Chapter 11: One night of magic
In Prontera's castle, the king sat at an illustrious desk, looking over various proposals from the city folk. He heaved a sigh from the boring and tedious work for he'd rather be helping his daughter prepare for her festival experience. He removed his small frame glasses and looked outside, seeing Mjolnir in the distance. With a shake of his head he stood for a stretch and searched for something to pull his mind off of the massive pile of work he was tasked to finish.
Finally a distraction came to him in the form of a dainty knock at his door. He coasted across the carpeted floor and pulled on the knob, opening the door. In came his daughter with a large, sweet smile on her face.
"Father! You're still cooped up in here? The festival will be starting! You must be finished by now, you're supposed to help Alan and I prepare." She spoke with a mild whine in her voice as she walked into the room.
She always hated coming in to see the books and piles of work; it always took her out of her usually happy mood. With her small hands, she grabbed hold of her father and pulled him towards the door.
"Now, now Elena, I know I am supposed to help, but there is much work to be done. I cannot leave these proposals half finished." The king spoke with a slight chuckle, playfully pulling back from his daughter.
"No! You promised to help, besides the people are getting ready for the festival, they don't care about proposals and bills and all of that. I tell you what!" She stopped and hugged him. "You help me get ready and let Alan and I walk around the city without our escorts and I'll let you get back to your boring work, deal?"
The king's face instantly turned sour. He knew well enough how dangerous the streets were with the current events taking place.
"Absolutely not! You know what is happening out there now, for all we know Sho and The Advents could be lurking about in the city right under our noses!" His fierceness piercing through his fatherly façade as his voice reached higher. "Now I understand your feelings in regard to this all, but it is for your own safety Elena. Please understand this."
Elena took a deep breath, turned her back to her father and stormed out, slamming the door behind her. The king only placed his old hand to his head and shook it while turning to another window, looking out at his citizens.
"I certainly hope she realizes it is for her own good. If anything happens to my children…Let Valkyries help the person who does so." He spoke to himself.
Just as he headed back to his desk, a more frantic knock drew his attention back to the door. He turned and grumbled, taking heavier steps with faster movement until he reached it. He was nearly run down as he opened the door to the hectic guard who carried a small object in his hand.
"Sire… You're not going to believe this!" The guard spoke while holding Salamander's monitor up. "Juno has…Been destroyed!"
"What?!" The king inquired.
He touched his finger to the monitor, illuminating the screen. The image came in blurry, then crystal clear with the occasional static line forming. An aerial view of Juno came in on the screen, the image causing the king's eye brow to quirk. The view slowly changed to the airship pulling in and then falling to Juno with a ruinous blast following it. He instantly drew a sharp breath in looking harder into the screen as he closed the door.
Minutes rolled by until the near end of the video was reached. The image, though distorted slightly, zoomed in on Salamander and Alexander's face for a second, an intentional move by the two.
"S-sire, isn't that Sir Alexander Crosshound!?" The guard investigated. "I thought he went missing, what is he doing there?"
"Enough… I want Seban and his unit in here before the sun falls. You will speak to no one but him, understood?" Tristram commanded with a firm tone while sitting back at his desk with fingers intertwined in thought.
The guard saluted and ran out, searching for Seban. The king sat quietly for a moment, the sounds of his breath growing louder as time marched. With a quick snap, he flung the monitor into the wall in a fit of intense rage, breaking it into several pieces.
"The Advents…Must be stopped immediately!" He said to himself, almost like a promise.
While the king rallied Seban and his troops, the sun was finally settling behind the horizon. In Geffen, Yumi sat at the bench, in new blue and black attire, beside one of the shops until the sun was halfway gone. With a yawn, she stood and proceeded towards the center of the city, heading into one of the nearby buildings. A single counter and a woman was there to greet her.
"Um hello, um I was wondering if I could gather some information on um magic. Ehehe, I'm a student of Payon and I'm extremely interested in the arcane arts, is it possible to learn about some here?" She questioned the woman who only raised a brow.
"Hmm, I suppose so, but I require top level clearance to allow anyone inside, otherwise I'll be expelled from the lineage." She retorted.
Yumi smiled with her eyes closed and nodded.
