Chapter 56 – Value of Friendship
Well, since there were very little reviews, and none to respond to, let's get on with the extended X791 Arc!
To Recap:
A drunken Nic showed no mercy as he demolished Bacchus and Seiryo, the former's Drunk-Chop Hanging Palm being of no match for Nic's speed. With Nic rampaging off towards west, Cana, Sophie, and Staraptor all split up towards a different target. Sophie encounters and began her fight with Boig, Cana met and defeated Sol from the Element Four a long time ago, and Nic, being sober, encountered Pavo. With Pavo's dance moves, and him being sober, Nic was sluggish and barely dodged, but soon overcame his troubles and won, and saw Pavo as someone to respect from what he's been through.
Chapter 56 – Value of Friendship
An overview of the whole city of Dahlias was seen through the eyes of a particular bird. She soared with a fierce vibe that could make a grown man with a weak will pee himself. Her sharp vision pointed out at the lacrima tower far ahead at where she was meant to go.
Staraptor kept on going as she soared like a fighter jet that kept on zooming on. 'I gottta hurry! Sophie and Cana may lose the remains of their Magic if they have already encountered enemies!' She flapped with vigorous efforts, becoming a blur far overhead. 'Nic should be recovered by now. He's probably there alrea-!'
She was cut off when a sudden beam from below was launched. Her reflexes kicked in within a matter of seconds and she barrel rolled in midair to avoid the beam.
Without even questioning, she looked down at where the beam originated. Her red predatory eyes took notice of a hand extended out before retracting back in front of a man. The man showed a collective smirk as he was the one with the shoulder pads and shin guards.
"My, this is certainly a turn of events. Ghoul's Coffin was almost close to a full charge and then this happens." His gaze remained the same, yet his face darkened. "Guess it'd be best to step in since half of the elites are down already."
Seeing as how this was gonna become a battle, Staraptor dove in with wings tucked in. She sped towards the ground like a dive bomber and touched the ground with talons hitting the ground first, sending dust in a ripple as her wings were spread out and she gave a glare at her opponent.
The mage kept his straight face. "So, my opponent is an avian. I must admit, your intimidating vibe is rather unnerving." He admitted. "However, I'll pluck ever one of your feathers and see you turn to dust."
Staraptor's strong legs spread out. "Such a hefty boast. Let's see you back it up."
His arm extended forward. "I'll be glad to oblige." Energy charged in his palms. "I never would've imagined fighting an avian with my Beam Magic, but beggars can't be choosers." His hand shot a beam of light that shot at Staraptor. The Predator Pokémon kept her wings spread and activated Steel Wing, folding them over and shielding herself.
The beam of light touched her wings, but the light was deflected off of her Steel Wing, separating into smaller beams that went off into other directions, hitting buildings and the sidewalks, sending debris flying in a small area.
Staraptor uncovered herself and glared at her opponent. "Nice try." She put one talon behind and dug it into the ground. "But not worth being called an attack!"
Within a blur, a ripple was seen where she was before dust zoomed on either side. The mage suddenly gawked as Staraptor sped into his clothed abdomen. "Aerial Ace!" The impact's effect shot the mage several feet back while off the ground, soon crashing into the pavement.
Staraptor flapped in midair and descended back to standing on her talons as the dust cleared, revealing the man to have a few scratches, although he maintained a smirk.
"Most impressive. That was so fast that it was like a vast blur." He commented.
"No kidding." Staraptor took a fighting stance with wings poised to strike. "Care to try your luck again?"
"No need." He dusted himself off and had arms on both sides having palms face up. "Perhaps I should introduce myself as Raey. My Beam Magic can take a numerous amount of components and shoot it with instantaneous effects." He crouched.
"For example…" He shot both arms forward, sending a beam of darkness at Staraptor. "Grim Ray!"
Raey's attack shot at Staraptor as she only stood in place. The attack closed in and everything in front of Raey was caught in an explosion of darkness. A boom echoed through the ground, yet the only thing left after the attack faded was a crater.
"Well now, who's eating their own words?" Raey boasted as he grinned half-heartily at the crater.
"Not me, that's for sure."
Raey turned his head to look up, finding Staraptor flapping high above the ground. As she maintained stability, she wasn't at all tired. She didn't have a single scratch on her feathery body.
'That's so fast! I didn't even see it dodge!' Raey thought with hidden amazement. Staraptor swopped down with talons spread out as she went to attack from above. Raey grunted and shot his left arm forward, sending another beam of darkness that Staraptor effortlessly evaded while still descending. She flawlessly stretched out her talon and kicked Raey into the pavement on his back, making cracks along the pavement that implied the force used.
Staraptor spread her wings and took flight above, her figure making the sunlight overhead make her gleam like that of a shadow. "Where you're proficient at long-range, that's where your close-range defenses are at their weakest.
Raey grunted as he got up.
"If you weren't so focused on long-range, perhaps you wouldn't have that cocky smirk again." Staraptor remained steady as she continued to flap. Raey slowly balled his fists while he scoffed with a grin.
"Okay, I admit that I underestimated you." He confessed. "Perhaps I should do more than just show the light and darkness of my Beam Magic." His body was encased in a magenta aura, signaling a Magic Power increase. "You have earned the right to witness the vast variety of my spells! Behold!"
Raey brought his arms around like windmills and shot them forward, sending a massive beam of bright red at Staraptor. The attack closed in, but Staraptor flapped once and ascended, evading the bright red beam that continued its course and collided with the pavement, making it melt.
'Plasma?' Staraptor was caught surprised and looked back to find Raey bringing his right arm across with bright green. He swiped it in a long arc and a bright green crescent beam expanded outwards.
"Scissor Splice!"
The green crescent beam continued outwards, going so far as to slicing clean through the building walls. Staraptor took quick notice and ducked from the horizontal attack as it dispersed outwards, leaving several buildings' lower levels with little support.
Staraptor looked back up to find Raey in front with two fists coated in light. He plunged his fists at Staraptor, but she fiercely swatted them away with her strong wings with little effort. She then raised a talon and kicked Raey again in the abdomen, leaving him to gag and gave herself the opportunity to twirl and strike him with the back of her left wing, sending him in a skid.
Dust blew like a tempest as he skid on his back and Staraptor ascended. She looked at the dust cloud with uncertainty. "Is that all you can accomplish?"
"Not quite." Raey's voice was crystal clear through the dust cloud. With a single swipe of his hand, the dust around him blew away, showing his other hand coated in bright blue. "How about we try a game of cat and mouse. Tendril Chase!"
