Out Of The Oven, Into The Fire [Medeia]

Maybe Mura should’ve let someone else tag along with him… no, no, the moment he thought of that, he was reminded of how risky it would be. Everything had begun to settle back down again after Elysium’s attack, and once again, Magnolia Town just gave the middle finger to everyone who thought the town to have been killed for good. At this point, Mura’s worries were scarce about the immortal town as well as his guild, but there was always room for anxiety within the young Guildmaster’s heart…

One of these sources of worry was the theft of his sword, Harusame. Janet had been such a coward to both attack the Guildmaster in his own town, amidst masses of passers-by, and expecting him to hold back so as to not put them in harm’s way while giving her all the space she wanted to commit her atrocious actions. He had been given time to settle all those thoughts and came to the conclusion that he had to find her and end what she started. He wouldn’t allow Elysium to become a second rising of Savage Skull, and he wouldn’t allow her to draw any more breaths on Earthland possessing [i]his[i] sacred weapon…

… But alas, his search was harsh. Elysium was scarcely known among bystanders, so Mura had no trails to follow. No details to uncover. And people hadn’t heard of any recent attacks made by them. He even travelled to Talonia for the sole reason that a certain, old family lived there who dwelled in dragon lore – and yet, nothing new about Janet or the location of her dark guild came up.

At this point, the only thing driving him along was the bond he had with his katana. Both he and Kyuken had wielded it through many battles, ever since it was gifted to him by his father and had magic channeled through it for the first time.

…

…

News of the Saint of Fortitude entering Shirotsume drew people to him, most likely to ask for help with something that Mura was reliable on. He had always wanted Fairy Tail to be that; a reliable guild that could help you out with all kinds of problems, as long as they didn’t beg for trouble. However, the things he was asked were… bizarrely specific.

As a matter of fact, they were barely requests for help.

“Please, come join us and offer gifts to the Black Lily!”
“Have you come to give yourselves to the Black Lily as well? I strongly suggest you do so.”
“She sees all that happens here, and she’s my guardian. If you sacrifice enough, she will become your guardian too-“

At first, Mura thought it was some cultural thing and considered offering a gift of his – a black-red talisman that he had sown with his own hands – but his Magic Sensory was alerting him of the handmade statues being carved and formed in various houses in Shirotsume. Put three and six together, and he noticed how mana lurked just above their heads and began leaking into people’s minds – a sort of mind-attacking spell, and one of very high caliber if it could affect so many people at once.

The mana was almost thin enough to go unnoticed by him, but it was… quite powerful mana. For a brief moment, it almost felt like Janet’s, which gave him a small panic attack as he had almost given up on trying to track her down. Therefore, he began pushing away the mana with his own, causing a clash of magic to take place – it was forceful enough to push away the wind and topple down furniture further away, but at one point, Mura managed to dispel the magic.

And about now, in the outer, rocky terrains surrounding Shirotsume…

“… Kyuken, when’d you take this with you?” the shaman asked with suspicion in his voice as he fished up one of the small, wood-carved statues of the Black Lily from his bag. To have possessed the shaman and grabbed it on the way out so quickly was nothing short of terrifying.

”… When you looked away-
“*siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh* I got to take a break from fusing with you, this is just creepy…”
”Oi oi, it’s just a statue! Besides… *uh-hrrmm* it’s a nice statue, and they had tons of it already. Won’t miss one…”

The statue depicted a lady with twintails and a loose, wide cloth resembling kimono or some kind of royal wear. Upon closer looks, she looked a lot like his wife Mythica… w-well, except for the larger-

”See?! I knew you’d like it!!!”
“Wha- s-shut up! What are you on about?!?!”
”DON’T YOU LIE TO ME, LITTLE BOY! I KNOW WHERE YOUR EYES ARE GLUED!!!”
“W-b-s-shu-pft-leave me alone! She looks like Mythica, that’s why I looked!”

It was magical, really. Mura started the day out low, but now, he was in high spirits again… albeit angry, he felt his chi rising.

WC: 826
Thread TWC: 826

It had all been so easy, just a trace of her magic and presto, the entire area had fallen under her control. The people became nothing more than mindless puppets, obeying her every order, indulging in her every whim and treating her as the angelic being that she was. They had all ended up with the same looks across their faces, wide eyed, with smiles so bright that they could have blinded someone. Her curse had been absolutely perfectly cast and Medeia had spent the best part of a week simply amusing herself, along with her closest Armina, by exploiting the mindless peons in every possible way. They had forced them to fight each other, robbed them of all of their worthwhile possessions and had even taken the most attractive women in the group into their beds. Oh, it had been such bliss and the raven haired woman was not even close to undoing her work, desiring to have them under her thumb for just a while longer. She was in no hurry and they were only mortals after all. It was not as if they would have done much in the time that she had corrupted them anyway. In fact, they were probably far more blissful under her control, where their doubts and worries no longer troubled them. Shirotsume the place was called, one that she had visited once before. To kidnap a noble, of all things.

It was on the 6th day that her plan took a rather unexpected turn. It was early morning and Medeia had just awoken from a lovely night's slumber, sleeping beside a gorgeous blonde haired woman who was sleeping soundly. The girl had quickly become a favourite of the witches and in her possessed state, she was more than willing to dive into Medeia’s, or as she was known by the locals, The Black Lily’s, arms. It was a fitting nickname and the dark mage had encouraged Armina to spread it around the town, which the maid had been all for, as big of a blabbermouth as she was. Turning to her guest, Medeia would smile, before standing up and dressing herself. Another day of pleasure or at least that was what she thought, for just as she was preparing herself to leave her room, the doors would burst open and Armina would come sprinting in, panting, her axe covered in blood. Clearly she had been busy.

“Mistress!” The purple haired maid cried. “Your curse has been broken! The people of the town are coming back to their senses and are in an uproar! I have killed a good number of them but they keep coming! What should we do?” Angrily, the maid clutched her weapon. “I am going to make them pay for this insult!”

Medeia frowned and moved to the window, opening it to see a growing crowd of people below. Life was certainly back in their minds and bodies with many of them hurling insults and missiles up at the window where the angel was watching from. “So it appears.” She replied softly, unflustered by the news. Her gaze still on the crowd below, she would then utter coldly to them. “You wish to test me, do you? Then suffer the consequences.”

Waving her hand, Medeia would cause a sand tornado to burst up from beneath the people, engulfing them within her spell. Screaming and shouting as they were peeled and skinned by the endless torrent, the storm would weave and spin around them until there was nothing left but a mass of bones. The whole process had taken about thirty seconds and those who had managed to avoid the spell took one look at the carnage and ran for their lives. A simple yet effective message.

Turning to Armina, she would then say, her tone not changing at all. “I believe that will end any hostilities towards us. Now, let us seek out whoever or whatever it was that broke my precious curse.” Equipping her various spellbooks and weapons, Medeia would then add. “Come, Armina.”

With that, she would rotate her shoulders, causing her purple wings to come forth, before leaping out of the window and descending to the ground, her maid following closely, her own wings beating ferociously. The pair would drop to the ground, just about avoiding the mass of bodies, before Medeia would take a sniff of the air, attempting to discern the source of her beloved curse's destruction. “I sense a powerful magical signature. Not quite my own level but formidable, a magic that seemed to have been created in order to dispel magics such as my own. Curious. We shall find this mage and discover just why they have interrupted my affairs.”