"I understand, well could you um help me with something else then?" She nervously asked, fidgeting with her dress.
"Er, yea sure. What is it?" The woman asked while leaning forward a bit.
"Forgive me…" Yumi whispered.
"Huh?" The woman managed to let out before a blinding white light pierced the roof of the building, taking the woman down instantaneously.
Kuroi and Azulong entered the building behind Yumi whose eyes were large in terror.
"I-I killed someone…I've gone against everything I've been taught!" She shouted, feeling bad for herself.
Kuroi turned to her, raised his hand and smacked her. She fell to the ground and gasped as her face began to brighten with red.
"You're an Advent now, start acting like one." He said before turning to Azu. "We're going in quiet, understand?"
Azu only nodded and drew his blade. His movements were even hard for Kuroi to keep up with as he sliced through the floor before re-sheathing his blade. Azu jumped into the darkness, not making a decibel of sound as he did. Kuroi turned to Yumi who was still on the floor and summoned five spheres before consuming them for power.
"Get up, we're going. Don't make me take you myself." He said coldly as lightning surged around his body.
He jumped down after Azu, landing lightly behind his form. He took a step to the side the moment Yumi fell down clumsily. Kuroi's extended arm gave her something to brace against to regain her balance from the fall.
"Sense!!" Azu spoke, closing his eyes. "There are five floors, twenty on the first floor, at least fifty on the second, fifteen on the fourth and something is stopping me from sensing the last. A large variety of mages, sages, professors, wizard and some others that rank higher. Permission to release first chakra gate."
Kuroi nodded and took a stance as his energy levels spiked. Fifteen spheres surrounded him and condensed into five large ones. He pressed various pressure points on his, Yumi and Azulong's body, releasing energies within each of them. Azulong bit down hard, his veins pulsed to life and his body tensed up for a short moment. He opened one of his chakra gates, making him much more powerful. Yumi joined in on the enhancement period they took to make sure this went as smoothly as possible. Lights and energies spiraled in the long hallway until silence came.
Down the hall, three mages stood guard at a large eloquent set of double doors. They lifted their staffs and wands at the sound of approaching footsteps. One of them stepped forward but quickly realized he was now looking at the ground, then the ceiling and finally at his own body. His head rolled a few feet before stopping at the wall while the body fell. The other two gasped and immediately casted sight. The spiraling flames provided no help as two spirit spheres shot down the hall and plowed the both of them into the thick concrete wall.
The three Advents walked in quietly, looking at the giant doors. Kuroi stepped forward and grabbed the handle, only to be thrown back by a concussive spell placed on the door. He collided with the wall, but stood up momentarily. He charged spheres into his hand, but was stopped by Azu with a raised hand. Azu raised one hand to his face and began chanting a mantra. The air grew colder and the other two could have sworn they heard whispers. Suddenly the door turned pale shade of gray before collapsing into a cloud of dust and debris.
Without questions, the group carried on into the larger, torch lit room. Inside a cluster of wizards and sages awaited the group. No more than a second passed before the elements of the planet were turned into lethal projectiles. Bolts of fire, ice and lightning sprung forth for the group, but barely missed their targets as they dispersed. One of the sages raised his book and began chanting as flaming orbs appeared beside his body before firing off towards Azu who was steadily and rapidly making his way towards the mass of magic.
Azu drew his blade, slicing through the magic as though it was air. He stopped just by the sage and turned his attention to another while the previous fell to his knees which were soon soaked in a puddle of blood. Kuroi sped around the room with his snap technique, dodging spells with absolute ease, but caused the others to target Yumi instead. He snapped to the center of the assaulting mages and stomped with all of his might.
"Earth Shaker!!" His voice echoed while a shockwave traveled through the ground, causing the spells to be interrupted and the casters to fall to the ground. "Yumi!"
She nodded and lifted her hands high into the air.
"Silentum!!" Her voice echoed as well as small lights appeared on each of the mage's necks.
While grounded, they tried to cast spells, but found it impossible to conjure the elements. With wide eyes they turned to each other and tried to scramble to their feet, but Azulong stepped amongst them and lowered his eyes.
