Pergrande: 130
Active: Keele, Aki, Blair, Mii, Lucia, Shade, Cloud, Elly, X, Rajaron.
Alvarez: 130
Active: Brandish, Jacob, Oriana, Julius, Alice, Ken, G, Zero, Little Queen, Ragen.
Fiore: 115
Active: Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Jellal, Sting, Minerva, Kagura, Luke, Reve, Bacchus.
Seven: 115
Active: Ace, Tia, Jack, Heartless, Joker, Spade, Spark, Daigo, Strong, Diamond.
Joya: 105
Active: Allegretto, Polka, Beat, Rondo, Jazz, Yeager, Marx.
Bosco: 90
Active: Gaia, Edna, Nasir, Verona, Alex, Daryan, Lore, Magnus, Hiruka, Yakuza.
Minstrel: 70
Active: Rob, Raku, Renae, Asbel, Medusa, Byrnhild, Tyson, Amadio, Felix, David.
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Despite Asbel's ability to see through Jacob's invisible attacks, he was still having a difficult time keeping up with him. Invisible whips, daggers, swords, you name it. Asbel was using his own sheathed sword to parry them all, but he was no closer to actually getting in on Jacob, immediately putting him at a disadvantage. While he was used to having to fight other assassins, Jacob was on a completely different level than those he fought before. "Unfortunately, me being able to see what he's doing doesn't make this fight any easier…!" Absel shifted his head to the side, a knife grazing his left cheek and drawing blood in the process. "Gh…!"
"You've got some pretty sweet moves, kid." Jacob admitted while adjusting one of his gloves. "Most people would've been overwhelmed by that so far. So you're not bad…but not good enough to beat me yet."
"That a fact?" Asbel adjusted his stance. He wasn't going to stand here and get talked down to by this badly. He gripped the hilt of his sword and swung it forward. "Gush Stroke!" This simple motion created a powerful gust of wind that wildly whipped about.
"…!" Jacob was impressed with such a technique. While it did carry enough power to beat away at him, it made him cover his eyes which was the most important part. "Not too shabby…!" He admitted, using his arm to cover his eyes. This granted Asbel the chance he needed to attack, leaping forward while drawing his sword.
"Take this! Phantom Pulse!" Black orbs with white outlines appeared all around him, shooting towards Jacob while he recovered from the gust of wind. Much to Asbel's chagrin, Jacob was still able to avoid the incoming spheres, which crashed into the ground violently. Landing on his feet, he pushed forward and swung his blade at Jacob's side, his speed allowing him to get a hit in, making a mark across his chest. "Got you."
Jacob grit his teeth from the hit. But he didn't allow Asbel a moment of reprieve, tripping him up and slamming him to the ground. Asbel went to counter, but Jacob fired back with a swift throat chop, effectively silencing the male before he could strike. Asbel flipped up, swinging his blade at Jacob's leg, but he kicked the blade up. "Nice try." Asbel aimed a punch in retaliation, but the master assassin just slipped around him and gripped his arm, twisting it to lock the joint.
"Gh…!" Asbel grit his teeth. This man was a monster! He couldn't even get a hit in, which said a lot.
"Your tricks aren't bad, but as an assassin, you should know that fancy tricks are the slowest way of taking down your target." Jacob said, further twisting Asbel's arm to prevent his movement. "Your damage output may be higher than my own, much like the rest of my colleagues…but I wasn't named a Spriggan for nothing."
"And I'm not a member of Royal Viper just to be tossed around…! SPIRAL SURGE!" Asbel's other eye flashed purple as he forced out the power he used against Blair the other day. The sudden spiral of flame forced Jacob backwards with burn marks on his hands.
"Kch…!" Jacob was hoping to subdue his opponent before this happened. But that was only a testament to Asbel's ability in his eyes. Most threats would have been neutralized before having the chance to fight back. He was right to take this one on first.
Asbel moved so fast, there were several afterimages of him circling around Jacob. This was a trick of speed as the Royal Viper attempted to take his opponent by surprise. "Aurora Lotus!" The afterimages closed on Jacob, slashing at him all at once. The assassin was barely able to evade majority of the slashes, but the final one came from above. Asbel dove down, catching Jacob by surprise from behind, landing a powerful slash across his back.
"Agh…!" Jacob grunted as he was caught. "So those weren't afterimages after all…you were just moving that fast! Hah! Sweet move, kid!"
"I'm not done yet!" Asbel's blade lit up in the purple flames swirling around his body. The man dove forward, preparing to slash at Jacob. "Brightfire Blade!"
