Aldous Focusine: A Wizard's Grace (Solo)

"Now then, let's begin," Purgatory sneered as he made another one of his fast steps, his shroud of power following him as he dashed straight for the remaining Corn Cob Demons.

Panicking, the demons gasped for breath as they inhaled, readying their signature attacks. "CORN-CORN-GWARK!" The middle demon did not know when Purgatory had extended out a Spirit Warrior's finger straight at him, jamming the bony appendage straight into where the demon's mouth should be. "Whoops, my finger slipped," Purgatory joked with a malicious smile. The resultant plugging effectively prevented the Demon from releasing the stream  of corn now rising from within itself and Aldous cringed as the head of the Cob seems to swell immensely, before breaking under the strain and exploding into a shower of corn pellets. As their brother fell to the ground in the middle of disintegrating into the air, the other Demons at the side yelled out in a battle cry as they fired off their attacks. "CORN CORN CANNON!"

"Ooh, you missed," Purgatory chirped as he dived away from the closest Cannon, using his Spirit Warrior's arm to push himself off the spot he had been a moment ago. Then, the second Cannon came crashing in, engulfing Purgatory completely in a stream of corn, but when the Demon was about to laugh in counter of Purgatory's apparent demise, its jaw dropped as Purgatory walked out of the stream, a giant seven-metre-tall rib-cage, the bones cracked at a few places but otherwise intact, had solidified out of the energy shroud. And it was not just the rib-cage that caused the Corn Cob Demons to stumble back in fright.

It was also the three new skeletal arms, one right and two left, each wielding their giant version of Cloud Penance, with slight variations between them such as a wavy blade, a chipped edge and an unusual axe-like extension from the blade for the right. Not that it mattered to the Demons any more, for before they noticed that Purgatory was kneeling down, the entity gave a cackle of maniacal laughter as he spun on his heels, with the skeleton warrior spinning together with him, sending all of its arms flying around in a deadly circle of devastation.

The Demons barely lasted a second.

Enemy
Corn Cob Demons (All destroyed)
Tomato Demons (All destroyed)
Tomato Demons Wave 2 (All destroyed)
Corn Cob Demons Wave 2 (All destroyed)
Corn Cob Demons Wave 3 (All destroyed)

Status
Health: 5 D-rank injuries (Bruises all over, bandaged cut at the side, breathless)
MP at 67% (Recovery in 4)
Spirit Warrior (3 posts)
Seal Floater Duration: 1 post left (Recovery in 2)
4 Bringer Dark usages left before damage to body.
Magatama Revolvers (2 bullets in right, 3 bullets in left)

Cooldown
None

As the slices that were the Demon's bodies dispersed into the air, Aldous noted that none of the bodies had returned to the ground. Perhaps.....Aldous focused his attention into the magic particles in the air, he waited a few seconds and finally, he sighed a deep breath of relief. The structure of the magic hanging over the fields was beginning to fall apart, the bonds between the particles breaking as the spell over-stayed its welcome. "It's over," Aldous murmured as he slumped against the Throne of Chains, the sudden loss of burdens that he felt overpowering the stresses and pressures that the chains tried to put on him.

"Not yet." Aldous straightened himself back up at Purgatory's uncharacteristically serious voice, the entity clearly no longer amused. "Look less at the spell and more on your surroundings, you fool." Aldous hesitantly did as he was told and his eyes widened at the sight of the plants still being trapped in the curse of rot and thorny stems. In fact, if his memory serves him right.....

"The plants are rotting faster!" Aldous shouted in panic, helpless about what to do in the face of this apparent trump card that the perpetrator still had up his sleeve. It seems like if whoever did this did not have his victory of dead mages, then he was willing to settle for dead plants and by extension, a starving village. "How DESPICABLE!" Aldous and Purgatory cried, prompting the former to gasp at the latter yelling with him in unison. "Purgatory?" Aldous questioned, the fact that the entity had yet to release its grip on the reins now coming to his shocked attention.

"I hate this......this cowardice," Purgatory, with darkening eyes, did not smile, but instead scowled, "If he wants to face me, then he should face ME ALONE! HOW DARE HE INSULTS ME WITH THIS?!" He gave out a terrifying roar, a pure and unbridled show of utter rage that sent the very Magical Particles around him vibrating violently. As he continued to bellow, Purgatory's body was beginning to steam with raw power, as black and howling magical energy was vented all around him in an earth-shaking burst. "HEY YOU! YEAH YOU, HIDING THERE IN THE MOUNTAIN! FAT GUY WITH THAT STUPID BEARD!" Aldous blinked blankly at Purgatory's words. He himself stared as hard as he could at where Purgatory was pointing at, yet he could not see anything. However, despite his lack of evidence, Aldous felt it, a deep and unusual confidence within him that Purgatory was right.

"THAT'S RIGHT! DON'T LOOK AROUND YOU! THERE IS NO ONE ELSE AROUND THAT STUPID ROCK! YOU THINK THIS JOKE OF A TRAP IS FUNNY, YOU SON OF A BITCH?" Purgatory almost seemed ready to laugh, but he did not, instead switching back to his roaring state, making a mockery of the wizard hiding away. "YOU THINK YOU CAN SCREW WITH ME? I KNOW, AND WILL REMEMBER, YOUR FACE, WITH YOUR FISHY NOSE AND WITH EYES SO SMALL I WONDER HOW YOU EVEN SEE!"