"Surging Tempest!!" His blade flew out once and returned to its safety in the scabbard.
A powerful wave of sharp energy collided with the running magic users, turning them into nothing more than body parts. Kuroi and Azu trotted through the mess with no care for the dead. Yumi tried to avoid as much as she could, taking large steps over the bodies while trying to keep her stomach at ease.
Across the room the walls parted with a slight rumble and drew their attention. An arctic blast of air intruded upon the room, pushing against The Advents. From the walls a High wizard stepped in his gorgeous professor comrade. Behind them were their apprentice wizards and sages, all preparing lightning bolts and jupitel thunder spells.
Azulong made a dash, but instantly found that his foot was frozen. He took the scabbard and banged the edge against the ice, trying to break free. The professor held her hand out to Azu and smirked with a wink.
"Soul burn!" Her voice escaped as Azu's body began to turn colors. He suddenly felt all of his energy leave his body, but was immediately replaced with massive amounts of pain.
Kuroi snapped away from the arctic area and approached the magic casting squad from the side, attempting a flank. The High wizard was busy maintaining his icy defense, leaving the professor to step up. She clapped her hands together and slammed them against the ground.
"Frost Diver!!" Her voice echoed over the wind caused by the storm gust.
An icy path surged for Kuroi, but missed as he snapped by. He approached faster and faster, dodging each diver that was tossed out. Yumi shielded her face from the arctic attack and tried to call out in assistance.
"S-Sile…Silentum!!" She finally was able to get out.
The lower ranked sages and wizards all found their spells to cease charging and their voice unable to escape their mouths. Though silent, they were not out of the game yet. With a quick look through their person, small scrolls made their appearance, allowing them to cast lower leveled spells. One sage turned his attention to Kuroi and threw a weak fireball into his stomach.
Kuroi looked down at the slightly singed skin on his stomach and back at the Sage. With a quick snap, he was face to face with the sage and his fist had a glow to it. Before the sage's mind could even register what was happening, he was punched in the stomach with so much force the ground and wall behind him literally exploded into thousands of shards. His eyes went blank and his body grew heavy from the blow, he slid down into the small ditch made, void of all life.
The professor grew angry; she raised her book about mid level and began chanting to herself.
"Double casting!!" She commanded from her arsenal as her body released more energy.
She casted another frost diver, but instead two flew from beneath her. One headed for Kuroi, but he snapped away. The other flew directly for where he ended up and caught hold of his leg. He stopped in place as the ice began to gradually creep up his leg.
Azu had been stuck with the ice around his legs which had crept up the scabbard and onto to his arm while he tried to recover from the devastation of the soul burn. Yumi stood away from the action, unsure in her next actions. Her breath began to get short and her heart pounded, she was having a panic attack. Every cell in her body told her to run, but her feet were frozen from fear.
Kuroi's body was nearly covered in ice, he had enough space to move his head and look at Yumi.
"Stop being a fucking coward! Show our leader you aren't just a waste of space and only useful for a quick heal! He bestowed power onto you so us-!" He started but the sudden light burst coming from the High wizard caught him off guard.
"Judex!! Judex!! Judex!!" Yumi constantly called out, each time her voice echoed with power as the light surrounded the high wizard as he tried to move from the oncoming attack, only to be caught and dragged back into the blinding holiness.
"Darthello!" The Professor called out to her comrade while their apprentices ran over to try and pull him from the holy blaze.
They were instantly pulled into the searing white death, but with their voices gone, they didn't have the liberty to yell out like Darthello. Yumi's face was covered in tears from a combo of fear, anger and disappointment in herself. She wanted to help, but killing went against everything she stood for, even if the others did themselves. She gasped, trying to fight the tears back as she ran over to Azulong and released him from his soon to be icy tomb.
Without wasting time he drew the blade and darted for the female Professor. Her face was red with rage. She snapped her fingers and pointed to the ground.
"Volcano!" She yelled, her voice rose along with her adrenaline.
A red blanket of energy surrounded her heels. She raised her hand to the air and bit down.
"Fire bol-" She began her spell, but realized it was far too late.
Azu's eyes stared her down as his blade flew through her arm as though it wasn't there. He turned the blade around, angling it for her neck and applied force behind it.
