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Post by GX1997 on Jun 20, 2015 21:12:58 GMT -6
During the last moments when Eden, Cenric, and Orion were all still sitting together in the back of the caravan the mood had been light. Eden had even told them how much she had been enjoying the mission and being able to talk and laugh with so many people, especially those two. For the first time in a very long time she was sincerely happy, and they could tell. Her happiness was infectious. She wondered if she was finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, but all too soon things changed. The tension in the air when they entered the dense forest was so palpable and real, and her friends had to leave to guard the front of the caravan, leaving her alone.
With a sad look on her face she turned to the water and began to divine, truly hoping to see better times ahead. But sometimes such things are just not meant to be. She wasn't able to see much in those few seconds, but she knew that trouble was coming. And just as she stepped off the caravan to signal Cenric to use telepathy so she could relay her concerns everything went worng.
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Post by Golurkcanfly on Jun 20, 2015 21:13:27 GMT -6
"Ricochet Bullet: Rigor Mortis." Cowboy whispered as he held a long rifle, being a kilometer away from the transport with Grigori and Turban behind him.
A sharp bang sung through the air as a singular metal slug whizzed through the air, striking various trees before reaching the guards. However, once it punctured the flesh of one guard, it bounced around violently, striking nearly everyone in the area. Quickly, the weaker guards fell to the ground, struck with a paralyzing toxin. For the stronger ones, the effect should take effect in time, but the damage was already done.
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Post by Neo on Jun 20, 2015 21:33:25 GMT -6
Orion sensed the magic fire and heard the bang the instant his staff touched the ground. However, he only had a few seconds to react before everything went to hell.
Nearly all of the soldiers collapsed at once. If the magic had arced towards him first, he might have had some difficulty countering it; however, it arced towards Senna first, since she was the closest to the last soldier struck. A golden sigil appeared in front of her almost automatically, completely nullifying the magic.
Orion reacted on instinct. "Holy Field," he whispered, and slammed his staff into the ground. A brilliant flash of light lit up the entire forest at once, momentarily blinding any enemy nearby, and allowing him to sense everything-and everyone- in about a mile in every direction.
"I've found them!" He shouted back. "Senna, Eden, stay here and protect the scepter! Cenric, you're with me!"
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Post by Golurkcanfly on Jun 20, 2015 22:11:49 GMT -6
"Sand Dragon Slayer: Earthen Sky!" Turban roared with immense force as he tunneled underground, heading towards the cart as Grigori swung from the trees using some sort of black cord.
Cowboy provided covering fire as a sniper to pin down the others as a gigantic palm of sand emerged from underneath the transport before gripping it tightly and disappearing beneath the ground once more.
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Post by Neo on Jun 21, 2015 19:06:59 GMT -6
Senna tumbled off the cart as it was sucked underground, and rolled to her feet unharmed. Orion turned to Cenric and the two nodded wordlessly at each other.
"Don't worry, I got his location. I'll take care of the Sniper, Orion, you go after the scepter. Eden? You read me alright? I'll try to keep the line open, so make sure to stay in contact. This forest is pretty big."
Orion's eyes suddenly darkened, and a terrifying look crossed his face. "Northern Lights: Borealis."
An immense silver aura of magical energy burst into existence around him, and he rocketed into the sky and took off after the scepter. It's pointless. You cannot escape. I can track both you and the scepter no matter how deep underground you travel. Curse your own luck for having the misfortune of running into a Demon Hunter.
Four golden sigils materialized around him as he flew, and four long golden spears of light emerged from the sigils. They began to circle around Orion, and he moved them without even needing to touch them. The four spears aimed downwards and began simultaneously firing beams of light at the ground near his opponent's location. Small explosions of golden light repeatedly lit up the forest, felling trees left and right and simply creating general chaos.
--------
Cenric teleported to the Sniper's location, materializing right behind him and sending a swift hard kick to the side of his face.
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Post by Golurkcanfly on Jun 21, 2015 19:28:54 GMT -6
"HMMF!" Cowboy muffled as the wizard smacked him across the gob with his foot, only to counter by materializing a shotgun and firing it from the direction of the kick.
Meanwhile, Turban rushed underground, drilling through the earth with a stream of sand.