"No. You're done." Jacob held his hands apart, creating a small space between them, a black orb appearing between his palms. Just as Asbel slashed at Jacob, he was taken into this spatial rift that Jacob had complete control over. Only three people were able to escape or manipulate this on their own: Tia thanks to Heartless' help, Lucy with her trick using Gemini, and Roy. Asbel had no such techniques to aid him out of this one. Jacob then looked behind him, feeling the searing heat from the attack behind him. Asbel did manage to slash, but since Jacob warped him, the attack was redirected and utterly destroyed the area behind him. "Huh. That would've been unpleasant." After a few moments, he then let Asbel go, the man now KO'ed on the ground. "But that wasn't a job I could afford to botch."
"And just like that, Jacob has defeated Asbel. That's five more points for Alvarez, pushing them past Pergrande for 1st place for now at 135!" Chapati reported.
Rob was smoking a cigarette when the announcement was made. He was fully confident that Minstrel would be able to sweep the competition without any losses, or very few at most. But hearing that his best friend was the first one to go down ignited a fire within him. "Alvarez?" He said to himself before exhaling a puff of smoke. "I'll go take out one of theirs in return, then…"
Beat slid backwards after being shot at by Mii. Even by taking some of the medicine to transform himself slightly, he was still outmatched. Why couldn't he beat this woman who reminded him of everything he hated!? "Grrr…!" Beat roared while pointing his rifle forward, the supercharged magic flowing through his veins empowering his next attack. A gigantic blast of white fire shot forward, incinerating everything that came its way while soaring towards Mii.
"Won't you just give up already!?" Mii pointed Purple Pot forward, clicking the trigger. The emerald bullet that erupted from the barrel was enough to match what Beat shot, resulting in an explosion. It did push Mii back, but since they were confined to a cage of Beat's own creation, her back hit the fiery bars, which made her yelp out in surprise. "Ow…! Stupid angel slaying…"
"I have to win…!" Beat told himself, standing back up after being knocked down.
"How far are you willing to go to win!?" Mii shouted. "Didn't I already tell you!? You're a child! You shouldn't be thinking about revenge or want blood on your hands. Once that happens there is no going back! Why are you so obsessed with it!?"
"It's the only thing that keeps me alive…!" Beat lunged forward, white flames igniting around his fist. He swung his fist forward, aiming for Mii's face. Mii caught the punch with her free hand, sliding back since Beat's transformation did increase his power considerably. This of course made Mii burn her hands and she could feel it, but her green eyes narrowed while staring into Beat's own.
"You're willing to feel something so badly that you don't even care what happens to your body…" Mii frowned. In a way, she was the exact same. She was doing it right now, willingly grasping onto the one thing that could hurt her just to feel something. Her body was scarred all over because she couldn't feel anything. Though her being swept up in her own thoughts left her open and Beat slammed his free hand into her cheek, making her stagger. He then grabbed her face, slamming her into the ground as white flames exploded form his arm. "
"I got you…!" Beat's eyes turned wild. This was his chance to put an end to this! His chance to exact revenge!
Mii grit her teeth, not allowing this to last even a second longer. "I told you…" She pressed her boot to Beat's stomach, a bullet flying out to explode against him. "I don't have time for this."
"GAAAH!" Beat flew backwards, landing on the ground on his back. He coughed up some blood, his body already reaching its limit since he wasn't himself. He attempted to stand up, but Mii stepped on his chest. "You…why can't I…best you…?"
Mii stared directly into Beat's eyes. "You're fighting for the empty, selfish gratification of revenge. You could turn into the strongest monster in the world…and I'd still have no choice to beat you…because I'm fighting…for important people." Without wasting anymore words, Mii just punched Beat in the head to knock him out cold.
"And Pergrande retakes the lead with Mii's defeat of Beat, shooting up to 140." Ashnard remarked. It was just as he said; Beat never stood a chance against Mii, not now, or ever.
There were numerous fights going on in Joya at this point, all while the barrier steady closed in. What started as a slow morning rapidly picked up along the day. With over 60 people still fighting it out or planning to survive until time was up, there was no shortage of action wherever people looked. Alex was in a bit of a bind as she was being attacked by both Rondo and Jazz from Joya; while the host country was taking a beat of a beating in the beginning of this free for all, that didn't mean they had no chance of victory. Rondo assaulted Alex with a flurry of slashes from her twin blades, using her speed to confound her foe. "Agh!" Alex grunted while glancing around, her body covering itself in armor to mitigate the damage she received.
"Hah! Do you think that'll save you!?" Rondo scoffed, continuing to strike Alex from various angles, even if her attacks were doing nothing. "When Joya's fastest and strongest knight work together, there's no one that will last!"
