Masks vs Masks(Job, w/Johann, Ruvel)

Job Info/Sign up:

Rolling~

The member 'Cirven' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

"It is fine, sir. We made sure ourselves to get this shipment to here in Hargeon ourselves. You are a valued customer of ours after all." Cirven stood on he docks with a West Fiore Trading Company ship in the water near him along with Ruvel and Johann looking around the area nearby. He was talking to a well dressed man who was older than him and shaking his hand happily. Cirven wore a black and white suit like he usually would do when he was at the WFTC HQ. This was to make sure he looked professional just like the rest of the members, when they dealt with customers. It had become a requirement for anyone who was dealing with customers to wear similar clothing. "You are saviors for us, Mr. Mizune! I might wear these clothes but we were about to lose our company here if we did not get the parts to fix the machines in the factory. We had an vengeful man who we fired that took it upon himself to sabotage the machines on his way out of the company." Cirven smiled back to the man and as his hand was shaken. "Yes, Mr. Qint. That is why I lowered the price of the parts you needed. Your company helps make sure that food is handled with care and have helped with the less fortunate before. It is my way of saying 'thank you' for doing that for others." Cirven shook the man's hand back as he spoke causing both of the men to vigorously shake each other's arms but the difference was Cirven's strength was more than the other man's which left Qint being picked up into the air more and more as the shaking went on until Cirven stopped it and caught himself putting too much strength into it. "Sorry about that." Cirven let go of the Qint's hand as he spoke. "Forgot my own strength there a bit." Qint stared at Cirven wide-eyed at first but then smiled warmly and nodded. "It's okay! I might have instigated that a bit much with how happy I was to get these parts during such a bad time. My wife has been gravely sick recently among other things so things have not been the best but I think this is a way of getting over all of my bad luck!" Cirven nodded back. "It will be, Mr. Qint. It will be."

The two men stood at the dock as the large parts to the machine were taken off of the WFTC ship by WFTC workers and brought into the city where they would be brought to Qint's company called Qint's Dispensary which was a factory that many of the stores in the area got their food from to sell. Qint's company was there to make sure that the food was taken care of before being sent out and used machines to help do so. The machines tested for any disease, magic, etc that could have gotten into them that the human eye could not see which was a great thing to have in the world to Cirven. A world that was filled with misfortune all over for those who lived in it. There was a sort of respect the devil had for Qint and his company being there that he did not have for many others he worked with, which was why he gave a discount on the replacement parts.

As the parts were taken through the city, Cirven watched over them for any signs of anything going wrong or any possibly attacks. Nothing seemed to be going wrong so far so he put his fingers up to his ear, thought of Ruvel and Johann and spoke inside of his own head. "Rui, Old Man. Have you seen any sign of anything in the city?" It may have been true that the devil had gone to Hargeon to deliver the replacement parts but there was another reason for him being there too. "I'm starting to wonder if the info we came across was true or not with how it has been this entire time." The reply from either of the his two Vice Presidents of the WFTC would come just as a thick mist traveled quickly throughout the city around them as if something caused it intentionally though it was a natural thing in the port city to have. "This mist is kind of coincidental, isn't it? Be careful, you two."

A sound of an explosion went off in the mist covered docks that echoed through the city and because of the devil's enhanced hearing, he heard it clearly. "This doesn't feel right. Get inside everyone. I'm going to check things out out here more." He ordered his men to go into the factory building for now as he walked back towards the docks alone, cautiously. The walk back was not too long but long enough through the mist that almost made him feel like he was lost but he knew the way back thanks to the pathway made through the streets. The sound of multiple foot steps ahead of him came into his ears. "Wh-Who is there?!" He spoke out as the foot steps seemed to get closer and closer to him. He stopped moving and waited in the mist for whoever it was to respond but nothing was said back to him. Only the sound of more foot steps. It felt like minutes had become hours of the sound happening at a slow pace over and over again in front of him until finally a group of masquerade masked men came out of the mist to face him. Their masks were blue. "Who are you and why do you have masks on?" The CEO questioned the group who seemed to not be too keen on talking as a icicles were fired towards him from the men. He managed to jump back and dodge the attack but more of the icicles were fired towards him over and over forcing him to move away from the masked men which lead him into a couple of men with blades made of water. Both men moved their magical blades down towards the devil but before they could hit a sudden black electrified claw moved through the air and hit both of their wrists, quickly ending their attack. Another attack came towards their throats but both masked men jumped back to avoid losing a chunk of their throats. The masked man and leader of Black Sails, The Blank Jester stood just where they planned to hit the CEO. "Mr. CEO, you should go back to your men inside of the factory. You have people to lead so make sure to lead them. This fight is mine." Cirven did not understand what was going on completely but agreed and ran off to an alleyway that the men were not at. The entire situation was something that Cirven had planned for ever since the mist set in, in order to make sure he as the CEO of the WFTC was not thought to be the Captain of Black Sails. A fake doppleganger of himself was used to be the CEO as he hid in his own shadow ready to act when needed.

"So who are you guys? Team Masquerade or something corny like that?" Jester questioned them but in return was met with a attack of icicles heading towards him. He quickly brought up the eight knives around his belt into the air and controlled them telepathically to deflect the attacks aimed at him. "The silent types, huh? I'll get you talking." The knives moved through the air around him. "I always do get them to in the end..."

WC:

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It was strange when he had been summoned to the offices because this didn't happen unless there was something serious that needed to be discussed without the ears of others hearing what was going on. He was surprised to see that his co keeper was there also "I hope I haven't kept you both waiting long." it was abnormal for him to be late as the youth was usually punctual but he had gotten the message half way through his morning training for perception, speed and reaction. "Crystals in traps I have no way of escaping or evading..." he said looking at his elder adoptive brother, he knew that it was for his improvement and eventually he would be able to both; but if the training wasn't pushing him then likely Cirven believed he was failing him both as a teacher and as his brother. Then again he was also sure his elder brother was getting some sort of joy out of tormenting him.

This however would be the first time that Cirven would see the subtle differences in his normal training uniform, instead of a bunch what he would recognise as an experiments code name in red on his right hand side would be the trading companies symbol embroidered in ice blue thread, on his left arm the word 'Rothe' would be missing as would the numbers between it and his name now would only be his name in the same ice blue thread. Wither anyone realised it both he and Cirven knew it was a big step forward in trying to forget and walk away from his past to embrace his new future. "What's going on? Must be big if we've both been summoned here." he just realised what he said and its relevance to his magic "I can't believe I just said that." he said face palming and shaking his head a little, after a moment he listened to what Cirven had spoke of a rumour that had came from Hargeon "Is there any merit to it?" he asked but knew if the three of them were talking about it, it was something that was to be taken seriously.

"I doubt we could walk around wearing our masks... the guild is wanted and two out of three of us have a wanted poster." it was then that Cirven had given a way they could be there without causing suspicion giving both himself and Johann an assignment saying he had a matter to tend to as well, after the meeting he moved get changed into his normal white and royal blue trimming and polished silver buttons. "Cirven, do I have to deal with them?" he seemed to shudder at the thoughts of dealing with the aristocracy but that is where he had proven himself best suited as much as it made his skin crawl. With a single glance from the elder male he new it wasn't knew this wasn't up for discussion "Fine, but I go missing its one of them who stole of me." he said moving to the ship that would take them to their destination, he paused at the gangplank the sailors stopping for a moment to see who would drag him on the ship this time.

This time however he gripped his sleeve and took a deep breath and started to walk up slowly much to the surprise of everyone. He was trying but he was petrified but he trusted Cirven and Johann to help him if he panicked at any point. Finding a spot he sat down closing his eyes wanting for his wonderful little sister to put him to sleep but knew that she had been told unless he was in full meltdown mode then she wasn't allowed to. He just hoped that this was merely a rumour, though if their was truth in the rumour he hoped they would arrive before it happened but that was at the whim of the sea. There had been a few hiccups along the way with pirates trying their luck but they had been dealt with quickly, he didn't understand people could be so greedy he was sure that there was enough for everyone; but then he guessed people wanted the easiest path which was just stupid in his opinion as doing it that way meant little since there was no gratification. Eventually they got to the port the crew given their tasks before being told they had a few days shore leave, with goodbyes the three had went to their individual tasks.

Moving towards the Elriyn manor a sigh, he hated dealing with this family because each time he sure they would lock him in a secret room never to be seen again. Getting to the door he rank the bell and waited for the butler to answer the door, as it was he instantly smiled his hand going to his chest "Good afternoon, can I help you?" the butler asked looking to Ruvel up and down "Yes, I was invited by name to the garden party by Lady Elriyn herself as the representative of The West Fiore Trading Company." he said moving into his suit pocket and holding out an invitation, the butler taking it and reading it. "Very well my lord follow me." he said entering Ruvel following slightly his eyes going over the gaudy furnishings he had now grown accustomed to, as he had let his guard down it wasn't that long before he had found himself tackled to the ground. "Ack!" he proclaimed trying not to flinch or show any displeasure in what had happened "Young miss you know better than that." the butler said making her pout "Oh, no it's fine. It's always a delight when I see you Miss Elriyn." he said with a warm tone. "See he says it's fine and Ruuuuuvvvyyy it's Demeri but remember you get to call me Deme." she said with a giggle "Of course, how could I forget Deme." he said wanting to run and tell her off for calling him that but she was the daughter of an influential client to the company.

"Where is your mother, she requested my presence." he said starting to stand now that the butler had helped her off him "Oh that! I begged my mommy for some time with you silly." all of a sudden he was hating Cirven even more for agreeing to this "Of course Demi however I'd like for us to perhaps go to the city gardens, I have missed their beauty. This of course fails in comparison to your own." his words made her flush a her cheeks as she went to get her bonnet and summer cloak his hand going to his ear. 'Cirven, I hate you... I was invited because her daughter wanted time with me alone, I know we do everything to keep our customers happy but still, this is a bit much.' he sent to his elder brother, he knew had Cirven known he would have likely declined or at least warn him but neither happened. As he brought his hand down the young woman had come down with her bonnet and instead of a cloak like he had expected a parasol. He guessed it did make sense given the sun was out and it was quite warm.

She had grabbed her arm and before long they where walking towards the park closest to the east docks just listening to everything she was talking about. 'If I believed in gods I'd be begging for them to make her less vapid.' he though to himself as she started talking about fashion. "Excuse me Demi, my older brother is checking up on me." he said knowing that this was something that the family was accustomed to, his hand going to his ear "Nothi-" he stopped seeing five people wearing masks with the symbol of earth on it. "Nevermind, I have guests..." he said bringing his hand down thinking for the one beside himself's safety he used his light to make them both vanish before humming for Lurea to turn up 'I need Demeri to fall asleep' he said through his bond as the small sparkling pink fairy with the baby blue cloud turned up singing making her fall asleep taking her quickly to a spot she'd be safe before placing his mask on and taking on his moon persona 'I really do hope she stays asleep, this would be a tough one to explain.' he thought to himself as he ran forward jumping up the tree looking at his opponents below his hand going to his ear "I have five earth." he commented so the other two knew what he was facing, for now he watched to gather information.

