Power of the Mind

by Kurush Wuzurg

On his side: A dangerous alliance. Items that hold much mystery. Whilst the world is brought slowly to the brink of war...He gets hooked up? On her side: Stuck on a different world, with few friends and a new master. And a prophecy is being unraveled...

36. Negi vs the Spartan

A/N: By the time you read this, I'm way past my 20th birthday. I hope my fingers will aid me in the future, after this chapter. Now, Onwards! May the constitution of the upper limbs' distinctive mini-arms surpass that of this probably very long chapter! Gods watch over us all, and I don't give a **** about which God I'm invoking, just whoever bothers to listen!

A massive shock blast slammed away a large amount of snow, due to the impact blow between the two combatants. The smaller of the two spinned around on the momentum of his opponent, sliding alongside the out-stretched arm, to try an elbow attack on the larger one's temple. The impact slammed his opponent away, yet failed to knock him out fully. The slightly taller of the two got his footing back and charged with a shundou right at the smaller, capturing them both in a collision of blows against one another, blocking each other and not gaining a hit on the opposition. The smaller saw a hole in the attack barrage and used that to jump over the taller one, and then going for a knee strike right to the back of the head. That didn't work. His opponent saw through the attack and simply knelt down to have the smaller miss completely, and then using the momentum of his legs bent, to use the legs as a spring and slam himself into his small opponent and then force him down to the snow covered rock ground and then bombard him with punches whilst he was lying down.

Negi wouldn't have that, and he slided away, before his opposition could start the barrage, and used his initiative to fire a Lightning arrow combined out of three right into the commander's face. Not that it would stun him for long, but it did the young magi time to prepare a higher level spell, namely the White Lightning spell. Unfortunately, that wouldn't fit well with his opponent as a major amount of air pressure, slammed Negi away against a mountain wall.

But the young mage wouldn't stop this battle there. He gained his standing back before his opponent got to him and jumped up the tall mountain wall, rushing himself upwards with the slightly taller one following him closely behind. Oh, the young mage wouldn't have him following though, as several arrows made short work of that small effort.

Okay, I'm in such huge amount of trouble here, now! Negi thought as he managed to get to the top of the big mountain wall in the Himalaya section of the resort, and he continued to run as his opposition got up there as well, preparing to fire scores of energy blasts. Fortunately the young mage was fast enough even without his boostup to dodge and block all those that came too close towards him. I knew that we would come to blows any day, but now I really regret that it happened now...

"You need to mind your surroundings, Negi." His opponent's voice came from behind and the young mage snapped into action, deflecting the first blow and trying to get in a Raikahouken blow against him, but that was blocked and Negi was sent away by a kick that came from nowhere right to his shoulder, with enough force to slam him away and slide against the ground. "...Seriously, this feels almost ridiculous in doing. We're fighting each other over an argument that could be settled nice and easy. Can't you just let this one slip by?" Aristodemus asked the young mage as he was getting up on his feet. Negi rushed straight at him, fists clenched. "...Guess not..." The Spartan said before it was his turn to get thrashed.

The young redhead mage slammed the Spartan down to the ground first, using his knee to hit the old man right in the face as they fell down. Then as they flew upward slightly due to the impact blast, Negi proceeded to give Aris a couple of blows right to the head before they got down on the ground again. "...Let this slip by?" Negi echoed the words. "How can I let 'let's kill the reason we went to war in the first place', "slip by"?"

"Oh, come on, this again?" Aris asked, leaning on his elbows whilst trying to get up. "Negi, you must be more stubborn than I don't know what! I mean, damn! You're still clinging on to saving Miyazaki?"

"That's why I got into this mess, to begin with!" Negi countered. "And I don't recall, volunteering for your ideals, Aris-san." Negi said, pointing at the Spartan.

"No, you didn't." Aris agreed with him on that, before his kick impacted with Negi, sending him upward into the sky. "But you got pulled into this before I did." The Spartan continued, appearing next to Negi. "And since you thought I would help you out, you accepted my command with just a hint of doubt."

"With good reason." Negi said, as they landed again, since Aris didn't make any blows on him whilst up there. "I had the feeling that you would do something that we wouldn't like some day, but this, I didn't expect at all! Sending a team to kill Nodoka-san!"

"I haven't even decided on the bloody matter, and you think like it's already too late!" Aris yelled at him. "Geez, you really are denser than rock! ...Nagi simply must be your dad."

"Well, I can't let you do as you think just because it's for the benefit of all!" Negi shouted at him, going at him at again. "Not on this one, at least!"

"Oh, for crying out loud. You're really just a kid if you're just going to leave it at that, Negi!" Aris turned Negi's whole body around after about 30 punches and slammed him down against the ground. "How are we going to settle this if you just want to get your point through with your fists?" That got him a kick right to the face.

"Whoa, they're not going easy on each other down there!" Ukita yelled over the massive shock blasts that dominated the sound area in the Himalayas. The two combatants were airborne in their fight now, and almost each impact they made on each other caused a large shock wave that blew away snow. "They're... they're just like monsters out there."

"Monsters?" Ashracai echoed the word. "That word has nothing to with this situation."

The group that was present when the young mage had knocked the Spartan's lights out in the dean's office (minus the dean) had entered the Himalaya region shortly after the two combatants had done so, only to find that the mountain regions had turned in a major combat zone between two magnificent fighters. They stood a good distance away on a specifically made platform that hovered a good distance away from the battlefield. Most had been given warm robes because of the extreme cold. Only Fate and the Githyanki Archmage didn't need such clothing.

"Oh come on, they can't be human with those moves!" Ukita argued. "I've never seen anyone, not even a master, move with such skill or speed."

"I have." Kenichi countered, recalling what his own masters were capable of.

"Ukita-kun, there is more to this than you think." Fate informed the Judo thrower. "Negi-kun for instance, is a genius in both matters of theory and practicality. From what I gather, he is able to pick up combat techniques in just a matter of hours where it would take experts weeks. He is also brilliant with studies, having graduated summa cum lade out of the Magic Academy in Wales two years ahead of normal graduation for magi. Couple that along with a brilliant tactical mind in close quarters and he could best opponents twice his age, size and experience."

"Which he has, for a fact." Yue added to boost the impressiveness of her teacher. "But equally, he is facing a highly dangerous opponent. Aristodemus-san has had centuries, even millenia of warfare endurance along with personal combat experience against probably anything that this world has produced. What's more, he has very much taken up practice of more than just Western martial arts, traveling all across the world to learn from other cultures. It is most likely that he has master decree in virtually every martial art in the world, along with a huge amount of theoretical knowledge of magic, plus an outstanding understanding of human anatomy."

"That body of his has been forged in the furnaces of real life and death combat for more than 2500 years, making him the most powerful human on both the Old World and the Magic World." Fate continued. "He had the bonus of not being able to die, which is why he is able to learn from his mistakes in facing other styles. Truly, he is one that my boss took action to avoid for as long as possible."

"Twenty-five hundred years?" Both martial arts disciples exclaimed. "No one can be that old, no matter what kind of techniques they are employing!" Kenichi argued.

"I'd counter that." Ashracai said calmly. "It is most likely because of a massive amount of magic energy that swayed by Earth at the time of his original death, infusing him with enough to prevent him from ever dying. If he died in a battlefield, and was marked with something that made him stand out, then the amount of deaths on that day would have added to the magic that made him immortal. It's an early form of necromancy, or perhaps even blood magic. Very crude, but highly powerful if it has lasted this long."

"Wait a minute." Yue said. "You're saying that the deaths of thousands at Plataea contributed to Aristodemus-san's immortality?"

"Could be." Ashracai said. "Magic energy is infused into every living being, it's like the very air we breathe. In addition, blood itself is said to be the essence of life. Think of all that amount of blood being spillt in a single day, and I reckon he had some sort of magic beacon on himself, whether he knew it or not, so the result would be that he absorbed that amount of life force into himself, and it all built up together."

"So... what do you reckon the beacon was?"

"How should I know?" Ashracai said. "I haven't been here very long, myself. So I can't tell what did it."

"Negi!" Asuna called out as she, Kotarou, Mana, Kaede, Ku Fei and a few others out of the class and Shinpaku came out into the Himalayas to look for the young mage. "Where is he? I got so worried when Konoka sent me that text message about him fighting Oyaji for real, and now we can't seem to find him."

"You call him Oyaji?" Matsui asked the redhead girl. In case anyone had forgotten, he was the flagbearer for Shinpaku and therefore, he was Nijima's right hand man, of sorts. Nevertheless, he was not going to leave Nijima's side.

"He took care of me when I was a kid, alright?" Asuna answered him. "I used to live with him in his estate in the Magic World once."

"But why would Negi fight that old geezer now? It wouldn't make sense right now." Kotarou asked out loud.

"In case you forgot, Kotarou, Strategou-dono always knew that he and Negi-bouzu would come to blows someday-de gorazu." Kaede told the hanyou. "Negi-bouzu must have learned something that he didn't like at all with Strategou-dono and naturally their interests would conflict against each other."