He shot his arm forward, and out blasted a straight line of light blue, yet as it traveled it began to separate into two, then three, eventually until a total of ten beams went after Staraptor.
"I'll play." She flashed a brief light. "Double Team!" At that instant, a multitude of copies spread like wildfire, the number rivaling that of Tendril Chase.
"What's this? It can maneuver with copies of her own?" Raey retorted in shock. "No matter!" He shot the various beams at all of the Staraptor copies. The copies including the original diverged in random directions and the beams followed them all.
For illusionary copies, they were just as fast as the real deal. The tendrils of the beam could hardly keep up as each individual copy twirled and dodged with precise movements; not a single shift or flap mislead. The attack held up until the ten Staraptors converged and all saw the beams coming from every single direction. As the beams made way, one Staraptor dive-bombed at the last second, leaving all of the beams to collide into the other and let loose a rippling bright blue shockwave high into the air.
As the explosion swallowed up the sky, Staraptor's copies were all struck and the real one was seen doing the dive bomb. She did a sharp 90 degree turn when two feet from the ground and went in to attack.
"Impudent pest! Plasma Wave!" Raey extended his left arm out, letting loose a bright red beam of sheer plasma that Staraptor nimbly dodged by gliding right past it.
"HRAH! Steel Wing!" With her wings glowing a metal-gray color, she slammed her left wing down on Raey's head, sending him crashing and making a crater.
Staraptor kept her distance as she flapped her wings and gained some altitude. Her opponent was seemingly incapacitated, but the movement from his forearms supporting him meant he still had some fight in him.
Raey slowly hesitated to get up, but when he looked back up, his face had a dark shadow as his calm demeanor became much less relaxed and more cruel-fitting. Staraptor was on her best guard as she paid attention to how his Magic was continuously shifting. His magenta aura came back and Staraptor felt a strong Magic Power pulse. "Your maneuvering's really cumbersome."
Staraptor foresaw his attack and dodged as Raey swiped his arm in another arc into the sky, sending Scissor Splice trailing and dispersing through the sky. Staraptor flew overhead and looked down as Raey's hands were coated in bright brown.
"Now! Heaven's Burden!" He pivoted his foot and shot the attack in a long arc upwards towards an overhead avian. Staraptor's angle adjusted and she used her wings as a shield. The bright brown beam struck her, engulfing her in bright brown that quickly went away.
The beam dispersed, yet Staraptor didn't feel any levels of pain. She uncovered herself and grunted as she saw the smirk on Raey's face widening.
'Just what type of beam did he hit me with…?' She was sure it wasn't a hot plasma beam, nor was it a freezing cold beam; she would've felt the temperature differences even before the attack hit her. Her wings suddenly became heavy, and her entire body had become heavier all of a sudden, as if she had eaten a lead weight. "What the hell-?!" She lost all stability and fell straight downwards, striking the ground beneath with a crash. She grunted in the sharp pain that she fiercely ignored and opened her eyes to look at Raey walking towards her.
Raey's calm smirk returned. "I see that fierce look never fading. What you were hit with was a gravity beam that amplifies the gravity of anything it hits, making it heavy enough so that it can slow down. Or in your case, enough that you can't fly."
Staraptor's eyes narrowed, but showed no irritation.
"Keep the tough act up all you want, but it's clear that a bird is useless on land." He advanced with a dark-coated fist. "I was hoping for a better fight, but I guess when one's wings are clipped, they become rather useless."
Staraptor's aggressive glare intensified.
The next second happened so fast. The first thing seen was a talon, the next second was Raey coughing up some blood as he shot into a damaged building, crashing through the support and the remaining fragments of the building fell apart.
Staraptor watched as the building collapsed at its base, and the debris let a copious of dust that clouded all around. Staraptor remained composed as she stood still as dust blew past her.
"You'd be wise to silence your tongue before it's clawed out." Staraptor warned at the debris piled up. "You seem to have forgotten that I have talons and a beak to strike you with."
The rubble began to shift, and an explosion of darkness erupted, making Staraptor block with her wings as small fragments pelted her. The rubble soon simmered down to where Raey was standing back up, but his body looked all the more exhausted.
He looked very much angry, though his calm façade overwrote it. "But how?! It's impossible! No mere bird can be as agile on land than in the air! It's unfathomable!"
Staraptor spread her wings and flapped them once, sending a strong wind that made small pebbles flying off and making Raey cover up. She spread her wings on her sides and kept her intimidating vibe as she spoke. "For you maybe, but I was trained to battle in air and the ground. I'm as versatile as anyone."
A long time ago, Staraptor was still a Staravia and was still new to the team. She had just woken up and yawned. Looking around as the morning sun began to creep behind the shrubs through the trees, she spread her wings and saw that Nic and his Pokémon were up already.
"(Well, guess we're all early birds.)" Staravia thought as she turned towards Frogadier.
The Water-Type nodded. "(Hm, it's true. We all enjoy getting up early for some training. It really helps us later on.)"
"(You're just lucky this one time. It's not often that we wake after the sun rises.)" Charmeleon informed.
Kecleon tilted her head. "(We rise while the sun still sleeps.)"
Nic cracked his knuckles and stretched his arms over his head. After he did so, he reached for the sunglasses on his V-neck. "Morning guys." He began stretching his legs by spreading them and crouching. "Alright, let's start off with a morning run."
Staravia tilted her head in confusion, but to her surprise, no one was groaning, nor complaining; they seemed rather happy with the run. Staravia began to spread her wings to ready herself or flight and took off in the air as everyone turned towards a similar direction.
As everyone began to move, Nic looked over at Staravia and he stopped. "Hold on." At that instant, his Pokémon all stopped advancing towards the forest and looked back at Nic. His solemn gaze was on Staravia. "No flying Staravia, this is a run."
"(H-Huh?!)" Staravia gawked as she nearly dropped to the ground in astonishment. She quickly collected herself and shook her head to ascertain focus. "(B-But how am I supposed to get around?! By running on my talons?!)" She held up her talons towards Nic.
Nic got a clear understanding and crossed his arms. "I know how you must feel, but it's important to understand. You decided to follow us because we were special, right? This is one of the ways. Besides, what if you come to a scenario where you can't fly?"
His reasoning did bring up a valid point. Staravia did have a loyalty to Nic due to an incident yesterday, and seeing how him and his Pokémon work inspired her. Though she was hoping for some flying, she was adamant about being versatile. It wouldn't hurt to try; besides, if she really did come across an emergency, she wouldn't be so useless on land.
"(Okay.)" With a smile and nod, Staravia descended and placed her feet on the ground. She looked around at the expectant yet warm faces of everyone and looked back down at the ground. Looking and feeling with her talons, she then looked ahead, and began to falter forward when trying to run.