"Wait!" Kuroi called out as the ice on his body began to break away. "We can use her."
The professor fell to her knees, but refused to scream from the pain of her lost arm. She looked up slightly, gazing at Yumi while she helped Kuroi break free from his incasing. She pointed her finger as magic charged into her hand. Her mouth just barely broke the flesh seal around her lips before Azu pointed his sword to her face.
"If you speak, I will reduce you to nothing. I suggest you use your borrowed time wisely…" He said before kicking her in the face, causing her to turn over on her stomach.
Kuroi walked over to her, his feet moving onto the small shards of glass-like ice as though they were marshmallow. Down he bent, grabbing her by her top and lifting off her feet. He looked up at her and at the split wall.
"I know there are more of these doors down the way and I'm sure you have magic traps. You're going with us and you're not only going to tell us where they are, you're going to disarm them. Understand?" He bluntly told her before lowering her down onto her heels and turning towards the wall.
She coughed slightly, holding her severed arm with the other hand.
"And If I refuse?" She asked, making a face that could make Lutie warm.
Kuroi's eyes opened wide, he turned and without warning implanted his fist into her mid section, feeling multiple cracks. She gasped for air and pain drew itself onto her face before she fell to her knees, coughing blood and now holding her chest.
"I just broke three ribs, I will break more each time you refuse to help, provide back talk or decide to be stupid. I highly suggest you shut up, follow and do as you're told and you may get to live to tell the story." He turned to Yumi who was looking down, still fighting the tears. "Yumi, heal her. You'll keep her alive to feel the pain so she can't have the easy release of death."
Yumi slowly walked over and pressed her hands onto the professor. Her broken ribs reset themselves and mended together with no problem. She placed the arm back to its origin and began healing again. The skin around the area fused together, connecting each nerve together without a hitch.
"Now woman, stand. We're moving." Azu said while standing behind her to make sure she doesn't try anything.
Even though she was just in immeasurable pain, it was suddenly washed away. She looked at her arm and then to Yumi.
"T-thank you…" She looked at Azulong. "My name isn't woman, its Veronica! I suggest you remember that!"
Kuroi shook his head, turned and grabbed her. He placed his hand against her stomach and pushed in with his fingers, grabbing one of her ribs. He pulled with a twist, breaking one of them. She instantly fell again, still giving it her all to fight the pain.
"Don't heal that one. She will learn." He said as he lifted her up again, holding her ahead of him this time to get her moving.
In the airship above the mountain ranges, Seban stood on the deck looking in the distance where Juno once floated. Without realizing it, he'd been squeezing the side of the ship so hard that the wood splintered under his gauntlet. Words could not express the rage his heart was filled with. He wanted to destroy The Advents without halt and bring peace about once again. He turned slightly to see all of his men on deck, a small militia ready to take on anything that may be awaiting their arrival.
On the second floor of the mage's guild, The Advents and their prisoner kept on a steady pace. Every few feet they would stop and Veronica would disable a plethora of traps which only got more frequent the further they went in. Azu and Kuroi led the group as the muscle power while the other two stayed behind to avoid getting in the way. Veronica maneuvered herself to Yumi and tapped her without raising the alarms of the other two.
"Tell me… Why are you helping these two? You don't seem like you want to do any of this stuff girl. Why not just help me escape, I'm sure we can take the two of them." She whispered ever so lightly.
"I-I can't. I'm a part of this guild and…I…Nothing it's not important." She said while looking away from Veronica.
"What is it? Come on, maybe I can help you get out of this shitty situation." She persisted.
"Th-There's um…Someone I love in this guild. I-I can't let him down, I just can't." She said, trying to avoid the conversation.
"Oh honey, I understand completely. I was in somewhat of the same situation, but I had to realize that loving that man was going to get me killed. You have to learn to stand up for yourself." She said, nudging Yumi to the side.
Kuroi stopped walking and looked behind him. He cracked his knuckles and summoned five spheres. From down the hall a small amount of mages and wizards ran through with spells firing off. The group ducked and dodged the spells and Kuroi gathered the spheres into a large one before shooting it down into the crowd.
