Chapter 23: Ashton & Tessa vs the Deadly Twins
A/N: Hey, hey, hey! I'm back! We've just reached the milestone of this arc, people! Within a few more chapters, we'll be out of this arc and into the next, the S-rank arc! But of course, there will be filler chapters before the next arc. Anyway, enjoy! Also, has anyone else watch the Overlord anime and thought of a crossover between it and Fairy Tail? It just gives me the chills...
Disclaimer: I do not Fairy Tail but I do own my OC.
Warning: This chapter contains a two-on-two battle, a raging Assassin, and a crow...you have been warned...have fun reading!
Normal Speech: "Talking..."
Thoughts: "Thinking..."
Magic Spells/Chants: "Spell/Chant..."
Demon/Kaito's ancestors' Speech: "Talking..."
Magic's Ghost's/Possession Speech: "Talking..."
Response to reviewer:
Guest of Hatred: I guess so. Tell me, what do you hate about this story anyway? I can agree with a few spelling errors which I keep forgetting to fix, though.
Monalisa: Sorry for that cliffhanger, dear reader. I had only just been busy catching up with my other stories and of course a rewrite of one of my stories as well. Besides that, I still had to finish school, which has ended. Hope you can understand.
"Hurry!" Tessa cried as she emerged from the ground, just outside of the gates.
"I'm trying! I can't just turn myself into a shadow and just slither my way here, can I?" Ashton retorted as the two mages regrouped.
Tessa ignored the Mind Dragon Slayer as she turned back towards the village. "We'll have to begin plan B. Cast the illusion, Ashton. We'll be a step ahead of those Assassins once it's up and going."
"Right," Ashton replied as he closed his eyes. His Magic Seal soon appeared in front of him as he breathed in. "Mind Dragon's Illusion!" The Seal widened instantly as a pulse erupted from it and phased through the entire village. Ashton opened his eyes and smiled. "From here on out, we're practically invisible to them."
"But not from us!"
The two mages turned around, but just in time to avoid having their heads chopped off by an axe. Tessa span around and spread her legs as she slid across the slippery ground when she landed. The Shadow Magic user narrowed her eyes at two figures who had revealed themselves standing not far from them. "Who are you?!"
Snickering, the two figures stepped into the light, revealing themselves to be the Deadly Twins in their green and white trench coats. The green Assassin cracked his knuckles as he spoke. "We're the ones who you two will see before you leave for the afterlife, mages."
"We're the Deadly Twins, the most feared duo among the Assassins of Fiore!" The white Assassin finished.
Ashton snorted as he dusted himself and walked over to Tessa. "Looks like we got ourselves a pair of arrogant ones. Shall we teach them a lesson on underestimating mages?"
"Agreed," Tessa nodded as she places her hand on the ground. "Knuckle Shadow!" As multiple fists shot out from her shadow, the green Assassin ran towards them. Without any hesitation, the green Assassin jumped, landing a foot on one of the fists before hopping onto the next and repeating it until he had reached the final one at the back. The green Assassin leapt off and outstretched his fist as he dove down towards the mages.
Fortunately, Tessa and Ashton had backed away before the green Assassin could have hit them.
As the green Assassin stood back up, he grabbed the axe and tossed it back to the white Assassin before turning back to the two mages. "You'll suffer more than you are bargaining, mages. We don't show mercy even to kids who have Magic." He reached for his trench coat and pulled out a pair of daggers before proceeding to lick the sharp edge of one of the daggers. "I wonder how your blood will taste like on this dagger. Shall we find out?"
Tessa sneered at the Assassin. "You're sick!"
"I'll take that as a compliment, little girl," replied the green Assassin with a smile as he flipped his daggers around. "Now come. Show me the strength the amount of power you have!"
Tessa complied, as absent-minded as she could, which surprised Ashton. She lunged forward and raised her fist as she neared him. The green Assassin smirked, knowing that he had lured her in as he backed away from the attacking mage. Tessa swung her fists at him but she hardly landed a blow on the man. Then, the Assassin sidestepped her, causing her to lose her balance and stumble forward, where the white Assassin was waiting with his axe raised up.
An inaudible gasp escaped Tessa's mouth as she fell on her face. Tessa quickly turned and was prepared to roll over and avoid her fate but soon realized that the Assassin was no longer there.
