeed. Was it enough to really do harm to me though? How do you feel about your chances?" He asked Mashyuu. The Wizard growled and lifted his palm to the ground. A chunk of stone floated to rest under his hand. Mashyuu whispered the incantation to his magical spell. "I'm gonna ruin your life. Secret Art: Earth Gods Magma Cutter!" Mashyuu slashed his weapon forward, the whipping blade reached out further than Ares expected, cutting up the Gods arm, drawing a long line of blood off his massive arm.

WC: 1026
Total: 6325
OOC: Take it Imai!

Mashyuu sounded surprised that Imai didn’t know about Slayer Force. It was just an effect that was symbolizing a Lost Magic, Ancient Magic and a rare type of Slayer Magic that can be dated several millennia back in the past without any proper checkpoints or turns in events, almost yet a myth for most people around Fiore. Heck, he was the one to stand there, completely oblivious. At the end of Mashyuu’s explanation, Imai simply replied: “S-So practically volleying spells at Ares? Oh boy, he’s up for trouble..!” It would be easy for Mashyuu to activate this Slayer Force given by his explanation as Imai was mainly a utilizer of light, one of the elements that Mashyuu could devour and replenish mana from. Besides, Imai had more than enough mana left to assist the plan; what annoyed him, though, was that Mashyuu asked him not to get head on against Ares… then again, it was more than obvious why.

The plan was set; get Mashyuu to activate Slayer Force, then absolutely demolish Ares. Thinking about fighting a god still sounded like the pinnacle of adventure for Imai at this point as they were both approaching the area where Itsu and Sei were. When noticing their situation, Imai wished to interfere as soon as possible; Mashyuu did warn him not to get loose and move simultaneous with his next attack. While the blue light emitted from Imai’s hands again, Mashyuu summoned them both at where Itsu and Sei used to stand as if the two couples had switched positions. Realizing that, Imai looked up at Sei and Itsu, calling: “Sei, try and help Itsu with her armor! I’ll be fine for now..!” As he finished that sentence, his gaze switched over to who could only be a god; dressed in golden, almost platinum armor and wielding a spear that appeared to reach the sky above them, this deity looked down at the two Sabers with a little grin. He seemed to underestimate them both greatly, in which they already had an advantage right there. Watching Ares stand ready with the insanely large spear, Mashyuu stepped in front and took over Ares’ frontal vision. Given by that, Imai could smoothly try and aim for any blind spots that the large being had; being large could definitely support the fact that he would have a lot of weak points. You knew what they said, the larger you were, the harder you fall.

After a couple pf silent moments, the battle suddenly began with Ares charging towards Mashyuu with the large spear aimed towards his neck. Imai took the chance to leap to the right, feeling that the spear wouldn’t be able to turn that much and still have its pointy edge towards him if Ares went for a counter. However, Mashyuu had his attention at the moment, so Imai waited for the earth mage to finish his combo that started off pretty disrespectfully; three pillars erupting from the ground, hitting Ares’ legs and holy grail. That must’ve hurt a lot, even for a god. Although, when Ares got hit, a faint light covered his contour for a very brief moment before fading away. The same thing happened when Mashyuu went for the second attack, letting Mother Earth devour the god until only the head was apparent. Imai wanted to go in now, but Mashyuu wasn’t done yet; out of his hand erupted sand, slowly forming into some kind of large scythe. That would most likely be the finisher, but as Mashyuu headed on to behead the god, Ares came out almost unscathed by the scythe. His helmet was gone, though, and the result of the scythe hitting him was a long scar across his face.

Imai hesitated not and quickly charged towards the god as his arm was damaged; with a little luck, he could maybe land the finishing blow to Ares’ arm. However, upon reaching it, the god suddenly noticed his magic power and swung the spear around to slam Imai with it. With the blue magic on his hand, the star mage repelled it with a light blast, momentarily staggering the deity. He then landed his foot on Ares’ back, letting himself leap up as he pushed the god away. While midair, he thought that his opponent needed more time to recover, but in a split second, Ares was already about to throw his spear towards Imai. Because that he was soaring, the cosmic mage didn’t know how to avoid, in which he pulled out his hands and opened his palms. “I DARE YOU!” he roared as Ares quickly launched the spear towards him, only to watch it impact something straight out of the thin air. Slowly, the spear was devoured by what could only be a kind of rift in space, a black hole to be exact. It took a little while before the spear could make it all the way in, and Imai was struggling with the foreign power. His black holes were connected to his magic realm, so having such a large and divine weapon absorbed was no joke. It even made him float midair for a while as he tried to absorb it. Meanwhile, Ares couldn’t believe his very eyes; a mortal trying to possess his weapon?