"Ride the lightning!!" He shouted as the blast blew a spherical dent into the walls where it left the bodies of the attackers.
"How did you know they were coming? Veronica asked as Kuroi turned and continued walking.
"I heard them, we both did." He said, hinting at their excellent hearing ability.
"Shit…" She said to herself, knowing they heard what they were talking about. "Wait wait, we don't have to take the entrance to the third floor. We can use the prison entrance and cut through half of the floor."
Kuroi stopped and looked at the well light walls, seeing various writings on the wall. He couldn't make out what the words said, but the arrows were pretty clear.
"Well, where are we going then?" He asked.
She pointed to a branching path of the large hallway, the area that was bare of the blue carpet they'd been enjoying for a while. With a detour happening, they made their way to a large bolted door that stood between them and the quicker route.
Azu stepped up and made quick work of the door. They walked in, but stopped when one set of footsteps stopped. Azu turned back, looking at Veronica who was charging a spell. Before placing his blade back in the scabbard, he ran back for her, already closing the distance with ease. Just before he swung, a wall appeared in front of his sword, impeding his view. Though the slash went through, the wall regenerated in an instant.
With and inspection of the wall, small magic lettering was scatted among the surface. It was a trap and they had no way of disarming it. The only possible thing was to go forward into the prison and look for a way out. With no other way to go, they began descending the large black stairwell.
"Now…To warn the Elders!" Veronica told herself, trying to move as fast as she could with a broken rib.
Down below, the air began to grow fowl, stale and slightly humid. The bright hallways above were such a huge contrast to this dark and dreary place. They reached the bottom of the stairwell and were confronted with row after row of cells being held by magical seals. They took their first steps cautiously, making sure to avoid any traps awaiting them.
"Kuroi…" Yumi started.
"If you show any signs of weakness, I will not allow you to leave The Advents quietly. Disregard what the woman said, you're in the guild now, you knew well enough what you were getting into rather it was for 'him' or not. I suggest you get over what you learned as a priest and welcome your new life Yumi." Kuroi interrupted.
"Wait a tick…" A voice sounded from a cell almost hidden away from the others with an exception of the glowing green orbs and thousands of seals placed on the cell door. "That voice…That scent… I must be off my rocker. Yumi?"
She gasped and moved her hand to her mouth, shaking her head.
"No…Jinsei…" She said, speaking the name of the man in the cell.
"Well I'll be a Kraben's uncle. Today must be special, they made a mistake and gave me two pieces of bread to eat today and my woman came to visit. Say you two, be sports and help me outta here ya?" Jinsei's voice called out.
Azu looked to Kuroi who only shrugged. Azu took a stance and began drawing energy from some of the inmates in the cells. His breath came free at a slower rate as most of the prisoners fell unconscious in their cells from the taxing task of giving energy.
"You're going to need a hell of a lot of energy to get through these seals. They suppress energy flow, it's the only way they can keep me in heheh." Jinsei spoke.
"Wait! No! Don't release him!" Yumi called out, grabbing Azu's arm.
"What…What the hell? Yumi!? What are you doing?" Jinsei called out again.
"No! You're not supposed to be dead! The guild promised to take care of you after what you did at Ayothaya! They said I wouldn't have to worry about you! They said-" She frantically began, clenching her dress tight.
"Oh…Ohohooo I see now, you're the one who ratted me out huh? You're the one who told them were I was huh? Heh…Ahahaha! Over some stupid foreigners!? You give up the man you're supposed to love!? Un-fucking-believable. I protect YOU from having your 'innocence' taken away by a group of smug bastards, and you roll over on me! I've heard it all now." Jinsei ranted in between laughing.
"You didn't have to kill them! They were people, someone's family!" She started up again, releasing the tears she fought hard to suppress.
"I've heard enough of this." Kuroi said. He stood before the cell and drew his arm back.
"Kuroi don't!!" Yumi shouted while reaching out to him.
"Fallen empire!!" Kuroi's voice reverberated through the prison block as his fist exuded massive pressure and power against the cell and the seals, breaking most of them off.
As the seals fell to the ground, power began to radiate from the cell. A gaggle of laughs came from other cells in the block along with words.
"Holy shit, someone's going to release Jin?"
