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Disclaimer: I do not own Zatch Bell. If I did, then Pluto would somehow still be a planet, not a lousy dwarf planet.
"Fureido!"
Zalior heard the words from afar and was so shocked he couldn't move. A blast of fire hit him in the back, setting him aflame. Zalior dropped to the ground and rolled over, extinguishing the fire.
"Show yourself!"
A mamodo with beige cowboy-style clothing covering most of his body stepped forward.
"Firebrand, long time, no see. You're still wrapped up like a mummy in those clothes."
"Now, Zalior, you should know after all of this time that my clan does not reveal their true form to other mamodo unless it is a dire emergency."
"Scillor!"
Zalior formed a dark energy scythe in one hand and threw it at Firebrand.
"Gar Fureido!"
Firebrand put his fingers together in front of his face and a fireball was formed. Firebrand exhaled and the fireball turned into a huge, spinning blast of fire that broke through Zalior's spell.
"Scillor Shield!"
Zalior formed two dark energy scythes attached to each other by a chain and spun them, creating a spinning shield. The spinning blast of fire and the shield destroyed each other, but the remains of Firebrand's spell hit Zalior and Nita. The flames traveled down Nita's arms, so he threw the book backwards as hard as he could and dropped to the ground, rolling about and extinguishing the flames.
"No matter. If I do enough damage to you, your book will be automatically burned."
"Gigano Fureido!"
Firebrand put his hands apart from each other and formed a huge fireball that he threw at Zalior. The fireball became a huge blast of fire once he released it from his hands. The spell hit Zalior head-on. Zalior was severely burnt, but he kept a cool head, calmly patting down the parts of his clothing that were still on fire.
"Grant unto me the powers of the Reaper of Olde…"
"Ganzu Fureido!"
Firebrand held his hands out in front of him and fired out several fireballs at Zalior. Zalior was burnt heavily, but he did not bother to put out the flames that were burning his flesh off.
"… if only a fraction of its power falls unto me…"
"Fureido Buzudo!"
Firebrand formed a huge, spinning buzz saw made out of fire. Firebrand thrust his hand downwards and forwards and the disc flew at Zalior. Zalior casually sidestepped the fiery buzz saw, the heat and flames from it further scalding and burning his flesh.
"… then I will be…."
"Gigano Fureido!"
Firebrand moved the fiery buzz saw to hit Zalior's back and then fired out a huge blast of fire from his hands.
"…. eternally grateful."
Zalior glowed with a malevolent aura of black and dark purple and a scythe with a sharp blade and a handle made out of charred black wood appeared in his hands. Using his newfound strength, Zalior jumped high in the air and the spells collided, the fiery buzz saw cutting through the blast of fire.
"You want combat with weapons, then let's fight with weapons."
Firebrand pulled out a huge red sheath with two handles on it and yellow stripes zigzagged on it as a pattern. The fiery buzz saw came back to Firebrand and it settled into the site, turning into a dangerous fiery chainsaw blade. Firebrand swiped the fiery chainsaw sideways and Zalior swung his scythe towards the fiery chainsaw. Firebrand cut through Zalior's scythe with his fiery chainsaw, burning Zalior severely.
"Say goodbye, Zalior."
"Gur Spreid!"
A wave of metallic powder hit Firebrand, and when he hit it with the fiery chainsaw, it exploded with a tremendous force. Zalior looked behind him and saw a mamodo with long green hair and dark yellow eyes.
"Polvora, why did you help me?"
"Ryu was one of my sparring partners in the mamodo world. He always was a dreamer, but his misguided sense of justice would make him a terrible king. I aim to stop Ryu at any cost. You remember Firebrand, right? Well, he's Ryu's third-in-command."
"Third-in-command? We were rivals in the mamodo world. His power is comparable to mine, even with my mamodo ability. How powerful is his lieutenant?"
"I wouldn't know. His lieutenant never leaves his base. Ryu's lieutenant himself is none of my concern. I want to take down Ryu himself."