The deity waited not and quickly leapt to towards Imai to regain his possession, and because of the damn black hole, Imai couldn’t move at all. Finding himself vulnerable, he thought of many things that he could try out, but surprisingly, another figure interfered by pushing back the god. “… W-Wait, is that me?!” Imai spoke up in shock, because what had attacked Ares looked just like him; with the headband, attire, hair color and everything. Although, a small piece of metal reflected from within the figure’s body, indicating its identity as something else than what Imai suddenly thought…

WC: 5086 + 979 = 6065

Ares moved in to do battle with Imai, and while Mashyuu didn't want to leave the God to his friend, at the moment it was needed so the God Slayer could attend to Itsu before she died. He reached out with his left hand in the direction Itsu was, light flowed around Mashyuu in the form of thousands of tiny dragons. "Light Dragons Favor!" The small dragons of light soared towards Itsu and swarmed her body, healing her wounds almost completely. The beautiful woman gasped as life returned to her body and she sat up quickly, touching the hole in her body that had been sealed shut. She quickly glanced around to see where Mashyuu and the others were and grasped her blade. Ares had made a fool of her once and it wouldn't happen again. That was her thought process until she saw the dark, almost evil mirror version of Imai appear to do battle with her friend. Itsu let out a blood chilling scream and charged, jumping down to the ground and then bursting forward at the shadow creature while her blade, heatwave flashed with blue flames. "Blue Diablo!" She shouted as she slashed the back of the creature, dealing both a burning Fire damage while the shadow creature became ignited in blue flames to make sure that it would always be seen, at least for a time. She then glanced at Imai and shouted. "Imai, laser focus right now! We have this in the bag!" Just before she could say anything else the massive hand of Ares grasped the back of her head and lifted the woman up off the ground. He was about to start crushing her head when Mashyuu's loud voice shouted out.

"Lightning Leap!" He changed into a bolt of golden lightning and lanced straight through the back of Ares, nearly crippling him from the sudden jolt of pain. Ares dropped Itsu and turned his gaze at Mashyuu as he reformed into a solid figure. "Lightning. I haven't seen a mortal use that since I killed your mother. Yes, I was the bandit that ran your mother through, with that spear. Now I'll do the same to you!" He shouted and lifted his right hand, creating a second large spear. With a quick whip of his weapon he sent the flat end of the blade into the face of both Itsu and Mashyuu, causing them both to flip through the air to land on the ground in pain. Mashyuu writhed and glanced at Ares with a snarl. The God lifted his spear to ready it to ram through the God Slayer and as he started to move Mashyuu transformed into sand and floated above Ares. He reformed and pointed his palm out towards the God. "Secret Art: Earth Gods Sand Twister!" He commanded. The magic created a whirling tornado of sand that blew Aries backwards while blasting him with the bludgeoning sand. The God lifted his hand to cover his face while the magical sand continued it's attack. Mashyuu reached down as he landed on the ground and helped Itsu up. "I have this guy for now, do whatever Imai asks in order to help him. Glad to have you back in the fight." Mashyuu said with a kind smile.

"Alright Ares! Time to end you! Earth Gods Meteor Blast!" He shouted while stomping the ground. Before him a volcano sprouted up to his waist. Mashyuu pushed his magic to its limits and gave his hands a thrust forward, launching three molten balls of earth into the sand storm to smash into Ares, putting large holes in his body from each strike. Ares hit the ground and and started to cough up magical blood that was glowing with energy. Mashyuu stalked over to the God, feeling his jaw sore as bruises formed on his face, bone had broken in his skull and he didn't notice when the fight was happening but now that it was over his body ached from the single strike that likely almost killed him. Mashyuu placed a foot on the Gods neck and applied pressure. "Before I send you back to Olympus, I want you to tell me about these magical runes. Why are you here!?" Mashyuu demanded. Ares struggled and tapped Mashyuu's foot, trying to show that he would comply. As Mashyuu lifted his foot away Ares cleared his throat and started to speak. "The runes are part of a bigger plan. Once they are in place they can't be removed and when all the Gods place their runes our creators will come to the material plane, then force you mortals to once again worship us! I was here to create an army to distract from my brothers and sisters. Looks like you stopped me. But you won't stop the others! You are nothing Mashyuu!"

A wide scowl crossed Mashyuu's face and he kicked up the spear of Ares into his hand then rammed it through the Gods face, a bright light exploded out and Ares, and his spear returned back to his domain, barred from coming back to the material plane for many years. Mashyuu then looked back to the others and let out a long sigh as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a glowing white flask. He smashed it on the ground and the light healed the team of their wounds. "Good job Imai. You fought a God, held your own and gave me time to heal Itsu before she died. It is my shame to say that this is just the start though. The Gods of Olympus are on Earth now, here to revive their creators, this is not a good thing. If the two creators arise it will be close to impossible to stop them. You need to get stronger if you are going to help me out with this. In fact... We all need to get stronger."