"What?! AHAHA are you serious?! They're dead!"
"Oi, check out the show fellas, someone's setting Jin free!
The voices came from various cells. Soon more and more of them sounded until majority of the block was alive with chatter, rattling and laughter. Azu kept the stored energy in the blade, he returned to his stance and swung the blade upward. The remaining seals split and blew apart, releasing a power into the entire block.
"My god, I can actually feel the elements again. Hehe, feels mighty good to get out of there I reckon." Jinsei said as he stepped out of his cell.
The warlock stood before the Advents with a long stretch which was followed by many creaking and cracking joints. He shivered a moment before looking dead at Yumi. He ran by the two strongmen of the group and grabbed her by the throat. The ring on his index finger began to heat up and burn her neck slightly. She grabbed his hand and screamed out in pain, trying to kick him off. He pressed his face close to hers and chuckled.
"You know baby, I've been in here a very long time because of you. You have no ideas what it's like to be cast in a spell of shadows, only able to hear and smell. Not being able to move because of weight seals or being able to eat regular food. You want to know why I'm not dead?" He asked as he moved closer to her ear, whispering. "Because I killed them all. Every time they tried to take me from my cell to kill me, I killed them. I can still see some of them now, burning in the hallway, being frozen to death, drowning. All of them met their doom because you decided to tell them about me."
She struggled and looked to Azu and Kuroi who were looking for a way out. Jinsei backed his face away a bit and grinned, running his hand up her thigh.
"Tell my baby, did you miss me those nights? Did you once think about what you did to me? I always figured it was my brother who rolled on me, so I had him killed from in here. Oh well I guess, I found out he also tried to screw me by taking all of my assets and trying to sell them off. Maybe I should send you to the same place he is huh?" Jin asked, his hand moving further up.
Azu stepped over and grabbed Jin by the shoulder.
"You can read magic. Open the path hidden in the wall." He commanded with a stern look.
"….Heheh, okay there mate. I appreciate you freeing me." He said while grabbing Azu's hand and pulling it off of his black and gold warlock's garb. "But no one gives me an order, understand?"
He went back to feeling Yumi up, pressing his tongue to her neck as she let a whimper free. This time it was Kuroi's turn. He grabbed Jin's shoulders, spun him around and pressed points on his body in that same motion. Jin coughed and bit down hard before holding his hands out before them both. Though he tried to conjure a spell, his magic wasn't flowing.
"Gentle touch: Silence…" Kuroi spoke with his arms folded. "Now, you're going to help get us out of here, or you're going to know what hell feels like."
Jinsei laughed and held his face with one arm. When he pulled his hand back down glasses sat atop his nose. He smirked and pointed his finger towards the two as his eyes gave a bright red glow.
"Crimson rock!!" His voice echoed as flaming meteorites appeared from the ether and crashed onto Azu and Kuroi.
The force threw them back into cells, causing dents in the bars on impact. Azu got back to his feet and dashed in towards Jin with his hand on the draw. He kept quiet as his geta clacked on the pavement below. Just as he got a good run, he found himself to be slowing down greatly.
"Marsh of the abyss!!" Jinsei commanded as the ground below Azu turned black and slimy, pulling his legs down below.
Kuroi decided to attack from a distance, launching sphere after sphere of spirit energy. Jinsei lifted his hands as elements began to condense into spheres of his own. He pointed forward as each one of his collided with one of Kuroi's keeping his attacks at bay. He clapped his hands and lifted them to the sky, calling down the same gust of icy wind from before.
"Storm gust!!" He called out as the force knocked Kuroi around before starting to freeze him.
Once his arms and legs were tethered to the ice, he let up on the gust before gathering more elemental spheres.
"Oh I'm going to enjoy this one kiddies. I haven't use this one in a long time." He said as the last sphere appeared near his head. "Tetra Vor-"
"Adoramus!" Yumi called out before Jin could finish, releasing a light from the sky that pierced in and struck Jin.
He looked up and opened his eyes wide as the beam nailed him straight on, pushing him downward as he tried to fight against it.
"W-What the fuck are you doing!?" He screamed out.
"What I should have done before! Acting as one of The Advents!" She shouted, amplifying the power she released.