“Are we going to kill them, Mistress?” Armina replied, a glint in her eyes, one hand flicking blood off of her axe.

“They must be taught a lesson. We shall see how things go. Perhaps if they are attractive, we can drag them back to the guild in rope instead. Now, come along. We must move swiftly if we are to catch up with them.” Medeia filthily responded.

“I like the sound of that.” Armina quipped.

Taking to the air again, the pair of angels would leave Shirotsume, in hot pursuit of the one who had ruined their plan.

(888 Words)
(1714 TWC)

”Listen, let’s just get moving again… we’ve looked almost everywhere now; I don’t think we’ll be able to find them like this,” Mura suggested to his floating, ghastly companion – about to be joined by another ghost, that of a green dragon named Zirconis, “As much as it… annoys me, I think we have to wait. Just wait, until they come out of their ratholes again. We’ll be ready by then.”

He was meant to put up a tent here, but after the previous event, he felt more like moving on from Shirotsume and allowing them to recover on their own. At first, he hadn’t actually felt the source of curses enveloping the town having been so close to him, so he thought that he, at least, could draw them out overtime. Y’know, hearing that a Wizard Saint lifted such a curse would undoubtedly go around, right?

Well, it turned out that he would encounter the source sooner than expected, because once his bag was packed ready, a magical signature shot through his chest and alerted him of two extremely powerful mages approaching his location. He didn’t need to see their faces to realize that they were probably pissed off at his intervention. “Oh, w-wait, wait, is that the Black Lily beauty coming right our way~? Heyyyyyyyyyy, let’s just wait here and see her-“

“No, we’re going! Now!”

Mura grabbed the spirit ball that was Kyuken and advanced further away from Shirotsume until the city went out of view. It was a strange thing to do, running away from the enemy like this… even Kyuken found it strange, despite his motivations having been lecherous in contrast. “M-Mura? What are you running away from – I’m sure you can deal with them as swiftly as a mayfly!”

It was only when Mura found himself at a wider opening of smooth granite surrounded by sharp boulders when he braked in his tracks and revealed to Kyuken just how worried he was. It was shown on his slightly sweating face. “I can tell a lot from sensing magic in the air, Kyuken… I’ve always been able to, you know that. This one’s too… t-too much.” His fist clenched where the hilt of his katana was supposed to have been. “You know my luck, Kyuken…”

As one who had been present on that day in the past, Kyuken realized what Mura referred to. That was when the usually goofy spirit turned sourly serious and frowned his eyebrows. “That was years ago, Mura! You’ve already fought harder, crueler adversaries up until now! Why do you doubt yourself now of all times?!”

It required a lot of rebuking for Mura to pull himself together again. This deep, rooted insecurity within him that had been planted back when he lost his Onmyōryō… and had haunted him ever since, ever so silently… maybe he would never get rid of it. It only grew in accordance to everything he experienced in his life as a mage.

Without further ado, he looked around him and noticed the pleasant winds leaking through the cracks of the rocks formatted around the flatter ground, which gave him a sense of relief. He didn’t possess his katana right now, so his only weapons were his red dagger and his magic.

Before turning around, though, he picked up the wooden statue from before and glanced over it one more time… the similarity to Mythica was uncanny. It scared him a little…

WC: 574
Thread TWC: 2288

The two angelic beings were relentless in their pursuit of the interfering mage, honing in on the magical signature like bloodhounds after the scent of blood. The two flew at great speed, Medeia leading, her most faithful companion just behind her. It was the order of things and both were absolutely content with it, the roles that they had been in for centuries. No, longer than that. The two had been together since they had lived in the heavens. Medeia, daughter of the leader of their sect and Armina, her loyal bodyguard. Their relationship of course would develop over time, until they had both finally given into their desire for one another and shared the same bed, a sin, according to Medeia’s father. That had been the beginning of it all, the first chapter of a long tale that the raven haired woman was still writing now, after so long. The two women were bound to each other, a relationship of love that transcended all others. They would be together until the end of time and beyond, long after the world as it was now had fallen and turned to dust. They would live forever and in each other's company.

All of a sudden, the trail seemed to come to an end and as the two women approached, both would raise a hand toward their backs and draw their magical weapons. Armina her axe and Medeia her mythical sickle. They were under no illusions regarding the strength of their quarry and the angel had already paid for her overconfidence during her fight with Suzhen. She would not make the same mistake twice and the fact she was armed to the teeth would be a testament to her having learned her lesson. Weapons, tomes, summoning keys, magic. They were all at her beck and call, ready to be used at the slightest provocation. Truthfully, they had already been provoked, an act that was considered unforgivable by both and as the pair finally caught up to the figure, back towards them, they would descend and land softly behind him.

A rather petite figure by the looks of him. Yes, definitely a him from the scent that Medeia’s slayer senses picked up on. A realisation that brought a frown to Medeia’s face. Men did not interest her in general and so the flirty and playful tone that she would have used against a female foe was nonexistent. Instead, her voice would be stone cold, barely registering any emotion whatsoever. Armina, on the other hand, was radiating with anger, furious that he would dare to interrupt her mistress' fun. Yet, she did not attack, just about able to keep herself in check, for the sake of her mistress, wishing to please her by following her commands.

“I believe you owe me an explanation as to why you have interfered in my affairs.” No introduction, no small talk, straight to the point. Her eyes bore into his back, awaiting his answer with a deathly silence, allowing the tension to rise.

(506 Words)
(2794 TWC)

Shit, up close made it all too clear just how packed with magic power the two entities were. And yet, what terrified Mura the most was the physical appearance of the raven-haired individual who was definitely the model for the wooden statue in his hand…

He was sure that she wasn’t who he thought of, but… it was terrifying just how similar she looked. Today was not a good day for the shaman, alright? He hadn’t turned around to face her yet, but he could see them both… thanks to Kyuken’s ghastly eyes glued onto them. You weren’t helping him in this situation at all, Kyuken…

Turning his head slightly to glance over at them, he simply answered: “They weren’t willing. Each and every one I met screamed from their chests, so I lifted your spell – that’s my explanation.” Upon turning his entire body around to face her, he noticed how he hadn’t gotten any knowledge of them or someone of their criteria. However, the more he glared at them… specifically at the raven-haired sorceress, the more the veins on his forehead began to pop out. The insecurity was being slurred with internal anger at what her very appearance reminded him of… a memory he had sought to rid himself of for so long.

He just couldn’t catch a break with these crazy women, could he?

With his anger grew the magic power within him, manifesting as a vibrating sensation filling the space between them, causing the rocks to glow and the sky to brighten up. It almost looked like steam was leaking out of his skin. He was ready to fight.

I’ve got no way out of this, do I?

WC: 281
TWC: 3075

His explanation was almost precisely the same as Suzhen’s had been when Medeia had run into her. He had simply stuck his nose into her business because of his own desire to do good, a foolish notion in the mind of the angel. Good was such a foolish notion and what had he actually achieved? Nothing. He had only made it worse, a fact that she was all too willing to throw back at him. “Well, I hope you are proud of yourself for the majority of the people who you supposedly freed thought it was wise to try and attack me. Now they are all little more than bones, littering the streets of Shirotsume. You should have left my curse alone, boy. I would have released them sooner or later, once I had become bored of them.”