"I wouldn't find that surprising." Mana said, crossing her arms. "If anyone of you didn't know, or didn't do some homework on people you didn't know much about, Aristodemus is well known for being a pretty powerful mercenary himself. When he got into the politics for real, he became something of a monster, utilizing every dirty asset in the book and then some to make sure he did to ensure that he got his point across."

(A/N: Yes, I know that Aristodemus is getting a lot of focus here, but bare with me here, please)

"...So... we're expecting some kind of ruthless battle in here?" Kisara asked, standing not far away from the beautiful mercenary.

"Count on it." The Sniper responded to it before a boom was heard ahead of them, and then a form slammed against a small mountain peak, smashing it to bits and the form spun around against them, only to crash a small distance away from them and slide on the snow towards them. It turned out to be the Spartan.

"...Asuna, have you been aware for a long time that your blood relative is very extremely well intended when it comes to his personal beliefs?" He asked after spitting out some snow and a small rock.

"For some time now. Why do you ask?"

"Just wanted to make sure." Aris answered whilst getting up and cracking his neck. And then he sprinted back to where he came from, before tripping on purpose to go down on all fours to move like a swift cat, reminding them of a tiger, jumping with ease between the cliffs of the mountain sides and back to where he had been blown away.

"...Why I feel we're just in way, here?" Ku Fei asked, using her broken Japanese dialect.

"Oh, no. He is fighting against Negi, the only relative I got left, who probably got himself into this mess in the first place." Asuna stated, before summoning her great blade. "I'm going. And I'm gonna help him."

"Wait, you mean Negi-bouzu or the Commander?" Kisara asked getting off the teleportation platform, only to find it ridiculously cold.

"Who do you think?" The younger redhead retorted to her and rushed onward, to where the mage and the immortal were fighting. She was being watched by another young girl who was out there as well...

"Geez, Negi!" Aris cried out over the blows against the two, going on equal terms, though the elder of the two was having trouble himself in holding his younger opponent back. "Anyone else who had a problem with me normally just filed a complaint and such."

"You said it yourself." Negi countered, getting below the Spartan's defense. "This goes beyond Nodoka-san." At that, he smashed the commander up into the air yet again, only to follow him and continue the barrage of attacks himself.

"Yes, I know." Aris said, smoothly deflecting Negi's attacks now. "But me sending a team to kill her is just icing the cake here. I am fully well aware that I've done 'crimes against humanity' as you would see them as, not to mention murder, conspiracy and generally evil deeds." He ranted that list as he brought Negi down to the ground with his defensive maneuvers before using Negi's outstretched arm to spin on the young magi and then knee strike him down to the ground fully. "But I did such things with damn good reason. And I feel no remorse for doing them!"

"Is that simply because you can't feel remorse for actions in the past, or that you just don't care?" Negi demanded to know of the Spartan.

"Hey, don't you dare call me heartless, Negi! I got emotions just as you do, and I don't need to uphold some good ideals that you do!" Aris yelled at the young magi, pointing a finger at him.

"Really!" Negi countered, getting mad and restarting the attack, now going slowly and went with just one attack to make the immortal go backwards slightly. "You don't seem to bother who dies, just as long as your own goals go unscathed, and you don't seem to care if those you know personally go rogue on you, do you!" His second punch against the Spartan was blocked, effortlessly. He couldn't even get it out of the commander's tight grip.

"That's...it?" Aristodemus' voice now sounded really angry, and he didn't look all too happy himself. "The basis of this whole ordeal... is based on that you think I'm some kind of asshole?" In the mere blink of an eye, Negi got exactly three punches on his face, chest and stomach, before a straight forward kick sent him flying straight against the hard rock ground. "Fine! You win that part, because I am an asshole!" That last part echoed loudly as a blizzard began to kick up violently around the whole Himalayas.

"Oh, this should be good." Ashracai said, actually kneeling down on the made platform to listen in more closely.

"I'm a backstabbing, lying, plot-conspiring, murdering asshole!" Aris ranted on as Negi just lay there listening, whilst the violent blizzard thundered on around them. "I sneak behind peoples' backs, I make plans, I got plans to kill everybody who intend to double-cross me because they think I'm some crazed lunatic looking out for himself! But you better listen well, you little brat! 'Cuz what I do, I do for the sake of everybody in society and for the good of both worlds! You haven't seen the very worst that Mankind has produced out of its sick head. What I do is to ensure that there will be Good left in them. And don't even think that I would even hesitate to make that that will happen!"

"And what of the family that you took an oath to protect!" Negi demanded to know, rising up. "You were my own mother's personal teacher and she had huge amount of trust and faith in that you did your own duty to the throne, and she meant that little to you!" He lashed out against the Spartan, only to be grabbed by the shirt collar and slammed hard down towards the rock.

"Let me tell you something else, prince-boy." Aris snapped at the young mage. "Your mother was the one person in over four generations aside from little Asuna who stood out amongst the royal family members I taught. She was willing to make sure her own country stayed safe above all, she took huge risks in doing so, convinced your dad to join up on her mission and she went as far as to murder her own father to make sure that it was for the good of everyone. I had never been so proud of just one person in my entire existence. Nagi was something else, too. He joined the war to stop it, just like that. He didn't want any innocents get hurt, he made friends with one of the best fighters Hellas has ever produced and he stood up against the fucking Senate to spring out the woman he loved!" He said that last part lifting Negi up. "They are both people I admire personally because they were able to do such things for the good of everybody. And the Senate hated them for it. They wanted everything to happen for their own personal gain, and don't give a damn about what happens to others. After two-hundred years of having them as a pain in my ass, I can certainly testify the atrocities they accomplished to get themselves on top of the world."

"And you honestly believe that what you do, as a person, is excusable for what it means?" Negi asked, being held by the collar by the Spartan. To his surprise, he wasn't slammed down.

"No. I don't expect everything to be excusable as you put it, Negi." Aris answered him. "But I have been in charge of watching your family for the last 550 years or so, so why should I stop doing that? The Senate took away everything that your mother's side had known in their existence simply because they felt it belonged to them. You oughta think about going up against them instead of fighting me."

"Why would I even bother with them at the moment, when the opponent I have right now, is you?" Negi spat at him now, making the Spartan seemingly very angry.

"That's a real nice compliment, but you really are a child if you think that short-term is gonna help you anywhere." With that, Aris put his other hand on Negi's chest, letting go with the other hand, and then a massive Chi blast sent Negi into the tough storm. "You must be making your parents real proud right now, thinking you could just coerce me with words into giving in with your ideals, Negi. It won't matter if you manage to beat me anyway. You always have, and you always will be watched your entire li-!" Aris didn't get around to finish that sentence because of the huge energy blast that slammed down on his face and upper body, since Negi was away. "Wha- who!" The Spartan asked out before he caught something that looked like a demonic lady figure wearing a form of armor mixed with a black Goth Loli style outfit that seemed like a tight fit. Wait, that's Asuna. ...Shit.

"As!" She started with a punch to his face. "If!" Followed by an elbow. "We!" She then gave a knee strike to his stomach. "Let!" Then a kick to his temple. "Some!" And yet another elbow strike, right on the back of his head. "Uptight, obnoxious, pawn-controlling politics-freak, keep an eye on us our entire lives!" She finished as she gave a straight kick to the side of his ribcage, sending him flying off, sliding against the ground that was getting covered by snow once again, since most had been blown up by the shock waves he and Negi had been sending out. "We got our own free will, and we like it that way! You somehow waltzed into our lives at some point and now you're deciding to never let us out of your sight and therefore control us into bringing down the Senate! Fuck no, I am not gonna end up on some stupid old throne because you say so!"

"...Asuna..." Negi said, crawling towards her, getting aid up on his feet the last effort.

"...Keep an eye on you? Yes." Aris responded, getting up himself without effort. "Let you out of my sight or at least make sure what you are doing? Oh, you can bet your cute little butt I wont. Force you to take the Vespertatian throne because I say so? Fuck that." He said. "I never said that I was gonna force either of you to take the cause to restore the kingdom. You may reject the throne all you like, and I respect that fully. But do you really think that I would just leave it like that? Someday, one of your descendants, it could be your child, grandchild or even their grandchild, who genuinely wants to become full fledged royalty. I can wait that long, even if Mundus Magicus would collapse, because I've already taken precaution to that. There are scores of places on Earth that would serve just nicely for a restart of Vespertatia; Atlantis, El Dorado, Shangri-La, Avalon, to name a few. For the past twenty years, I've spent my time using my resources finding these places and making sure that they remain hidden from the eyes of mundanes. Even if it is you two, words alone is not gonna stop me from my duty as Grandmaster of the Vesper Knights."

For a moment there, just one second was all that was needed, Negi thought that he was seeing Chao there instead. "...Do you really believe that Arika-sama would let you do as you please just in order to do all this?" Asuna demanded to know of the Spartan.

"Arika was a good student and a fine princess. She would understand my reasoning. I have not shirked my duty to the bloodline, and I certainly will not for you two!" Aris responded before another one slammed down a fist on his face, and then sending him flying against a mountain wall, yet again. They at least heard a crack from the direction he came from.

"Kotarou-kun?" Negi exclaimed, seeing the hanyou there, in his battle outfit and arms fixed in his wolfman forms, just the arms.