"(We gotcha!)" Kecleon helped in getting Staravia to her feet before she could fall to the ground fully. She was helped up and Charmeleon was on the other side to support her as she took a few breaths before beginning to try and run again.
She had to take it really slow at first, keeping the talons from making her fall over. It had to be one talon in front of the other, but she gradually began to adapt. She was given help all throughout that morning as the sun shined on her face at the dawn of her versatile experience.
"Not once have I regretted running and ground combat." She took a stance with talons spread and wings poised to strike. "If you think I'm worthless on land, you're an even more arrogant freak show than I had imagined."
His cool diminishing due to frustration, Raey gritted his teeth and shot a beam of plasma at his grounded opponent, hoping to get a good attack in and finish her in one blow.
Staraptor's vision adjusted and she took off like a Dodrio. Her powerful legs threw her with every step. Her muscles in the legs were out of this world. And that's saying something. She ran with wings folded in and shifted left to evade the beam of plasma.
Reay adjusted his beam to follow Staraptor, but the avian jumped over the beam with a twirl and landed on the opposite side. She pressed on towards her target with great speed. Raey was open and Staraptor slammed her right wing in a swipe, striking Raey's gut and making him gag. She followed it up with a fast talon straight up to the chin, and twirled and kicked Raey while in midair.
The onslaught sent Raey crashing on his back through a skid, but he quickly composed and flipped onto his feet and continued his skid to a stop. He let out a battlecry as his hands were brought together. "Tendril Chase!"
His attack went shooting at Staraptor, separating into several more beams and converged onto the Predator Pokémon. Staraptor didn't falter as she barrel rolled to the side and leaped in the same direction, watching two beams fade away after missing. Her instincts picked up two more coming from the direction she was skidding into and came to a halt. She pushed backwards and saw one beam hit the ground yet one followed her as she went backwards.
A beam went shooting down from above and Staraptor did something that no one could ever believe. She somersaulted backwards and used the tips of her wings for a 'handstand'. She twisted her body and flipped out of the way, watching the two beams collide in the same place.
"How in the world is that even remotely physically possible?!" Raey retorted in sheer astonishment.
It'd be pretty hard to picture a bird Pokémon like a Pidgeot or Swanna doing the same motions; in fact, it would've been physically impossible. Staraptor was actually pulling off the impossible and her on-the-ground acrobatic skills were unbelievably astounding. You'd imagine Charizard moving with such high speed with his body, but seeing Staraptor on the ground as well was something that would make you drop anything in your hands. But considering she knows Close Combat, it would make a little sense.
The avian stomped on the ground and did a sideways flip. She landed in front of Raey and struck him with the back of her Steel Wing. As the man fell over, she twirled counterclockwise and slammed her Steel Wing into his back, making him gag and lurch forward into getting himself kicked by a single talon, with the other on the ground.
Raey shot back and crashed once more into a building that was barely intact. He was left in a crater ten feet off the ground and winced at how his Heaven's Burden completely backfired.
'Damn that bird. That was supposed to increase her weight three fold, and yet she looks like she's staying on the ground on purpose. Is she toying with me?!' His patience was at an all-time low as he dislodged himself from the crater and fell on his feet to the ground. He panted and caught his breath. He kept his panting up and looked back at Staraptor, her Intimidate startling him some. Though he retained his composure, albeit barely. "It seems that I'm no match either way I see it."
Staraptor took up a stance. "So now you see?"
Raey snickered. "It'd be a crying shame to get defeated by a bird, so I'll finish this with my next move…" The ground began to shake a little and Staraptor looked around to find small rocks quaking and shifting. She looked back ahead and saw Raey manifesting a rainbow-colored energy in between both palms.
'He's condensing a lot of power into this next shot. He's gonna finish this in one go.' Staraptor wasn't at all underestimating her adversary, but seeing him keep to his word was quite the shocker since it hardly ever happened.
"Behold! Glory's Ashes!" He let out a battlecry once more and let loose a beam of an assorted array of colors. As the beam traveled, the rocks and debris that was in its way was reduced to nothing, literally nothing. "HA! You'll be reduced to nothing but disintegrated matter! It's the end of the line for you!"
As the beam shot at her, Staraptor was running low on time and the beam's range was too grand to dodge fully. She looked around hastily and saw little area to cover. If she was gonna do something, it had to be now.
Glory's Ashes maintained a constant course and beamed onwards, striking Staraptor and kept on going as it penetrated through several buildings at once, reducing everything caught in line into ash. This left a straight line of perfect circles in buildings that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Raey smirked as he felt relieved. "Well that was tougher than what had been anticipated." He spectated the area ahead and saw how fragments of everything was sizzling from the disintegration ray. He turned away and looked rather weak and nearly fell over.
"That bird's close-range combat was most formidable. But alas no one has gotten out unscathed by that-!"
A sudden drop from above caused him to stop and he looked up only to get a talon to the face, pushing him to the ground. When he felt the pressure being lifted, he shot back up and looked in shock to find his opponent flapping in front of him.
Raey angrily clenched his fists as his anger spiked. "How could you have possibly survived such a devastating beam?!"
Staraptor flapped in the air as she thought back to when it happened. "You didn't look at your surroundings."
The beam traveled towards Staraptor, but what she took note of was how the beam's volume was surprisingly massive, and that Ray himself couldn't see anything but Glory's Ashes.
With this in mind, Staraptor turned around and saw that right behind her was a broken wall that lead inside. Seeing no alternative, she flashed and left a Double Team copy of herself to take it, leaving the real version of herself to turn and dart with great speed on talons towards the broken wall. Her legs swiftly carried her through the wall as the Double Team copy took the fall.
As the beam raced onwards, Staraptor sped towards the other wall and used her Steel Wing once more, breaking the wall with one fell swing. As the wall shattered, she hurriedly dove through and jumped to the other side when the beam was making way through the room.
Staraptor pivoted and zoomed to her left a few seconds before the beam finally breached the wall she broke through, continuing its course and leaving Staraptor spared.
Raey angrily gritted his teeth. "Damn you…" His voice was of great scowl and frustration. "And it seems that my Heaven's Burden had worn off."
"I'm through toying with you! Now let's end this!" Staraptor folded her body and dove after Raey.
"Curse you! HRAH!" Raey made a last ditch attempt with the little Magic he had left over from Glory's Ashes. He shot beams of light at Staraptor as the latter descended greatly.
Staraptor thought little of the beams and her wings glowed with Steel Wing. As she descended, the attack shielded her from Raey's light beam. The beam of light deflected off of Steel Wing and shot into random directions that left her unscathed.