Word Count: 1'460

Information:

Johann was in the middle of his own training, sprinting through the vast jungles of divide and bursting from tree to tree, testing just how much he could increase his own speed until he reached his limits, doing it outside since the training halls were too constraining for that kind of exercise. The explosion that the sudden release of pressurized air caused shook the gigantic tree he was standing on, birds starting to scream and hastily flying away to avoid what they perceived as a danger. He was about to burst forward again when he heard a voice in his head, Alisha contacting him through the link as always when Cirven had something he wanted to talk about. "I will be there in a minute" he gave back through the link before it went silent again, a white magic circle appearing beneath his feet as he turned into wind in an instant, moving him from the other end of Divide Island back to the West Fiore Trading Company's HQ, reappearing just before the steps leading up to the large mahogany front doors.

He sighed, pushing them open to make his way into the entrance hall, bowing forward slightly in his walk to greet Alisha before making his way to the CEO's office, opening the door and making his way in, giving another bow to the CEO before him. He knew the other didn't necessarily like it, but it was just his way of greeting people where others raised their hand or waved, standing up straight again and opening his mouth to speak "So, what is it that requires attention ?" he asked, a few seconds passing without anything happening before his fellow VP stepped into the room as well. The elder male was a bit startled, if it was something that required the attention of both keepers AND the CEO there was something wrong. Johann gave Ruvel a bow as well before listening what he and Cirven had to say, nodding in the end, answering simply with "understood" to the instructions of the CEO as he bowed one more time to excuse himself before stepping out of the room, making his way back to his residence before getting ready, changing clothes and grabbing his gear, making his way to the docks for the ship that would take them to Hargeon ... .

Later, as Cirven was talking to Qint, he was standing a good few meters away, overseeing the transport of the machine parts as they were loaded off the ship and onto the docks before the two men eventually shook hands and they parts where brought into the city where they would eventually be used to help out the WFTC's partner. For the others it was as if Johann had seemingly excused himself to do something else as he turned into wind, but Ruvel and Cirven would know that he had moved to the rooftops to watch over the convoy of WFTC workers that were moving the machinery to the place of their destination. Johann could see it from a distance, a large compound, the words "Qint's Dispensary" throning above the gate outside. Nothing was out of the ordinary as he moved from roof to roof, watching over the streets and getting closer to the factory until they finally starting bringing in the parts.

Johann was watching as the WFTC workers were moving the parts into the building, and he heard the familiar voice in his ear, raising his hand to his ear responding with "Nothing particularly intere- ... are you seeing the same thing ?" he asked into the link as a ominous, thick fog started filling the streets with a subtle sizzling sound "Must be it, then" he concluded before taking his hand from his ear and standing up from his crouch, his left eye turning black before the pupil started shining in a deep red, allowing him to see through the mist as 8 robed and masked figures approached the gate that the workers had now hastily closed. Johann sighed before he was engulfed in a slightly iridescent, subtle aura and turned invisible in an instant. Down below, a masked person was stretching out their hand towards the gate, attempting to push it open as their hand was grabbed and their were launched backwards by an invisible force, knocking them back. The illusion broke and before them stood the White Wolf, drawing his black balde and pointing it towards the group. "May I ask what business you have here ?" he gave off in a mocking voice "because I'm afraid I can't let you go on". The group didn't answer and instead, one of them performed a spell before a blade of raging flames appeared in their hand, swinging it wildy at the masked man who was forced to jump back, using his heightened reflexes to avoid the flaming weapon "Eight. Fire." he gave back to what he had heard through the link and a sinister grin spread across his face under his mask. "Looks like it's time for a good hunt again" he thought to himself before compressing the air around himself ... .

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Word Count: 860
Word COunt Total: 860 / 6.000

The battle had started to rage between the masked CEO and the masked water mages who started to use their water magic to make multiple ice projectiles to attack with while keeping their distance. The Blank Jester used the knives he had control over to attack at the enemies around him but like him they managed to dodge the attacks over and over. This caused he fight to be a stalemate for as long as both sides kept up their attacks in a similar way. In the middle of the fighting Jester reached up and touched his ear and spoke to his companions telepathically. "I am dealing with some water or ice mages from what I'm getting from it. Make sure to report if anything goes wrong or when you are finished with them." A barrage of ice shards soared through the air towards the Captain of Black Sails and before they could hit they were destroyed by the electrified claws the man had. "Make sure to not get in over your head." He finished speaking and it was almost as if something had switched in his head because the aura around him changed. "Time to start talking, boys." He spoke out with his mask changing his regular voice to a deeper and a bit muffled tone as two of his knives flew through the air to hit one of the other masked mages.

The enemy mages seemed to take it as a opening and fired off more shards of ice at Blank Jester. The ice moved in close before the devil turned into electricity and zipped through the air towards his knives he had thrown just as the mage they were sent after shot off an attack of shards but they were quickly cut through by the devil's claws like the ones earlier. This created an opening that he was waiting for and he went for it quickly where he drug his claws across the body of the man and then quickly followed up with his two knives embedding themselves into his chest. His attacks landed but he quickly jumped back from the man after he hit after just as the man exploded into a powerful magical ice bomb that engulfed the two knives in his chest and a chunk of the surrounding area in ice that it froze over. The man's body had completely disappeared and Cirven could not feel his ethernano anymore. "That is a bit excessive for not wanting to talk, isn't it?" The masked devil spoke out. He kept up his persona of the Jester to make sure he would not be compared to who he really was but it did not seem needed with these guys. "Did the rest of you want to go boom just like your friend over there?" He questioned the last three men who stayed silent to his question and threw out more ranged attacks of ice. Blank Jester quickly maneuvered out of the way of the attackvs and quickly decided his next moves. "Taking that as a yes which means..." The end of his sentence would have allowed the men to see the orange tint flash over the devil's eyes if they were able to see them but the mask prevented that. Jester did not have to do anything but look towards his enemies as a swirl of wind went around them slowly and then erupted into a tempest of wind and fire engulfing them completely in the destruction. The Blank Jester made sure to use the spell in the streets alone and avoid damaging the building around them. The three men each exploded into ice bombs like their friend before but the fire created by the devil prevented the ice from damaging the area.

"Is that it?" He spoke out to the 'enemies' around him. "I thought you would have jumped in while I was fighting them but you really were just testing me,
won't you?" He spoke out. A pair of glasses flew out from a dark alley way from behind Jester. "You know brother, I thought you would have attacked me once you figured out who I was by my scent. After all-" A blonde haired younger man came out from the alley wearing a blue coat over a black shirt and black pants. His hands were in the pockets of the coat as he walked out and as he spoke. "I sadly could not forget your scent, Lanis. Why are you here?" Lanis scoffed at the masked Cirven. "Brother! Aren't you more impressed that I can smell like you now? I have been practicing just to be your sibling! Just to be your only family left!" Jester stood in silence towards the younger man as he grew louder. "I got stronger just so that I could meet you, niichan! I didn't believe what they said at all about you! I know you will see our way is the only way to fix this world!" Cirven shook his head. "Cor Torva is not doing the right thing. They will ruin this world if they go through with what they have planned. I can't join that. Mother did not want that." A face of shock came over Lanis as he finished hearing his brother speak. He looked down to the ground in sadness for a short time and then the air around him started to visibly chill causing a white cloud of frost to form around him. "You replaced me, didn't you? You replaced me and now you won't come with me, right?" Cirven only stood looking at his younger brother in silence. "Mother wanted us to be together but you will ruin that selfishly, won't you? WON'T YOU?!" The frost in the air around Lanis blew out towards the masked Cirven along with magical energy. The devil was forced to jump out of the way to dodge the attack that left the entire road and buildings around them covered in ice. "What am I saying?" Lanis started to laugh. "We came here just to get you brother. Just to get you forcefully if necessary and kill anyone who wants to stop us. This whole attack was staged just to get you here. Just so we could have our reunion and I take you home."

"Sorry Lanis. I have a home already and I'm happy where I am. You need to leave them and find yourself a new home for your-" Jester tried to speak but was cut off by Lanis. "NO! I will take you back and you will join us! That is how it will be!
How it is meant to be, niichan! We are blood and we are meant to be family!" Jester sighed. "I'm sorry, Lanis but I will not be going with you. I'm also sorry for this." The devil's body was engulfed by black lightning and he rushed forward quickly where he reached his hand out to hit his younger brother but before he could get close the air around him started to freeze and he quickly jumped back, narrowly dodging the counter attack aimed at him. "No. I am sorry, niichan but you will be coming with me." Jester started to move forward but his leg would not move. He looked down to see that his foot was standing in ice that was not there earlier and his leg was being frozen over. He tried to escape the attack but he hand no time to do so. The ice traveled up his leg and surrounded his body completely freezing him in a block of ice. Lanis walked up to the block of ice he had formed around his brother. "You will be coming with me, Cirven. You are my brother and my brother alone." He placed his hand over the ice block holding his brother when he stood in front of it.

Near Ruvel and Johann two near enemies waited in the darkness for their time to attack as they dealt with the masked enemies. They watched and waited to strike.

WC:

Ruvel kept where he was unsure how he was going to deal with the five beings in front of him 'They have the symbol of earth on them, going toe to toe with them would just stupid on my part...' he thought to himself as he started to converse with his summons 'Why?' he heard from Lurea his dear little dream fairy summon asked as to her they didn't seem overly hard 'They're of earth so it mean their defence is likely higher and though may be slow they'll hit hard.' he explained to her hoping she would understand why this was harder than he had originally imagined, he knew for a fact that these would be better suited for one of the others to deal with but it seemed he ended up at the wrong place at the wrong time. 'I could use Barthenz but without a support he would easily be overwhelmed and that would become problematic for me.' he watched them intently trying to figure out what they where doing but he had no clue.

He knew that Johann and Cirven would be dealing with their own enemies so couldn't offer him assistance 'I need to get this sorted before Demeri wakes up and she's in danger; like a dolt she'll come looking for me and that would give them advantage not to mention make the company look bad since it would seen as if I ditched her.' this was becoming more and more of a headache the more he thought about it. He remained still watching them for their movements, then he seen them making the biggest mistake he could have and got to close to each other 'Gotcha..' he thought moving his hands a seal of light appeared underneath the five opponents within a matter of moments tendrils of light came shooting out encasing each of them in light "I summon blood, I summon hate, I summon war and anger... warrior of death hear my call. Barthenz appear!" he called out from his spot on the tree he had been using as a vantage point cutting his palm on the ornate dragon he carried with him allowing the summon to come forth.