"IF YOU DO THIS, I'M GOING TO COME FOR YOU! OH! LOOK AT YOU, YOU ARE ABOUT TO RUN, AREN'T YOU? GO AHEAD, TRY IT!" And then Aldous gasped as Purgatory changed his grip of the sword in one of his arms, holding such that he was holding a javelin. He threw it, the Spirit Weapon disappearing in a booming flash, only a little black glint in the distance as it went straight for the spot in the mountain. "SEE THAT?" Apparently, Purgatory had managed to shock the wizard with that move.

"YOU CAN RUN, YOU LITTLE SHIT STAIN, BUT YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET AWAY FROM ME! COME DOWN FROM THERE AND FACE ME LIKE A REAL DARK MAGE!" Purgatory's Spirit Warrior was beginning to grow, the vents of energy now directed straight into it, as the rib-cage reached a never-before-seen height of 15 meters. "IF YOU DON'T, I SWEAR BY MY NAME THAT I WILL CHASE YOU DOWN TO THE GROUND AND WHEN I HAVE YOU IN MY HANDS, I'M GOING TO RIP THAT DUMB BEARD OF YOURS RIGHT OFF YOUR CHIN AND STUFF IT UP YOUR ASS-HOLE! I WILL THEN PROCEED TO PULL IT OUT RIGHT THROUGH YOUR STOMACH AND OUT OF YOUR MOUTH AND I WILL LEAVE YOUR SKINNED, RAW BODY HANGING FROM BOTH ENDS LIKE THE PIG YOU ARE!" Purgatory left that last part hanging, now heaving heavy breaths as he returned to normal, his hands flexed into claws in a stance of ferocity.

....

....

The tension in the air grew more and more oppressive to Aldous as he watched, peering carefully for any signs of an incoming attack, a response that he guessed was the most probable coming from a Dark Mage of this skill. But as the seconds go by and the plants begun to turn green again, Aldous realized that the crops were revitalizing themselves, the rot that had been apparent on them now fading, while the thorns receded back into the stems. "Hahahahahahahahahaha," Aldous raised his brows at Purgatory pointing his face towards the sky, giving a slow gentle laugh, a great contrast to the fast and almost chaotic cackles that he would usually use. "Looks like he ran off, but not without a quick apology. Good, at least now I know that I've won."

"Happy now, you foolish landlord?" Aldous could not even reply before he felt himself be forcibly pulled from the Throne of Chains and he found himself staring at his own two hands as the shroud of the Spirit Warrior receded back into him, along with Purgatory, who retreated into mental depths that not even Aldous could reach, effectively shutting him out.

"What was that, Purgatory?" Aldous asked, even though he knew he would be ignored. Clenching his fists, digging in his nails to break his lingering disbelief, for the first time in his life, Aldous was reaching out to that madness inside him, but for the first time as well, that madness did not return the favour.

Enemy
Corn Cob Demons (All destroyed)
Tomato Demons (All destroyed)
Tomato Demons Wave 2 (All destroyed)
Corn Cob Demons Wave 2 (All destroyed)
Corn Cob Demons Wave 3 (All destroyed)

Status
Health: 5 D-rank injuries (Bruises all over, bandaged cut at the side, breathless)
MP at 67% (Recovery in 4)
Spirit Warrior (3 posts)
Seal Floater Duration: 1 post left (Recovery in 2)
4 Bringer Dark usages left before damage to body.
Magatama Revolvers (2 bullets in right, 3 bullets in left)

Cooldown
None

When Aldous noticed the Rune Knights approaching, with a yelling Abraxis in tow, the look of shock across their faces told him that they were not expecting him to be alive. Neither did he, much to his own internal surprise. "Did you..." Locker, of the 10th Custody Enforcement Unit, had a sagging jaw, surveying the entire field, with crops growing strong like never before, unable to believe his eyes that the curse had been lifted. He did not even wait for Aldous to answer his first question. Instead he made "H-How?"

"It was not easy," Aldous hesitated before he said his next sentence. "I-I had.....help." And he felt something steer inside him, a flash of surprise, perhaps? Aldous would never know for the rest of his life, for the moment he was noticed, Purgatory silently receded away and out of touch. 'Another time then,' Aldous decided.

As he took a step towards the Rune Knights (who almost seemed ready to take a step back), Aldous suddenly felt a stab of pain spray through his side, frocing him to stop and hold his bleeding side for a little while. "You are hurt! Badly! Get a medic!" Locker instructed his colleagues and run towards Aldous, slinging his arm over his shoulder and supporting him before the man could fall to his knees. Abraxis, watching from the side and no longer having his wheels chained up, accompanied the two as they walked side by side.

"Don't worry," Locker reassured in an embarrassed apologetic tone, undoubtedly struggling with the sudden change of his behaviour towards this mage that he now felt a burst of admiration for, "we can get you fixed up soon enough. I'm sure the village will reward you for your help.

"That will be...." Aldous tried to find the right words, "...fantastic."