"A-Advents!? What are you…" He stopped when he spotted the symbol on Kuroi's shoulder through the ice. "No…Way!"
Azu freed himself from the muddy prison and jumped into the air. Yumi released her grasp on the Adoramus just as Azu entered the light and slashed the glasses from his face, releasing the card that was fused to it. Yumi instantly casted silence onto Jinsei as he lay on the cold ground. She turned her attention to Kuroi and released him yet again from ice.
"I'm going to need a damn Marc card…" Kuroi muttered as he approached Jin and assaulted the pressure points again to seal off his magic. "Un-silence him, we need him to talk to open the wall."
Yumi who was now breathing hard, released the silence from Jinsei. He opened his mouth to talk but caught a heel to the jaw beforehand.
"Asshole!" She shouted at him, but he only laughed.
"The Advents?! You have to tell me how this is even possible! Did they slip me something in that second piece of bread? Things are going WAY too good!" He said while holding his chest.
"Now, get the hell up, and start opening the wall, or you're going to wish we'd left you in there." Kuroi said, picking him up and shoving Jin towards the wall.
Jin stopped himself and raised his hands.
"Now hold on a sec. If you guys are trying to get out of here, we can easily take the exit. There isn't anything here you'd be interested in." He explained.
"I didn't ask you for explanations. I told you to read. We're wasting time here." Kuroi spoke yet again, growing more and more annoyed.
"Ohhhoo wait now, lemme guess. You're going for the Elders!? Holy Hot shit in Sograt. If that's the case I have an express way, but I have two conditions."
"You aren't in a place to make deals. We will not tell you again." Azu said, pulling the blade free slightly.
"Now wait a minute here guys. This can work out very very beautifully. You see, I can get you straight there and without having to disarm mountains of traps or having to go through the trash to get to the big rats. All you have to do is unseal my magic and one other thing….Let me join the Advents."
Azu stepped forward and drew his sword. The blade gleamed with death as he made the motion to bring Jin's legs away from his body. Kuroi interrupted and shook his head, signaling Azu to put his blade away.
"What's the way there before we unseal you." Kuroi asked while making his way to Jin.
"Simple big guy, Earth Strain. I'll distort the earth so much that the magic trap won't be able to regenerate. Then all one of you will have to do is knock a hole straight down and bam! Right on top of the old dried ball sack's heads. Well?" He asked with a devious look about his face.
"I don't think we should trust him. You don't know him like I do, he's extremely dangerous you two!" Yumi tried to warn, but it went on deaf ears as Kuroi pressed the pressure points yet again, unsealing his magic.
"And my joining?" He asked with his arms folded .
"First, you break the regeneration, then you get in." Kuroi said, folding his arms as well.
Jin stared him down for a moment then laughed. He got a good distance away from them and pressed his hands against the ground. The metal in the cells began to creak as the ground began to shake and roll, causing spikes of earth to jut from the ground. The lettering on the walls faded away slowly the longer the Earth Strain carried on. Soon it all vanished the ground resembled a battle field in the crust of the planet.
"There, now, big hole punchey thing. You know how it goes." He said, backing away from the area.
Kuroi stood over the cataclysm and took a deep breath in. He drew more spirit spheres and absorbed them into his fist for added kick. He lifted his fist into the air and struck the ground as hard as he could, piercing a large hole directly below them that traveled on until it reached the bottom.
Down below Veronica was just granted an audience with the Elders. She stood before them, leaning to the side from the immense pain she was feeling. She opened her mouth to speak, but the sudden rumbling threw her off. She shook it off and opened her mouth again, this time being stopped by the sudden collapse of rocks, metal and other materials that plummeted through a hole and onto one of the elders.
"Dear Ifrit's fire! Elder Sol! No!!" She screamed out through her own pain.
Azu looked down the hole. He held his hands out to his comrades, letting them know to stay up for he would not be long. Without waiting for confirmation, he jumped in with his hand on the hilt of his blade.
"Man, that guy is always ready for go time isn't he?" Jin asked. "So, how about it dark man, how about you let me into your little club eh?"
Kuroi for the first time smirked. He grabbed Jin by the neck and lifted him into the air.