Raey covered up as the deflected light beams nearly touched him and shook the area all around, sending dust soaring all about. When he opened his eyes. The battle was already won.
"Close Combat!"
Staraptor appeared in front and on the ground. She raised a talon and kicked Raey's gut, followed by a multi-twirling back wing strike, and then followed by an endless display of beak jabs, talon kicks to the face, and wing swatting, and downwards wing strikes, all of which were like a hammer with every blow.
Bones were broken with every strike, and with one last kick, Staraptor sent Raey screaming and crashing into the same crater ten feet off of the ground, making it more dense and deep until it finally caved in and Raey fell through the wall, skidding across the empty second floor and crashing into the next wall, breaking it and falling downwards onto the next street over a pile of debris, leaving him battered and unconscious.
Staraptor flapped in the air and looked through the holes, seeing the other side broken. With her opponent finally stopped, she turned towards the lacrima tower close at hand.
"That took longer than what I had thought. I need to pick up the pace." With that remark, her wings spread out and she flapped off and onwards towards the lacrima tower in a blur that went over rooftops.
Sophie panted as her opponent was laughing like a maniac. She was not having a good time with this psycho. Her adversary was completely toying with her with his specters. The numerous ghost wailed all around him as his tongue flickered repeatedly.
"GAHAHAHAHA! You got guys girly! Too bad I gotta turn them into food! Get her!" Boig extended his arm out. "Wailing Rush!"
Several ghosts went zooming after Sophie as the blonde was forced to take the hit. The numerous specters went flying right past her, their physical properties bombarding Sophie.
'Tch. There it is again…' Her hair flailed as the torrent of ghosts finally caused her to lose footing and skid backwards.
The attack soon stopped and Sophie uncovered herself to find that a dome made of mini-ghosts encased her.
"Catacomb Torment!" Boig's crazed expression never left his face as he shot his arms out. The small ghosts encasing Sophie flashed purple in the eyes and shot small beams at her. The attack closed in, but Sophie still had her own tricks up her sleeves.
"Memorize, and…forget!" Sophie hastily 'memorized' the attack and stopped it completely, dispersing the beams before they could even touch her. The ghosts all collapsed and flew about in the air. They looked unaffected by Sophie, but their attack did cease nonetheless.
"Not bad." Boig commented.
'I'm not certain, but I'll have to be sure.' Sophie thought. 'If I can hit them both at the same time, then I'll be absolutely right.' She positioned herself and pointed a finger at her forehead. A chain of memories sprouted around her. "Memory-Make: Charge Blades!"
The ground shook with great magnitude and Boig's crazed look faded into a frown. "What the-?!"
Several stones coated in yellow lightning jutted out from the ground and struck the ghosts that were on the ground, causing an explosion of lightning. As the stones went and attacked Boig, he grunted before sticking his tongue out. He was then hit, yet the most shocking feature was that the attack went straight through him, as though he was a ghost.
Sophie's eyes narrowed. "I'm memorizing everything."
"You…GRAH!" Boig's sleeves almost exploded as a flood of ghosts appeared out of them, all taking up the scenery above them. Numerous ghosts popped out, though they were all miniature ghosts. "GAHAHA! Try and handle this many at once!"
Sophie spread her legs and readied herself.
Boig snapped his unkempt fingers, and two human-sized ghosts arose from behind and their ghastly arms gripped her own, causing her to remain immobile. Sophie gasped as she found herself immobile.
"GAHAHA! Now let's see you squirm your way out of this!" A dark purple aura coated his body as his arms hot forward with a dark Magic seal. "Doomsday Tsunami!"
The little ghosts in the sky all arched downwards and wailed haphazardly. They all shot down at an incapacitated Sophie. The attack was at least three times as grand as Wailing Rush.
Still, Sophie had to be sure and she had to take risks. "You can try all you want, but no matter what, there's always a loophole with every Magic!" She concentrated as best as she could without touching her forehead, and it was barely successful. "Memory-Make: Pyro Saucer!"
A multitude of small saucers of fire went spiraling through the air and shot at the numerous ghosts. The ghosts that were hit were sliced and cindered by Pyro Saucer, yet as the attack traveled through the tsunami of ghosts, the ghosts began to faze through the remaining saucers.
And at that same time, the ghosts containing Sophie fazed through, leaving Sophie to move freely. She jumped back away from the ghosts and saw how they were all continuing on as Pyro Saucer began dialing down, yet they all fazed through Sophie as she covered up from the attack. As peculiar as it was, the ghosts went right through her, as if the attack was for naught.
As the attack stopped, the ghosts were all gone and Sophie kept a serious gaze on a maniacal Boig as three little ghosts surrounded him.
"I think I have it down for the most part." Sophie informed. "Your Magic has a flaw."
"The heck are you talking about?! My Legend of City ain't so vulnerable!" Boig protested.
Sophie remained as calm as possible as her Magic was very much at its depleted state. "This: You can change the properties of your specters, but it's clear that they have to be intangible if they're to pass through attacks, leaving the opponent free. If they were tangible the entire way through, then damage would've been dealt."
Boig's face became twisted. "Say what?! How the hell did you figure that out?!"
Sophie's only response was her finger pointing at her forehead, where she made a small chain of memories and shot a small Pyro Saucer attack at Boig and his small ghosts at the exact same time. The small array of saucers struck the ghosts, slicing them and leaving them to be cindered. Boig's tongue stuck out as he was intangible, allowing the attack to go through him.
"GAHAHA! Is that the best you got?" Boig's eyes narrowed as Pyro Saucer stopped and Sophie was seen smirking.
"Now I get it." Sophie remained composed as she was shaking in the knees from low Magic Power. "When your ghosts are tangible, you're intangible; and vice versa. That means while your ghosts were fazing through my defenses, your body was forced to revert back to being a solid."
Boig snarled angrily as his crazed eyes dilated. "Grrr!" He growled in frustration. "Blondie! You're not gonna live after this! HRAH!"
He hollered violently as his heavy coat flapped as his Magic surged. Sophie felt the heavy Magic level and pointed at her forehead.
"You've gone and pissed me off! After this, your soul will be at my disposal! Just like the rest of them!" A Magic seal appeared in front of him, this one being rather large compared to himself. "Reaper!"
A sour green spirit with a hollow back smile went wailing after Sophie. Sophie could feel the corrupted force the attack had from afar, but she now had the material to fend against it.
Magic surged as she widened her eyes. "Now! Let's go! Memory-Make:…"
She held her arms out, where a Magic seal appeared, and materializing before it was a multitude of translucent black swords with purple wavy blades. The several swords in front pointed at the opponent ahead and began to spin clockwise. Each translucent sword glowed a bright purple and began to increase in speed.
