Chapter 90: The Wrong Path

"Kiora! Kiora!" Maggie shouted repeatedly, waiting for an answer from her fellow demoness. She received none, causing her to growl in annoyance, unsure of what happened. "Daityas! I can't contact Kiora! She was just with me, so what happened!?"

While Maggie continued to wonder, waiting for an answer from Daityas, the King of Hell himself stood upon the highest peak of what remained of Tartarus, looking over towards where Kiora stood, facing off with Sidney Castle of White Eclipse. It caused him to grin maliciously, keeping the secret from Maggie. "Kiora...can't be found right now. Maggie, it's up to you to finish the job. You're more than enough, don't worry. Especially at their present states, you can pick them off easily once they finish beating each other to a pulp, like a vulture. Don't fail me."

"Don't fail me?" She said aloud to herself, no longer using telekinesis to speak to Daityas yet left alone in her own conversation with herself. "He isn't usually the one to hesitate in speech, yet when I asked about Kiora...shit, I don't have time." Maggie sighed then turned towards the horizon where she just was with her partner. "You better not bloody die, Kiora. Whatever you're doing over there, you'll succeed, right?"

The question lingered in the air as the lava demon ran off towards her location, and as Kiora stood before Sidney in the eery atmosphere he created, that same conversation Maggie and Daityas had entered, floating as physical words around them. They obviously caught Kiora's attention, causing her to look around as they floated about in a haunting manner. "What's this?" She asked.

"A rarity. The Ghost Dimension keeps things like telepathy or teleportation from entering or escaping, but it seems that your partners' telepathy was strong enough to manifest into actual words. Kiora can't be found, Daityas says, yet..." Sidney's eyes trailed upwards, causing Kiora to turn and spot the demon standing at Tartarus's highest peak. "He sees us clearly. At first I was worried what his motives were, but right now, it seems he's on my side temporarily. Most likely for a personal gain of his own, correct?"

"He wants to absorb me...that's why he didn't dive for Crow so suddenly. He sensed you coming..." Kiora would bare her teeth in anger, trying to quell it, yet failing ridiculously as her own curse power began to cause the area around them to rumble.

"It seems your friend Maggie is in trouble too. Daityas is lying to her, saying that she's enough for the job. He's talking about Kyouka and Sayla of Tartarus and Erza, right? Around this time, Minerva is with Titania as well. I don't think —"

"Shut up!" Kiora shouted, lunging towards Sidney at full speed. Despite the mind games the Ghost Mage played, he knew this wasn't going to be a dominating performance by him. Kiora's opening kick painted that picture vividly; the clash between her leg and his defending forearm shook the ground to its core as a shockwave travelled outward in every direction.

"I have no sympathy for your fate at all." Sidney continued, holding the stalemate strong. "Even when your camp came to realization that you were just being used as puppets, you chose to change your puppeteer, and nothing else. Instead of following Zeref's wishes, you simply followed behind Daityas. Kiora, just by the stories of you and the little interaction we've had, I'm aware that you had the ability to walk away from all of this. Yet, here you are. You made this grave. Now I'll put you in it."

"Shut your...cocky mouth!" The red eyed demoness shouted, swinging her scythe directly for Sydney's neck. He ducked it completely, leading with a right knee of his own that was parried by Kiora's scythe's handle. Though she was able to defend his opening attack, the second one, a kick aimed for her chin, caused Kiora to slip, stumbling back once before regaining her bearings. In that instant, Sidney was gone from sight, leaving nothing but a puff of white smoke where he once stood.

"Your little tricks won't give you the upper hand!" She yelled, turning to a reappearing Sidney just above her. She swung her scythe once again, and for anyone else, Kiora would have cleaved them in half, but Sidney showed evasive ability beyond the average human's, twisting his frame in mid air to avoid the scythe without any panic. Using that twisting momentum, the ace of White Eclipse led with his left leg, slamming an upside down kick to the top of Kiora's skull. It caused her to bend over, hunched over as Sidney touched down again. Spinning once, Sidney then aimed his left heel for Kiora's abdomen, only for the demoness to defend with her own forearm. With her free hand she created a black circle that appeared just beneath Sidney. He leapt straight into the air, and as he did, two pixelated beams of darkness chased after him, eventually surrounding and capturing the Ghost Mage before slamming him back into the ground.