She detected the rise in his magical aura, feeling the strength and power within it. He was strong, there was no denying that but still, there was still a gap between them. His body language screamed at her that he was ready to fight and further words were rather pointless. So, the dark haired woman simply took her sickle in hand and was about to engage, when all of a sudden, Armina stood in front of her, causing Medeia to raise an eyebrow. “Armina? What are you doing?” She asked. “You must know that you are going to struggle against him if you go one on one. Stand back now, my dear.”

“I am sorry but I cannot do that, Mistress.” The angered maid replied, her axe screaming for blood. “He dared to interfere in your affairs and that cannot be allowed to stand. Please, let me fight him first. I need to do this, my rage and anger are reaching their limits. I must be allowed to unleash them upon him. I do not ask much of you, my beloved Mistress. Please grant me this request.”

The Errings Rising mage pondered for a moment, considering the options. She was uncertain as to whether Armina could put a dent in the boy’s defences but her maid spoke with such authority that Medeia could not help but be proud of her. So, Medeia would tap into her magic, chanting a dark and powerful curse which would take the form of a blood coloured suit of armour. It would fly from her and wrap around her maid, amplifying her magical power, as well as shielding her, as well as healing Armina, should things come to that.

“Go then.” The witch replied, before leaping into the air to watch the battle from an aerial position. She would intervene when the time was right but for now, the angel would simply watch, surveying the battle with interest.

Needing no further encouragement, the maid would charge forwards and unleash a massive slash with her axe, attempting to cut the young man cleanly in two. “I will make you suffer.” The purple haired woman yelled, her eyes blazing with fury.

(503 Words)
(3578 TWC)

…

He hoped that the fallen citizens’ souls would forgive him. Surely, if he hadn’t been stressing himself out, then he would’ve been able to sense the culprits nearby before anyone else could have gotten hurt. But look at them now; trying to blame this incident’s happening on him… what. An. Old. Overused. Trick.

At this point, the only thing he could do to prove just how fucked they were was to kill them. But that would prove harder to do than say, simply by the numbers on each team… but the situation began to change a little, and apparently, the lavender-haired warrioress desired to fight him on her own. She was angry on behalf of her sickening mistress; yeah, imagine that…

While her anger did come from somewhere, it held zero weight in Mura’s eyes. What was she angry about? If this wasn’t a clear example of a warped mind, then he didn’t know what was. He rose his head to glance at the Black Lily once more as she floated above them, cursing the situation he was put in.

The blood-colored suit of armor… it emitted the same mana as the curse he lifted before, but it wouldn’t be swiped away as easily. And the one facing him now was more of a barking dog than a cat hiding her claws… but despite the magic amplifying her fighting capabilities, it didn’t look like Mura’s own magic power rose in any matter. It was still on standby, somehow.

First when Miss Lavender went on the offense, swinging her gigantic axe right at him, did his magic power rise. His hand rose forth and intercepted with the slash from her axe… but a guy who possessed metal-bending magic could do this without losing his hand in the clash. Instead, he had stopped the axe from cutting through him – although he wished that she didn’t turn out to be so monstrously strong with that swing, so as to spare his hand from bleeding even while having pumped magic out to repulse the swing away - and some of his mana was leaking into it before he shoved the axe away from himself with another burst before making space between them.

He didn’t know if it was enough to slow her down, weighing up her axe’s mass like that, but he wouldn’t wait and slammed his hands on the ground beneath his feet, causing the earth to shatter into huge, sharp boulders covering a wide range between the two warriors fighting. The monolithic fissure causing small debris to even reach the Black Lily’s spectating spot was but a distraction. Despite the force of this fissure easily surpassing natural phenomena, Mura had leaked underground and phased through the earth’s solid matter, passing by all the bounders and shooting himself up somewhere behind Armina’s location before unleashing another force of nature – a raging wave of fire large and ferocious enough to melt a hole through a mountain…

WC: 493
Thread TWC: 4071

Armina did not expect her attack to be countered so easily and as she was pushed back, the maid was rather irritated by just how easily she had been handled. The ground would then start to shake and she turned her eyes to the ground, her orbs widening as spikes started to burst from it. Desperately, she would leap into the air, her wings growing once more to allow her the gift of flight and help her evade her enemies' attack. It was a pretty powerful burst of magic and the maid briefly thought about just what she had gotten herself into. As angry as she was, the busty woman knew that her level of power was not even close to her mistresses and perhaps she had jumped in a little too quickly? No. She could not disappoint her mistress and pushed the thought aside. Her resolve was too strong to be ripped to shreds by a simple powerful spell from the enemy. He moved quickly and reappeared behind her, unleashing a wave of fire that came hurtling towards her at a quick pace. It moved so quickly that all she could do was hope that the armour would protect her from harm, bracing for the inevitable burning sensation.

Yet, it was at that moment that Medeia would open her mouth and start to inhale, resulting in the fire to alter course and head towards the witch. Fire was one of the angel’s slayer elements and there was not a chance that it would head for anywhere other than down her throat. The raven haired angel devoured the spell, her eyes briefly blazing with flame as she did so. It tasted like red hot coals but did not harm her in any way, in fact it was the exact opposite. It fuelled her powers even more and a chuckle escaped her lips once the spell had been eaten. Looking down upon him, she would simply say. “I am afraid that fire is not going to work for you, Little Hero. You will have to try something else. I appreciate the meal though, your flames taste lovely.”

Armina would watch with joy at Medeia’s intervention and took the opportunity to return her axe to her back and unleash chains from her hands, hurling them towards the boy with as much might and speed as she could. Yes, using metal again may have been a mistake but it was only a decoy. Her mistress had interrupted the fight, meaning that she was in no doubt invested enough to intervene when she felt like it and had no plans on letting the fight be a fair one. It was always going to be two on one and knowing that, Armina was going to use that to her advantage.

Watching from above, Medeia would wait for the opportune moment, before surrounding her fist with flames and launching a powerful projectile towards him, using Armina’s attack as a decoy. Two or she supposed, three, could play at that game.

(505 Words)
(4576 TWC)

The target seemed not to have been able to evade the fire blast if caught by surprise like that, but intervention from the Black Lily prevented the spell from landing on her. Mura witnessed first-hand how the spectator swallowed the blazes like spaghetti, revealing quite a crucial detail about her magic.

She’s a fucking God Slayer, isn’t she?

With no certainty in the fight, Mura realized that perhaps their little decision earlier was a filthy trick; was the lavender-haired axewoman ever intending to fight him on her own? Or was this some kind of silly attempt at entertaining themselves? Knowing these types, it was most definitely the latter; as a way to butter their egos so goddamn much, they always went with the whole ‘this is but a game to me, a means of killing time’ narrative in their battles, and if they ever voiced it, then it would be their attempt at demotivating their enemy.

Mura wouldn’t be demotivated.

Miss Lavender chose to switch out her heavy axe with long, rapid chains swung at him with great speed. Mura’s eyes, for a brief moment before the chains reached him, flickered a silvery white before he leapt out of the view, evading the chains with his own speed. They were strong enough to make dust out of the boulders that he had risen earlier, so Mura decided to merge Kyuken’s soul into his own body for a boost in his physical performance. Like a darting bolt, he didn’t even let gravity take away his momentum, but a surprise attack was approaching him from behind.