A dark seal one meter in front of Ruvel, soon Barthenz appeared as a tall muscular, yet scarred man wearing a wrap around his waist in his right hand was a sword that been dented and chipped due to being used in so many battles, his eyes a deep crimson seemingly almost feral, his dark shaggy hair so caked in blood it was impossible to tell his true hair colour. "Negotiations Barthenz" he called to the other making the tall male roll his eyes before dashing forward to the members that had been trapped within the light pulling the sword apart so it became two sword. The warrior summon dashed between the first two of the encased enemies cleanly removing heads from their bodies as he twisted quickly almost as if he was in a graceful dance of death. He moved towards the third enemy with a dark grin not caring that he had a new layer of blood over his form as he started to mercilessly cut into them taking his time unlike the other two.

Moving into his top he brought out a charm and threw it onto the ground "Seyuki" as soon as it touched the ground a blizzard seemed to come out of nowhere, within the centre of it stood a woman with pale skin, ice blue eyes, long white hair and wearing a white, blue and ice blue kimono was standing. "The moon called to the snow and here I stand." she said with a polite tone her eyes going to Barthenz "That warrior will never learn will he..." she sighed her hand going to her head in frustrated "What is the moon's order?" she asked eventually remembering that this wasn't a social call. "The other two, they are a thre-" before he could finish Seyuki nodded knowing the order that would soon come within her hand three needles of ice formed with an elegant twirl she let them go with a precise accuracy as they pierced not only their masks but skulls making them fall within their cocoons "The snow has forfiled the task given to it." she said with a smile 'When we get back we're talking about ways to disguise you all, we're lucky that no one is to survive this time' he sent to his summons knowing if he didn't get this dealt with it would cause issues in the future.

Barthenz had just stopped slashing at the last enemy when he had seen the gleam of a weapon but he was to a far away to have it stop, even Seyuki wasn't in a position that she couldn't stop what was about to happen to their summoner but a clang was heard reverberating as metal hit metal. Beside Ruvel now sat Demi a magical arrow sitting on her scythe "A sleeping arrow, really?" she seemed to almost sarcastic to the one who launched it "Oh come out of hiding Leniiar, you know better than that." she said looking in the direction she knew the other was "Believe me little girl you don't want the walking wall to come get you, he's in a foul mood." she warned watching as a woman walked forward bring down her hood and mask revealing emerald coloured hair and sapphire eyes. "You knew it was coming, you've improved wraith." she said crossing her arms "Call me that again and I will personally make you suffer, what are you trying you idiot?" Demi's tone showing she wasn't playing around. "She's here to try and take me back..." Ruvel said quietly his eyes going wide "We need to get to Jester and Wolf!" he said realising these lot never came alone jumping down from the tree "We need to handle her first." Barthenz said dashing forward getting into a melee fight with the woman.

"Barthenz!" Ruvel called out wanting to run to check on his elder brother but then he realised he couldn't do such a thing right now as Demeri was still in the park 'Damn it!' he thought to himself as this got far more complex, his hand going to his ear 'Cirven, Johann are you both alright? I took down the people setting up in the part but I've ended up having another issue.' he said through the link they had with each other 'Cirven, you need to be doubly careful because of who they seem to be.' he was trying to get Cirven the knowledge without letting the cat out of the bag, but then he knew Johann would likely have questions and that would be something they would have to deal with but not right at this moment.

Word count: 1'143
Total Word Count: 2'603

At this point, Johann was unaware of the actions of his comrades, focussing on the group of eight before him. All of them were wearing white masks and red robes, each one bearing the same rune. Although crudely made, and with incorrect accentuation, Wolf was pretty sure that it spelled out the word "Fire". He had no idea what ancient language it was, it was information his own runes gave him, but in honesty, he didn't care much for their clothing or insignia. What he did know was that they posed a threat to the security of the workers and his colleagues as well as the guild, and as such, they had to be eliminated. Besides, there hadn't been a good hunt in weeks, and the wolfs fingers twitched around the hilts of his pitch black blades in excitement.

The White Wolf raised his right hand, pointing the blade at the fire mages as a red aura started spreading around his body, his left eye shining in a deep, menacing red under his mask as the runes dug themselves through his flesh and burned into his skin. Naturally, the others couldn't see the peculiar phenomenon that came with the use of this ability due to his black clothing, but they would certainly sense the sudden increase in raw, brutal strength and killing intent emanating from the body of the Keeper of Virtue. Not only that, additionally Johann's senses would be explosively heightened, his vision on his left eye switch to infrared, his hearing and sense of smell even more precise than those of slayers. So precise, in fact, that he could hear explosions echo through the streets, tilting his head slightly as more followed. "Looks like my friends have already started the fun, huh. Very well then, shall we, too ?" he asked his still dead silent adversaries, not expecting an answer before he released all built up pressure backward, the enormous acceleration launching him blades first at his enemies so fast that they didn't even get the chance to react, one of his rapiers cleanly seperating a head from a pair of shoulders before both found their way through another masked ones chest before the robed figure was launched back and into a wall by the momentum of the attack, the sound of the sonic boom Wolf had produced bouncing off the houses.

He came to a short lived stop to the right of the now smaller group who, in surprise, seemed to take one or two steps back before catching themselves again, a jet of flame rushing towards the Keeper merely a moment later, Wolf skillfully, yet not effortlessly evading the attack by emitting a small blast of air from his hand that launched him sideways. The mysterious masked figures seemed to be experienced and capable fighters, trained in the use of the fire magic in their possession. It mattered not much to the Black Sails mage, however, it would still serve to make this fight more interesting rather than a pure massacre. "So" he spoke out, addressing those in front of him "are you gonna tell me who you are ? What you want ? Your names, so I can at least grant you an honourable death ?" he waited a couple of moments, but none of them made an effort to even utter a single word, instead sending a ball of fire in Wolfs direction who simply ducked down to evade the spell "No ? That's what I thought. No qualms in playing dirty, then". Out of the momentum of his dodge he cast another spell, a black magic circle appearing beneath his feet instantly before he turned into shadow, now appearing behind the one who had launched the attack, both blades emerging from the masked man's chest, ripping them out to see another attack coming for him. There guys sure weren't squeamish about the death of a comrade, and admittedly it threw the Keeper off, rage starting to conquer his mind as he outmaneuvered an attack once more.

He had enough of these grunts and thus, sheathing both rapiers to free up his hands before he, once more, launched forward, propelled still by compressed air to reappear before one of the masked ones to launch a fist steeped in an ice blue aura at his head, the attack hitting his foe directly, causing intense frost. The other seemed to struggle, their hands going to the mask, scratching at it violently before their hands and arms slackly sank towards the ground and they collapsed forward, hitting the cobblestone of the street face first. One of them rushed forward, a blade of flame in his hands, slashing the magical weapon at Johann who moved from side to side to evade the strikes elegantly, producing what could almost be perceived as a dance, foolishly neglecting what happened behind the robed fire mage, thinking not about what would happen next: The other 3 robed mages came together, all casting fire spells, combining them into a sphere that grew and grew as the elder male was busy dodging a blade of flame before the massive, scorching attack was unleashed. The infrared signature was hard to miss, yet it still caught Wolf off guard, not expecting they would launch an attack against their own ally. With sheer luck and a jet of pressurized air he managed to narrowly evade it and save himself onto a nearby rooftop while the one he had fought wasn't so lucky, a sea of flame not only entirely engulfing him, but also the streets, walls and houses in a good radius around them.

His eyes widening under his mask he stared down into the abyss of flame, hearing occasional muffled, frightened screams begging for their life in the area as the intensity of the flame died down. Sincerely hoping that no civilian casualties had occurred, he was almost overwhelmed by a sudden, strong burst of rage, storming forward at one of the masked ones to rip their body in two with a single strike of his blade, his free hand grabbing another one by the sleeve and launching him into a brick wall, causing it to crack, the now unconscious body slowly sinking to the ground before he turned his attention to the last one. "Enough with these stupid games, this is between you and me" the Keeper shouted out loud, the remaining fire mage trying to raise his hands to fire another spell, but he was too slow. Johann had already gotten into reach, grabbing the man by the masked before pushing it down at the ground with all force his body could spare, the figures head cracking the plaster around and burrowing into it. Johann stood up slowly, his head turning over his shoulder, once again speaking "Now that you have sacrificed your pawns, are you finally gonna show yourself ? Or is that too much to ask for ?"

From an alley and out of the cover of shadows came another figure, slowly but confident in their steps, a black haired man, dressed in a black suit and wearing a simple, black and white coloured mask, shrugging as he approached the masked Black Sails mage before stopping a good few meters away and opening his mouth to speak with a sarcastic, underlying giggle "Oh, so you knew it the entire time, how incautious of me. May I ask you how you found me ?" a mischievous smile forming on his face. "You give off a pressure pattern that's hard to miss. If I didn't know better I'd assume you actually want to kill me" Wolf responded with his own sarcastic comment. The elder male wasn't in the mood for this childs play, and raised one of his rapiers up to point it at the mysterious stranger before him, following up with his own question "Who are you, what do you want, what is the meaning of all this ?" . His opponent took a step back before raising one of his hands to his shoulder and leaning forward slightly before quickly answering "Of course, where are my manners, people call me Vés, and I'm here on behalf of Cor Torva to, well, eliminate you, my dear Wolf". Well, that much was obvious, Wolf knew, but he had never heard of something called Cor Torva, and didn't know how or why the other knew his name. It didn't matter much to the elder male, anyway, and so, for the time being, he pushed all of that aside, drawing his other sword and readying for another fight.

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Word Count: 1.432
Word Count Total: 2.292 / 6.000

Stats:

The devil couldn't move as he was moved through the air in a solid block of ice. He was fighting to stay conscious at all while inside of the freezing cube but was having trouble just thinking straight because of the sheer cold that surrounded him. He was able to looked through the ice enough to see his younger brother walking ahead of him, triumphantly. Cirven could only see his brother's back but he knew that there was a smile over his face as he felt he had succeeded in his own goal and the devil could only watch as he was taken away.

The his brother stopped suddenly and with him so did the ice block surrounding Cirven. Lanis reached up to his ear right ear with his right hand and pressed on it and began to speak out loud. "Laniiar, we might have orders to bring that abomination of a replacement sibling with us but I am changing those orders now using what power I have over this little squad we have. You are to kill him and make certain he is dead. I wish I was there to do it myself but I know how you tend to be quick with killing your targets so I should not make it to you in time. Though, if you are able to leave him clinging to life long enough for me to get there, I would appreciate it." With that he lowered his hand from his ear and turned to look at Cirven. "Niichan, I am your only family left and I will make you see that your attempt at making a new family that is not your true family is not at all what you need. Just like when I killed her." Lanis spoke out while staring and his older brother. Cirven could not speak back at all or show much emotion but if he could he would have looked confused and asked "Who do you mean by her...?". Lanis grinned slyly and then turned around as he continued to move Cirven through the air with each of his own steps.

A message from Ruvel called out into his head but he was not able to say anything back as he needed to be able to reach up to his ear and press it. It was a inconvenient way for the communication magic to work between them but it made sure that not everything was being said to his allies. He thought that the magic Alisha had a knack for using would possibly need some sort of upgrade in its use at some point but now he knew for sure it had to happen soon for situations like this.