"Hmph!" She gave a small smirk, feeling good about herself after such an attack, but as the smoke cleared that grin quickly faded away as Kiora noticed Sidney standing tall with less than decent bruising on his arms from the impact. Brushing himself off, he turned his attention back to his opponent, nodding once as if to give her a sign of approval. Though to Kiora, it felt condescending more than anything, to be accepted by a mere human. She placed her right hand to the ground, creating six elongated shapes of darkness, that would rise then curl before aiming their spiked ends for Sidney. To counteract, Sidney placed both his hands to the ground as well, creating a wall of tombstones that would halt the attack in its tracks. Successfully done, he pushed the tombstones away, causing both techniques to disperse before creating four more that surrounded the demoness to shield her vision. He charged forth, and as he reached her, Kiora broke through the tombstone in front of her, also using that fist to swing for Sidney's nose. Her fist then went right through him thanks to his transparency ability, mimicking that of a ghost. Reforming once more, Sidney took the opening to swing his own right fist, aiming for Kiora's skull himself, but just as he pulled a transparent act, the embodiment of darkness performed a similar method of her own. The punch connected, but Sidney's fist ran right through, her face dissipated in a pixelated fashion of darkness before reforming again instantly.

"Embodiment." Sidney reminded himself, yet taking note of the beginning of their fight. "She didn't use that at first. So how fast can she conjure the ability? It takes me a tenth of a second, so I should gamble on nothing faster than that."

He was dissecting as he fought, and Kiora, she didn't have time for the same strategy. She just wanted Sidney dead by her own hands, and she intended to do so by a snap of her fingers, creating two familiar distractions from thin air. Cerberus the three headed hound and Ouroboros the enormous serpent appeared both behind and beneath Sidney and though he avoided both of their initial strikes by leaping past Ouroboros and side stepping Cerberus, he left himself open for Kiora to slam a powerful right kick to his jawline to send him flying. He recovered, sliding to a halt as he ground the earth with his heels and a left hand, but as he wiped his mouth clean of the bruising he received just now, Sidney didn't blink as Kiora appeared behind him with Cerberus and Ouroboros cornering him from each side.

"S-Sidney!" Luke shouted unnecessarily. Hands pressed to twelve and six, Sidney manifested a ghostly barrier that would connect with the three, violently pushing them back as it dispelled. In a puff of white smoke, Sidney appeared before Kiora who sat on her backside from the blast, and as Cerberus attempted to attack from behind once more, the ace simply held out a right hand, conjuring a ghostly figure from below that rose towards the three headed hound, trapping it in its own large gaping jaw and jagged teeth. The ghastly figure raised Cerberus high into the air until exploding violently in an array of ghost magic. Loud, desperate whimpering was heard from the hound during the explosion, but nothing remained as specks of black dust sprinkled back towards the ground afterwards before finally vanishing into nothing. Red eyes trembled as one her dearest pets no longer existed for the time being, and as Kiora scrambled to her feet, Sidney only allowed her so much recovery before gripping her left wrist tightly with his right hand.

"The hell're you doing!?" She shouted, attempted to pull away before swinging her scythe in her right hand at him. He simply leaped over it to avoid the blow, and as he finally released her, causing Kiora to stumble backwards, a chain the color of greenish yellow appeared on both of their wrist. "Tch! What's this!?" She demanded to know. The chain then vanished from sight, appearing over and over again by the second as a reminder that it was still there, only out of sight. "Spectral Chain." Sidney recited, never taking his eyes off of Kiora even as Ouroboros charged him from behind. "It bonds me and the one shackled to me together, meaning whatever damage or ailments I receive, so will they. But, it doesn't work the other way. So that's means as your snake sinks his teeth into me..."

"...! Ouroboros wait!" Kiora shouted, but it was too late. The enormous serpent had its teeth sunk into Sidney's right shoulder, causing the ace to groan in immense pain, but just as he did, Kiora did the same, falling to a knee as she gripped her shoulder. "What's the point of this...you cowardly human!? You know I'm going to win, so you pull this stunt!?"