If Mura’s eyes weren’t able to spot it, then Kyuken could. And with a warning from his samurai spirit fella, Mura spun and altered the Black Lily’s fire projectile’s trajectory with a kick, having it slammed straight towards Armina as a way to make an opening for him.

WC: 312
Thread TWC: 4888

It was a fine counter indeed and the maid was not quite quick enough to get out of the way, resulting in Medeia’s own attack hitting Armina’s armour and knocking her backwards. The armour held firm but the wind was sufficiently knocked out of her for a moment or two. Trying to get her breath back, she would once more clamour for her axe and her embarrassment at being made to look so foolish would spur her onwards. Charging forwards once again, her blade would start to radiate with magical energy, increasing its cutting power and fuelling it with her magic. Perhaps she would have more luck if she struck with a magical attack rather than a purely physical one. That was the thought going through her angry mind at that point, wanting nothing more than to teach the annoying little punk a lesson. Her eyes blazed with rage and her footsteps were fuelled with fury.

Medeia would get in on the action at this point by opening her mouth and starting to sing in the direction of her and her maids foe. A sweet melody that would result in visible sound waves starting to travel in his direction, her spell would attempt to not only distract him but also try to cause him to fall for her. Usually, she would never dream of using this spell against a male but this was a battle and she needed to do what was necessary. Her music would pull at his spirit, his soul and as she sang, she would briefly show off her body, performing dance-like movements in the air, trying to keep his attention firmly upon her. She knew he was tough but how good was he against spells of the mind eroding kind? Medeia was well aware that her magic was not infallible but the slightest moment of distraction might just be enough for her maid to get her attack in. Her song would become more difficult to fight against over time, trying to get him to give up on fighting and simply give in to her. Oh, how she loved spells of this nature. To attempt to dominate the wills of others was the ultimate thrill in her mind. That was what caused her to continue to seek out and cast her curses upon those who walked the land. The satisfaction of knowing that she had the lives of others in the palm of her hand.

Having to keep her gaze upon him to use her spell to the fullest, Medeia could not help but feel as though she had seen him before. Perhaps from that magazine that came out from time to time? Yes, that was it. He was a member of one of those unusual neutral guilds, one who did not follow the path of either good nor evil. An entertaining way of thinking and not one that Medeia was completely against. Better than the idiocy of the legal guilds anyway, who believed in the law and only the law.

(505 Words)
(5393 TWC)

She sure had been left open after the impact from the Black Lily’s redirected spell. He could see just how aggravated it made her, realizing that while his anger could fuel his magic, hers might as well end up bringing her defeat. If he could aggravate her further, then her every move would become more and more readable, predictable and allowing him to save mana for when the Black Lily herself would intervene once more… yes, with Kyuken’s help, he never lost sight of the raven-haired mess who mind-controlled an entire town and expected them to just shrug their shoulders.

It would be dangerous to affect her axe any more with the magical energy emitting from it. However, from weighing it prior to that, as well as causing her anger to boil, Mura noticed how he had somewhat seized control over the battle. He was just about to charge forth towards her, planning to evade her next slash just at the right moment and, thus, follow up with a new spell of his, but…

His anger, it… felt weakened?

It wasn’t just his ears; his very skin suddenly warmed up to an utterly sweet melody, which revealed to have come from the Black Lily herself. Was she trying to distract him with some kind of audial charm? It wouldn’t work so easily; he was in a fight for his life, basically. However, the spirit fusion that he found himself in at the moment… it was now a detriment.

He could feel it; Kyuken’s boiling passion trying to express itself. He tried to hold it back, focusing on Miss Lavender’s charge with her huge axe. Kyuken’s gaze, however, which had given Mura the 360-degree vision earlier was now fixated on the Black Lily, and thus Mura felt like he… he…

“HUWAAAAAH!!!”

He had to let out a sudden roar right before jumping away from the axewoman’s destructive charge. His whole body was aching a bit, as if he just forced himself to do something that he didn’t… want to… shit, the charm spell was working that well already?!?

It felt so weird, as if his chest was being pulled towards her by magnetic forces… even when trying to focus on the enraged opponent in front of him, something just felt so… odd. His heart began to beat faster, his face blushed, and he began thinking… that the Black Lily sure looked like a cuter, s-sexier Myth-

N-No! Stop turning your face towards her!!! Why was she so- aaaarrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhh!

He violently shook his head in embarrassment, jumping further away from the lavender axewoman as he had trouble fighting fully while Kyuken, the ghost merged with him, allowed his endurance against her charms to drop like a meteor. He had to release that ghost at one point, but he was afraid that Kyuken would just immediately approach the Black Lily. Who knew what she would do to a spirit…

For now, he had to endure and wait for her to catch her breath, then unleash his new spell.

WC: 505
Thread TWC: 5898

Unfortunately, the team up did not seem to work with the young male able to still evade Armina’s attack. However, the effect of Medeia’s song was obvious and so the angel continued to sing, filling his ears with her delightful melody. She could have stopped earlier but there was just that desire in her to see him suffer, if one could call it suffering. The emotions that he was feeling were probably anything but unpleasant but the fact was that they were no longer fully under his control. Her eyes were forever on him, her obsessive gaze almost seeming to look straight through him, to his core. It was a gaze that so many had felt and more often than not, they had wilted under the pressure. He seemingly would not. Well, it would be from no shortage of effort from her part and her aerial dancing display would become slightly more provocative, tantalising him, trying to force him into giving up on his attempts at combat and to dive helplessly towards her, where his fate would be decided. Yet, still he persisted and eventually she had to take a breath, finally stopping her song and allowing his senses to return to him. She did wonder though whether there would be any residual damage.

Armina was becoming more and more frustrated, having missed another attack and so she leapt towards him again, trying to slice him once more. She was relentless in her hunting of him and sorely desired to see his blood splattered all over the ground. Her eyes were aflame by now, lost in the thrill of the hunt and obsessed with the desire to kill. Her anger was a great weapon for her but what was more, it also helped Medeia in a way too. Her maid's anger stirred up the slayer powers of the witch and a smile crossed the raven haired woman’s features. “Yes. Keep striking at him, my dear. Make him scuttle and crawl like the insect he is.” Her gaze would then fall upon him, deciding then to reveal her knowledge of him. “I know who you are now. You are the master of that guild of fairies and married to that beautiful black haired beauty. I recognise you from that magazine. It is a shame that I did not run into her instead of you for things might have ended up quite differently. She is a gorgeous woman and I am sure that we would have had a lot of fun together.” A hint of lust briefly crossed her features as she spoke. “I bet she wears the pants in the relationship.”

Medeia kept him on his toes by sending a stream of sand towards the ground, which would then travel across the rocks and then burst up from underneath him if he was not swift in dodging it. It was the same attack that she had used against those who had attacked her and her maid in Shirotsume and was unpleasant to say the least.