"- Spectral Saber Flash!"
Sophie let loose the array of swords at the incoming ghost. The swords all went at the exact same time, and the green ghost wailed as the translucent attack was a few feet away.
"GAHAHA! Fine no matter, I'll make it intangible!" Boig followed through with what he said and the ghost began to become intangible. The ghost then fazed through the swords, and time slowed down as the ghost zoomed off.
The glowing, spinning swords were moving slowly, as was the ghost. The ghost and the swords were only five feet opposite of the other before slash marks flashed on the ghost and it split into several pieces.
Boig's jaw nearly dropped as his ghost was sliced up. "WH-WHAT?!"
Sophie smirked. "I knew it'd work." The swords continued to spin and the green ghost vanished into thin air. "I've memorized the properties of your Legend of City Magic, and by combining that with Erza's Sword Magic, I just created a spell that makes ghost swords than can penetrate tangible and intangible matter!"
Boig's tongue hung out as he stumbled back at the swords raced towards him. "GAHAHAAAAAH! NOOO!"
"HRAH!" Sophie extended her arm out and the ghastly glowing blades continued on spinning. Their tips met while spinning and the hilts stayed apart. In a way, the move somehow resembled Giga Impact, yet was light purple and black.
Boig looked hysterical as his tongue flickered and his eyes bulged out as Sophie's newest Memory-Make spell went after him. The attack swallowed up everything in front of him, and he made one last attempt at becoming intangible, yet it proved to be of no help whatsoever.
"HRAAAHHHHH!" Boig screamed violently as he was struck by Spectral Saber Flash, getting caught up in a flash of bright purple that only lasted but for a brief moment. After the flash, the swords were behind him and no longer glowing, soon vanishing upon diverging and Boig's attire was all torn up and had gashes and cuts accumulated from that one blow. He fell backwards with a thud, eyes deprived of pupils.
Sophie panted and nearly fell over. She caught herself just in the nick of time and stared out ahead. She was very much exhausted and her Magic was just about depleted. She only had enough for a single spell, but the lacrima all around the city sucked up a lot with every spell she cast.
'That was close, too close.' Sophie panted as she contemplated. 'I need to get to that lacrima.'
With what little strength she had, she adjusted herself and walked off towards her destination, leaving her defeated enemy lying on the ground.
Nic stood in front of the large lacrima tower, with several bodies of unconscious and pummeled Ghoul's Coffin members all around. His hand-to-hand combat expertise was more than enough to handle the situation and he was glad he made it as quick as possible.
"Alright, it's time."
Cana stood among the several guards that were revealed to be more members of Ghoul's Coffin, cards flashing in her hand as she smirked.
"This'll be a hoot. Now, let's get to work!"
Staraptor spiraled through so many members at once, sending them flying and thudding on their backs. The avian straightened out and saw a member coming down from above.
With her combat experience, she lifted herself with a single wing on the ground and used her talons in the air to grab a downwards sword poised to strike her. She twisted her body and slammed the guy behind her, knocking him out with that one blow.
With the last adversary down, she took flight again and looked at the lacrima tower. "Time to settle this."
Sophie panted as she walked and ended up in front of a giant lacrima at the top of a tower 50 feet above. She huffed as she was actually feeling dizzy, and the ten to fifteen Ghoul's Coffin members didn't help her one bit.
"Okay…my patience is wearing thin." She huffed as the enemy advanced. She pointed a finger to her head and narrowed her eyes. "These guys are just irritating me, and I'm fed up. Time to finish with these lacrima for good."
A chain of memories surrounded her and she widened her eyes. "Memory-Make: Charge Blades!"
The numerous stones coated in yellow jutted out of the ground, easily electrocuting and damaging the enemy mages and struck the base of the tower, each pointed stone jutted into the legs of the tower. Sophie panted as she took several steps backwards as the tower lost support and the whole structure had begun to collapse downwards.
She jumped back as much as possible as the 50-foot tall structure came down on her, and she made one huge jump backwards with a squeal, covering up as the lacrima fell to the ground, shattering into several large fragments. Sophie fell back in a skid and laid on the ground as she looked up at the bright blue sky.
Her sight narrowed as a smile crept on her face. "That was overbearing."
"Icicle!" Swiping her card, Cana unleashed several large icicles at the fellow enemy mages. They all gawked at the huge size of the icicles and several got hit, freezing at the same time. The attack pressed on past the victims and struck the base of the lacrima tower.
Cana looked up to see the huge structure beginning to gradually lose support. The whole thing had begun to creak and bend to one side. The entire domain then started to fall forward, forcing Cana with no alternative but to turn and run.
The Card Mage ran as fast as she could as the tower collapsed. The giant lacrima went crashing down on the ground, where it shattered into large fragments.
The brunette lost her footing from the sudden shockwave of the tower breaking down and tumbled away, she eventually tumbled onwards until she was safe enough away and small fragments of the lacrima ended up a few inches from her.
This put a victorious smirk on her face as she felt drained.
"Aerial Ace!" Staraptor zoomed in a blur and darted right into the lacrima. In a flash, she was seen flapping on the other side of the lacrima, and looking away as she knew of the results.
It didn't seem like anything happened, but then a glint flashed on the lacrima, showing several deep cracks. The next second, it all fell apart, completely shattering into fragments and falling to the ground below.
The Predator Pokémon turned back to see her target destroyed and kept her ferocious glare.
Nic stood with clenched fists as he glowed a bright light. When the light faded it showed him in his Draco Plate Form.
Pretty much everything of the Draco Plate stayed the same, only the coat seemed to have altered. It was now a solid royal blue with coral red edging and coral red belt. The short sleeves were of royal blue with coral red edging.
Nic spread his draconic wings and took flight, soaring to a rather high elevation. He shot straight up to a point where he was eye level with the large lacrima. He didn't waste a single breath as he opened his mouth and draconic energy accumulated rapidly.
"Dragon Pulse!" He lurched his head forward, sending a multicolored dragon-shaped beam with wings at the lacrima. The attack's mouth chomped down onto the lacrima, generating a multicolored explosion that swallowed up the lacrima, shattering it into various small fragments.
Nic watched as the explosion simmered down and saw sparkles of the lacrima remains twinkle. This sense of justice bringing a small grin onto his face.
The Zeus Cannon in the darkness of the huge domain began to flicker until the bright pink lacrima on it dimmed to a low light, signaling a weak charge.