"She must be off her rocker!" Jaxon thought to himself. "I mean, sure she's putting up a fight against Sidney, which explains why we couldn't even compete with her, but she's obviously losing this fight. It's not even close. Still, why would Sidney resort to such a tactic if he's dominating?"

"I've chained you for a reason, and before your fate is brought about, I'll share with you why." As he spoke, he gently pressed a hand to the head of Ouroboros, creating a ghostly seal that manifested into a soul of its own, as if pulled from Ouroboros itself. "Soul Mimicry: Ouroboros."

In a phantasm shape, another enormous snake appeared, this time coiling around Sidney before latching its fangs into the serpent that held on to its creator.

"This is the first time I've seen so much of his arsenal." Jaxon stated to himself in awe. "And the aura he's giving off...its so malicious, yet he's completely calm.. this is our ace, huh? He's gained every right for that title, and now we're seeing it first hand.. I mean, he created a freaking copy of a curse powered manifestation..."

"As long as it has some sort of soul, it can be copied by me." Sidney spoke as his version of Ouroboros remained latched onto the original, causing it to hiss in pain as it released Sidney. While the phantasm wrestled it to the ground, Sidney simply tugged on his scarf, a signal that his creation caught. From the back of its throat, a shining light began to appear, and from there, Sidney's serpent fired off a powerful beam from point blank range, swallowing Ouroboros whole as the beam shot high into the air before finally exploding into nothing. That included Kiora's precious serpent.

"Whatever!" Kiora shouted, charging Sidney again, this time with an accumulation of darkness in her left hand. "They're just creations by me! I can remake them over and over again with the same conscious! You're not taking anything from me!"

"Your eyes say otherwise." Sidney replied softly, causing Kiora to shout in a rage. Squeezing the black orb in her hand, Kiora created a quickened explosion once she was face to face to Sidney, causing him to shield his eyes as he slid backwards. Kiora appeared before him off the distraction, kicking the ace directly in the stomach, but as she did, she could feel that exact same pain resonating in her own abdomen. "E...Endure it!" She shouted to herself, swinging her scythe in an upward motion, but Sidney leaned to the side, just to lean right back with an elbow stabbing right into Kiora's rib cage. He followed with a spinning kick aimed for her opposing temple, but just as before, Kiora showcased her darkness embodiment curse, causing Sidney's foot to go right through her. As she reformed, Kiora prepared to attack, but the second she even clenched a fists to do so, that same foot Sidney attacked with slammed directly on the opposite side of her skull, planting her into the ground.

"Wh...what...?" She painfully groaned with a mouthful of gravel. "Your embodiment, just like my transparency, is activated, correct? A tenth of a second is all it takes, or at least from my guess. So I just had to attack faster, especially once you reformed."

"You know..." She started, slowly pushing herself off the ground. "I used to hate you because of what you did to me without saying a word...but now, hearing you talk so much, I hate you even more...cretin...GAH!" She shouted in pain as Sidney literally stomped on her spine to push her back into the ground. "I'LL KILL YOU!" She shouted again, grabbing Sidney by his left ankle, only for him to kick her off, sending her tumbling into the ground before she finally recovered. "You won't treat me like trash! You're the trash! You're a shitty human! I don't care how much of a ghost you look like! I won't die to you! I won't die to you either, Daityas!"

Her shouted caused Daityas to simply grin from where he stood, patiently waiting for Sidney to finish the job he knew he could do. That grin turned into slight worry for what came next. Kiora, who now stood on wobbly legs, slowly raised her hands, holding them by her sides. "Do you know who I am!? I am the despair of this continent. I am the reason behind all living things that cry out in pain. I am the delivered of evil. I am the shadow in the light! I am the truth! Ally to evil, and nightmare to you! I am Kiora Sidero! I will not be beaten! Especially not to you!"

As she shouted, a powerful swirl of darkness curse appeared before her, accumulating just before her as she cupped her hands in front of her now. The area around them trembled maliciously, breaking apart the very ground they stood upon, as she focused all of that stored energy into one pocketed orb, Kiora slung her arms forward, releasing a gigantic beam of her darkness curse towards Sidney. A massive explosion took place, causing Crow, Jaxon, Luke and Cygnus to go flying and eventually tumbling into the ground simply from

being bystanders in the way of the cataclysmic attack.