The CEO knew that he had to find a way out of the ice block or possibly lose more people in his life again. People that he had grown close to in some way or another that he did not want to see disappear from the world. He knew that his magic was not fire so he was not exactly at any sort of advantage against his younger brother which allowed him to be put in the predicament he was in but then an idea crossed his mind. He could not burn things like fire but with enough electricity and a constant surge of it over parts of his body he could generate enough heat to melt the ice around him enough so that he could possibly break out. He waited until he felt sure that Lanis would not be turning around anytime soon and started to build up electrical magical energy into his right hand. It took what felt like ages but the ice around the area near his hand started to melt away slowly.

Lanis did not stop much on their way through the foggy city but due to the fog the traveling they had to do was slowed. Lanis was not dumb in any way and knew to keep his guard up even in situations where he had full control. This was because of the training that all of those who were part of Cor Torva or made by Cor Torva was forced to go through. Training the Cirven disliked to remember over and over again.

The ice had melted enough to where Cirven was able to move his wrist and hand around in a circle pattern while still inside the ice but just as he got to this point Lanis turned around and realized what was going on. He reached out to cause the ice to freeze over where it had melted. Thinking quickly and as a last ditch effort, the devil quickly used what strength he could gather and used his claws to cut through the ice around his arm, grabbed a chunk of ice and throwing it in front of Lanis. This caused Lanis' magic to freeze over the ice chunk thrown at him and make it larger as it moved through the air causing him to have to dodge it. After Lanis' dodge he saw that the ice block had been slashed through and his brother was missing from inside of it. "Where did you go, Cirven...?" He spoke out and started to use his nose to try and track where his brother was but all he could smell was the salty smell of the ocean near them from how close they have gotten to the docks. "Isn't that ironic..." He mumbled out and started to look around the nearby area.

Cirven found himself running down an alley way nearby where he escaped Lanis but before he could get too far his legs gave out on him and he fell to the ground. He could feel that they were completely numb and guessed that his adrenaline had gotten him as far as he did. He felt too weak to really fight at this point and knew he had to first do something to get some sort of feeling back into his legs before he could attempt to deal with his brother. "Cirven, where did you go? I just want to take you home with me, your family." Lanis' voice called out towards him as he tried to pull himself across the ground and towards a back door of a building. He did not know what the building was but knew he needed to get inside of it before Lanis got to close to him and caught his scent. He focused and used his magic so that he could used electromagnetism to pick himself up into the air and open the door before practically falling forward inside but not making much noise. He managed to close the door behind him and then dropped to the ground after losing his focus and the fatigue of being frozen in a block of ice rushed over him again. He knew he needed some time to recuperate before fighting Lanis but he did not think that his magic would have taken this much of a toll on his body. It was like it was some sort of poison.

In his moment of fatigue as he looked down to the ground with thoughts running through his head, a clicking sound came from above him. He looked up to see a scruffy man wearing some scraggly clothes holding a ethernano pistol of some sort aimed at his head. "Who the hell are you?" The man demanded as he kept his gun pointed at Cirven's head. Cirven looked around where he was and saw a room with tables and chairs along with a counter with a wall of bottles or different types of liquor across it. "You can call me your savior that needs more than just a single drink." He grinned at the man while holding himself up by his arms and breathing heavily.

WC:

Laniiar raised her fingers to her ears as she listened to what the leader of the expedition had said her brow furrowing under her mask not liking the order that she herself had just been given, this is because either way she had just been given an inescapable problem. She knew if she attacked then she had three angry summons to contend with one of them she knew for a fact would take no prisoners as that is how she had been trained, if by some miracle she managed to survive the summon and follow the new orders then they would all be severely punished and wishing they where dead for killing one of the new gods; but then if she didn't she had to deal with a very pissed off Lanis because he didn't want to share their brothers attention with another. "If I follow those orders we are all in trouble Lanis, you have to know that. Why not let him survive he'll be put in another section from us and our brother? He's one of the new gods after all, our kind and his don't mingle." she tried her best to make the other see past his anger but knew that Lanis had been seething hatred for months now for the one who had apparently replaced him in their elder brothers eyes. "We have another issue to, Wraith is here and protecting him... our information was wrong on him, he has magic... he's a summoner and has very powerful summons from what I have seen, further instructions needed Lanis." she sent not liking how this was going but there was little point arguing at the current point and knew it "I'm sorry Wraith but orders..." she trailed off knowing the other would understand being in between a rock and a hard place with no escape.

Demi sighed crossed her legs still keeping her balance on her scythe "I understand Archer but this will only end with me claiming you, you realise this right?" she said as she leaned a little forward it was clear that Demi didn't want to harm the other in anyway knowing they had no say when orders had been given, her eyes going to Seiyuki and Barthenz "This doesn't concern either of you, leave or I will reap you both without a second thought." her voice as cold as death itself even making Barthenz take pause after a few minutes of deep contemplation and direct contact between the three they all nodded as if they had come to a consensus on the matter. "Death's child or no, you are to defend him or you will feel how cold your own death will be." Seyuki warned her voice as cold as her element. "Don't make us regret this Demi or what you promised if you failed." Barthenz added as they both faded leaving only Ruvel, Demi and their opponent Laniiar "Demi?" Ruvel asked asked confused not really understanding what was going on.

"Rui meet one of my 'siblings' from Cor Torva her name is Laniiar code name 4rch3r or Archer. Guess what she's good at." she said falling backwards off the scythe landing on her feet. "So Laniiar, here's the deal, I sent those two away and believe me they are beyond annoyed but this is 'family' business after all. We'll have a fight and like at home we'll have a wager. Rules are you do not harm Rui, even on accident you lose by forfeit, the noble you leave her full stop again she gets harmed you lose by forfeit." she said leaning against her scythe "Your rules?" she asked Ruvel still completely confused as to the goings on. "He can't speak, he can't empower you, he can't summon another unless one of our attacks go towards him but that one can not interfere, he isn't allowed to weaken me, he is not allowed to get involved in anyway or you forfeit." Laniiar said in reply Demi nodded "Agreed." Demi stated "If I win you become one of his summons when he is stronger and will help us take down our family." Demi said showing what she would have "And if I win you return home after he is given amnesia... we'll find somewhere to leave him where the others will not find him... it's either that or you return home and he is killed like Lanis wants and killing one of the new gods is just bad news." she said to Demi who nodded "Terms are agreed upon." she said looking to Ruvel who just glared at at the pair.

"What the hell Demi?! I am not some sort of prize for you and them to wager on!" he was furious on the matter his hand going to his moon blue eye, Demi ran over and sat him down at the bottom of a tree "No, you're not Rui but this is the only way I can save you and give her a safe way out... you unfortunately have to play prize... I know you're angry and so are the others but please understand the first facility I came from you didn't say no or refuse orders. It never ended well just ask Trase how well it worked out for us when we refused." she said her eyes and tone showing she wasn't lying or trying to deceive him in any way "Forgive us both no matter how this ends you will be safe." she said moving back to her scythe looking at Laniiar. "Ready? I do home you kept up with your twin blades." she said with a smile nodding "Mask off we know who each other is." she requested watching as Laniiar removed her mask throwing it to the side before bringing out twin blades getting into an attacking stance "I wish it didn't have to come to this again sister." Laniiar whispered sadly "I know Laniiar but it has... forgive me..." she whispered quietly, it had been the first time she had seen Demi showing pain towards someone other than himself or Cirven and found himself even more confused.

Ruvel kept a close eye on both Demi and Laniiar studying their moves closely, it was almost like some sort of exquisite dance between them as they dodged and flipped each others strikes, if he didn't know any better he would have sworn they where reading each others minds but knew otherwise. His hand went to his ear 'Cirven, what do you know about a girl called Laniiar, her code name is Archer according to Demi. They're fighting right now and it seems my fate is the prize.' he sent to Cirven in the hopes that he could shine some light on the situation 'They set rules for the fight too and they could be like this for a while because they keep dodging one another's blows. Then again I'm not surprised about Demi she was your training partner at Cor Torva right.' he continued watching as Demi's scythe hit Laniiar's right leg but at the same time Laniiar's blades had cut across Demi's stomach but it didn't even seem to phase either woman.

Word Count: 1'194
Total Word Count: 3'797

Johann's eyes carefully scanned the strangers face from beneath his mask, the red colour of his left one flaring up as he raised his head at the familiar voice in his mind, Ruvel speaking to him through the link, speaking back to his fellow VP in the same manner. "I'm alright, but I've run into a problem here. What exactly is going on ? Who is Cor Torva ? You know these people ?", he asked telepathically, perhaps a little too fast in a bad moment. "What about Cirven?" he asked one more question when the other man didn't react to any of Ruvel's words, frustrated that the CEO was probably not in a situation where he could easily reply back, that these people would catch the group off guard so easily, and more importantly, that the masked individual known as Wolf to others had no idea what kind of game exactly was being played here. He stopped himself from shaking his head. "Training partner ? You all are going to have a lot of explaining to do later. But there's one of them here, too, this guy, black hair, dressed in a suit, wearing a mask, kind of creepy. Calls himself Vés, and I have a baaaad feeling about this.", this being the last thing he sent through the link for now, the masked VP tilting his blades to the side slightly as a grim smile found its way onto his opponents face. The man was here to kill him, and him specifically, and while it did leave him curious, his many questions remaining unanswered for the time being, he had to end this quickly for his own and his guildmates' sake. From what he got Ruvel was in danger and the CEO didn't even answer, possibly fighting one of the people who claimed to be part of an organization calling itself "Cor Torva", too, Wolf would make sure to remember the name.

"Very well then, where were we ?", the Keeper of Virtue shifting his attention back from his thoughts to the man before him with a rhetorical question, losing not a single second to an exchange of words anymore, his bod rushing forward through the space between the two individuals the usual high speeds, confident that his blade would meet the other in combat, the shining metal dancing through the air towards the man called Vés. Somewhat to Wolf's surprise the other didn't even attempt to dodge, or even move, the weapons getting closer and closer to him before, in less than a second, everything started to change. The man's fingernails explosively shifted form, turning from normal to long, sharp metallic claws in an instant, and seemingly effortless, Vés maneuvered his arm through the air, his head not even turning to face the Keeper as he stopped the blades mid swing with nothing but his hand, the blades bouncing back slightly. For but a mere second Wolf was astonished, shocked even, that the supposed assassin had reflexes that rivaled his own, and a strength and durability others could only dream of, remaining still where he stood, sparks flying as steel met steel. Enough time to give the Cor Torva member a window, chance for counter attack, the metallic, razor sharp claw cutting through the air, Wolf raising the two rapiers, crossing them for his own chance at a parry before the other simply outmaneuvered him. His clawed hand slipped through the space between the weapons and was now racing forward at the Keeper's head. "Shit"

Wolf focussed his magical energy and, with lightning fast reflexes and inhuman speed ducked to the side, still, the other's attack didn't miss him, a razor like claw scraping along the left side of his mask before both mages jumped back, bringing distance between each other. Along Wolf's left cheek and through his mask a clear cut was visible, red liquid slowly dripping down the inside of the Keeper's mask before the wound ultimately closed a moment later. On Vés' face, the malicious smile had changed to a sinister grin as he started cackling a little. "Oh, it looks like this isn't gonna be as easy as I had planned, others would've been dead already", he shrugged playfully, seemingly not treating any of this like it was an evenly matched, fair fight. And indeed, Johann under the guise of Wolf was ... unnerved, to say the least. There were few people who were actually on par with his reflexes, let alone his speed, but combining these two elements with enormous offensive capabilities that doubled as a strong defense ... it would a tough fight, one that the Keeper hadn't anticipated. But ... there was something else. Wolf had the feeling that the other wasn't really any faster than him, no, the opposite seemed to be the case judging from the way he moved, but the other always seemed to know exactly where Wolf was, and even where he would be, reading his movements with playful ease. No, the other couldn't possibly see the future, that would be ridiculous. On the other hand ... in this world of magic everything was possible. Johann gulped, preparing himself for what he thought would be a long and difficult battle between his opponent and himself.