WC: 997
Total: 7322
OOC: Imai finish the job and I'll turn it in yo!

The spear had finally gotten pulled into the abyss, gone of this plane. Imai felt quite happy now that he wasn’t crushed like a branch during the absorption, but what was he going to do with the spear if they made it out? He could always try and utilize it himself someday, if that ever became a possibility for the young boy. Could it be that he was able to wield it? It only sounded logical for another deity to have that ability… or a partial deity like Mashyuu who literally wielded the magic of one. Imai had to talk with him about the spear like, though… but as that spear was gone, Imai slowly descended to the floor again, looking over at where the figure used to stay. However, it appeared to have been gone, and while Imai looked around for it, Itsu called out to him. It was a surprising voice, but she had been recovered from her fatal damage from earlier, which touched Imai to the point where his eyes felt a little watering for a brief second. “E-Ehm… alright!” he replied quickly as he leapt several meters away from the large deity, gathering his focus so that things wouldn’t get ruined. Laser focus… he was going to switch to long-range attacks, following the plan right now! It was a little awkward for him that he didn’t start off earlier than now, but the time begged him to proceed.

Both his hands glowed up in blue light as he was ready to fire off towards Ares’ back. Combined with Mashyuu’s Lightning Leap, the tag team’s mixed-up light blast did the job at damaging Ares to the point of letting him let go of Itsu. Imai began firing off his beams in a huge volley, each one following the other as they planted right on the being’s back. He speeded up a little in the end, but that was whne Ares suddenly moved towards Mashyuu again as if he ignored the blasts coming from Imai. The deity had his back on Imai, and while the boy charged up another load, Ares said something to Mashyuu. He mentioned something with lightning and that he was the bandit that ran through Mashyuu’s… mother? Wait, did Imai just hear that? Was Mashyuu’s mother killed by a god? “… H-His mind is sick as hell,” Imai mumbled in silence, listening to what the deity was telling the Earth mage. Surprisingly, when he looked over at Mashyuu, a strange calmness was emitting. Was that what he meant by focus? It did suit best in situations like this one, being in the middle of a battle and not getting triggered by the opponent’s words; only one’s fists were sufficient communicators. Also, Ares just spawned another spear, ruining the feeling of accomplishment that Imai just went through during the absorption; hell! What was going to be with the other spear, then? It completely ruined it all!

A large sandstorm rose from Mashyuu’s next attack, causing the entire battlefield to blur out. Imai suddenly remembered the metal thing that was inside the figure that Itsu destroyed and held a hand over his pocket… wait… his Pegasus was gone? Combining those two, the metal that he noticed and the bey, he was almost convinced that whatever saved him earlier could have been his very own toy. It didn’t sound logical, though, as his bey literally needed his awareness all the time; he was the one that should have launched it in the first place. It can’t be that it had autopilot on or something? He suddenly ran around, trying to find it and stay out of the battle that Mashyuu seemed to have in control when Itsu showed up. Sei was hanging on her back when she asked about his next actions. “U-Uhm, I’m pretty sure that what you attacked earlier was my thing. You know, the bey; I don’t know how it showed up on its own, but can you help me find it?” he asked her sincerely. It was a precious toy for him, but then again, the word toy didn’t describe it well enough. It was a weapon of choice for control of the battlefield, but whatever it was in reality, Imai treasured it and wanted it back. She asked for its appearance as it was quite difficult to see it thoroughly during its constant movements, so Imai continued with a characterization of the Galaxy Pegasus: “Uhm… it’s a spinning top, it has a blue wheel-like thing… I guess Aura called it a fusion ring or something. It’s overall blue, dark-blue, and it also has some red markings on top. It also-“ Before his words were done, Mashyuu suddenly impaled the head of Ares with his own spear, which caused Imai’s head to move towards his direction. And what was beside their location? A piece of metal that shone through the sand grabbed his attention as he charged towards it along with Itsu as he was holding her hand. His speed did make the charge look comical as she was kind of floating midair due to how fast that he was running. “There you are!” he greeted the metal toy as his hands embraced it, “Oh, you surprised us all out there! Thanks for the safe, my friend..!”

He then stepped towards Mashyuu along with Itsu as the Slayer picked up a flask. It shone brightly and caught his eyes quickly, until the Earth guy decided to throw it down as the light surrounded them all. When Mashyuu complimented the boy’s contribution in fighting a god, the fact that he did face a deity didn’t shock him anymore. In fact, he smiled with a little pride… which then faded when he thought of the cost. Of course, Mashyuu did have to tell Imai the cold facts as well; this was far from over. There were many gods of Olympus, and apparently, it was their objective to stop their plans on Earth. “… Yeah… We all do.”

WC: 6065 + 1002 = 7067