Jazz came in at that moment, swinging his gigantic broadsword down at Alex, but she countered by turning her own arm into a sword. If there was one thing her father's research on her did, it was this attribute. "I'm not a slouch either! I was trained by a dragon!" Alex said with a smirk. "Stone Dragon's Ascent!" On that call, numerous stones rose up from the ground, attempting to pierce Rondo and Jazz. Rondo was struck in the gut, throwing her backwards, while Jazz was cut in the leg.
"Impressive. So this is the power of a Dragon Slayer…" Jazz was grinning. "But as much as I would like to humor this power…I'm afraid as Captain of Joya's Royal Guard, I must win here and now." He used his strength to push Alex backwards, pursuing her immediately.
Alex landed on the ground and flipped over. Rondo attempted to sneak attack her, but she sensed it coming and shifted to the side, slamming her leg into the pink haired knight's side to send her toppling over. This gave her barely enough time to defend against Jazz's blade with her own, but Jazz was much more forceful this time. "Gnk…Earth Dragon's Roar!" Lips parted, sharp rocks forcefully erupting from Alex's mouth. The power of earth cut and bruised Jazz, forcing the mighty knight backwards as he suffered unexpected damage.
"This girl is annoying…! Delaying the inevitable!" Rondo cursed. "Jazz, set her up! I've got enough Echoes stored up to finish her off!"
Jazz nodded, brushing off the injuries he sustained and slammed his sword into the ground. "Magma Pillar!" The ground trembled for a moment. Alex sensed what was happening and attempted to move but the radius was far too large for her to escape from. A pillar of heated rock erupted from the ground, shooting her into the air against her will. Before she had the chance to recover, Jazz swung his sword once more, electric chains wrapping around Alex to keep her suspended in the air. "Plasma Chains!"
"Gnk…! I can't move…!" Alex attempted to break free. But the chains squeezed tighter around her body until…her armor completely cracked open, leaving her body exposed.
Rondo used this chance to strike, leaping into the air with her blades pointed forward. The point of her attacking Alex so many times was to store up Echoes, which allowed the Royal Knights of Joya to bolster their next attack considerably. "Fluer de Lance!" Rondo struck the exposed Alex, an explosion occurring due to the raw power she had stored. Alex fell to the ground, serving as the first one from Bosco to fall. Thus pushing Joya's score from 105 to 110. Rondo landed and dusted herself off. "We're not out of this competition yet."
David was a large man. So he knew that walking around alone would either intimidate people or make people want to team up against him. As far as he was concerned, he would be able to take anyone that came his way. So he kept his senses sharp…and when a shift in the earth occurred, he was quick to move, evading several rising vines that attempted to ensnare him. "Oh? Do I have some company?" Just as he took a step forward, the ground froze under his feet, causing him to slip and lose his footing. "Huh?!"
"NOW!" Diamond exclaimed while revealing herself from behind a rock.
"You know what they say!" Spark appeared in front of David, while Spade appeared behind him. "Opposites attract!" Spade created two red magic seals on David's hands, while Spark created two blue ones. The opposite fields of magnetism lifted David's hands above his head against his will. "Strong!"
Strong then emerged from behind a tree, raising his club high and aimed it at the top of David's skull with as much force as he could muster. Knowing his opponent's ranking, he couldn't afford to deliver anything less than his strongest swing. "STRONG SWING!" There was a large dust cloud that kicked up from the moment contact was made. David wasn't able to break free in time to evade Strong's attack, so the four Dealer mages waited with baited breath for the dust to settle, and as it did…
"AHAHAHA!" David let out a hearty laugh. Even if he couldn't properly defend himself, he was still able to form a helmet comprised of thick earth around his skull…even then, Strong broke that. "Now that's what I call teamwork. Red Falcon could learn a lot from you four…"
"What, he tanked that!?" Diamond gasped. "But that assault was primed to take out anyone!"
"And it would've!" David agreed. "Anyone but me. I admit that swing had a lot of power to it…even my helmet broke. I can still feel it, actually…gonna be left with one hell of a headache after. You four ain't bad…it takes a lot to even surprise me the way you did…which means you four together are dangerous. But…"
"Strong, hit him again!" Spark said.
"Right!" They still had David restrained. Strong went to swing once more, but David's aura exploded, shattering his magical restraints while blowing everyone backwards. "Gah!"