All seems to be going as planned. Laughing Man should be right about here...
The Sand Dragon Slayer pocketed the scepter into his robes before launching a jet of scattered sand high above him in hopes of blinding Orion.
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Post by Neo on Jun 22, 2015 14:03:52 GMT -6
Orion's spears abruptly canged formation again, whirling around him at great speed. A shockwave of burning light slashed around him in all directions, scattering the tower of sand before it could reach him and felling a couple more trees.
"You cannot hide from me," he taunted. His voice was terrifyingly calm, but a deep, primal rage burned in his eyes. "You have forced me to destroy a work of nature. You have forced me to fight. And you have attacked those I call friends over a mere relic. You have awoken me from my slumber, and now you will suffer the consequences!!! Prepare for ANNIHILATION!!!!!"
The spears changed formation again, and merged into a single giant spear, which then fired a single massive beam at the ground.
"Cenric, get out of the way! Now!!!"
The brilliant silver aura around Orion intensified, and the beam strengthened. He aimed his spear in the direction of the Sniper and at the third enemy swinging through the trees, and the beam of light obeyed, obliterating a large section of the ground before it whipped upwards and shot towards the others.
-------
Cenric teleported as soon as he saw the shotgun materialize, and was gone the instant before it fired. He reappeared behind the Sniper on the opposite side and kicked at his feet, scattering a cloud of dust towards his eyes. Then he heard Orion's warning and disappeared again, just as a beam of burning light shot through the forest.
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Post by GX1997 on Jun 22, 2015 14:59:27 GMT -6
As Eden was waiting for an opprotunity to see what she could do Orion fired the beam of light. As she watched she noted that it was also meant to hit one of the unknown assailants who was swinging through the tree. She didn't like the speed at which he was moving, and knew that if she could slow him down he would take a much worse hit from the beam than if she did nothing otherwise. That in turn would likely cause him to drop to the ground, and if that happened she could take him on herself at close range. She cast a spell and created a long wall of water directly in front of him at what would be the bottom of his swing, ensuring that he wouldn't be able to avoid it or rebuild any momentum once he was through it. She then drew both of her blades and held them in a reverse grip and began to approach the area where the man- who she could then see was dressed as a jester- would likely fall as soon as he was hit by Orion's attack.
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Post by Golurkcanfly on Jun 22, 2015 15:15:50 GMT -6
Grigori slammed into the wall of water, crashing through it and tumbling towards the ground beneath him, drenched. However, instead of smacking against the ground at high speeds, the jester rebounded off of the earth, performing a few flips and twirls to escape the massive jet of light that streaked towards him, not noticing the source of the water and crashing into the water mage.
---
"Bddf Dfprshn!" A grand shout erupted from the ground before the ray of energy made a trench in the ground, with Turban nowhere to be found. The light mage wouldn't be able to track him anymore, which should confuse him just enough to stall for time.
---
"Aw s***." Cowboy groaned as the pillar of light came into view, prompting him to fire his shotgun with a massive burst that sent him flying out of the blast's path, but into a nearby tree.
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Post by GX1997 on Jun 22, 2015 16:05:47 GMT -6
The clumsy jester ended up knocking Eden to the ground along with himself, but before he was aware of what was going on she had already recovered and rolled away from him, standing up and beginning to cast her spell.
"Water Spirit's Mirrors!" she cried out, enclosing herself and the jester in a bubble that he couldn't easily escape but that she was able to phase through, and she did. More bubbles, each larger than the last, began to appear surrounding the first, until there were several layers of them. Once the last one was in place Eden froze it using her ice blade, which when combined with the layers of magical water did create a very mirror like appearance from the center of the bubble.
"There are only three of them, right?" she called out to her allies as she ran to join them. "I've got one right over there, and that should hold him for at least ten or so minutes."
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Post by Neo on Jun 22, 2015 16:15:30 GMT -6
Orion cursed as he landed next to Eden, his aura fading and his spears vanishing. "Yes, there are only three, but they're dangerous. I was tracking the one who has the scepter, but I've lost him."
Damn, he's somehow spread out his magic signature... It's everywhere, and I can't sense anything else. But maybe... I might be able to pinpoint the scepter. The scepter has a unique signature to it, and a powerful one at that. There's no way he can mask it completely... I find that, I find him.