Kaulas turned to look over his shoulder and stared at the lacrima becoming dim. Not even a grunt escaped his throat. He slowly turned forward and closed his eyes, finally letting out a sigh.
"It would seem that we have been given a challenge indeed. Seiryo, Raey, Boig, Sol, and Pavo have been bested by these Fairy Tail mages." He paused long before starting up again. "We were too careless, and as a result the lacrima needed to charge the Zeus Cannon are gone."
His eyes opened, showing hidden cruelty behind his calm and quiet composure. "No matter. Ghoul's Coffin's elites may have fallen…" He gently pushed the chair from behind and silently turned towards the doorway. "But their Master shall not fall to such a disgrace."
He quietly made way towards the exit, soon being enshrouded in darkness from the shadows as the only thing heard was his boots clicking when hitting the floor.
"I'll make it an obligation that the Zeus Cannon fires. Even if it means extermination."
Now in his normal self. Nic darted over the city rooftops to find that all around the four lacrima towers were no more. He ran along the rooftops until he saw a projectile heading his way; said being his Staraptor.
"Staraptor!"
"Nic!"
Both Trainer and Pokémon came to a stop in front of the other on a flat rooftop and took notice of how two were absent.
"Have you seen Cana or Sophie?" Nic asked.
Staraptor looked south. "Yeah, they were both pretty banged up when I flew far overhead for an overview." She turned back towards Nic. "But fortunately for all of us that they were back on their feet. I think it's best that we direct them to the town square and regroup there."
Nic nodded. "Agreed…" He glowed and shifted into his Sky Plate. In his Sky Plate Form, the puffy clouds on his coat were gone. Again, a majority of everything was the same, except the coat was a solid sky blue with white edging, same went for the sleeves. He crouched as his wings spread. "I'll direct Sophie while you direct Cana. Let's go."
The two were then seen in the air, heading in different directions. Nic was seen soaring high into the sky with his sunglasses reflecting the sun's rays. He ascended to a great altitude before he stopped at an overview point.
Looking down, he saw Sophie far below. She looked battered, but was still walking weakly from loss of Magic.
"There she is!" He tucked in his wings and went into a long dive towards her. He zoomed down like a meteor and spread his wings so as to slow down when he got to a close point. He flapped a few good times before stopping forty feet above Sophie.
Feeling a strong wind from above, Sophie looked up to find Nic present, much to her relief. "Nic!"
Nic ascended to the ground and walked up to Sophie. He processed her injuries as minor and looked at her face. "Are you able to hold up okay?"
Sophie winced, but shook it off. "Yeah. Let's just find Cana and Staraptor so we can make an exit strategy."
Nodding in understanding, Nic spread his wings and took flight once more. He remained close by so as to direct Sophie towards the center of Dahlias. Sophie picked up her pace and hurriedly followed with Nic as her guide.
At the same time, Staraptor was leading Cana towards Dahlias's center. Cana ran to the best of her capabilities, though her minor injuries and loss of Magic was a huge hindrance. Still, she was led by Staraptor overhead and soon came to the center of town, where all was evacuated due to the sudden guild attack from The Nectar's Well from before.
Soon enough, they all found each other and stopped in the center. Staraptor and Nic went to the ground and Nic shifted back into himself. He took a brief analysis of everyone and saw a few scratches all about. "The lacrima towers are destroyed, but is anyone else still uneasy?"
"All too well. If those lacrima were meant to suck up Magic, the reason must be to charge something like you foretold earlier." Staraptor noted.
"And apparently I know what it is." Cana interrupted. Everyone turned towards her with slight surprised. Her expression was dead serious.
"I learned this information from that Sol guy. Apparently those four lacrima drains a Mage's Magic Power in order to charge a weapon called the Zeus Cannon. Saying it's supposed to rival that Jupiter Cannon, yet just as effective as that Abyss Break Phantom attempted a long time ago." She looked down at the ground. "And from how we see it, by facing them, Sophie and I only added fuel to the flame."
The remaining three looked very much disturbed by this news. They knew something big like this happen, but so soon was like taking an Extreme Speed that you never prepared for.
"So how do we stop it? Taking out the lacrima only stopped its charge." Sophie pointed out.
Nic crossed his arms. "We don't have a lead as to where it is to begin, or how it's designed. The first thing to do is to find it."
"Nic is right. Navigating our way to its source first is our top priority. Only then can we learn to disarm it." Staraptor pointed out.
"Okay~. But how the heck are we supposed to find…" Cana's eyes opened up and she blinked as her eyes cascaded downwards. The very ground she looked at had an envelope; something she failed to see when she looked down from before. "What?"
Everyone's eyes cascaded downwards towards the envelope in the center. They all saw that it was rather small, about half the size of their hands. It had a small green lacrima in the center.
Sophie picked it up and scrutinized it. "A message?"
"How'd it end up here?" Cana asked.
Nic's eyes narrowed underneath his sunglasses. "We'll find out."
Sophie pressed the green lacrima in the center, where she and everyone else saw that the lacrima gave a message in the form of a small hologram, something familiar that Makarov saw before the Lullaby incident; only this time they saw a familiar face, to Nic anyway.
"Why hello~! And how are we this fine day?" The person struck a dance pose, and revealed himself to be none other than Pavo. He laughed repeatedly, much to everyone's sweatdropping.
"Uh, okay?" Cana looked wearily at her friends. "Do any of you know this guy?"
Nic sighed. "Yes. Here, let me…" Nic took the envelope and looked at Pavo's instant message. "Just what do you want, Pavo?"
"Oh, Luminous! I'd recognize that commanding yet warm front anywhere!" Pavo cheerfully shouted while spinning. His image stopped spinning and he straightened upwards. "I see that you four have been successful so far!"
"Enough. Can you please tell us what you want?" Sophie asked irritable.
"Oh it's not what I want, rather what you need." Pavo kept his enormous smile. "I seem to recall your job stopping Ghoul's Coffin and their objective to stop the Zeus Cannon, hm? Well, I have some pretty juicy info that might pique your interest." He chimed.
"Are you joking, or are you desperate to get your face beaten in by Nic again?!" Cana shouted at Pavo.
"Hey, relax. I mean, we're not enemies, yet we're not friends. Call me a reliable acquaintance!" Pavo implied. "Now, do you want the intel or not?"
Nic kept a stern gaze. "Yes."
"What? Are you sure?" Sophie asked.
"We don't have a choice. We need all of the info we can get; besides, I doubt he'll pull off any sort of game after what went down."
"Nic is right!" Pavo shouted. "Now listen, meet me four blocks east of the Mayor's office. Hurry!" The image then faded, leaving Nic and his little team to make way towards their destination.
