Hello again all, and welcome back to ASNG. Not much to say, so on with the story.
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6 months later.
"Why are we standing out here?" said a man, dressed in heavily repaired armor.
"Didn't you hear? The guy that killed the twins and vanished said he'd be back in 6 months to kill the Black Tyrant, and its getting close to that time. We are waiting on him to show back up." Said a second, armor in the same shape as the first's.
"Well I thank you kindly gentlemen, but I'm back now, so run along, and tell Ajihad that I'm back, and headed to Uru'baen. I'll have the bastards head on a stake come sunset tomorrow."
The two men turned to look at the third that had not been there moments ago. He was dressed in a mid calf length open coat, seemingly made entirely of snake skin as black as pitch, and loose ankle length pants of the same material. His chest was bare under the coat, as were his feet. On his hands were black fingerless gloves, with a steel plate on the back. He had long shaggy hair, reaching to his shoulders that was almost the same color as his coat, with eyes to match.
"Well, you gentlemen have a nice evening, pass along the message, and get ready to celebrate." With those words spoken, the man crouched, and jumped off the ground, leaping well out of view, straight into the sky.
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1st person POV: John Colt
'Well that was a productive few months wasn't it?' I thought to my self, as I flew through the sky. 'First order of business is to level Helgrind and kill the Ra'zac.' I smirked softly. 'This is gonna be fun.'
Underneath me, the land whipped by incredibly fast, and upon the horizon loomed the black mountain, Helgrind, home of the Ra'zac. A grin threatened to split my face in two. I speed up, drew back my fist, and slammed it into the base of the accursed mountain.
"Earth Style: Mountain Crusher!"
The mountain gave a shudder, then a small crack formed, and I drew back my fist a second time, and again it crashed into the same spot. The rock formation gave another, larger heave, and the crack spread. Once more, I reared back, and slammed my fist home, and felt something in the mountain give way. A great crack split the early morning air, and the mountain turned to rubble. After a few minutes, I settled the dust with a spell and waited. Not more than a few moments later, some of the rubble began to move. From the pile, came four of the ugliest creatures I'd ever seen. The two largest looked like a cross between a dragon and a bat, and the small ones like a beetle, a bird and a human. I decided to attack fast and hard. I raced through a few hand seals, and slammed my palms together.
"Wind Style: Eye of the Storm!"
Around us, a large dome of solid wind formed, an impassable barrier to keep the creatures from fleeing. Not that they could outrun me. Then I flashed through another few hand signs.
"Earth Style: Mud River Flow!"
All the earth around us began to liquefy, trapping one of the small ones and one of the big ones. The other two were able to get free and take to the sky before the mud hardened. Then I slammed my foot on the ground.
"Earth Style: Iron Maiden's Burial!"
The ground gave a thump as it compacted, and killed the two it trapped. Then from above I heard a screech of pain as the other lethrblaka slammed head first into the wall of wind, and had its head shredded to bits, dying instantly. Its limp body fell to the ground, the Ra'zac still holding on to it's back. As it hit, the Ra'zac leaped off, rushing me with a sword drawn, and bloodlust rolling off of it waves. I projected a wakizashi, held its base against my chest, pointed at the creature rushing me.
"Shoot to kill, Shinso."
The blade shot out and punched straight through the creatures head, killing it instantly.
"Well," I deadpanned, as the thump of a lifeless body hitting the ground echoed out. "That was disappointing. Kind of boring. I was expecting a lot more." I allowed the barrier to fall, and took to the skies once more, this time, headed to Uru'baen.
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After an hour or two of leisurely flight, I touched down a league outside of the Black Capitol. The people entering and leaving the city under the midday sun looked broken, defeated. Children stood close to parents, nobody spoke any words not necessary, and kept their heads down. 'This is horrible. Those kids should be running around playing, having fun. But they are afraid to stray to far from the safety of their parents.' The leather of my gloves gave a groan as I clenched my fist, anger rolling off of me in such force it was palpable.
"That's it, this ends now." I flashed through a hundred hand seals. I'd developed a jutsu just for this purpose.
"Ninja Art: Projection!" Above Uru'baen, a large image of my face shimmered into existence.
"Galbatorix," as I spoke, my projection did as well, its voice echoing mine, and being loud enough that I was sure every living being in a hundred miles could hear it. "You are a tyrant that has ruled for far too long. It is time you pay for the crimes you have committed against Alagaesia and her people. Come, and face your end, two leagues east of the cities walls at dawn tomorrow." My words spoke, and my challenge issued, I allowed the projection to fade. And then I took off for the set location.
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I found a large flat clearing, perfect for what I had planned. I formed a very recognizable hand sign.
"Ninja Art: Mass Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A massive cloud of smoke engulfed the clearing, dissipating quickly to reveal 1000 perfect copies of myself. And then with out needing a word spoken, the rushed off in all directions, going to complete their tasks. And then I pulled a massive paint brush and a load of ink from my inventory, and set to work.
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Just as the sun began to rise, I tossed the brush and empty barrels of ink back into my inventory, as I heard the telltale signs of a marching army lead my a dragon rider. Platemail clanging, chainmail rattling, horses whinnying, and men shouting. And above the din, you could hear the great thumping of the flight of a dragon. I turned to the west, and just on the horizon I could see them. A massive army, uncountable from this distance, but absolutely massive. And high above them, the black shape of a dragon. I allowed them to march closer for an hour, until they were no more than 300 yards out. As they came to a halt, I heard the voice of Galbatorix ring out.