"Oi! Tessa!" Ashton called out as he grabbed the axe's hilt. "Stay focus! Don't get too easily distracted by these pushovers! Just do what you do best!" With all his might, Ashton elbowed the white Assassin in his chest, causing him to stumble back. Ashton backed away as well and he quickly prepares his next spell. "Mind Dragon's Wing Attack!"
Two Magic Seals formed on his hands as he swung his arms, releasing a pair of silver aura streams which soon morphed into streams of fire that then crossed, forming an "X".
"That won't stop me!" The white Assassin cried as he swung his axe, slicing the fire streams into two, which flew past his body and destroyed the ground on both of his sides. The white Assassin grinned. "For an illusion, that was pretty realistic."
"And here's another one for you!" Ashton replied. "Mind Dragon's Illusion Fist!" Balling his hands into fists, Ashton lunged forward as a Magic Seal appeared in front of his fist which soon morphed his fist into that of a Vulcan. With no time to retaliate, the white Assassin took the attack head on, sending him crashing against a nearby tree and destroying it.
Ashton grinned and turned back to Tessa, giving her a thumbs up. Tessa smiled back as she turned towards the green Assassin, who was already making his way towards her with a lunatic grin on his face. Tessa took a step back as she observed the Assassin's movements. She smirked instantly as she watched the Assassin approached her. "I saw your pattern..." The Assassin lunged forward with his dagger aimed at her. Tessa slightly tilted her body, dodging the Assassin's attack as she fell on her back.
However, instead of an expected thud, her body phased through the ground, forming a shadow which slithered forward with incredible speed.
"Shadow Orochi!" As soon as Tessa called out the spell, a Magic Seal formed on her shadow, forming multiple snakes which lunged at the green Assassin at the same time.
"What?!" Cried out the Assassin as he dodged the shadow snakes, only to find out that they had turned around to strike him again. "What the hell is wrong with these snakes?!"
Tessa grinned as she emerged from the ground. "Shadow Orochi is a spell which creates snakes from shadows. The snakes will chase their target until they have eliminate it. In this case, you are it. No matter how agile or how fast you are, these snakes will chase you and hunt you down until you are gone from the face of this world."
The green Assassin scoffed as he slashed through one of the shadow snakes. "Then I'll just have to kill them first!" Another snake pounced on him, only for it to meet the tip of his dagger. With over a dozen more left, the Assassin flipped his daggers around as he span, slashing through the necks of three shadow snakes. As he stopped, he flung one of the dagger towards Tessa.
Unfortunately for him, Tessa was prepared for it. "Guard Shadow!" Her shadow expanded in size as she crossed her arms. Then, a dome emerged from her shadow, stopping the dagger in place as it slightly pierced through the dome. Tessa chuckled as she grabbed the dagger's blade while the dome faded away. "You can't touch me, Assassin. Not since I'm a Shadow Mage."
"Yes, but you're vulnerable when you're NOT a shadow," replied the green Assassin.
Tessa's eyes widened in shock when she heard that. The Assassin sounded as if he was close by. She didn't hesitate and turned around, only to find that the Assassin had his second dagger against her neck. His eyes filled with blood lust and his lips curled into a maniacal smile as he gently pressed the blade against her throat, letting a small drop of blood coat the blade.
"Tessa!" Ashton cried out as he attempted to run over to them. However, his path was blocked when an axe was dropped in front of him. Ashton turned his head, finding out that the white Assassin had gotten back up again and his white trench coat was dirtied by dirt and blood.
"You're not going anywhere until I'm done with you!" Called out the white Assassin as he cracked his knuckles.
Ashton gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath. "You're gonna have to handle that Assassin on you're on, Tessa..." Ashton ran his hand over his mix-colored hair as he took in a deep breath. "Alright then, come at me!"
Kaito crashed against the wall again as he held back his cries of pain. He looked up at Vlad with hatred in his eye as he struggled to get back up on his feet.
"You may have destroyed the Lacrima, Kaito Murai," Vlad scowled. "But I will get rid of you before you have the chance to regain your strength!" With a clenched fist, Vlad thrust it forward, aiming for the Masked Fairy's half-scorched face.