(505 Words)
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Damn it, could she stop singing already?! And why did it feel like her eyes were drilling into his back… and where was this thrilling emotion coming from? It felt like someone brushed up against his back… or something in his mind emulated that sensation. It felt good…

Whoop! Armina almost scraped his skin for a second, but the air pushed apart by her huge axe pushed him away. He capitalized on the knockback by spinning around, making more space between them due to Kyuken’s lack of cooperation. At least, he had a solid eye on the Black Lily’s tits-

Kyuken, what the fuck?!? You’re gonna get me killed!
U-W-Wha? What are you talking about? They seem sweet and nice enough-
Haven’t you watched me at all?! Snap out of it!
Ow c’mon, she’s drop-dead gorgeous~! And so selfless too; just look at her dancing for us~…
… O-Oh shit- Kyuken! My pants-!
Oh, don’t even- it’s just a normal, physiological reaction when a strapping man like me falls in love, you young brat! Why are you even attacking that poor, lavender beauty over there – what’s she ever done to you, eh?! I didn’t take you for a guy who beats women, uff!!!

Kyuken was hopeless, but luckily, the Black Lily needed air, so her singing came to a halt. Another glimpse of silvery light escaped Mura’s eyes, signaling that Kyuken had snapped out of her charms and made the difference in speed between the two fighters even greater. The enraged look on her eyes began sending shivers down the shaman’s spine, for she looked so mental and lost in rage that he feared just how far she was willing to go just to land a hit. Yet, he had gotten an overview of her physical strength and magical prowess, providing she was actually going all-out out of anger; now that he wasn’t being under the Black Lily’s charms, he could tip the scale.

While shrugging off the insect remark on him – as well as any leftover arousal, because he felt so goddamn uncomfortable - her recognizing his face brought his attention back to the raven-haired airborne. She recognized him and the guild he ran, as well as the woman he was married to… Mythica. Her admiration for his wife’s beauty was met with deaf ears, for this lady didn’t know just how loyal Mythica was… a trait of hers he was very grateful for.

He had to apologize to her, someday.

Before he could return the remark, he found himself approached by streams of sand from the Black Lily that now appeared under his feet. His decision was to step back at full speed, watching the sand wave erupt where he previously stood – he tried to keep the angle at Miss Lavender, so that the sand wave actually blocked the view towards him, because he’d continue by moving at a much faster rate than before, turning into blurry afterimages dashing in all directions. At this speed, one had to keep a look at his magical signature for the most part, because the visual part could cause nausea.

Kyuken, keep an eye out for the Black Lily, but for God’s sake, don’t fall for her again!

He needed Kyuken’s absolute sync for this technique, so Kyuken would have to temporarily shut off his urges and focus. S-Sure, sure, I’m here and I’m ready to cut her to shreds!

Kyuken-Style… Shingeki!

And that was what he aimed to use to his advantage as he charged towards the axewoman as a blur with the speed of a lightning bolt, having unsheathed a red stone dagger and slashing forward. The dagger wasn’t as long and reachable as his missing katana, but it was surely able to shock her – he upped the speed according to one of Kyuken’s old fool-proof techniques, after all.

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He was moving incredibly quickly and the maid was unable to follow his movements. She would raise her axe in an attempt to block his blow but she just moved so much slower than him that the purple haired woman could not even get close. She felt his blade strike the armour and gasped in shock but what was more, the blood coloured warsuit would then shatter. Armina did not have the natural resistances or durability of her mistress and as such, the armour was not as effective. The dagger drew blood and the guardswoman’s eyes widened with shock. There was just so much force from the attack that it sent her tumbling backwards, hitting the hard ground. She was not out cold but as she clumsily rolled over and clambered back to her feet, her confidence had clearly been knocked, the grip on her axe not as firm as it had been.

The sight of her precious maid bleeding, however, was enough to rile the witch above, her gaze blazing with unbridled anger. She was not like Armina. Her anger was far more cold. Never one to shout or scream, it was in the eyes and aura that her unhappiness could be seen and felt. She would point one hand towards the rocky ground and utter two simple words. “Black Coffin.” From the spot that her hand was directed at, the area would start to turn black, extending swiftly, covering an enormous range, before the darkness would start to extend upwards, trying to seal him in. When compared to her other spells, it would be considered one of her best but in actuality, it was more of a torture device than anything else. For all those that she considered to be enemies would start to feel doubt and fear start to try and erode at their confidence, their darkest memories would be pulled to the forefront of their minds and for those without the will to fight the darkness off, it was more than capable of driving beings mad. There was time for him to escape but it would not all be that long and neither Medeia nor Armina tried to escape it, knowing that they would be safe inside. He could run or he could remain inside and try to fight the effects of her spell off but should he remain, the difficulty would increase, the longer her spell was intact.

While her coffin spell would hopefully keep him occupied, Medeia would proceed to turn her focus to Armina and unleash a blood spell that would spiral down and surround her beloved maid. The purple haired woman’s wounds would begin to heal, the pained expression on her face would turn to one of pleasure, loving the feel of her mistress's magic upon her. The axewoman would then turn to the boy and utter. “Not a pleasant feeling, is it? My mistress only uses her coffin spell on those who she truly wishes to see suffer.”

Medeia did not utter a word, neither agreeing or disagreeing with her maid's statement.

(512 Words)
(7554 TWC)

Seeing Armina get knocked back by his previous attack prompted him to follow up, not giving her any openings to retaliate and ultimately showing her what a huge mistake it was to go up against him, but the witch above interfered again… and she showed an even colder side now. Clearly, harming her companion was over the line, somehow, but Mura was ready to cast his spell! Her cold, weighty gaze down on him was met with a tightly clenched dagger as his magic power began to rise again, hoping to grow strong enough to catch the Black Lily off guard. Armina was still taken aback at the moment, so now was his chance-!

Black Coffin.

Those two words were followed up by a sphere of pitch-black energy engulfing the surface below him. He leapt upwards immediately, not wanting to be eaten up by the spell that quickly rose upwards to try and catch him. He could avoid it, surely… he was fast enough…

He was…

H-He wasn’t…!

The pain didn’t rush upon him immediately, no… it was something else. His heart began to sink to his feet, and he recognized the aura trying to invade his body again; she really intended to mess with his head again? The fear that made him sweat, he had felt it before… yes, he really had, and once he realized that, he began ceasing the resistance from his own magic. “K-Kyuken…”

How she was even able to bring these images forth in his vision… it baffled him. He could see his dead corpse right in front of him; sand blowing up and landing on his bloody opening down his left side of his torso. The last blow that she landed to end his… h-his adolescent life…

And… w-was that Heero’s corpse? It looked complete, clothed and with dying flashes of lightning… as if he had just recently kicked the bucket. Did you have any idea how strange it was for young Mura to receive the news of his Guildmaster’s death? And just… what killed him? And would… would Mura ever have to face such an entity in the future?

… K-Kanix-sama?

Sorano?

Hana-chan?

Why was she showing him these past images kept silent in the back of his head? Was she trying to break him again, to extinguish his desire for battle? He had trouble focusing on anything else right now, due to the void surrounding him even though he found himself airborne. He felt so… terrible.

“Huh? Mura, what’s going on now?!” Kyuken’s voice rang through him, “Get out of here, she could try to kill you if you leave yourself wide open like this!!!”

“Mura!!! Mura!!!”

“C-Can you hear me, Mura!!!???”