"Heard it all." Kotarou answered him. "At least enough to come down here myself to help you kick this guy's ass. Besides, he owes me a fight. I mean, there should be a limit to how loyal one should be. Look at Gödel and look how he turned out."

"...Gödel is too obsessed with his own unrequited love for Arika to see what path is the best." Aris informed them as he stepped out of the blizzard, being somewhat roughed up by Kotarou's attacks and the mountain wall. "It's almost a wonder kids doesn't get the meaning what grown-ups say, nowadays."

"Ah come on, what does it take to make you get really hurt?" Kotarou exclaimed. "You've been getting your ass whooped by Negi for some time and then Asuna came in with her Kanka blasts and power-up, and then me with my youkai powers! What would it take to bring you down!"

"Judging on what you children have been throwing at me, I'd say it's something you don't have. Furthermore, I've seen a whole lot tougher stuff than what you were using. With the addition of my combat experience, you'd also think I would have used my own powers to boost myself up in defensive capability to make sure I took as little damage as possible and swiftness so I could dodge enough so that the impact would be at the least effectiveness." Aris informed. "I haven't lived two millenia for nothing, you know."

"Yeesh, I thought Rakan was tough to handle in our fight against him, but you're a monster in comparison to him." The hanyou responded to the Spartan, not looking glad. "Granted it's all thanks to the whole Immortal thing, but you must be more broken than him."

"Not that I'd know what that means, but this whole ordeal wouldn't have happened if you kids hadn't decided to jump the gun all because the option of eliminating Miyazaki lay open before me." Aris accused them. "I mean seriously, you didn't think this through. There were other options that I could have picked back then, I was just thinking of the potential benefits of choosing just that one. Is even that wrong with you people?"

"We're talking about a very close friend of ours here, Oyaji." Asuna countered him. "Why would we even think of letting you go through with this? You might think of doing this because you're no longer human, but we know this girl. This is a young girl who has every chance at life she deserves, one who confessed openly to Negi, the first one in fact, and she wants to spend her days with him. And Negi has in person given a vow that he wouldn't let anybody bring her harm in any way, whatsoever. I support that, and I want her to be with Negi. Not that I've got sort of feelings for him myself and just want to shut down the rumors that we're a thing, but because she deserves him. If you think that you could just ignore all that, then you're caught dead wrong in the water, 'cuz we'll just beat the crap out of you until you get our point of view."

"...Thank you for that speech, Asuna. I'll take that into consideration when I make the final call." Aris said. "But I'm not fully convinced by your cause."

"What?" All three kids exclaimed.

"Come on, you didn't actually think that words were gonna stop me, after I said so?" Aris said. "She is special to you, yes, I gather that. I'm not human, I gathered that a long time ago. But don't think that emotions alone can sway a butcher who's stuck in a very delicate position. I need to make sure that I make all the big shots happy, lest we lose this war. You may be a big shot yourself, Negi, but if I took what you considered all the time, then I'd be accused of favoritism by the others. I can't have that happen." Aris told them before taking a fighting stance. "I'm sorry, but if you truly want to sway me to your will, you'll have to make a damn good impression of what you got and then some more."

"Oh, I for one wouldn't have it any other way." Kotarou responded grinning and took his own fighting stance.

"Fine, be that way, Oyaji." Asuna added, calling forth her great Zanbato blade and took her position with it.

"...That's the way, then alright." Negi said finally, before taking his stance in between Asuna and Kotarou. "We'll make you see our point, Aristodemus-san."

...I'm sure Arika would scold all of us for this behavior... The Spartan thought to himself. "That will depend on how you fa-" A great metallic hand put itself on his shoulders before he could finish that sentence. "What the-?"

"I'm disappointed, Father." Alicia said in monotone to him, wearing her massive armor, but she was not wearing the helmet at the moment. "Very disappointed."

"Ohh..." was all the Spartan could get out of his mouth before she slammed him down against the surface ground with the armor's right hand, sliding him forward a little, before lifting him up so high he was airborne for a few brief seconds, and then used the moment to use her left massive arm to slam him away, hard. The velocity was so high that he made a pretty deep hole on the mountain wall where he impacted. Note to self: When you have in your possession a heavily modified Terminator Armor infused with magic and reinforced metal, don't give it to your underage daughter. At least until she's hit puberty.

"Alicia-san?" Negi exclaimed seeing her again outside of their room.

"Alicia-chan!" Asuna exclaimed, seeing the little girl slam down her own dad like that.

"And her giant armor suit as well?" Kotarou's turn was more directed at seeing the great armor that she had when they fought each other. There were a few distinct features to it, this time. The Lambda had been removed from its shoulder plate, and put on the left hand instead. In its' place, was the Ala Alba symbol, clearly showing her allegiance, as well as revealing to the young mage that she was there to help him. Also, Lochaber, her speaking axe Device was in the right hand as well.

"Whooo!" Konoka cheered for them now. "Alicia-chan is here to help!"

"What is that?" The guys asked, referring of course to the great armor.

"You don't know? Oh, never mind that, you haven't seen it before." Konoka said. "That's Alicia-chan, the Strategou's own daughter. She has a crush on Negi-kun, it wouldn't surprise me to find her on his side."

"That didn't answer their question, Konoka-san." Yue said. "We faced against that armor before, and we can only tell that's what she uses in combat." She informed them.

"...Do you think it would be okay for me to take a closer look at it?" The Archmage asked, with apparent sparkles in his eyes. "For academical reasons? I mean, between two scholars of magic items, regardless of size, for sharing information?"

"You giths don't have anything like that?" Luna asked the Gith mage.

"Well, yes we do. But nothing on this level of magic significance. I mean, whoever made that suit of armor is either a savant of magic forging or a grandmaster of the art of blacksmithing. It would truly please me if I got to meet this person."

"Alicia-chan..." Asuna inquired of the little blond girl. "Why are you on our side? Since he's your dad, shouldn't you be helping Oyaji?"

"...I know he's my father, Asuna-san." Alicia started off, with confidence now to speak. "But I have my own reasons for doing battle against him alongside you. Mainly because he's lost his way as a leader, and I don't want him to fall down too far."

"Ah got a piece of me mind ta give tha' rot'en basterd as well..." Her axe, Lochaber spoke as well. "Plus, Ah think tha' mah Liegfch also has taken a shine ta ye, ye little red-hedded runt." The axe's words got Alicia sent panicking slightly and blushing like Nodoka used to do. "I say, mah Liegfch tends to tell me tales that she can't sleep properly wifout thinkin' of ye evry niht and make pretty draving's of ye from time ta time and-" He was interrupted by Alicia's great left armor hand grabbed his head and held it tight. "...Ah guess this be me time to shut up, ain't it?" Lochaber said in the end, his voice muffled because of the great hand.

"...Negi, you know how to handle them." Asuna said quietly, lowering her greatsword.

Negi just sighed. "...Alright... Alicia-san, you and I can spend some time together some other day, but not now. I hope you'll understand."

"Yes." Alicia answered him briefly before the sound of rock scraping against one another reached their ears.

"...Oof. Ow." Aris said as he crawled out of the big hole, now really roughed up. "That really smart..." He stopped moving when he saw the whole group of kids in front of him. A few brief seconds of staring at each other, the Spartan finally sighed. "...I guess I'll need to use a few things now..."

"Huh?" Asuna was confused at what Aris had said just then.

"I'm not willing to face off against these kinds of odds without some form of items to have for myself. I may be immortal and all, but I can't rush into something without weapons and armor, can I?" He said as he drew out several cards of a particular form they recognized.

"What the-?" Kotarou exclaimed, seeing the cards.

"Those are-" Asuna continued, whilst Negi seemed to almost shiver in dread at the number the Spartan had pulled out.

"Fear not. These are not Pactio cards." Aris stated for them whilst plucking a few out of the great amount he had in his hand. "I simply had transferred the artifacts I intend to use into cards, allowing greater mobility and access to them. Don't worry, I won't use all of them, just the ones I need for this moment." The first card he drew summoned a form of plate armor onto him. What was most notable, was its direct similarity to a Hoplite suit of armor. There were few outer weak spots that could be grabbed by an exterior hand. The breastplate had no such weakness, being a massively thick cuirass of seemingly silver like metal, but undoubtedly stronger. The shoulder pads was like two bowls covering his shoulders, and the arms were covered by chain-mail of the same metal. A bracer was put on each forearm, with the left one seeming more gold-copper colored like than the right one which was made the same like the rest of the armor. The battle skirt as it seemed to be, consisted of two metal plates on his sides of the hips that molded to them down the thighs. The front and back had studded leather, the leather set into small sections with rivets to connect them. They covered most of his thighs as well, apart from the hips. His legs had plating there as well to, with chain-mail underneath.

Finally, he drew another card and summoned forth a helmet that reminded them of the ancient Greek battle helmets, at least the Chalcidian ones. It retained its nose guards and fixed cheek pieces. It finally had a transverse horsehair crest on the top, making them recall that he was still an officer and still in charge of this operation.

"...Oh, boy. This is gonna hurt like I don't know what." Kotarou said as the Spartan put on his helmet, and as he finished, some black aura covered his entire face, and revealed a pair of glowing white eyes instead. "That's not good."