With all the remaining energy left in him, Kaito forced his arms up once more, receiving the punch head on as he crashed against the wall again. This time, after receiving many hits on the same spot, the wall had collapsed on gave way for Kaito as he was sent flying out of the room and into the open area of the village, where the guards that were present all stared in shock at the sudden appearance of the Masked Fairy.
As Vlad stepped out into the open, he glared at the guards and began barking out orders. "Don't just stand there, you idiots! Surround him and make sure you pin him down. We can't afford to let him use his "curse"!"
The twenty guards scrambled into action at the voice of the Chief and most of them had formed a circle around Kaito while the few brave ones dared to approach him to hold him down. Kaito struggled but in his current state, he didn't have the strength to carry on and break free. But he was still feeling it, the fear of the guards. He was still able to feel their emotions. "Emotions aren't going to be of much help to me..." Kaito thought as the guards pressed their body weight harder on him.
Vlad picked up Ashton's necklace from the ground and wrapped it around his wrist as he whistled. Then, the blue robed Assassin from before leapt down from above them and knelt beside the Chief. "Get me his chains. I'm going to make him suffer for breaking an expensive Lacrima." The Assassin nodded obediently as he got back up and ran off towards the direction of Vlad's house.
Chief Vlad then turned to one of the guard and gestured him to come forward, which the guard did. Vlad reached out towards the guard's waist and grabbed his whip. Vlad unwind the whip and grinned as the torture weapon reached its full length. With a crack of it, Vlad smiled. "Let's see how much you can handle before you die."
Kaito stared at the whip with fear in his eye as he was lifted up and forced to his knees. Vlad approached him and raised the whip as his smile remained on his face. Then, he cracked the whip, inflicting pain onto the Masked Fairy's clothes, forming a tear on it while Kaito desperately held back his scream.
The green Assassin stretched out his hand and grabbed his dagger back from Tessa as he stared at her. "You know, I've come across many Mages before. All of them weren't as skillful as I would have expected. But you, for a girl, you almost met my expectation."
Tessa glared at him. It was unfortunate that she was in this kind of situation. She was at a disadvantage and had no way to cast a spell with a dagger at her throat. Even Ashton couldn't help her with that brute of an Assassin keeping him busy. How was she going to get out of this mess?
"So, be a good girl and die, won't you? After I have my fun with you fist, of course," the green Assassin smirked, licking his lips.
She gave him a look of disgust. But what else could she do? The Assassin in front of her had no opening, which was surprising. If only she knew of something that would have helped her, she would have gotten out of this situation by now.
"Oh look, there's the symbol of death," the green Assassin said, looking up at the tree above them. Tessa looked up as well, seeing the same thing the Assassin was. "Who knew that a crow would show up when I'm about to kill you? Must be my lucky..."
Tessa had found what she had been waiting for, an opening. With the green Assassin distracted by the convenient appearance of a crow, which ironically, had saved her neck, literally. Tessa lowered her body, moving her head away from the dagger near her as she swiped her leg under the Assassin, causing him to fall on his back while Tessa leapt back to create some distance between them.
"Knuckle Shadow!"
As fists emerged from her shadow, they all flung towards the Assassin, who had barely just escaped the attack in time. The green Assassin scoffed. "That was a dirty trick...I like it." The Assassin twirled his daggers around and raised them up to his face. "Now things are heating up!" With that said, he charged forward at Tessa.
Meanwhile, Ashton was in the middle of his own battle when he caught a glimpse of the fight Tessa was in. He smiled to himself. "Good work, Tessa. Now it's my turn." As the white Assassin raised his axe, Ashton created a Magic Seal in front of him as he inhaled the air. "Mind Dragon's Illusion Roar!" As he breathed out, the Magic Seal glowed as a stream of silver aura which transformed into a stream of acid.
Seeing this, the white Assassin swung his axe downwards, slicing through the illusion in half, giving Ashton the opportunity he was looking for as he leapt up with his arm winded back. "Mind Dragon's Illusion Fist!" The same silver aura emitted from his fist as a Magic Seal formed in front of him. As he came nearer to the Assassin, Ashton thrust his fist forward, causing his fist to transform into an illusion of a Gorian's fist.