As the smoke and debris finally cleared, Kiora smiled, looking on as she saw nothing left of Sidney Castle. "That must have been enough to free me from his stupid shackles too. Ha! Shove it, Dait! You're not absorbing me! In fact, I'm done! I'll find Maggie, and we'll escape from here, from you! You piece of shit! We'll take over this world ourselves! Without you! I've had followers before, and with Maggie's help, I can do it again with more numbers! Idiots who will freely do what I say, and lay their lives on the line for me! We don't need you anymore! You need us, you starving bastard! If I can beat this guy, there's no one me and Maggie can lose to!" Kiora continued laughing victoriously until something caught her eye. "Hm?" She cocked a brow as she noticed a single urn standing where Sidney once stood. "An urn? Must be the end of his ghost magic, leaving him in his own grave or something."

What hopeful thinking, but that hypothesis quickly faltered as the urn began to crack, eventually breaking into pieces and freeing Sidney from his absolute defensive spell. He remained unscathed save for the damage he took earlier from Kiora's attacks, leaving the demoness in shock as he stood before her once more. "But...b-How!?" She stammered, stepping back once, twice, three times to gain distance from the ace. "I was hoping even then you'd have a change of heart, but after hearing your words, the last straw has been broken."

"This can't be! That was my strongest attack! Wha...what was that urn!? How did you survive by just that!?" Kiora was losing her wits, but something worse was happening simultaneously as her body became heavier, stricken with pain that not even Sidney had dealt her. "Now what!? Give me a break!" She cried out. That's when Sidney raised her now freed right wrist, yet pointed to Kiora's own, still shackled as it became visible once more. "Just now, I switched hosts on the spectral chain. Instead of connected to me..." Sidney then pointed to the three guild mates, Jaxon, Luke and an entirely worn out Cygnus, all now wearing the same shackles on their wrists. "You've been connected to my three guild mates. You're now feeling what they went through with you, in unison. That, plus Cygnus's inability to even move his body after his fight, and well, you understand, Kiora."

Her eyes widened again, staring at the ground as she begged her body to moved. It ignored her request, over and over and as Sidney took a single step forward, her eyes dropped the reddened shade back to blue as the Ghost Mage created four magic seal around her. "Your strongest attack, correct? Then it's only out of respect that I do the same."

From her left and right, two towers of white appeared, shooting into the sky. From her north and south, two towers of black appeared, shooting into the sky. From there, the four towers of magic began to spin around her, gradually closing in her giving her no room to escape.

"Maybe in another life, Kiora..." He said.

"I...I won't beg for mercy." She replied, causing brows to arch. "I won't ask for any forgiveness, I won't beg for a second chance. I am a demon. I was created to serve Zeref...I gained my own conscious just like my others, I gained right and wrong and I chose a path, and if I could do it all over again...the only thing I would change..." Her eyes then turned to Daityas one last time, a blurry sight, but she could clearly identify that grin of his. "...is that I would know better than to follow that scum bag on my quest for revenge... he's just like Zeref...that's my only regret. So do it, you shitty human."

Sidney simply nodded. "Eclipse Tower!" He exclaimed, and the four towers of magic slammed into one another, creating a mixture of black and white that would eclipse over one another and blend perfectly into one tower before violently exploding like a mushroom cloud.

When it cleared, Kiora's body could be seen slowly descending to the ground, losing its shape in the process as she slowly became nothing but black dust. From her height, the last sight she could see was Maggie running off in the direction she was ordered to. Kiora reached out her hand, as if she could reach her closest comrade before finally vanishing in a cloud of black dust; that would be absorbed by the waiting Daityas.

Maggie stopped in her tracks, something giving her an inkling, but as she turned around, nothing was there. It caused her to stare into the sky for a bit longer until finally, the lava demoness continued towards her destination.

Sidney remained standing, eyes remained glued to Daityas as Crow too crumbled to dust only to be absorbed by the king of hell. He grinned towards the ace of White Eclipse before disappearing, leaving Sidney alone with a bunch of battered guild mates. "He doesn't plan on fighting here, it seems. Either that, or he's waiting on a certain piece before he does. Either way...

we don't have a weapon for him right now."