"Oh, I almost forgot my best party piece." Aris said, stretching out his right arm, to have a certain glow to it. A second later, he was swinging his arm concentrated, with an apparent whip of metal in hand, deliberately missing Negi's group, and then immediately stopping, returning the hand to his side. "...I did say that I had myself one of those swords too, didn't I?" The Spartan inquired as the whip molded its liquid metal into the Silver Sword he had for himself.

"Figures. Seems almost fitting that you would bring that along." Asuna said, reassuring her stance. Alicia let go of Lochaber with her right hand, to have the great mask that comes with the suit emerge from the back of her armor, caught it with the right hand and asserted it on to the suit, covering her own face.

"Now then... Shall we?" Aris asked as he took his stance with his silver blade, it changing into a kind of greatsword for his usage.

"I'm beginning to see why you wanted to avoid him, Fate Averruncus." Yue said as the group of four engaged the Spartan on a massive level now. The shockwaves were immense now, despite the blizzard.

"Yes." The white-haired mage said, looking ever undaunted by the looks of things. "I was glad that he partially sided with us. Course, he also went against us when he felt we crossed the line, but he can agree with us on a personal level."

"What are you talking about?" Ukita asked of the magic side of this minor army that was gathering underneath the Strategou's banner. "What sides are we talking about here?"

"Nothing that concerns people that only wish to live happily in peace in their own world." Fate replied instantly to the Judo thrower, much to his chagrin.

"Hmmm..." Ashracai hummed to himself loudly. "...I can definitely keep a secret to myself. I can use Psychometry in order to find out what it's about and still not tell them." He informed Fate.

"No thanks." Fate denied the suggestion immediately to that. "...I've had enough of aliens touching my head for information for a while."

"Fair enough." The Archmage responded, before getting a silent nudging from Luna from behind him. Getting the idea, he grasped the girl's hand and took in the information.

"The Magic World, or Mundus Magicus as we know it," Luna told him with her thoughts regarding the bigger situation. "is going to collapse, nearly any day now... And when it will collapse, all the native inhabitants there will vanish alongside it, whilst the true humans would be exposed to the harsh environment of Mars... The natives are no more than a huge illusion... Earth can't sustain the amount of 67 million true humans coming from the Magic World..."

"I see..." Ashracai said finally, having connected the dots together. "...So that's how it is..." As much as I can understand Averruncus' way of thinking how to deal with the problem, that is not a good way how to deal with it... Perhaps I should take a proper look at "Mundus Magicus" in person to determine what to do with it...

If anything, this fight was surely the toughest one Negi and co had ever done. Not even Fate matched up to this one. Aris had prepped himself up real good for this battle and he knew what to do. Granted, Alicia was there to help Negi's side, but it was no walk in the park, either.

Aristodemus' armor protected him nearly all too well for them to make any real damage, and he knew how to counter their attacks with his own moves. He had troubles himself, as the attacks that the kids did land on him was enough to disrupt him and bash him away, if only for a brief moment.

Kotarou was the most aggressive of the four, going ferociously on the Spartan with fists, kicks, even claws and his Inugami dogs to keep the elder fighter distracted. However, Aris had fought Inugami and demon summoners before, and his Chi blasts, concentrated and accurate, kept most wolf spirits at bay and the hanyou in check from dominating the battlefield.

Asuna in almost sheer contrast, went straight at the Spartan with her great blade, not swinging it wildly for once. She kept herself in check for once and used every chance she got to just hit the old man with her fists and knee strikes, alongside Kotarou. If it wasn't for the other two combatants there as well, the Spartan would have taken them both out in one go.

Speaking of which, the little girl in the big (Very big, actually) suit of armor was the worst, both physically, and mentally. Alicia was his daughter, even though not biologically, he had in the short time they had been together, come to see her as his daughter, even though she was helping beating the crap out of him. What's more, the armor she had was very expensive, not to mention unique, and he didn't really want to break it. Best thing he could do was just throw it away from him, only to have her return it to him, not in a friendly manner. Lochaber didn't help things either, taunting the old man with that Scottish accent of his. "That be tha wurst toss ah've evah seen! Ye couldnae hit tha broadside of a barn if ye wanted to!"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up, you bloody talking axe!" Aris shouted back at him. "I should have emptied your grammar store when I had the chance!"

Finally, Negi was very adamant. Being a slippery one and fast as well, the young mage gave Aris more trouble than he wanted, using his own martial skills to tremendous effect. Most likely based that Aris could follow him anywhere, so he decided to just keep going forward against the Spartan, eventually trying to find a weak spot. He's found plenty and used most of them, since he desperately needed them against this opponent.

"Okay, go away now." Aris said shortly after a long moment of battle and fast before he slammed them all away with pure Chi energy, sending them flying a good distance away from him, as the blizzard raged on now, going in full force. "Whew, that bought me some time. Not that the blizzard is going to hold them for long..."

"Argh! Nothing works on him!" Kotarou complained, getting alongside the others.

"Actually, we done lots of damage ta him. 'tis just that armah ov his that takes most ov it." Lochaber argued, and he made sense. If only he could drop the accent, then things would be easier. "We need a way ta hurt tha armah massivahli, then keep it sappressed undah hevvy barrage and go in cloos on 'im."

"So..." Asuna tried to decipher what Lochaber had said just then. "We need to make one big blast on him first, then just keep shooting at him whilst going in melee with him at the same time?"

"Right." Alicia said, through the helmet's visor, at any rate, it sounded coarse and not like the sweet voice she usually has. "I can use the suit to provide the suppressive fire on him, but we still need a powerful shot."

"Then change into suppressive fire mode while we got this window at least!" Kotarou shouted over the blizzard. "Negi, think you could throw a spell at him to make a dent?"

"Afraid not." Negi replied to him. "We might something with more kick to it and goes a lot faster than my chanting." At that, Alicia's armor went off. The huge left arm remodeled, or transformed more like, into a great version of an energy firing gatling gun, whilst two smaller guns with oddly formed barrels emerged on the top of the armor right above her helmet. The helmet itself, opened up sideways to reveal the little blond girl with several hologramatic screens going up in front of her, as well as a minor one going right in front of her right eye for aiming. "...for once, I find something like that extremely cool..." The young mage said, seeing the newly transformed armor redirecting its guns towards the Spartan.

"I think I'm gonna have to agree." Kotarou said, staring at the big guns. Not that he was a gun nut, but because the armor was able to bring them out. The blizzard ended just then for them to see the Spartan and their opponent's widened eyes as he saw the guns that Alicia had brought out.

Somewhere else, Mana had set herself up with providing actual cover fire for the team of children. "This one's for free, Negi-sensei. Any more rounds and I'll charge you." She had armed herself with a massive railgun, a rifle that used magnetic rails to send small iron projectiles into massive speeds against their targets. In effect, it's a tankbuster weapon. "Bang." She whispered to herself before firing the weapon.

At seven times the speed of sound, the others didn't realize that Aris had been shot until they saw him fly backwards by the blast, along with a hole on the left shoulder, quite a biggie. The little blond girl in the suit of armor didn't hesitate, but with a reluctant look on her face, fired upon her dad, not wishing to hold back.

"Now's our chance!" Asuna cried over the gunfire. "Kotarou, take the left flank, I'll take the right! Negi, you stay back and prepare something!" With that, she went straight for the right side of the gunfire against the Spartan, whilst Kotarou rushed to the left without even getting a chance for discussion.

Negi stayed reluctantly behind, and prepared one spell which would take time, but got that bit covered by the teamwork of his comrades. "...Rastel Maskil Magister To Sumbolaion diakoneto moi..."

Meanwhile, Aris did have loads of trouble fending off attacks from three different directions. One side, fine. Two sides, may be a bit tricky. But three sides at once? Now that is very difficult to pull off on the defensive side. Kotarou kept charging Inugami at him, since he had a whole lot more control over them since Ostia, and Asuna acted with heavy bombardment of her Kankahou empowerment not to mention going in close on occasion against him with her greatsword to get a good aim too on where to shoot. If that didn't make things bad already, Alicia was employing the suit's entire firepower on him on the front.

Negi wasn't anywhere to be seen. Odd, since he was the initial starter of this battle. He was most likely behind Alicia, but he couldn't move to investigate. Not while under fire, that is, and Kotarou and Asuna weren't making things easier for him as well.

"The red-hedded runt 'as finished 'is incan-inca-inc, 'is spell singing! Gat in cloose ta him and keep 'im busy!" Lochaber's voice was heard in Asuna and Kotarou's vicinity, somehow, and without registering, they went in close. Alicia decided to follow suit, transforming her left arm cannon back into its normal hand shape.

"Yes!" Aris cried that out pleasingly, as his opponents went in for the kill on him. "Mistake!" He responded to Kotarou first, knocking him downward to the ground, before turning on Asuna. The redhead skipped her blade and went with her regained Muay Thai skills, only he countered her with similar moves along with a vicious throw down on the wolf boy. "Good initial attack, but your mistake was to get in close on me, kids."

"You might want to look for another attack." Asuna smirked at him, even though Kotarou had his face down her bosom.