The white Assassin blinked in surprise as he leapt back, avoiding the attack as Ashton crashed into the ground which also created a small dust cloud around him.
Tessa grunted as the green Assassin swiped at her side, causing a small cut to form on her hip. "Shadow Double!" With the spell called out, Tessa stopped dead in her tracks as she and her shadow separate from each other, surprising the Assassin as the shadow began forming a duplicate of Tessa. As soon as the shadow had formed a mirror image of the Shadow Mage, both of them rushed forward at the Assassin.
"Damn it..." cursed the Assassin as his eyes darted in between the Shadow Mage and her shadow double. With his daggers in his grip, he swung them as soon as the two neared him. However, his dagger has merely grazed the real Tessa's cheek while the shadow double ignored the attack as the dagger phased through it. Tessa twisted her body and swung her foot around, executing a close range roundhouse kick while her double thrust its fist at him.
Out of instinct, the Assassin attacked the double. However, that costed him his jaw. As his daggers phased through the shadow double, the double also phased through him, meaning that both attacks had no effect on the other. But there was still the real Tessa, who successfully executed her roundhouse kick. As her foot connected with the Assassin, his hat was knocked off his head as his felt and heard his jaw cracked while he was sent sliding across the ground.
"Nii-san!" The White Assassin called out as he tried to make his way over to his fallen brother. However, his path was blocked by Ashton as he swung his Gorian fist at the Assassin.
With a smirk, Ashton shook his head. "I quote you on this, "you're not going anywhere until I'm done with you"."
The white Assassin gritted his teeth as he swung his axe at Ashton.
"Mind Dragon's Wing Attack!" Ashton's Gorian fist vanished, reverting back into his own hand as two streams of silver aura emitted from his arms, which soon transformed into a stream of rocks, causing the white Assassin to stumble back as his axe fell out of his grip. Once the illusion had vanish, Ashton lunged forward, determined to end his battle at once as he outstretched his fist.
The white Assassin scoffed and grabbed the Mind Dragon Slayer's hand, swinging the boy around before tossing him away. "I don't have anymore time to deal with you, weakling." Grabbing his axe, he rushed over to his fallen brother once more. As he reached the green Assassin, he raised his brother's head up and wiped away the blood on his lip. "Nii-san..."
Reaching for his trench coat, the green Assassin pulled out a metal gauntlet where the fingers were replaced by claws. The white Assassin grabbed it and turned to his brother, who was beginning to lose conscious. Before long, the green Assassin collapsed, his arm falling onto the ground lifelessly. The white Assassin closed his eyes, holding back his tears as he dropped the axe in his hand. He placed the metal gauntlet onto his hand, watching the claws shine as he turned to the two Mages while picking up his axe.
"Tessa," Ashton spoke. "Get ready to expect some troublesome attacks. I've heard that Assassins are dangerous when they are in a rage."
"I thought they're dangerous when they're doing stealth missions?"
Ashton nodded. "That too."
The Assassin raised his axe and flung it at the two Mages, which Tessa retaliated by casting a spell. "Guard Shadow!" Once the spell was cast, the shadow dome formed around the two Mages as the axe pierced through the dome but remained stuck on it. As soon as the dome faded, the axe dropped onto the ground and the Assassin pounced on them with his metal claws ready to strike them.
"Shadow Mode!"
"Mind Dragon's Illusion Fist!"
A Magic Seal formed underneath the Shadow Mage, causing her to phased through the ground and turn into a shadow as she slithered away from the attack while the Mind Dragon Slayer thrust his fist forward, this time, his fist had grew in size, as if he was using Titan Magic. However, the Assassin had already figured it out. As soon as Ashton's fist and his metal claws struck, the Assassin grabbed onto his hand and electrified his claws, causing pain to fill Ashton's body as he screamed.
"Ashton!" Tessa cried as she emerged from the ground with her fist outstretched. "Shadow Fist!" This time, her shadow had grew upwards onto her body, making its way to her fist before growing into a giant fist.
The Assassin scoffed and pulled Ashton towards him, using him as his human shield. This surprised the Shadow Mage, but she was too late to pull away from her attack and her fist crashed into the Mind Dragon Slayer, sending him sprawling across the ground. Tessa froze in fear. She had just hit her friend, she had never expected that to happen at all. But it did.