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Word Count: 879
Word Count Total: 3.171 / 6.000

Stats:

"Savior? You aren't even in a condition to fight from the looks of it so how would you be a savior to anything..?" The bar owner asked. Cirven moved his body so he was standing up straight and looking at the bar owner who still had his gun pointed at him. "Just give me a drink and let me rest a bit. I feel like I have been hit by six warships." The bar owner did not lower his gun to Cirven. "I would rather you leave here. You could be one of them and just acting like you aren't." Cirven was about to talk but the bar owner shot at his feet to show he meant business. Cirven then started to walk out of the bar. "Mr. Mizune?" A voice called out from one of the tables in the bar causing Cirven to turn his head to figure out who it was with his eyes scanning the room where he found the owner of the company he was working with earlier in the day, Mr Qint. This let Cirven also see the bar had become some sort of safe haven for those in the city it looked like from the amount of people inside of it. Cirven could feel that those there were either not strong enough to stand up against Cor Torva or had no magical power at all. The older man came over to Cirven and the bartender. "Pete, this is Cirven. He is the CEO from the West Fiore Trading Company who just delivered more product to help us out." The bartender reluctantly lowered his gun and placed it on his side. "I'm sorry but you know we can't be too safe with everything going on out there. They must have really done a number on you with how your body is moving though." The bartender apologized though it sounded a bit more like an excuse than an apology. "It is fine. I was trying to deal with one of them but they were a bit stronger than I thought but I just need to rest up so my body can get over whatever is affecting it. Maybe a drink could help with that...?" Cirven grinned and made his way to the bar counter where he managed to sit down in the chair. His body was recovering from the poison it was affected by from the devil's brother but that did not mean that he was in a better situation yet. He wouldn't know for sure until he fully healed and was able to fight at his best.

The bartender walked over to the bar and before he could ask Cirven pointed at one of the variety of beers on the wall. Mr. Qint made his way next to Cirven. "How are things out there, Mr. Mizune?" Cirven turned his head to look at the older owner of the Qint's Dispensary. The bartender set one of the selected beer bottles on the table in front of Cirven who nodded to the generous man before putting his mouth to the top of the bottle and gulping some of the liquid down. The devil let out a satisfied exhale of air after drinking some of the liquid. "The smaller fry should be dealt with by now but the bigger fish are not exactly easy to deal with. It is better for you to stay in here if you can." Just after his sentence he was able to pick up on a message from Ruvel and then another from Johann. They both sounded like they were fighting other members of Neo-Cor Torva that Cirven knew. "Sorry, give me a second." He spoke to those around him before pressing his finger against his ear. "Rui, Old man. These are member of Cor Torva, probably now Neo-Cor Torva now that I trained with and worked with. They are highly dangerous be careful. Laniiar is the best ranged mage we had in our group. Be careful. I trust Demi will be able to fill in the gaps but trust her, Rui. She will get you through this. Johann, Ves was the best we had when it came to predicting our enemies moves. He is not to be taken lightly, even with your speed. You both be careful and make sure to call if you need help." The CEO spoke to his two VPs telepathically, his memories of the two they were fighting reminding him of all of the time he spent in Cor Torva. The pain, the displeasure of what they were forced to do and more. All of it rushed to his head. Even the idea of wagers the group all had against each other. The idea was created by a certain member of the group that Cirven could not remember the face of completely. It was almost as if someone had taken that memory away from him.

A unfamiliar sound started to come from the door of the bar causing all those inside to look towards it. Cirven turned his head as he tipped his head back to drink down what was left in the bottle. The door of the bar was then sent flying from one side of the room to the other where Cirven put his foot out and stopped it before bringing it to the ground and walking over it. "Brother, who said you could leave me like that? You know it isn't kind to leave your younger sibling out in a scary city like this one alone, right?" Lanis walked inside of the bar and looked around it. "Interesting place you found yourself in. Maybe I should show you how scary it can be outside by using these people...?" Cirven placed his bottle on the counter and nodded to the bartender. "I got this." He turned to Lanis and took a deep breath. "I have a better idea, brother. Now that I have feeling in my body the right way, how about a wager? My rules are simple. You don't hurt anyone here or in this city but me. If I win you leave this city alone and never come back." Lanis smiled slyly to his older brother. "The old wager rules, huh? I'll play your game. My rules are even more simple. If I win you are to come with me willingly and you will not fight back in any way for what your fate has for you." Cirven nodded and Lanis replied with a nod himself. Cirven picked up the door he had walked over and moved towards the doorway. "Let's go outside and do this. These people are not involved with our business." Lanis simply nodded and let his brother walk by him before waving a hand to those in the bar. Cirven placed the door on the wall next to the door way and made his way out of the bar leaving those around them confused as to what they just witnessed and avoided.

The siblings made their way to a more open area of the city where multiple paths in the street met up leaving things open for them to stand in and giving them more room. The two stood around ten feet between each other as both built up their respective element over their body and both released a blast of their element towards the other causing the surrounding area to be engulfed by a flash of magical energy signaling the start of the fated battle between the siblings.

WC:

All ruvel could do was sit where he was afraid that if he was afraid that if he moved even an inch that Demi would forfeit whatever was going on, he bit his lip not liking that this was going on. It was bad enough that he was used while he was inside the facility, but now he was being used as some sort of bartering tool between Demi and someone she knew in their past. "Demi, if you weren't already dead I would want to kill you." he said his eyes closing, he didn't hate her he just felt betrayed yet again by the one that he was raised by of all people. Why did stuff like this keep happening? Why couldn't they just leave Cirven, himself, Demi and Korvin alone? They weren't any threat to them, well that's what he liked to tell himself but in the larger picture he knew deep down that they were not only threat but they had another apparent reason for existing. It didn't mean that they had to accept it after all they had their own lives away from that life, he had been away only a few months and was finding it hard to adapt; Cirven had been away for years but he knew that even he had scars that weren't closed.

He looked to the ground and wondered if Korvin and Demi were the same, he had never really sat down and asked them about their experiences. Where he had to tell them everything they didn't have to precipitate and given how he was, he never dared go looking for personal things knowing that if they wanted him to know then they themselves would tell him. Then another though crossed his mind, what if they were like Cirven and couldn't remember certain things? He knew this would be less likely in Korvin but possible for Demi as she had never once in the time they had spent together mentioned that she had been part of another facility or what that facility done. Even then he didn't think that was overly possible as she seemed to remember everything that had happened right down to the most insignificant detail, had they all been taught to be like that? what was their purpose? He wished he pushed Cirven for more answers but he knew if Cirven wasn't telling him then it was for his own good, but knew at some point that excuse would no longer be able to fly as it also affected him and his summons.

As time moved on he was starting to realise that being in the dark when it came to Cirven's former family was dangerous, and he was now at that stage where he refused to be in that danger any longer. The current situation unfolding in front of him showed that when they got back to the trading company that they would indeed need to talk so they were both on the same page, something neither of them were at current on several matters. There was of course one thing he couldn't discuss with anyone and that was another member he had gotten close to, that member of course being the homunculus known as Rasparov, they knew each others secrets and if one blabbed thus putting the other in danger, it meant the other could do the same. Where he was sure Rasparov was more than able to take care of anything trying to see him as pray, Ruvel wasn't as sure on his own survival with just how many people seemed to be after him. Then add his unique summoning style on top of being a talking light lacrima that bled the element and he was sure that even the magic council would be wanting to poke and prod him and he had enough of that growing and refused to be poked or prodded any longer by anyone for any reason.

Hearing Johann's voice suddenly disturbed his train of thought bringing him out of his mind and concentrate on what was being said. He sighed he couldn't help what the other was saying, he had been put in danger because they had never told anyone about these people. Then again they had never expected them to do such a trap and even if they had suspected such a thing they never expected someone to be there with them. His hand went to his ear as he nodded 'Yes, understandable Mr. Weiss. It's not exactly the most conventional way to find out that your CEO and colleague are not exactly normal...' he sent to the keeper of virtue, it wasn't exactly a subject he was comfortable discussing but it would have to be done none the less even if he wasn't ready for it. He had just though about how dangerous it was for him being in the dark about things, he had never thought about those who done tasks with them but then they normally had been able to tend to the threat before the others had found out and so there was no reason to.

'Sorry Mr. Weiss, we will fill you in as you ask questions.' he sent to the other keeper, Cor Torva was dangerous, he understood that even he himself was a threat though this wasn't what he was made to be. "Pssh... submit... surrender... obey..." he muttered to himself this was the mantra that they had all been taught, nothing good ever came from not doing such things. "I'm through with that..." he said standing his eyes going to Demi for a moment as she seen her spring board backwards off Laniiar's twin blades, only to land gracefully on her scythe a smile on her face. To the youth as if the two were toying with each other, he didn't know if this was some sort of strange bonding that happened inside Cor Torva or not and really didn't want to sit around to find out. Demi kept her ruby orbs on Laniiar but was fully aware or Ruvel's movements "Rui, sit down..." she ordered making him quirk an eyebrow "No.." he said simply and started to take a step "Rui, it's not a request... there are rules and they need to be followed or there are consequences." she explained a concerned tone "Laniiar, a moments peace? Rui doesn't understand he was born of the gods as you know." she requested of the other, where she was no longer of Cor Torva she remembered what would happen if wager rules were broken and didn't want to be on 'his' bad side.