"Eh?" Aris said, confused before looking up. The first thing he saw was a giant Terminator armor with Alicia as the head, charging straight at him with Lochaber in hand. "Oh." On pure reaction, as Alicia was swinging her giant fist, he blocked and deflected it with his right hand, then used his other to take hold of the mid-section of her suit, and with his right hand taking hold on her shoulder, lifted the giant armor clear off the ground. "Nice try." He said, before he noticed that his daughter was not surprised, but maintained a sturdy look on her cute face. Thump-thump. Huh? This is time in between heartbeats... Aris thought instantaneously whilst he was holding Alicia's armor up and the second heartbeat had yet to come. She's maintaining a strong face? Wait... she was prepared for this. This attack was only a diversion! But if they planned for this, then that means Negi's right- Thump-thump "Fu-"

The Spartan couldn't finish that, because of the massive spear that penetrated his cuirass and sent him flying rapidly against the mountain wall. This is the Spear of the Lightning God, the Titan Slayer! Aris thought as he felt the great lightning weapon through the armor and into his own body, causing him to cough up blood. I should have seen this one coming! He had little time to think further before slamming into the rock, the spear sticking him into it, and his helmet came loose and flew off high into the air.

"Alicia, Now!" Negi cried out, as the armor landed on both feet safely on the ground next to him. Alicia didn't answer, but fired off instead the two railguns above her head to a position above the Spartan, near the top of the big cliff.

"...uh oh." Aris could only exclaim as the rock slide came tumbling down upon him, crushing him alive underneath the massive rubble, sword and all.

All the children could do was to pant and catch their breath while the helmet bounced off the pile of rocks and sliding down to their feet. "...We..." Kotarou said, as Negi's Thunder God form was starting to turn down, back into his normal form. "...we did it."

"Yay." Asuna managed to get out. That fight exhausted them all. "Now, we can, convince him... to say no." She panted heavily.

Negi didn't feel so comforted. But he was at least glad that was over. The platform with the spectators had mixed reactions. Konoka and Luna were cheering and hugging each other in joy, Yue let out a relieved breath she didn't know she held, Kenichi and Ukita had dropped their jaws in surprise. Ashracai merely nodded at their success, whilst Fate merely huffed.

It didn't take long before the rubble began to move on the top. Negi was the only one standing, save Alicia in her armor. Lochaber didn't count, because he was held. Asuna and Kotarou were still on the ground, the former had rolled off the latter when she realized what position they were in after the fight, so they were a bit slow to get up. Only... they didn't need to. Aris came crawling out on the top, all bruised and covered in dust. He didn't seem to be in the mood to fight either, just crawled on the rocks to get to even ground. He must have broken something, because he slipped with one hand and that led to that he fell down the rock rubble, his silver blade accompanying him down to the ground.

The very bruised and damaged Spartan managed to at least get into a sitting position, to look at the young mage with exhausted eyes. "...Why?" He asked softly, catching them off-guard. "...Why go this far... for just one...student?"

"Wha... What do you mean 'Why' now!" Asuna exclaimed, very angry. "We told you that this is about a highly special student and friend! What more reason is there?"

"Asuna, he wasn't talking to you." Negi cut her off softly. "He's talking to me."

"There is never enough reason for something like this." Aris informed them. "And no teacher, regardless of level, would go as far as this for one student, as it violates teachers' requirement of education equality..." He paused to give a few coughs. "...Even for a friend, no one would risk such high levels of insubordination."

"Even so..." Negi tried to explain his situation. "You know that I would do anything for my students. Nodoka-san is both friend and student."

"And that's violating the equality for education." Aris interrupted the young mage. "You want to do a great job being a teacher, but right now, you're just being selfish, as you were with finding your dad. Do you think she would have preferred to see you like this?"

"Wha-" Negi could only get out of his mouth, before getting a sudden but slight pain in his chest. "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying, Negi..." Aris tried to get up, but in vain because of the pain load he had received. "...that I doubt that while she would appreciate it personally, Miyazaki would scold you for going this far for her. Why are you even doing this, even if you know it is wrong, even if you realize what amount of trouble you would be in with other people?" he asked of the young mage.

"...Because..." Negi tried to find the right words but couldn't bring them out. "Because- Because-" Then the pain grew stronger in him. "Be-Aaaargh!"

"Negi?" Asuna and Kotarou exclaimed, seeing the young teacher get down on one knee and clutch his chest in agony.

"Negi?" Aris tried to step forward, but his own pain made him fall down. "What's going on?"

"Negi-san?" Alicia stepped forward to put her hand on Negi, but as she did so, the young mage spun around faster than she could see him, and gave a vicious if not ferocious punch against her armor's torso, sending her high into the air and then crashing down against the ground. Those on the platform, were stunned and looked highly confused as to what was happening.

"What the!" Kotarou exclaimed, but a look at Negi, changed everything. He looked the same as to when his Magia Erebea went into berserk, only much more dangerous and corrupted, in a way of putting it. His Gospel of Darkness had emerged out of nowhere, and it didn't look like it was gonna go away soon. "Oh, boy."

"What is that?" Asuna could only get out of herself.

"...This is so not good." Aristodemus said, not smirking nor smiling to himself, as demonic presences was always difficult to handle, as his old Paladin experience with the church had taught him that the hard way. Upon hearing the Spartan's voice, the possessed Negi turned around to view him as a first target. "Crap."

"No, you don't." One scolded the other for trying to sneak off, willing to investigate the explosions in the distance. The two had been in a cave all along once a blizzard had kicked in. "You are not leaving this cave, until you've mastered that last one."

"But, sensei-" The other one, roughly smaller and more slim tried to reason with her.

"It's Master, young birdie." The taller one cut her off.

"Master," The smaller reluctantly repeated. "Those blastwaves have only been increasing since the blizzard came upon us. Don't you think it is worth looking into?"

"I do." The Master replied. "But I want you to be able to change at least your own hair color before we go out there to check what's going on. Now one last try and focus on this one, lest I go all over you again."

"Yes... Master." the disciple replied bitterly and sat down again toward the fire. The last time she was insubordinate, she had been forced down onto her own bedroll, stripped bare of clothes and then molested and licked by the Master. Not raped or anything, but close to it. So it was something she didn't want to experience.

"That's it..." Her master said, as the disciple breathed slowly, as her hair began to somehow take life of its own and take several colors it didn't originally have. "...Good. You're keeping an open mind on what to have... keep going... Now... give in t-"

KABOOOOOM!

That last explosion occurred right outside their cave, throwing both of them off-balance. "Changeofplans! We'regoingoutthere (inhale of air!) to investigatetheexplosions (inhale of air!) rightnow! WhatsayyouSetsuna?" Rachel screamed after the boom had laid off, the older of the two by unknown years having been completely upside down by the explosion, whilst Setsuna, who was the disciple in the cave.

"Right." Setsuna said and took out at least her pactio card she had with Konoka and the two left the cave to find out what was going on. What they stumbled upon was complete chaos. If one said that a battlefield was more of a massacre, but the defendants were capable of staying alive, then this was it. Something dark was going ferociously on Asuna, Kotarou, the Spartan and Alicia in her armor, the named ones having mixed difficulty handling themselves, and protecting each other from the dark thing. "Wha- What's happening?" Setsuna exclaimed seeing it all happen beneath them.

"Forget asking!" Rachel proclaimed immediately. "We gotta get in there and pull their asses out of there!"

"Wait!" Setsuna stopped her, to take a look at the sinister form attacking them. She gasped loudly when she saw who it was. "That's Negi-sensei! His Dark Magic must have taken over!"

"Wait, that's Negi-chan!" Rachel asked, taking another look. "...Fuck, this is gonna be harder than I thought, if it's him."

"Erm... shall we?" Setsuna asked gently whilst summoning forth her blade that Konoka gave her upon their Pactio forming.

"Yeah... Let's before this party becomes worse than it is." The shapechanger drew her own Falx blade and jumped first into the fray.

"What the hell is that?" Kenichi burst out of himself, seeing Negi's terrifying form.

"Um, well-!" Konoka tried to explain, but words failed her.

"That would be his Magia Erebea." Fate said shortly. "Dark Magic."

"Dark magic?" Ukita exclaimed, shocked fully.

"It's a bit of a- Hey, what gives!" Kazumi, who had stayed quiet mostly, felt a rough hand grasp her shoulder.

"Hey!" Konoka said, getting one as well.

"Ow!" Luna said shortly, being grasped as well.

Fate felt one take his own arm. "I thought I said-" He was cut short by seeing the Gith Archmage having grasped all four of them with each of his arms, since apparently, he had four arms at the time, and his eyes were glowing bright blue.

"The Githyanki got four arms!" Both martial artists shouted, seeing that sight as well as everyone else. "We're screwed."

"Silence." Ashracai demanded of them. "I'm finding out about this Magia Erebea right now. "Do not interrupt me." He instructed them shortly, while Negi was going on a rampage, and then they saw Rachel and Setsuna intervene the possessed mage in his attacks, to hold him off until at least Alicia got away from him. "...So that is how it is." Ashracai said quietly.