"I told you this already. You are just weaklings!" The Assassin cried as he slashed his metal claws at Tessa, who had raised her arms in defense, only to suffer pain she had never felt before as the claws tore through her flesh while she fell on her back.
Tessa cried out in pain as she held her arms close to her. Then, she caught sight of the crow, still perched on the same tree, staring at her. The crow tilted its head for a moment before it squawked, flapping its wings and taking off. Before she knew it, the crow dove down towards the Assassin with its talons raised. The crow struck the Assassin on his neck before flying around back towards the sky as he yelped in pain.
"That damn bird..." grumbled the Assassin as he clutched the back of his neck.
What he had not expected was that Ashton had gotten up again and had crashed his knee against the Assassin's face, knocking the stealth killer onto the ground. Ashton grinned. "Gotta thank the bird for the distraction."
The crow perched itself on the same tree again and blinked, squawking at the two Mages.
"Let's end this once and for all," Ashton said, earning a nod from Tessa.
"Mind Dragon's Illusion Roar!"
"Knuckle Shadow!"
As the Assassin was getting back up, he was immediately bombarded by the attacks of the Mages. Ashton's stream of silver aura had changed into a stream of fire while Tessa's shadow released a barrage of fists, both spells doing a ton of damage to the Assassin as he collapsed on his back, dropping the metal gauntlet as smoke rose from his bruised body.
Tessa sighed in relief as she fell to her knees. "I thought we would never win..."
The Mind Dragon Slayer nodded. "But this only means that we'll have to improve on our skills once Chief Vlad is gone."
"You're right," Tessa replied. "We couldn't even handle him."
"But what about the green one? Did you just...you know? Kill him?" Ashton asked.
Tessa shrugged. "What? I just knocked him out. No one dies from a broken jaw, idiot."
Ashton sweat dropped. "Uh...yeah. I just forgotten."
A smile formed on the Shadow Mage. "Well, Dorian won't mind if we took a few minutes to rest, right?"
While the two were conversing which each other, the crow leapt off the tree it was perched on and flapped its wings, taking off towards the direction of the village.
A/N: Well, the long delay for this was...horrifying for me since I had nearly forgotten about it. But here it is, readers! Next chapter shall begin the battle between Kaito and Vlad. Hopefully, I can extend it to at least two chapters since my and fight scenes don't mix well together. Just look at Kaito's battle with Laxus that I did. It was shorter than most fight scenes that other writers do! Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this. Of course I would appreciate the help if anyone finds a spelling error or any kind of error in any chapters since I keep forgetting.
Magic used:
Mind Dragon's Illusion: The user creates a Magic Seal which erupts a pulse that will travel a certain distance which will affect those caught in the pulse with the illusion cast by the user.
Knuckle Shadow: The user shapes their shadow into a fist to punch the opponent upwards. Multiple fists can also be created as well.
Mind Dragon's Wing Attack: The user outstretches both of their arms and creates two Magic Seals which generates two streams of colored aura, depending on the user. When the user swings their arms, the streams will cross paths to form an "X" before it heads towards the target. With enough Magic Power, the user can perfect this spell by manipulating the target's mind into thinking that the aura was something dangerous.
Mind Dragon's Illusion Fist: The user emits an aura, depending on the user, on their fists. With enough Magic Power, they can manipulate the target's mind into thinking that the user's fist is something else.
Shadow Orochi: The user shapes their shadow into multiple snakes to attack and bite their opponent.
Guard Shadow: The user uses their shadow to create a shadow dome that protects them from incoming attacks.
Mind Dragon's Illusion Roar: The user inhales a deep breath of air while a Magic Seal appears in front of them. Then, the user breathes out, releasing a stream of colored aura, depending on the user. With enough Magic Power, they can manipulate the target's mind into thinking that the user's attack is something else.
Shadow Double: The user creates a duplicate of themselves using their own shadow, which can move on its own and is perfect for distractions as the double cannot be hit and it cannot hit anything as well.
Shadow Mode: The user transforms their body into a shadow, granting them the ability to move around surfaces. The user can transition in and out of this form as they please
Shadow Fist: The user, instead of summoning multiple fists, uses their own fist, which is strengthened by their shadow that grows into an enlarged version of their fist.