As they went through the alleys, Cana turned towards Nic. "Can your opponents be normal for once?"
Nic turn another corner. "I fail to see how anything is normal, rather than Types and all."
In no time, they soon found themselves in a bright alley, the sun's rays reflecting off the buildings, illuminating Pavo's figure.
Pavo laughed again as he sees the four faces. "Ah, welcome, welcome! I see that you are all looking pretty chipper!" His statement was way wrong as Cana and Sophie were than a little exhausted that they wanna fall over.
Cana crossed her arms. "Alright, spill it. Just what exactly do you have that's so important?"
"Why of course! Always ready to help an ally!" The four remained silent as Pavo frowned. "Now listen good. All of you. The Zeus Cannon is almost at full capacity! Everything that was inside the area of the four lacrima will be reduced to nothing but history!"
Nic kept a still figure as he had to refrain from pinning Pavo to the wall. "This is true?"
"Listen! I can't lie all too well! Those four lacrima are gone, but the weapon itself is so close to full power. It may very well be a matter of time."
"What are you saying exactly?" Nic asked.
"You fools! I'm saying that the Zeus Cannon has a fail-safe! Lacrima re attached to the structure itself! It draws Ethernano from all around, though of course it's very small amounts compared to the energy it gets from the lacrima."
Pavo saw the startled faces of everyone as their attempts at stopping the Zeus Cannon only managed to slow it down.
"Ah yes. Unfortunate it is. But!" He gained enthusiasm. "There is a way."
"Tell us." Staraptor asked in an intimidating tone.
"In an underground chamber, starting from a small tavern on the other side of the avenue, that's where your target is! See?! I am helpful! HA!" He struck a victorious pose and smiled greatly.
Nic and everyone present was just baffled, though Nic and Staraptor were the only ones with straight faces.
Just when they were thinking things couldn't get any more bizarre, they felt a great Magic spike. This was a really huge one that caused Nic and Staraptor to instantly get on guard. They all felt the power, yet nothing came up.
"Do you feel that?" Sophie asked, turning her head about. "Where is this Magic coming from?"
Cana clenched her fists. "Wherever it's coming from, it's clear that there's a whole lot of it."
Nic turned back out towards the streets. "That must be…Ghoul's Coffin's Guild Master."
Pavo showed extreme nervousness. "GAH! OH NO~!" He started spinning nonstop in a frantic manner as his face sweated.
Everyone turned to see the nervousness on his face, and if he was nervous due to this Magic, then it's evident that whoever the Guild Master is, it's not someone to joke around.
"Uh…Pavo?" Sophie asked.
Pavo straightened out and his eyes nearly bulged. "Quick! Abort the mission! Kaulas is coming! We got to get out of here!" He spun incredibly fast as his nervousness arose. "This is bad! This is very, very bad~!"
Cana wasn't amused in the slightest. "What's this 'we' talk? Why exactly are you siding with us?"
Pavo immediately turned towards them. "My reasons are my own! Now listen, Kaulas is someone you don't want to mess with! You four are going to get killed by him if you don't get out now!"
Nic looked back out at the streets and saw how the buildings far away were caught in some wave of Magic energy, and for some odd reason, the Magic being emitted was dense, as in like bone-dense.
"Staying here is suicide! Kaulas is gonna maim ya" Pavo continued his ranting, and that's when Nic turned back towards him.
"No, we're not stepping foot out of the city." He stated.
"And exactly why not?!" Pavo exclaimed.
Sophie and Cana mimicked the same serious gaze Nic and Staraptor were giving Pavo. All of their determined expressions silenced Pavo as they radiated the same level of determined and confident aura.
"Because we have a job to do." Cana said.
"And not just that." Sophie added.
"We're Fairy Tail." Nic said.
"And Fairy Tail never goes down without a fight." The three said in unison.
"And like it or not, if any of our own were stuck in this mess, we'll fight as one." Nic added lastly.
Pavo's expression turned to a gigantic revelation as his mouth hung open and dilated eyes of sheer shock. He never heard of something so ridiculous yet serious; a commitment unlike any he's heard in the longest time. This was a true shocker as a shadow cast over his eyes and he turned away.
Looking back at the alley's darkness afar, he spoke. "So…for the sake of one's duty…and to never turn your back on those who need to be saved." Pavo put up a brave smile with small tears of joy running down his cheeks, much to everyone's surprise.
"Listen, Nic and friends." He started, turning around towards them. "There's something that must be done…
Kaulas walked patiently onwards to where he sensed the intruders of his plans were. "If I remember thoroughly, my opponents also involve Nic Pularis, the alias called Luminous." He pondered. "Such a silly alias. No light can match the obliteration that I have in store."
He came to a sudden halt when he felt a strong flow of power. He crouched as he readied himself as his enemy was somewhere around. 'They're here.'
He looked through the whole area, analyzing the enemy's Magic. He wasn't sure if their Magic was combined or separate, but this level was considerate nonetheless.
Finally getting a pinpoint, he turned towards the rooftops towards his left and saw Nic perched up on the top.
Nic had on a scowl as he examined Kaulas with disgust. "Hey, are you the Guild Master that's been terrorizing Dahlias?"
Kaulas stared up with a blank expression. "And what of it?"
"I am Nic Pularis. If you have a reason as you should remain in this city, speak up." His eyes narrowed. "Otherwise I won't hesitate to strike you down on the spot."
Kaulas's eyes narrowed as a low growl escaped. "If you insist."
Nic looked back at the area behind him and kept a gaze of neutral intention so as not to divert Kaulas. 'I have to hurry and buy them as much time as possible. If I can get everyone there in time by stalling him, the plan should work.' Turning back towards Kaulas, he readied himself.
Yet when he thought he was ready, he was wrong.
Kaulas loosely let his wrists hang while he crossed his arms. Very slowly and gradually, two protrusions began to jut out of his palms. Nic tried to keep a straight face, yet what he saw was completely unorthodox, for jutting out were two long sabers out of the palms.
Getting into a stance, Kaulas glared at Nic. "I can sense the hesitation. You've never witnessed Bone Magic." He adjusted his stance so his legs were farther apart. "With it, I can alter my entire body into a weapon that is nothing more than solid bone."
Nic's hesitation and startled front became frozen for a few moments before a sudden smirk crossed his face. This smirk caught Kaulas off guard.
"Actually…I already know." Nic stated.
"Is that so?" Kaulas had a very heavy suspicion on his shoulders. It wasn't one of those '50-50' suspicions. It was more like one of those 'I-know-something-is-wrong' suspicions. 'How peculiar. Only a selected few including my guild knows of my Magic. Perhaps…'
Nic smirked largely enough that it made Kaulas mentally explode with an epiphany. His suspicions were confirmed when Nic turned into a puff of smoke, in which revealed it to be none other than Pavo.