Down below, Azu landed without so much as a sound on the round slate table. He looked to the side of himself to see Veronica and behind him awaited the Elders. He released his breath and turned with quick momentum. His blade struck swiftly, slicing through the necks of the elders before they had a chance to employ their powerful magic against Azu. Once his blade was safe in the scabbard, he glared Veronica down who had broke out in sweats.
"L-Look here samurai, why don't you j-just let me go? Huh? Ehehe. You'll get nothing out of killing me right?" She pleaded, still feeling the pain of her broken rib.
"…I suppose you're right. My mission is complete anyway." He said, angling himself to jump back to the top.
"Fool…" She said to herself while firing a frost diver for Azu.
He looked back down in time and dove to the side. Another line of arctic doom approached him, but was quickly neutralized when Azu called forth Izanagi's blade. The glowing ethereal blade gave off a large amount of heat which was enough to turn the ice into steam. He lifted the dull edge to his face and closed his eyes.
Veronica called forth a barrage of flaming bolts, hoping to destroy her target for the deeds he performed today. The flames shot forth, sending embers to the ground and in the air. Azu opened his eyes at the very last moment, lowered the sword and swung it horizontally without a sound. The force traveled like an invisible shockwave and tore through the fire bolts, Veronica and the entire area behind her. Azulong stood back on the table and slammed the sword into the rock. The sword shifted into a dragon and propelled him upward into the hole.
Up a few floors, Kuroi maintained his grip on Jinsei.
"As one of The Advents, I add you under the leader; Shodelth Sekirin! You shall serve him until your body no longer holds breath!" Kuroi spoke as the guild symbol appeared on Jin's stomach, showing through his clothes.
He released Jin, letting him fall to his feet before looking back at the hole.
"Now baby, you and I can work out this little…Dispute now that we're guild mates." Jin said to Yumi while heading towards her.
She looked down, feeling her weakness coming back to her. She tried to speak, but nothing would come out. Just as Jin reached out for her, a light protruded from the hole followed by a bright image of a dragon. Azu shortly followed the dragon's image, covered in blood and small singe marks on his clothing.
"All accounted for and killed. Part one complete." He said with little care in his voice.
"Then, onto the finale of our act." Kuroi said bluntly as he looked to Yumi who was already putting a warp portal down.
Just as they were exiting, the voices in the cells called out to them, wanting to be released as well. They did nothing more but ignore the calls, leaving them with the glimpse of the portal closing as Yumi stepped in after the others.
The light burst open just outside of Geffen tower. As the party stepped out they caught people running into the mage guild they had just left, probably investigating the noise. Yumi opened another warp portal and awaited their final task to be completed.
"Well? Now What?" Jinsei asked.
"We bring down Geffen tower." Kuroi said while preparing his attack.
"Oh really?! Wait, waaaaait! Let me do it!" Jinsei spoke with an eager grin on his face.
He lifted his hands and began conjuring elemental essences into condensed spheres. With all of the elements, he turned to Kuroi and nudged his head towards him.
"Mind giving me some of your holy spheres there buddy?" He asked, holding one of his hands towards the tower.
Kuroi summoned a sphere and placed it among the elemental essences. Jinsei laughed wildly, pointing his other hand out towards the tower. The spheres all collided with each other and fused into an extremely small singularity that spun and generated outrageous amounts of energy. Jin threw the singularity at the tower, letting it sink into the wall. With it gone he made a mad dash to the portal, diving in without wait. The others followed behind, ending with Yumi which closed the portal.
Moments after they left, spikes of energy began to tear at the tower, pulling it in different directions. The spikes fluctuated madly before a catastrophic explosion destroyed the tower and a few of the surrounding buildings including part of the mage guild's building. The people who were running were caught in the blast and instantly turned to dust.
The light from the blast reached high into the air, even being seen by a few people in Prontera. The mission was complete, there was now only one thing left and for that, the light shined onto Sho who stood with an army of Assassins, Assassin Crosses and Guillotine Crosses. Three and Sho both stood at the head of the army, ready for one of the worst massacres to come to the world. Sho had effectively set the stage for his act. It was now time to open the curtains.