Orion turned to look at Eden and he softened. "Are you alright?"
"The Sniper is out of commission for now," Cenric said, materializing next to them. "But he's resilient. I'll keep an eye on him."
Cenric vanished again, and appeared in a tree branch, looking down on the Sniper.
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Post by GX1997 on Jun 22, 2015 22:27:11 GMT -6
"I'm fine, but every instinct tells me this whole thing is going to end badly. I just can't shake that feeling," she said, her face that was so bright with happiness just a few minutes prior turning dark and sad. Eden took a second and shook her head, as if trying to clear her thoughts before she spoke to Orion again. "I can't track the mage that took the scepter, but I'm sure you can. You deal with them, Cenric will watch the sniper, and I'll handle the jester."
Did you hear that, Cenric? You're doing well, so just make sure that sniper doesn't wake up anytime soon.
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Post by Golurkcanfly on Jun 23, 2015 0:23:00 GMT -6
Grigori's left hand glowed a bright white before he pressed it against the surface of the first bubble, causing the water to boil away and pop the bubble. This was done to each layer until he reached the frozen outer shell. He pressed his hand against the ice, causing it to crack with steam as the frozen water sublimed. Due to the slow speed of this process, the jester grabbed his baton and coated one end in a heavy black substance before shattering the icy cage with several strikes of the baton. He looked towards the water mage that imprisoned him sharply before using his right fist to punch into the earth and pick up the scepter which Turban had moved while underground.
---
A short column of sand materialized beyond the trench that Orion created before forming a humanoid figure. However, the scepter was nowhere in sight and far enough away that Orion couldn't sense it without concentrating, which would be quite hard with the fight in his face.
"You're stronger than I would have expected." Turban remarked towards the Devil Slayer across him. "Good thing Dark Guild's pay enough money for this. Sand Dragon's Roar!"
A whirling current of sand erupted from Turban, spiraling into the air in a wide funnel towards Orion, shredding any poor birds or lizards that may happen to be in the way.
---
"Quick Draw." Cowboy whispered quietly before a revolver flashed into existence and fired at Cenric faster than he could easily anticipate.
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Post by GX1997 on Jun 23, 2015 11:59:51 GMT -6
The jester has the scepter!
Wasting no time, Eden started making quick, deliberate movements to reach the jester, hoping to take back the scepter. It was rare that she had a mission where she had a reason to show off just how agile she was. But she already knew her skill might mot be enough after onserving the jester's movements earlier. He was most likely at least of equal acrobatic skill as she was, if not higher, so he must have had a lifetime of training.
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Post by Golurkcanfly on Jun 23, 2015 12:08:05 GMT -6
As Grigori saw the water mage doing acrobatics in his general direction, he twirled his baton and pressed it against the grass, causing it to ignite and hopefully slow down the woman before he did a backwards handspring to propel him towards escape.
"Keep your eyes on me, girl!" The jester let out a high pitched laugh before creating a grappling hook out of black dust in his right hand which he used to swing as he did before.
Grigori's voice was mostly gleeful, but there was a definite scratchiness to it, like he was a smoker.
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Post by GX1997 on Jun 23, 2015 12:49:36 GMT -6
Eden summoned a puddle of water to cover the grass, extinguishing the fire as she continued to chase the jester. Something about him made her very uneasy, and it surely wasn't due to a fear of clowns since she didn't have that sort of phobia. She was nervous, and in many ways a little fearful as she shouted after him. "Why should I?"
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Post by Neo on Jun 23, 2015 16:18:31 GMT -6
A Dragon Slayer?! Fine. Two can play at that game.
Orion inhaled sharply, placed his hands in front of his mouth, and roared, "Demon God's Bellow!!!"
A massive blast of crackling black, silver, and gold energy exploded forth towards his opponent. The two attacks collided midair in a storm of light and sand, and Orion used the resulting explosion as cover. He saw Eden pursue the Jester- who now held the scepter- out of the corner of his eye, and gritted his teeth. I trust you, Eden. Just be careful. I promised I would bring you home safely.
"Northern Lights: Borealis!" He shouted, and rocketed towards his opponent at high speed, his four spears of light materializing around him.