"Approved, quickly Demiari" Laniiar said sitting eyes closing to giving them privacy, Demi walked over and forced Ruvel to sit down by taking his feet from under him. "My 'family' are very strict on wagers, we don't brake them or we become isolated and so an enemy of the family..." she paused looking to the sky "Only once has the rule been broken, the family had three days to deal with the rule breaker... the one who took them out was to be rewarded with an additional days rest..." she sighed eyes closing for a moment her head lowering before opening her eyes once more "Three days passed and not one of us could deal with them... we were summoned by our eldest brother on the fourth, there was the traitor chained; when we all arrived we where swiftly shown what happened to those who betrayed the family rules." she whispered but Laniiar still flinched. "The rules set by Laniiar state you must remain in that spot or I forfeit, thus lose... if that happens I must return back home and you are left in the middle of nowhere without memory." she tried her best to explain it without going into to much detail for now "Your life in that facility was more horrid than most because they were breaking you a certain way, but the bringers of the new world our tr-" "Times up, besides we don't speak of such things or have you really been away from home that long" Laniiar stated interrupting Demi "Please... just don't move..." she said before heading back to her scythe, given she almost broke a rule she knew for a fact Laniiar wasn't going to take it easy from there on out.

All Ruvel could do was lay on the ground as Demi spoke, he hated how they had all been treated and for what? To be the tinker toys of some group, doing their dirty work be it as the exterminators or the gods. Those people had to die and soon as far as he was concerned but then a thought crossed his mind; if the ones who caused all of these horrible actions to take place were taken out would it really stop the goings on. He remembered when he first met Korvin, they didn't care they just wanted the new world order and would have killed him to make Cirven like that once again. He bit his bottom lip a little as he sat up hearing Cirven's voice, his hand going to the ear once more tuning to Cirven alone 'We need to have words away from Johann, your former family is kinda messed up when it comes to rules and I want to know everything about the reason why.' he sent his tone calm but stern showing that this wasn't up for negotiation, as he communicated with Cirven both Demi and Laniiar had taken up stance once more watching... waiting but he was unsure as for what.

Word count: 1'600
Total Word Count: 5'397

The situation wasn't good. The situation wasn't good AT ALL. On top of the enigmatic man that called himself Vés he was dealing with a group that called themselves "Cor Torva", a name wholly unfamiliar to the Keeper of Virtue, the only thing he could tell for certain was them being entirely up to nothing of any good. Anything but their own that was, or so it seemed. He was ... rather confused, to say the least, but pushed all of that aside for the time being, the man parallel to himself playing with his long steel claws, clicking them together every couple of seconds. It was unnerving, and Wolf would've loved to separate those fingers from their hand, but every attack he started, every blow with his sword just bounced off without effect, that or the annoyingly cheerful individual would simply maneuver out of the way as if he possessed the gods arcane knowledge itself. Under his black mask Johann's teeth were grinding against each other, a familiar voice ringing out in his head as he slowly circled his masked adversary like an observant predator who, the annoying grin that made Johann want to bash his teeth in still decorating his face, remained stationary, his head following Johann's movements only half-heartedly and with Vès' signatory playfulness.

It was Ruvel talking through the open channel in the established link once again, and Johann listened carefully while his right hand with the sharp blade twitched ever so slightly. "Not exactly normal ... yeah, no shit" was his initial reaction to the youth's comments, but he knew better than to just throw that out there, his unnerved mind and raging heart not even bothering to put the usual filter over his thoughts and words, so he simply responded with a short mumble under his mask "uh-huh". Still, this whole situation was something he wholeheartedly resented, and the boy definitely owed him some answers when all of this was over. But he had his doubts there, too. Cirven didn't even bother answering, and Ruvel was doing gods know what. The youth however seemed to sense his attitude and quickly offered to answer him the question he so tremendously desired. "We'll do that later, Ruvel ... I got both hands more than full right now" he sent back to his fellow Keeper of Onyx Moon and Vice President of the West Fiore Trading Company, and that was all he had to send for the time being, or so he thought when another voice rang out from within his mind, the familiar voice of the CEO attempting to clarify a bit.

While Johann felt pretty glad that Cirven had been able to hold his own and get through this whole ambush seemingly well, he was also pretty angry, once more having to restrain himself from shouting some obscenity back into the link to express his frustration. "Sorry, Cirv, but you're a little late, I kinda figured that out already" he laughed a little under his mask, the laughter not to far from a sigh while thinking "These guys are gonna get me killed one day ... if not today." Still, he knew the other meant well, and through the curtain of red currently clouding his judgement he managed to get a hold of a clear vision again, "I will be ... Understood. Good luck", speaking back telepathically one last time before the link went silent once more. Thus he found himself before the member of Cor Torva, his rapier scraping along the pavement of the road as his movements came to a sudden halt, Vés looking visibly amused by all of this. "Oh, was that Cirven ? Be a darling and tell him I said Hi, won't you ?" Johann's teeth once more began grinding on each other "Sure, if you'll be a darling and cease that childish chatter of yours" the masked Onyx Moon mage promptly responded, Vès sarcastically raising one hand to his mouth, playing the offended "Oh, how rude, hehe"

"You know" the other followed up his last comment swiftly "back home we have a certain way of settling disputes. Back home, we play by the rules, but ... " his stiff red eyes under his mask were fixed on Johann "you're not family, and neither are you a target, so I'll take the liberty to have some fun and play with you to my heart's content", followed by a subtle, but freakish cackle before he lifted his arms with seemingly strange and sadistic pleasure while calling out loudly "Kill him". There it was, the moment Wolf had been waiting for, the other masked grunts that had stayed hidden thus far were finally coming crawling out of their holes, figuratively, of course. From the nearby alleyway rushed forth a group of 1, 2, 3 ... 16 !? "Sure. Of course. Well ain't I in for a fucking treat" Johann quietly grinned to himself under his mask without a sound, the deep crimson in his left eye flaring up in anger. The other wasn't gonna play fair, that much he could be certain of, but neither would he.

The first attacker rushed forward, both hands set ablaze, the swirling carmesin red hood seemingly floating in the air as he jumped at Johann, a burning right rushing at his head. Johann managed to dodge the attack by knocking the man's fist to the side at high speed, much to his displeasure not without singeing the edge of his glove, his knee hitting the masked grunts chin with full force as he explosively propelled himself upward. The robed fire mage collapsed backward, his motionless body impacting the road with a subtle thump before the next one stepped forward at him, trying his luck with the wind mage. "Fine. If they won't play fair ..." the colour of Johann's left eye under his mask changed from its deep crimson red to a shining platinum silver, the air around Johann booming for a second, sending a ripple through the air as it did so "... then I won't, either", uttering but a single word to activate the ability carved into his mind and flesh in the form of a single grey rune: "Vector".

This was where the fun would begin, and Johann gave himself to the thrill of the hunt. The air around him roared, boomed, flaring up with the sheer amount of energy being released as riple after riple emitted from Wolf's now shimmering form. One hand at his torso and the other raised forward he beckoned the two to himself. He would be more than ready to wipe the floor with "Cor Torva" and the waves of pawns Vés was throwing at him. The first one came into range, swinging a fist at Johann with determination and skill, but found himself swinging at thin air. Johann had zapped through the air, appearing behind and above the robed figure, his momentum carrying his fist into the back of the man's torso with an enormous crack. He was pushed into the ground by the sheer force of this single strike, the ground trembling from the sheer power of the amplified and concentrated speed, the cracked road lifting up pieces of stone and earth all around, a cloud of dust now wholly covering the immediate surroundings.

The Wolf's gaze pierced through the cloud obscuring the street, the faint silhouettes turning to a clear, three dimensional image in his head when he closed his eyes to sense the pressure patterns flowing through the air. The group had taken a step back in unison, but the ringing of Vés' voice through the cloud froze them in place instantly, preventing them from stepping back further "What's wrong with you, guys ? Frightened by a little explosion and a bit of smoke ? C'mon, let's not get lazy here" Vés voice was calm, steeped in the same kind of playful cheer from before, but the excitement and fun had vanished from his tone, instead being replaced by a subtle but overpowering presence of authority. The group of robed Cor Torva members seemed nervous, but didn't route quite yet, instead choosing to fully commit to the battle and swarm Johann, a few rushing forward while others stayed back, bright red and orange magic circles shining light through the now slowly settling cloud approached the end of its lifespan on this cold misty road in Hargeon slowly but surely.

The first mage got close quickly, a blade of raging flame firmly grasped by both robed hands, cutting through the now thin dust cloud towards the vague form of the still flickering Johann who, without much effort, outmaneuvered the mage, the blade splashing into soaring fire before vanishing on the cracked ground, Johann who had taken a few steps back at his usual high speed blurring his form as he once more burst forward through the air, catapulted forward by the manipulation of the air in his own unique way, his fist vanishing in the man's chest before he was spectacularly launched off his feet and back at Vés who, remaining where he stood, simply kicked the grunt to the side, his face retaining the same grinning expression as if it was chiseled into stone. The stoic expression of cruelty only helped fuel the flames of Johann's anger, and his eye lit up anew.

A fireball came flying towards him, but once more Johann evaded, taking on the next challenger, and the next one, and the next one, all of them blown away with but a single punch, but there were more still. A jet of flame, a fiery whip, another fireball, all was outmaneuvered, dodged and evaded with seemingly little effort on the Keepers part, but this wasn't set up to be a fair fight to begin with. Vés was only toying with him, perhaps even hoping to make the Wolf a little more tired to make his life easier, or so he could at least presume. But, for a strange reason that Johann couldn't quite explain himself he felt better than before, stronger, faster, and with each one he was striking down he would feel even better, the sound of breaking bones, the smell of blood starting an unknown frenzy in the old man.

After just a short while the now motionless bodies of the group were dotting the street between himself and Vés who, upon witnessing the brutal defeat of the last one of his comrades fell into a cackling laughter "Bravo, Bra-vo, Mr.Wolf, very impressive. I just love seeing that neat little skill of yours, the way you move, the afterimage you leave behind when you do. You gotta tell more about that magic trick and teach me how it works, heh", Johann now standing a good 15 feet before Vés, breathing heavily under his mask, his eyes staring at his masked opponent intently "Why don't you come here and find out ?", the keepers hands forming cramped claws, the rapier had long been sheathed, both sides barely holding back their desire to storm forward and slash at each other, tear their opponent up, destroy them.

Vés still had the distinct advantage of knowing and being able to predict his enemies' movements and tactic while Johann was superior in raw strength and speed. Still, there was something more that the member of Cor Torva hadn't accounted for. With his stupid toying of his own men's lives he had, unknowingly to both parties, played into Johann's hands, and awoken a scorching flame within the VP, something even Vés would be horrified by.

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Word Count: 1.930
Word Count Total: 5.101 / 6.000

Stats:

The two siblings clashed over and over with their elemental attacks causing the area around them to be damaged heavily but Cirven tried his best to not allow the area to be too destroyed by them. This forced him to move into possible disadvantageous situations but still managing to avoid an attack. One of those attacks lead him to jump into the middle of the street they were on as Lanis froze it over with a beam of ice that streaked out just barely missing him. He dashed in close to his brother after dodging and swung out one of his claws towards him but was quickly blocked by a shield created around Lanis made of the pearly white ice he had control over. Multiple spikes then formed from out of the ice shield and threatened to pierce the CEO but with his quick reaction Cirven managed to get away from the ice spears with only a small cut across his arm. "Brother, don't you think you should come home now? You are not strong enough to beat me with the way you are." Lanis spoke out as he dispersed the ice shield in front of him. Cirven raised an eyebrow to Lanis. "Not strong enough? You must have forgotten that I am the older brother here/" Purple electricity erupted out around Cirven after he spoke. The amount of magical energy ripped up the ground around him and caused a ball to form around him. After a few seconds the ball of electricity suddenly dispersed and left the devil standing in a new form. "Let me remind you."