"Eh?" Konoka said. "That fast for you to find out?" She asked while the Archmage removed a belt from underneath his cloak and picked a few small things out of a backpocket. Then she felt two of the four arms that Ashracai had at the moment, the next thing she knew was that they had jumped off the platform. All she could do was scream loudly in fear.

"Why are we falling off! Why are we falling off!" Kenichi's voice was heard next to her, and the healer noticed the martial artist being held by the Gith as well. Then, a loud thump and crack with an abrupt stop.

"Time is of the essence right now." Ashracai said putting them down. "You two stay here. Konoka, I need you to hold on to this." Without letting her have a say, he had hung a beautiful necklace around her neck, a large ruby linked in a platinum chain. "If you wear that, everything should be fine. Also have this." He handed her a card that featured some sort of dismounted knight with a greatsword in hand. "It's a Servant card. If you use it, then you'll summon a magic Servant to come to your side and follow your instructions." Then he turned to Kenichi. "Shirahama Kenichi, was it? I want you to protect Konoka at all costs. I'll give you this to aid." He handed the young man a Servant card as well, this one featuring a bowman with a mask, rendering its identity unknown.

"Wait." Konoka said, getting the Archmage's attention. "How do I summon the Servant? And what will it do?"

"The Servant will aid me in the task I intend to do. It'll know what to do. All it needs are your orders, or permission to do so alongside me." He instructed her. "To summon the Servant, you just need to say its Title."

"Not that I know what the title is..." Konoka tried to explain her situation to him.

"...Saber." He said shortly. Konoka repeated the Title to the card and that worked. The card split into two energy forces, one of those going into her arm to form elaborate tattoos on it, the other took shape in front of her. It turned into a kneeling knight, clad in really archaic armor, chain-mail beneath strong bronze colored scales of some giant beast the knight had probably slain in the past. Along with a short encompassing white mantle, the knight had no helmet, revealing... her to be a Githyanki as well. She had long black hair tied into a horsetail and she had more features that made her seem more... human looking than what Ashracai looked like.

"Once again, I have been summoned." The named Saber spoke softly. "I have rested a long while and come forth yet again to-" She stopped when she looked up to view a frightened Konoka in front of her. Saber rose up fast to take a better look. She was considerately much taller than the healer. "You aren't my usual Master."

"A-hem." Ashracai interrupted that awkward moment between the two. "Little time to explain, Saber. But we need to save somebody."

"Who?" Saber asked and the mage pointed to the great battle where Negi was holding off against the others, minus a fleeing Alicia with Lochaber. "I see..." She said, grasping the situation. "And you gave me to another because...?"

Ashracai pointed to the necklace around Konoka's neck. "That is why. We've done this before, Saber. We're going to do it once more."

"What? Do what?" Kenichi tried to be in the loop.

"Long story, no time." The Archmage told him. "Cut short, we're going to stop Negi." He said later.

"And how are you going to do that?" Kenichi asked of them this time.

"Everything will be revealed in due time." Ashracai explained. "In due time. Whilst Saber understands what we're about to do, I'm afraid that Konoe Konoka, does not. Even with her own partner out there fighting Negi, or whatever it is taking hold of him, it is not enough. My method will work, and Saber will be the one to execute it along with me, but we do need Konoka's permission to do it in the first place."

"So... you want me to give you permission to aid this situation?" Konoka asked them, bringing out her smart side again.

"We won't lie." Saber started off. "What we would do will seem horrifying to you at first, and cause major confusion. For us to do this without any complication, we need this out of the way. Besides, you are my Master at the moment, Lady. What is your order for me in this battle?"

The healer didn't think of any at first, but a glance back at the battle where Negi was holding off Rachel and Setsuna, whilst Asuna had to carry a wounded Kotarou back, and Alicia had put her dad on her back to fall back as well, She reached a conclusive one for Saber. "...Please. I... I want you to save Negi-kun. He doesn't know that he's out of control, he can't get a grip of this... So," She paused to stop a few tears that had come out and took a deep breath. "My orders are this: Whatever you plan to do, you must save Negi-kun. I don't think I could settle for less."

"...Understood, Master." Saber said, turning then to the Archmage and nodded. "Give me the weapon needed for this." She asked of him.

"Finally, now we can set thought into action." He replied and pulled a great two-bladed sword, two long blades sharing the same handle, each on its own end. The first blade was glowing brightly white like the sun, warm and gentle, and the other was its direct counterpart, pitch-black and held a near scary and cold atmosphere to it. "This is what we'll be using."

"I see..." Saber responded, before noticing Konoka's distress. "Have no fear, Master." She calmed her whilst grasping the weapon. "No matter how many times I would stab him, Negi-kun would never die from this blade."

"Huh." Kenichi said, putting his stress to relief. "I guess that's something at least to be happy about." Then he recalled the card that he had been given temporarily. Seeing that the card had a bowman on it, he could already guess the Title for it. "Um... Archer?"

To his call, the same special effects that occurred for Konoka happened to him. Only, to him, came out a beautiful human woman with auburn hair and blue eyes. She was clad in leather armor underneath a beautiful silk robe and adorned with several small magical trinkets, most noticed a circlet on her head. To prove that she was indeed an Archer, she had a powerful double-curved bow made out of polished wood of an unearthly type, the wood itself seeming like iron on appearance, along with the quiver that normally came with a bow. "Whoa..." He could get out, as she took a look at him, then nodded, acknowledging his position as her Master.

"Now then, shall we get going?" Saber asked.

"Not yet." Ashracai replied. "I have one last spell to cast before we head into battle."

"Huh?" Both humans there, minus Archer, looked at the Archmage who first closed his eyes. Suddenly, his second pair of arms grew back inside him, showing that they had only been grown temporarily. Then he opened the eyes again, only they were glowing crimson red. It didn't take long before some drain of magic energy stole away most of Konoka's own mana, as well as a few others with magic energy there felt themselves bereft of magic energy. It all accumulated into the Gith, and he began to glow more bright white himself.

Finally, an explosion, but not one that had shockwaves or big boom. This one wasn't soundless, but it barely made a dent on anything nearby. When the light faded off, it was concentrated inside Ashracai. He was glowing brightly white, save his color changing cloak and his crimson eyes. "I am ready now." He spoke with an otherworldly voice, sounding very emotionless at the time. "Now let us make haste to where the one we shall assist, lest he succumbs fully to the disease inside him."

"Understood, Ashracai." Saber acknowledged that and the two Githyanki were off in a speed that Konoka had seen before. Archer stayed behind with the two normal humans, keeping her bow ready as well as anything else she had at her disposal.

Negi-kun... Konoka thought to herself, seeing them off.

Not to being unfair, but Setsuna and Rachel were both having major trouble against Negi's Gospel of Darkness, and things weren't getting better. The young mage seemed to get faster and stronger the longer he was trapped in Magia Erebea's clutches and he didn't have any control over himself either. So far, though, he hadn't used his Raiten Taisou yet, but he didn't seem to need it this time. The two birdwomen had enough on their hands keeping him away from his original target, Aristodemus, who for the moment was being carried away by the little blond girl in armor. As much as he wanted to stay and fight himself, the Spartan had only moments ago been crushed by a big rock slide not far from them and it still hurt.

"...Was he this tough last time you tried to fix him!" Rachel shouted as the two of them collided against one another. "I mean, fuck, okay, he's a little out of it now, but no way that a little boost up in power would make him this strong!"

"I don't know!" Setsuna yelled back. "It hasn't manifested since Ostia, so we didn't have much trouble with it!"

"Well, something triggered the shit to come back!" Rachel responded as Negi came straight at them. "And I don't got time to find what that was! Cuz here he comes again!" She jumped up into the air whilst Setsuna whistled across the ground to try another attack on the possessed mage. "Locos umbrae regnans, Scathach, in manum meum iaculum daemonium cum spinis trias!" The elder birdwoman cried out, summoning forth three spears of Light around herself, homing in on a specific spot. "Iaculatio Lucis!"

The three spears of light slammed down against the ground where Negi was at the moment, and then Setsuna charged in against him, sword drawn. "Shinmeiryuu Ougi... Raimeiken!" her Blade sparkled with lightning as well. However, she made a spot check (1) through the smoke that happened when the spears came down. Negi had narrowly dodged all three of them, and as Setsuna couldn't back out of her charge, he also caught her sword with his left hand. "Oh, crap!" Was all the swordswoman could say, waiting for the inevitable counterattack.

Only, it didn't come. She found herself somewhere else, away from Negi, on a cliff overlooking the whole battlefield. "Wha- where am I? Who-?"

"We shall take it from here now, young Konoe Setsuna." A voice from behind her spoke softly, making her turn around. The most peculiar sight met her: A glowing white tall man in an ever changing cloak and a knight in apparent scale armor with chain-mail underneath. "I advise that thou retire to where thy companions are and mend their injuries while we handle this situation."

"Hey, who the fuck are you guys?" Rachel came down on the cliff, landing next to Setsuna. "I don't recall seeing any Special Tasks Group being sent into Mahora."

"We're not Special Tasks Group." The other one spoke, revealing herself female. "We have however, come to handle this."

"Wait a minute." Setsuna said, rising up. "You guys are Githyanki! What are you doing here?"