"I'm the ace of Red Falcon." David said as his raw magic power let itself be known. He already knew he couldn't afford to hold back against these four, if they had a trap like that up their sleeves. "I'm called the Green Eyed Devil for a reason, kids…this'll be a worthwhile warm up…"
"Everyone, be careful. Alex was just taken out." Magnus reported to his guild via telepathy. They had the advantage of communication and couldn't afford to waste it. "I apologize for not being able to help…"
"Don't worry about it." Daryan said aloud. "We all knew there was a chance of this happening going alone. But sometimes we get in each other's way, so this was the best course of action. Just stay where you are, Magnes. With you and Hiruka, we've got a clear view of everything going on…we need it to stay that way."
"Stay safe everyone." Magnes said.
Daryan nodded and continued on his merry way. A bit too merry, since his guard was completely down. But as one would expect, he relied on his Dragon Slayer instincts to carry him, and carry they did as he narrowly avoided a slash from behind. The slash cleaved a nearby boulder cleanly! "Whoa!" Daryan turned around, only to see Renae Martell standing a few feet behind him.
"I missed?" Renae was surprised and her expression showed it. From what she'd seen of Daryan over the last week, she was certain that would've taken him out then and there. "I suppose you're not the bumbling fool you play yourself off to be."
"Always surprises people when I show a bit of competence, eh?" Daryan said while grinning. "But I hate to break it to you, I'm taken…and I hate not being able to take a woman out to lunch."
"Cute." Renae said sarcastically while rolling her eyes, but her blade gave off an intimidating aura. This Martell wasn't going waste any time playing with Daryan. "But Minstrel has a tournament to win, so I must defeat you. Someone close to me has just been defeated and it's left me in a sour mood...and you just happened to be within my sights. Don't take it personally." She lunged forward, swinging her sword down at Daryan, but he blocked it by creating a bone encased in iron. The heat from the plasma of Renae's sword made him grin, since he felt how dangerous it was.
"That's just how I like it! I love strong women, so thanks for blessing me with your beauty and arrival!" As always, the Skeletal Dragon had to make a pass. But he was more focused on the fight ahead of him, because he knew that this was going to be far from easy.
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Pergrande: 135
Active: Keele, Aki, Blair, Mii, Lucia, Shade, Cloud, Elly, X, Rajaron.
Alvarez: 130
Active: Brandish, Jacob, Oriana, Julius, Alice, Ken, G, Zero, Little Queen, Ragen.
Fiore: 115
Active: Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Jellal, Sting, Minerva, Kagura, Luke, Reve, Bacchus.
Seven: 115
Active: Ace, Tia, Jack, Heartless, Joker, Spade, Spark, Daigo, Strong, Diamond.
Joya: 110
Active: Allegretto, Polka, Rondo, Jazz, Yeager, Marx.
Bosco: 90
Active: Gaia, Edna, Nasir, Verona, Daryan, Lore, Magnus, Hiruka, Yakuza.
Minstrel: 70
Active: Rob, Raku, Renae, Medusa, Byrnhild, Tyson, Amadio, Felix, David.
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While the final event was going on, Crown Castle was being protected by the Wizard Hunters and whatever guards remained. Six figures stood on the roof of the castle, preparing to silently make their way inside. "Evading security was a cinch with Erik's hearing~!" Sorano whispered, clasping her hands together.
"We're probably going to be fighting anyway…so I don't see why we had to avoid the front door." Sawyer said while scratching his head.
"Ultear and Meredy are in trouble…!" Richard exclaimed, but was immediately told to shush by the others. "Apologies…! But we must rescue them. It's a favor from Jellal, and I cannot refuse it."
"He's got a point…as much as I don't want to admit it." Macbeth sighed. Woken up for this? At least it was something worthwhile. "I'll be sure to give those Wizard Hunters a memorable nightmare."
"I can hear them." Erik said with his one eye, staring down the window they were peering into. "The lowest floor…the dungeon. That's where they're being held captive. There's a Wizard Hunter watching them, too. Chances are we'll be fighting all five of them."
"Good thing there are six of us here, right?" Yukino was the sixth one of the group. She made Sorano take her along as soon as she heard her comrades were in trouble. "We have the advantage!"
"Technically seven with my brother waiting for the signal." Richard said with a firm nod.
"Did she really have to come?" Macbeth asked Sorano.
"I didn't have much choice. I can't be away from my sister after we reunited!" Sorano hugged Yukino, which was a bit embarrassing considering the circumstances.
"Alright, enough messing around." Erik kicked the window open and jumped inside the castle, the others following behind him. "Orcacion Seis has revived for one final mission. Can you hear it, Meredy? Ultear? The sound of liberation coming to obtain your hard fought freedom once more. Let's move!"
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Next Time: Liberation Mission.