"SURPRISE~!" He yelled down towards Kaulas. "Did you miss me?"
Kaulas kept a quiet front while his teeth gritted with little frustration. Now it made sense to him. No wonder Nic didn't seem at all as he had heard all of those years. He always did hear that Nic was a very serious and calm person, never displaying modesty or cockiness, similar to Titania.
"Pavo." Kaulas growled.
Pavo laughed hardily at Kaulas and crossed his arms. "You must feel pretty stupid feeling stalled by that simple transformation!" He continued to laugh at Kaulas, who didn't at all retract his bones protruding from his palms.
"I should've known that you'd use that 'master-of-disguise' act you talked on about." He adjusted and stood up, turning away yet keeping a glare on his victim. "I never pegged you as a traitor, though I must say that I never liked your style to begin with."
The three were running towards their destination, where they saw the tavern up ahead. Staraptor was above them and led the way.
"That guy's alright in my books." In her hand she had a blue lacrima, as did Sophie.
"For sure. For our acquaintance, he has our approval." She looked down at the lacrima in her hand. "We sure owe him forgiving us these Magic-conserving lacrima. With these little Magic packets, we should have enough to charge for a full-scale destruction on the Zeus Cannon."
Staraptor flew ahead, flapping in front of the tavern door. With a single talon kick, she busted down the door and everyone made way inside.
Nic remained silent as he looked a little troubled. He was grateful for Pavo giving them directions and becoming an ally, yet a small sense of worry arose when he considered Pavo freaking out. 'If this Kaulas individual is as strong as Pavo feared, then is he gonna…?'
Pavo landed on the ground with a twirl and struck a pose. His face had a grave shadow over it as he looked down at his palm.
"I never liked you either." Pavo said low. "You planned to kill many innocence. You go against humanity. You want nothing but war. You are but a fraction of what I put up with. And so…"
Kaulas got into a fighting stance as Pavo's expression was by far very dark with a grim vibe.
"Bring it on!"
"Is this it?"
"Yeah, I think so."
Sophie and Cana both toppled a shelf and its loud thud made pottery and ceramics break apart. They all stepped over the glass and shattered ceramics to find that behind the shelves was a dark tunnel.
Cana and Sophie went inside, with Staraptor walking in next, followed lastly by Nic. They all still had uneasy vibes.
Explosions were seen as spears made of bone were in the building walls. Dust blew all about as Kaulas skid to one side with his leg sticking out. He looked up and saw Pavo kicking him. In slow motion, his head drew back from the blow, yet his eyes remained open and he straightened out.
His palm bones slashed and collided with Pavo's next kick, sending a shockwave all around that made windows break.
The next thing that happened was Kaulas's shoulders and elbows jutting out sharp bone-like extensions. He rushed in at blinding speed as Pavo clenched his fists and turned his body as Kaulas went to attack.
Pavo let out a primal cry as he went to attack Kaulas, both heading at the other with sheer intensity.
A few minutes later, the dust blew on the street as everything fell silent.
Nic, Cana, and Sophie all felt something and stopped moving through the dark tunnel. They all remained silent as this odd feeling didn't escape. Staraptor also remained silent and didn't say anything, as they knew that their decoy was found out. It'd be only a matter of time before Kaulas would come after them.
Nic clenched his fists and kept a hard gulp from going down his throat. "Come on, let's go."
Cana turned back towards him. "Sure, but it's hard to maneuver around with no light."
Nic reached into his pockets. "Here, this'll help." He pulled out his phone that was in his pocket, much to the girls' confusion. Nic pressed a few touch functions before the camera's flashlight function came on. Using it, he pointed it ahead to see the darkness that lied ahead.
Cana put hands to her hips. "Not bad."
"We should get moving." Staraptor urged, to which Sophie nodded in agreement. The four continued their pursuit with Nic taking the front command and holding his phone as the flashlight function remained active. The darkness kept on going until a few minutes came and went, where they saw a pink light up ahead.
Immediately, their pace picked up and Nic and Staraptor darted ahead. Both made way out of the dark passageway and stopped cold at the end as their eyes shot wide at the enormous weapon before them.
"Is that what I think it is?" Nic asked.
Staraptor nodded, her face still showing deep awe. "Yeah, it is." Before them was a mighty contraption that was a black cannon with small pink lacrima on the sides. "The Zeus Cannon."
Cana and Sophie both caught up at that moment, and just like Nic and Staraptor, they were filled with eyes of sheer awe and surprise.
"No way. That's crazy." Cana remarked with horror in her eyes. She took a step back. "That thing's gotta be as big as the Jupiter Cannon."
"Well now that we're here, the best thing to do is to find a way to disarm it, right?" Sophie asked. She turned towards Nic. "It'd make sense. Since the Zeus Cannon is here, there's no point in waiting around. We'll have to delicately disable whatever mechanism causes it to charge."
Staraptor nodded. "Yeah. If we find the source within the cannon, the energy should discharge with minor effects."
"If that's the case, then we should get to work." Nic remarked,
They all took a step forward, advancing to stop the weapon, but that was when the Magic level spiked yet again. They all became stiff as this similar feeling was from earlier.
"That was a clever move, using my own men against me." Everyone turned around with very high guards as they saw a figure approach from the dark exit. Exiting the shadows, Kaulas walked slowly and stopped before everyone.
"Well now, seems that I get to face against the real Luminous."
Nic, Staraptor, Cana, and Sophie all took defensive stances as they felt an odd vibe coming from Kaulas. His Magic was fluctuating so much it was hard to tell if he was gonna play with them or kill them on the spot.
As a growl escaped from everyone, Kaulas maintained a calm facial expression. "Those faces and sounds you make will be the only thing I'll remember of you when this is over."
Okay, got another chapter in as fast as I could. My pacing per day has drastically decreased since I'm trying to compress as much detail into so little wording, but I'm still doing my best. The next chapter will be the big boss fight of the X791 Arc. And if you guys paid attention, did you get the One Piece reference I used this chapter and with Pavo?
If I haven't told you guys, there's a new image cover for the story. I designed and made it myself, though the quality isn't as good as you'd think it'd be. I don't have Photoshop, so my Paint application on my laptop was all I could work with. Regardless, opinions on how it looks are appreciated.
Please Favorite, Follow, & Review this story and/or chapter if you guys enjoyed Staraptor fighting, the battles, the story in general, etc.
Next Time: A Bone to Pick