"That is not important right now. What is important, is that we secure your companion's safety of life before he is consumed by the wrath inside of him." The glowing Gith said serenely. "Now stand aside and let me and Saber here commence the fray with him."

Without giving them a chance for an argument, the tall Gith in cloak stepped forward first, followed by the knight. With a few simple gestures in the air and stretching his arms wide, he summoned forth a spear of Light, exactly like those Rachel had used. "Hey, that's mine, you fricking light-bulb!" The demon girl objected. But he didn't pay any heed to her, just took aim at a bewildered Negi and then flung the spear at him. His companion took off to another cliff, above Negi.

Immediately, the possessed mage evaded the light spear, sprinting in another direction, to be away from where the hail of spears were coming from. He occasionally fired back lightning arrows back, but he failed a spot check on what was behind him when he was firing off one. He also failed his dodge check miserably.

"...You. Child." A voice spoke to him harshly, sounding curiously enough both male and female at the same time. But he recognized the male one at least. "You blame and hate the Githyanki for what they have done to you, don't you?" He looked up to see a tall enemy in front of him, wielding a wicked blade. "And now you are just so mad and wrought with hatred at us that you want to fight to kill, right?" He almost instantly recognized the silver scaled eye-patch on the opponent's face.

"It's him!" That voice in command cried inside Negi's head. "It's Fashtar!"

Fashtar... Fashtar... You... you took her away! Unforgivable, unforgivable... Kill, kill, kill!

"...Then come and try me, for once. I'll be your opponent now." Fashtar urged him on, grinning widely at seeing Negi in his current state. "Or are you still too wrought with grief over that I took your little Nodoka from you, hmm?"

"Fashtar did it! Fashtar did it!" The power screamed within him, urging him to attack his opponent. "Kill, kill, kill! We must take her back! We must take her back!"

Take her back... take her back... Give! Her! Back! With that, the possessed mage charged relentlessly against his opponent, slamming the opposition high into the air.

"I believe he responded to that, Ashracai!" Saber cried over the roar that the demonic forces gave out when they attacked her.

"Indeed he did. Making him believe that thou were Fashtar, the one who originally stole away his pupil, was a clever strategy." The Archmage's voice said within her head, while he was flying behind the two combatants, keeping a moderate distance from them. "Keep the fray as short as you can, lest the magic gain too much of a foothold inside him."

"Understood." Saber acknowledged him and kept very close to the young mage, but holding him off almost effortlessly with her two-bladed greatsword.

Meanwhile, Setsuna and Rachel decided to aid the others who were taking refuge from the chaotic violence. "Is everyone alright?"

"Setsuna-san!" Asuna exclaimed first happily, before realizing something and then grabbing the swordswoman by the neck. "This is where you've been this whole fricking time!" She demanded of her. "Any idea how Konoka's been worried about you?"

"I didn't mean any harm!" Setsuna tried to defend herself. "I was just trying to do what was best for us all! I thought that if I-"

"That's enough." Aris cut them both off. "We can worry about why Setsuna left later, but right now we got another situation on our hands. Alicia, think you can switch?" He asked his daughter, who complied by opening up her armor and then jumping out, allowing the Spartan to take the seat instead. "We seemed to have some new allies out there handling Negi at the moment, but they could be in need of our help."

"I don't think so, Shishou." Rachel responded. "They seem quite capable of handling themselves against Negi-chan. Especially since that Mage just copied my Light Spears without even chanting. Fu-giii." She pouted slightly.

"Oooookay." Aris replied that, even though this was not the first time Rachel had pouted in front of him. "At any rate," He cleared his throat. "We'll need to step in in the event that something wrong happens to them. Oh, and Setsuna." He caught her attention. "In fact, everyone, once this is over, I'm going to do something you clearly will not like."

"What?" Asuna wanted to know.

"I won't say right now, because you would clearly object to it right away if I did. But remember this: You kids may have beaten me in open combat, but that doesn't mean that you can think that you're in charge. I'm the commander here still, and what I do is a necessity. What I'm going to do is demanded of me, and the least I must do. Don't push your luck with this, you've already gotten your point through regarding Miyazaki."

"Wait, Nodoka-san!" Setsuna exclaimed.

"Not now." Aris cut her off. "For now, let's just watch how it goes."

It was going... evenly, to be honest with you. Saber was definitely able to hurt Negi, but she couldn't get a proper hit on him with her blade, either of them. Ashracai boosted her up with as much magic he could spare to increase her fighting and speed, but it didn't seem enough against the young mage. The knight also held her own well against him, and didn't take any damage. But the elder mage there could not risk firing off offensive spells because of the risk of Saber being hit instead.

"This isn't working!" Saber cried out to her comrade. "We need an open break or something to get through!"

"Patience." The Archmage instructed her. "Just as the Ankheg waits for its prey to come to it, so must we hold until an opening is revealed unto us." Saber took that with a bitter swallow. As much as she knew that he was right in that status he was in right now, she also desperately wanted to end this battle as fast as they could. Saving the boy's life depended on it.

"I know that! But we're not hunting Ankhegs for their thick shells right now!" She yelled back, using every trick in the book to avoid being hit by the berserk mage. She also employed all of the offensive tricks to get at him, but only half of them worked. Even so, the speed they were going at each other was near blinding. The combatants' eyes had just adapted to the haste, but few actions even at this speed were almost enough to throw anyone off guard with one slight mistake. This child is amazing! From what Ashracai told me, this Magia Erebea only increases your power, but not your skills. This boy has seen a lot of dangerous combat up till now, and he's been practicing for something that is far beyond his reach. At this rate, he could actually become a Heroic Spirit, like me. Her thoughts were cut short when she landed a blow with her armored fist on the possessed boy, only for Negi to turn into Lightning. It was just a decoy made of lightning? She quickly caught him trying an attack from behind her. "Not fast enough!" She scolded him with a kick to his chest, only to have him turned into another decoy. I was wrong! Then she felt a hand on her back, through the mantle and scale armor. Shit! Binds made of solid wind embraced her and strapped her down to where she stood, immobilizing her. Negi ignored her then, believing she was no longer a threat and went for the Archmage flying a few meters away from them, only to be swatted away like a fly

"I shall draw his attention, Saber." Ashracai said shortly but was cut off by the Knight.

"No! I will keep him here!" Saber said, before hypnotizing the young mage into thinking that he's seeing Fashtar again. "Hey! Is this all you got, brat? Come on and finish it, will you?"

"Unforgivable..." Negi uttered so quietly that only Saber and the Archmage picked it up. "You... you made a mistake coming back here, Fashtar!" He roared, empowered by the dark magic.

"The stupid one here..." Saber said as he came in closer to try and kill her, moving her head away first before directing it at full speed into him. "...IS YOU!"

KLOOOOONG! A... headbutt. She did a headbutt on his forehead. The attack seemed to have effect, since Negi had been flown overhead her, whilst being severly dazed. She was dazed however as well, but less than him. Ooooo... I'm going to feel that one when I go to sleep again... Saber thought to herself before catching up some thoughts of a kind. "What?"

"Um... thank you for saving me... Negi-sensei..."

"Wait. We can't do this. A teacher and a student shouldn't do these things! Onee-chan says that..."

"Y-yes... that's right, isn't it? ...I'm sorry..."

What she's saying and what she's doing are completely different!

"Is someone like me... okay as a p-partner?"

"EH?"

"...Somehow I feel like I've been troubling you, Sensei, I'm sorry... So, in return... to be useful to Negi-sensei... I, I'll do my best so please ask whatever you like."

"I've liked you since the day we met, Negi-sensei! I... I love you, Negi-sensei!"

"...Ueeeh! I can't do that! I'd be unqualified as a teacher!"

"That's... that's what I really like about Negi-sensei..."

"It'll be your homework, okay?"

A girl I like... a girl I like...

So... that's what this is about... Saber thought to herself, seeing all those images from inside the boy's mind, before a voice snapped her back to where she was.

"Sunburst." Ashracai spoke softly in the Draconic language, firing a beam of sunlight right on the possessed mage, sending Negi straight down to the ground, blinded as well. "Saber? Are thou well now to do battle?"

"Yes..." Saber replied, breaking loose of the wind bindings effortlessly. "I now know how to end this."

Negi crashed a distance away from them, before getting rapidly up on his feet again. Now smoke seemed to come out of nowhere, surrounding the whole clearing. He couldn't tell what was happening around, but he heard at least three distinctive voices. As much as the thought of blowing the smoke away intrigued him, it seemed a better idea to get into the smoke and investigate them closer. Just to be on the safe side, his Ensis Exsequens blade glowed steadily in his right hand whilst he walked into the smoke.

"Come now." The male voice said, emotionless, whilst a minor cloud bank passed Negi's face. "Thou art getting closer to what you truly yearn for..."

"Not much to search, now..." The elder female one that was there spoke now to him, making him irritated at where they could be. It made him mad, furious, even ready to lash out at the next-

"...Negi-sensei?" A new voice said behind, but reflex caught him before sense did, making him turn around to attack. "Kyaaa!" That scream stopped him right where he was, before his glowing blade could hit the designated target. "Sensei... it's me..."