It felt like a radio signal shot through his ears, painfully rendering another scene up in front of his head. A scene convenient to remember for a moment like this one… a scene that happened not very long ago. Her sweet voice lingered still, advising him with words that only a being of her caliber could verify:


… And by then, his arms lowered. His body language surely told those watching that he… had given in, somehow. He wasn’t showing any signs of struggle, he just… looked empty inside. Yet, while the outside showed such signs, deep inside, he was all too clear now. All he needed, however, was an opening.

Either that, or he needed to dodge if they decided to not approach him…

WC: 600
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As her spell took effect, Medeia’s gaze never left him, intrigued to see whether her spell had been successful at eroding his will. He had stopped moving, seemingly paralysed by the no doubt horrible visions that were filling his mind. The angel could not see what he saw and neither could Armina but it soon became apparent that he had at least been affected by it. There were few who could shake off the attack fully and the raven haired beauty smiled as she recalled her last victim's reaction. Suzhen had been rattled to the core, her body shaking, her voice trembling and the angelic being had taken a great deal of pleasure from her suffering. Yet, the young brown haired boy did not seem to react in the same way. He just remained silent, almost as though he was frozen in time. This was an entirely new reaction and frankly, she was suspicious and just a little irritated that he had not shown more emotion. She fed off the misery of her opponents and his reaction gave her nothing. She was still on guard and although she drew her sickle, Medeia did not move in to attack him.

Armina, however, responded differently to his unusual reaction. The still panting and rage filled maid still desiring to cleave his head from his body. To have been struck by him had brought her no shortage of embarrassment and the pleasure she gained from Medeia’s healing spell was wearing off. The purple haired maid could not control herself any longer, her emotions blazing out of control and as she summoned all of her angelic power, causing her to glow with light, her body and weapon blazing with magical strength. Taking her weapon in both hands, she tore towards the male, having completely fallen into the trap that her mistress had used so often against her foes. To ensnare them in the throes of anger and hatred, where their rational mind was hurled aside, replaced by one's feral and wildest nature. That was the state that had captured her now and leaping into the air, she would put all of her force into one monstrous strike, wanting nothing more than to see his body turn into a bloody stain.

From her vantage point, Medeia would sigh as she watched her maid charge, a shake of her head following. If her maid had a weakness, it was this. The mistress knew that Armina’s hatred for males could quite possibly surpass her own and also knew that having been cut by him would result in this. The Errings Rising mage could have called out to her but it was futile. Armina could no longer hear her voice, consumed by hatred as she was. All she could do was watch, prepared for whatever was to happen next. There was just something so odd about the boy’s reaction that set off alarm bells in her head. He had a strong will and perhaps that was enough for him to fight off one of her foulest spells?

(510 Words)
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It was strange to feel the light from Armina’s body stab through the spell like that, but Mura wouldn’t mistake it for light from the afterlife. He really pissed her off, somehow, and she was jumping right in with her axe to chop him in two, clearly blinded by whatever he installed in her. If Mura kept standing still like this, then he would’ve been sent into death right away – luckily for him, he had a clear plan from the start, and he intended to execute it.

Just when she was but a few meters away from him, Mura could maneuver himself towards her with quite the accuracy, no longer having the spell around him a detriment. She might not have noticed it, but Mura was now holding a weapon on both hands – his red dagger on his left, and a steel blade with no handle on his right. It had been grown out of his hand and separated from it, now being used as a second medium.

And in a quick flash, Mura’s magic power surged up again! He was now behind Armina, floating in the air with an auric armor surrounding him; it was white and bright akin to Armina’s own, surging aura, but it looked like a construct of white plates of armor holding a thick, dense sword. And that sword had just cut through Armina’s center, followed up by a sudden tornado of white, auric slashes cutting her psyche and spirit down.

Halo Blade always used to grow even stronger when unleashed with a spirited weapon instead of physical skill only. However, he had begun to pour more mana into his spells now… was the Black Lily going to come down to aid her companion now? He had plenty of spells to throw at her as well.

WC: 301
TWC: 8965

There was no chance for Armina to counter his attack and a horrible scream escaped from her as what appeared to be a countless amount of blades cut through her. It was a horrendous attack for her to have to experience and blood began to pour from the cuts. The spell was far too strong for her to endure and before she or Medeia could do anything to stop it. Armina would suddenly burst into a mighty pillar of light, powerful enough to split the sky and break through the dark and murky bleakness that Medeia’s coffin spell had brought about. The maid was well and truly beaten for the day and she would no longer be a part of the battle. Was she dead? No. Given time, she would regenerate and return to her mistress’s side but for now, Medeia was left well and truly alone. The purple haired woman had fought bravely and the dark mage was truly proud of her for fighting what had turned out to be a far more powerful foe than her. However, it had shown all too well the maid’s weakness, which Medeia would have to deal with sooner or later. Her bloodlust was becoming a problem.

Medeia’s reaction was ominous and in a moment, she would teleport from her aerial position and appear in front of him, standing a few metres way. Her sickle was now firmly in her right hand and after placing it in front of her face and uttering a few words, the gems upon it would burst into light, channeling her vast amount of magical power into the blade. A single strike from it would be powerful enough to turn a normal person to dust and although she knew now just how powerful he was, she knew that a strike from her weapon would still do a grave amount of damage. There would be no further playing around on her part. No, he had just made the encounter far more personal, by causing her maid to feel such pain.

Once her weapon was prepared, she would then tap into her third magic and her entire body would become consumed by an enormous amount of purple energy that could be felt by any being within a wide radius. She was returning back to her previous form, one that she had used when walking among the heavens. Mortals referred to such magic as ‘Takeover’ but for Medeia, it was more like reversion. When the energy disappeared, the woman would look fairly different to her usual state. Her hair and eyes had turned purple, she was now wearing a more gothic-like dress and a large pair of wings were sticking out of her back. Along with this, her ears would also be pointed. Oh, how she adored this form and as she rotated her shoulders a little and returned her gaze to him, she would finally speak again, her tone deeper and more menacing. “You just insist on making this more and more personal, do you not? First you spoil my spell and now you dare to shed my precious maid’s blood? An unforgivable act.”

Rising into the air again, she would start to flap her wings, resulting in a large amount of razor sharp purple feathers to fly towards the Fairy Tail guildmaster. There was no longer any need for words and the only desire that she had at that moment was to see him truly suffer.

(578 Words)
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Finally, she decided to step in on her own. The shaman wasn’t relieved at all, however, and only found himself guarding up even more when the Black Lily reappeared a few metres in front of him. She immediately began channeling her sickle with intense magic power, much akin to how he channeled magic through his katana. Evasion felt necessary against that, since she wasn’t intent on playing around anymore.

It was good that his spell, Battle Control, granted him increased durability in form of the protective plates swirling around him, but Mura had come to the realization that this random witch was far more powerful than many of the opponents that he had fought before. That, combined with her God Slayer Magic, made her even more dangerous against him – even with Hades’ veil over his spells, she was still able to devour them and replenish her mana. He couldn’t take any chances… and how many elements could she eat? He had seen her eat fire, but she also controlled the earth before… Elemental Magic- no, his Onmyoudou was out of the question.

And as if she wasn’t dangerous enough as is, her rapid change in form – most likely a Takeover – rendered her into a purple being alike an angel. She no longer held back her magical presence, and he felt it face forward as if beaming into a thick brick wall. He had no choice; he had to use the Flame-

She was faster and managed to fly up in the air before he could reach her with his Battle Control, from which she counter-attacked with razor-sharp, purple feathers raining down on him. There were too many of them to dodge, so he alternated between that and slapping the sharp feathers away with the blade of his Battle Control spell. They were sharp enough to cut holes into his protective, auric plates, to which he hurried and charged a sort of vacuum on the tip of his blade.