"That's a tall order. Ryu is too powerful for you."
"Ganzu Guposu!"
Polvora formed several small metal balls from powder that flew at Firebrand. The balls hit with the intensity of bullets, but they bounced off of Firebrand's skin. The powder clung to Firebrand's clothes.
"Fureidoruk!"
Firebrand became covered in fire. The fire hit the powder on his clothes and exploded.
"Give up. My spells counter your spells perfectly."
Firebrand reached behind him and pulled out a huge poleax.
"Gigano Guposu!"
Several huge metal balls made of powder hit Firebrand from multiple directions. Firebrand was hit extremely hard and was covered head to toe in the powder, but he did not waver. He simply shook off the powder and ran towards Polvora, raising his poleax as he did so.
"Ganjas Guposu!"
Many piles of metallic powder burst out from the ground. The powder attached to Firebrand and solidified into a solid metal ball, trapping Firebrand. Firebrand cut through the metal ball recklessly with his poleax, but the sharp weapon did not even graze his skin. Firebrand threw both metal halves at Polvora.
"Fureido!"
A blast of fire came out of Firebrand's hands. Polvora moved his hands swiftly and the incoming halves of the metal ball turned back into powder, moving in front of Firebrand's hands just as the blast of fire left his hands. There was a huge explosion. When the explosion subsided, Firebrand's glove was the only thing damaged, having been blown to pieces in the explosion. Firebrand put his gloveless hand in his pocket before Zalior or Polvora could see what it looked like.
"Scillor!"
Zalior pulled out a dark energy scythe from his cloak and looked back at Nita, who had used Polvora's arrival as a distraction to run back and get the book. Zalior threw the dark energy scythe at Firebrand, which cut through the clothing covering most of his face. Firebrand turned around hastily and ran to his bookkeeper, covering his face with his hands as he did so. Firebrand's bookkeeper pulled out a remote from his pocket and pushed a button on it. A giant serpentine dragon with glowing red eyes emerged from the ground.
"Firebrand, you may be powerful, but your greatest weakness is your true strength. When I become king, I'll change the rules of your clan so you won't have to go around like a mummy wrapped up in excessive clothing. Oh, Zalior and Polvora. Zalior, you couldn't even challenge Furda. Well, I suppose that a mamodo powerful enough to match my third-in-command could become more powerful, and that's too much to risk. Polvora, you could never defeat me when you sparred, so trying to take me down in a head-on fight is foolish. You probably couldn't even take down my lieutenant."
With a bellowing and frightful laugh, the dragon descended back into the ground, taking Firebrand and his bookkeeper with it.
Io, Kirk, Cj, and Vincent were walking the streets when they saw what appeared to be a twenty-one year-old woman carrying a seven year-old running down the street shivering. Io caught a glimpse of a strange book that the girl was carrying and used his wind powers to catch up to her. Io stood in front of her with his hands outstretched.
"Not so fast!"
"Please don't hurt us. Two mamodo ganged up on us. They were too powerful for us, so we had to run away."
"If you don't mean any harm, then you can help us win."
"Good idea. By the way, why is your mamodo carrying your spellbook?"
"No, that's my bookkeeper."
"Aren't you a little old to be in the mamodo battle."
"My special mamodo ability allows me to appear as if I'm this old."
"Why are we sitting here having idle chit-chat?"
Io, Cj, the newly arrived mamodo, and their bookkeepers ran around the corner where they saw the streets and buildings heavily coated with ice. They saw Sahro Kalt and a red-haired mamodo with black rings around his eyes that they had never seen before. The red-haired, black-eyed mamodo was twirling what appeared to be a thick toothpick made out of bone through his fingers, and Sahro Kalt was leaning against a building.
"Ryu gave me another chance to take you out."
Sahro Kalt bared a ghastly smile with his deadly metal teeth.
"And this time, I've brought a friend."
- - - - End of Chapter. - - - -
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- Iostorm.