Cirven quickly moved from side to side with a newfound speed that his new form had given him. Lanis seemed to have trouble keeping up with the speed Cirven possessed as the devil made his way towards him. Lanis quickly shot out shards of ice towards his brother but found that they were lagging behind compared to his brother's speed which allowed Cirven to close in on him and attack. Lanis quickly put up a barrier of ice in front of him but this time Cirven continued to hit the ice over and over even when Lanis caused the ice to shoot out spears again. Cirven's new speed and power allowed him to rip passed the shield and break the spears before it could become a problem. As the shield was breaking Lanis quickly tried to step backwards but found himself completely at his elder brother's mercy as the devil used his speed to close in on the opening given to him and slashed his claw across the body of Lanis. The power behind the attack sent Lanis skidding across the ground where he rolled onto the front of his body in anger. Cirven stood where he had hit his brother, looking victorious. "Do you really want to keep going, Lanis? You can see the difference in our abilities here." Cirven's voice spoke out to his brother causing the younger man to tremble from his anger. "No! I won't back down until you are going home with me!" Lanis yelled out as ice formed from below Cirven from a invisible trap that was placed there. A pillar of ice erupted out from the ground and covered Cirven where it froze him in place. "Stay frozen and come with me! Come with me to our family!" Lanis yelled out as he lifted himself up and witnessed his brother be frozen. Lanis' face broke into a smile as he could see that his plan had worked. His smile started to fade as he saw a purple streak of electricity appear in the ice around his brother. "No! No! Stay! Don't! Please!" He yelled out but was not obeyed as the electricity built up near the devil's mouth and then shot out with enough strength to break the ice around the devil and then hit Lanis in the form of a beam of purple electricity.

Cirven stood huffing in air as ice chunks fell around him and off of him. Pieces of the armored form he was in had broken off from the head, right leg and right arm from the forced he used to blast away the ice. The ice had managed to take pieces of the armor with its own destruction but Cirven was also feeling the effects from being in the ice even from the short time he was in it. Lanis laid on the ground with sparks of purple electricity dancing around him and on his body. Cirven moved towards his brother and stood over him seeing that he was still alive but just too weak from the attack. He looked around the area to see the surrounding area was destroyed from the two siblings fighting but he figured it could be worse. "Cirven... I won't leave... Without.. You.." A weakened Lanis spoke out but Cirven shook his head and turned his back on his younger sibling. Lanis grit his teeth before speaking more. "I would rather die here so... CIRVEN!" He yelled out causing his brother to stop moving. "Did you... Think that.. You killed.. Her.. Killed Aayla.. All this.. Time..?" A chuckle came from out from Lanis. "She lived... After you... Attacked her.. But not.. For long... I killed her..! I.. MADE SURE YOU ONLY HAD ONE SIBLING! ME!" Lanis managed to yell out the last of his statement and then laughed. Cirven turned his head to look at Lanis showing him an orange eye and with it the feeling of some dark magical energy had started to form around Cirven changing his body into something more suiting for a wolf/dog demon. White hair formed over his head, a white tail came out from the bottom of his spine, more defined claws formed over his hands, his fangs changed to a sharper form and his eyes took on a orange color with the white of his eyes becoming black. "You killed my sister..? YOU!?" The words had only a second to linger before Cirven was over Lanis and picked him up into the air where the look of pure anger could be seen by the weakened Lanis who nodded with a smile on his face. A swirling of wind started to form in the air around them and Cirven put his brother onto his feet as the wind started to swirl around them stronger and then suddenly with what felt like a flash a cyclone of flames erupted up around Lanis scorching him. Lanis yelled out in agony as the flames burned every part of his body at once and then suddenly stopped. He started to fall forward but Cirven met his fall with the impact of a fist that sent Lanis through a nearby building.

Lanis' body suddenly came through a building with Cirven following systematically behind him. Lanis was unconscious from a continuous beating he had been enduring for some time while Cirven had lost every part of him that made him who he was. All he could see was the killer of his sister. The person who took the most precious thing he wanted from him. A murderer was all he could see Lanis as. The man was not his brother anymore. "You know what's funny? You are unconscious and I'm not even done yet. I want you to feel all of this so.." Cirven slapped Lanis' cheek a few times and woke him up. "We are not finished here, brother. You have to feel a whole lot more before it is over..." A sinister grin formed over Cirven's face and anyone who knew the new sound of his voice and how he was talking would know that Cirven had become something else. He had become the part of him that he repressed. The part of him known as the Devil Jester. His gaze turned to see Ruvel who was on the ground near him while Demi and Archer were fighting. "Oh, look! We get a crowd to see you tortured to death! Isn't this just exciting!" The Devil Jester laughed out loudly as he stood over his nearly dead brother.

WC Completed:

Ruvel remained where he was watching as Demi and Laniiar dashed towards each other once more, what caught him off guard was when Demi swung her scythe only to have Laniiar land on it before she back flipped from it landing gracefully in a striking position waiting for the next strike or opening. "Sloppy attack, haven't you been training Demiari?" she asked chuckling quietly a smug grin on her face, Demi looked to her with an indifferent look. "No, no I completely understand, you got taken from your family and got a comfortable life among the pampered gods while we remained in hell." her words rang out making Ruvel's eyes flare brightly as he heard everything. Demi caught the shift in his eyes at the edge of her peripheral view, she knew the being inside was stirring and that wasn't a good thing for anyone. "Laniiar, I know I was given Aayla's position after her demise, being removed from our family but that wasn't my decision! When was something like that ever our decision?" she was getting frustrated with the other how could she be so naive on all of this, but she knew they where raised never to question superiors. "Trust me being one of the so called gods was anything but a comfortable existence, they lied to us." she explained coldly gripping her scythe tightly in her hands quickly moving it expertly behind her back, as she began looking for the next point of attack but she could tell the other had improved greatly.

She thought she should clear the misconception of the other, she knew this was a sensitive subject for Ruvel but then they had been raised to believe the gods had the good life. It wasn't exactly a lie but that was after a lot of stuff that happened before the comfortable life, that of course was if you didn't fail, die or become one of the lost which happened more than she would care to admit. "At least we got enough food to be healthy, we were properly clothed so protected from so less likely to be ill and though isolated much of the time we had safety from the elements..." she paused sighing wanting to end this but knew questions would arise "The 'gods' don't at least until they ascend and like us they are experimented on, also say you're paired with someone if one needs to get punished both of you did..." her head turned to Ruvel a deep sadness seen in her eyes "Rui took all punishments for us both, he made sure I was safe,  that I was warm and had enough to eat." she looked back her eyes narrowed at Laniiar as she began to speak once more "He is far weaker than I am but he gave me everything he had... there was several times he starved for days on end, slept in the cold, rain and snow because the safe places we could find was only suitable or big enough for one person, because there was only enough to stave off the hunger for one and even barely enough at that. He was meant to be the god of life, light and healing and they done that to him." she twirled her scythe gracefully back in front of her to be pointing to the other "Ever bring up that hell again and I promise I will reap you, I don't care if I have to deal with our eldest brother and the rest of our family... I will protect him like he protected me to hell with everything else, do I make myself clear?" her voice was low, the tone sinister causing the other to pause for a second.

"Lets get this spar sorted so the contract can be made and you can get lost." Demi said her voice showing irritation, her eyes watching as Laniiar brought up her bow, a magical arrow appearing as she pulled back the drawstring. "I'm sorry you had such a terrible time as a god but something tells me you're blowing things out of proportion." she said in a sarcastic tone releasing the arrow directed right at Demi, who ran right towards it; with a quick precise movement she seemed to deflect the arrow back with the blade of the scythe towards Laniiar with an energy slash quickly following. Laniiar managed to easily dodge the arrow but wasn't so lucky with the wave of energy as she got hit in the right arm as she failed to completely dodge that. "Yes, I've been training because it was the only way to survive in that hell. Rui... he got it bad.. like I said earlier he's meant to be the god of life, light and healing they almost ki-" she stopped mid sentence hearing a loud bang, all three looking around only to see smoke or possibly a large dust cloud. "Rui? Is that where?" Demi asked Ruvel nodding to her question "Yeah, that's where Cirven is." he confirmed to his summon seeming concerned for his adopted brother. "Sorry Laniiar, rain check Rui and I defend our family... you understand." she stated beginning to move quickly towards Ruvel picking him up starting to head for the exit of the park. "Is there anything you can tell me Rui?" she asked, all he could was shake his head "I'm not close enough right now, sorry Demi." he said the concern heard in his voice.

Laniiar had tried to get a hold of Lanis through their link to see if he knew anything but she got nothing in return, it was then she knew she had to let the other know 'Vés, we have a big problem. Lanis found Trase and now there's commotion in the south east area of the city. I can't get Lanis to respond, I'd suggest making your way there just in case, perhaps tell the one you're with too. Oh, before I forget. Demiari is here with one of the gods.' she said the last part was more like she was talking about the weather she after all believed Demi was making everything up. "Demiari, will you wait up.. if Lanis and Trase are fighting it's not going to be good.. for any of us, we'll all get punished for their stupid actions." this made Demi stop as she remembered what it meant to do serious harm to one another "Keep up, we need to go now..." Demi said keeping Ruvel close to her, her scythe fading to be on her back as she headed to where they seen the smoke or dust cloud. The trio managed to get to the area quickly and just to see Lanis go through a wall with Cirven quickly following "Rui, call Korvin quickly." she instructed but seen her summoner frozen in place, she couldn't blame him given what happened last time the jester was near him, at the same time they didn't have the luxury of time. "Did you say Korvin?" Laniiar asked Demi a tone of disbelief in her voice, Demi nodded quickly as her answer "Yeah and given what the dead are telling me it's gonna take us all to calm Trase... Lanis admitted a sin..." she said nudging Ruvel trying to get him to get him to acknowledge her request. Ruvel lifted his hand to his ear 'Mr. Weiss please come to the south east area, I require assistance. Cirven is not quite himself.' he sent the elder male before lowering his hand hoping the other would be able to come and help.