Mura… M-Mura, you’re doing it again! Use the Flame mode thingie, already!!! THIS IS SUCH A BAD HABIT OF YOURS, BY GOD-
I can’t just use it now! She’s still bursting with mana, she might counteract with an even stronger spell! I have to cut her mana down a bit…!

Even if just a little, if he was able to tire her out beforehand – both mentally, physically and magically – then he found it possible to overcome her disadvantageous magic with the Flame. The vacuum on the tip of his Battle Control sword was intensified in a brief instance, to which Mura wasted no time in pointing the tip upwards, right at the Black Lily’s position.

From the tip, the vacuum was released; ravaging, pure mana was shot at her, like a thousand arms in a thin ray trying to penetrate and scrape off mana from her very skin like a rapturing predator.

WC: 480
TWC: 10,023

Her feathers seemed to be doing well, puncturing through his defensive spell. She continued her barrage for some time, her angelic wings sending what appeared to be an endless tide. Yet, he did not seem to be taking too much direct damage though and there were no sounds of pain from him. If anything, he seemed to almost be showing off, slashing away and dodging as many of her projectiles as he could. There was no counter attack for a while and Medeia wondered if perhaps if she pushed him enough, her feathers would do the job but the more time wore on, the more unlikely it appeared. His stamina was high and it was almost as if he was getting a grasp of the rhythm of her angelic plumage. He was strong, there was no doubt of that in her mind but as she prepared to unleash a second attack using her sickle, he would suddenly launch an attack towards her.

It was an unusual blast of magic, one that seemed to be made of pure magic rather than an element and a type that she most definitely could not absorb. No, this was going to require a different tactic but thankfully one that she could fairly easily accomplish. Medeia simply brought her sickle down, just as the attack reached her, resulting in the spell being split completely in two and vanishing into nothingness. It had been a fairly powerful attack on his part but not enough that her beloved sickle could not handle. A brief smile would cross her features and as her feathers continued to swarm, she decided to add a little more to her own offense.

Opening her mouth, she would briefly inhale, before unleashing her own version of a God Slayer’s Bellow, combining three of her elements. Gold, curses and sand would fuse together, resulting in a pitch black blast of energy to tear towards him, attempting to peel the flesh from his bones. It was a potent attack and a fairly strong one in her arsenal, enough to hopefully test him further. As annoyed as she was with him, there was a small part of her that was curious. She had never fought a guildmaster after all and it was rare that the angel fought someone who could actually push her. Suzhen had eventually managed to do so although only for a brief moment and Medeia had to admit that it had felt rather thrilling. Oh, she adored her magic and the strength that she now possessed but there was a part of her that missed the appeal of a good and fairly even fight. Perhaps she should engage other mages more often, preferably starting with members of Fairy Tail. Upsetting her was never a wise decision, not simply for the sake of the one who had done it but those they knew as well. Once she was finished with him, she would move on and seek out the rest. The result of the error that he made by interfering in her affairs.

(510 Words)
(10533 TWC)

What?! His spell, his Ignorant Edge, was split in two right when she aimed her sickle down at it… could that sickle nullify his spells? It appeared to be the case as she just showcased, forcing him to not rely on long-distance spells due to how taxing the mana fees could feel. How ironic; he tried to rob her of mana, and now he was here panicking over his own pool… he definitely needed to alter his tactic.

And she wasn’t going to give him any pauses, either, for she sent down a grim bellow, a wave of what looked like glistening metals mixed with dread and sand. The force alone was otherworldly, tearing through the ground below where he had stood a moment ago; the shattering metals hit his Battle Control, and he felt the necessity to close the distance between them even more now. He had to get at least a couple hits in with his Spirit Bind Magic, in order to disrupt her mana pool and turn the tides…

It was risky, but he subdued the Battle Control spell and left himself wide-open for just an instant. The red dagger and the naked metal blade suddenly blinked a faint red before his body began… vibrating… as if the atoms making him up were bristling at mach speed. He then clapped his hands together, and the weather around them changed…!

It began dropping rain from above… slowly, but steadily, rain began surrounding the stony area around them, getting heavier by the second. If the Black Lily were to look above, then she would certainly see the dark silhouette of a serpentine creature above the rain clouds, surging down and revealing itself to be a blue-scaled, bearded dragon. The rain looked like it grew heavier the closer one was to the dragon, but Mura didn’t mind it one bit and leapt up on the long dragon’s head.

That was when they jabbed forward, charging the dragon’s serpentine body straight at her. Its maw was wide-open, unleashing a pressurized wave of destructive ocean water at the witch to drown her completely.

WC: 351
TWC: 10,884

The battle was taking a rather interesting turn at this point and Medeia’s eyebrows rose as she watched him perform his latest spell or spells in this case. The boy summoned an enormous bearded dragon that was travelling down towards her at great speed. In a moment, he jumped on top of it, increasing the beast's speed and charging along with it. At first, the angel planned on simply avoiding such a simple attack but all of a sudden, the dragon opened its mouth and unleashed a torrent of water towards her, powerful and travelling quickly. There was not all that much time and so she swiftly started to chant once more, surrounding herself with the blood red armour that had covered her maid for so long, shielding and protecting her. Naturally, it would be far more durable when being used by her and she was comfortable that it could take the attack.

Still, she most certainly felt it when the water struck her and she struggled to breathe for a few moments as the endless barrage cut off her water supply. Panic briefly set in and the dark mage’s free hand moved to her throat, a sign that the dragon’s spell had at least partly struck her. The attack was potent and it did briefly seem as though she may end up losing consciousness due to the lack of oxygen but then, like most when they were on the verge of defeat, her panic subsided, to be replaced by boiling hot anger and rage. She was not going to be defeated by an attack of this level. It was inconceivable and as the image of Armina came to the forefront of her mind, her fury reached its peak.

Desperately, she would tap into her magic and just about manage to activate her teleportation spell, in order to finally get out of the way of the dragon’s deluge. Her armour was still intact thankfully and as she coughed and sputtered for a moment, Medeia’s eyes burned with fiery hatred. She would not be defeated by one who was weaker than her and the witch would not allow herself to be struck by another attack. The price that he would pay for his insolence was increasing by the moment and as she recovered, a twisted idea began to form in his mind. Since he valued the people of Shirotsume so much, how about she strike at them instead? The angel had the perfect spell for such a feat and the more she pondered about it, the more she considered the idea to be an effective one.

For the moment, she would focus once more upon him and raise her free hand, unleashing a powerful curse, jet black once more in colour. It was not directed at him but at the dragon and after a few short moments, she uttered the casting phrase to her spells. “Curse Of The Rat.” Her words thrummed with power and should her spell be successful, the boy's dragon would turn from a creature of the skies, to one of the sewers. A fitting fate, she mused to herself.

