"Mandy you have the list of their fighters right?" I asked as we headed to Tear Forest. "Here you go." Mandy said giving it to me.
Team Descent
No.9
Travis: Knight
Meg: Mage
Stacy: Mage
Jade: Ninja
Arnold: Warrior (Axe)
Troy: Gunslinger
Steve: Martial Artist
Becky: Archer
Lori: Brawler (Spear)
"They don't have a healer. That'll be an advantage for us." Yuki said.
"Gunny, what do you think?" I asked.
"It's obvious that this is team more focused on pure power rather than strategy. If we stick to our formations and have Heart heal, we should be alright." Gunny said.
I nodded. "Sounds good to me. Okay, we'll start out with out Tri Star Formation and with Emily, Amy and Heart buffing the rest of us. Then, I'll switch to Paladin, and my sibs can multiclass as well. We'll switch to the Trident formation and hopefully overpower them." I said.
"Yes, oh fearless leader." Yuki said wryly.
We all walked into the massive forest. The trees were so big that it made the forest eternally night.
"Damn it, why the hell do we always have to go in creepy forests?" Isa asked no one in particular.
A thick fog rolled in. It was so bad that I couldn't see anything.
"Guys?" I asked.
I couldn't hear anyone reply. This isn't normal. I tried going back the way we came but I couldn't find a way out or anyone.
"I'm lost. This is so not good." I said.
The Descent must be trying to separate us. There goes our formation plans.
"Hello?" Amy asked.
Emily and her were trying to find us but were having no luck.
"You can feel it right? This isn't any normal fog. It's magic made." Emily said.
They want us divided so they can pick us off Amy thought.
"Emily, do you think you could cast a spell? Maybe the light will lead the gang here." Amy said.
Emily nodded. Shooting Star! Emily said raising her staff in the air.
The bright yellow spell exploded in the air lighting up the area.
"Looks like you girls are lost." A red haired girl said to them. A girl with green hair was standing next to her.
"I'm guessing you two are Meg and Stacy. The Fire and Wind mages of Descent." Emily said.
"That's right. Now, fair warning. Leave now or we'll kill you." Meg said with a wicked grin.
"Aw, I thought we could kill them." Stacy said pouting.
"Here's your warning. You two have bothered the people of Alwen for too long. You are coming with us either quietly or by force." Amy said intensely.
"That's a pretty spot on impression of your brother." Emily said impressed. Amy smiled.
"Thanks, I've been practicing." Amy said proudly.
"You two are outsiders so I'll show you two why we're the two most feared mages in the Netherworld." Meg said.
The both of them aimed two spells at Amy and Emily. They blocked with their staves but they broke.
"So you can cast spells without staves huh? Pretty impressive." Emily said.
"Now, you'll see why we're the most powerful mages in the Netherworld." Amy said.
Giga Star! Giga Ice! They said aiming the spells at Meg and Stacy. They managed to leap away but looked shocked.
"You can cast without staves too huh? This will be a lot more fun then." Meg said.
Ian was wondering around in the forest trying to find someone. It was almost lunch time and he wanted some of the food Amy always carries for him.
"A child? What are doing here?" A man asked Ian.
"I'm looking for my big sister. Do you know where she is?" Ian asked.
"She's probably being killed right now. It's alright little man. I'm looking for the martial artist in your team. Do you know where he or she is?" The man asked.
"Why is Amy getting killed? She's a good guy." Ian said wide eyed.
"She has decided to trespass on our property. Now, tell me. Who is the martial artist in your group?" The man asked again.
Ian looked blankly at him. "The one who punches and kicks." The man said.
"Oh, that's me." Ian said.
The man laughed. "They send a child to fight me, Steven the Netherworld's most powerful martial artist?" He said.
It then dawned on Ian. "Hey, you're the guy Nick told me to beat up. He said you're a bad guy." Ian said pointing a finger at Steve.
Steve went into a fighting stance. "Go ahead little man, try it. You know what. I'll even give you a free shot." Steve said pointing to his gut.
Ian's eyes flashed red. With incredible speed, Ian rushed at Steve and delivered a blindly fast right hook at his stomach. Steve was caught off guard and was sent flying backwards. He managed to skid to a stop.
"It seems you're a lot stronger than I anticipated boy." Steve said seriously. Ian went into his fighting stance and signaled for him to come on.
Mandy was wandering around trying to find us but gave up. This fog is clearly magical Mandy thought. Suddenly, Mandy got a chill. She moved her head to the side narrowly dodging an arrow that stuck itself in the tree behind her.
"You're Becky. Descent's archer." Mandy said.
Becky didn't answer but launched three arrows at her in rapid succession. Mandy was quickly able to dodge the arrows with a sideways flip. She landed, crouched and readied her bow. Becky disappeared. Damn it, my eagle eye may be able to see things much clearer than other people but I still have no clue where she went Mandy thought. A arrow whizzed by her ear. Mandy leaped quickly to the side as a large group of arrows hit where she was standing a second ago. Mandy held her bow and looked around her not seeing anything. Another arrow whizzed by which Mandy again dodged. I can't keep this up, I have to attack but where is she? Mandy thought.