"He didn't..." Laniiar blurted out, all Demi could do was look at her in shock as she seemed to have known and not ever told anyone. "You knew all this time and didn't tell anyone? Are you completely nuts... he's went without punishment! Now look what's happening, he wants Trase to himself and since he got away with it once he thinks he can do as he likes." Demi was pissed at the goings on right now that was for damned sure. "He has seniority over most of us, he was next in line if anything happened to Trase. With how kniving and cunning he is, the one who reported it would be framed for the wrong doing, so deal with the punishment in his place." As much as Demi wanted to yell at her it made sense, she and Laniiar where two of the youngest so would have been easy targets for Lanis if he wanted to be a brat. "Is your friend okay?" Laniiar asked noticing how the already pale Ruvel paled even more "Not really, he almost was mentally broken and badly hurt by this side of him." she notified the other before moving to Ruvel looking into his eyes "Rui, you need to snap out of it... if he kills Lanis he's signing his death warrant and those who are here will get punished by our oldest brother..." she moved to hug him close "I know your scared of the laughing jester after your first encounter but it's still Trase, your beloved elder brother. He loves, guides and protects you... show this back to him now, he needs it." she whispered she didn't want to scare him by saying that the eldest of them would take him home to the facility on Crescent Island as it would have made matters worse, though it would have been the truth. "Summon Korvin, and I'd let the other of your companion know of the situation if Vés hasn't spoken to him about this already." she instructed again letting him go watching. "I contacted him already." he informed Demi knowing he wasn't a match for Cirven, not now.

Ruvel had kept eye contact with Demi's ruby orbs nodding knowing what she had said was true, Cirven had taken him from the facility and gave him everything he lacked, so this was the least he could do. His hands moved forward as he took a deep breath "I call on thee, goddess of portals." he said calmly as he did a portal appeared and from it came a woman standing 5'8" tall with albino skin, crimson red eyes and long snowy white hair tied back in black cord wearing a black dress. "You called Rui?" she asked Laniiar blinked seeing how Korvin now looked "I died and was given new life." to her it was that simple, while this was going on Ruvel had ran to be in front of Cirven his hand stretched wide "Cirven, this isn't you... we don't kill unless there's no other option! That's what you said on the Rune Knight ship, did yo-" before he could even finish what he was saying he found himself being blasted away "He needs to die for what he did." the Jester growled moving slowly towards Lanis, Ruvel winced he was hurt there was no way he could block something so quick and close 'great more training is coming my way.' he thought to himself "Korvin, take us to a new realm, leave an entry rune for the others." he requested of his portal summon who complied with the request.

The trio watched as Ruvel got in front of Lanis once more only to be hit away again as if he was little more than a doll "Stay out of this." he ordered but Ruvel slowly and weakly crawled over to Lanis using his body as a shield. "Aren't you two going to help him?" asked Laniiar, Korvin shook her head "He believes that Cirven is still there and can gain control back. He believes his elder brother won't kill him." she finished "Trase! If you kill Lanis he'll take it out on all of us! Killing one of the gods on top... have you lost your mind? You'd have signed all our death warrants... you promised to protect him Trase... Remember?!" Demi called out hoping that his words seeped in "Trase... where he done it for the reason, try looking at the bright side... if he hadn't she would have suffered more. Demiari told me what happened to the gods, I don't believe her but you've likely been there at least once..." Laniiar said hoping it was helping "Cirven, killing him won't bring her back but you will be exactly what they designed you for... the monster you promised you'd never become." Korvin yelled out, she could stop any attack in here but would rather not hurt Cirven if possible.

Word count: 2'085
Total Word Count: 7'482

For but a few seconds, the still smiling Vés and Johann, who was silently grinding his teeth in fury under his black mask, were just staring at each other intensely, the air almost booming with tangible tension. The silence around them was deafening before Vés suddenly broke it, throwing his head back into his neck and laughing out loud, one hand raised to the venetian mask that still covered half his face, before he tilted it back forward, his red eyes going back to the Keeper once more. "You know, I think it's about time we stop playing around and start getting serious, don't you agree ?", Vés not waiting for an answer, grabbed the mask on his face at its side with his still metallic claws, ripping it away before throwing it on the floor, revealing his appearance without the ornate decorative disguise, revealing the face underneath, a face that Johann would forever remember as the face of an enigmatic evil. He was for a mere moment tempted to do the same, rip away his mask, his disguise, reveal his true, fuming self, but there was something that stopped him from doing so. It was as if he felt at ease under the thin coating of black leather, as if he could, after years of suppressing it, finally be his true self. And his true self he would, unknowingly to himself, show to Vès, something that went beyond his scope of comprehension, something he couldn't see, he hadn't accounted for, for the masked Keeper hadn't either.

The form of the masked Wolf had gradually started to blur and soar with strange energy, not quite magical in nature, but not entirely without it, either, from his arms strings of deeply black and purple, swirling air rising up, dissipating before the process started anew, both his pupils slowly exchanging their deeply red, crimson colour for a glowing, amaranth purple shining through the shaded glass of his mask, his demonic eyes striving to pierce Vés' very essence. For just a moment, the strange swirling wind twitched, racing towards the Keepers hands where it formed around his hands, around his fingers, long and sharp claws of black, blazing stormwind. Vès seemed somewhat thrown off, but Johann hadn't even noticed. To him, this came as naturally as sight or breath, only feeling inside him the unfaltering rage and the one resolve he would fulfill at any cost : He would obliterate Vés, annihilate him, wipe him from the face of this planet, and nothing would stand in his way. The others fingers started twitching, and he seemed to become increasingly nervous with each passing second before finally, they made their moves. Vés of course had foreseen Johann's attack and reacted accordingly, but a point had been reached where the Wolf's speed would surpass even Vés reflexes, the two clashing violently as each one had shot forward in a burst of speed, the two men's claws slamming against each other, sparks flying with every successive slash. For now, Vés was still able to block the Keeper's furious slashes, but with each one he fell into a deeper and deeper rage and frenzy until, finally, there was an opening for him. Vés had moved his hands up, his hardened steel claws deflecting the blow, still, his face went pale as he saw what would come next. He wouldn't be able to bring them down in time to block another attack, but Wolf's right hand was still free, and so, with incredible speed and force, his clawed, dark fist sunk into Vés' chest. With a loud and resounding thump Vés was launched off his feet and into a building behind, completely ripping apart the walls on both sides as he broke through, still launched back uncontrollably by the sheer force of the impact before finally coming to a stop in another stone wall.

Johann followed swiftly, stepping through the dusty rubble to spot Vés on his knees, one hand on the cobblestone of the road and another raised to his chest, coughing up blood before lifting his gaze back up at the masked man, and for the first time Johann could see fear in the man's eyes. It gave him an indescribable feeling of accomplishment, and he would've bursted forward once again, but his opponent, albeit with a lowered voice, started speaking to himself. "I'm busy over here, I- ... I see. We can't let Lanis go, Laniiar. ... really ? I'll make my way back as fast as I can"

"Looks like we'll have to continue playing some other time, my dear Wolf. Cirven is causing a bit of trouble for us, so, see you lateeeer", he spoke out his last sentence before taking from one of his pockets a small, spherical object and cracking it in his hands, vanishing on the spot, teleporting through the city and back to his own comrade. "NO", Wolf had tried to reach forward, but the other was already gone, cursing Vés with the harshest words he could come up with. Mere seconds after he had gone, Johann still standing in the same spot while staring at the spot where his enemy had vanished, he heard, once again, the familiar voice ringing out in his head, at the same time he picked up Vés' scent, not to far from where he was now, it would take him a few dozen seconds to get there at the max. For a few moments, he was in complete conflict with himself, still seeing the world through a curtain of red anger. He felt as if there was a voice that spoke out to him, softly, a tiny whisper, demanding from him to ignore the message, demanding he punish Vés for his arrogance, demanding him to hunt. He was more than tempted to just give up, just do it, but he couldn't just ignore Ruvel, especially not after he called for help. Johann had given an oath, he had sworn to protect Ruvel and anyone else in the guild with all he could give, and he wouldn't break his word, raising a still clawed hand to his ear, the black wind dispersing as suddenly as it had come. "I'm on my way", and with that, Johann turned to wind to do the same as Vés, not without swearing to himself that his time would come, that the would get what he wanted, to have Vés of Cor Torva crawl before him.

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Word Count: 1077
Word Count Total: 6.178 / 6.000 (WC met)

Stats:

"You want me to stop? Why..? You don't know what he took away from me.. What he did... But you want to stop me?!" The jester yelled out causing a shockwave of electricity to shoot off from his body. None of the shockwave would hurt anyone but nearby windows would shatter from it. "His death won't bring her back-" He moved forward and pushed Ruvel out of the way again, this time pushing him into the arms of Demiari. "If any of you get in my way again I will add you to the body count he has caused me to have." He glared over everyone near him with his voice sounding as serious as it ever had. The joking nature that the Devil Jester persona usually had seemed to disappear and was replaced by nothing more than anger and no remorse. The devil used his speed to quickly move and stand over the body of his younger brother again. He lifted up his arm, causing a mass of purple electricity to swarm over it and then increasing it to have even more power over it. He moved his arm downwards in an attempt to cut his brother cleaning into two separate pieces but something happened around him.

"Criven! Stop!" A girl's voice called out causing the devil to look over to his side and stop his hand from moving where he saw Aayla with tears in her eyes yelling out to him. His eyes widened and he was in utter disbelief from what he saw. She was dead. There was no way she could be there. He was forced to kill all of the clones that looked like her to prevent them from being used to cause disasters all over the world. It couldn't be her. Everything seemed to stop. The magical power he held in his hand dissipated and all he could do was look at his sister who walked towards him. "You can't be..." He spoke out and even started to lose his devil form and revert back to his regular self. ""...You died..."" His voice returned to normal also and then another woman appeared from out of nowhere and placed her hand on his shoulder that his head quickly turned towards. "Mother...?!" He spoke out, completely surprised by the turn of events. "Am I..?" A male voice spoke out from the woman that Cirven quickly remembered causing him to suddenly try to move back but the grip on his shoulder prevented him from doing so and the woman shaped her hand where her fingers were at a point, creating a purple-ish magical aura over it and slammed her hand into Cirven's chest where it ripped through his body and came out of his back. "I'm sorry little brother but-" The voice spoke out more as Aayla disappeared and his form changed to that of a older man. The man pulled his arm from out of Cirven's body and the devil dropped to the ground, motionless. "Trase, you are not to kill your younger brother. You know that, but he has done his fair share of deeds that deserve punishment also so instead of me casting you and the others out as enemies now, I will forgive you. It looks like Lanis ruined this opportunity for a great family reunion so we will have to set up another meeting again. I will keep in touch with the next offer for you to come home." The older man looked towards the Neo-Cor Torva members and without a word they each seemingly teleported away from the scene including Lanis leaving Cirven laying in his own blood and unresponsive. He would heal eventually but the thought of who he had just nearly been killed by was recycling through his mind over and over even after he was able to get up again. "Lucian..." He mumbled out once he was able to get up. His eyes trailed around not looking at anyone in particular. They had saved the city but with it came another level of threat that the devil was not sure he was ready for at all.

"We need to go home and prepare ourselves." He would speak out once getting his mind back together enough to speak. "We just got an enemy that I wish we never had to face."