"I was quite certain I had killed you, what with decapitating you and all, but apparently I was wrong. Thus, I decided to decline your challenge, and brought my army. Surely not even a shade could stand against an army 100,000 strong. And, as I am a gracious lord, I will allow you to surrender, and die painlessly and quickly, or refuse and die painfully and slowly. Your choice." The self righteous, smarmy, smug tone in his voice really pissed me off. And he must have used a spell to project his voice to me.
I used a voice projection spell of my own. "I am no shade Galbatorix, I house my spirits willingly, and with their permission. But that's not important. What is important, is that I am going to give your army till the count of three to lay down their arms, and retreat, or be killed."
I equipped Luna's silver pistol, and pointed it at the army arrayed against me. The safety clicked off, round already in the chamber.
"One…"
None made to retreat. I pulled down the hammer.
"Two…"
The barrel began to glow with a harsh silver light. Some men looked a little afraid, but still none retreated. I internally sighed sadly. 'I really hoped they'd run, I don't want to kill them, but it seems I must.'
"I am truly sorry it must happen this way. Three…" I squeezed the trigger, the hammer striking the firing pin with a heavy ping, and for a split second, nothing happened. It seemed as though the world stood still. The wind didn't blow. The birds didn't chirp. No one made a sound. As if the world waited in anticipation of what was to come.
"Klavier!"
A silver ball of light left the weapon, which then split into two, and then four, and then eight, and so on, until there was an uncountable number of the silver orbs crossing the no-man's land. And then halfway across the gap, the silver balls of light stopped for a split second, and then with a sound like shattering glass, they continued, and then slammed into the army. All was silent for a moment, until the first man hit the ground, dead, missing the back half of his skull. Then all hell broke loose. Men screamed out as their limbs were ripped from their bodies, horses were torn in half, entire platoons fell over, drained of all energy as magicians attempted to stop the tide of bullets. 5 seconds passed, and all was still. None of the army arrayed against me still stood.
"I told you all to retreat. The only person who had to die today was Galbatorix." I shook my head slightly, and offered a silent prayer for the families of the men I'd slaughtered. Then I looked to the sky, where Shruiken hovered. "I killed your army Galbatorix, now come and face like a man, you coward." I could almost feel the rage rolling off of the Mad King. Then I felt him use a spell, and a great bolt of energy leapt towards me. I formed a hand sign, and the lines of ink I'd painted around the clearing glowed faintly. Then I extended a hand, and batted the spell away.
"Is that all you can do? Well, now it's my turn." I flashed through a few hand signs.
"Wind style: Eye of the Storm!"
The dome of wind surrounded the clearing. I sped through a few more signs.
"Wind Style: Stagnant Winds!"
And then the large black dragon plummeted to the ground, landing with a loud thud. And then I dug deep into my magic, and shouted, "Bind that dragon to the ground!" Shruiken was instantly bound by invisible chains of magic.
"Now, it's just you and me Galbatorix! I'll give you a choice. I can go all out from the very beginning , or I can toy with you."
He looked at me like I was crazy for a second, then began to laugh. "You think that six months is enough time to get strong enough to defeat me after I cut off your head so easily the last time we fought? I'll admit the magic you pulled just then was powerful, but it probably took the entire time to figure that one out, and gather the energy to be able to use it in combat. You are a fool of you think a spell like that would scare me. Very well then, let's see the full extent your power!"
"Very well then, you asked for it!"
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POV Shift 3rd person
"Quincy: Volstandig!"
The man dressed in black was suddenly engulfed in a cloud of bright white flames, which disappeared to reveal four major changes. He was no longer wearing his coat, but was instead bare-chested. On his back were two massive wings that looked to be made of liquid fire that was as white as snow. On his left arm, covering from the hand to his elbow was an enormous silver cannon, decorated in crosses. And crisscrossing his body were veins of blue and red. Then in his right hand, and purple pistol appeared, which he then place against his temple.
"Hunt, Cazador del Sol!"
He pulled the trigger, and a flash of purple light briefly obscured him, which quickly cleared to leave a bone white mask, depicting a snarling dragon, covering his face.
Then a sword, a massive katana, with sapphire blue streaks scattered around the blade, appeared in his hand. He pointed it directly at the sky.
"Reign over the burning Heavens, Soar through smoke filled skies, and scorch the Earth to ash, Ryujin!" An immense amount of smoke and ash began to swirl around him, the ground beneath his feet splintering from force of
his power.
"Bankai! HAIKUMO RYUJIN!"
The smoke and ash cleared in an instant, leaving him holding a solid blue katana, with a chain attached to the but cap, and wrapped around his bare arm, where it disappeared under the ash grey sleeveless cloak he was now wearing. And his hair had grown to waist length.
Then the world gave a great heave, as if struggling to hold a great power, as he said, "Alright Alane, it's your turn." Instantly, ten ash grey fox tails sprouted from his tail bone, and a necklace with nine black magatama on it faded into existence. Then two tufts of hair came up and floated, giving the appearance of a pair of backwards curving horns four feet long, sprouting from his forehead.
"This is the full extent of the power I can bring to bear, at least without sinking this continent just by taking a step."
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POV shift John, 1st person
With a burst of speed, from sonido, shunpo, and hirenkyaku I appeared an arms length away from Galbatorix before he could do much as blink, let Haikumo Ryujin dangle from its chain, and slammed my open hand into the middle of his chest, and allowed a sealing jutsu to form.
"Contract Seal!"
This elicited a roar of pain from Shruiken, and launched Galbatorix across the clearing, and slammed directly into the only boulder anywhere in sight. Then hundreds of orbs of every size and color began to tumble out of a tiny rip in space.
'Ping!'
"Goddamnit……."
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I know I said I'd get to the next world this chapter, but a new plan have formed in my mind, and I am going to take this in a different direction, so I'm ending it here. Love you all, thanks for reading, PEACE!