(523 Words)
(11407 TWC)

It looked like he had her on the ropes for a brief moment. She might’ve been all-powerful, but to think that she was stuck in the water bubble and grabbing her throat like that… she still needed oxygen! Just like him! For an instant, the sense of mortality hit her straight in the face, but while he didn’t intend to let his guard down, he had a feeling that she wasn’t going down by that. It was a sense or instinct that most seasoned warriors wielded, only being able to breathe in relief when the shit was truly over. And it wasn’t over until it was over…

She had possessed blood-plates, sandstorms, darkness, metal and spatial manipulation with the introduction of a teleportation spell that she cast on herself to escape the water sphere. It really screamed that she could, somehow, die to lack of oxygen… and here, he had the idea that she wasn’t mortal. Some entities would just enter a resting state upon a fatal blow, but she looked a little bit distraught there, not unlike a mortal human at the brink of drowning.

The dragon charged forward once more, this time attempting to whip her with its long, scaly tail to throw her off balance. Its tail, however, suddenly began to shrink, avoiding her form as she had just cast another spell at it mid its assault. In a wicked twist, the dragon’s entire body morphed into a little, helpless rat that fell from the tall height and broke down on impact. It was out of commission and turned to mana that shot straight to the heavens, to reunite with the stars where it resided until Mura could summon it again one day…

Speaking of, where was Mura? Before the spell even hit the Azure Dragon, he was gone from its head.

And as if invading her peripheral vision, Mura had launched himself from its head and charged through the rainy air, cutting through several raindrops on his way and deciding that this was a fitting opening. Perhaps, it would warn her in time, but all of Mura’s mana began to burn, lighting up the air and tremendously triggering one’s Magical Sensory, while his burning form began to condense into his body’s shape again. Golden fires had surrounded him, but immediately, the fire subsided, planted right under his skin and pushing the air away around him.

Inner Sanctum! S-Shit, this is heavy… but here’s my chance! Make sure to hit the spot, Kyuken!

So much condensed, pressurized mana was dangerous to wield for too long, and he depended on the pressure from unleashing it at one, single spot in front of his blade to tear the Black Lily in two.

WC: 453
TWC: 11,860

For a few moments, time seemed to slow as he came towards her, his entire body almost overflowing with magical energy. This was not going to be just another attack that she could just shake off and she knew it. He was striking her with all of her power and Medeia knew that she would have to do the same. There was no further need nor desire on her part to test his strength any longer and the anger that had been a constant presence within her was building once more. Her maid, her magic, even her oxygen, he had violated all of that and there was no other fate that he deserved than to be completely destroyed. Sometimes, it was simply best to keep things simple and as her rage came to the forefront of her mind again, she decided to use her full strength, right then and there. Her powers were already so high with her tomes, sickle and takeover but she had one final source of energy that she could harness and she saw no reason now as to why not simply use it. The boy must be annihilated and once she was done with that task, she would wipe out the town that he had ripped from her control. There was no other course for her to take. Not now.

“Force.”

Her magical aura exploded in an immense blast of power, enough to briefly cause the ground to shake and the sky to darken. Pure godly strength began to pump through her body and soul, all of her already mighty attributes rising even further. It was a combination that she rarely used but here and now? It was right and a wicked chuckle escaped her lips as the glorious energy began to surround her, all six of her elements beginning to swirl like a storm. Fire, anger, blood, sand, gold and curses. A magnificent and yet terrifying combination that very few could truly handle. Her eyes burned with intensity and it seemed that her form took on a truly godlike appearance. The look of a slayer who had melded with their powers completely. It felt glorious and she was more than ready to take out all of her frustration upon him.

As his attack came into range, Medeia would raise her left hand, shielded by her armour and intercept his strike with her defensive ability, resulting in another eruption of magical power as the two spells collided. Yet, the angel was more than confident in the power of her most mighty shielding spell and she eventually managed to negate his potent attack. It was then that she decided to press forward and she swung her sickle towards him in return, its power immense due to the amount of spell damage that its owner currently possessed.

Her eyes locked onto his as she attacked, her voice almost alien in nature now due to both her takeover and force active. “You will burn. Your guild will burn and everyone in Shirotsume will burn. All turned to ash, in an instant.”

(512 Words)
(12372 TWC)

… Okay, don’t blame him harshly. Somehow, he had overlooked a Slayer’s trump card, something that the Black Lily sure had taken her time to activate. Honestly, it would’ve been favorable if she just forgot that she could do this, but due to having taken so long to end the battle, Mura’s situation had grown exponentially dreadful. It felt like he was looking Lady Death right in the eyes again…

He was trapped. A storm of magical energy had surrounded them both, but he wasn’t planning to flee from her just yet – he still had an attack to land on her! And it did land, clashing with her… with her shielded arm, which simply bounced off the massive force that he had gathered to strike at her. And he heard the faint but clear word escaping her ice-cold breath…

He had to get away from her, right here and now!

It was almost like a slight panic, but he had to make a bit of space between them. Unfortunately, she had already launched her sickle towards him, and it sure hit its target and tore through his right shoulder like it was butter. If she wanted to make him suffer, then she succeeded in pulling an agonizing roar from his lungs as he descended back down on the ruined surface that used to be flat granite ground. He had dropped his right blade, but there was still some fighting spirit left in him… he just needed to heal his wound-

“G-GAAAAARGHH!!!”

An even deeper, unbearable pain overshadowed the previous agony from her sickle, intensifying the burning, dreadful shearing of his skin down his shoulder, which could be felt all the way down to his toes. However, this development in pain wasn’t purely the Black Lily’s doing… whether she was paying attention or not, Mura’s Magic had drawn out something foul, a scent of which a Slayer could recognize an immeasurable amount of gold, silver, rotten flesh and life energy. This was unlike any other spell that Mura had launched before, and the mana felt like it didn’t even belong to him…

It belonged to a god. And Mura’s poor judgement had led to his agony; what would happen if a god’s Magic was trying to fix what a God Slayer had injured? The mana from the Black Lily’s sickle was still boiling his shoulder like frying oil, and how unfortunate could the swordsman have been to channel Hades’ Magic through it… it only worsened the pain, at least by tenfold.

“S-SHIIIIIIIIIIIIT, W-WHAT IS- A-ARRRRRRRRGHHH, HNNGGGGRHHHHHHHHH…!!! I-IT’S NOT WORKIIIIIIING…!!!”

He had never experienced this before… he had no recollection of having fought a God Slayer before. He had no experience of dealing with a God Slayer before. He didn’t know just how big a disadvantage he, specifically, had against a God Slayer. And the Black Lily, the wretched bitch in front of him, was above and beyond any ordinary Lost Magician that he had encountered before… safe to say, her strength surpassed even the foul leader of Elysium.

For now, all he could do was claw onto his wound in an attempt to suppress the sheer despair that was growing in his heart from all the torturous, nervous reactions occurring around his shoulder’s injury. It felt like she had cut a hole in his lung, too… i-if he could just recollect himself, then he could try another spell to patch his injury. From now on, he would never try and heal a God Slayer’s injury again…

It just felt like that was the reason, somehow… surely, she could’ve had an effect in her mysterious spell that restricted any sort of Healing Magic, but the shaman was good at feeling his way through how Magic affected him and people around him – that was how he could hold back the mental degradations caused by being hit by his spirit-infused spells.

“D-DAMN IT, N-NOT NOW, HADES… RRGHAAAA, S-STOP HEALING MEE…!!!”

WC: 656
TWC: 13028