Negi's eyes changed back to their normal pupils just as he saw who it was. "...Nodoka...san?" He saw the young bookworm standing in front of him, and she seemed very much alright. No injuries, nothing stood out of the ordinary. It was just Nodoka standing there in front of him in that dress she wore when they went out during the last Mahora Festival.

"...Opening!" Another cried right next to him, brandishing the blade he's been holding off for so long. Before he could react, he had suddenly been impaled on the white glowing blade, as he saw Nodoka fade into smoke as well. "Deep apologies, but this was the only way."

"Hey, the smoke's clearing up!" Asuna called out to the others. "We can see what's going on now."

"Finally! I've been worried to death of what-" Kotarou said first but slowed down when he saw visible forms. "...was... going... on."

Everybody saw Negi being impaled on a blade held by a Gith warrior, her own face not showing a hint of an emotion about it.

"Okay, that's it." Kotarou said. "I don't care if they came to help, they just stabbed my rival!"

"Don't you mean 'Friend'?" Aris asked, still stuck in the Terminator armor.

"That's what he meant. It's written 'rival' but read 'friend'." Asuna explained.

"Oh. At any rate, before they do something else against him, I'd say we go in there right now and, as you children would say nowadays, whoop their butts. Who's with me?" Aris said, preparing the suit's cannons.

"Hell yeah!" Rachel shouted, readying her Falx.

"You're on!" Kotarou said, going now into full wolfman form.

"Indeed." Setsuna said, having now received back her Yuunagi.

"What are we waiting for!" Asuna demanded to know, getting out her own greatsword.

"Hey~!" Kisara's voice was heard in the background, making them see the Tae Kwondo girl together with Yue, who had gotten off the platform. "We're all over here!"

"What are you doing over there, Nanjou?" Aris yelled back at her.

"All due respect, we can do squat but watch. We also caught up with Konoe and Shirahama, telling us that those Gifs got some sort of plan of saving Negi-bozou." Kisara responded.

"Um, change of plans. I want Setsuna and Asuna with me on this, the rest of you get over to where they are, pronto."

"Got it." Rachel acknowledged the plan. "Come on, kids! Things could go boom, if my hairs standing up straight are correct!" Not giving the others a chance, she pulled away Kotarou and Alicia away from where they are.

"What'd you do that for?" Asuna wanted to know of the Spartan.

"As much as it sounds crazy, it's also very logical. And tactical. If what Nanjou said is true, then we need not worry about Negi's life in danger. If not, well, then Setsuna is gonna jump that Gith Knight and you'll be taking care of that mage." Aris informed her. "What's more, all three of us could outrun the blast if an explosion did happen. Alicia? No. Kotarou? He'd go as well, but not before he's secured Negi, and that would however, take too much time."

"How can you say that?" Asuna demanded to know of him. "Negi is of the royal bloodline, you know!"

"As are you, Asuna." Aris countered. "Furthermore, it is the bloodline, not an individual royal member, that I hold loyalty to. As long as either of you lives, I can do my-"

"Hey, look!" Setsuna diverted their attention to where Negi was. The Archmage had climbed with ease up a cliff overlooking the two locked combatants, whilst Negi was somehow starting to glow, with the Knight holding on to the blade, but focusing her eyes on her companion. "What is he doing?"

As soon as the mage jumped from the cliff, seemingly trying to land on the two, things snapped in their heads. "Trying to take Negi's head, it would seem like it." Asuna answered Setsuna, activating her Kankahou. "Let's get them!"

"With you, milady!" Aris shouted in response, getting his Silver Blade out. However, the Knight didn't seem to be willing to have the Archmage jump down on them. When the time was right, and Ashracai seemed at a seemingly high enough place, the warrior changed her grip on the handle and directed the pitch-black blade in a perfect angle...

To have her own mage speared atop the blade...

"What the?"

"Is that their plan!"

It was at that moment that the warrior noticed them. "...Quick! Get over here, now!" She instructed them, and in a blink, the Spartan had taken all three of them to where she was. "I'll admit that I was not planning for you to interfere, but things needs to go haywire sometimes."

"I'll take that as your way of saying 'improvisation', then." Aris said putting the girls down. "This had better not go boom in our faces."

"It won't." She replied to him. "Just watch for the moment." doing as they were instructed, all three fighters witnessed as while Negi began to glow slightly thanks to the white blade, Ashracai seemed to grow more dark because of the black one. But as the glow from Negi began to fade away, so did the dark magic that enveloped him. Eventually, they saw that Negi turned completely back to normal, unconscious because of the pain, but definitely alive, since he was still breathing. "It's done."

"What is?" Asuna asked, before seeing the Gith Archmage. Now it seemed like he was taken over by the Magia Erebea, as he certainly had the runes all over himself now. What was left of his former glowing white self, were his crimson red eyes and his cloak. "...At this stage, I'd freak over what's going on, but right now, I'm just too tired for it."

"That's convenient." The Gith Warrior said briefly before releasing Negi from the blade and then jamming her companion down onto the ground, releasing four apparent spikes to emerge from the main shaft, and then jammed them into the rock, leaving the Archmage stuck on the ground. "Now we leave." She said, lifting up Negi first, and then she teleported all of them away from the Archmage's body, making them appear at where the others were.

"Of all the things I've learned in my existence, I really should have learned some sort of actual teleportation." Aris said, getting finally out of his suit, and returning back to Alicia and Lochaber. "But why would we get here in such a-"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

"I thought you said there would be NO explosions!" The Spartan yelled at the Knight once the shockwaves and sounds had ended.

"No." Saber replied to him. "I said that the blade wouldn't cause any explosions. Furthermore, you said by your own words, 'better not go boom in our faces'. Which it did not."

"Set-chan!" Konoka exclaimed happily, ignoring the elders for once and went straight to hug the samurai girl, choking the poor hanyou in the process.

"Wait, this is where she's been all along?" Kazumi asked curiously, being there as well. In fact, everyone who was originally on the platform had come down there to where Kenichi and Konoka was when the Archmage entered the battle. "Odd."

"Indeed." Saber replied before turning to the healer girl. "Master."

"Eh, yes?" Konoka responded first.

"Master?" Everybody save the two Servants asked confused.

"Quick version." Archer spoke up with a heavy unknown accent before grabbing Kenichi's arm and showing the runes. "Saber and I are magical Servants, summoned by mages in order to fight alongside and protect them. Those who called us forth have these runes on their left arms to show that they are Masters."

"Wait, you can speak?" Kenichi asked the bowwoman.

"Aye. Though I preferred not to speak to you unless completely necessary, like now." Archer replied.

"A-hem." Saber caught their attention. "Master, do you have the necklace around your neck, still?" To her response, Konoka revealed the jewel necklace she wore, only now it was blinking sporadically. Fate decided to take a closer look at it.

"Best guess?" He said softly. "A form of soul jar, a phylactery designed to hold the creator's soul inside once they have died. Either that, or a necklace-orientated wand."

"You are correct on the former, good wizard." Saber replied. "Now that we know that Ashracai is safe, we can set our focus elsewhere. I would suggest that we return to some sort of sanctuary and mend our wounds and those of the boy."

"Okay, everyone, back to Castle Leuben Schult." Aris instructed all who were there. "It's been a long day now, and we're all willing to get out of this god-forsaken cold, don't you agree?"

"Oh yeah." Setsuna recalled from earlier. "Aristodemus-san, didn't you say that you would do something that you had to do once this was over?"

Ah yes, thank you for reminding me." Aris said. "Averruncus." He called to the construct.

"Commander." Fate acknowledged the call.

"As much as I don't want to say this in front of Asuna and even Konoka, I'm gonna have to ask you to put Konoe Setsuna under arrest for dereliction of duty and minor desertion." Those words shocked the named girls into a minor shock. "Don't put her in bars, just place her somewhere you know is safe until I reach a verdict on what to do."

"What?" Asuna exclaimed, taking the words out of Konoka's mouth. "You can't do that!"

"Yes, he can, Asuna-san." Setsuna said sternly. "And he has every reason to do so." She said as Fate set magical locks on her forearms. "I won't object to the arrest. It's better that I take it as it is, lest it grows worse."

"...I did say you wouldn't like it." Aris explained the situation to the redhead, before walking on back to the platform, and then everybody followed in tow with an arrested Setsuna and a badly injured and unconscious Negi.

A/N: By the time you're reading this, my fingers really hurt. Not from writing, but heavy lifting. I do a lot of things whilst unemployed for now, including lifting very heavy stuff, like 800 lbs. bales of compressed hay. Man, those are a bitch to even budge. And I'm mentally exhausted now. It may take a while before I return with more magic and mysterious stuff that is left unexplained.

Let me make a confession first: YES! I ripped off the Servant system from Fate/Stay Night! I took Saber, Archer, Berserker and the rest of those dudes and replaced them with other guys. I did it because it seemed so Cool!

As much as it pains me to say: Yes, Setsuna is under arrest. And there are very good reasons for it. Don't worry, she will not get a court martial. But arrested was the least I could do without receiving flames. If you don't like it, bite me.'

Well, that's it for now. See you about... next month, or so. I guess.