Amy and Emily were trading spell blasts with Meg and Stacy.
Giga Wind! Amy said launching the wind attack at them.
They both dodged and launched two fireballs at Emily and Yan.
Giga Star! Emily said blasting the attacks away.
"We can't keep this up. We're just going to run out of mana." Amy said.
"So do you have a better idea?" Emily asked.
"Well, I'm thinking." Amy said.
Flaming Destruction! Meg said attacking with a large fire beam.
Giga Shield! Amy said stopping the blast but the resulting explosion knocked them back.
They slid backwards. Shooting Star! Emily said launching the large star ball at Meg and Stacy.
They both moved out of the way.
"You girls are way too slow." Meg said grinning evilly.
"Let's try that move." Amy said to Emily.
"You sure, we only practiced it like twice." Emily said.
"You got a better idea? I'll use the move, and you hit 'em with your ace." Amy said.
Emily sighed but grinned. "Alright, let's do it." Emily said.
Meg and Stacy looked on in fascination and confusion. Amy gathered up her energy and created a small wind based ball in her hand. Emily did the same only with a star based ball. Emily handed her ball to Amy. Amy pushed the two balls together and forced her hands downwards. The two balls sparked together to create a ball of energy that was sparking lightning everywhere. Without a moment to waste, Amy rushed forwards and pushed the ball into Meg.
"Lightning Blade!" She said as the attack hit Meg.
She slumped over and fell to the ground. Stacy was still looking at Amy in shock so when she turned to Emily, it was too late. Emily was pointing her finger at Stacy like a gun.
Railgun! Emily said as a narrow yellow beam shot out of her finger and hit Stacy.
The attack knocked Stacy into the air and she fell to the ground.
"We did it!" Amy and Emily said jumping into the air and giving each other a high five.
"That Lightening Blade attack is pretty damn powerful, who taught it to you?" Emily asked.
"Kakashi Sensei." Amy said simply. "Riiiight," Emily said.
Ian leaped out of the way of Steven's punch which created a dent in the ground. They began trading blows at speeds which would make even Goku jealous. They leaped backwards.
"I'll admit it. You've got skills kid. It's too bad I have to kill you. You would have made a great student." Steve said.
"You're not going to kill me. The good guys always win." Ian said. Steven leaped at him.
Lion's Roar! He said punching the ground creating a massive earthquake.
Ian jumped into the air. He pulled his hands back and concentrated his mana.
Distant Devastation! Ian said creating a beam of pure energy and sending it straight at Steven. Steven barely managed to dodge the beam which caused a massive explosion on impact.
"Where the hell do you learn a move like that?" Steven asked in shock.
"I made it up. I wanted to call it Big Blow Up! but Nick told me to call it that." Ian said with a shrug.
"What in the Netherworld are you?" Steven asked. "I'm Ian. So are we still going to fight or what?" Ian asked. Steven turned to run.
"Wait, Ismail said we have to catch you guys!" Ian said chasing the man.
"Leave me alone you freak!" Steven shouted. Ian's eyes flashed red.
"I'M NOT A FREAK! HEART SAYS I'M SPEICAL!" Ian shouted pulling his hands back.
Big Bang! Ian said launching the massive ball of energy at Steven which blasted him unconscious.
"Nick's not changing the name of this move." Ian said proudly.
Mandy was just trying hard dodging the arrows that Becky was launching at her. Mandy leaped behind a tree which ended up with ten arrows stuck in it. She should have run out of mana by now Mandy thought. I have to figure out where she is and then I might be able to do something. Then something hit her. Mandy rushed out from behind the tree but ended up with an arrow in her head. Becky leaped down from the tree.
"Pity, I was having fun." She said. Then Mandy's body just vanished.
"What?" Becky asked in surprised. She whirled around only to face Mandy.
Dark Flash! Mandy said launching the arrow. Becky tried to get away but the poison arrow still hit her.
"I guess you weren't expecting me to know Delta Spilt." Mandy said.
"How can you have such control over you copies? It's unheard of. Wait, Delta Split makes two copies." Becky said in realization.
"That it does." Mandy said vanishing. Becky turned around to the real Mandy who was charging an arrow filled with white light.
Artemis's Arrow! Mandy said launching the powerful attack. Becky couldn't move she was stuck.
The arrow blasted her unconscious. Mandy gave a sigh of relief. These guys are pretty tough but they sure as hell aren't tough enough to stop us. Good luck guys, you're going to need it.
Amy, Emily, Mandy and Ian emerge victorious from their battles but the clash has just begun. Will the other members of Valiant be able to deal with the remaining 5 Descent members? Find out in the next part of The Dark Descent!