Still using the blinding explosion as cover, he seemed to materialize not far from his opponent. His spears formed the shape of a cross, and he launched a blazing cross of burning light not at his opponent, but at the ground in front of him, caving in another portion of the ground, and kicking up a massive cloud of dust, debris, and dirt.
Orion then used the opportunity he created to buy himself some time. His Borealis spell faded and he whispered, "Light Magic, Maximum Defense Technique: Demon God's Army."
Multiple clones of Orion suddenly materialized all around the Dragon Slayer, each of them almost exactly identical to Orion, while the real him vanished. The clones attacked en masse, but separately, as if each had a mind of its own.
No one has ever seen this combo and survived to tell the tale. Let's see if you're different, Dragon Slayer.
------
Cenric heard the shot fire, but he was caught off guard. Instinctively, he lifted his hands and used his Telekinesis to shield himself, barely managing to divert the path of the bullet, causing it to miss him. He then teleported, but instead of materializing near his opponent on the forest floor, he materialized up above the tree branch he was just on, and came crashing down on it. He used the momentum and poured all his Telekinetic Magic in his hands, slamming down on the giant tree branch. The branch dislodged from the tree, and flew down at the Sniper at incredible speed, with Cenric riding it.
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Post by Golurkcanfly on Jun 23, 2015 16:37:11 GMT -6
"Because I'm your opponent." Grigori kept fleeing further from the area as to avoid clashing with the others. "You wouldn't want to lose the scepter of..."
The jester stopped after one of his swings and instead launched himself onto a tree branch.
"I don't remember what this was called."
---
"Tch!" Turban scoffed at the Orions as he inhaled the cloud of dust that was used as a smokescreen meant to blind him. "Don't you know how Slayer magic works?"
Renewed in his power, sand swirled around Turban, forming a whirling shield that could strip flesh from bone.
"Sand Dragon Avatar!" He yelled murderously as the torso of a dragon crafted of darkened sand appeared behind him, mimicking his every move, knocking the clones away.
---
"GATLING GUN!" Cowboy shouted as he threw his side to the ground and transformed what was a small pistol into a massive automated slugthrower that launched a hail of lead at the branch before it could fall on him.
"And then there's the rest of the crew, Myriad Bullets." The rugged man smirked as various rifles, shotguns, muskets, and pistols formed a ring around him 20-feet wide, pointing in many different directions to fire when ready.
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Post by GX1997 on Jun 23, 2015 17:08:27 GMT -6
"And neither do you, but that's just too bad. Water Spirit's Forcefulness!"
Eden's spell created a large geyser of water underneather the tree branch, which she made sure had a wide enough diameter that the jester couldn't avoid it.
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Post by Neo on Jun 23, 2015 18:37:05 GMT -6
Orion grinned, a wide, murderous grin. Oh, if only you knew the real irony of that question, little man. That wasn't the true smokescreen. But don't worry, you'll never be the wiser.
Still concealed by his spell, Orion stood perched on a large branch far above the Dragon Slayer and his earthen avatar, looking down on his opponent like a demonic bird of prey. "Come forth, treasury of the Demon King," he whispered, his terrifying grin widening. "Rain down your divine hellfire upon mine enemies. Gate of Babylon, activate."
An enormous glowing silver sigil appeared in the sky above him, and a seemingly infinite amount of weapons poured out, raining holy fire down upon the Dragon Slayer. The rays of burning light detonated in a massive explosion, while Orion watched from above with grim satisfaction. He dispelled his concealment spell, and took a quick, but long gulp from the flask at his waist, restoring a good portion of his Magic Power.
Now, I need to help Cenric... Eden can handle herself for a while longer. Once we take out the Sniper, we'll go to help her. This should be over fairly soon. ... So why do I still feel so uneasy?
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Cenric teleported off of the branch while it crashed to the ground, and landed on his opponent's head. He effortlessly balanced himself on the Sniper's head, and straightened the collar of his shirt. "Show off," he taunts. "Keep that up, and you'll run out of Magic Power before I even get serious."
Five of the Sniper's Rifles at the back of the ring of firearms suddenly bent backwards, their nozzles pointing towards their owner. "So... We done warming up?" Cenric asks casually.
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